Chapter 518

24 hours later.

Outside the pass, by the Qulong River.

It was winter, and the northern scenery of ice-bound land and snow drifting for ten thousand miles was displayed to the fullest here.

The wide Qulong River had long since lost the galloping roar of summer, and the river surface was covered by a thick layer of ice, like a giant white jade belt winding through the vast snowfields and withered, desolate mountains.

At this time, the northern convoy stopped by this ice-bound river to rest.

The cold wind was biting, but the experts of the Daoist Alliance, especially the disciples from 【Mount Mount Laojun】, did the opposite; they actually took off their heavy clothing, wearing only thin, tight-fitting outfits, and sat directly on the cold, mirror-smooth ice of the river, their eyes slightly closed, their expressions solemn.

Whoosh whoosh...

The knife-like wind and snow fell ruthlessly on their bare skin, but could not make them move in the slightest...

Their bodies were not only not frozen stiff, but instead faintly exuded a scorching aura; under their skin, dark red flowing light seemed to surge, and their whole bodies seemed to turn into burning "furnaces," with powerful internal energy and true yang boiling and rushing within, intertwined and smelted with the light of the soul-aspect at the spiritual platform.

A practitioner of the Dao must tread mountains and rivers, see Heaven and Earth, and realize nature.

In this extremely cold place, they borrowed the wind and snow of Heaven and Earth as an "external hammer," used their own life as a "furnace embryo," and drew internal energy, true yang, and the soul-aspect as "furnace fire" to carry out a kind of extremely dangerous but highly efficient tempering.

With internal and external attacks, water and fire complementing each other, a strange aura formed around those practitioners, causing the falling snowflakes to turn into curling white steam before they even touched their bodies, a scene quite mysterious.

"This place outside the pass is indeed the most suitable for practicing our Mount Mount Laojun's 【True Furnace Qi-Refining Method】."

Wei Wei Shangxing stood alone by the car on the riverbank.

He was still wearing that fashionable casual wear that was out of place with the surrounding environment, with a solemn expression on his face.

Their team had entered outside the pass for more than a week, constantly penetrating deeper into the hinterland, spreading the search net layer after layer, but the young man's tracks were like a stone sinking into the sea, with no news at all.

The world was vast, and in the vast snowfields, the other party seemed to have completely evaporated from the human world.

This abnormal calm made even him, a great expert of the Guan Zhu realm, feel deep doubt and a trace of imperceptible unease.

"Uncle-Master."

Just at this moment, a young Daoist priest walked through the cold wind, stepping heavily on the snow, holding a heavy, encrypted satellite phone in his hand.

"General Association... an emergency communication directly from the General Association."

Wei Wei Shangxing frowned slightly, and a cloud of doubt rose in his heart.

They were divided into three routes, each with its own means of contact; unless it involved the overall situation or a major event occurred that could affect the entire operation, the Daoist Alliance headquarters rarely bypassed the front-line command to communicate directly and coordinate from the center.

Wei Wei Shangxing's unease amplified vaguely; he took the phone, but his voice remained steady and calm.

"I am Wei Wei Shangxing."

Whoosh...

The whistling north wind drowned out the voice from the other end of the phone.

However, just after this brief silence, Wei Wei Shangxing's originally solemn yet composed face changed drastically...

First, it was astonishment, as if he had heard something completely impossible, his pupils dilated instantly, followed by disbelief, his brows knitted tightly together, subconsciously wanting to deny it...

Finally, all emotions turned into a kind of near-absurd shock.

Complex and chaotic expressions flashed rapidly across Wei Wei Shangxing's face like a revolving lantern.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, with a crisp sound, the sturdy encrypted satellite phone exploded in his hand under the pressure of the energy Wei Wei Shangxing released unconsciously, and the parts and fragments fell down with a rustle.

The young Daoist priest beside him was startled, his face turning pale; it was the first time he had seen his Uncle-Master lose his composure like this.

He was horrified in his heart; what kind of earth-shattering news could make a great expert of the Guan Zhu realm lose his composure to this extent?

"Uncle-Master, what happened?" the young Daoist priest asked.

The wind in the north was as biting as madness, rolling up a thousand piles of snow, and the chill permeating the air seemed to become even heavier at this moment.

Wei Wei Shangxing stood where he was, as if he had turned into another ice sculpture, and was silent for a moment.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the south, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of mountains and wind and snow.

Finally, the words, carrying disbelief and heaviness, were squeezed out with difficulty, word by word, as if from between his teeth:

"The experts of the southern route have all been annihilated!"

"Fan Fan Lingzhou... is dead!"

"What!?"

The two short sentences were like thunder, exploding directly in the young Daoist priest's ears and heart.

"This... how is this possible?"

The young Daoist priest trembled violently, the blood on his face fading instantly, his pupils contracting to the extreme.

He opened his mouth wide, and a gasping sound came from his throat, but he couldn't say a word.

