A flicker of emotion crossed Li Yan's face, but he wasn't overly surprised. When Cheng Wenming mentioned the origin of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, he had already guessed that the Melting Cave might be related to Vicious Souls. It turned out to be true.
'So that's how it is. The restrictions are also refined from Vicious Souls. This is the first time I've heard of it. The Blood Leaf Adept did say that they entered as a group of several people; so this was the reason. My soul is definitely not as strong as that of three Foundation Establishment cultivators combined. In that case, I really do need to borrow the strength of others.' Li Yan thought to himself.
Then, an idea struck him. He thought of the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief" in his storage space. That was a mysterious Ancient Treasure. Although it couldn't be said to ignore all restrictions, his tests had always been successful. Perhaps it could also ignore this restriction refined from Vicious Souls. In the past few days, he had only encountered three cultivators. He had never been to the great wall of ice and snow, so he didn't know how many cultivators were there waiting to form teams to enter a certain passage. If there were many people, it would be inconvenient for him to take out the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief. The U-shaped wall of ice and snow was horrifyingly long on all three sides, but with cultivators' Divine Senses crisscrossing, he didn't know how far he would have to fly to avoid everyone and use the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief. And even then, he would still have to find others.
With this in mind, Li Yan made a decision. He first cupped his fists towards the three of them, then asked Cheng Wenming with a puzzled look on his face, "I am but a rogue cultivator. You can just call me Jianghai. But aren't there exactly three of you? Opening a 'Melting Cave' passage should not be a problem. Why then did you seek me out?" Li Yan gave his name. This time, he did not use Huchen Jianghai's name. Although he wanted to, he estimated that the moment he said it, if the other party knew of the Huchen Family, they would inevitably know he was a poison cultivator. And Li Yan himself was indeed a poison cultivator; that was his true killing move. This would be equivalent to showing his hand directly, making others wary of him. So, he simply used the name "Jianghai," but it still had some connection to Huchen Jianghai. He was aiming to frame one person and one person only.
Li Yan was just this type of vindictive person. As long as someone started investigating from Ouyang Jinfei and slowly traced it here, if Li Yan still used poison to kill people during this period, it was very likely that the two would be linked together, and it would be guessed that they were actually the same person. Then this debt would still be counted on Huchen Jianghai's head, especially since the Jingtu Sect knew he was using the Huchen Family's "Netherworld Order." If the already-dead Huchen Jianghai of the future knew that Li Yan was constantly borrowing his name to wander around, he might really be able to jump out from underground and have a good fight with Li Yan.
As for Li Yan saying he was a rogue cultivator, it would not arouse any particular suspicion from the three of them. "Netherworld Orders" could be bought by rogue cultivators in the outside world as long as one was willing to pay a high price. It was not unheard of for a rogue cultivator to come here in search of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Despite Cheng Wenming's painstaking efforts to explain things in such detail, Li Yan felt not a shred of gratitude in his heart. On the contrary, his vigilance increased. There were no good people in this world who appeared for no reason, especially among cultivators. The other party must have other intentions.
"Oh, so it's Fellow Daoist Jianghai. If I'm not mistaken, your main cultivation should be the fire-type spirit root, right?" Cheng Wenming looked at Li Yan with a smile. He wasn't entirely convinced by the name and identity Li Yan gave, but he didn't care about these things.
After hearing this, Li Yan immediately put on a wary expression. "Fellow Daoist Cheng, are you inquiring about my cultivation methods? You're crossing a line!"
Seeing Li Yan's expression, Cheng Wenming knew his guess was more or less correct. He chuckled. "I think Fellow Daoist Jianghai has misunderstood. For you to be able to cross the snowfield alone and arrive here unharmed, among us Foundation Establishment cultivators, unless one has a mid-grade or higher fire-type magical treasure, only a fire spirit root cultivator could achieve such a result.
"I imagine that as you traveled, Fellow Daoist, you should have also discovered that fire has a natural restraint on the Snow Mosquitoes of the snowfield. But perhaps you are used to using fire as your divine ability, so you felt that the Snow Mosquitoes were not as difficult to deal with as the legends say, and maybe even thought they were nothing special. The reason I said so much and guessed that you are a fire spirit root cultivator is, to put it bluntly, worthless. Because cultivators who come here mostly travel in teams. If they are teleported to a place other than the southern glacier, they will usually invite a fire-attribute spirit root cultivator to join their team before reaching the 'Melting Cave,' precisely to deal with the Snow Mosquitoes. Of course, this is not absolute. There are many non-fire spirit root lone cultivators who have crossed the snowfield, it's just much more difficult. After I've said this, do you understand now, Fellow Daoist Jianghai?"
Li Yan nodded after hearing this, then glanced at the three of them. "In that case, among you three, there must also be a fellow daoist with fire Spirit Power?"
Li Yan noticed that apart from one of the two scholars saying a single sentence before, they had maintained a cold demeanor throughout, with only Cheng Wenming communicating with him.
As expected, it was Cheng Wenming who spoke again. "Fellow Daoist Jianghai guessed correctly. I am also a fire spirit root cultivator. It's just that my cultivation is still shallow, so I was unable to protect all three of us at the same time, which is why we are in such a sorry state. I've made a fool of myself in front of you."
"We are now at the edge of the snowfield. We won't encounter too many Snow Mosquitoes on the remaining journey. And as for the 'Melting Cave,' the three of you are sufficient. You didn't keep me here just to explain everything and then help me enter the 'Melting Cave' together, did you?"
