Even under the starry night, when Li Yan and the others were still several hundred li away from the long wall of ice and snow, the scenery ahead already came into view as they flew through the air. In the dark night, the long wall of ice and snow was like a giant ice-crystal dragon blocking the way between heaven and earth. Along with the starlight from above, the ice wall reflected countless sparkling points of light. For a moment, it was impossible to distinguish between heaven and earth; it was as if the space connecting them was filled with twinkling stars. It was a spectacular sight, breathtaking in its magnificence and fantasy.
The long wall of ice and snow stretched endlessly to the east and west before Li Yan and his group, as if it had no beginning and no end, continuing indefinitely. It was like a curtain of ice crystals connecting heaven and earth, hanging vertically amidst the galaxy of stars.
Li Yan was stunned by this dreamlike scenery, marveling at the skill of the great cultivator who had refined this treasure. He could not have imagined such a scene even in his dreams. For a moment, he thought of Gong Chenying and Zhao Min. If the two women were also here, by his side, looking up at this fantastical, sky-connecting curtain of ice crystals under the night sky, what a heavenly scene on earth that would be. Isn't the point of cultivation to live a carefree and happy life?
Some say that cultivation is the pursuit of the Way of Eternal Life. But Li Yan's cultivation was forced upon him. Although he had now accepted this fact and knew the value of long life, he cared more about the freedom and carefreeness in his heart. Otherwise, even if he cultivated to the highest level, but was all alone, what would be the point? In his heart, he would be nothing more than a stubborn rock.
For a moment, Li Yan's flight couldn't help but slow down, a trace of warmth appearing in his eyes. But it was only for a moment before he regained his clarity. All of this fell into the eyes of Cheng Wenming and the other two beside him. In their view, it further confirmed that this was Li Yan's first time in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. Otherwise, he wouldn't have such a look of amazement in his eyes.
"Hehe, Brother Jiang, this Melting Cave is truly magnificent. The first time I saw it, I was stunned. I really admire the skill of the senior who refined the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. It's truly unfathomable, unfathomable. Especially when female cultivators come here, many of them wish they could live here for the rest of their lives, hehe..." Cheng Wenming chuckled and spoke to Li Yan. Over the past half a day, he had stopped calling Li Yan "Fellow Daoist" and had started calling him "brother," as if to instantly close the distance between them, like old friends.
Li Yan also admired Cheng Wenming's social skills. The man was extremely eloquent. And to be honest, although cultivators are cautious with their words when they first meet, while Cheng Wenming had a tendency to be "chatty," it didn't make people dislike him from the bottom of their hearts. Every sentence he spoke either explained some important information or was able to voice what others were thinking. This point was truly admirable. Take these last few sentences, for example. If Gong Chenying and Zhao Min were here, he believed they would really have the idea of lingering here for a while.
Li Yan smiled and nodded in agreement. The four of them then continued towards the long wall of ice and snow. As they flew closer, the light points refracted from the sky-connecting curtain of ice crystals slowly made their clothes shimmer with a mesmerizing array of colors, giving all four of them a mysterious appearance.
At this time, some cultivators had already appeared in Li Yan's Divine Sense. In the past half a day, they had actually encountered three groups of cultivators. Just as Cheng Wenming had said, lone cultivators here were indeed extremely conspicuous. The few groups of Foundation Establishment cultivators they met had at least two people, and the largest had as many as six. But after confirming each other's positions from a distance, Li Yan's group and the others all veered off in different directions. These teams consisted of monks, laypeople, and Daoists, mostly traveling together.
They even encountered a team of Qi Condensation cultivators. When these cultivators saw Li Yan and his group, their faces changed drastically, and they all fled at top speed, afraid that Li Yan's group might suddenly attack. When Cheng Wenming and his group saw the Qi Condensation cultivators, they all had extremely cold expressions but did not attack and kill them. They had no interest in the things on these Qi Condensation cultivators. Moreover, more than ninety percent of the Qi Condensation cultivators who could come here had a considerable force behind them. So, without a conflict of interest, even Foundation Establishment cultivators did not want to waste effort on meaningless things. Although any one of them could kill these Qi Condensation cultivators with a wave of their hand, who knew if they had some tracking mark left by their sect or family, or if they were being watched by a hidden Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivator who would use this as leverage against them.
This situation was considered normal. But if the Qi Condensation cultivators had obtained something they shouldn't have, Cheng Wenming and his group would not hesitate to kill and rob them. Risk and immortal fortune were not mutually exclusive; it was just a matter of whether it was worth it.
As for the Foundation Establishment cultivator teams they encountered, they definitely had a lot of good things on them. But neither side had any intention of attacking. In the absence of a real treasure, they were just wary of each other.
Li Yan had once asked the Blood Leaf Adept. On the first level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, only Qi Condensation cultivators would generally fight among themselves. Foundation Establishment cultivators would exercise restraint. Their purpose in coming here was mostly for the second level or above, where the heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed by Foundation Establishment cultivators were. That was where they would fight to the death.
