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Translator: AnubisTL
Having completed all preparations at the camp, Jieming wasted no time.
He immediately stepped into a swirling vortex shimmering with silver-white runes, activating the camp's internal teleportation formation.
With a flash of light and shadow, his vision cleared to reveal the interior of a forward outpost established by the wizard legion in the Frostdark Realm.
This outpost, one of the wizards' achievements over the past two years, symbolized the extreme retreat of the two races' battle lines.
Constructed from high-strength special alloys and anti-magic runes, the completely sealed structure was encrusted with thick layers of frost, radiating an aura of icy solidity.
Inside, stable mana circuits maintained a comfortable temperature, the air dry and warm, a stark contrast to the extreme cold outside.
Jieming approached a thick, multi-layered porthole. Through the transparent crystalline layers, he gazed upon a world of ice and snow, utterly different from the Blazing Sun Realm yet equally extreme.
The leaden-gray sky hung low, heavy and oppressive, like a frozen ice cap.
Large, feather-like snowflakes fell continuously, showing no signs of stopping, relentlessly blanketing the land in a chillingly pure white.
In the distance, towering glaciers rose like colossal sculptures, their jagged peaks adorned with massive icicles that reflected the dim, almost nonexistent sunlight, casting an eerie, frigid glow.
The air was thick with fine ice crystals, reducing visibility to near zero. The world seemed shrouded in a heavy, blurred filter.
Whenever a strong wind swept through, it whipped up violent snowstorms that swirled erratically, emitting ghostly howls that could easily tear through mortal skin and freeze flesh solid.
"Welcome to the ice hell, my friend," a raspy voice sounded from behind.
Jieming turned to see the outpost commander, a pale-faced second-tier wizard draped in a heavy wizard robe.
The commander glanced at Jieming, who was still adjusting to the environment, nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to leave, tossing over his shoulder as he walked away:
"Remember to bundle up. Constantly expending mental power to resist the cold isn't a sustainable strategy."
Jieming merely nodded slightly, offering no further comment.
The commander's advice was well-intentioned.
Unlike his previous expedition to the Blazing Sun Realm, this frontier outpost had significantly advanced into the Frostdark Realm over the past year.
According to Jieming's understanding, the deeper one ventured into the two realms of the Flamefrost Plane, the greater the temperature disparity between them became.
At this depth, the external low temperatures and blizzards were comparable to being constantly exposed to a second-tier apprentice's low-temperature spell.
He pushed open the heavy metal door, and a bone-chilling cold instantly rushed in, invigorating his spirit.
In the camp's laboratory, he had attempted to simulate the extreme cold of the Frostdark Realm, but experiencing it firsthand was an entirely different sensation.
However, something astonishing occurred.
As he truly stepped into this icy world, his body tempering method activated spontaneously, as if stimulated by a specific frequency!
Jieming immediately understood what was happening.
His body was undergoing adaptive changes to the Frostdark Realm's environment in this extreme cold!
He could clearly feel his blood flow slowing and becoming denser, no longer surging as rapidly as it had in the Blazing Sun Realm.
The heat within his body seemed to be locked within a specialized insulating layer, retaining warmth more efficiently and minimizing heat loss.
His muscle fibers also appeared to become tougher in the low temperatures, taut yet elastic. Each contraction now pulsed with explosive power.
He even sensed that as his body fought against the external cold, his cells were undergoing subtle restructuring.
His body's "low-temperature elemental resistance," already enhanced through training and secret elixirs, was now steadily increasing!
"What a pleasant surprise," Jieming thought, somewhat astonished. "This short period of adaptation has yielded better results than a month or two of previous training."
Yet during his training, he had endured even harsher cold environments than this.
As he traveled, pondering this, Jieming finally realized: "It seems the 'concept' has completely permeated the various cultivation techniques of the immortal cultivation world. Even body cultivators gain different benefits depending on the specific concept they embody."
Instead of rushing deeper into the realm, he first conducted a preliminary exploration of the area around the outpost, using it as an opportunity to further train his body.
The swirling snow provided natural cover, allowing his figure to flicker across the icy plains before vanishing into the blizzard.
During his long journey through the snow and ice, he encountered several unique creatures native to the Frostdark Realm.
One type was a swarm of strange "frozen worms" writhing deep within the permafrost. Their crystalline bodies emitted faint ice elemental fluctuations as they intertwined to form a massive, slow-moving hive, devouring subterranean energy.
Others were colossal beasts, lurking deep beneath the thick ice.
