Chapter 9: The Secret Valley of Snow (Part 1)

The Secret Valley of Snow is a passage connecting the Thousand Lakes Continent and the Frozen Continent. This secret valley is characterized by a narrow gorge, with the Thousand Lakes Continent at one end and the Frozen Continent at the other. The Guishui Family has stationed hundreds of thousands of troops for defense at one end of the gorge, while the Gujiji Family has sent troops to guard the other end.
These two families usually engage in small conflicts every five years and larger battles every ten years, with frequent skirmishes between their subgroups as well.
Guo Shier and his group emerged directly from the Magic Gate. Not far away was the Guishui Family’s main camp. Of course, they didn’t go there but flew toward the other end instead.
The entire Snow Valley served as a complete battlefield. As soon as Guo Shier entered the Secret Valley of Snow, he smelled a faint scent of blood. Having come from a battlefield, he immediately understood what place this was. With a wry smile, he said, “The Guishui Family is really unlucky—being attacked right at their doorstep. It’s hard even for them to develop.”
In fact, Guo Shier didn’t know that there were still branches of the Guishui Family remaining on other continents. But since their main family was trapped, those branches were scattered and unable to play any significant role. The most important thing for a family is cohesion, which allows it to unite its strength. If the Thousand Lakes Continent fell, the Guishui Family would be completely destroyed, no matter how many other branches still existed.
Eagle Demon said, “I guess when we get there… we’ll have to fight again.”
Fire Furnace Heaven, holding a wine bottle, asked, “Do you want help?”
Guo Shier and the others replied in unison, “No!”
Fire Furnace Heaven laughed loudly. She took a sip of wine and said, “Really? Don’t ask me for help then.”
Guo Shier suddenly felt uncertain. Then he realized—no, the other end of the Secret Valley of Snow was the Gujiji Family’s attack base. Although the four of them were strong, they weren’t strong enough to underestimate everything. The Gujiji Family didn’t need to send many people; just a few experts with solid-form altars would be enough. Even if the two sides were evenly matched, they wouldn’t be able to break through.
“That’s not what I meant, hehe.”
Guo Shier’s words left Eagle Demon and the others puzzled, not understanding what he meant.
Fire Furnace Heaven asked curiously, “Not that? Then what do you mean? Tell me…” She took another sip of wine, shook the bottle, and said, “Ugh, it’s empty again! Bring me another bottle!”
Guo Shier was speechless. She treated this place like a wine cellar. He didn’t dare refuse and handed her another bottle with a pained expression, saying, “Beautiful senior, drinking too much will get you drunk.” In fact, he knew Fire Furnace Heaven wouldn’t get drunk.

Huofen Tian raised the wine bottle and said with a smile, “Well, just for this bottle of wine, I’ll… help out a bit later too.”
At that moment, everyone understood. The reason they instinctively didn’t want Huofen Tian to intervene was that he had killed countless people whenever he stepped in, but if they couldn’t defeat the opponent and still refused to let Huofen Tian help, that would be foolish. So this time, no one spoke up to stop him.
This snow valley was very long; the group flew for several hours yet still hadn’t reached the other end. Guo Shier said, “Fortunately, there are no messy things in this secret realm. It’s just a bit snowy. Hehe, let’s take a break.”
Huofen Tian showed no signs of impatience and continued drinking wine. Guo Shier sighed inwardly—unintentionally, bringing strong liquor had led to the creation of a female alcoholics.
The group rested for about an hour before setting off again.
Soon, they noticed that the snow valley was no longer straight but began to curve and twist like a maze. There were no side paths, just a canyon that seemed to have no end.
The further they went, the colder the air became. From scattered snowflakes at first to heavy snowflakes swirling in the air, not only was there a layer of snow on the ground, but there were also numerous ice crystals on both sides of the canyon.
Guo Shier carried the altar on his head. He was naturally cold-sensitive, but with the altar, he no longer cared. The protective talismans hanging from the altar effectively blocked the cold air.
Eagle Demon and the others also carried altars on their heads. Nan You said, “Damn, this cold wind is strange.”
Huofen Tian remained calm, unbothered by the cold wind. She said, “This wind contains cold energy. Without sufficient protection, it’s easy to be affected—your body will stiffen and you’ll have difficulty moving.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Will one freeze to death?”
Huofen Tian replied, “No, unless you’re a low-level talisman disciple.”
Guo Shier said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, just the impact of this cold energy on mobility is enough to reduce the strength of an army by 30%.”
Eagle Demon agreed, “Yes, this canyon is really strange.”
After flying for a few more hours, thick layers of ice and snow had accumulated on the ground, forming snow mounds as high as small mountains. The bone-chilling wind howled loudly. The widest parts of this snow valley were several hundred kilometers wide, while the narrowest sections were less than a kilometer wide. They had now entered a narrow canyon with cliffs on both sides that stretched endlessly upward.
The cliffs were covered with large ice crystals, and thanks to the reflection of the snowlight, the canyon wasn’t dark.

