Ye Qiu and his group dashed forward frantically. They did not know how long they had been travelling. As far as the eye could see, ahead was still vast ice and snow, with no end in sight.
“I should not have listened to you, you swindler.”
Ye Qiu turned his head and glared at the Real Changmei. He cursed him irritably.
While dashing forward, he was channelling true qi into Fairy Baihua to ward off the cold. This greatly diminished his stamina.
“You little brat, rest for a moment first. Let this poor Daoist divine a hexagram before we continue.”
With that, the Real Changmei took out a copper coin. He clasped it between his hands and shook it while muttering incantations under his breath.
After a moment.
The Real Changmei released his palms. The copper coin flew into the sky and then headed forward.
“Press on straight ahead. There will surely be a chance for survival.”
“Let’s go!”
The group set off once more.
After dashing for several hours, Ye Qiu was exhausted and gasping for breath. Green萝 and the Real Changmei were also out of strength.
“I cannot go on, you little brat. Rest for a bit before we continue. This poor Daoist needs to recover some stamina.”
The Real Changmei collapsed to the ground. He spoke in utter exhaustion.
Who would have thought that as soon as he lay down, a layer of thin ice formed on his Daoist robe. The temperature here was even colder than when they had first entered.
Green萝 was no better off. She hugged her arms to her chest, shivering all over from the cold.
“You old thing, get up quickly.”
“We cannot stay here. If we do, we will all turn into corpses.”
“We must keep moving.”
With that, Ye Qiu reached into his Qiankun pouch and pulled out some items. He tossed them to Green萝 and the Real Changmei.
“Oreo!”
“Pringles!”
“Beef jerky!”
“Nongfu Spring!”
“White Rabbit milk candy!”
“Lao Tan pickled cabbage noodles!”
“Bloody hell, why is there even Durex?”
The Real Changmei exclaimed in surprise. Then he said, “You little brat, I never expected you to hide so many good things in your Qiankun pouch. Do you have any Maotai or Wuliangye?”
“No.” Ye Qiu swiftly snatched the Durex back from the Real Changmei’s hand. He had grabbed the items too quickly earlier and accidentally tossed this out as well.
“You little brat, really no baijiu? Baijiu can ward off the cold,” the Real Changmei said.
“Truly none.” Ye Qiu said, “When we left, I meant to pack some wine, but then I thought that the wine from the cultivation world contains spiritual qi, so it must taste better than the secular world’s wine. Thus, I did not pack any.”
“You little brat, how muddleheaded. No matter how fine the cultivation world’s wine is, can it taste as good as the wine from our homeland? That one carries the flavour of renminbi.”
The Real Changmei was heartbroken. Then he said with a furrowed brow, “The Lao Tan pickled cabbage noodles are a fine thing indeed, but alas, no boiling water.”
“Enough chatter. Replenish your stamina while we travel. Otherwise, we will all die here.” With that, Ye Qiu unwrapped a piece of chocolate and stuffed it into Fairy Baihua’s mouth. “You eat some too.”
“Mm.” Fairy Baihua smiled sweetly.
The group continued forward, dashing all the way.
This place was nothing but ice and snow. Not a single tree could be seen, nor a flying bird. Even an insect was nowhere to be found. One could see just how harsh the environment was.
Another several hours passed. The group was so weary that they could only trudge slowly through the snow.
Once their speed slowed, the cold qi seeped into their bodies. Their meridians nearly froze solid.
A layer of ice had formed on their clothes. Frost flowers appeared on their hair and eyebrows. Their skin had frozen to a dark purple.
Ye Qiu looked down. Fairy Baihua could no longer endure it and had fallen unconscious once more.
“You little brat, let us rest for a while before going on. If we keep this up, we will die of exhaustion,” the Real Changmei said feebly.
“We cannot stop. We must grit our teeth and persist.” Ye Qiu said, “Fairy Baihua has fainted again. If we cannot find a chance for survival soon, not only will she die, but we will too. You old thing, you do not wish to die here, do you?”
The Real Changmei said, “This poor Daoist has no desire to die. I still wish to take three hundred and sixty concubines.”
Ye Qiu asked Green萝 again, “Can you hold on?”
Green萝 gritted her teeth and said, “Yes.”
The group pushed on desperately, continuing forward. After another two hours, suddenly, a canyon appeared ahead.
“You little brat, there is a canyon ahead.” The Real Changmei shouted in delight.
“I see it.” Ye Qiu walked towards the canyon.
After entering the canyon, the cold qi finally eased a little.
The canyon walls were glaciers.
They did not stop. They continued along the canyon. After half an hour, they reached the end.
“You little brat, look quickly.”
The Real Changmei suddenly pointed towards the sky.
Ye Qiu looked up. In an instant, he spotted more than a dozen flying treasures similar to the Wind-riding Boat hovering in the void outside the white light barrier.
Among them was a bronze Wind-riding Boat. An elder and a young man with a sword on his back stood upon it.
In addition, people stood on every flying treasure. They faced each other across the void.
Ye Qiu said, “Who are these people?”
“You little brat, be quiet.” The Real Changmei whispered, “If those outside hear us, we are done for.”
“No matter. When we entered the array, I observed it. This Great Sage Array is like a mirror. Those outside cannot see inside, but those inside can see everything outside.” Ye Qiu said, “They cannot only not hear us speak, they cannot even see us at all.”
The Real Changmei was stunned. “So marvellous?”
Green萝 pointed outside the array and said, “To the east are people from the Qingyun Sword Sect.”
People from the foremost great sect of the Eastern Wastelands?
Ye Qiu was somewhat curious. He looked over. Upon the flying treasure to the east stood a group of handsome men and beautiful women, each holding a long sword. They had extraordinary bearing. At their head were a man and a woman.
The man was an old fellow with a goatee. He wore a purple gold crown on his head and had a wine gourd at his waist. He had a smiling, amiable appearance.
Beside the old fellow stood a woman in an ice-blue long skirt.
The woman had her face veiled with a silk scarf, so her features could not be seen. Yet her exposed eyes were as bright as stars in the sky. She had a tall figure, and her waist was slender like a willow branch, too delicate to grasp. She was like a fairy descended to the mortal world.
“To the south are people from the Yin Yang Sect and the Butian Sect.”
“To the west are people from the Taichu Sacred Ground, the Chaos Sacred Ground, and the Desolate Ancient Sacred Ground.”
“Good heavens, have all seven supreme sects of the Eastern Wastelands come?”
Green萝 said in astonishment, “Could something major be about to happen here?”
At that moment.
The elder from the Qingyun Sword Sect removed the wine gourd from his waist. He took a swig of wine, then said, “Everyone, in three days’ time, the Great Sage Array will collapse. At that point, we can enter the Sage Tomb below.”
“I presume you all know that this Sage Tomb contains an inheritance left by a Sage powerhouse. Whoever obtains the inheritance then will do so by their own means.”
“I know that among you lot, some harbour grudges against our Qingyun Sword Sect. If you wish to fish in troubled waters, come straight at me.”
“I say this upfront. If any from the elder generation dare lay hands on the disciples of our Qingyun Sword Sect, do not blame the Wine Sword Immortal for showing no mercy.”
As the elder’s words fell, he tossed out the wine gourd in his hand.
In the next second, the gourd turned into a ten-thousand-zhang giant sword. It erupted with seven-coloured light, like a blazing sun, towering in the firmament.
