Chapter 41: Unexpected Discovery

"Liang Jingtang, your master and disciple's duty is to clear the path at the front, not to dodge and run for your lives. If there is a next time, Xiong Feiye's fate will be your master and disciple's fate!" After forcing all the Martial Masters to lower their heads with his cold, majestic gaze, Xu Zhiji's gaze finally landed on Liang Jingtang.

"Yes!" Liang Jingtang responded with his head lowered, his eyes filled with humiliation and anger, though he dared not show it.

An eighth-rank Great Wu Shi was simply too powerful; he was not someone he could resist.

Seeing this, Xu Zhiji's expression softened slightly, and after taking one more look at Xia Daoming, he withdrew his gaze.

Xia Daoming's keen reaction just now did indeed make Xu Zhiji feel somewhat surprised, but that was all!

The realm of a fifth-rank Great Wu Shi was set there; it was not enough to make him let his imagination run wild.

Seeing Liang Jingtang being reprimanded and having to continue scouting and clearing the path for everyone, none of the surviving Martial Masters showed any sympathy. On the contrary, everyone secretly felt lucky, and some even showed expressions of schadenfreude.

Xu Shisen even sneered mockingly.

Xia Daoming took in everyone's reactions one by one, secretly sneering in his heart.

This is human nature!

The group continued to move forward.

Three days later.

A group of people stood on a mountain peak, overlooking the area below.

At this time, only eighteen people remained from the five major factions, while the Xu family still had seven.

Below was a valley surrounded by mountains.

The valley was covered in clouds and mist. As the sun shone down, the clouds rolled, and one could only vaguely see some scenery below.

"Below is the Cold Mist Valley, the destination of our trip." Xu Zhiji said, his gaze filled with a mixture of gravity, excitement, and anticipation.

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts trembled. Everyone's expressions were grave, and they focused even more intently on looking down, as if they wished they could push aside the clouds and mist to see clearly.

Only Xia Daoming seemed to be distracted.

At this moment, he was not focusing on looking down like the others, but was instead looking excitedly at three mountain peaks in the distance.

Those three mountain peaks stood straight like three giant jade swords piercing the sky, and they were exactly the same as the picture in the tattered, old map Liu Qiaolian had given him.

"I didn't expect that by a stroke of luck, I would actually see the place where the Transforming Dragon Fruit grows here!" Xia Daoming's heart surged.

The Transforming Dragon Fruit was the key item related to him becoming a Grandmaster!

However, Xia Daoming quickly restrained his emotions and followed the others in looking down.

As the saying goes, "Looking at a mountain is like running a horse to death!"

Those three sword-like mountain peaks looked close, but in reality, he did not know how many mountain ridges they would have to cross and how many perils they would have to experience before they could finally arrive.

Xia Daoming was currently only at the sixth-rank realm. Even though his strength far exceeded that of Great Martial Masters in the same realm, he would never dare to easily venture deep into those mountain ridges alone.

The most urgent task now was to find a way to get the Ice Rabbit and the Ice Purple Shouwu to strengthen his meridians and improve his cultivation as soon as possible.

"Haste makes waste. Stay steady, must stay steady!" Xia Daoming warned himself secretly while focusing on looking down.

"Liang Jingtang, you two go down first!" Xu Zhiji said coldly.

"Yes!" Liang Jingtang nodded, then leaned close to Xia Daoming and whispered, "Daoming, be careful."

"You too, Master!" Xia Daoming nodded and said.

Having said that, the two walked to the edge of the cliff.

Looking down, one could see that for more than ten zhang, the cliff was steep, requiring ropes or vines to go down.

Further down, through the clouds and mist, one could vaguely see that the slope was gentler, allowing one to climb down carefully by hand.

Old vines hung from the edge of the cliff, so there was no need to get extra ropes.

"I will go down first, you follow." Liang Jingtang said, stepping forward to grab the vines.

Before Liang Jingtang's words had even faded, Xia Daoming had already taken a step forward, grabbed the vines, and leapt down along them.

"You brat!" Liang Jingtang cursed upon seeing this, then hurriedly grabbed the vines and leapt down after him.

"You all go down too!" Seeing Liang Jingtang and his disciple quickly disappear beneath the clouds and mist, landing on the gentle slope and carefully climbing down, Xu Zhiji turned to the others and said indifferently.

"Elder, the valley below is covered in clouds and mist, and the scenery cannot be seen clearly. How about we wait for Liang Jingtang and his disciple to scout the road conditions before going down?" A sixth-rank Great Wu Shi nearing seventy years of age said cautiously to Xu Zhiji.

"Yes, yes!" The other Martial Masters echoed.

Xu Zhiji did not answer, but his gaze swept over the crowd quietly, as cold as a sword, finally landing on the sixth-rank Great Wu Shi nearing seventy, and said, "Yan Shushan, take your men down first, the others will follow."

Yan Shushan's expression changed drastically, his lips moved, but in the end, he nodded helplessly and said, "Yes, Elder!"

Soon, Yan Shushan took two fifth-rank Martial Masters and went down along the vines.

With Yan Shushan as a warning, the other Martial Masters did not dare to talk nonsense and all followed down the mountain.

The seven Xu family members were at the very back.

Beneath the clouds and mist.

Xia Daoming and Liang Jingtang carefully walked down the steep slope.

The mountain slope was not only steep, but some of the water mist on it had frozen into ice, making it very slippery and difficult to walk on.

