Chapter 334: Xie Yan Appears

"Third Senior Brother, even though I'm weak, I cannot leave you behind with a clear conscience," Yuan Yao said seriously.

Cang Li took a deep breath, "You also know you're weak?"

Yuan Yao shot back a reply.

"Third Senior Brother, I'm at least stronger than you now."

The two were talking when countless ice spikes surged toward them.

Yuan Yao's expression flickered slightly, and she swiftly raised her sword to block.

Immediately, she summoned the Golden Egg, Little Fox, and Yuan Batuan.

When the Golden Egg appeared, golden light blazed, stinging the beasts' eyes painfully.

The beasts vaguely sensed a suppressing force emanating from the bloodline.

Although Little Fox is a first‑rank spirit beast, it uses its petite, delicate body and speed to weave among the snow beasts; its claws instantly become sharp, flashing with thunder energy, and a single swipe can tear through the beasts' flesh.

Under Yuan Yao's mental control, Yuan Batuan instantly transformed into a wooden puppet nearly three meters tall, with a blue‑skinned, fang‑toothed, ferocious visage, like a demon risen from hell.

It has twelve arms, each wielding a weapon: three swords, three knives, a bell, a spear, a halberd, a massive axe, a massive hammer, and a shield.

Its appearance startled many of the snow beasts.

Because its bulk was actually larger than most of the snow beasts.

Yuan Batuan rushed into the snow‑beast pack, its twelve arms attacking simultaneously, defending on all sides with no apparent flaw!

The snow fell even heavier.

Yuan Yao sent a voice to Cang Li and Ying Wuji, "Third Senior Brother, Youngest Senior Brother, I have a teleportation scroll; move toward me!"

Cang Li and Ying Wuji both complied.

Ying Wuji slashed a sword through a dozen snow beasts, then rushed toward Yuan Yao at top speed.

Cang Li had already reached Yuan Yao's side; the two together tackled the fifth‑rank pinnacle snow beast!

"One Layer of Drunken Life and Dream Death!"

"Horizontal Thunder Form, Wangchuan Spear!"

The two jointly unleashed a technique!

Boom!

The fifth‑rank pinnacle snow beast slammed a massive paw at them, shattering their attack, and the two were hurled backward by the huge impact.

At the crucial moment, Ying Wuji appeared behind the two.

He extended both hands and steadied their backs.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao immediately took out the teleportation scroll, infused it with spiritual energy, and muttered a few incantations.

"Open!"

And at that moment, Yuan Yao summoned the Golden Egg, Little Fox, and Yuan Batuan into the beast‑pet space.

The fifth‑rank pinnacle snow beast instantly unleashed powerful beast force, instantly covering their location, trying to trap them.

Ying Wuji decisively drew his sword and slashed!

In an instant, a shattering sound rang out.

Immediately, the three were teleported away!

The fifth‑rank pinnacle snow beast roared, its voice echoing across the area.

The other snow beasts seemed to receive a command and scattered rapidly.

The forces that had been tailing the Flower Sect's column were almost completely wiped out.

Only Nie Bai acted decisively, leading the few severely wounded Nie family disciples to withdraw early.

The bright red on this snowfield was quickly covered by a fresh layer of wind and snow.

Yuan Yao, Cang Li, and Ying Wuji were teleported onto another endless white snowfield, where no snow beasts had yet appeared.

"Our blood scent will attract snow beasts," Ying Wuji said gravely, "Remove your cloaks immediately."

Hearing this, Yuan Yao and Cang Li did not ask further and took off the blood‑stained cloaks.

As for other garments splattered with blood, they performed the Pure Dust Technique to mask the scent as much as possible.

Yuan Yao donned a new cloak.

The cloak was pure white and even came with a hood.

"Let's go quickly," Ying Wuji said after checking the direction, addressing the two.

"Alright!" the two replied.

The three hurried forward, and shortly after they left, several snow beasts arrived, their nostrils quivering as they sniffed the lingering blood scent.

They immediately chased toward the source of the blood scent.

Though the snow beasts were massive, like small hills, their speed was as swift as lightning.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao and the others darted forward rapidly.

Cang Li struggled to keep up with their pace.

With the swirling wind and snow limiting his vision, his speed was not great.

"Youngest Senior Brother, we need to find a place to stop," Yuan Yao said, "I can set up a formation barrier to block our scent."

Ying Wuji thought Yuan Yao's suggestion reasonable and agreed.

He said, "Before that, we must roll on the snow a few times, covering ourselves with snow mud to mask our scent."

Yuan Yao was momentarily stunned.

Before she could react, Cang Li dove onto the ground, rolling in the snow, cupping snow in both hands and smearing it onto his face.

"So cold, so cold!" Cang Li grinned, showing his teeth.

Yuan Yao's mouth twitched slightly at the corner.

She couldn't help but speak: "Actually, I can cast a formation to mask our scent."

As soon as she said that, Cang Li suddenly froze, blinking his eyes.

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Why didn't you say it earlier?!"

Yuan Yao replied, "It's because you acted too quickly."

Seeing the two about to argue, Ying Wuji hurriedly spoke to stop them: "Yao Yao, quickly help us mask the scent."

Yuan Yao nodded in agreement.

After masking the scent, the three of them continued forward.

Goose‑feather snow swirled across the sky, and the world was a vast gray, as if covered by a thick white carpet.

Howling gale blew by, whipping up waves of snow, making it almost impossible to keep one's eyes open.

This harsh weather made the already difficult path even more treacherous, and the biting cold wind cut the skin like a sharp blade.

Seeing the blizzard intensify, the three made a swift decision to rest briefly beside the snow mountain.

They quickened their steps, reached the foot of the mountain, and stopped at a relatively sheltered spot.

Yuan Yao immediately set up two formation barriers, one to block scent and one as a defensive formation barrier.

Cang Li inhaled a gust of cold air, feeling it pierce his lungs, causing him to shiver.

He complained, "This Snowy Mountain Range truly isn't a place for people."

Saying that, he took a thick garment from his storage and put it on quickly.

Yuan Yao looked at the blizzard outside the formation barrier, furrowing her brow slightly, "I wonder how Eldest Senior Brother and the others are doing now?"

"I didn't expect that Hua Chengyan would abandon us; it really chills the heart," Cang Li sighed, "Given Second Senior Sister and Xue Jin's temperaments, I reckon they'll quarrel on the spot and go their separate ways."

Yuan Yao thought of something, took out a communication crystal, and tried to send a message to Eldest Senior Brother and the others.

But she found it couldn't be transmitted at all.

Ying Wuji spoke, "This Snowy Mountain Range has a restriction layer; here, communication crystals cannot be used."

Yuan Yao looked at Ying Wuji with puzzlement, "Youngest Senior Brother, you seem quite familiar with this place."

Ying Wuji was momentarily stunned, then said, "I had heard about the Snowy Mountain Range before."

"I see," Yuan Yao said without suspicion.

Cang Li clasped his hands together and exclaimed, "I didn't expect Master Ying to be such a know‑everything! My apologies!"

Ying Wuji: "......"

Suddenly, the voice of the 250 system sounded.

【Target person Xie Yan, Awakening Value reached -29.】