Chapter 103: The Pot and the Cup

Skannol hummed two notes beside Galo’s ear, then the massive Galo obediently lay down on the ground. He extended his hand, as if sensing the temperature around him, and nodded. “Once we reach here, those undead creatures should no longer pursue us.”

“What place is this?”

Wei asked Skannol. The bizarre temperature surrounding them filled Wei with an uncanny unease. Subconsciously, he had always believed this low temperature was not naturally formed by the environment.

“Gate!”

Skannol pointed deep into the small valley, his expression solemn. “If my estimation is correct, the gate connecting the Demon Realm to the Human Great Continent lies here.”

“The Demon Realm’s gate…”

Wei murmured softly, then took several steps forward. Immediately, a bone-chilling chill surged toward his face. Wei was momentarily stunned and failed to react in time; he simply absorbed those chills back into his body. Instantly, his breathing grew increasingly labored, and his entire frame began to tremble instinctively. His heart and lungs felt as though filled with ice crystals and ice shards, sharp and unbearable.

“Cough… cough! … What’s going on?! …”

Unprepared, Wei choked and coughed several times. After a long while, the pain in his chest remained. Wei furrowed his brows, controlling a thread of fire elemental magic power from the sea of consciousness to force the chill out of his chest. But when his magic approached the chill, Wei realized he had been mistaken: what he had inhaled was not genuine cold, but a pure energy entity.

So cold!

Wei shivered violently. The cold, bone-chilling sensation from within his body was far more excruciating than anything his limbs experienced externally. Taking a deep breath, Wei circulated his fire elemental magic power perfectly several times within his body, then thoroughly expelled the cold energy entity inside.

With prior experience, Wei no longer dared to be careless. His magic power ran at all times at its peak, and the magic power within the sea of consciousness reached its utmost state.

Though Wei was filled with vigilance toward the cold fog before him, he was equally curious about the fog. His thoughts turned several circles in his mind, and finally Wei gritted his teeth, extended his hand, and grabbed a handful toward the fog ahead. Normally, any fog consists of water vapor; human limbs can sense contact, yet cannot hold it solidly. Yet unexpectedly, when Wei extended his hand into the surrounding fog, it felt as though plunging into a pile of sand pits. Not only did it resist, but the bone-chilling touch made Wei slightly stunned. Because of the previous surprise, Wei’s hand was already filled with fire elemental magic power. He shook slightly within the cold fog, then grabbed a handful and pulled it back. Upon closer inspection, Wei was astonished to find that the thing he had grabbed was actually a handful of ice shards!

Playing with those ice shards in his hand, Wei’s gaze turned again to the fog in front. He frowned slightly. Just then, the old man Skannol suddenly let out a strange laugh and said to Wei, “Hehe, how’s it going? You’ve discovered the weirdness here too, haven’t you?”

“Mmm…”

Wei nodded and casually tossed the ice shards from his hand onto the ground. “The fog in this small valley is no different from the fog outside, with nothing unusual about it. What’s strange, however, is that an unusual cold energy permeates everywhere here. I can’t quite figure out what’s weird about it now. At this temperature, water could directly turn into snow, frost, or even ice cubes. But look here—the fog formed by water is still enveloping the entire small valley in misty form, just like…”

“Just like a barrier, as if deliberately set up by someone to prevent anyone from passing through the fog area, right?”

Skannol took Wei’s words and looked at the small valley before him, his expression slightly sinking. “To enter this small valley, one must first pass through the outer fog area. People with slightly weaker strength will not have their power suppressed here, but will be easily torn to shreds by the undead creatures. Those with strong power, however, will be suppressed by the fog area’s force. No matter how formidable, once their strength is suppressed, it will at most be slightly better than ordinary people. Even if they can withstand the assaults of countless undead in the fog area, in front of the mountain valley they will still have to halt their steps!”

Saying this, Skannol suddenly paused, then casually grabbed some ice shards that Wei had dropped from the ground and smiled coldly. “Because ordinary people simply cannot withstand the severe cold here!”

“Just like… someone had it all planned out…”

Wei frowned, glanced at Skannol, his eyes filled with strangeness. “Since you know this, why come here? Is it because you already have a way to solve it? Or do you want to gamble by charging in and trying?”

“You tell me, kid?”

Skannol looked at Wei with a playful smile, took out a small pouch from his bosom, rummaged inside with his hand, and tossed a crystal resembling a magic core toward Wei.

“What is this thing?”

Wei played with the object in his hand, suddenly an idea struck him. He gradually probed into it with his perception, and to his surprise, inside this small crystal lay an astonishing amount of energy. Although the storage capacity of this energy was not large, it wasn’t about “quantity” but about “quality”—I’m afraid even a magic master’s power wouldn’t compare to this!

“Hehe… this is my solution!”

Skannol chuckled, saying to Wei, “In the entire fog area, no matter who, once their strength exceeds the ‘standard’ of the fog area’s suppression, they will immediately be suppressed by the fog area’s power. Those whose strength doesn’t reach that ‘standard’ won’t be suppressed. So I tried it several times and discovered this method. Since the reason a person is suppressed is because their internal strength exceeds the ‘standard’ suppressed by the fog area power, then why can’t I reduce my own strength below that ‘standard’? Just like a pot of water that needs to be emptied of all its water—a cup simply can’t completely accept all the water from the kettle. Then, why can’t I use several cups to accept the water from the kettle?”