Chapter 617: Ice Plum Demon Queen

The northern landscape, ten thousand li of drifting snow.

Lu Ran stepped on the white snow, listening to the strange "crunch crunch" sound, finding it quite interesting.

Becoming a cultivator is indeed very convenient.

The powerful Sea Realm body greatly enhanced Lu Ran's cold resistance attribute.

If he were an ordinary person, or a novice at the Stream Realm, he would likely be frozen until his hands and face turned deathly pale and his limbs stiff.

【Master, I smell the scent of plum blossoms.】 In his mind, Yan Yan Shuangzi's voice sounded.

【Be careful, let the Ice Heart Bracelet continue casting.】 Lu Ran instructed.

【Yes.】

For this journey, Lu Ran brought only the Feng and Yan Generals, the Luo God General, and Hall Master He, plus one Evil Shadow Guardian.

Persuaded by Lu Ran, Jiangjiang Ruyi did not come along, and temporarily lent the artifact Ice Heart Bracelet to Yan Yan Shuangzi.

The Evil Spirit Ice Plum Demon Queen possesses a powerful Xie Fa—Soul-Stealing Cold Fragrance!

The cold, distant fragrance captivates the soul, causing all living beings to become addicted and unable to extricate themselves.

For Lu Ran and Yan Yan Shuangzi, these two dogs, this technique poses an extreme threat!

Only by possessing the Jing Fang Ji Fa and purification methods can one resist this poison.

At this moment, Shangguan Hongfu, marching at the rear of the group, held a exquisite eight-sided lantern in his hand.

Divine Art Holy Fire Cage!

Holy white light purifies an area, eliminating all possible abnormal status effects.

【Left front!】 The voice transmission came again.

"Everyone pay attention!" Lu Ran spoke loudly, explaining the situation.

The group immediately moved toward the left front; in a short while, Lu Ran also twitched his nose.

Sniff~

The faint scent of plum blossoms, mixed with the biting cold air, bewitches the heart.

Lu Ran was utterly intoxicated!

Good, good, good!

In comparison, the Cold Plum disciples were still too bland; the Ice Plum Demon Queen's plum scent gave a far more deadly feeling.

Good days lie ahead~

A hint of a smile appeared on Lu Ran's lips.

Cold Xuan Shuang is Jiangjiang Ruyi's personal guard!

In the future, I can enjoy this enchanting poisonous fragrance day and night. Wait!

Lu Ran suddenly realized something:

After activating Yemo Yemo Xiesu, I am very fragrant myself!

Why would I need to go smell Cold Xuan Shuang?

"Ho~" While pondering, Lu Ran saw a beautiful scene.

Snowflakes drifted down, scattering through the forest.

They also fell on the shoulders of a woman dressed in magnificent attire.

She simply stood there quietly admiring the snow, yet gave people a sense of dignified grace.

She wore a snow-colored cloak, exuding an aura of power, with a head of silver-white long hair, and wore a magnificent ice crystal crown.

On the ice crown, there were also plum blossoms formed of frost and snow, inlaid in a scattered arrangement.

Exquisitely extraordinary!

"Sect Master?" Xiang Xiang Luoying drew her bow and nocked an arrow, softly seeking permission.

"Mm." Lu Ran responded.

Xiang Xiang Luoying immediately loosened her finger, and the bowstring vibrated!

A water mist arrow shot out rapidly.

"Hm?" The Ice Plum Demon Queen suddenly turned her head to look.

A fleeting glance was enough to make one's heart race.

She really looked too much like a human!

Bai Xi face, exquisite features, especially the touch of crimson on her lips; who knows how many pitiful humans she could bewitch.

Fortunately, the Ice Plum Demon Queen had a pair of pale purple, demonic eyes.

These demonic eyes clearly told the world her true identity!

Evil Spirit Race Ice Plum Demon Queen!

"Hm!" The Ice Plum Demon Queen's pupils contracted slightly; seeing the water mist arrow thrusting straight at her face, she suddenly flew sideways and backward.

In an instant, plum blossoms scattered.

Silver hair fluttered, clothes danced.

It brought a huge visual shock to Lu Ran.

The Ice Plum Demon Queen's speed was faster by more than just a little bit.

Among the falling plum blossoms, she left behind afterimages, outlining her movement trajectory.

Xie Fa Plum Fall Startling Goose!

