Chapter 1016: The Snowy Mountain of the Blizzard

Early on Sunday morning, while the blonde Miss was still asleep, Xia De, who as always rose early, had already packed the items he carried with him, preparing to set off for a brand-new adventure.

Xia De had not found anyone to appraise which year of the Fifth Era the new key obtained from Doctor Shi Nai De corresponded to, since knowing the year was of no help to him anyway.

The cat, woken by Xia De getting up, this time seemed to want to follow him into the past. But since this was the first opening of the new key, Xia De was not sure what would happen at that point in time, so he refused Xiao Miya.

So it pitifully lay on the sofa watching Xia De prepare to depart, that aggrieved expression looking as if Xia De was about to abandon it.

"Don't look at me with those eyes, I'll be back in three seconds."

Xia De said to Xiao Miya, feeling that cat was getting smarter and smarter.

He tightened the scarf around his neck, patted the thick cotton coat on his body, then inserted the key into the keyhole of the side-lying room's door:

"May the World Tree bless me in the river of time."

Click~

He once again stepped into that white mist door.

【Outsider, you have entered the "Corridor of Time."】

【Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Fifth Era, Year 903, Winter, Northern Continent, Silverwhite Mountains.】

【Event: Lost in the Snowy Mountain.】

【Duration: forty minutes (1/3).】

"This time it's actually not thirty minutes but forty minutes? Back to the Northern Continent again? Hope Town - Year 1068, Forest of a Thousand Trees - Year 3002, Terror Castle - Year 1784, Night Estate - Year 3014, Silent Valley - Year 3024, Lost Lake - Year 5177, this time it's Year 903......"

Xia De stood within the white mist; the Fifth Era Year 903 was the earliest Fifth Era year he had encountered. In this era, none of his acquaintances could possibly appear. Even in Hope Town, the witch who had awakened after listening to his knowledge in that toy shop — calculating her age, she certainly had not yet been born at this moment.

"But, what does 'Lost in the Snowy Mountain' mean......"

The voice beside his ear continued, as expected:

【You have obtained additional information.】

【The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree watches you.】

【The ancient god of time grants you a trial.】

【Assist the deity 'Winter Girl' in escorting the lost one to the mountain peak.】

The Father of the Infinite Tree will grant you a reward: Miraculous Art - Light of Imprisonment, Hex Art - Flying Flower Hex.

"The reward this time is one Miraculous Art and one Hex? Not bad at all. But, the old god 【Winter Girl】......"

Xia De slightly frowned within the white mist; this deity was quite famous, so famous that in terms of renown she was second only to the five true gods. Even though she had already departed, this deity's reputation was still higher than that of most evil gods.

This was not because this old god was especially powerful, but because the power this old god represented was "Winter." The old god 【Winter Girl】, also known as the "God of Winter" and "God of Snow" — worship and prayer toward this deity who symbolized the seasons still existed even a thousand years after the old gods' departure. Even in the Sixth Era Year 1853, in the far northern ice sheet region, one could still find this deity's churches and shrines, and her believers and orders were still active.

The old god "Winter Girl"'s order was called the "Winter Holy Choir." Although the order itself was extremely small in scale, it contained a thirteen-ring sorcerer known as the "Winter Singer," who was the type of ring sorcerer with considerable talent. This order was similar to the Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu, only operating in specific regions; its behavioral pattern was similar to the 【Spirit Cultivation Order】, maintaining neutrality toward most matters.

And the reason Xia De had heard of this order was because the "Winter Holy Choir" had a very good relationship with the Saint Byrne Comprehensive Academy, also located in the far north. In the first-year academy general education, this organization was specifically mentioned. If in the future the group of five crossed the far northern ice sheet, enduring the severe cold to enter the snowfields during the polar day and polar night, then the organization most likely to help them when they encountered danger would be this one.

"This adventure hasn't even started, yet it's already connected to the future."

Xia De silently thought to himself, then took a step forward.

"Oh!"

As the white mist dispersed, he fell directly into the snow.

The Father of the Tree did not move Xia De into the sky, but let his feet step onto the snow surface. But the problem was that the snow on the ground was simply too thick, so that Xia De, completely unprepared, sank directly below the snow surface, the snow layer even covering up to the position of his shoulders:

"Where have I arrived?"

The extreme cold was rapidly draining Xia De's body heat. He struggled to climb out of the snow, and upon raising his head saw a terrifying pitch-black sky. That ink-colored sky was not pure black; colorful streaks flowed within that ink-black, as if in the heights of this night sky some unseen terrifying existence was trembling.

