And Li Yan, looking at Cheng Wenming who had just been calling him "brother" one moment after another, suddenly had a strange smile on his face. Then, his body blurred. To the astonishment of the three men and one demon, he had vanished into thin air.
Only the three men and one demon were left in a daze. Cheng Wenming's group hurriedly released their Divine Senses, but no matter how they searched, they could not find any trace of "Brother Jiang," as if the person who had been with them all along was just an illusion.
"Impossible, impossible. After making contact with the Snow Sprite Lord's ultimate yin flame, no Foundation Establishment cultivator can break free and cut off their Spirit Power. This is impossible. It must be a fake image. He's still there. He must have some kind of high-grade invisibility talisman that can only hide his body. He must still be..." Cheng Wenming muttered to himself. He didn't believe that any fire-type cultivator below the Golden Core stage could escape after making contact with the Snow Sprite Lord's ethereal blue flame. He had never heard of such a thing from the cultivators he had met who had been to the Melting Cave. So he was convinced that "Brother Jiang" must have a high-grade invisibility talisman on him, which was how he could have evaded their Divine Senses, but in reality, he was still under the Snow Sprite Lord's control.
He was not the only one who thought this. Even Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan, who had just been looking smug, also thought the same. But when the three of them saw the Snow Sprite Lord on the opposite side, who was looking bewildered and had already withdrawn its ethereal blue flame, and was now roaring in a low voice and searching everywhere, they finally knew that "Brother Jiang" had really disappeared.
"No, no, no, he's a Golden Core cultivator. He must be a Golden Core cultivator..." Sweat beaded on Cheng Wenming's forehead as he spoke incoherently to Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan. Only this could explain it. It was a common trick for high-level cultivators to pretend to be weak. Some mid-to-high-level cultivators had this kind of playful mentality. Could it be that they had really encountered such a senior this time?
The thought that they had dug a pit for a Golden Core cultivator almost made Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan, who were sitting cross-legged on the ground resisting the impact of the Snow Sprites, lose their minds. Their shields were almost broken by the Snow Sprites in the cave passage. In this world of ice and snow, the robes of all three of them were completely soaked.
"Senior... Jiang... Jiang... we were blind. Please, your... your lordship, forgive us petty people! Please let us go! We beg you!" The change had happened too quickly, and they couldn't help but let their imaginations run wild. In his terror, Cheng Wenming had already started begging for mercy from the empty air around them. Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan couldn't get up immediately; they had to continue resisting the impact of the Snow Sprites. Fear and pleading were also in their eyes.
Only the Snow Sprite Lord, after searching fruitlessly, turned its deep blue gaze to the three of them, a murderous intent in its eyes. Although its intelligence was high, it had lost its target just as it was about to devour it. How could it be willing to let it go? And the fat cultivator on the other side had said himself that he was a fire-type spirit root cultivator. How could he be willing to let him go? As for the disappeared Li Yan, he was more inclined to believe that Li Yan had some kind of life-saving magical treasure like a high-grade talisman, which was why he couldn't detect him. Otherwise, if the other party had the ability to kill him, he wouldn't believe that they would let him go so easily.
After searching for Li Yan to no avail, the trace of fear that had just risen in the Snow Sprite Lord's heart was quickly replaced by greed. The upgrading of Snow Sprites was different from other demonic beasts; it had to rely on continuous devouring. When they were just low-level Snow Sprites, they could strengthen themselves by devouring other demonic beasts of the yin and cold body type. Once they reached the second grade, ordinary yin and cold body type demonic beasts gradually lost their effect on them. Then they would need extremely cold things with even heavier yin qi and heavenly materials and earthly treasures to promote their level. But at this time, some of the ultimate yang things that were originally fatal to them unexpectedly had benefits. As long as they could absorb and devour the ultimate yang things into their bodies, due to the imbalance of yin and yang, the Snow Sprite Lord's demonic core would be stimulated by the life-and-death crisis and would burst with potential, secreting a large amount of blue ethereal fire to fuse with the ultimate yang thing. In the end, it would cause a major upgrade to the demonic core.
There were several problems with this method:
First, devouring the ultimate yang thing was also a kind of damage to their own body, so only powerful Snow Sprite Lords could barely do it.
Second, even at the level of a Snow Sprite Lord, after devouring the ultimate yang thing, they had to fully operate their demonic core, causing the blue flame within to reach its extreme to assimilate the threat brought by the ultimate yang thing. During this period, the Snow Sprite Lord would be weak. He would hide himself in a secret place prepared long ago to prevent being found and devoured by other Snow Sprite Lords, thus becoming a stepping stone for others.
The third point was that the purer and higher the grade of the ultimate yang thing, the better. A fire-type Foundation Establishment stage cultivator was a good choice. One day, when the Snow Sprite Lord advanced to become a Snow Sprite King, which was equivalent to the human Golden Core realm, then the target would be placed on a fire-type Golden Core cultivator. However, this phenomenon was rare. It was unknown if the highest level a Snow Sprite demonic beast could reach was only the second grade. At least, no Snow Sprite King had ever appeared on the first level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. However, it was rumored within the Jingtu Sect that a Snow Sprite King had once appeared on the fourth level, but it was never revealed to the outside world. The fourth level was a place that only Nascent Soul cultivators could go to. But a Snow Sprite King was only equivalent to the Golden Core stage. It was unknown why it didn't appear on the third level of the tower.
