Sensing the Snow Mosquitoes arriving from all directions, Li Yan's expression remained calm, but his heart found the situation thorny. Less than five breaths had passed, yet the four Vajra Talismans outside his Spirit Power shield had already exploded into a brilliant firework, their power completely depleted. They had destroyed about a hundred Snow Mosquitoes in the process. However, the remaining dozens of Snow Mosquitoes closest to Li Yan now thrust their sharp proboscises at his shield without any obstruction. Li Yan gauged his Spirit Power consumption; it wasn't too great yet, but this was only from a few dozen Snow Mosquitoes. Now that he could distinguish their forms, his Divine Sense perceived tens of thousands more flying towards him from the distance. He took out another ten Vajra Talismans and slapped them onto his body. Then, with a push of the Cloud-Piercing Willow under his feet, he shot off to the side like an arrow released from a bowstring, not daring to face them head-on.
The Snow Mosquitoes, like ferocious beasts that had smelled blood, seeing that they couldn't break through Li Yan's defense, suddenly changed. Their long proboscises emitted a sharp, whistling sound. In front of Li Yan's path, nearly ten straight, sharp objects had formed. Each one looked like a suddenly erected treasured sword, glinting with a soul-devouring light under the sun. Then, their speed abruptly increased as they slashed diagonally towards the fleeing Li Yan. Li Yan had originally urged the Cloud-Piercing Willow sideways, intending to use speed to break through a certain distance at the cost of ten Vajra Talismans. He wanted to see how far he could get by breaking through the Snow Mosquito swarm this way, to gauge his chances of a frontal assault. Although there were fewer Snow Mosquitoes to his side, there were still several thousand. Li Yan had only just rushed out less than a hundred zhang when he collided head-on with the first crystal sword. He felt the defense around him lighten, and all ten Vajra Talismans exploded in a single massive boom, erupting with a large swathe of ancient Buddhist script. The script and the Snow Mosquitoes it touched vanished without a trace in the next instant. Although the first crystal sword had also disintegrated, the surviving Snow Mosquitoes from the dispersed formation emitted sharp, whistling sounds from their proboscises, excitedly attacking his Spirit Power shield.
Li Yan's expression was calm, but his mind was on high alert. In the instant that the crystal sword formed by the Snow Mosquitoes had made contact with the Vajra Talismans, he had seen it clearly. The entire body of the crystal sword was composed of about a thousand Snow Mosquitoes, like an ice-carved crystal. It was double-edged, with a blade as thin as a cicada's wing. Every part of it exuded a deadly, cold light. Li Yan was surprised to find that this crystal sword was formed by Snow Mosquitoes lined up head to tail. The deadly, sharp edges on both sides were formed by their thinly spread wings, and the tip of the sword was formed by the proboscises of a dozen Snow Mosquitoes. A single slash from this sword was like a thousand Snow Mosquitoes cutting with their sharp wings simultaneously. Its power could definitely slice a cultivator in two in an instant. A thousand Snow Mosquitoes concentrating their power into a single line increased its might severalfold. The thought of the Jade Slip's description of the Snow Mosquitoes' proboscises and wings was enough to send a chill down one's spine.
'These Snow Mosquitoes even know how to form battle formations. If I could tame these Snow Mosquitoes, breed them in large numbers, and then control them with my Divine Sense, they could be comparable to a decent Magical Treasure. Although the Snow Mosquitoes can form these sharp swords now, the attack should just be an instinct. If several, or even a dozen, of them had slashed down at once just now, not even a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator could have faced them head-on. If there were over a hundred, I estimate even a Golden Core cultivator would have to think twice.'
But this thought only flashed through Li Yan's mind for an instant, because another crystal sword was already cutting towards him from behind. Since he had roughly gauged its power, Li Yan no longer defended. Instead, he stretched out a single hand, his fingers forming a sword. As his body moved at extreme speed, he tilted slightly to avoid the blade's edge and pointed his sword-fingers directly at the body of the crystal sword. A crisp "ping" sound echoed in his ears. Li Yan was surprised to find that his attack, which deliberately avoided the tip and edge and struck the body of the sword, had not shattered the crystal sword in the middle. It had only knocked it sideways, and the crystal sword continued to cut through the void, sending the snowflakes in the wind into a frenzy.
'That strike just now used nearly fifty percent of my power. Even an initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would have been seriously injured and spat blood from that finger.' Li Yan was even more amazed by the Snow Mosquitoes' formidability. One had to know that his current magic power was not inferior to that of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yet, a strike with half his Spirit Power had failed to disperse a crystal sword formed by the instinctual drive of Snow Mosquitoes.
'Not to be trifled with!' This was Li Yan's next thought. In a flash, one crystal sword after another arrived. Li Yan had no choice but to use his movement skills to dodge repeatedly, from time to time moving his fingers like the wind, either directly or from a distance, tapping on the bodies of the crystal swords. But after only a dozen breaths, Li Yan already felt the strain. In this short confrontation, he had been surrounded layer by layer by the Snow Mosquitoes that had arrived later.
Although these crystal swords were not controlled by a person and did not strategically surround or prioritize their attacks, still attacking one by one, this gave Li Yan some room to breathe. But there were simply too many Snow Mosquitoes, forming sharp blades flashing with cold light all around him in the air. And there were even more scattered Snow Mosquitoes surrounding him, attacking him with their proboscises without regard for their own lives. For a time, Li Yan found it quite difficult to cope.
With a blank expression, flames suddenly erupted from Li Yan's body. Water and fire were opposites. Facing the swarm of Snow Mosquitoes, Li Yan's thoughts moved, and he converted the Spirit Power in his body into fire Spirit Power. He cast a Fire Wall Art around himself, blocking the large swathe of scattered Snow Mosquitoes attacking him. At the same time, the hand seal on his fingers changed, and one Fireball Art after another shot out from him like raindrops as he moved, blooming everywhere and striking the crystal blades.
