Chapter 193: Snow Monsters and Abnormalities

After completing all preparations at the camp, Jie Ming did not linger for a single moment.

He stepped directly through the teleportation array inside the camp and into a vortex shimmering with silver-white runes.

Light and shadow swirled, and when his vision cleared, he found himself inside a forward outpost established by the Wizard Legion in the Frost-Dark Realm.

This forward outpost could be considered one of the achievements the wizards had made over the past two years, representing that the front lines of the two races had retreated significantly.

The entire outpost was cast from high-strength special alloys and anti-magic runes; it was completely sealed, with thick frost condensed on its surface, exuding an aura that was both cold and sturdy.

Inside, stable magic circuits maintained a pleasant temperature, and the air was dry and warm, forming a sharp contrast with the extreme cold outside.

Jie Ming walked to the thick composite porthole. As his vision penetrated the multi-layered transparent crystals, he saw an ice and snow world that was completely different from the Blazing Sun Realm, yet equally extreme.

The lead-grey sky hung low, heavy and oppressive, as if it were a solidified ice cap.

Goose-feather-sized snow fell continuously without any sign of stopping, constantly covering the entire earth and dyeing it a pure white that chilled the heart.

In the distance were rolling glacier mountain ranges that looked like magnificent sculptures; huge icicles hung upside down from the peaks, reflecting the dim light from the sky, which was almost non-existent, and flickering with a cold, ghostly glow.

The air was filled with fine ice crystals, visibility was extremely low, and the world seemed to be covered by a thick, blurry filter.

Whenever a strong wind blew, it would whip up violent ice and snow vortices; they swirled in an irregular manner, emitting a ghostly howl that could easily tear through a mortal's skin and freeze their flesh.

"Welcome to the Ice Prison, my friend." A hoarse voice came from behind him.

Jie Ming turned his head to look. The person was the person in charge of the outpost, a Tier 2 Wizard with a pale complexion, draped in a heavy robe.

He glanced at Jie Ming, who was adapting to the environment, nodded as a greeting, and then turned to leave, only dropping a sentence before he walked away:

"Remember to wear more clothes. Constantly consuming spiritual power to resist the bitter cold is not a good idea."

Jie Ming just nodded slightly without saying much.

The other party's words could be considered well-intentioned.

After all, unlike when he first went to the Blazing Sun Realm, after a year of development, this forward outpost had already penetrated quite deeply into the Frost-Dark Realm.

According to Jie Ming's understanding, the deeper one went into the two worlds of the Flame-Frost Plane, the greater the temperature difference became.

At this current location, the low temperature and storms outside were equivalent to being constantly exposed to the low-temperature wizardry of a Tier 2 Apprentice.

He pushed open the heavy metal door, and a bone-chilling cold instantly rushed toward him, making his spirit stir.

In the camp's laboratory, he had already tried to simulate the extreme low temperatures of the Frost-Dark Realm, but experiencing it personally was a completely different experience.

However, a surprising situation occurred.

When he truly stepped into this ice and snow world, the "Body Refining Method" within his body actually began to operate autonomously, as if it had been stimulated by a specific frequency!

Jie Ming immediately understood what had happened.

His body was actually undergoing adaptive changes to the Frost-Dark Realm's environment in this extremely cold setting!

He could clearly feel that the flow of his blood had become slow and solemn, no longer surging rapidly as it did in the Blazing Sun Realm.

The heat within his body seemed to be locked into a special kind of insulation layer, trapped more efficiently inside to reduce loss.

His muscle fibers also seemed to have become tougher in the low temperature, tight and elastic; every contraction was filled with explosive power.

He could even feel that as his body temperature fought against the external cold, his body cells were undergoing some kind of microscopic reconstruction.

The "Low-Temperature Elemental Resistance" within him, which had already been strengthened through training and secret elixirs, was still growing slowly at this moment!

"What an unexpected joy." Jie Ming was somewhat surprised in his heart. "The changes in such a short time are better than the results of my training for a month or two previously."

Clearly, when he was training, the low-temperature environment he adapted to should have been even harsher than this.

Thinking while on the road, Jie Ming finally had an epiphany: "It seems that the 'Concept' has completely permeated the various cultivation methods of the Cultivation World; even for body cultivators, the gains obtained in different concepts are different."

He did not rush to venture deep, but first carried out a preliminary exploration in the area around the outpost, which also served as a way for his body to obtain more sufficient training.

The snowflakes flying all over the sky provided him with natural cover; his figure flickered a few times on the ice field and then merged into the wind and snow.

During the long journey through the ice and snow, he also discovered some special creatures unique to the Frost-Dark Realm.

Some were groups of strange "Frozen Worms" wriggling in the depths of the permafrost; they were crystalline throughout, exuding weak ice elemental fluctuations, and were entangled together to form a huge, slowly moving worm nest, devouring the energy underground.

Others were giant beasts of immense size, hiding deep within the thick ice layers.

