The ground inside the cave was not flat but was covered with snow mounds of various sizes, like steamed buns scattered near and far. Occasionally, blocks of ice, reflecting a deep blue, would block the path either horizontally or vertically.
Right after entering the cave, Li Yan noticed that the entrance was closing at an extremely fast rate. Cheng Wenming had explained to him before that once the restriction of a Melting Cave was broken, it would re-form three breaths after a living being entered from the outside. Then, that Melting Cave entrance on the long wall of ice and snow would vanish without a trace. It was unknown when or where on the long wall it would reappear next.
Hearing this, Li Yan thought of a question. After a moment's thought, he asked it: if someone broke the restriction of a Melting Cave, was it possible for it to be snatched by others?
Cheng Wenming's answer was, of course, yes. But the person who snatched it would have to be a master of concealment. This was because any cultivator breaking the restriction here would be constantly on guard with their Divine Sense. Any stranger entering their Divine Sense range would attract attention, or even an attack.
Cheng Wenming had heard of a few such instances. However, none of them were a forceful snatching. It was always someone sneaking nearby. The moment the Melting Cave entrance restriction was broken, someone would burst out and enter first, then casually cast an immortal art behind them to prevent the others from pursuing. A premeditated immortal art could certainly block them for three breaths. These cultivators who were skilled in concealment either cultivated a special cultivation method or were wind-attribute cultivators who possessed unparalleled speed.
As for a Golden Core stage cultivator directly snatching it by force, it rarely happened. After all, with that level of cultivation, one could break the restriction with their soul alone, which would be much faster. Waiting for low-level cultivators to break it would be a form of torture.
"Brother Jiang, there won't be any 'Snow Sprite Lords' within the first five hundred li. Only ordinary Snow Sprites or other demonic beasts will appear. The territory controlled by a 'Snow Sprite Lord' is about a thousand li. They all reside in the middle section of their territory. If something happens at either end, they can arrive in the first instance. Of course, if a certain 'Snow Sprite Lord' controls a larger area, they might not appear even within a thousand li. This type of demonic beast is very cunning. Even if they sense a cultivator or prey, they often won't show themselves. Only when they have confirmed that the other party's strength is very weak will they appear to hunt for food." As they flew, Cheng Wenming began to explain in detail to Li Yan. It was clear that he knew quite a bit about 'Snow Sprite Lords.'
Seeing Li Yan constantly smiling and nodding, he continued, "Those ordinary Snow Sprites are different. Their intelligence is somewhat lacking. As long as you get close, they will attack, regardless of your cultivation level. There are other demonic beasts here as well, such as Wetland Scorpions, Earth Snow Bears, Ice Mandarin Ducks..."
Then, after flying for less than a few dozen more li, Li Yan saw the Ice Mandarin Duck that Cheng Wenming had mentioned. It was a type of bird similar to a mandarin duck, but it did not appear in pairs. It was a solitary demonic beast. Its eyes were silvery-white, and its webbed feet were very large, seeming out of proportion with its body. Its feathers were silver-brown and looked very soft. Not only was its appearance not too scary, but it also had a porcelain-like cuteness.
However, when this demonic beast suddenly attacked, even though Li Yan had read a simple introduction in the Jade Slip, he was still greatly shocked. The Ice Mandarin Duck was an abnormally ferocious demonic beast. They usually hid in the dark corners of the cave. Their silver-brown bodies almost blended in with the cave's faint blue light, and their aura was as cold as the temperature here, dropping to an extremely low freezing point. Especially its extended head, which remained frozen in place, motionless. Even if a cultivator scanned it with their Divine Sense, if they were not paying close and deliberate attention, its pair of silvery-white eyes would almost be mistaken for two protruding snow specks embedded in a block of ice and snow, barely perceptible.
If it weren't for Li Yan being constantly on guard against everything around him in an unfamiliar environment, he too would not have been able to notice it in the first instance. As Li Yan was flying, a pile of silver-brown snow in a corner of the cave, emitting a faint aura, was reflected in his Divine Sense. And he only noticed this when he was within a hundred zhang of the Ice Mandarin Duck. At the same moment Li Yan noticed it, the Ice Mandarin Duck seemed to have realized it had been discovered. It shot directly towards Tan Zeshan, who was walking at the very front.
It was clear that although Cheng Wenming's group had entered a Melting Cave before, they had probably never encountered an Ice Mandarin Duck in other Melting Caves. The look of astonishment on their faces when this beast attacked told Li Yan that they had just discovered it. From this point alone, one could see the power of Li Yan's Divine Sense. Even Cheng Wenming, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, was completely unaware.
The range that Divine Sense could cover could be said to be a mark of whether a cultivator's Divine Sense was strong, but it was not the only measure. Even a Qi Condensation cultivator could cover a range of a hundred or a thousand zhang. But if a powerful being was hidden within a small range, a low-level cultivator's Divine Sense would just overlook it and be unable to detect it. A cultivator with a powerful Divine Sense could achieve a microscopic level of perception, seeing through everything.
The Ice Mandarin Duck that burst into attack was not as cute as it appeared on the surface. Its power was astonishing. To think that a demonic beast dared to challenge Foundation Establishment cultivators, how powerful must it be? This was an adult Ice Mandarin Duck, already advanced to a grade-two demonic beast. Facing four Foundation Establishment cultivators, it launched an attack without hesitation.
