As Li Yan pretended to be dazed and silently watched, Cheng Wenming's attack, a fiery red flame, transformed into a three-zhang-long sword. With a single slash, it chopped down on the white flying hook. There was no sound when the two collided. A misty vapor rose in front of Tan Zeshan and then turned into tiny ice crystals that fell to the ground. After these ice crystals fell onto the snow, to the astonishment of the four, they quickly rolled together and re-formed into a large ice crystal. Then, it flew back towards the Ice Mandarin Duck and instantly merged into its feathers, disappearing from sight.
After its attack from its webbed feet was blocked by the red flame longsword, the Ice Mandarin Duck let out a low cry. In a flash, its two webbed feet rapidly clenched and opened, sending out one hook-shaped white light after another. But by this time, Li Yan and the other two had "recovered." Especially Tan Zeshan, who wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and roared, "Vile beast, you're looking for death!" He took out his Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book and charged forward.
If there were only one Foundation Establishment cultivator here, the outcome of a fight against an Ice Mandarin Duck would be uncertain. It might even be a life-and-death battle. If the cultivator's magic power was not strong, their soul might be hooked out in a single exchange, and they would perish here. But now, there were four Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even without Li Yan and Ye Xiuwen's intervention, just Cheng Wenming and Tan Zeshan were able to smash the Ice Mandarin Duck into a pile of ice slag in just a dozen breaths. Despite the opponent being clearly very strong, this demonic beast still attacked recklessly. After some thought, Li Yan guessed it might be because too few human cultivators had come to this Melting Cave passage, causing the other party to misjudge the situation.
On the rest of the journey, the demonic beasts here emerged one after another. The most common were the Snow Sprites. They came out in groups. Although they were grade-one demonic beasts, their bodies were exceptionally tough, which made even Li Yan click his tongue in amazement. He had to use thirty percent of his magic power to smash a Snow Sprite into a pile of crushed ice.
Snow Sprites were square-shaped, composed of one large and one small block of ice and snow. It was a monster with a large square block of ice for a body and a smaller square head on top, with limbs growing from the four corners of the large ice block. They looked very strange and comical. Each one was more than a zhang tall and very burly. Their attack was to run up and ram into the enemy. Then, at the moment of collision, they would use their upper limbs to hook the enemy's body and pull it towards them. Then, their body surface would release a suction force, sticking the enemy firmly to them, and then try to merge them into their body, finally burning and melting them with the blue flame within. This attack was simple, but very difficult to deal with. The number of Snow Sprites that came out each time was huge. It was difficult to always attack from a distance in the Melting Cave. With the Snow Sprites charging recklessly without fear of death, it was inevitable to have physical contact with them. And once there was contact, it was like someone licking a piece of iron in the severe cold of the ninth month; they would be immediately and firmly stuck to it. The Snow Sprites were the same. When they got close to an enemy, they would quickly secrete layers of liquid. The liquid would surge onto the opponent's body surface and cool down at an extremely fast rate, enveloping them within.
Li Yan, not wanting to reveal his strength, found it very strenuous to deal with them. But fortunately, he had converted his Spirit Power to the fire attribute, and flames blazed around his body. It was basically impossible for a Snow Sprite to stick to him at once. However, this method of using Spirit Power was quite costly. But with Li Yan's five-element circulation and using only a little over thirty percent of his Spirit Power, the consumption and generation of Spirit Power were still able to maintain a balance.
Cheng Wenming's main Spirit Power was also of the fire attribute. He chose the same method as Li Yan, and for a time, he was not afraid of the Snow Sprites' sticking attack. Li Yan also saw Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan. They should have been prepared long ago. One fire-type talisman after another exploded with fiery light outside their bodies. These fire-type talismans were all defensive. As long as they could prevent the Snow Sprites from sticking to them, they could fight freely.
After a round of fighting, Li Yan had obtained a dozen blue flame demonic cores from the Snow Sprites. At first, the three of them had been closely watching Li Yan's moves. But after a few times, seeing that Li Yan used wood and earth Spirit Power in addition to fire Spirit Power, they finally determined that Li Yan should have a three-lineage Earth Spirit Root. They looked at each other and finally relaxed.
In fact, to test out ways to deal with the Snow Sprites, Li Yan had used all five elements. He had deliberately used fire, wood, and earth in front of the three of them. Water and gold were only used secretly for testing when the three were not paying attention. Against this kind of yin and cold thing, the effect of gold Spirit Power was also excellent. Of course, there was also water Spirit Power, which was the same as the Snow Sprites. In Li Yan's view, water Spirit Power and the demonic beasts here belonged to the same category. Although it couldn't restrain them, it could assimilate them. So Li Yan had kept the gold and water attributes in reserve.
But after actual testing, Li Yan had confirmed that although gold-type Spirit Power also had a restraining effect on the demonic beasts here, it was not as fast as fire-type Spirit Power. Water-type Spirit Power was fine for dealing with other demonic beasts, but when dealing with Snow Sprites, Li Yan was surprised because the water Spirit Power could directly separate from the water secreted by the Snow Sprites' bodies, as if the water in this space could not mix with the water of the outside world. Seeing this situation, Li Yan was lost in thought.
Li Yan did not see any of the three use water Spirit Power. It was possible that none of the three had water Spirit Power, but Li Yan was still suspicious. A cold laugh echoed in his heart.
Just like that, the group advanced another three hundred li. During this period, they encountered several demonic beast attacks, and the swarms of Snow Sprites grew larger and stronger.