Not to mention how many elites of the Daoist Alliance were gathered on the southern route, with experts like clouds, just Fan Fan Lingzhou alone was a great expert of the Guan Zhu realm! He himself was like a dangerous pass; how could he... how could he just die like this!?

The young Daoist priest subconsciously shook his head, but he also knew that the news from the Daoist Alliance General Association, since it could reach Uncle-Master Wei, must have been repeatedly confirmed, and its authenticity was beyond doubt.

"Uncle-Master, isn't that Zhang Fan a decoy put out by the Wu Wei Sect? Could it be that he is not one person at all, and the experts of the Wu Wei Sect have come forward?"

After the huge shock, a chill crawled all over the young Daoist priest's body along his spine.

He forced himself to calm down, his voice still trembling, and put forward a relatively "reasonable" guess.

That Zhang Fan was just a bait thrown out by the Wu Wei Sect.

"Perhaps!"

Wei Wei Shangxing was silent for a moment, slowly closed his eyes, and opened them again; his eyes had recovered most of their calm, but that heaviness had not diminished in the slightest.

"This is the most likely 'reality' at present."

His gaze was cast again toward the vast land outside the pass, his eyes becoming complex and difficult to understand, and a trace of indescribable sharpness and curiosity even flashed faintly within them.

"Zhang Fan... is indeed a young talent, truly courageous, using himself as bait; if so, I really want to see him."

As soon as these words were spoken, the young Daoist priest's face twitched violently.

"Uncle-Master, since this Zhang Fan entered the pass, he has been rampant and unbridled, not knowing how much blood and human life he has stained his hands with; now even Fan... has met with misfortune; it is clear that a great expert is hidden behind him..."

Thinking of this, the young Daoist priest looked at Wei Wei Shangxing, but a trace of worry appeared on his face.

Knowing that murderous intent was hidden, that Zhang Fan was even more dangerous than previously expected.

"What is life and death!?"

Wei Wei Shangxing shook his head, interrupting him, his tone carrying a kind of indifference that transcended life and death and a persistence in pursuing the Great Dao.

At his level, he had long since seen through life and death; wanting to realize the wonder of Heaven and Man, wanting to break through the Celestial Master Great Realm, he could only steal a thread of vitality amidst the ten thousand feet of murderous intent.

The so-called genius!

The so-called monster!

The so-called anomaly!

They both hide 【Great Disasters】 and bear 【Great Fortune】.

That is the "Immortal Treasure Medicine" that Heaven has cast into the human red dust, stirring up ripples and turbid dust, seeing immortality and longevity.

Sages fear the cause, ordinary people fear the result.

Therefore, ordinary people seek good fortune and avoid disaster.

Great practitioners, however, respond to the disaster and transform the fortune.

"Since it is a great disaster entering the red dust, why don't I see the medicine of immortality."

Wei Wei Shangxing murmured softly; his gaze was cast into the distance, looking at the magnificent and dead silence of the thousand-mile ice river, looking at the ten thousand miles of snowfields where Heaven and Earth were killing...

His spirit seemed to have detached from his body, drifting to the extreme distance, drifting toward the direction of the young man who bore the name 【Wu Wei Sect Master】.

In the evening, a faint moon hung high.

The moonlight was cold and clear, but it was covered by patches of flowing clouds, flickering, like a beauty holding a pipa half-hidden, revealing a bit of mystery and haziness.

In the south, at the foot of a mountain with few people, a remote road in disrepair wound forward.

A large truck loaded with goods, covered in dust, sped past, panting, its wheels rolling up bursts of dust.

The driver was exhausted, his eyelids heavy, trying hard to open his eyes to find a place to stay and rest.

However, as far as his eyes could see, it seemed he didn't see a low, dilapidated bungalow by the road, with bright red characters written on the wall:

Accommodation!

Restaurant!

A withered yellow lamp hung in front of the door, swaying in the wind, and the rusty iron hook made a "creaking" sound.

This lamp, this restaurant, seemed to exist in another dimension, brushing past the secular vehicles speeding by, without interfering with each other.

"Ding-a-ling..."

Just at this moment, the door was pushed open, and an old bell made a crisp but somewhat harsh sound.

A figure stepped into the small shop filled with the smell of old age.

It was a young man, wearing a black leather jacket, the style flamboyant, the leather oily and bright. He had a handsome face, but an evil, wild aura lingered between his brows, and the corners of his mouth habitually lifted slightly, carrying a bit of cynicism and a cold, aloof disregard for everything.

The young man sat down at a slightly greasy square table, his gaze scanning the empty shop casually.

Suddenly, his gaze paused in the corner, revealing a strange expression.

Beside a table not far away, a boy was actually lying prone, seemingly drunk to the point of unconsciousness.

"Old Ghost, why did an outsider come to your place?" the young man couldn't help but say.

Before the words had faded, a hunched figure "darted" out from the shadows of the back kitchen like a ghost.