(101) Rising Altitude

For three full months, snow had fallen without cease; as far as the eye could see, the rolling mountains were all wrapped in a thick, silver-white blanket of snow.

All the roads had been buried beneath the blizzard, making even a single step almost impossible.

Liu Yi had meant to dress warmly before going out, but after wrapping herself in a dragon-shed skin, she found that she did not feel cold at all; there was no need to slog through the snow, either. She simply rode on Little Phoenix’s neck and looked down upon the rugged peaks.

Yet the icy wind kept slapping at her face, stinging her skin.

Her attack pattern had three forms. The first was a barrage of frozen, needle-sharp ice crystals bursting up from the ground, impossible to guard against.

“Smash the place yourself, or should I do it for you?” I curled the corner of my mouth and took a fearless step forward.

“The light is already fading. How about we stay at the inn for the night and decide tomorrow?” Ling Xue said with a glance at Yun Yi.

Of course he could take Wan Qing there. But on the previous occasions when he said he would take her, she had refused. He figured she simply disliked it, so he went there less himself as well. After all, that sort of setting was only for fun; it wasn’t as though they were there to do real business.

Kavis did not know whether he was afraid of Kedina, who had come back from the dead, or deeply intimidated by that spell. He was no longer as bold as before; he simply turned and ran.

Had he really won? Qin Xiao thought so too, but he did not realize that he had already fallen into a whirlpool. He had tripped up Wang Jiajun, yet in doing so he had drawn even more enemies and endless trouble upon himself.

I whirled around in a hurry. The two young men in gray work clothes who had been crouched beneath the tool truck had no idea when they had climbed out. Each had a wrench in hand as they rushed toward us. The rear cargo doors of the truck stood wide open, and from inside sprang six or seven young men armed with cleavers.

“Get back!” Cang Ba roared. His aura surged violently, and the energy of the gold and water elements formed a wall of force before the four of them, sending all fourteen needles flying back the way they had come.

“Heh. I have to admit your deduction was exactly right. But do you really think that once the barrier is broken, I’ll be so easy to deal with?” The necromancer Kark gave a cold laugh, and a visible plume of purple-gray smoke was slowly rising from beneath his bear-like feet.

“No need. Let them go back and spread the word. Otherwise, how else could the King of the Di make preparations?” Zhao Feng said with a faint smile.

A special police officer, who had charged in at some point, ran out carrying Liu Xi, who was dressed in black.

Seeing Jiang Hai still not come in, the man continued speaking from inside. His words carried a hint of interrogation, but more than that there was admiration and a bold, hearty spirit. The latter seemed to come from him naturally, by instinct; as for the former, it was not yet clear why.

“Then tell me about that shell maiden of yours,” Qin Zheng said. He was inclined to believe it, because the legend said there truly was a shell maiden living inside that seashell.

“That’s really... utterly unreasonable.” Mu Qingqing withdrew her previous technique. There was no panic on her face; her eyes were calm as water, flashing with a faint light.

At once, the blood-red immortal sword wheeled around to aim at Li Zhiyuan and thundered toward him.

Qiaoqiao was in Class 1 of Senior Year Three, while Li Zhiyuan was placed in Class 2. Because he was tall, Li Zhiyuan was assigned to the back row.

As the words fell, a streak of golden light rose from Ye Xiaofeng’s fingertip, and the Li family’s second young master actually dropped to the ground at once. His body swayed, then changed into a black dog.

Wang Ning froze, and a sudden sense of guilt welled up inside her. She even forgot to say anything further in rebuttal.

Ye Xiaofeng, however, was somewhat puzzled. Since the other side had been able to capture the Yin-Yang Spider, why not simply kill her and be done with it? Why go to all the trouble of setting up a Demon-Sealing Grand Array to seal the Yin-Yang Spider instead?

After Ribery received the ball again, he feinted with an inward cut, then twisted his ankle and carried the ball toward the byline and into the penalty area.