Chapter 36: The Storm Zone

On the Ice Continent, traveling from north to south, one must pass through three extremely harsh regions. First is the Storm Zone, where violent cold winds blow constantly, and hurricanes often arise, possessing the power of early Divination Stage cultivators. Next is the Gale Zone, where wind blades that seem tangible blow every day, each one deadly; some of the strong gales even have the power of late Divination Stage cultivators. Further south, near the South Pole, lies the Spatial Rift Zone, where violent storms sometimes create unexpected spatial rifts, making it difficult to defend against.

Yang Di brought two cultivators at the late Divination Stage and ten at the early Divination Stage. In the Storm Zone, seven of those at the early Divination Stage died, and in the Gale Zone, one at the late Divination Stage and one at the early Divination Stage perished. As for the Spatial Rift Zone, Yang Di did not dare to explore it and, along with two of his subordinates, returned to the northern end of the Ice Continent.

Although at a heavy cost, Yang Di had managed to figure out some patterns in the Storm Zone and the Gale Zone, which could provide valuable insights for the eleven people sent by Cangyang Valley.

After hearing Yang Di’s explanation, Li Zhen and the other eleven people looked grave. They had not expected the Ice Continent to be so dangerous. The Storm Zone and the Gale Zone were still manageable with their current cultivation levels, but the final Spatial Rift Zone posed a significant challenge.

“Everyone, Elder Yang Di has explained everything clearly. We must keep this in mind and stay fully focused in our upcoming actions. Given the extreme danger of the Ice Continent, my friend Yang Di, your two subordinates at the Divination Stage need not go. Send them back to Liupan Star directly,” Li Zhen said after some thought before making arrangements.

“Good,” Yang Di replied happily.

The two people brought by Yang Di immediately knelt down and thanked him repeatedly upon hearing Li Zhen’s words. Clearly, they were overjoyed at not having to face such harsh conditions again.

Soon, they took out wind-sailing boats and flew away quickly.

Now, with Yang Di, a cultivator at the mid-Combination Stage, joining Cangyang Valley, the group had twelve members—a fact unknown to the other nine factions.

…

The twelve members of Cangyang Valley flew southward toward the Ice Continent. Soon, they arrived at the Storm Zone, where snowflakes filled the air, ice shards flew around, and fierce winds howled, creating a bitterly cold environment. The ground was entirely covered in snow, with snowflakes and ice particles rising and falling in chaos.

“Everyone, we’ve now entered the storm zone. Although neither storms nor hurricanes can harm us, we still need to stay alert and prevent these hurricanes from attacking us and wasting our vital energy for defense,” Li Zhen said as he flew ahead, instantly sending his message to everyone through his spiritual awareness.

Yang Di had already been to the storm zone and figured out the pattern behind the hurricanes there—nine brief howls followed by one deeper one. If nine identical short howls sounded in succession, the tenth sound would definitely be the rumbling noise caused by the formation of a hurricane. Naturally, Yang Di shared this pattern, which he had learned at the cost of his subordinates’ lives, with Li Zhen, so all twelve people from Cangyang Valley knew about it.

Undoubtedly, Qu Yi also learned about the pattern of hurricanes forming in this storm zone through Li Heng. Inside the Cunjie Ball, in Qu Yi’s activity space, he and the Artifact God sat by the lake, smiling at each other.

“Artifact God, the One Element Dao—I think I’m almost done scanning it. I guess you’ll teach me the Two Element Dao soon, right?” Qu Yi said with a smile.

The One Element Dao formation involved using just one type of energy from the five elements; it was the most basic type of formation. The Artifact God shared all his research on formations with Qu Yi, who spent over a decade scanning continuously before completing the process.

“Why rush? I can’t run away from here. Are you worried I won’t teach you?” the Artifact God asked, pouting slightly in dissatisfaction.

Although the Artifact God could move freely inside the Cunjie Ball, he was confined to it and couldn’t leave.

Qu Yi smiled awkwardly and suddenly asked, “Artifact God, have the forces of the other nine sects entered the storm zone yet?”

The Artifact God nodded and asked curiously, “Why do you ask? Those ten sects are heading to Antarctica. It won’t take them less than two years to get there. Stop worrying and focus on scanning the formations and getting familiar with the materials.”

Qu Yi chuckled and immediately defended himself, “Artifact God, you misunderstand. I’m just trying to remind you not to let those ten sects come into contact too early. It’s better if they meet only after arriving in Antarctica. That way, they’ll fight fiercely, and I can take advantage of the situation to seize the Eight Directions Sword.”

