Chapter 329: Unexplained unease, Jade Dew Stone, Li Ying Xuan Ling

Although the Wolf King had been slain, there were still at least one hundred and forty high-level cold beasts, plus over six hundred mid-level frost wolves and snow-maned beasts, surrounding the depression.

Of course, these cold beasts were currently scattering and fleeing in all directions.

On the open snow plains, it was certainly impossible to annihilate them all!

Li Ying Xuan Ling led over two hundred Cold-Resistant Realm experts, Xia Chuan led the Cloud Dragon Army, and Yu Wentao led the Dragon Martial Army, effectively carrying out the cleanup mission, simply killing as many as they could.

After Xia Hong took the Blood Sore Pill, he sat cross-legged on the spot to recover for an hour. Only then did Li Ying Xuan Ling and the two hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Realm experts slowly approach with their prey. After waiting another ten minutes, the Cloud Dragon Army and the Dragon Martial Army also regrouped.

"Lord, the surrounding cold beasts have been cleared. The Cloud Dragon Army suffered 14 deaths, 28 severely wounded, and 101 lightly wounded."

"The Dragon Martial Army suffered 29 deaths, 42 severely wounded, and 210 lightly wounded."

Hearing the casualty statistics shouted by Xia Chuan and Yu Wentao, Xia Hong turned to look at the army that had already reorganized in the rear, his expression lifting slightly.

The total number of beasts in the horde they faced tonight had already exceeded four digits, not to mention that there were over two hundred high-level cold beasts among them. Setting aside the harvest, this casualty data alone was enough to prove the strength of the Cloud Dragon and Dragon Martial armies.

The effect of using small beast hordes to train the army had already begun to show. As long as they continued to cultivate the army, they would be able to easily handle beast hordes of any scale in the future.

"Well fought. We will handle the post-battle inventory after returning to Xia City. Let the soldiers rest on the spot for half an hour, pack up the prey, repair bows and weapons, and ensure the Condensed Fire Oil is ready. In half an hour, march with me to Yangyuan Peak!"

"Understood, my lord!"

Xia Chuan and Yu Wentao nodded simultaneously and quickly returned to the rear of the army formation to issue orders.

Xia Hong then turned to look at Li Ying Xuan Ling and the group of Cold-Resistant Realm experts, saying:

"You all must also prepare the Condensed Fire Oil on your bodies. That Bai Lu Ghost surely still has some tricks up its sleeve; don't get caught off guard."

"Yes, my lord!"

Although they had brought the Cold Ruin Cauldron tonight, Xia Hong, seeking stability, still had everyone carry a dozen blocks of Condensed Fire Oil on their persons.

Half an hour passed in a flash. Seeing that the army was fully prepared, Xia Hong stood up directly, first storing the Cold Ruin Cauldron into his body, then turning to face the crowd and issuing the order: "Move out!"

He led the two hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Realm experts in the front, while the army followed closely behind, escorting the Divine Mechanism Crossbow carts, as they began their march toward Yangyuan Peak on the south side.

Without Xia Zhi to guide the way, the army's marching speed on the snow plains was naturally not that fast. Furthermore, the beast horde had just come from Yangyuan Peak to the south, and this terrain had been trampled beyond recognition, which further increased the difficulty of the march.

Xia Hong estimated that it would take the army at least an hour to arrive.

If he had only brought the two hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Realm experts, or if he had gone alone, he naturally could have arrived very quickly. But Xia Hong did not do so, choosing instead to continue approaching slowly with the army.

Xia Hong looked at Yangyuan Peak, his expression shifting slightly. He turned his head and found Peng Bo in the crowd behind him, asking: "Peng Bo, you told Xia Chuan that Yangyuan Peak was formed over ninety years ago after a huge dewdrop fell from the sky and smashed into the ground, correct?"

Hearing this, Peng Bo immediately replied: "Reporting to the lord, that is indeed the case. This rumor has been passed down in our Yanglu for four generations. I also heard it from my father in my early years, and he seems to have heard it from his predecessors as well."

Hearing this answer, Xia Hong's brow furrowed, and he continued to ask: "How much more do you know about that dewdrop? Tell me everything!"

Peng Bo smiled bitterly: "Lord, although I am the leader of Yanglu, I really don't know much about this matter. If there is one special thing, it is indeed that ever since we established our base on Yangyuan Peak, the Yanglu camp has never once been disturbed by cold beasts."