Needless to say, this move by Li Yan truly had the intended effect. Although the Snow Mosquitoes could not be killed in a single strike by the Fireball Art, every time their sword-bodies were hit, the Snow Mosquitoes would let out a sharp whistle like the north wind, and then they would disperse, unable to maintain the form of a crystal sword. As for the surrounding Snow Mosquitoes, as long as they entered the fire wall, they would also be wiped out after a period of time.
Only then did Li Yan relax a little. 'These Snow Mosquitoes are certainly formidable, but their weakness is also very obvious. They're afraid of fire. Once countered by fire-type magic arts, their power is reduced by more than half. If I were to tame them as spirit pets, it feels a bit like the gain isn't worth the loss.'
Li Yan knew that the demonic beasts in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda were very difficult to take out. The seal here was one-way, an insurmountable chasm for the Vicious Souls and demonic beasts within. Therefore, the moment a demonic beast left the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, it would surely be killed by the seal. So, wanting to take out the Snow Mosquitoes was basically a huge joke. This fact was known to all. Unless you had the ability to break the seal of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, but perhaps even a modern-day Spirit Transformation cultivator couldn't necessarily do it. Otherwise, why would the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, despite the Jingtu Sect having Spirit Transformation cultivators, still just be standing here instead of being refined into a supreme Magical Treasure by some great power?
At the same time, if one truly had the ability to break the seal of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, would they even need the demonic beasts here? No matter how extraordinary the demonic beasts in the tower were, they were only useful for cultivators at the middle level or below. But for a great power who could break the seal here, they would be useless.
But Li Yan was different. He had Tu Ban, a Magical Treasure personally refined by a Body Integration stage cultivator, something unimaginable and unattainable in the mortal realm. So Li Yan felt that with True Lord Qianchong's understanding of the laws of space, he might have surpassed the great power who owned the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. Therefore, it might be possible to hide some Snow Mosquitoes in Tu Ban and sneak them out. The Malevolent Spirit Sect was the strongest sect in this realm when it came to taming spirit pets. Li Yan had dabbled in it a bit over the years. Although he was not very proficient, he still knew some common taming manuals.
When he saw the power of the Snow Mosquitoes just now, Li Yan couldn't help but entertain some ideas. But now, it seemed the Snow Mosquitoes were a unique product of this world. Perhaps since their birth, they had never known of something like fire, so they had evolved to have no resistance to it. This disappointed Li Yan a little. But after a few more breaths, Li Yan's expression shifted.
He discovered that although the Snow Mosquitoes were afraid of fire, they could survive in it for at least three breaths. Although it was only three breaths, they would still attack desperately in the fire. In the final moments of their lives, perhaps sensing death, their attacks would become particularly frantic, causing Li Yan's Spirit Power consumption to maintain the Fire Wall Art to increase sharply. When Li Yan switched to using wood Spirit Power to drive a green Fire Wall Art, the attacking Snow Mosquitoes survived for five to six breaths. This discovery piqued Li Yan's interest. He thought for a moment and then let out a low chuckle.
'I've been overthinking it. Even if they can't survive in the fire for a few breaths, as long as I use them as a surprise troop, that's enough. Using them for a sneak attack at a critical moment will definitely give my opponent a big 'surprise'.'
As Li Yan thought this, he flew forward. Just as he was about to capture some Snow Mosquitoes and put them in Tu Ban, his brows furrowed again. Under the overwhelming onslaught of the Snow Mosquitoes, although he had the Fireball Art for offense and the Fire Wall Art for defense, the consumption of Spirit Power was astonishingly large. In just this short while, he had already consumed thirty percent of his Spirit Power. This was while he was cultivating the True Scripture of Gui Water, with the five elements generating each other endlessly in his body.
'I can't linger here. Even if I switch to fire-attribute Spirit Power, I can't stay in this endless swarm of Snow Mosquitoes. I can only wait until the number of Snow Mosquitoes decreases before capturing some.' Li Yan's brow relaxed slightly. He had the five-element circulation of the True Scripture of Gui Water, plus medicinal pills. He believed he could last for a long time. Since the Jade Slip said this place was a dangerous land, not a dead end, it meant it was possible to get out.
The flames on Li Yan's body surged. He converted his Spirit Power back to fire Spirit Power again, then found his direction and shot forward.
Half an hour later, Li Yan appeared in the sky over a part of the snowfield. Although his face was calm, it was tinged with fatigue. In the past half an hour, he had been constantly advancing through an endless tide of Snow Mosquitoes. In the end, Li Yan even felt that he had misjudged, feeling a sense of endlessness. His Spirit Power circulation and replenishment simply couldn't keep up with the consumption. When his Spirit Power had dropped to just over thirty percent and Li Yan was about to take a medicinal pill, he finally found that the number of Snow Mosquitoes had suddenly begun to decrease in large swathes. This phenomenon, according to the information Li Yan got from the Jade Slip, meant that he had reached the edge of a Snow Mosquito colony, hence the continuous decrease in numbers. Snow Mosquitoes, like humans, were divided into families and clans, and they lived in designated territories.
Looking at the receding tide of snowy mist behind him, Li Yan finally let out a long breath. 'The two Snow Mosquito colonies are at least several hundred li apart. It should be temporarily safe for some distance from here.'
Although Li Yan guessed there were no Snow Mosquitoes here, he still didn't dare to stop and meditate to recover. Instead, he embedded a few Spirit Stones into the Cloud-Piercing Willow, split off a wisp of Divine Sense to control its slow flight, and then took out a few medicinal pills, holding Spirit Stones in his hands as he sat cross-legged on the leaf to recover.