Most cultivators were selfish. When facing strangers, let alone lending a helping hand, it was already a great Dao Fortune if they didn't kick you when you were down. So when Li Yan said this, his tone was already laced with mockery.
As soon as Li Yan finished speaking, this time, before Cheng Wenming could speak, the taller cultivator behind him spoke first. "Brother Cheng, this Fellow Daoist Jianghai has profound magic power. I'm sure opening the 'Melting Cave' alone will be a piece of cake for him. Why should we bother him any longer? Why don't we leave now?" Li Yan's persistent attitude had long since made the two Mind-Clarifying Sect cultivators dissatisfied. It was already polite of them not to have attacked immediately.
"Brother Ye, please calm down. If any of us were traveling alone and were stopped by several people, we would also be this cautious." Cheng Wenming looked back at the tall cultivator again, said this with a smile, and then turned back to Li Yan. The shorter cultivator from the Mind-Clarifying Sect had not said a word from beginning to end, but just as Li Yan seemed to be getting impatient and wanted to leave, a murderous intent flashed in his eyes. This murderous intent was fleeting, but it had already been caught by Li Yan's Divine Sense. Li Yan just pretended not to know and continued to talk with Cheng Wenming.
Hearing Cheng Wenming speak to his companion like this, Li Yan sneered inwardly. 'They've been holding back from attacking. It must have been extremely hard for them to endure. This Cheng Wenming is quite the smooth talker, every sentence seeming to consider the other party's perspective. If it were a greenhorn just starting out in the martial world, they might really develop a bit of a good impression of him.'
"Fellow Daoist Jianghai, of course there's a reason for brazenly stopping you. The three of us entering the 'Melting Cave' is not a problem. Of course, we didn't come just to help you, but there is a matter of mutual benefit that I'd like to discuss with you. Of course, if you don't agree, then just pretend we never said anything.
"Hmm, it's like this. Does Fellow Daoist Jianghai know of the 'Snow Sprite'?" Cheng Wenming no longer beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"'Snow Sprite'? You must be talking about the creatures in the 'Melting Cave', right? Is there something special about those demonic beasts?" Li Yan asked in a slightly curious tone.
"Snow Sprite." Li Yan, of course, knew of them. They were introduced in the Jade Slip as a special type of demonic beast among the many in the Melting Cave. They had low intelligence and the power to manipulate ice and snow. Although they didn't live in large swarms like the Snow Mosquitoes, they often hunted other prey in the 'Melting Cave' in groups of seven or eight, or a dozen. The reason they were said to be special was that, unlike many demonic beasts born in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, they could only be generated by heaven and earth and could not reproduce on their own. The "Snow Sprite" had no organs inside its body, which was completely different from the Snow Mosquitoes, who had all five viscera. The outside of a "Snow Sprite's" body was a thick layer of accumulated snow. Because the temperature inside the 'Melting Cave' was terrifyingly low, this snow was like a layer of hard armor, protecting the "bones" inside.
The so-called "bones" of a "Snow Sprite" were actually a large block of ice. However, this block of ice would not melt for ten thousand years, and this large block of ice was still just a form of protection. Inside the large block of ice was the life core of the "Snow Sprite." All their magic power originated from this life core. The heavily protected life core of a "Snow Sprite" was a ball of blue flame. This was a flame born from the reverse process under extremely low temperatures, and it was also the demonic core of the "Snow Sprite."
Although "Snow Sprites" had no organs, they still needed to eat to maintain the power of the blue flame within their demonic beast bodies. After they swallowed their prey, the prey would first be frozen inside their bodies and then attached to the large block of ice. The blue flame inside the large block of ice would quickly envelop the prey and burn it to ashes. In this way, the essence blood and spirit power of the prey would be absorbed by the blue flame, allowing it to be continuously replenished and strengthened, making the "Snow Sprite" stronger and stronger.
The blue flame demonic core of a "Snow Sprite" was a good material for artifact refining for cultivators. It was a material that water- and fire-type spirit root cultivators particularly liked to use in artifact refining. If the blue flame demonic core of a "Snow Sprite" was added, it could greatly increase the power of refined spirit artifacts and spirit treasures. It could also make grade-one and grade-two medicinal pills more potent. However, if it was used to refine magical treasures, the increase in power, though present, was not too obvious. Therefore, "Snow Sprites" were not of much concern to cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or above. On the contrary, they were highly sought after by Qi Condensation cultivators. Qi Condensation cultivators who entered the first level of the tower would often, after being brought in by a Foundation Establishment elder, want to take a trip to the 'Melting Cave' regardless of which area of the first level they were in. Grade-one demonic beasts were a good place for Qi Condensation cultivators to train. At the same time, obtaining the "Snow Sprite" demonic core to either refine spirit artifacts or spirit treasures or to sell was a good choice for them.
"Yes, I'm talking about those Snow Sprites. Their blue flame demonic art is a good artifact refining material for both water and fire system cultivators. And since you, Fellow Daoist, are a fire system expert..." This time, before Cheng Wenming could finish, Li Yan's face already showed displeasure. After talking for so long, the other party was still talking about this lowest-grade demonic beast. Did they really think he was some ignorant greenhorn?
"Fellow Daoist Cheng, can you be direct? You know those things are not of much use to us. And I don't want to form a team to hunt 'Snow Sprites' in large numbers just to make up for their low grade with quantity and then exchange their demonic cores for Spirit Stones."