"Not even once? Not a single cold beast accidentally wandered in?"

"Absolutely not, I can be certain!"

After hearing this, Xia Hong fell into deep thought.

Peng Bo was only fifty-something years old this year; naturally, he couldn't know the details of a rumor from over ninety years ago so clearly. Being able to say this much was already quite good.

No, this point should be considered very critical!

For a camp to have never been disturbed by cold beasts for over ninety years in the Frozen Abyss—this was not a normal occurrence. One could see this from the astonishment on the faces of the Does Does Da Xia group at this moment.

"That Bai Lu Ghost only awakened this April. That is to say, before this, it was in an unconscious state; otherwise, the Yanglu base would not have survived for so many years. At that time, cold beasts didn't dare approach Yangyuan Peak, perhaps simply because they feared its dormant main body."

"After awakening in April, it attracted a large number of cold beasts to protect itself by releasing this layer of thick fog, cutting off outsiders—mainly our prying eyes. From its control over Wu Xiong, Han Jiuli... Li Xuantian and others, it can also be seen that its main body should have no ability to act, and whether it even has combat power is debatable; otherwise, it wouldn't continue to sit here waiting for death!"

The one speaking was Li Ying Xuan Ling. She clearly saw that Xia Hong had concerns and whispered the conjectures in her heart. Seeing that Xia Hong gave no response, she continued softly: "The Cold Ruin Cauldron, the Condensed Fire Oil—with these two things, you don't need to step foot on Yangyuan Peak yourself at all. As long as..."

"I am not afraid of it!"

Xia Hong shook his head and smiled, continuing: "I understand everything you said, but I actually think that the cold beasts shouldn't be afraid of the Bai Lu Ghost's main body. It's not necessarily that no cold beasts wandered into Yangyuan Peak over these years; it's just that the people in the Yanglu base couldn't see them."

Through the harvest after killing Wu Xiong and Li Xuantian and others earlier, Xia Hong could basically determine that the Bai Lu Ghost must be related to the Cold Han Han Ping Yu Lu, and its main body was likely a precious treasure that could continuously produce Cold Han Han Ping Yu Lu.

Cold beasts also like Jade Dew. Following this logic, there shouldn't have been no cold beasts wandering into Yangyuan Peak for the past ninety-plus years. It is highly probable that those cold beasts that wandered in all disappeared in some way, and the people of the Yanglu base never discovered it from beginning to end.

"Attaching itself to people, having no strength of its own, and only being able to achieve the goal of controlling humans through bewitching hearts—this Bai Lu Ghost, like the Yin-Yang Mirror, also belongs to a type of Fierce Ghost!"

Craftsman, Nightmare, Fierce, Divine, Demon—three years ago, the two men Yang and Li from Beishuo Town explained the differences between these five types of ghosts. Xia Hong learned this through Luo Ming's mouth. Added to the Wood Puppet and Mirror Immortal he encountered earlier, he now had a certain understanding of ghosts.

All five types of ghosts originated from the long-vanished Ancient Abyssal Era civilization.

Craftsman Ghosts were transformed from professional craftsmen with superb skills in the Ancient Abyssal Era; their preferences for killing were strange and varied, and their methods of killing were also mysterious and unpredictable.

As for Fierce Ghosts, they were transformed from treasures in the hands of those great figures of the Ancient Abyssal Era. Their methods inherited human hearts, and they committed slaughter due to obsessions. Defeating them could yield related items. Initially called 'Li' (History), later feeling 'Lie' (Fierce) was more appropriate, they were renamed Fierce Ghosts.

"Then what are you still worried about?"

His train of thought interrupted by Li Ying Xuan Ling, Xia Hong looked up toward the direction of Yangyuan Peak and said in a deep voice: "I'm just thinking about what other tricks it might use. After all, it is a Fierce Ghost about to break through to the high level; it must have some means!"

Xia Hong could clearly feel that although the Bai Lu Ghost's methods were stronger than the Yin-Yang Mirror's, the two should still be ghosts of the same level.

Although it temporarily created a Beast King, all the actions of that Frost Wolf King were highly autonomous; it was clearly not under its control. Therefore, its range of abilities likely remained at the Cold-Resistant Realm level; it had only forcibly created this Beast King.

