Lin Zhou said softly, “Having after all held dominion in the north for so many years, our clan still has some territorial advantages. Sadly, this environment truly isn’t suitable for an ambush. Otherwise, we could sit at the tree and wait for the rabbit, waiting for those of Broad Creed Mountain to send themselves to our doorstep, obtaining the things in their hands and using it to unlock this place.”
The middle-aged man said with a sunken expression, “We are already in the midst of heavy vigilance and searching. Hopefully, they will truly come as you say.”
Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu stood on the top of a small hill, gazing into the distance.
“We can only come here, and cannot continue approaching. Concealing our tracks in this place is rather difficult, unless our cultivation bases are much higher than the other party’s,” Raising his hand to his forehead, Yan Zhaoge muttered to himself as he looked, “From the looks of it, they are keeping up heavy vigilance.”
Ah Hu said with a bitter, anxious expression on his face, “Young Master, the environment here is too harsh. Wanting to sneak over and silently assassinate, the difficulty would also be pretty great. Most critical is that the number of people is not few, and while the distance between them is rather far, they lie just within each other’s fields of vision, able to provide support for one another if necessary. If we cannot take care of them all at once and word spreads, who knows that the Heavenly Thunder Hall does not have any peak experts here.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “They should not have Essence Talisman Martial Grandmasters. Having come here this time, it is currently a time of great tensions between the Sacred Grounds. Everyone has their hands on their swords and their bows at the ready, no one daring to get distracted at all.”
“As for Essence Spirit Martial Grandmasters, there might be some, but it would be hard to say what stage.”
Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, “It’s fine for our clan and the Sacred Sun Clan, but the Heavenly Thunder Hall, stuck between Infinite Boundless Mountain and Jade Sea City, will not be having a good time.”
Ah Hu revealed a pained expression, “Young Master, could it be that news of our arrival north were leaked out, the Heavenly Thunder Hall purposefully sending out men to kill you here ah?”
“The possibility of that is not big,” Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower chin, “Right, while I cannot say for sure, it still cannot be considered too unexpected. There is someone of the Heavenly Thunder Hall, who has the possibility of knowing about the matter of the legacy of the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint.”
That final sentence was said at a volume that only Yan Zhaoge himself could hear, Ah Hu looking curiously at him.
Yan Zhaoge said, “The people of the Heavenly Thunder Hall are most likely here for the legacy of the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint.”
He gazed into the distance, “Its general position should still be very far from here. Why is the ring of surveillance spread out so wide?”
Ah Hu scratched his head, “Young Master, how do you know they are here for the legacy of the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint? And if the other party really is here for it, also knowing its position, won’t they already have gotten to it by now, beating us to the draw?”
Yan Zhaoge did not answer, instead smiling as he took out a piece of jade.
While that piece of jade was great in appearance, it already did not contain much spiritual qi, its surface smooth as no spiritual light emanated from within.
Weighing that piece of jade in his palm, Yan Zhaoge said, “They need this thing. The spiritual energy inside has already been completely absorbed by me, and the restrictions of the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint requires my aura-qi to open. Otherwise, they would only be able to slowly break it from the outside.”
Ah Hu rubbed his palms, “Then Young Master, do we now…”
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “No need to rush. With them all gathered in this region, there are also good points for us. It makes it convenient for us to go do some other things.”
Saying thus, Yan Zhaoge turned and descended the hill that was covered in ice and snow, bringing Ah Hu along as they circled around this region and headed elsewhere.
Heading east all the way, halting every once in a while as he silently felt the flow of the spiritual qi of the heavens and the earth in the vicinity, Yan Zhaoge proceeded on his journey.
Just like this, having walked for a number of days, Yan Zhaoge finally halted for good, standing firmly on the snowy plains.
He lowered his head and looked at the ice and snow beneath his feet for a long time. Then, exerting force with his feet, a large amount of the frozen mud beneath was shattered.
The layers of ice and mud broke apart, Yan Zhaoge dropping downwards.
After a moment, Yan Zhaoge felt as though the obstruction beneath his feet had suddenly lessened, the soil beginning to turn soft.
After yet another moment, Yan Zhaoge leapt upwards, returning to the snowy plains. Gazing downwards, within the crevice in the ground, boiling heat was actually rising up from within.
“Young Master, this is…” Gazing over carefully, Ah Hu found that a hot spring had actually been born within this land of ice and snow.
And the colour of the spring water was actually blue.
His hands crossed before his chest, Yan Zhaoge similarly focused on the blue hot spring below, saying softly, “This is hope for Jun’er and sister-in-law Yuzhen.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 338: Through another method!
HSSB338: Through another method
Ah Hu looked curiously at that blue spirit spring. Yan Zhaoge raised his head, looking at their surrounding environment.
He felt the circulation of the spiritual qi in the surrounding heavens and earth, also reaching out and scooping up some blue spring water with his aura-qi, examining it carefully within his palm.
After a while, Yan Zhaoge muttered, “The time is still not ripe. We will have to wait for more spiritual qi to be accumulated here first.”
Saying thus, he looked at their surroundings before exerting force with his feet once more.
