“Zzz—” Li Qiye and Yonghuang took their time walking into the valley while noisily stepping on the snow.
Li Qiye was nonchalant with a faint smile on his face as he told Yonghuang: “You need to be ready. The frost here can kill you instantly, so channel your Solar Physique for protection. Fire and ice oppose each other, so this freezing force won't kill you no matter how powerful it might be.”
“Is the ice source here really that powerful?” Yonghuang's eyes turned serious. At this time, she channeled her inner physique and energy so that it could erupt on command.
“There's an ice source, but it's not that dangerous.” Li Qiye smiled freely: “However, someone has played with it, so its power is a lot more frantic right now.”
“You're still going forward despite knowing the dangers.” She gave him the side-eye. Of course, she wasn't blaming him at all. It was more of a coquettish glance that makes the heart itch.
“It's just a little danger, can't reach the apex. You can just wait and watch the fun.” Li Qiye grinned: “If he wants to trick me, let him do so before I take his dog life.”
She smiled gracefully in response without feeling any pressure. She always had confidence in Li Qiye since he would stay true to his words. Nothing in this world was difficult for him.
As they continued forward, many people outside held their breaths and gazed at the duo's every single step with their hearts hanging.
“Buzz.” Once the two reached the depths of the valley, a freezing force suddenly exploded with unbelievable speed and encapsulated the two, turning them into ice sculptures.
However, Yonghuang prepared herself beforehand. The moment the ice layer surrounded her, her Solar Physique erupted with its refined sunfire surging several times more powerful than usual.
“Buzz—” The physique melted the ice right away and continued to spread further to melt everything else.
However, this freezing force was extremely powerful. Like Zhentian had said earlier, it could instantly freeze a God-Monarch to death. If she wasn't prepared, this could have been her funeral.
Despite the instantaneous eruption of her physique, the power of this mysterious ice also crazily surged and resisted her high temperature.
Shortly afterward, her sunfire and this freezing force contested each other. She couldn't melt this Godking level ice, but it couldn't hurt her either.
As for Li Qiye, he was also frozen and stood still as if he had been killed by the cold.
“There's danger indeed, what a frightening freezing power.” The cultivators outside were shocked to see this. Even someone as strong Li Qiye had been frozen — this made all the spectators sweat. Luckily, the white general stood guard there or they might have suffered the same fate as Li Qiye just now.
Some of the wavering cultivators heaved a sigh of relief and felt that they had misunderstood the white general. It looks like Zhentian had good intentions after all.
Only the real masters from the previous generation were staring at Su Yonghuang, who was on the verge of being frozen. They were able to see some clues. While she was resisting the cold, the underground area of this valley would change as talismans emerged. These talismans would only appear for a split second. No one would notice them if they weren't paying attention.
The old masters immediately realized that this freezing force wasn't part of nature, it was ingrained in the valley. Someone else had done something, this valley was just a trap from the start.
They quickly calculated that the power of this force must be at least a Godking. Perhaps two or three Godkings worked together to do this. Even though no one was personally presiding over it, it was still powerful enough like Zhentian had previously said.
Because of this, they secretly glanced over at Zhentian, who was standing by the entrance. They knew what was going on right away, but no one dared to say anything. Some felt a bit of pity. Li Qiye might be strong, but his schemes weren't a match for Zhentian at all.
“What a shame, he didn't listen to my good advice. Like I said, this valley is very dangerous.” Zhentian was shaking his head and seemed to be full of compassionate pity.
“Boom!” While people were mourning for Li Qiye, his prison of ice instantly shattered. Li Qiye was way too fast, no one could see how he escaped.
This ice might have been amazing, but it couldn't touch Li Qiye at all since he activated both the Soaring and Hell Suppressing Physiques at the same time.
This astonished many people. Even the refined sunfire couldn't melt all of the ice right away, but Li Qiye was able to shatter it in an instant. This was way too mighty.
Zhentian's expression dimmed after seeing this. They had spent a lot of effort inside this valley so that Li Qiye would jump into the trap. Even if it couldn't kill Li Qiye, he shouldn't have been able to dispel it so quickly. Such strength was beyond their expectations.
Li Qiye didn't help Yonghuang right away because she wasn't in any immediate danger and could withstand it for a bit longer. He stomped on the ground and propelled himself upward instead.
With clanking sounds, thick ice chains made from powerful ice crystals shot out from all four directions. Each link of these ice chains had been empowered by runes. These dense linear runes had fused with the ice completely.
“Clank!” These chains were extremely fast and immediately coiled then tied Li Qiye in the air. They were already quite hard by themselves even before the runic empowerment, so it wasn't easy to tear them apart.
“Buzz!” The freezing force came again, intending to encapsulate him once more.
However, Li Qiye's body slightly quaked. This force couldn't turn him into a statue at all. Little pieces of ice crystals kept on falling down.
“Zhentian, this trivial scheme is too sad.” Li Qiye smiled and shook his head: “If your group was actually controlling this freezing array, then it might be worth something. However, the formation alone is not even an appetizer for me.”
The cultivators turned over to look at Zhentian after hearing his. In fact, after seeing the runic ice chains, even the foolish people understood that this wasn't a natural occurrence but a force refined by experts. There was no need to think further about who the mastermind behind this was.
Zhentian was completely unperturbed. His face didn't turn red at all as he shook his head: “Fellow Daoist Li, I'm afraid you are gauging the heart of a gentleman with a villainous mind. You should know that Reincarnation Valley itself is a grand momentum. This frozen valley ahead is a part of it, it has nothing to do with us.”
Some cultivators felt that this was an acceptable explanation. Perhaps this formation was already here before they arrived.
“Is that so? Then I am wrongfully accusing you.”
“What a waste of our good intentions.” The white general coldly uttered: “My master is considerate of you being a great character, so he kindly warned you. Who would have thought that this kindness would be met with scorn?”
“That doesn't matter.” Li Qiye leisurely replied: “Use all of your means now while I still have time to keep you company. Will you and your master come together, or will it be one by one? Either way is fine. Come, don't waste my time anymore.”
“Fellow Daoist Li, you are accusing us for no reason. This is not a respectable act.” Zhentian's expression turned cold at last: “I had nothing but good intentions…”
“Okay, don't act like a cat crying for the mouse.” Li Qiye laughed: “None of us are good people so there's no need to put on this hypocritical act. It doesn't matter who is righteous or evil, the strong will win in the competition for the Heaven's Will. Come, I am here just as you wished. We'll fight and see who the final winner will be.”
“Li, you always think you are correct.” The white general answered with a shout before Zhentian could reply: “I will see what you can do in my master's stead.”
Having said that, he stepped into the valley. Zhentian kept on calmly watching the show, he didn't stop his general.
Meanwhile, the rest of the spectators felt anxious. This was the prelude to the battle for the Heaven's Will.