Now that the Beast King had also been dealt with by the Divine Mechanism Crossbow, it stood to reason that there were no obstacles to dealing with it. But for some reason, a feeling of unease had always existed in Xia Hong's heart.

It was too quiet!

From the moment the cold beasts were attracted by the Cold Ruin Cauldron to the completion of the beast horde's resolution, throughout the entire process, the Bai Lu Ghost did not do anything. It seemed to have completely entrusted its safety to those cold beasts.

This did not seem like the style of a ghost...

Xia Hong furrowed his brows tightly. Seeing Li Ying Xuan Ling looking at him with a face full of worry, his expression became somewhat strange. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he asked:

"Are you... worried about me?"

This sudden teasing caught Li Ying Xuan Ling off guard. Her entire face turned bright red in a flash. Subconsciously, she wanted to scold Xia Hong, but with over two hundred Does Does Da Xia Cold-Resistant Realm experts behind her, she swallowed the words back.

"The lord's safety is tied to hundreds of thousands of people in Does Does Da Xia, so it is naturally of the utmost importance. I am probably not the only one worried!"

Seeing Li Ying Xuan Ling say these words to cover up her embarrassment, Xia Hong couldn't help but chuckle. To maintain her face, he didn't continue to tease her.

The group of Cold-Resistant Realm experts in the rear clearly saw through Li Ying Xuan Ling's insincerity. Those who were older and had better composure, such as Hou Jing and Peng Bo, turned their heads elsewhere; those who were young and couldn't hide their feelings, such as Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, and Yue Feng, couldn't help but lower their heads and chuckle.

Li Tiancheng stood behind Li Ying Xuan Ling, his face also full of smiles at this moment, clearly happy to see the warming of her relationship with Xia Hong.

The couple's little interlude did not affect the march. After about an hour, the army was less than three hundred meters away from the gully on the north side of Yangyuan Peak.

Because Xia Hong had already put away the Cold Ruin Cauldron earlier, a layer of thick white fog was still lingering over Yangyuan Peak at this moment.

Xia Hong walked to the very front, stared at Yangyuan Peak for a moment, then turned around and ordered the rear: "Alright, Xia Chuan, Yu Wentao, take the army to choose positions first, prepare bows and arrows, and listen for my command."

"Understood, my lord!"

Xia Chuan and Yu Wentao turned directly and returned to the rear army formation, leading the army to regroup at a higher position near the gully. Soon, nearly two thousand giant bows were set up, all aimed squarely at the position of Yangyuan Peak.

Bang...

As soon as the Cloud Dragon Army and the Dragon Martial Army were ready, Xia Hong took out the Cold Ruin Cauldron and placed it in the center of the army. At the same time, ten Golden-Armored Lei Kui transformed from cold beast stakes guarded the perimeter of the army.

Hum...

The moment the Cold Ruin Cauldron was ignited, the white fog lingering over Yangyuan Peak was immediately dispersed at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was currently night, and without the white fog, the visibility of Yangyuan Peak actually decreased.

At this moment, whether it was the soldiers of the two armies or the two hundred-plus Cold-Resistant Realm experts in the front row, everyone knew that the Bai Lu Ghost was entrenched on Yangyuan Peak. Therefore, looking at the area shrouded in darkness behind the gully, they couldn't help but feel a sense of solemnity rising in their eyes.

"Aim at Yangyuan Peak, just empty the quivers, fire!"

Everything was ready, and Xia Hong didn't say anything more, directly issuing the order.

Swish, swish, swish...

The soldiers of the two armies released their bowstrings simultaneously. In the first wave, nearly two thousand iron arrows flew directly toward Yangyuan Peak.

An arrow rain composed of two thousand iron arrows was nothing compared to the entire Yangyuan Peak, which spanned four or five kilometers. Most soldiers actually didn't understand why Xia Hong wanted them to do this.

But soon, they understood!

After the first wave of arrow rain all plunged into the north slope of Yangyuan Peak, wisps of thick black smoke slowly rose from the ground. The expressions of the soldiers of the two armies changed instantly.

The iron arrows used tonight were all coated with Condensed Fire Oil. Such a violent reaction could only indicate that there was a ghost existing underground at Yangyuan Peak.