Walking carefully all the way, the master and disciple finally landed on the valley floor without any mishaps.

The valley was filled with clouds and mist, and visibility was poor.

Not only that, but the clouds and mist felt bone-chillingly cold when they touched the skin.

Fortunately, both were sixth-rank Great Martial Masters, and their blood energy could circulate within their bodies to ward off the cold.

The two looked around while waiting for the others to come down the mountain to meet up.

"Ah!"

A scream broke the silence of the valley.

Then, with a "Bang!" sound.

Someone fell from the mountain, blood and brains splashing everywhere.

That was a fourth-rank Wu Shi!

"Another one!"

Liang Jingtang looked at the gruesome corpse three zhang away and sighed softly.

"Master, watch out!"

Just at this moment, Xia Daoming whispered, his spear shooting out like a dragon.

"Clang!"

An ice arrow was struck, exploding in mid-air and turning into broken ice that scattered on the ground.

Not far away, in the mist, a white shadow flashed and disappeared.

Liang Jingtang's face turned pale, and he couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

Just now, he had been distracted for a moment. If it hadn't been for Xia Daoming's quick action, he probably would have been hit by the ice arrow.

"You saved my life again!" Liang Jingtang whispered, looking at Xia Daoming with a very complex expression.

The stronger a martial artist's blood energy and the higher their realm, the keener their senses would be, especially their sensing of crises, which was not something ordinary people could compare to.

Along this journey, it had been the two of them scouting at the front.

Naturally, they encountered more perils than others.

It was not strange for Xia Daoming to give a warning in advance once or twice to resolve a crisis.

But along this journey, it was almost every time that Xia Daoming sensed the crisis before him, which was strange.

"They are coming!" Xia Daoming whispered, his gaze vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Liang Jingtang was slightly stunned, then he indeed heard the sound of Martial Masters' footsteps landing.

Liang Jingtang couldn't help but look at Xia Daoming with surprise again, but he didn't say anything.

"Hall Master Liang, how is the situation?" In the mist, Yan Shushan, nearing seventy, brought two disciples forward and asked.

"There are indeed Ice Rabbits here. Just now, an Ice Rabbit already fired an ice arrow at us. Now, let us not act rashly; let us wait until everyone arrives before making arrangements." Liang Jingtang said with a grave expression.

"I hope everything goes smoothly!" Yan Shushan's expression tightened upon hearing this, and he said in a deep voice.

Not long after, the Martial Masters arrived one after another, with the seven Xu family members arriving last.

"There is a cold pool in the center of this valley, and Ice Rabbits generally move around the edge of the cold pool. Adult Ice Rabbits, apart from having little intelligence, have pure combat power. In a head-on confrontation, even I would not dare to claim victory.

So we cannot just rush over with so many people. Otherwise, once we disturb a group of Ice Rabbits to surround and attack us, we will probably all be buried in this valley." Xu Zhiji said in a deep voice.

"Then what should we do?" A sixth-rank Wu Shi asked with a pale face.

"The main force will stay here to set traps, and one person will be sent to lure one or two Ice Rabbits to come and throw themselves into the net. Once the Ice Rabbits are caught, we will swarm and kill them."

Having said that, Xu Zhiji's gaze slowly swept over the crowd.

Upon hearing this, all the Martial Masters turned pale and lowered their heads, saying nothing.

Just kidding, a young Ice Rabbit was equivalent to a fifth or sixth-rank Great Wu Shi, and an adult Ice Rabbit was equivalent to a seventh or eighth-rank Great Wu Shi.

Rushing into a rabbit den alone was almost no different from a sheep entering a wolf pack.

Nine times out of ten, the rabbit wouldn't be lured, but the person would be left in the rabbit den.

"Hehe, Grand-Uncle, Liang Jingtang and his disciple have performed very alertly along this journey. It seems the task of luring the Ice Rabbits out of the den belongs to them!" Xu Shisen looked at Liang Jingtang and his disciple with a sinister gaze.

"That's right, that's right!" Many Martial Masters hurriedly echoed.

Among them were Yan Shushan and his two disciples.

As long as the fellow Daoist dies and not me, it's fine!

Xu Zhiji didn't say anything, just raised his eyes and looked coldly at Liang Jingtang and his disciple.

"I will go first!" Liang Jingtang said with a grim face.

"With a disciple here, where is the need for Master to risk his life!" Liang Jingtang had just stood up and was about to walk toward the direction where the mist was thickest in the center of the valley when Xia Daoming leapt up and disappeared into the thick fog in a few bounds.

"Daoming!" Liang Jingtang called out, and he also hurriedly leapt up, wanting to chase into the thick fog.

"Liang Jingtang, come back. It is not good for too many people to go. If your disciple fails, it won't be too late for you to go then!" However, just as Liang Jingtang leapt up, Xu Zhiji had already blocked his path and said coldly.

"Fine!" Liang Jingtang retreated, his face livid, his hands clenched into fists, the veins bulging.

PS: Because the upload time for this book was not chosen well, the recommendations came late, and last week was the first trial recommendation. The book friends were very supportive, and in the first round of trial recommendations, this book was pushed to the top of the Xianxia signed new book list on Sunday. I am truly very grateful.

In the new week, I still ask book friends to continue supporting, try to collect and follow, and if you have time, please help with more book reviews to increase activity.

Competing for the list on Monday, so the first update was moved to midnight, and the second update is still at noon. Tomorrow's updates will return to the normal time. ===== CHAPTER 42 =====