The faint blue flame seemed weak, but the moment it appeared, Xuan Ke felt a warm current surge into her body through the hand the young man held, instantly dispelling the chill that had seeped into her limbs and bones.
Even more miraculous was that after entering her body, the flame actively drove her own fire-attributed spirit root to resonate with it, speeding up her spiritual power circulation.
“So warm…”
Amid the cold, feeling this overwhelming warmth, Xuan Ke couldn’t help but squint her eyes in comfort and let out a soft sigh.
The flame flowing into her body naturally activated her fire spirit root, using her own spiritual power to help resist the erosion of the surrounding Cold Soul Snow.
What surprised Xuan Ke most was that from the trajectory of her spiritual power circulation, she could faintly grasp the method of driving her own thunderfire…
Xuan Ke couldn’t help but look at the young man, her eyes full of surprise.
“Even facing this Cold Soul Snow, you still have such leeway? Is the Blazing Sun Body really that powerful?”
Chen Yuyang withdrew his hand and continued walking forward.
At her words, he paused.
He actually wanted to say that it wasn’t his Blazing Sun Body that was powerful, but that he had already mastered the use of his source power, needing only a minimal amount of spiritual power to drive the source flame to resist the severe cold.
He had long been accustomed to this kind of fine control over power, even forgetting that it was actually a very profound technique.
Even the talented Yan Luo had only just gotten started under his hands-on guidance, right?
In the end, however, Chen Yuyang didn’t explain.
Seeing his silence, Xuan Ke carefully sensed her own condition and realized that the assistance from Chen Yuyang was external after all and couldn’t last forever.
As if sensing Xuan Ke’s thoughts, Chen Yuyang suddenly added, “This wisp of flame should last about half an hour. When you start feeling cold again, I’ll give you another one.”
“Now, let’s keep moving.”
Xuan Ke lowered her head slightly and couldn’t help asking again, “Once every half hour… Can your body handle it?”
She knew well how chilling the Cold Soul Snow was.
Chen Yuyang must have been consuming a lot of spiritual power just to resist it himself, and now he was sharing it with her.
Could he really endure?
She was worried that Chen Yuyang was just showing off in front of her.
Chen Yuyang didn’t stop walking, only nodding vaguely.
“Barely.”
He neither confirmed nor denied, leaving an ambiguous answer that only strengthened Xuan Ke’s suspicion.
Looking at the young man’s back, Xuan Ke sighed inwardly but didn’t ask further, silently following his steps.
With the chill reduced, the two advanced much faster.
However, the path up the peak was even harder than imagined.
The mountain was extremely tall, the road winding and steep.
The higher they climbed, the stronger the wind and snow, almost completely blocking their vision, allowing them to see only about ten feet ahead.
The sky was growing dim.
Xuan Ke looked up at the seemingly endless peak, then down at the mountain path beneath her feet, and couldn’t help sighing.
“We’ve probably only covered about a third of the distance. At this speed, even if the road ahead stays the same, we’ll need two or three days.”
She took out a top-grade spirit stone, absorbing spiritual power while continuing, “With such difficulty, I doubt as many people as we expected will make it to the top.”
Chen Yuyang nodded.
“True. But that also means those who succeed will definitely be powerful individuals and the elites of your Xuan Clan. For us, that means greater potential for cooperation.”
The night was like ink, completely covering the sky.
The wind and snow showed no signs of stopping, instead intensifying as the night wore on.
The Cold Soul Snow grew even more freezing and heavy.
Even with Chen Yuyang’s help, Xuan Ke felt her spiritual power draining rapidly.
Her steps became heavier, and her breathing grew more labored.
“Huff… We… we might need to rest. I can’t hold on much longer.”
Xuan Ke leaned against the rock wall.
She didn’t want to admit it, as it made her seem weak, but she had no choice.
Chen Yuyang turned to look at her.
Seeing her pale face, he knew she had reached her limit.
Their main goal on this journey was to find other Xuan Clan members to team up with.
Moving too fast might cause them to miss them.
“Alright.”
As he agreed, Chen Yuyang channeled his spiritual power.
The earth and rock beneath his feet churned, broke through the snow layer, twisted, and gathered together.
In the midst of the wind and snow, it quickly formed a crude but sturdy stone hut.
The two entered the hut.
The stone door closed behind them, leaving only two small ventilation holes.
Although the stone hut blocked the wind and snow, the cold itself continued to seep in relentlessly.
Chen Yuyang walked to the center of the hut, where a simple stone bed sat.
Cross-legged, he closed his eyes and began circulating his cultivation technique to restore his spiritual power.
Perhaps due to repeatedly sharing his flame with Xuan Ke, a hint of fatigue now showed on Chen Yuyang’s face.
