Chapter 627: Black Lotus and the Snowman

North of Blade Ridge Peak, ice and snow cover the land.

The blazing sun in the sky is veiled by layers of cold mist, bringing little warmth to this realm.

A tall youth draped in a black-and-gold imperial robe, with beautiful plum blossom petals drifting around him, Xu Xu flies forward.

Wherever he passes, a faint fragrance floats.

He leaves behind trails of afterimages, dreamlike and illusory.

The powerful Ice Plum Demon Queen Xie Fa: Pride of Snow and Ice Plum allows Lu Ran to fear no cold, instead thriving as a fish in water.

"Heh."

Lu Ran exhales wisps of mist from his mouth.

Gazing into the distance, everything is a vast expanse of white.

This is the seventh day of Lu Ran's search; the further north he goes, the harsher the environment becomes. By now, he has seen no trace of trees.

【Master.】 A cold female voice sounds in his mind.

Lu Ran looks up and sees a tall figure on the snowy mountain ahead.

Wearing a green straw rain cape and a bamboo hat, her blade gleams with cold light.

The wind and snow provide the perfect backdrop, making her look like a powerful and mysterious female blade master from a martial arts novel.

【What is it?】 Lu Ran smiles.

He tries to be gentle, not putting pressure on Yan Yan Shuangzi; he can feel that for every day he wanders this realm with her, her feelings grow more complex.

Yan Yan Shuangzi wants revenge; that is certain.

But troubling Lu Ran to waste time, wandering aimlessly like a headless fly with her, makes Yan Yan Shuangzi feel deeply guilty.

Lu Ran could sit by the sea cliff, focusing on cultivation;

or continue south to carry out his mission, preparing to face the Wu Sheng faction.

Or even go to the Thousand Flower Ridge, where flowers bloom profusely, to admire a intoxicating sword dance in the gentle embrace woven by his fiancée.

That is the life the Evil Shadow Guardian wants to see for his master.

Not accompanying her in the vast wind and snow, enduring the cold and wasting time.

【Evil Shadow?】 Lu Ran flies upward slowly and calls out again.

Yan Yan Shuangzi watches the imperial-robed youth approach and sees those gentle eyes.

A hint of bitterness rises in her heart; she turns to look further north and says softly, 【There is a black lotus over there.】

Evil Demon: Black Lotus?

Lu Ran raises an eyebrow slightly; finally, there are traces of this clan?

The Black Lotus clan is the sworn enemy of the God: Sword Lotus, possessing considerable strength and posing a great threat to the human race.

In the mortal world, the Black Lotus clan is very picky about location, always blooming in the far north.

Wu Lie River's Rain Alley City, where Lu Ran is located, is also a northern city of Great Xia and snows in winter, but the environment seems insufficient, not enough to attract Black Lotus to bloom on the streets and alleys.

Just like the Nu Hai Yan Jiao clan.

The waters of Wu Lie River have always flowed rolling, wide and majestic, yet they cannot attract the sea and sky overlord.

"Let's go take a look."

Lu Ran floats beside Yan Yan Shuangzi, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Yan Yan Shuangzi smells the faint scent of plum blossoms on him, slowly takes a step, and leaves footprints on the smooth snow.

Soon, the two arrive at the edge of a cliff.

"Tsk tsk~" Lu Ran looks down, observing the blooming black lotus below, and cannot help but softly admire it.

This black lotus is especially huge, with black mist drifting around it.

Additionally, a thick liquid like black ink constantly drips from the petals.

The black lotus does not stay quietly on the ground; its thick lotus stem, wrapped in polluted black ink, breaks through the soil, supporting the huge lotus flower, suspended in mid-air.

From the drifting black mist to the dripping black ink...

The Evil Demon: Black Lotus blooms eerily, constantly defiling this holy land of ice and snow.

"Pity, this clan has little intelligence," Lu Ran sighs.

Once such an evil demon enters hunting mode, regardless of whether those around are human or demon, it will swallow you without hesitation!

Otherwise, Lu Ran could summon a few, placing them near Cloud Sea Cliff, or on Nine Star Island, to protect the Niece Mirror Demons as they carry out missions.

"Crack! Crack!"

Suddenly, small black lotuses bloom one by one; their stems break through the icy ground, lifting the tiny black lotuses into mid-air.

Xie Fa: Black Lotus Sea of Flowers!

Immediately, streams of black ink shoot out from the black lotuses, aiming for the mountain peak.

Xie Fa: Ink Erosion!

This is a highly corrosive black liquid that can erode a target's armor and even melt a target's flesh.

The black lotuses' output is too dense; Lu Ran simply stops dodging.

Suddenly, a large red ceremonial veil covers his black-and-gold imperial robe.

From a young emperor, he becomes a bride-to-be... uh.

A groom-to-be.

In the next instant, the exquisite sleeves embroidered with dragons and phoenixes suddenly expand, sucking all the splashing black ink into the sleeves.

Yan Zhi Xie Fa: Yan Zhi Sleeve!

To this day, Lu Ran has not yet seen Sister Yan Zhi within the Holy Lingshan.

He must find an opportunity to visit them and push Yemo Yemo Xiesu to the Reach Sea Realm.

Yan Yan Shuangzi stood behind Lu Ran, watching the rather spectacular scene.

The Yan Zhi Sleeve was vast and beautiful, carrying immense suction power!

Dense black ink sprayed forth, and before reaching the sleeve, each drop turned its direction, like young swallows returning to their nest.

Thus, Yan Yan Shuangzi could stand beside Lu Ran quite safely.

No black ink would brush past Lu Ran.

The truly corrosive ink that landed on the mountain was at least twenty meters away from the two of them.

Lu Ran wielded the Yan Zhi Sleeve with his right hand, while in his naturally hanging left hand, he summoned a paper effigy.