Guo Shier was already sitting on the altar, while Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, and Nan You were each seated on their own altars. This not only allowed them to move faster but also provided stronger defense.

Huo Fen Tian was quite carefree; no matter how Guo Shier and the others flew, she could easily keep up. She finally put away her wine bottle. Although the cold atmosphere here grew stronger, it seemed to have no effect on her.

The group flew through the narrow valley. Huo Fen Tian said with a smile, “There should be some good stuff here.”

Guo Shier, who had sharp ears, asked, “What good stuff?”

Huo Fen Tian replied, “It’s not useful to me, but you might need it. There’s plenty of ice marrow on the cliff walls—it’s extremely cold.”

Guo Shier’s soul trembled slightly. “Elder Man, what is ice marrow?”

The Elder Man had been holding back hard. He didn’t dare show himself or speak, fearing he might disturb Huo Fen Tian. Hearing this, he quietly replied, “It’s indeed good stuff. Ice marrow can be used in altars or to refine ice-related treasures. Well, even if you don’t need it yourself, you can exchange it for other treasures.”

There were large sheets of ice on the cliff walls, and ice marrow was formed within them.

Guo Shier said, “Let’s stop for a moment.”

Eagle Demon and the others hovered beside Guo Shier’s altar and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Guo Shier replied, “The elder said there’s ice marrow here. Let’s get some to take with us.”

Luo Zhan asked, “What does ice marrow look like?”

Huo Fen Tian reached out and made a gesture, and with a crackling sound, large pieces of ice on the cliff shattered into mist. Dozens of bright spots flew into her hands. She threw them out and said, “This is it.”

Guo Shier caught them and, after taking just one look, exclaimed in amazement, “It’s so beautiful!” The crystals, the size of jujubes, resembled diamonds, with a deep blue color and crystal clarity. Holding them felt like an extremely cold aura piercing the skin. Huo Fen Tian quickly grabbed thirteen pieces of ice marrow.

Eagle Demon and the others also took a close look before returning them to Guo Shier. Luo Zhan said, “Let’s start digging.”

A faint smile appeared on Huo Fen Tian’s lips. She stepped back slightly and said, “Be careful.”

The others didn’t pay much attention. They didn’t have Huo Fen Tian’s skills to shatter the ice layers on the cliff walls silently and retrieve the ice marrow effortlessly. They could only use virtual talisman chains to pierce the ice layers, find the ice marrow, and then pull it out forcefully.

Crack! Crack…

Rhythmic cracks of ice breaking could be heard continuously. After Guo Shieru sent his virtual talisman into the ice, he immediately detected a large amount of ice essence. The talisman wrapped around it and forcibly pulled it out of the ice surface. As the ice essence flew out, large pieces of broken ice fell down, emitting loud rumbling sounds. Suddenly, Guo Shieru’s expression changed, and he shouted, “Fly upward, to the middle of the canyon!”
Huo Fen Tian laughed heartily.
Eerie crackling sounds followed, making people’s hair stand on end, and soon, faint thunderous noises were heard from above.
Guo Shieru wished he could slap himself—creating such a loud noise in such a place was truly reckless. On both sides of the cliffs stood eternal snow-capped mountains, and such loud noises beneath them could have serious consequences.
The rumbling sounds grew louder and louder.