Chapter 173: The Frigid Land

Extremely Cold

The Second Order Guardian saw this scene and was surprised by Zhang Cheng's actions,

"This human called Zhang Cheng has rather odd thoughts."

"Isn't he afraid that this slap will completely enrage the Terminal Planet?"

First spread his hands and said lightly, "Obviously, they don't care at all."

"Don't care? If they anger the Terminal Planet, it's Dragon Nation that suffers!"

"The terrifying thing of the Terminal Planet does have some bite," Second couldn't help but retort.

First pinched his chin, pondered for a moment, and offered his speculation,

"Do you think it's possible that Zhang Cheng, with absolute confidence, could easily eradicate the Terminal Planet?"

Second: "????"

"First, I think you might be overestimating Dragon Nation."

"Anyway, I don't believe it."

First gave no rebuttal, just muttered to himself, "Then let's see how it goes."

……

The short interlude ends.

The Day-Night Wanderer's barbecue also comes to a pause.

When leaving, the unfinished lava giant lizard was stored in a spatial artifact, packed up and taken away, feeling delighted.

Laser zone, scorching zone…

What kind of defense mechanism will come next?

The Day-Night Wanderer walked while pondering.

The farther forward they went, the lower the surrounding temperature, and occasionally a cold wind blew in from the tunnel's end.

It felt like wearing underwear in the dead of winter, plunging with a splash into icy water, just freezing enough to scramble ashore, then a sudden gust of cold wind attacked.

Cold to the bone.

Freezing so that one's legs trembled.

"This place is a bit cold, but it's okay."

Day Wanderer let out a sigh; having spent years in the Underworld, they were already accustomed to scorching heat and severe cold.

Keep moving forward!

Suddenly!

Crack—

The floor beneath their feet emitted a cracking sound.

Looking down, they saw that, at some unknown time, a layer of ice had covered the floor.

Frost continuously spewed out around them.

The Day-Night Wanderer wanted to keep moving forward.

But with a thump,

their head struck something.

"Wait, when did so many mirrors appear here?"

Day Wanderer shouted in surprise.

It and Night Wanderer looked around and found mirrors everywhere.

Unwittingly, they fell into a mirror formation!

Each mirror reflected their silhouettes.

The intricate mirror layout, like a maze, required finding the only exit!

Meanwhile, frost kept proliferating, the temperature plummeted, dropping to minus thirty degrees in an instant.

The temperature kept wildly falling!

"It seems that if we don't find the exit quickly, we'll freeze to death here."

"Hmm… it could be frostbite, or it could be completely unharmed."

"Anyway, find the exit first!"

The Day-Night Wanderer nodded in tacit agreement, already having a plan in mind.

What about the situation on the other side?

The angry rioters also arrived at the bone‑chilling extreme cold zone.

They stepped into the mirror maze, racking their brains to devise ways to cope with the current predicament.

"It's getting colder here; we can't continue like this."

The Pilgrim clasped both hands, rested his chin lightly on his hand, assuming a praying posture, as invisible ripples seemed to ripple in his mind.

Whenever these thought fluctuations touched the mirror surface,

they would bounce back.

And those fluctuations that failed to contact a mirror would be shattered into fragments, continuing to explore forward.

In this way, they gradually felt out a path to exit.

"Go, move in this direction!"

The Pilgrim's party took about two steps forward,

then stopped,

and again used ripples to probe ahead.

Each detection took about one minute.

Each time they moved forward, they could shift at most one or two meters; sometimes, the moment they took a step, they would "bang" headfirst into a mirror surface.

"What the hell!"

"Didn't you say this path was correct?"

"Why do I still keep hitting the mirrors!"

The irritable Brute's emotions were already unstable, and this mirror maze, which required patience and calm, struck right at its weakness.

The Pilgrim cast a faint glance at it and said in a flat tone:

"The wave-detection method does not succeed every time."

Having said that, it continued using ripples to probe the way, slowly shifting its steps.

The surrounding temperature was getting lower and lower; almost any drop of sweat that fell would immediately freeze.

About half an hour later,

"How much longer until we can get out?" the Angry Brute asked with a dark expression.

The Pilgrim estimated, "We've already covered a third; one more hour and we'll be out."

What???

One more hour?

"In another hour, I'll nearly freeze into a popsicle!"

"Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't get out of here!"

The Angry Brute roared, the purple crystals on its arms growing wildly, its eyes turning completely red as well.

Bang!

A fist smashed into the mirror.

Ice shards scattered in all directions.

But the mirror was completely unscathed!

"Bastard, bastard, bastard!"

【Rage: 60%】

Bang bang bang!

The sound of striking the mirror surface was incessant.

Frost accumulated layer by layer, soon covering the Angry Brute's knees.

However, even when it used all its strength, the mirror surface only bore a few shallow scratches.

"Damn it!"

Its rage climbed sharply.

Crack!

Suddenly, cracks appeared on the mirror surface, and immediately after, the mirror in front of the Angry Brute shattered with a boom!

Then, it was unstoppable—mirror after mirror shattered beneath its heavy fists.

Finally,

when only a fifth of the journey through the mirror maze remained,

the Angry Brute stopped, no longer blindly using brute force.

"Huh? Keep going!"

"We're about to succeed," the Pilgrim urged.

The Angry Brute gave a cold laugh. "Heh, don't think I'm stupid."

"I won't waste all my strength here. The fight for the treasures ahead is what truly matters."

