novelhk Chapter 222 Ice Dragon
Chapter 222 Ice Dragon
"It's over there."
Song Ya pointed ahead and could vaguely see several people discussing something in the distance. They must be the people Song Ya was talking about.
Tao Tao nodded and quickly took off and flew over with him.
Upon seeing them appear, one of them immediately frowned and even summoned a magical artifact, ready to attack. Sensing the danger, Song Ya quickly intervened, "Brother Zhao, don't get agitated. This lady is someone I specially invited. Zhou Li unfortunately passed away, and we happen to be short of someone here, so I've asked Miss Le to fill the vacancy."
"You think you can just bring anyone to fill the vacancy? I think you're up to no good. Besides, Zhou Li was perfectly fine just now, wasn't he? He said he was going to investigate the person who used divine sense to probe us. Could it be them?"
As Zhao Si spoke, he glanced at Tao Tao and the others, his temper flaring up instantly. "Song Ya, are you out of your mind? How could you bring such a few people with low cultivation levels to join us? Do you think just anyone is qualified to go down there?"
"I told you not to get agitated, I'll explain to you in a bit."
"What, you can't explain it clearly, so you give me this? Let me tell you, this matter is of utmost importance. We said from the beginning that no outsiders could be involved, and you, you just grab anyone and think you can..."
Zhao Si was about to start cursing, but fearing he might do something rash, Song Ya had to send him a telepathic message. The two of them were exchanging words when Tao Tao suddenly stepped forward, and at the same time, one of their men, dressed in a black cloak, also walked towards Tao Tao.
"It's you?"
They spoke in unison, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"Little one, we meet again?" As he spoke, the man took off his hood in front of everyone, revealing a handsome face. The little girl beside him trembled subconsciously and looked at Tao Tao with a worried expression.
The little girl was none other than Ah Huan, and the person who took off the cloak was Pei Qingyan.
How did he end up here?
Tao Tao was puzzled, but now she didn't need to be afraid of Pei Qingyan anymore. They were both Nascent Soul cultivators, and it was uncertain who would win or lose if they fought.
"Yes, we meet again." Tao Tao smiled and touched her nose, completely unafraid. At this moment, Pei Qingyan was also hiding his cultivation level. In the eyes of others, he was only at the peak of the late stage of Core Formation, but he was still above everyone else. Therefore, he recognized Tao Tao, which also made others look at Tao Tao in a different light.
Ah Huan, on the other hand, seemed inexplicably timid. Ever since their last parting, Ah Huan's condition looked terrible. He was covered in injuries, and his eyes kept darting around. He wanted to ask about Tao Tao's situation but didn't dare to. It seemed that Pei Qingyan had severely punished him.
Pei Qingyan was quite surprised to see that Tao Tao was not afraid of him. However, he wondered if she had some tricks up her sleeve. Since Pei Qingyan had other purposes this time, he was too lazy to settle accounts with her and would deal with it after they left.
"Everyone, I know this little girl. I wonder if we could let her join us for my sake? We're short one person anyway, and don't underestimate her just because her cultivation is so-so. She's definitely qualified to set up formations."
Unexpectedly, Pei Qingyan not only didn't confront her directly but also helped her. Tao Tao was quite surprised and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Right now, her main goal was still the Ice Dragon. If it was useful to Bai Yan, she would brave any danger, even mountains of knives and seas of fire.
"Since you've said so, senior, we have no objections. Now that everyone is here, let's begin."
As expected of Pei Qingyan, the others actually agreed. Song Ya ran over and explained the formation to Tao Tao. Tao Tao nodded upon hearing this, "Don't worry, I know how to do this formation."
Some people were surprised to hear her speak, but that's not important right now; breaking through the ice is the most important thing.
Meanwhile, someone glanced at the group behind Tao Tao and said somewhat displeasedly, "It's fine that Miss Le joined, but what's with these two?"
Those two refer to Bai Yan and Lu Bai, while Qianfeng Liuyunma is just a spirit pet, so there's no problem with that.
"They're the ones I brought, so why can't they join?" Tao Tao tilted his head and asked, sounding completely justified, without any sense that there was anything wrong with what he said.
The man was so angry he almost flew into a rage. He roared, "These two are completely weak. Bringing them along will only make us a liability!"
Hearing this, Lu Bai broke out in a cold sweat again; he really didn't want to see the scene from just now again.
"Whether she's a hindrance or not is her business, it's none of your concern, so don't interfere. Our main task now is to break through the ice; we don't know what's underneath."
Pei Qingyan clearly didn't want to wait any longer and spoke up directly. With his words, the other person didn't dare to act rashly and could only silently agree.