"Is the entire Yangyuan Peak the main body of that Bai Lu Ghost?"

"It should be. Didn't Lord Peng just say that Yangyuan Peak was formed after that drop of dew smashed into the ground? That dewdrop must be the Bai Lu Ghost's main body, right?"

"This is too big; Yangyuan Peak is nearly five kilometers in circumference!"

The group of Cold-Resistant Realm experts behind Xia Hong let out successive exclamations as they watched the thick smoke rising from Yangyuan Peak, their eyes filled with horror.

A ghost of such a large size was indeed somewhat beyond their expectations.

"Continue firing arrows until the quivers are empty!"

Xia Hong's voice made the soldiers of the two armies fire faster and faster. The standard equipment for Does Does Da Xia military quivers was fifty iron arrows. The total number of iron arrows on the soldiers of the two armies added up to nearly one hundred thousand.

Two thousand iron arrows were nothing to Yangyuan Peak.

One hundred thousand was a different story!

And they were one hundred thousand iron arrows coated with Condensed Fire Oil.

As the coverage of the arrow rain became wider and wider, the entire Yangyuan Peak was suddenly filled with rolling black smoke, and in some places, flames had already begun to emerge from the ground.

Sizzle... Boom...

A ball of sky-high fire suddenly erupted from the position hit by the first wave of arrow rain, and then, like a plague, the fire spread continuously to the surroundings. In just a moment, Yangyuan Peak had turned into a sea of raging fire.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah..."

A series of shrill, thin screams suddenly came from the fire.

It's out!

Xia Hong's eyes narrowed, a faint light flashing in his left eye. While looking at the position where the sound came from, he shouted to everyone:

"Continue firing, don't stop! Everyone else, stay alert!"

Hearing this, the soldiers of the two armies accelerated their firing speed, while the Cold-Resistant Realm experts took out their weapons and stayed alert to the surroundings, especially the direction of Yangyuan Peak.

As the fire became more and more fierce, the entire Yangyuan Peak actually began to shrink gradually. At the same time, the Bai Lu Ghost's screams became increasingly shrill.

"Ah ah... so painful... so painful..."

"Ah ah ah ah... spare me, Does Does Da Xia Lord, spare me, spare me. I can give you endless Cold Han Han Ping Yu Lu, spare me..."

"Please, spare me, spare me, I don't want to die..."

"Does Does Da Xia Lord, spare me, I am willing to submit to you, from now on..."

No matter what the Bai Lu Ghost said or how hysterically it cried, Xia Hong remained unmoved, watching Yangyuan Peak with an expressionless face throughout.

After waiting another ten minutes, when Yangyuan Peak had shrunk to only one kilometer in circumference, Xia Hong glanced at the quivers on the soldiers' backs and found that most of them only had a dozen iron arrows left. Only then did he order: "That's enough. Tie the Condensed Fire Oil on your bodies to the iron arrows and fire them all at Yangyuan Peak. No need to save any!"

With the Cold Ruin Cauldron here, even without the Condensed Fire Oil, the Bai Lu Ghost couldn't stir up any trouble. The continuously shrinking Yangyuan Peak was clearly its main body; as long as the fire was intensified, it was equivalent to accelerating its death.

Boom...

More and more soldiers fired whole blocks of Condensed Fire Oil at Yangyuan Peak. The fire became increasingly fierce, and the speed at which Yangyuan Peak shrank accelerated. After a hundred breaths, when all the soldiers had emptied their quivers, the Yangyuan Peak, which was originally one kilometer in circumference, had shrunk into a circular stone about a hundred meters in diameter.

The outer layer of the round stone was covered with many rocks and mud, but as the shrinking intensified, more and more rocks and mud fell off, and its true appearance slowly emerged before everyone's eyes.

The round stone as a whole presented a transparent color like a water droplet, with a layer of jade-white fluorescent light flowing on its surface. It was incomparably brilliant in the dark night, dazzling to the eyes.

Because the round stone was transparent, everyone could see clearly that there was a wisp of a small blue flame burning in its very center.

"Is this... the main body of the Bai Lu Ghost?"

"This color is exactly the same as the previous dewdrop plague."

"The temperature is very high, and there seems to be a blue core inside."

"The Bai Lu Ghost's voice came from that blue flame!"

... ===== CHAPTER 330 =====