The Mosquito Empress and the Pilgrim looked at it deeply, somewhat surprised.

They hadn't expected that

the Angry Brute, always known for being simple-minded and all brawn,

had actually learned some cunning!

"The Angry Brute and I both put in effort, but you've done nothing."

"So for this last fifth of the journey..."

The Pilgrim and the Angry Brute looked toward the Mosquito Empress.

"I know, I know."

The Mosquito Empress waved her hand with some impatience.

In an instant, red light flashed in her eyes, and countless mutated long-legged mosquitoes gathered around her like dark clouds pressing down on a city.

Buzz buzz buzz—

An irritating sound arose.

These mutated long-legged mosquitoes arranged themselves into a sword shape and charged forward with a whoosh.

The extreme cold all around battered these long-legged mosquitoes;

great numbers of them, unable to endure the cold, died;

the ones in the middle that held on continued forward.

Roughly ten minutes passed,

and the originally millions of mutated long-legged mosquitoes were reduced to only a few dozen.

Fortunately,

just as they were on the verge of total annihilation,

A mutated long-legged mosquito successfully escaped through the exit!

"Mission accomplished!"

The Mosquito Empress used special means to obtain that long-legged mosquito's memories, constantly reviewing the correct route in her mind.

The swarm blazes the trail!

"You had this trick up your sleeve — why didn't you say so earlier?" the Angry Thug demanded, his hands still trembling from agitation.

The Mosquito Empress scoffed coldly. "To conserve strength, of course!"

"One-fifth of the journey already cost me five million mutated mosquitoes. If I used them for the entire route, wouldn't I be taking a huge loss?"

"Aren't mosquitoes' lives lives too?"

Hearing these words,

the Angry Thug and the Pilgrim were rendered speechless.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Nation spectators watching from outside had plenty to say:

"What — mosquitoes' lives are lives too?"

"These annoying things should be wiped off the face of the earth."

"Damn it, all creatures in this world have spirits — except mosquitoes."

"I remember the night before my college entrance exam. I wanted to get a good night's rest, but a mosquito flew into my room and buzzed around me. The moment I turned on the light, it hid; the moment I turned it off, it came back to harass me!"

"Mosquitoes — I honestly can't find a single good thing about them!"

"Even manure can be used as fertilizer. Mosquitoes are worse than manure."

"They should gather all the mosquitoes in the world together and nuke them clean with a single warhead."

"The more I talk, the angrier I get!"

Fake cold-blooded creatures: snakes.

True cold-blooded creatures: mosquitoes!

Though everyone was busy mocking mosquitoes,

once they came back to their senses, most people's attention had already returned to the screen.

"As the passage goes deeper, the defensive mechanisms also become more robust."

"The three Disaster-level creatures expended considerable effort passing through the extreme cold zone."

"Dragon Nation's terrifying entities…"

The vice president of the Doomsday Association lifted his gaze toward the screen.

On the screen,

the Day-Night Wandering Spirits had stepped into the extreme cold zone.

"These mirrors…"

The Day Wandering Spirit gently stroked the mirror before him. The surface was smooth and flawless, leaving no trace,

"Feels nice. Probably could make a good profit selling these."

"Pity I'm not short on money, or I'd definitely haul them all home."

The Night Wandering Spirit waved his hand. "Enough of this nonsense — we need to hurry."

The Day Wandering Spirit nodded in agreement. "So, how do we get out of here now?"

"Force our way through and carve out a path?"

Force their way through?

"Only someone with no brains would resort to such a stupid method."

The Night Wandering Spirit rapped his knuckles against the mirror and had a sudden realization:

"You can tell at a glance these mirrors have a rebound effect — the harder you strike, the heavier the backlash."

"Surpass their tolerance limit and they'll shatter, of course, but there's no need."

Saying so,

the Night Wandering Spirit murmured incantations over the lantern in his hand.

The lantern seemed to come alive, streaking forward in a flash and unerringly finding the exit.

The Day-Night Wandering Spirits followed close behind, easily passing through the extreme cold zone.

After walking out,

the Day Wandering Spirit asked curiously, "What did you just say to the lantern?"

The Night Wandering Spirit spread his hands. "Simple. I promised it that as long as it found a way out, I'd help it find a 'wife.'"

"Hmm… or just keep it as a kept companion."

Day Wandering Spirit: "????"

"You have that kind of network?"

"Of course."

"Brother Night, there's something I'm not sure I should say, but you know, I'm not getting any younger either — it's about time I find a…"

The Night Wandering Spirit frowned. "Cut the crap!"

"Wait!"

"Am I seeing this right?"

"With just a few broken lanterns, they walked right through like they owned the place?"

"Without suffering any punishment at all?"

The vice president of the Doomsday Guild stared with rounded eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Beside him, the Wise One Great Smart, the Lust Cult Leader, had long since seen through everything —

Don't worry, I think those lanterns should be some kind of ghost device with a pathfinding function.

By relying on external force to get through the protective mechanism, this is not a true display of the Dragon Nation's terrifying creatures' strength.

So we have nothing to fear.

Now that the three major protective mechanisms have been passed, the upcoming treasure scramble is the real showdown.

The Deputy President of the Apocalypse nodded repeatedly in agreement: "In terms of IQ, the Leader of the Cult of Desire is still the highest."

So I trust your judgment.

"Me too." The deputy leader of the foreign tribe also agreed.