Chapter 436: The Ice Frost Array

It didn’t take long to complete the entire spirit array—just half an hour. The remaining task, the most difficult and time-consuming part, was setting up the array’s core. Lin Dong and the others couldn’t help much, so they all stepped out of the array’s coverage.

Before long, Qiao Tianhao and the others returned, carrying the unconscious scarred youth.

“Boss, there’s a large waterfall five miles away. Inside the waterfall is a passage that leads to a pool at the foot of the mountain, along the current,” Qiao Tianhao said. He threw the badly injured scarred youth at their feet, clapped his hands, and added, “Boss, what should we do next?”

Since they intended to build an inn in the canyon, and the scarred youth knew how to get down there, they couldn’t just let him go and spread rumors. After some thought, Lin Dong decided, “Take him to the passage, wake him up, stuff a pill in his mouth, scare him a bit, and then send him away.”

“Just send him away like that?” Qiao Tianhao was surprised.

“What else? Kill him?” Lin Dong waved his hand. The scarred youth was just an ordinary person with enough silver to live comfortably for life. A little scare would surely keep him from plotting anything for three to five years. Even if he did try, he’d have to dare approach a sect disciple to share the information. Given how cautious the scarred youth was in Hualang City, he’d surely realize that if there were valuable things in the canyon, the sect disciples might kill him to keep them to themselves.

Scaring him was just an extra precaution. In three to five years, Lin’s Inn wouldn’t have to worry about someone learning about the Tianpeng Birds here.

Qiao Tianhao nodded, picked up the scarred youth, and left again.

After a full day and night of work, an eighth-tier spirit array reduced by hundreds of times was finally completed.

This spirit array was called the Ice Frost Array, belonging to the illusion-killing category. It covered an area of about 80,000 square meters. Although its power was much weaker than that of a true eighth-tier Ice Frost Array, it still had the strength of a seventh-tier spirit array.

Being able to set up a spirit array with the power of a seventh-tier array in just a day and night meant the speed was comparable to that of a ninth-tier array master.

After discussing more details and informing Lin Dong and Feng Yue about the array’s functions, Yun Lan waved her right arm. The BlueChen Sword, emitting a brilliant blue glow, shot toward a rock twenty meters away.

The sound of it cutting through the air instantly alerted the Tianpeng Bird to the danger. Its golden eyes snapped open. It was only then that it realized there were three small figures in the place where it had been resting.

The dignity of a ninth-tier spiritual bird is unforgiveable. The Tianpeng Bird’s wings suddenly spread out, expanding by over thirty meters each in an instant, occupying nearly half of the two-hundred-meter-wide canyon and making it seem rather crowded. As the Tianpeng Bird’s wings unfolded, the Lanchen Sword struck precisely at that one-square-foot rock. The moment the sword tip touched the rock, with a loud bang, it exploded like dynamite, sending dust flying twenty or thirty meters away. It resembled a mass of blue-white mist that spread rapidly before slowly settling back down. In the next instant, the view in the Tianpeng Bird’s eyes changed. The familiar cliffs and the three little creatures that had disturbed its rest were gone. Instead, it found itself inside a vast ice cave. The bone-chilling cold surged around the Tianpeng Bird, forcing its wings to flap frantically. From its several-meter-long beak came a loud cry filled with fear and anger. Its dozens-of-meters-long wings flapped rapidly a few times, lifting it less than ten meters into the air, but the pressure from above caused its wings to stop flapping. Its body trembled uncontrollably. Before its eyes lay a crystal-clear iceberg, towering thousands of meters high and covering vast areas—its peak and end invisible. The relentless cold stirred a fear buried deep within it for countless years. Cold was the thing it feared the most after living for tens of millions of years. That imperial aura of invincibility weakened under the assault of the cold. Its golden feathers, brighter than the scorching sun, curled up as much as possible, making it resemble a golden mountain from afar. Suddenly, a surge of powerful energy awakened the Tianpeng Bird, which had been curled up to resist the cold. That invincible aura burst forth again. Boom… A thunderous sound erupted behind the Tianpeng Bird as the ninth-tier spiritual sword in Windy Peak’s hand firmly pierced into the feathers at the back of its head. The man and the sword seemed embedded in the back of the Tianpeng Bird’s head, motionless and as steady as a rock. Like a strand of hair, it gave the mighty Tianpeng Bird an air of innocence. It also resembled a mark—a sign that this golden mountain now had a master. Wild energy surged from the blade, creating violent winds and waves. After the loud crashes, the sound was like the roaring waves of the sea, with a dull, rapid roar enveloping the entire world. At the center of the spiritual array, watching this astonishing spectacle caused by the sword strike, Lin Dong’s heart was also in turmoil.