Against such special evil demons, getting close was not a good choice.

Lu Ran did not want his Black-Gold Emperor Robe corroded and ruined; this was something Little Jiang Ruyi had painstakingly made.

"Hoo!"

Yan Yan Shuangzi reached down with one hand; suddenly, two rows of uneven canine teeth appeared at the base of the thick lotus stem.

Lu Ran had never faced the Black Lotus clan, but Yan Yan Shuangzi was experienced, having lived in North Wind City where she had to guard the city on the fifteenth night.

She knew very well what the weakness of the Black Lotus clan was.

Severing the lotus stem would not directly kill the evil demon, but it would turn the Black Lotus into a rootless duckweed, causing it great injury.

The Black Lotus immediately sensed that its foundation was about to be destroyed!

"Hoo!!"

A shocking energy surged forth from the massive flower.

Thick black mist formed a vortex, like a black hole devouring everything, swirling rapidly at the lotus seed pod.

The stem swayed; while the Black Lotus dodged, its terrifying suction force crazily drew energy from the two rows of canine teeth.

As if it intended to completely absorb the Xie Fa: Evil Teeth!

At this moment, this dimly blooming Black Lotus shared a similar effect with the Xie Fa: Yan Zhi Sleeve wielded by Lu Ran.

Xie Fa: Heaven-Devouring Black Lotus!

"Crack!!"

The two rows of canine teeth indeed had much energy drained, but they had not reached the point of shattering; the teeth bit down after all.

The thick lotus stem was covered in black ink and did not break directly.

Highly corrosive black liquid covered the Black Lotus; did it also possess decent defensive effects?

Just at this moment, the huge lotus suddenly tightened.

It was as if grasped by an invisible giant hand, constantly being kneaded.

Lu Ran's left hand, hidden within his sleeve, held the small paper effigy and slowly clenched tight.

The Black Lotus panicked!

It could absorb the physical output of the canine teeth, but it could not absorb the invisible "giant hand."

The Black Lotus realized it could not break free from this mysterious power; its tender lotus petals were being constantly crumpled, and the seed pod was being crushed.

The time of death was near!

"Hoo!!"

The Black Lotus struggled desperately, a terrifying energy surging forth.

Lu and Yan both felt the darkness before their eyes!

All light in the surroundings was swallowed completely, as if the entire world had fallen into absolute darkness.

Lu Ran could not even see the person beside him; he could not even see himself.

"Xie Fa: Ink-Dyed Heaven and Earth," Yan Yan Shuangzi spoke softly, seemingly worried Lu Ran would not adapt, "It merely deprives all living beings within the domain of their vision, causing panic to the target."

"This type of domain technique has no actual output effect."

In the darkness, Lu Ran's soft laughter came: "Am I a clueless little rookie in your heart?"

The corner of Yan Yan Shuangzi's lips curved slightly; her voice, always cold, softened somewhat:

"When guarding the city in the mortal world, after people were swallowed by darkness, someone would always panic, and I still had to clean up their mess."

"That was others," Lu Ran continued laughing, "We two don't need eyes anyway."

Yan Yan Shuangzi pressed her lips together slightly and nodded, quite agreeing.

Suddenly, the darkness dissipated.

The two still stood on the snow mountain, while the massive Black Lotus below had already been kneaded into a ball.

The stem was broken, the seed pod crushed, and the petals were badly damaged.

Lu Ran turned his head to look at the woman.

And the moment the darkness dissipated, Yan Yan Shuangzi's expression became solemn, and she put away her smile.

"Sister Yan Shuangzi."

Hearing the special form of address, Yan Yan Shuangzi lowered her eyelids.

"Set your position correctly; your matters are my matters."

Yan Yan Shuangzi remained silent.

"In a ghost place like Holy Lingshan, it is not easy to meet people who treat each other faithfully; do not push them away." Lu Ran gently patted the brim of her bamboo hat.

From the day Lu Ran saved her, he had told her not to belittle herself.

But to this day, she seemed to have not yet walked out of it.

"Focus on executing the mission; do not think about those messy things—" Lu Ran's words stopped abruptly.

Yan Yan Shuangzi immediately looked up at Lu Ran, then followed his gaze, turning to look backward.

She saw that on a mountain peak very far away, a human figure lay prone in the snow, crawling backward.

Or should it be called "wriggling"?

To be honest, if the other party hadn't moved and just lay there in the snow, Lu Ran might not have been able to see him at all!

Yan Yan Shuangzi's eyes snapped wide open!

The Evil Dog Xie Fa: Evil Perception granted her unparalleled vision, allowing her to clearly see the other party's face, stained with frost and snow.

"Swish~"

"Swish!" Lu Ran and Yan Yan Shuangzi vanished without a trace, one after the other.

At the mountain peak, the man in white combat attire, crawling slowly backward in the snow, had eyes filled with horror!

He still dared not rise, wanting to crawl backward slowly, yet he smelled a faint scent of plum blossoms.

The man's expression changed abruptly!

In the instant he turned his head, he felt his head grow heavy.

A dull "Thud!"

The man's cheek was pressed by a cold sole, stamped hard into the snow.

"M-my lord, spare my life..."

The man spoke with a trembling voice.

He could clearly perceive that the person stepping on his head was brimming with killing intent!

The person standing behind did not possess such intense killing intent, but rather the pressure unique to the vast ocean!

That mere aura alone severed all possibilities of the man's resistance or escape.

"Do you still remember me?" A cold female voice, carrying a slight tremor, reached his ears.

To the man, it sounded somewhat familiar?

The shoe on his face shifted slightly; the man, with his cheek pressed against the snow, looked up at a slant.

With just one glance, the man's pupils contracted violently:

"Yan-Yan..."

Begging for some monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)