Seeing this, Xuan Ke thought to herself, ‘As expected, he’s not made of iron either.’
Earlier, she had found Chen Yuyang unfathomable.
Now seeing him show signs of tiredness, she actually felt relieved and found a bit of balance.
Not wasting time, Xuan Ke sat cross-legged on the other side of the hut and also closed her eyes to meditate and recover her spent spiritual power.
The night deepened.
Outside, the wind and snow continued to roar, but inside the stone hut, it was silent except for their steady breathing.
The cold remained.
Unconsciously, Xuan Ke moved closer to Chen Yuyang.
It wasn’t that she wanted to get close to him; she noticed that when he was cultivating, the cold around him was greatly reduced.
By staying near him, she could recover more efficiently and suffer less erosion.
Roar….
Suddenly, a low growl pierced the night sky, cutting through the layers of wind and snow and clearly reaching their ears.
Xuan Ke’s eyes snapped open, instantly becoming sharp.
Turning to look at Chen Yuyang, she saw that he too had opened his eyes, narrowing them as he gazed toward the direction outside the stone hut.
“A fiend beast.”
Xuan Ke lowered her voice, speaking gravely.
“And it sounds close. From the noise, it should be within a hundred yards.”
Chen Yuyang slowly nodded, stood up from the stone bed, and stretched slightly.
The bones in his body emitted a series of faint cracks.
Looking at Xuan Ke, he asked, “How much spiritual power have you recovered?”
“Seventy percent,” Xuan Ke replied curtly, rising to her feet and gripping both swords in her hands, ready for battle.
“Speaking of which,” Chen Yuyang said, tilting his ear to listen to the outside while casually bringing up a question, as if it had just occurred to him, “Are the fiend beasts in this secret realm naturally bred here, or did your Xuan Clan specifically capture and release them recently?”
Xuan Ke was taken aback, not expecting Chen Yuyang to suddenly ask such a question.
She frowned and thought carefully before answering.
“I’m not sure about the specifics. But as far as I know, the clan hasn’t recently engaged in large-scale hunting or purchasing of beast. I think these are either naturally bred in the secret realm or were released many years ago and have lived here ever since.”
Chen Yuyang nodded thoughtfully, his gaze turning deep.
Xuan Ke had no idea what was on his mind.
The growls outside grew closer; the fiend beast was approaching.
Xuan Ke took a deep breath, quickly circulating her spiritual power, ready to fight at any moment.
Chen Yuyang suddenly thought of something and said quickly to Xuan Ke, “Give me your hand.”
Xuan Ke froze, looking at him doubtfully.
“What for?”
Even as she asked, she quickly extended her hand.
Without explaining, Chen Yuyang grabbed her hand.
A surge of blazing heat rose from his palm, flowing continuously into Xuan Ke’s body through their connected hands.
The warmth was even stronger than before and would last much longer.
Xuan Ke understood: he was worried that the severe cold would affect her performance in battle.
Her heart stirred slightly.
She hadn’t even considered that point herself.
This guy was actually quite thoughtful.
The sounds outside were muffled, with the wind and snow masking many noises.
The extreme cold not only affected the body but also greatly compressed the range of spiritual perception.
Xuan Ke tried to extend her spiritual sense, only to find she could barely detect anything beyond a few feet around the stone hut.
Chen Yuyang’s perception range was also heavily affected, but within a hundred yards, it wasn’t a problem.
Still, what he sensed remained somewhat blurry due to the wind and snow.
Chen Yuyang listened carefully, trying to discern the movement outside.
The fiend beast’s roar continued, and it was drawing nearer.
But more importantly, besides the fiend beast, Chen Yuyang sensed… something else!
“It’s not coming for us.”
Chen Yuyang opened his eyes, a glint of insight in them.
“It’s fighting someone else.”
Xuan Ke’s heart tightened.
She listened intently, and after a moment, she indeed faintly heard other sounds mixed with the beast’s roar beneath the howling wind.
Chen Yuyang inwardly chided himself for being a bit slow.
If the beast had been specifically targeting them, why would it announce its presence so loudly?
Obviously, it was making those noises because it was locked in combat with something else.
The reason the sound seemed to be getting closer was likely because the battle happened to be moving in their direction—pure coincidence.
“What do we do now? Sit back and watch?”
Xuan Ke whispered, her eyes fixed on the outside.
Chen Yuyang stared into the snow curtain, his gaze as if penetrating the several dozen yards to see through everything.
After a moment of thought, he said in a low voice, “Let’s get closer. If it’s someone from your clan or an ally, we’ll help. Otherwise, we’ll just observe.”
Xuan Ke nodded.
This decision aligned with her own thoughts.