The wind swept snowflakes across everything around, but the surroundings were not without light sources — on the contrary, everything around was a light source. Whether the accumulated snow or the snowflakes in the air, they all emitted a holy silver-white glow, which also let him see that he seemed to be on some gentle slope of the snowy mountain, with fine, pure white snow layers all around. When the Outsider was young, he was very keen on leaving his footprints on this kind of soft, flat snow layer, but now he was in no mood to do such a thing:

"Bai Yin-white snow? No wonder it's called the Silverwhite Mountains, I thought they produced silver here."

The towering sharp peaks stood in the not-far distance of the night, the undulating mountain range impossible to take in at a single glance. All of this was truly magnificent, but Xia De had no time to appreciate the "beautiful scenery" of the snowy high mountains; he felt his limbs were already approaching a half-numb state.

According to his physical fitness and the thickness of his warm clothing, he should not have lost temperature so severely in a short time. These snowflakes emitting silver-white light definitely had a problem, just like the environments of other locations in the time adventures all had problems.

It was not easy to climb out of such a thick snow layer; even if he climbed out, without a good method he would sink down again. Fortunately, there was a large stone protruding from the snow surface not far away, and the trembling Xia De used "Lagrange's Leap" to directly transfer onto the stone.

The "Silverwhite Mountains" were different from Lost Lake; the use of spatial power was not prohibited here.

Although every time he came to the past, he would certainly first be in a dangerous situation, this time's environment was absolutely the worst. The shivering Xia De, frozen and trembling, huddled on the stone and looked around, trying to find traces of deities or mortals.

And when his eyes followed this gentle slope toward the high mountain ridge, behind the mountain ridge in the darkness, a crimson glow lit up bit by bit. A giant creature, melted into the darkness, taller than even this mountain peak, was slowly approaching the mountain ridge.

The door of time seemed to open here, the ancient Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu imprisoned in the great snowy mountain projecting its true form into the material world.

At that moment Xia De truly felt his entire soul stiffen. He forced himself to look away, only to discover that the power of the ancient snowy mountain Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu simply did not allow him to do so. The power possessed by the ancient Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu was the most powerful force the Outsider had witnessed in this world apart from gods.

That giant creature, which had existed in the Silverwhite Mountains for who knows how long, also seemed to notice him. But before Xia De attempted to escape, a figure ascended onto the mountain ridge.

It was a girl whose entire body emitted pure white light, wearing a white long robe, her silver long hair flying along with the wind and snowflakes, standing barefoot on the mountain ridge. With her back to Xia De, facing the terrifying darkness behind the mountain ridge, she raised high the white oak staff in her right hand:

"Light Art!"

The pure white light bursting from the top of the long staff illuminated a part of that terrifying body in the darkness. The snowy mountain Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu let out a cry resembling "Ong~" that made even the wind tremble.

As blood flowed from the corner of Xia De's mouth, it retreated within the light, but the snowflakes were still flying, and the cold had not departed from this eerie mountain range.

Xia De wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, feeling he was probably injured by that cry. He watched this scene before him in shock, discovering for the first time that there were others who could use "Light Art" as skillfully as himself.

But he quickly understood why the other party could display such astonishing power, because his senses, dulled and numb from the cold, were reminding Xia De that he was gazing upon a deity.

The white-robed girl on the mountain ridge turned around and also noticed Xia De. But the deity did not approach him, but pointed at her feet, then walked barefoot along the mountain ridge toward the left side of Xia De's field of vision. That direction had an upward slope, and that was also the direction of the highest peak of this mountain range.

"Pointing at her feet?"

Xia De, huddled on the large stone, looked at the glowing snow around him. The Outsider's homeland knowledge told him that any object capable of glowing autonomously without receiving stimulation was very dangerous, while this world's knowledge told him that autonomously glowing objects implied the supernatural and mystery.

He grabbed a handful of glowing snow with his hand, having to admit they were indeed quite beautiful:

"What is this?"

A whisper sounded beside his ear:

【This is a handful of snow.】

"Mm... I know, I mean the traces of the elements."

【All four elements are present, but very faint.】

"As long as it's not poisonous, that's fine."

Not long ago he had even guessed whether Mia would lick snow, and Xia De hadn't expected that he himself would actually do it so soon. He opened his mouth and bit into the cold snow; the silver-white snowflakes melted in his mouth and slid down his throat into his stomach.

The chill of the cold made Xia De instantly stiffen, and when he recovered from that stiffness, he did not feel a warm current, but instead felt the cold become even more severe, though he had also grown accustomed to the cold.

【Outsider, within half an hour, when you walk barefoot on the snow, you will not sink into the snow. When you communicate with people in the snowy mountain environment, you can understand each other's language.】

So Xia De took off his shoes and jumped off the big rock barefoot:

"Oh!"

A chill that pierced his heart shot from the soles of his feet through his whole body, but he really was standing on the snow.

He raised his arm to shield his face and bent slightly at the waist. In this blizzard, Xia De walked up the snowy slope, heading toward the direction of the mountain ridge.