Chapter 135: New Discoveries Deep in Redwood Ridge

The Ice Abyss World is always blanketed in snow and wind.

This snow and wind differ from ordinary winter storms, carrying endless cold that strips all life from the ground.

From within Redwood Ridge, the entire land is nothing but snow.

Only towering trees, covered in snow, stand motionless among it all, resembling white spires hung with countless ice pendants from afar.

Trees are a form of life, and if you think about it differently, you can understand why the trees of the Ice Abyss World are so thick.

If their vitality weren’t strong, how could they survive in this frozen world?

North of Redwood Ridge, in the former territory of Lu Shang’s camp, after Xia Hong led fifteen men on a one-kilometer perimeter patrol, he felt a slight easing in his chest.

“Good—no other people spotted, no signs of activity. The Mirror Immortal camp hasn’t crossed the boundary yet.”

Everyone nodded, their expressions relaxing considerably.

Tonight’s first stop here was precisely to check whether the Mirror Immortal camp had crossed the boundary; since nothing was found, it was a good sign.

“The distribution of cold beasts along Lu Shang’s camp perimeter is similar to ours: within five hundred meters, there are a few Snowmanes, Frost Wolves, and Golden Sheep; beyond five hundred meters, only two Tengjiao—all low-grade cold beasts. To find mid-grade ones, we’ll have to go deeper.”

Xia Chuan summarized the patrol findings, then suggested pressing further inward.

At his words, everyone immediately turned their gazes toward Xia Hong at the front.

“You can hunt these perimeter beasts yourselves when you have time. Let’s go in.”

Xia Hong didn’t hesitate—tonight’s goal was clear: mid-grade cold beasts. The prey on the perimeter wasn’t worth his time.

This was their first time venturing beyond a thousand meters, and as the environment began to feel unfamiliar, Xia Hong and the others immediately slowed their pace, minimized their movements, and grew alert to their surroundings.

Without measuring tools, they’d originally relied on instinct to estimate how far they’d gone—but once inside, they realized they didn’t need instinct at all; just by looking, they could tell.

Within Redwood Ridge, the deeper you go, the thicker the trees become; because these trees are so massive, their roots twist and bulge in strange ways, some jutting above ground, turning the once-flat terrain into a complex landscape.

“Outside, trees with diameters over ten meters were already considered large—yet here, it’s even more terrifying. Isn’t this tree nearly twenty meters across?”

Luo Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim, causing everyone—including Xia Hong—to turn and look at the tree he pointed to.

Seeing its form, everyone couldn’t help but gasp and shake their heads.

That tree was indeed enormous.

A tree with a twenty-meter diameter was hard for an ordinary person to imagine.

But if you described it this way, it became clear: if you hollowed out its core, it would become a high-rise building—one capable of easily accommodating hundreds or even thousands of people.

Even from over a hundred meters away, the sixteen of them looked minuscule before that tree; fortunately, they were all regulars of Redwood Ridge and had seen many large trees on the perimeter, or else just this one tree might have triggered a massive-object phobia in them.

“Too bad it’s just an ordinary Zhu Shuang. Are we not deep enough yet? So far, all the trees we’ve seen are the same old types. Leader, shall we go further in?”

Hearing Luo Yuan’s suggestion, Xia Hong turned his gaze away and scanned the surrounding trees, then gave a slight nod.

Their main mission was hunting, but they also paid attention to the tree species along the way; if they encountered any new or valuable trees, they’d record and mark them immediately.

Technically, such tasks belonged to the gathering teams, but since this was their first deep incursion, it was easy to do—better to record and mark now, so the later logging teams could complete their missions more efficiently.

Xia Hong led the group another hundred meters inward, and after roughly estimating they’d reached 1,300 meters, he halted everyone and began exploring north and south.

Soon, they made a new discovery.

“Sssss… what a massive Bing Shuo tree!”

Over a hundred meters to the north, a Bing Shuo tree stood motionless on the ground, its branches heavy with translucent crystal fruits.

The tree’s diameter was about seventeen to eighteen meters; its fruits were too numerous to count—roughly thirty to forty thousand, equivalent to ten to twenty thousand jin.

“Mark it. We’ve never seen a Bing Shuo tree this big before.”

Xia Hong led the group toward the northern tree; as they drew closer, they realized this Bing Shuo wasn’t just large in size—its fruits were also noticeably bigger than those of ordinary Bing Shuo trees.

Beneath the tree lay a large marsh, roughly fifty to sixty meters across, matching the spread of its canopy, emitting a fermented odor—clearly formed from decades of fallen crystal fruits rotting on the ground.

“This isn’t even a marsh!”

From afar, it looked like a marsh because the ground here wasn’t covered in snow and glowed faintly golden.

But when Xia Hong stepped onto it first, he realized: though liquid-like, the ground was only slightly softer than normal earth, with clear resistance underfoot.

“I’ve never stepped on ground this soft. Do crystal fruits really penetrate the soil this noticeably after rotting?”