This time, he collapsed the soil and stones of the surrounding area, concealing the location of the blue hot springs once more.
The changes in the surrounding soil and stones inevitably looked a little obtrusive on the snowy plains.
Yan Zhaoge’s entire body’s aura-qi abruptly changed, becoming bone-penetratingly cold, numerous streams of white aura-qi resembling numerous ice dragons as they flew within the air before landing on the great earth, sealing up the soil and stones that had been disturbed earlier.
By the side, Ah Hu also helped to patch up the deficiencies, manipulating the area such that it seemed basically the same as the rest of their surroundings, not too much of a difference being present.
After all this had been done, Yan Zhaoge said, “Come, let’s head to the next location.”
As he led the way, Yan Zhaoge said, “Ah Hu, pass me the four sabres that I handed to you earlier on.”
Ah Hu did as he said, taking out four sabres that were each not more than a foot long, appearing extremely ordinary, and handing them to Yan Zhaoge.
Looking at them carefully, it would be discovered that these four sabres had clearly not been bladed, their edges still being blunt.
However, the blade of the sabres flickered with crimson light, resembling blazing fire.
Receiving those four sabres, with a sweep of Yan Zhaoge’s aura-qi, they all hovered simultaneously within the air, remaining by his side.
As they swayed, fire seemed indistinctly to dance within the air, converging to form an illusory line of fire above Yan Zhaoge’s head, pointing indeterminately away as it extended into the distance.
Yan Zhaoge brought Ah Hu along, following the general direction of the line of fire.
Accompanied by their advance, that illusory line of fire that extended into the distance gradually stabilised, finally pointing straight in a single direction.
This illusory
line of fire was extremely conspicuous amidst the snow, but only Yan Zhaoge, controlling the four sabres, was able to see it.
Following where it led, after a long journey, the two finally halted.
Following the line of fire that had landed on the ground, Yan Zhaoge saw that it penetrated straight beneath the earth.
He raised his head and observed their surrounding environment as well as felt the spiritual qi flow here, murmuring to himself after a time, “This place should be fine.”
He lightly pushed his palm down on the ground, which shuddered.
The four sabres that hovered in mid-air descended, their tips directly contacting the ground.
Yan Zhaoge reached out, slapping the four sabres one by one into the ground.
On their hilts that remained outside of the earth, the red light of fire now also surfaced. The next moment, the crimson light gradually turned icy blue.
Yan Zhaoge nodded, pulling out the four sabres before he took out the Underground Splitting Shuttle once more, boarding it alongside Ah Hu, entering beneath the ground.
Proceeding amidst the frozen soil, the Underground Splitting Shuttle was not as agile as it usually was.
Still, very quickly, controlling the Underground Splitting Shuttle, Yan Zhaoge felt the pressure up ahead decrease.
Shooting out of the soil and stones, while they were still enshrouded in darkness, Yan Zhaoge could determine that their surroundings were now completely formed of a thick ice layer.
The massive ice cave that was hidden beneath the ground here was also one of Yan Zhaoge’s targets.
Passing through the ice layer, they suddenly passed into empty space as the Underground Splitting Shuttle as ridden by Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu had already emerged from the ice layer, arriving within the central region of the ice cave.
The underground space they were in within this cave of ice should originally have been a completely sealed space, but Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu were still able to breath normally here.
The environment ahead of them also lit up slightly, a shade of dark blue.
Seeing the silently flowing blue light that resembled underground hidden glacial rivers, Yan Zhaoge instantly smiled, “It’s here.”
Ah Hu stared at that flowing blue light, “Young Master, this thing seems to be formed of extreme condensation of a great amount of qi of ice and snow.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “You’re right. Even Essence Talisman Martial Grandmasters might not be able to withstand it, so you’ve got to remember definitely not to touch it. Don’t even let a single drop of it touch you, or you will instantly be frozen into an ice statue, all your flesh and blood freezing up.”
Ah Hu nodded, “In this icy cave, it instead doesn’t really feel cold. All of the cold qi has been condensed densely within that flow of blue light-it truly scares one just looking at it.”
“This is the origin of the icy plains of the Extreme North, its world of ice and snow. Born naturally of the heavens and the earth, this is an Ice Pith Vein of the area,” Yan Zhaoge’s expression was rather solemn, “And this is actually only still just one tiny branch of it.”
“If it were the main vein, even a Martial Saint would not dare to come into contact with it lightly. If a Martial Saint entered fully within, even they might be frozen to death.”
Yan Zhaoge sighed emotionally, “The extreme coldness within the Eight Extremities World- there is naught more potent than this.”
Ah Hu shrunk back, “Then, Young Master, why have we come here ah?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “To perform an experiment. If the experiment succeeds, we might be able to achieve something major.”
Ah Hu blinked, appearing uncomprehending.
Yan Zhaoge’s hands moved in a blur as he took out various materials that he had prepared beforehand, arranging them whilst saying, “The ancient records mention that before the Great Calamity, there was once a martial powerhouse known as the Snowy Immortal Palace. The Snowy Immortal Palace contained a Heavenly Ice Spring, being extremely divine.”
“However, afterwards, this Heavenly Ice Spring suddenly began slowly drying up without any prior warning, the reasons for this unknown.”
