Chapter 325: Continuous Crises

“Senses?” Rod’s heart pounded upon hearing Lucy’s words. Damn it, no wonder they could be tracked from such a distance—centuries-long range of smell. What an abominable creature! If this continued, they would truly be hunted by all the ice bears in the God’s Lament Forbidden Land.
So far, they had only seen traces of ice bears, in huge numbers. Rod now understood why the God’s Lament Forbidden Land was so dangerous—more dangerous even than the Source of Darkness. It truly lived up to its name. Imagining being chased by so many high-tier divine-level magical beasts must be a terrifying scenario, one that left no chance to defend oneself—even those at the Yangxuan realm couldn’t withstand it.
“Hide our auras!” The next moment, Rod said in a low voice to Lucy. Hiding their auras could at least make it harder for the ice bears to sense their presence. From now on, they could only rely on fate.
The two quickly concealed their auras and fled forward. Yet, it seemed this didn’t work at all—the number of ice bears behind them kept increasing, and new groups appeared ahead!
At this point, Rod could only hope that the ice birds wouldn’t show up; otherwise, they would truly be in a desperate situation. With the ice birds and ice bears working together—one with senses of smell and the other with vision—they would have nowhere to hide.
“Netherfire, activate!” Just as Rod was nervous, he heard Lucy’s delicate cry.
She continuously formed talismans in her hands. As the talismans appeared, a blue glow surged, instantly enveloping the two of them. In an instant, Rod felt as if he had entered a mysterious world filled with blue flames.
“Netherhell Fire!” Rod exclaimed upon seeing the flames clearly. It was indeed Netherhell Fire! Lucy had used it to surround them.
It was a strange kind of flame. Through this first close encounter, Rod gained more insights into it. The blue flames surrounding him not only carried no heat but also emitted a bone-chilling coldness, making Rod shiver involuntarily.
“The Netherhell Fire can conceal our auras. Within ten miles, those ice bears won’t be able to detect us. Hurry, get rid of these guys!” Looking at the ice bears ahead, Lucy’s face turned pale.
Clearly, controlling the Netherhell Fire to surround Rod was exhausting for her at the moment. She wasn’t afraid of such flames, but Rod was different. She had to keep it under control carefully, as even a slight mistake could cause Rod to be injured by the flames, with disastrous consequences.

The Netherhell Flame, the greatest flame in the world—once harmed by it, there is only one outcome: turning to ashes, no matter how strong one is.
“Get on my back!” With a serious expression, Rod realized the urgency of the situation and nodded at Lucy.
In the next moment, Lucy leaped onto Rod’s back. Such actions were no longer unusual for them. Carrying Lucy, Rod unleashed his full speed, rushing forward like a bolt of lightning in a flash of white light, denying the ice bears any chance to surround them.
In the blink of an eye, the two broke through the encirclement and fled ahead, leaving the ice bears far behind.
At this moment, the Netherhell Flame showed its miraculous effect. Indeed, as it covered them, the number of ice bears chasing them decreased significantly after they had gone over ten miles away. All that could be heard were their furious roars.
Rod carefully controlled his breath, not daring to be careless—any disturbance could wake up more ice bears! They moved forward slowly, trying to avoid any uneven terrain.
After a long time, they were finally sure they had escaped danger. Both were panting heavily, their faces showing an unprecedented state of exhaustion. Rod was grateful he had brought Lucy with him this time; otherwise, he would never have been able to enter the Sacred Weeping Forbidden Land, and might even have died already. At this moment, Lucy proved to be invaluable.
“It’s okay!” Rod said worriedly, looking at Lucy’s pale face. Controlling the Netherhell Flame required a tremendous amount of energy.
“Mm, I’m fine,” Lucy replied with a bitter smile, still shaken.
Once they were sure they were safe, they didn’t dare stay any longer. Lucy continued to maintain the cover of the Netherhell Flame, while Rod carried her forward. Unaware of it, under the pursuit of the ice bears, they had already ventured deep into the Sacred Weeping Forbidden Land. Looking into the distance, they saw snow-covered areas with thick ice layers. The bone-chilling cold seeped into their bodies through the Netherhell Flame. The temperature had dropped well below minus fifty degrees—absolutely extreme for ordinary people. Even the two of them were struggling, but thankfully, the Netherhell Flame seemed to resist some of the cold; otherwise, they wouldn’t know what to do.
One thing was certain: they absolutely couldn’t waste more time here. They had to leave this place as soon as possible, get away from this icy wilderness. Thus, finding the Seven-Colored Ice Spirit became urgent.