Xia Chuan’s idle remark froze everyone in place, their expressions startled; Xia Hong snapped his head up, his face filled with sudden delight.

Seeing their reactions, Xia Chuan realized it too.

If crystal fruits had this effect, couldn’t they use it to soften the valley’s ground and transplant trees?

“Not necessarily—not yet! Don’t get excited too soon. If crystal fruits had this effect, why hadn’t earlier generations discovered it? Wait—I’ll check the ground.”

Xia Hong quickly calmed down, crouched, and grabbed a handful of soil.

“Grab” wasn’t accurate—it was more like digging. Yet after several attempts, the soil, though visibly liquid-like and softer than the surrounding ground, refused to break off even a small clump.

Xia Hong frowned, his mind instantly uneasy.

His base strength had reached the thirty-thousand-jin limit.

Even normal earth could be dug up by him easily.

Yet this seemingly soft ground couldn’t be dug at all?

Xia Hong shook his head; this single trait alone extinguished the idea everyone had just entertained.

It looked soft, but was in fact this hard—what use was there in transplanting?

“Forget it. Just mark the location. Leave this place—keep going north.”

With transplantation impossible, the group lost interest. After marking the spot, they followed Xia Hong along the 1,300-meter line, continuing northward.

Later, they found four cold beasts—three Tengjiao and one awakened Blue Moon Spirit—all low-grade.

Tengjiao were troublesome to hunt, so Xia Hong didn’t bother; but the awakened Blue Moon Spirit, perhaps starving, leapt down to ambush them as they passed beneath the tree it dwelled in.

=9+book_bar

After walking so long without even seeing a mid-grade cold beast, the group was already frustrated; a low-grade beast offering itself as a target for venting was not going to be spared.

The Blue Moon Spirit was small, barely over a meter long, its fur whiter than snow. Its strength was the weakest Xia Hong had ever encountered—even weaker than a Nierat—but its speed was several times faster than a Nierat’s.

Its small size, extreme speed, and fur that blended perfectly with the snow made it nearly invisible. Had Xia Hong’s base strength not yet reached the thirty-thousand-jin limit, this ambush might have actually worked.

Unfortunately, it had encountered the current Xia Hong.

Tonight’s search for mid-grade cold beasts had kept everyone on high alert.

Its timing was terrible.

No need for Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, or others to act—Xia Hong drew his blade and dispatched the Blue Moon Spirit in fewer than three strikes.

“This Blue Moon Spirit must have a talent ability like other cold beasts—but it ran into the leader and never got a chance to use it!”

Zhu Shun buried the Blue Moon Spirit in the snow and marked its location, then sighed in admiration.

The others nodded, recalling the clean, swift three strikes, and looked at Xia Hong with deep respect.

Xia Hong, still deep in thought, heard Zhu Shun’s words and realized the group had never seen a Blue Moon Spirit before and didn’t understand its traits—he immediately spoke up:

“Its legs—the Blue Moon Spirit’s legs can briefly unleash five times its normal strength. That’s its talent ability. The fight was too fast for you to notice, but remember this next time you encounter one.”

The group finally understood and nodded in unison.

This was Xia Hong’s first encounter with a Blue Moon Spirit, but he had studied Luo Ming’s Record of Cold Beasts, which described its traits; during the fight, its leg strength had indeed surged for an instant—nearly overwhelming even him.

“Along the way, besides the four cold beasts, we found three Bing Shuo trees, two Lan Yu trees, and several unknown plants. Tonight’s harvest is already sufficient.”

Looking at the eighty-odd Blue Ning grasses on Xia Chuan’s back, plus the other unknown plants, Xia Hong considered turning back.

“Leader, go a bit further—we’ll definitely find something.”

“It’s only half the night. We’re so many, so well-equipped—just bringing back this Blue Moon Spirit and a few dozen Blue Ning grasses? That’s too little.”

“Agreed. I suggest going deeper. At least let’s see what a mid-grade cold beast looks like!”

…………

The others clearly sensed his hesitation and began urging him on.

“Fine. Let’s hide what we’ve got first, then go two hundred meters further. If we find nothing, we’ll come back tomorrow night!”

Seeing the group’s enthusiasm, Xia Hong nodded in agreement.

Decision made: go two hundred meters deeper.

After the group hid their prey and the Blue Ning grasses and marked their locations,

Xia Hong led them westward, deeper into Redwood Ridge.

The mid-grade cold beasts’ territory was clearly much deeper than they’d expected.

After over an hour of searching, they found nothing.

Xia Hong, at the front, halted and turned to face the group:

“Enough. Call it a night. Return, prepare properly, and tomorrow we’ll expand our search—go two kilometers deep. I refuse to believe…”

“Leader, look over there!”

“Leader, quick—look!”

Before he could finish, Xia Chuan and Luo Yuan, closest to him, spotted something and pointed westward, interrupting him.

Xia Hong followed their gaze—and froze.

(End of Chapter)