Cheng Wenming, who was flying, suddenly said to Li Yan, "Brother Jiang, I wonder what our harvest will be this time? If there is only one Snow Sprite Lord, then I hope to exchange for the final demonic core with an equivalent amount of Spirit Stones. I hope Brother Jiang can accommodate."
Li Yan's brows furrowed, as if he was somewhat reluctant. Cheng Wenming quickly said, "Brother Jiang, please rest assured, the Spirit Stones will be no problem. Of course, this is only if there is only one Snow Sprite Lord. If there are more, then naturally there's no need for such an arrangement. By the way, there is another point I need to explain to Brother Jiang, and that is that the attack of a Snow Sprite Lord is different from that of an ordinary Snow Sprite. I wonder if Brother Jiang has heard of it."
Li Yan looked at Cheng Wenming with some surprise. "Fellow Daoist Cheng, I only learned about the Snow Sprite Lord from you. Could it be that the Snow Sprite Lord has other innate divine abilities?"
"Brother Jiang has guessed correctly this time. A Snow Sprite Lord, like an ordinary Snow Sprite, is good at ramming enemies with its body. It's just that the liquid secreted from its body surface is more abundant and stronger, with a suction force that may be more than ten times that of an ordinary Snow Sprite. This is something we must guard against. Another divine ability that ordinary Snow Sprites don't have is that the blue flame inside its demonic core can pass through its body and attack people from the outside. Brother Jiang should know how powerful this fire is from the demonic cores of ordinary Snow Sprites in your hand. Just a touch of it is enough to kill a mortal dozens of times over." Cheng Wenming's face was solemn.
After hearing this, Li Yan's eyebrows raised. "Oh, then we need to dodge and attack from a distance."
Cheng Wenming gave a bitter smile. "Brother Jiang, it's not that simple. Every time a Snow Sprite Lord comes out to hunt, it will bring many Snow Sprites with it. It's very difficult to attack from a distance. Our way of dealing with it is to use fire-type divine abilities to suppress it firmly. Otherwise, none of us will be able to escape. This is also the main reason I invited you, Fellow Daoist. Originally, if I were the only fire Spirit Power cultivator, I would have had to rest for at least half a day after a fight before I could continue. But now with Brother Jiang's help, with the power of your divine abilities, we can certainly kill this demon with ease."
Li Yan nodded after hearing this. "Of course. Since I have entered with the three of you, I will not shirk my duty. As for who gets the demonic core in the end, let's discuss it after we've killed the Snow Sprite Lord." After Li Yan said this, in front of him where he couldn't see, both Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan curled their lips, a look of disdain in their eyes.
"Alright, but I still hope Brother Jiang can consider my suggestion. Our main goal in entering this time is not the second level, but the Snow Sprite Lord demonic core here. And Brother Jiang should be going to the second level to find opportunities, so... hehe..." At this point, Cheng Wenming laughed twice and did not continue.
Just as Cheng Wenming had told Li Yan before, sure enough, after advancing five hundred li into the cave, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the deep blue depths ahead, like ten thousand horses galloping, shaking the snow off the cave walls.
"They're here!" Cheng Wenming shouted in a low voice and immediately stopped. The three of them also landed on the ground from the air, each one sweeping their Divine Sense forward. In Li Yan's Divine Sense, a vast expanse of square ice blocks was rapidly approaching them. This phenomenon had happened before, but never with such astonishing momentum.
His Divine Sense quickly swept past the Snow Sprites in front. Li Yan soon discovered a Snow Sprite in the middle of the vast army that was even more burly. This Snow Sprite was as large as three ordinary Snow Sprites combined. In the cave, which could accommodate about ten people side by side, its thick, rock-like body occupied thirty percent of the space. Its head almost touched the top of the cave. Its body was covered in a layer of ice and snow armor that shone with a dazzling white light. Its thick limbs were like four ice pillars, and its pair of sharp eyes flickered with a blue, ethereal light. Like a ferocious beast that had smelled blood, it came with a menacing air.
In just a moment, over a hundred Snow Sprites had filled the space in front of Li Yan's group of four. The Snow Sprite Lord in the middle parted the way with its giant hands and came directly to the front. It looked at the four of them with its eyes and then let out a "hehe" laugh. "Human cultivators. I like!" The ordinary Snow Sprites Li Yan had attacked before could only hiss, but this Snow Sprite Lord could actually speak in a human voice. Although its words were stiff, they were understandable.
"Brother Jiang, be careful. This Snow Sprite Lord is already at the high-tier of the second grade," Cheng Wenming reminded in a low voice.
"Oh? How can you tell?" Li Yan also asked in a low voice.
"The eyes. An ordinary grade-two Snow Sprite Lord's eyes are azure blue. A mid-tier grade-two is deep blue, and a high-tier grade-two is black-blue." Li Yan looked at the Snow Sprite Lord's eyes again as instructed and then nodded.
"Next will be the toughest part. Brother Ye and Brother Tan will deal with the Snow Sprites. The two of us will join forces to take down this Snow Sprite Lord. But there are too many Snow Sprites here, so we must go all out and finish the hunt as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if the two of them have to deal with so many Snow Sprites at once, something might go wrong if it drags on for too long," Cheng Wenming instructed again.
Li Yan nodded slightly. The Snow Sprite Lord on the opposite side, after speaking a sentence and seeing that no one on the other side was paying him any mind, couldn't help but get angry. "You have trespassed on my territory. Die!"