Only when Jieming approached did their massive shadows flicker beneath the ice, leaving behind cracks and bottomless roars.
Without exception, these creatures radiated a transcendent aura, proving that this world was not as lifeless as it appeared.
Jieming trudged through the vast, uneven ice plains, his scouting eye's perception range expanded to its limit, keenly detecting any abnormal energy fluctuations in the air.
Finally, a distinct ice element fluctuation bearing clear signs of life pierced through the blizzard and was precisely captured by him.
"Got it..."
He froze, crouching low against the wind and snow, suppressing all traces of his presence.
Ahead, a snow-covered ice ridge loomed. Several massive figures flickered through the blizzard—snow monsters!
This was a small squad of about twenty snow monsters, their bodies composed of solid ice crystals and frozen earth. They were hulking creatures with thick, six-limbed frames, their bodies wrapped in solidified frost.
Their eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and their heavy, rhythmic footsteps suggested they were on patrol.
"Hmm?" Jieming observed the group more closely, his brow furrowing.
He realized there were no second-tier beings among the snow monster squad. "These snow monsters... their ranks are rather low, aren't they?"
Whoosh—
The wind howled through the blizzard, carrying the snow monsters' distinctive cries—a chilling, oppressive sound.
The snow monsters abruptly halted, swiveling their heads in unison. Their eerie blue eyes instantly locked onto Jieming's hiding place!
"Looks like I've been discovered," Jieming muttered, twisting his neck, completely unsurprised.
Elemental creatures born in the Frostdark Realm, where light was virtually nonexistent, clearly didn't rely on vision. Instead, they detected enemies through thermal sensing.
"Wizard!"
A Snow Monster Leader, noticeably larger than the others, unleashed a deafening roar that echoed across the frozen wasteland, carrying an icy chill to the bone.
It stomped forward, its massive bulk propelled by overwhelming momentum, leading the charge of snow monsters toward Jieming!
Jieming expressionlessly raised his hand.
The battle lasted barely a dozen seconds—a complete and utter rout.
He swiftly retrieved the snow monsters' Ice Crystal Cores into his space ring, then activated his spell artifact's soul search function, expertly scouring the souls of the fallen creatures.
Jieming forcefully extracted wisps of icy spiritual energy, carrying fragments of the snow monster's memories.
After a brief analysis, he finally obtained the information he sought about the snow monster gathering place.
Following the directions gleaned from the soul fragments, Jieming traversed the icy plains for several more hours.
He eventually arrived at the area marked as the "snow monster gathering place."
The gathering place was far larger than he had anticipated, surrounded by towering ice mountains, with a relatively flat, frozen basin at its center.
Scattered throughout the basin were crude structures built from ice blocks and frozen earth, their rough, primitive appearance betraying their origins.
The air was thick with the oppressive aura of ice elemental qi, and faint drumming sounds echoed through the area, confirming the presence of a significant number of snow monsters within.
However, as Jieming cautiously concealed himself, even activating a camouflage rune that completely merged his form and body temperature with the blizzard, and stealthily infiltrated the gathering place for reconnaissance, his confusion deepened.
The snow monster population here was substantial, far exceeding the scale of a typical small outpost and approaching that of a medium-sized settlement!
Yet, through the perception of his "scouting eye" and precise analysis of energy fluctuations, Jieming discovered an astonishing truth: this massive gathering place was overseen by only one second-tier snow monster!
Not only was there no third-tier snow monster, Jieming couldn't even find any traces of other second-tier snow monsters!
"How is this possible? With so many snow monsters, there's only one second-tier chief?" Jieming wondered, his mind filled with confusion.
This was utterly abnormal!
According to the wizard legion's intelligence, a gathering place of this size should have been jointly managed by at least one or two third-tier snow monsters and hundreds of elite second-tier snow monsters.
Jieming hid in the shadow of an iceberg, patiently waiting.
He observed the snow monsters' behavior patterns within the gathering place while simultaneously monitoring his dantian, attempting to detect any traces of Mortal Dust Qi.
However, after careful sensing, he reluctantly confirmed, "Just like with the lava giant... I can't obtain any Mortal Dust Qi."
This realization weighed heavily on Jieming's heart.
Though he had anticipated this outcome, the confirmation still left him feeling uneasy.
The problem was no longer about sourcing raw materials for the Red Dust Magic Potion; it was now a far more troubling situation.
"I hope... it's not the worst-case scenario..."
Having confirmed this, Jieming wasted no time.
Despite already reaching a preliminary conclusion, he decided to investigate a larger snow monster gathering place.
(End of the Chapter)
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