This is a movement-type technique that allows the caster to be light and agile, roaming freely between heaven and earth.

Light as a startled goose, shadows like plum blossoms.

While dodging, energy surged in the Ice Plum Demon Queen's hand, and an ice crystal long sword rapidly took shape.

Xie Fa: Ice Plum Sword!

Whether her true form, the crystal-clear three-foot ice sword, or the frost-plum ornament on the hilt, all exuded the word "refinement"!

Like a fine work of art.

Too bad,

this work of art met the assassin-disciples of Divine Divine Asha.

"Huh!"

The Ice Plum Witch Queen shot backward rapidly, slashing forward with her sword.

A half-arc of ice aura surged forward, terrifyingly sharp, cleaving straight toward the lone mist arrow.

Xie Fa: Ice Blade Aura!

The Divine One known as Cold Plum is called Little Liangye Jian Yi—could the Ice Plum Witch Queen not be the same?

Merely this technique of Ice Blade Aura carries the spirit of Master Liangye Jian Yi!

"Swoosh~"

The mist arrow suddenly reversed its tip, maintaining its forward speed.

The tracking arrow pierced straight through the Ice Blade Aura, then tore through one after another of the Witch Queen's beautiful afterimages along her path.

Straight into the demon's chest!

"Crack!"

The Ice Plum Witch Queen's beautiful eyes widened.

In her final moment, she tried to raise her sword to block—but the sturdy ice sword shattered utterly.

How could a Jiang Jing demon hope to resist an arrow from the Vast Sea?

The majestic Luo Shen, where her gaze fell, left behind only a skeleton.

"Sss!"

The mist arrow instantly pierced the snow-white cloak, drove through the Ice Plum Witch Queen's chest, and emerged from her back, dragging a trail of blood.

It fell upon the white snow, hauntingly beautiful.

The Ice Plum Witch Queen crashed heavily to the ground, and as she slid backward, she piled up a high mound of snow.

Lu Ran couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He hadn't taken the Luo Shen on a mission in a long time—he'd almost forgotten how deadly this young mother truly was.

With Xiang Xiang Luoying in the team, the Feng and Yan Generals probably won't get much chance to shine, huh?

"Crunch, crunch"

Lu Ran stepped forward through the snow.

He reached down, adjusted Xie Fa: Night Wind Strike to its lowest rank, and blew the snow off the Ice Plum Witch Queen's body.

"Ugh, ugh"

The Ice Plum Witch Queen was not yet dead; blood seeped from her lips, and her demonic eyes slowly grew hollow.

"So beautiful," Lu Ran murmured.

The last time he felt this way was over that group of golden-leafed demons—the Nijing Demons.

The time before that? Probably the noble, sacred Jade-Faced Serpent?

Go further back? No, too many.

The demon ranks truly produced remarkable specimens: some grotesque enough to make you vomit, like the Fang-faced Men; others enchanting enough to steal your soul, like the Sea Merfolk.

Whether beautiful or ugly,

when demons killed or tortured, their expressions were always the same.

"Puff~"

The Ice Plum Witch Queen quietly disintegrated into wisps of white mist.

Little Chi Feng flew out and began feasting on the spot.

Lu Ran also sensed the Ice Plum Witch Queen's soul had been captured within his pupil.

"Stand guard," Lu Ran ordered, then closed his eyes and entered his spiritual realm.

Inside the Demon Sculpture Garden, Lu Ran found the regal Ice Plum Witch Queen and attempted to activate the Yemo Yemo Xiesu.

"Hum!"

The Yemo Yemo Xiesu trembled immediately.

Success!

Lu Ran was quite satisfied—activating a stone sculpture required two thousand Wu Jing souls.

One Jiang = ten He = one hundred Xi = one thousand Wu.

Calculating it, Lu Ran needed two Jiang Jing souls to activate one Yemo Yemo Xiesu, and the recently deceased Ice Plum Witch Queen had clearly gathered a small amount of Sacred Spirit energy.

Lu Ran waited a moment and found the Ice Plum Witch Queen's Yemo Yemo Xiesu had stabilized at Stream Realm, Stage Three.

Hmm. Acceptable.

Lu Ran opened his eyes and said to the group: "I'm returning to Yunhai Cliff. Wait for me."

"Yes!"

Amid a chorus of "Yes," Lu Ran activated a teleportation mirror.