So all of this made this Snow Sprite Lord's desire for fire-type cultivators extremely strong. There were too many Melting Caves on the long wall of ice and snow. Although cultivators entered the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda all year round, for the numerous Melting Caves here, it was just a drop in the ocean. So as long as a cultivator entered, the Snow Sprite Lord in the Melting Cave would fight to the death regardless of everything.
This Snow Sprite Lord was already extremely angry. Unable to find Li Yan, it charged towards Cheng Wenming without hesitation. After his extreme terror, Cheng Wenming saw that the mysterious cultivator had not reappeared. He guessed that he was probably hiding nearby with great magic power to watch the show. In this way, with the other party's playful mentality, at least the three of them were safe for the time being. For now, they could only deal with this Snow Sprite Lord.
Normally, to pass through the Melting Cave passage, unless there were many cultivators, they would adopt the method they had used today, fighting their way through and attracting the attention of the demonic beasts in the Melting Cave. Otherwise, they would enter quietly and fly through at the fastest speed. Even if they fought with the demonic beasts in the cave, they would only touch and go, creating distance with speed. So, cultivators who entered the Melting Cave basically all had one or two extremely fast flying magical artifacts and rarely fought with demonic beasts head-on like this.
But this time, the three of them had entered the tower for the purpose of obtaining the Snow Sprite Lord demonic core, so the method they used was naturally different, and their preparations were also extremely thorough. Their initial idea was to enter, set up an ambush and formation, then attract the Snow Sprite Lord's attention, and finally lead it into the formation, relying on the power of the formation's restrictions to kill it. As for meeting Li Yan, it was just a chance encounter. Subsequently, the three of them abandoned their original plan and intended to use a more relaxed method to hunt a Snow Sprite Lord first.
The current situation was very unfavorable for the three of them. Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zewen were unable to withdraw to support Cheng Wenming for a while, nor did they have time to set up an ambush. Due to Li Yan's unexpected disappearance, the three of them had to face a hundred Snow Sprites and a Snow Sprite Lord head-on. The situation had changed too quickly, and the three of them were caught completely off guard.
Looking at the rumbling Snow Sprite Lord, Cheng Wenming's chubby face trembled. At such a close distance, it would be very difficult for them to escape immediately. On the other end were over a hundred Snow Sprites. As long as they let go of their shields, those Snow Sprites would swarm over and block the passage. The Snow Sprite Lord would then attack from behind. Now, if they fled into the Melting Cave, Cheng Wenming himself could escape deep into the cave at the moment of engagement with the Snow Sprite Lord, but Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan would most likely be in mortal danger. So this method was not very desirable.
It was not that Cheng Wenming was so loyal. It was just that with his cultivation, it would be very difficult for him to pass through the Melting Cave alone. Especially since he was a fire-type cultivator, and his main combat power was in his fire-type divine abilities. In this way, to a Snow Sprite Lord, he was like a lamp in the dark night. It would surely bite down on him and not let him go easily. The reason he felt he couldn't abandon the two of them was that he had no idea how far this Melting Cave was, whether there were other Snow Sprite Lords ahead, or even what other unseen demonic beasts might appear. For him to travel alone with his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, compared to traveling with Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan, his chances of perishing would be at least fifty to eighty percent greater. This was not a gamble he was willing to take.
"You two, one of you stay behind and do your best to resist the Snow Sprites' attack. The other come with me to fight the Snow Sprite Lord. We must be ready to escape at any time. Wait for my voice transmission and act together." Cheng Wenming grit his teeth and sent a voice transmission to Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan. At this point, this was the only way. And in the darkness, there was still that mysterious cultivator. He might be the one to deliver the final blow. But for now, they could only deal with what was in front of them.
This all took a long time to describe, but in reality, from Li Yan's disappearance to the Snow Sprite Lord's search and then its attack on Cheng Wenming, it was only a short period of less than ten breaths.
At the same time as Cheng Wenming's voice transmission, the Snow Sprite Lord had already rammed into him. Two huge palms reached out to embrace him. With this embrace, its arms were like two long pillars extending to both sides, instantly blocking the sides of the cave and making it impossible for Cheng Wenming to rush past. He could either retreat or face it head-on.
At such a close distance, the damage caused by the fire talismans to the swiftly arriving Snow Sprite Lord was already very low. Unlike before, with Li Yan's containment, Cheng Wenming had scattered a large number of fire talismans, which not only pitted the Snow Sprite Lord's snow-white armor but also lowered its aura a lot. The natural restraining effect of the ultimate yang flame on yin and cold was still obvious. And for things like talismans, the Snow Sprite Lord could not devour them. Even though he coveted the ultimate yang raging fire on the talisman, the talisman contained more of the talisman script restrictions. If he were to swallow those things, it was estimated that his demonic core would be branded with the talisman's seal, which was not something he could bear. It was not impossible for him to perish directly.
Yin and evil things and talismans were truly natural enemies. So, although Cheng Wenming had not used his own immortal art divine abilities just now, he had still caused a certain amount of damage to the Snow Sprite Lord. The Snow Sprite Lord naturally hated him to the bone and wished it could capture Cheng Wenming immediately.
Seeing this, how could Cheng Wenming dare to face it head-on? His figure rapidly retreated. At the same time, a Green Dragon Crescent Blade appeared in his hand. The blade, as tall as a person, stood erect. Coupled with his stout figure, for a moment he looked quite majestic. The light of the blade was like snow, and the green rainbow was like lightning. He slashed diagonally at the Snow Sprite Lord's neck. From its momentum, no one doubted that if this blade hit, it could definitely split the Snow Sprite Lord in two.