Only when Jie Ming approached would they cast huge shadows beneath the ice, then flash past, leaving behind cracks shaken out from beneath the ice and a bottomless howl.

These creatures, without exception, exuded supernatural auras, proving that this world was not as dead and silent as it appeared on the surface.

Jie Ming trudged through the vast ice field, magnifying the perception range of his Detection Eye to the limit, keenly capturing any abnormal energy fluctuations in the air.

Finally, an ice elemental fluctuation with distinct life characteristics penetrated the wind and snow and was precisely captured by him.

"Found it..."

He stopped abruptly, his figure crouching low in the wind and snow, concealing all his auras.

In front, there was an ice ridge mostly covered by wind and snow, with several huge figures looming in the storm—those were Snow Monsters!

This was a squad of about twenty Snow Monsters; they were composed entirely of hard ice crystals and frozen soil, with burly builds, thick limbs, and solid frost wrapped around their bodies.

Their eyes glowed with a ghostly blue light, and their steps were heavy and rhythmic, as if they were patrolling.

"Huh?" Jie Ming observed for a moment and couldn't help but frown.

Because he discovered that there were actually no Tier 2 living beings in this Snow Monster squad: "These Snow Monsters... aren't their levels a bit too low?"

"Whoo—whoo—"

In the wind and snow, the unique howl of the Snow Monsters came, carrying a trace of coldness and oppression.

All the Snow Monsters stopped abruptly, turned their heads in unison, and their ghostly blue gazes instantly locked onto Jie Ming's hiding place!

"Looks like I've been discovered." Jie Ming twisted his neck, not surprised at all.

Elemental creatures born in an environment like the Frost-Dark Realm, which had almost no light, clearly did not rely on vision but discovered enemies through heat sensing.

"Wizard!"

A lead Snow Monster, which looked a bit sturdier than the others, let out a deafening roar; the sound echoed on the ice field, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

It stepped forward abruptly, its burly body carrying powerful momentum, leading the other Snow Monsters to charge toward Jie Ming!

Jie Ming raised his hand with an expressionless face.

From start to finish, the battle lasted only a dozen seconds.

It was extremely easy, almost a crushing victory.

He quickly put the Snow Monsters' "Ice Crystal Cores" into his space ring, then used a wizarding tool to release "Soul Search," starting to skillfully search the souls of all the dead Snow Monsters.

Strands of cold spiritual fluctuations, carrying memory fragments from before the Snow Monsters' deaths, were forcibly extracted by Jie Ming.

After a brief reading and analysis, he finally found the information he wanted regarding the Snow Monster gathering place.

Following the intelligence obtained from the souls, Jie Ming traveled for several more hours on the ice field.

Finally, he arrived at the area marked as the "Snow Monster Gathering Place."

This gathering place was much larger than he had expected, composed of several huge ice mountains surrounding it, with a relatively flat frost basin in the center.

Scattered within were some crude buildings made of ice blocks and frozen soil, appearing rough and primitive.

The air was filled with an oppressive frost elemental aura, and one could even hear some vague clamor, proving that there was a considerable number of Snow Monsters inside.

However, when Jie Ming carefully hid his figure and even used a camouflage rune that allowed his figure and body temperature to completely merge with the wind and snow, quietly infiltrating this gathering place for reconnaissance, his heart fell into doubt once again.

The number of Snow Monsters in this gathering place was not small, far exceeding the scale of an ordinary small stronghold, and even reaching the level of a medium-sized stronghold!

However, through the perception of his "Detection Eye" and precise identification of energy fluctuations, Jie Ming discovered a shocking fact—in this huge gathering place, there was actually only one Tier 2 Snow Monster in charge!

Let alone Tier 3 Snow Monsters, Jie Ming didn't even find traces of other Tier 2 Snow Monsters!

"How is this possible? With so many Snow Monsters, only one Tier 2 leader?" Jie Ming's heart was full of confusion.

This was extremely abnormal!

According to the previous intelligence of the Wizard Legion, a stronghold of this scale should at least be managed by one or two Tier 3 Snow Monsters, along with hundreds of elite Tier 2 Snow Monsters.

Jie Ming hid in the shadow of an ice mountain and waited patiently for a while.

While observing the behavioral patterns of the Snow Monsters inside the gathering place, he observed the situation in his dantian, trying to capture the "Qi of Red Dust."

However, after careful perception, he finally confirmed helplessly: "Like the Lava Giants... I cannot obtain the Qi of Red Dust."

Such a result made Jie Ming's heart sink slightly.

Although he had expected it before coming, after truly confirming this situation, Jie Ming still couldn't help but feel a bit heavy.

The problem now was no longer the raw materials for the Red Dust elixir, but a more troublesome situation.

"I hope... it's not the worst-case scenario..."

Having confirmed this, Jie Ming no longer hesitated.

Although he basically already had a conclusion, he still decided to go to a larger gathering point to investigate.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 194 =====