In the small courtyard of Yunhai Residence, two women practicing sword dance both halted their movements and turned to look.

There stepped Lu Ran, dusted with frost and snow.

"Found it?" Jiangjiang Ruyi sheathed her sword, still refusing to let Lu Ran see her dance.

Two days had passed since Lu Ran led the team out on the mission.

It should have been found by now.

Back then, when Lu Ran led the team to Blade Ridge Peak to rescue Yan Yan Shuangzi, they had captured some soul fragments of the Lord Bei Feng believers.

For this mission, Lu Ran was able to follow the clues precisely because he had previously inquired about the northern environment from the Lord Bei Feng disciples.

"The Yemo Yemo Xiesu has already been activated." Lu Ran nodded lightly, looking at Leng Xuan Shuang, "Come."

Leng Xuan Shuang suppressed the excitement in her heart, stepped forward quickly, and knelt with her head bowed.

As early as yesterday, she had torn up the master-servant contract she had signed with the deity, Cold Plum.

Unsurprisingly, she suffered immense trauma and fell to Jiang Jing, Third Stage.

But at this moment, Leng Xuan Shuang felt not the slightest regret.

Instead, her heart was filled with longing!

"Haa~"

A massive phantom shadow spread from within Lu Ran's body, instantly making the courtyard slightly colder.

The Ice Plum Demon Queen opened her pair of eerie eyes, her expression cold, looking down at the human kneeling at her feet.

The Yemo Yemo Xiesu realm was indeed not high, but the Demon Queen's aura was shockingly powerful!

After all, this was no mere demonic minion, but the genuine phantom of an Evil God!

The high-and-mighty Lady Demon Queen exuded a contradictory temperament, mixing solemnity with seductive charm, as she slowly extended a phantom giant hand.

The human and the demon overlapped their palms, pressing them onto Leng Xuan Shuang's forehead.

"Hiss." Leng Xuan Shuang's body trembled, and she sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

A frigid aura poured in from the top of her head, chilling her flesh and blood to the bone.

With his eyes closed, Lu Ran skillfully manipulated the energy, signing the inheritance contract for Leng Xuan Shuang and binding her firmly to the Evil God statue.

He was in such a rush to activate the Yemo Yemo Xiesu that he was even willing to endure a buzzing headache in his head on the battlefield for the next few days.

Because Leng Xuan Shuang's strength was slightly inferior,

and even more so because her talent and aptitude had already reached its limit!

If the contract with Leng Xuan Shuang had been signed right at the beginning of the Yemo Yemo Xiesu's activation, then every promotion and vibration of the stone statue would have benefited Leng Xuan Shuang immensely.

Although, once a human is bound to a stone statue, they fuse together every single day.

Yet this special process of the stone statue's promotion can accelerate the fusion speed between the human and the statue!

Thereby raising Leng Xuan Shuang's cultivation aptitude one day earlier.

It was clear that for the sake of Jiangjiang Ruyi's personal guard, Lu Ran had gone to great lengths.

"Haa~"

The phantom of the Ice Plum Demon Queen quietly dispersed; the contract was complete!

Leng Xuan Shuang kept her head low, her face buried, her voice trembling slightly:

"Th-thank you, Sect Master."

She had once been a weak disciple at the mercy of others.

Imprisoned by the Wolf Bone Village Chief, denied freedom for the rest of her life, with only death in such a miserable way as an escape from an even more tragic fate.

But on that day, in that winding small river, everything changed.

The youth in the imperial robe appeared abruptly, took the sword from her hand, and pulled away the hand she had tried to use to pierce her heart.

He helped her take revenge, gave her protection, and restored her freedom.

Now, he had even helped her undergo a complete transformation, granting her a "Divine Seat."

A path of ascending step by step to the heavens.

Leng Xuan Shuang did not believe she deserved it, yet all of this had simply happened.

It felt like an extremely unreal dream.

In a daze, she heard the youth's gentle words: "In the future, you must help me protect Jiang Ruyi well."

Before Leng Xuan Shuang could respond, she heard the soft laughter of the Sect Master's Lady.

Jiangjiang Ruyi looked at the youth in the imperial robe stepping backward, her gaze tender: "Be careful."

"Mm, mm." Lu Ran nodded repeatedly, backing into the mirror.

The ancient bronze mirror quietly shattered and vanished without a trace.

Begging for some monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)