After walking for an unknown distance, they finally managed to shake off the ice bears behind them and completely lose their trace. Lucy also reached her limit—unable to maintain the Netherhell Fire, which then dissipated. Meanwhile, after Rod’s non-stop journey of a day and night, they had penetrated a hundred miles deep into the Sacred Weeping Forbidden Land, now in its central region.

The disappearance of the Netherhell Fire instantly caused Rod and Lucy to feel extreme discomfort!

Fortunately, both of them were quite strong, and they practiced fire-type combat energy and magic elements, which provided some protection against the cold. They could barely hold on here for a while, but the maximum limit was definitely no more than five days—this was already the lowest threshold. Beyond that, their bodies might suffer damage.

Realizing this, they dared not stop for even a moment and hurriedly began searching. The Rainbow Ice Spirit must be in the coldest part of the Sacred Weeping Forbidden Land. Rod extended his senses and headed toward even colder areas.

With Lucy following behind, the two small figures appeared in this vast expanse of icy glaciers.

……

“Big brother… still not found?” Lucy asked softly, her voice trembling slightly, as she saw Rod’s disappointed expression.

It was already the fourth day. Over these four days, they had penetrated to the deepest parts of the Sacred Weeping Forbidden Land, almost exploring every corner, yet they hadn’t seen any sign of the Rainbow Ice Spirit! Four days had also pushed them to their limits, especially Lucy. As a mage, her constitution was already weak, and under such harsh conditions, her complexion grew even paler. Coupled with days of non-stop searching with no time to rest, her physical condition had reached its limit, leaving her extremely weak.

“No!” Rod shook his head and said firmly. Today was the fourth day. They had reached their limit. It was the last day—by this time tomorrow, they must leave this place, even if they didn’t find it!

If they really left, it would mean their search had failed, and all their efforts to reach the core area would have been in vain.

Entering this forbidden land of Divine Sorrow is extremely dangerous. First, they had to get rid of countless ice bears, and just a couple of days ago, they were attacked by ice birds. Fortunately, Lucy’s Netherhell Fire once again proved effective, allowing them to narrowly escape the ice birds’ pursuit. Walking in this core area required even greater caution—they dared not emit any signs of presence and had to move extremely slowly, fearing that any disturbance might attract the magical beasts living here and cause trouble!

After putting in so much effort, the moment they were waiting for was approaching, yet they had achieved nothing. It was inevitable that they felt some frustration and disappointment.

Both of them were in a poor mood at the moment. Looking at the thick ice layer ahead, Rod even took the risk of using his mental power to probe beneath the ice in several areas where the Rainbow Ice Spirits might be found, but found nothing but endless cold.

“What should we do…” Lucy bit her lip, not knowing what to say, seeing Rod’s disappointed expression.

“Tomorrow, at the latest, we must leave. Otherwise, you won’t be able to endure it!” Taking a deep breath and looking up at the sky, Rod said firmly. Perhaps he could hold on for another day or two, but Lucy couldn’t—she wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

“But…”

“There’s no but. I’ve made up my mind. If we can’t find the Rainbow Ice Spirits, we’ll think about it later. As long as we’re alive, we’ll always have another chance. But if we get sick, we’ll have nothing left. Even if you find the Rainbow Ice Spirits, what good will it do?” Rod stopped Lucy from continuing, insisting that health was the foundation of everything.

Besides, if the Rainbow Ice Spirits were really that easy to find, someone would have discovered them long ago. Although this forbidden land of Divine Sorrow was dangerous and difficult for ordinary people to enter, there were still those who could use unique treasures or methods to reach these depths. For example, Lucy—thanks to her Netherhell Fire—could definitely enter these areas alone. If she could do it and the Netherhell Fire was useful, then there must be other things as well!

Since someone had entered, and not just one person, the fact that they all failed to find it clearly showed that the Rainbow Ice Spirits weren’t that easy to locate—otherwise, they wouldn’t be so precious.

It can’t be found; one can only say that luck wasn’t on their side. When it’s time to leave, one must leave. Rhode even had planned the time and method for his next entry. This visit gave him a new understanding of the God’s Lament Forbidden Land. Although it is dangerous, it seems to only have two types of magical beasts here—ice bears and ice birds—no other creatures. In such a cold place, only these two types of magical beasts can survive, and both are at the advanced godly level. Their danger and strength stem from their numbers.