This averted a conflict, and Lu Bai breathed a sigh of relief.
Several people began to set up the formation. There were seven people in total, each standing in one of the seven directions, and they poured their spiritual power into the formation to amplify its power.
The formation was activated quickly, and seven beams of light shot straight into the sky. After a loud bang, they formed a giant magic array in the air, and a terrifying force rushed towards the ice surface.
"boom--"
A loud bang was heard instantly, followed by the sudden collapse of the ice layer. Broken ice shards flew in all directions. Tao Tao opened up a barrier to shield Bai Yan and the others. Soon after the ice layer shattered, a huge black hole appeared on the ground. The group quickly landed next to the black hole and looked down, only to find that it was pitch black and they could not see anything.
I never expected there to be such a space below. The floating island truly lives up to its reputation as a high-level spatial artifact; it's just different.
"Let's go, let's go down and take a look." Pei Qingyan couldn't wait any longer. He slowly spoke and jumped into the black hole. The others followed closely behind. Tao Tao glanced at Bai Yan and said, "Let's go down too."
Bai Yan nodded slightly and jumped down at the same time as Tao Tao. Lu Bai quickly followed, because in the current situation, if he was even a little slower, he might be left behind.
The black hole is so deep that you can't see the bottom for a long time after jumping in.
It was extremely quiet here; you couldn't feel the air moving, or even feel a breeze. The silence was almost unbelievable, which only highlighted the eeriness of the place.
The group remained silent, each lost in their own calculations. After all, their primary concern was whether they could gain as much benefit as possible if they actually encountered the Ice Dragon.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally landed, but as soon as they landed, they heard someone scream. The group looked over and found that the person had been pierced through by an ice shard, and had no time to dodge. Fortunately, the golden core was not damaged.
After someone helped him remove the ice shards, he took out a pill and swallowed it to recuperate. But at that moment, thousands of ice shards attacked from all directions at great speed. If Tao Tao and Pei Qingyan hadn't reacted quickly and opened the barrier, this group of people would probably have been injured like the person before.
"Wasn't the Ice Dragon already dead? Why is it still attacking?"
"It's just a rumor that he fell, but whether he really fell is still unknown. Besides, we're not the only ones who know about this place. There may be others who have come here, and perhaps someone else has already gotten there first."
Pei Qingyan's voice was calm, but his words made the others sigh.
Someone actually got here first? Looks like they'd better hurry, or they'll get nothing.
"But the attack of those ice shards was so swift. If someone was really there, wouldn't their cultivation level be at least at the Nascent Soul stage?"
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
If it's truly a Nascent Soul cultivator, then at most, this group of people are at the peak of the late Core Formation stage. If they were to actually encounter one, they would have no chance of defeating him.
“The ice icicles have stopped attacking, let’s go check it out ahead,” Tao Tao said. The others hesitated, but since they were already here, they couldn’t just leave without going. So they gritted their teeth and agreed, and followed her forward.
Once they sensed no danger, a few people quickened their pace, seemingly wanting to get ahead and see what was going on. In reality, they were just after a little bit of profit, while Tao Tao, Pei Qingyan, and the others fell behind.
At this moment, Pei Qingyan stood side by side with Tao Tao and suddenly asked in a deep voice, "Your cultivation has advanced by such a rapid pace. It seems you have had a fortuitous encounter."
He could only tell that Tao Tao's cultivation level was not low, but he did not realize that she had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.
"Indeed, there was a fortuitous encounter, but what are you seeking here, senior? The inner core of the Ice Dragon?"
After all, he must be looking for a way to save his daughter, and this Ice Dragon's inner core might be worth a try.
"You know perfectly well why you're asking? What, you want it too?" Pei Qingyan's eyes darkened, his tone carrying a hint of danger. Tao Tao had tricked him last time, taking his spirit stones but not getting back the Liuxian Lotus Platform. He was still angry, and if Tao Tao dared to covet the Ice Dragon's inner core again, he certainly wouldn't let her off easily.
"Just out of curiosity."
Tao Tao didn't answer the question directly. After all, she felt indebted to Pei Qingyan, and if the inner core was useless to Bai Yan, she certainly wouldn't try to snatch it.
“Little brat, I’ll let you off the hook for now after testing the Immortal Lotus Platform, but if you dare to oppose me, I will make sure you die a horrible death.”
Such threats were actually useless against Tao Tao at the moment, but Tao Tao didn't want to expose himself, so he could only scratch his head and say with a smile, "I'll wait."