Yan Zhaoge waved his hands, the four red sabres flying out once more, respectively embedded in four corners of the ice layer above.
“I too do not understand the reason for this, but I have my suspicions,” Yan Zhaoge said, “The phenomena of the heavens and earth are actually all connected as one.”
“The spiritual qi flows about the entire world look to be undergoing individual changes one by one, but looked at from an overall perspective, all of them are actually related to one another.”
“It’s just that some of these are rather more obvious, while others are rather obscure; some we may be able to get into contact with, others not.”
Yan Zhaoge used various materials, speedily setting up a formation here.
Amidst arranging the formation, he said, “While extreme coldness and extreme heat seem diametrically opposed, in some situations, they are actually compatible as yin and yang.”
“That year, with no one having attacked the Snowy Immortal Palace, under normal circumstances, with the spiritual qi of its Heavenly Ice Springs still far from drying up completely, what was it that caused the spring water to dry up?”
Finishing his work, Yan Zhaoge lightly rubbed his temples, “My guess is that through some other method that was out of everyone’s knowledge, completely out of the Snowy Immortal Palace’s knowable predictions, someone used a method that no one would have thought of to complete this deed.”
At this point, Ah Hu seemed to understand his meaning, “Young Master, your meaning is that somewhat did something to a Fire Pith Vein, influencing the opposition between fire and ice, from there changing the Ice Pith Vein, causing the Heavenly Ice Spring of the Snowy Immortal Palace to naturally dry up?”
Yan Zhaoge nodded, “Speaking of it, it would really be a hard thing to accomplish. Generally speaking, if the person truly had the ability to do such, he could instead simply have directly attacked the Snowy Immortal Palace, stomping them down. However, he did not do so. This means that perhaps he just employed some subtle methods, truly moving a thousand kilograms with just four bits of strength, thereby accomplishing his goal.”
Ah Hu asked curiously, “First not speaking of how there could be such great a force that could influence an earth vein, how could he have been certain that only that for the Heavenly Ice Spring of the Snowy Immortal Palace would be affected, with no changes occurring in other Ice Pith Veins at all?”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 339: Small things, great deeds!
HSSB339: Small things, great deeds
Yan Zhaoge stared at the flowing blue stream of light before him, “I am unable to ascertain what method that predecessor used. The one I thought of would be through these things.”
Saying thus, he took out a fiery red rock, placing it in the centre of the formation.
That rock flickered continuously, resembling the breathing of a living being.
Yan Zhaoge said, “When Grand Master and the others counterattacked into the Fire Domain, I specifically asked them to take note of a few things for me, bringing some back if they could. One of the most important of those was this, Fire Pith Crystals, that are produced by the further crystallisation of Fire Pith underground.”
“Also, it had to be Fire Pith Crystals produced within the Southern Underground Palace.”
Yan Zhaoge continued setting up the formation, “Through this, as well as some other, assisting methods, we can lock on the Southern Underground Palace as our target.”
Ah Hu assisted him from the side, “But Young Master, causing a change in the earth veins is not an easy thing. With our cultivation bases, even aided by the formation, can we succeed? After all, this formation is not Broad Creed Mountain’s Clear Qi Grand Formation ah.”
“Are we setting up things here first before waiting the Family Head or the old Chief to
come over?”
Yan Zhaoge said upon hearing his words, “Father and Grand Master are in a standoff against the Sacred Sun Clan’s Huang Guanglie and the others, not able to leave easily. Even if they manage to come to the Extreme Northern Lands, they would also be detected by the other side. At that time, if they obstruct us or switch to attacking our clan’s core lands, that would be terrible for us.”
“Therefore, I will be the one to do this.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “As for how to do so, just my current strength alone is naturally insufficient. However, I have an idea that we can try out. If the experiment succeeds, us two Spirit Vessel Martial Grandmasters will also be able to do what even Essence Talisman Martial Grandmasters might not be able to.”
As he said this, Yan Zhaoge suddenly took out an object. It was a small black incense burner.
It was precisely the Earth Devouring Burner.
Looking at the small incense burner, Ah Hu blinked, “Young Master, I remember that this was something you obtained when killing that little brat called Zhao Hao back during the incident of Clear Concealed Lake.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “That is still so now. This treasure can absorb and contain all objects, bearing extremely great destructive power. My experiment is to see whether it can withstand the terrifying coldness of the Ice Pith Vein.”
Ah Hu said slowly, “But, from what I remember, you said that you have never been able to control this thing at will.”
“That’s right, and that is still so now. This treasure can only passively absorb attacks or forces coming towards it. I am still unable to actively control it to do anything,” Yan Zhaoge appeared casual, “Still, it is a well said thing: objects are dead whilst humans are alive; be a bit more flexible and your brain will let you survive.”
Yan Zhaoge punched towards the formation on the ground, his aura-qi stimulating and activating the formation, on which the light of fire instantly surfaced.
Heat emanated in all directions within this underground ice cave with the formation at its centre.
Stimulated by the heat, the blue stream of light which had originally been flowing quietly along, seemingly harmless, instantly turned violent!
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