A peak-level warrior and a ninth-tier spirit bird—this battle filled him with longing and left him utterly astonished. A cry that pierced the sky erupted as the Tianpeng Bird raised its head, unleashing a gust of wind from its long beak that made the cliffs tremble violently. Its power was even greater than Jiang Kui’s Lion Roar. Lin Dong desperately poured spiritual energy into his ears to barely suppress the impact of that sound. “Elder Feng, the Tianpeng Bird is incredibly strong and has remarkable endurance. Fortunately, the Ice Formation can restrict the space it can move in. We need to fight it in close quarters and attack the gaps in the down on its abdomen!” Yun Lan was much calmer and clearer-headed than Lin Dong. She stepped lightly in midair, moving like an ethereal fairy drifting with the clouds. Feng Yue no longer remained motionless like a nail; no matter how the Tianpeng Bird shook its head, he stayed firmly fixed on its back. With a sudden swing of his right arm, his ninth-tier spirit sword was drawn, its golden blood gleaming enticingly in the early spring sunlight. With rapid kicks, Feng Yue slid swiftly downward. In the blink of an eye, he reached the Tianpeng Bird’s back. Then, tilting his body, he moved across its back as if it were flat ground, quickly reaching its abdomen. His right arm rose silently, and the fierce wind from the sword caused the Tianpeng Bird’s abdomen to convulse repeatedly. Boom… Amidst the loud noise, the Lan Chen Sword, like a nimble blue snake, shot out of Yun Lan’s hand and circled around the Tianpeng Bird’s long beak. Five pale purple pills were attached to the sword, remaining firmly in place no matter how it rotated or flipped. As the Tianpeng Bird let out another long cry, the Lan Chen Sword emitted a blue glow and shot into its beak. Before the beak could close, it quickly exited. It all happened in an instant. If not for the disappearance of the five pills on the sword, one might have thought it was just a visual illusion. With a graceful gesture of her delicate hands, the Lan Chen Sword spun back to Yun Lan, who took out a small porcelain bottle, unscrewed the cap, and casually flicked her hand, attaching five more pills to the sword. Seeing that Lin Dong had regained consciousness and was rushing forward along the safe path of the spiritual formation, waving his Ruyi Stool ready to join the battle, Yun Lan warned, “Lin Dong, find a way to feed it the Spirit-Ending Pills.”

“Does the Spirit-Death Pill work on ninth-tier spirit birds?” Lin Dong stopped and looked at Yun Lan in surprise. He vaguely remembered Yun Lan saying that ninth-tier spirit birds were as powerful as peak warriors. And this Spirit-Death Pill still had a significant effect even on warriors at the ninth level of the Heart-Reversal stage. But against a peak First-Level Mahayana warrior who was just one realm above that, no matter how much they ate of it, it would be no different from candy beans.
“It’s not very effective!” Yun Lan said calmly.
Without hesitation, Lin Dong took out three small porcelain bottles. With a surge of spiritual energy, the three bottles instantly flew toward the Tianpeng Bird.
The fact that it wasn’t very effective meant it still had some effect.
Coincidentally, as soon as the three bottles approached the Tianpeng Bird, it opened its long beak and let out another piercing cry filled with pain and anger. The three bottles then smoothly flew into its mouth.
“If we throw them all in at once…” Yun Lan hesitated.
“A few bottles will easily dissolve the Tianpeng Bird’s stomach into water,” Lin Dong said, his eyebrows raised and a confident smile on his face. For such a huge creature, if its stomach acid couldn’t even dissolve a small porcelain bottle, that would be strange.
“Really?” Yun Lan was still skeptical.
“Of course!” Lin Dong’s smile grew even brighter. He had finally found something Yun Lan didn’t know.
Seeing Lin Dong’s certainty, Yun Lan believed him. After retrieving the Lan Chen Sword, she quickly took out five more small porcelain bottles and placed them on the sword hilt.
“Give me a few more,” Lin Dong said. After checking the mobile counter and finding none left, he asked Yun Lan for more.
Soon, after keeping three bottles for emergencies, over twenty bottles of Spirit-Death Pill were thrown into the Tianpeng Bird’s mouth.
With thirty pills per bottle, those twenty-some bottles meant over six hundred pills in total. Although the effect of a single pill wasn’t great, the combined power of over six hundred pills would surely be formidable.
Soon, the effect of the pills was evident. At the center of the spiritual array, with each strike from Feng Yue, the Tianpeng Bird, which had only suffered minor superficial injuries at first, gradually suffered deeper wounds. The golden blood splashing out traveled farther and farther. Undoubtedly, the Spirit-Death Pill played a crucial role. Otherwise, given the Tianpeng Bird’s immense spiritual energy, not to mention Feng Yue, even if Old Ding came, it would take at least three to five hours of relentless attacks to slow down its spiritual energy to such an extent.
Not far away, Lin Dong and Yun Lan no longer intended to intervene. They could see that the Tianpeng Bird was doomed to fall into Feng Yue’s grasp.

In just about half an hour, the Tianpeng Bird’s spiritual energy was completely exhausted, leaving its ability to resist limited only to the strength of its physical body. If Lin Dong had used the Wish-Bearing Stool, such physical strength might have only resulted in minor injuries. But against Feng Yue, a peak warrior wielding a ninth-grade spiritual sword, every strike pierced straight through its flesh. The abdomen was the Tianpeng Bird’s weakest point, where its inner core was located. With rapid blood loss and the constant impact of the sword’s energy, its massive body quickly slowed down. Eventually, even its wings, as if burdened by tons of weight, struggled to flap even slightly.