Of course, Tao Tao was also very curious. Pei Qingyan cared so much about the Liuxian Lotus Platform, so why didn't he hold it against her? Could it be that Ah Huan lied to him?
However, given the circumstances at the time, Ah Huan couldn't possibly believe that she had taken the Liuxian Lotus Platform. In any case, the Liuxian Lotus Platform had already been devoured by Bai Yan, and he couldn't find out anything, so the matter was put to rest.
Ah Huan breathed a sigh of relief. Her biggest worry was that Pei Qingyan would harm Tao Tao, but now it seemed that Pei Qingyan appreciated her quite a bit, so at least she was safe for now.
After walking for a while, we found that this place was a huge cave where the sun never shines. The cave was quite damp, and although it was covered with frost, it was completely different when we went in. Logically speaking, since we were already close to the Ice Dragon, it should be getting colder and colder, right?
"Strange, haven't we just been here?"
Just then, someone suddenly asked a question. Tao Tao glanced around and frowned. "It seems like we've been going in circles."
“That’s right, that’s exactly it,” Pei Qingyan said.
They then realized they had fallen into an illusion, and from the moment they stepped into the black hole, everything was no longer under their control.
"Is there any way we can get out? We can't stay trapped here forever," Song Ya asked with a worried look. This place was already strange, and now it's all so mysterious. Who knows what might happen?
"This doesn't seem to be an ordinary illusion. It might be difficult to leave." Pei Qingyan first used his divine sense to investigate, but found that the place was bottomless and he couldn't find anything there.
He was a Nascent Soul cultivator; if even he couldn't detect others, there was no need to worry.
Tao Tao tried it too, but found nothing. And that's often the most dangerous thing. She couldn't help but look at Bai Yan and whisper, "Ayan, did you notice?"
"I noticed it from the very beginning."
As soon as Bai Yan said this, everyone looked at him, and someone couldn't help but angrily say, "You know why you didn't say it? What are you pretending to be mysterious for!"
"He's just a Qi Refining cultivator, do you think he could know that? He's definitely just making things up."
Tao Tao couldn't stand these things, so he immediately turned around and looked at the two men. They felt a chilling killing intent and also assumed a fighting stance. At this moment, Bai Yan gently placed his hand on Tao Tao's shoulder, calming Tao Tao's anger, and said, "Although it is an illusion, it is not without a way to break it."
"What is the meaning of this young friend's question?" Pei Qingyan suddenly asked.
Bai Yan smiled faintly, "I have a way to get out, but I would like to borrow your spiritual power. If you have spirit stones, that would be fine too."
"You?" Zhao Si clearly didn't believe him, looking Bai Yan up and down, and suddenly burst into laughter, "I'm telling you, with your cultivation level, what good would it do if we gave you spiritual power? You're not trying to take the opportunity to improve yourself, are you? Let me tell you, talent is predetermined, no matter how hard you try, it's useless."
Before Tao Tao could speak, Bai Yan swept a cold glint in his eyes. The moment Zhao Si's eyes met those eyes, he felt a tremor in his soul and instinctively bent his knees and knelt on the ground, unable to utter a single word.
His sudden action greatly surprised everyone, and they all looked at Bai Yan in disbelief. Why would Zhao Si suddenly kneel down? Apart from his good looks, this young man should not have had the ability to intimidate Zhao Si.
Others might not know, but Pei Qingyan, who was closer to him, felt it most clearly. The oppressive feeling was definitely not something a Qi Refining stage cultivator should have. Even he, a Nascent Soul cultivator, felt threatened, which shows how powerful he was.
Could it be that he's hiding his true strength? If so, how powerful must he really be?
Pei Qingyan dared not think too much about it, since the other party's cultivation was at least above his own. He couldn't help but swallow hard, but on the surface, he said calmly, "We naturally have spirit stones. Please make your move, young friend."
As he spoke, Pei Qingyan took out tens of thousands of spirit stones, and the others also took out spirit stones. In this situation, when the strength of the other party is uncertain, it is best not to provoke them easily.
Bai Yan glanced at the spirit stones and said calmly, "Not enough."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes widened. He was a Qi Refining stage cultivator and so many spirit stones were not enough. But the problem was that no matter how many were given, he had to be able to use them. Wouldn't he be afraid of exploding and dying if he forced himself to use them?
While everyone was lost in thought, Pei Qingyan took out another 100,000 spirit stones. The others were immediately shocked and couldn't believe it. "100,000 spirit stones, can he really use that?"
Bai Yan didn't want to listen to their nonsense, and said calmly, "Just take it out, you don't need to worry about whether I can use it or not."