Although the demonic beasts on the first level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda were generally weaker, there were also powerful ones. Furthermore, there were many areas that were extremely dangerous for Qi Condensation cultivators, and the "Melting Cave" was one of them. This was a forbidden zone for Qi Condensation cultivators. They could usually only explore seventy percent of the first level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. The remaining places could only be entered under the leadership of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Otherwise, if Qi Condensation cultivators could set foot in any corner of the first level, they would long have been unsatisfied here and would be eager to enter the second level.
The current situation was that Qi Condensation cultivators dared not even dream of entering the second level, just as Foundation Establishment cultivators on the second level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. There were also extremely dangerous areas there that they could only avoid from a distance, not daring to set foot in. At most, they would form teams to try to enter the peripheral zones or be led in by a Golden Core stage elder.
To the surprise of Li Yan's group of four, the first wave of the Ice Mandarin Duck's sudden attack directly hit all four of them. A group attack innate divine ability!
The Ice Mandarin Duck's attack caught Tan Zeshan, who was walking at the front, completely off guard. When the Ice Mandarin Duck pounced over, its silvery-white eyes first glared at Tan Zeshan, looking as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. But in Li Yan's Divine Sense, those silvery-white eyes did not shoot out any light or anything of the sort. Instead, a sharp screech that pierced straight to the heart rang in the ears of all four of them. A sharp pain shot through their minds, and for a moment, they were all in a daze.
'A sound wave attack!' This was Li Yan's first reaction. He felt as if a steel needle had been stabbed directly into his head. But fortunately, he had already discovered the Ice Mandarin Duck's presence and was already prepared. He just didn't expect the opponent's attack to be an intangible sound wave attack. So, with a slight shake of his head, he had already returned to normal. But Tan Zeshan, who was walking at the very front, bore the brunt of it, and his situation was quite miserable.
When the four of them were flying in the cave, they had all kept a distance from each other, with about twenty zhang between each person. Tan Zeshan was at the front, followed by Ye Xiuwen, and then Li Yan and Cheng Wenming. This formation seemed to subtly surround Li Yan in the middle. But Cheng Wenming would from time to time send voice transmissions to chat with Li Yan, making it seem very harmonious, like a unified team.
When entering the cave, Cheng Wenming had told Li Yan that the demonic beasts in each Melting Cave were different, but the only thing they had in common was that there would always be Snow Sprites in all of them. This was because Snow Sprites seemed to be the favored children of this long wall of ice and snow, living in symbiosis with it. So, in the Melting Cave they entered, the types of other demonic beasts were varied. At this moment, in Li Yan's view, it was clear that the Ice Mandarin Duck was something Cheng Wenming and his group had never encountered before.
Tan Zeshan was closest to the Ice Mandarin Duck, and his reaction was fast enough. Even among mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he was outstanding. Walking at the front, Tan Zeshan was naturally extra cautious. The moment the Ice Mandarin Duck pounced, he reacted. As his body shot back, his protective spirit aura flared, and his hand had already moved to his storage bag. His Divine Sense was firmly locked onto the Ice Mandarin Duck. But his judgment was wrong. He couldn't have imagined that this small, well-behaved bird, when it flew out and glared, would... his first reaction was that something like a light arrow would be shot out. So he had gathered his magic power in his hands and on his body for protection, preparing to take out his Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book for defense.
But to his surprise, the Ice Mandarin Duck's eyes launched a sound wave attack. Caught off guard, Tan Zeshan's mind was invaded by the sound wave attack. His body trembled violently, and a trace of blood immediately trickled from the corner of his mouth. His whole body paused for a moment. When a cultivator fights a demonic beast of the same level, the weaker party is often the cultivator. Demonic beasts all have innate divine abilities of varying strengths, while humans cultivate Spirit Power and immortal arts separately. Even if one's Spirit Power is full and they successfully advance to the next realm, the immortal arts they cultivate may not necessarily be immediately perfected to the corresponding realm's level. What's more, many demonic beasts have group attack innate divine abilities. Another point is that a cultivator's body, compared to a demonic beast's, whether in terms of toughness, flexibility, or other aspects, cannot compare.
Before Tan Zeshan could recover from the attack, the Ice Mandarin Duck had already flown to less than fifty zhang in front of him. The Ice Mandarin Duck's two claws suddenly clenched, its webbed, sharp claws actually forming fists. Then, the Ice Mandarin Duck raised its fists in flight and suddenly opened them again towards Tan Zeshan. A hook-shaped white light shot from its palm towards the still-dazed Tan Zeshan.
And before this, among the three behind, Li Yan had been the first to recover from the sound wave attack. But in his Divine Sense, Cheng Wenming was still not clear-headed. So Li Yan also kept his expression in a state of astonishment, as if he had not yet recovered. Immediately after, Cheng Wenming cleared the sharp, piercing pain from his mind. Then he saw the three who were still in a dazed state, especially Tan Zeshan, before whom a hook-like white light had already flashed. Without any hesitation, Cheng Wenming raised his hand and shot out a fire manual. Although it was his first time encountering an Ice Mandarin Duck, he had been to the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda twice and of course knew the general form of the demonic beast attacks here.
And Li Yan, who was in front of him, after sensing the wail of a yin and cold soul in the white light, already knew what the white light attack was.
'The demonic beasts here are special; they are all born from the Vicious Souls in this world. This demonic beast's second attack was not aimed at the cultivator's physical body but was another attack on the spirit and soul. That white light seemed to want to hook a person's soul out of their body. If it succeeded, Tan Zeshan's soul would be lost, and he would be crippled, instantly turning into a walking corpse.'