As they gradually approached the long wall of ice and snow, the number of cultivators converging from the east, west, and north increased. Within the thousand-li range of Li Yan's Divine Sense, at least twenty more people had appeared. But with the U-shaped spread of the long wall of ice and snow, there were naturally even more cultivators beyond the range of his Divine Sense.
'Although the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda is difficult to enter, there are so many cultivators on the Desolate Moon Continent. There are still quite a few cultivators willing to spend a huge amount of Spirit Stones to come here. But even if there are several hundred people here, compared to the entire continent's cultivator population, it's just a drop in the ocean. Especially according to the Blood Leaf Adept, of their team of dozens, only a few made it out alive. Many were killed by the Vicious Souls and demonic beasts here. The magical treasures and materials on them were left behind, becoming the target for the next treasure hunters.'
A distance of several hundred li was only about a hundred breaths for Li Yan and his group now. Soon, the four of them arrived at the foot of the long wall of ice and snow. Li Yan remained in mid-air, not landing on the ground. He looked up. The long wall of ice and snow was like a shield connecting heaven and earth, blocking everyone's path.
Li Yan had long since noticed that on the brilliantly colored wall, many snow caves had appeared. He could vaguely see some scenes inside the caves. From the entrance, it was a deep blue, and further inside, it was dark and profound. The arrangement of these snow cave entrances had no rules; they were not neat and uniform, but there was a certain pattern to be found. That is, the distance between two snow caves was at least a hundred zhang.
"Brother Jiang, on the ice wall are the 'Melting Caves.' The distance between two Melting Caves is still quite far. With caution, even if other cultivators launch a sneak attack while one is breaking the restriction, there is still a chance to react. Besides, the long wall of ice and snow is too wide, and there are many 'Melting Caves' on it. So, cultivators who arrive here often choose 'Melting Caves' that are far apart before they attack to break the restriction. We'll just choose one randomly in a bit. Anyway, no one knows what the situation is like after entering, or even whether the path inside is long or short. Perhaps after a lot of hard work, there will only be one 'Snow Sprite Lord' in the cave, it's hard to say." Looking at the long wall of ice and snow before him, a happy smile appeared on Cheng Wenming's chubby face.
Li Yan nodded. Looking at the Melting Caves before him, he preferred to call them snow caves, feeling it was more appropriate. On their way here, they had passed by a Melting Cave entrance where three cultivators had gathered, less than a thousand zhang away from them. One of them, a Daoist, upon seeing Li Yan's group of four flying over from a distance, immediately stopped his attack on the 'Melting Cave' and also prevented his remaining companions from breaking the restriction. Instead, he looked over warily. Only after confirming that the flight path of Li Yan's group had deviated from theirs did the three Daoists whisper a few words. After Li Yan's group was far away, they turned back to continue breaking the restriction. But Li Yan could feel that the Divine Senses of the three Daoists were still firmly locked onto their group of four.
Under Cheng Wenming's lead, the four of them flew east for about another hundred li. After confirming with their Divine Senses that there were no cultivators within a radius of tens of li, they finally stopped. The four of them then looked at each other and finally got truly close to the long wall of ice and snow. Li Yan had been observing on the way. Now that he had time to investigate carefully, he could see from the snow cave entrance that the ground inside the cave was covered with a layer of deep blue ice and snow, as if illuminated by some kind of light. There was nothing like a membrane blocking the entrance; it looked completely unobstructed. Li Yan knew that if he thought this way, he would suffer a great loss. The restriction attacks at the entrance of the "Melting Cave" were endless, with blizzard attacks, hurricane attacks, ice arrow attacks, ice shard attacks, and so on. It was by no means as calm and harmless as it appeared on the surface.
Since they didn't want to wait, they acted on their thoughts. "Fellow Daoist Cheng, are we entering from here now?" Li Yan said faintly.
"Naturally. Cultivators come and go frequently outside this long wall of ice and snow, so it's not common to see demonic beasts. It's just very spectacular and beautiful here. But we didn't come here to admire the scenery, and there are no demonic beasts to hunt here, so it's better to enter early." Cheng Wenming's group had been here twice before. Although the scenery was dreamlike, they were in no mood to appreciate it and were even more anxious to enter the Melting Cave than Li Yan.
Li Yan nodded, having no objection to this.
"Then it's this one in front of us!" Cheng Wenming pointed to a snow cave on the long wall of ice and snow before them. Anyway, there was a Melting Cave like this every hundred zhang, so there was no need to be picky.
"Hmm, Brother Jiang, you don't need to act for now. The three of us should be able to break the restriction here. After all, we've been here a few times and have some confidence in breaking the restrictions here, hehe!!" Cheng Wenming waved his chubby hand with an extremely magnanimous air. Over this journey, they had come to know Li Yan's cultivation and his proficiency in fire-type divine abilities. Now, they just wanted to enter the Melting Cave as soon as possible.
Although the "Melting Cave" restriction was formidable, it was ultimately set on the first level of the tower. If several Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't even open it, then there was no need to talk about going to the second level.
As soon as Cheng Wenming's voice fell, Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan also gave Li Yan a slight nod and then flew directly towards the Melting Cave on the body of the long wall of ice and snow.