Although the ten sects set off from ten distant locations at the northern end of the Ice Continent, within the storms, they might deviate from their original routes and end up meeting. If two sects mixed together, the fighting would start earlier, causing damage to both sides.

Qu Yi certainly didn’t want any of the people from the ten sects to get hurt before the Eight Directions Sword appeared. He hoped that all of them would gather at the South Pole and then engage in a simultaneous battle. With over a hundred people fighting at once, it would be perfect for Qu Yi to take advantage of the chaos.

The Artifact God heard Qu Yi’s words and giggled foolishly, “Qu Yi, I find you becoming more and more cunning these days, but your mind has indeed become much sharper. Alright, I’ll be careful and keep reminding our ten people to adjust their routes so they won’t encounter anything prematurely.”

Qu Yi smiled triumphantly and added, “Artifact God, of course, I’ve also told those slaves the patterns Yang Di discovered, so they can inform their sect members to prevent any accidental injuries among the sects.”

To ensure maximum chaos in this battle among the ten sects once they reached the South Pole, Qu Yi had put in a great deal of effort.

The Artifact God blinked, indicating he understood.

……

The Artifact God followed Qu Yi’s advice and quickly conveyed through soul communication the patterns of the hurricanes that Yang Di had discovered in the storm zone to his slaves.

Naturally, the nine spies from the other nine sects, after putting on a series of performances, passed on Yang Di’s discoveries to the rest of their sect members.

Nine shallow and one deep—everyone from the ten sects now knew.

Upon testing these patterns, the members of all sects found that the patterns of hurricane formation were indeed as described, and their confidence soared. They no longer had to worry about the storm zone.

Meanwhile, in the group from Cangyang Valley, everyone was joyfully discussing as they flew.

“Elder Yang Di has done a great service! It seems only the people of Cangyang Valley won’t be affected by the hurricanes.”

“Yes, if not for Elder Yang Di’s discovery, we would have to constantly be on guard against hurricanes, which would be mentally exhausting. Moreover, being attacked by hurricanes would waste a lot of our vital energy.”

“I can easily imagine that right now, the disciples of the Taiyuan Sect, Jinjiang Sect, and Bai Shou Peak—these three sects known as the best among immortals, demons, and beauties—are surely crying out in pain due to the hurricanes.”

“Hehe!”

“Haha!”……

The people of Cangyang Valley found a topic to imagine and discuss, and they immediately started expressing their opinions enthusiastically.

Of course, aside from Li Heng, none of these twelve people realized that the Artifact God had already informed everyone about Yang Di’s discovery.

Ugh!

Ugh!

……

Ugh!

Nine short howls blew in succession. The twelve members of Cangyang Valley, all smiling, suddenly sped away, moving several miles before turning back to look in the direction they had been in. In the sky, a massive white cloud vortex formed, beneath which a powerful hurricane over a hundred meters wide emerged—its strength comparable to that of the early stage of the Divination Realm. It carved a long, huge fissure across the entire icy land. “Haha, we dodged it easily again.” “A hurricane? No trouble at all.” “This storm zone is like our own backyard; we can stroll around freely.”… The twelve members of Cangyang Valley had once again avoided a powerful hurricane and began to joke carefreely. Although these hurricanes posed no harm to them, they required the use of vital energy for defense, so they didn’t want to confront them head-on. On this Ice Continent, saving even a little vital energy could mean saving one’s life. Naturally, each time they dodged a hurricane, the twelve members of Cangyang Valley felt joy and grew more confident. They flew swiftly through the storm zone without any obstacles. A month passed, and the twelve members of Cangyang Valley suddenly noticed fierce winds raging within the storm zone. Hurricanes seemed to appear everywhere ahead, and their previously reliable “nine shallow, one deep” pattern had completely lost its effectiveness. “Everyone, it seems the signs brought about by the Birth of the Eight-Directional Sword have affected the entire Ice Continent’s environment. We can no longer be careless. Stay focused at all times and watch out for anything around us,” Li Zhen called out solemnly from the front. Yang Di sensed his surroundings with his spiritual awareness, his eyes growing even more worried. He felt that the storm zone might have shrunk, and it was likely that the Gale Zone had moved northward. Soon, everyone in Cangyang Valley would have to face various gales. After all, Yang Di had already been to the Ice Continent once, and this chaotic situation resembled the area where the storm zone met the Gale Zone. “Everyone, be extremely careful. Besides storms, gales might also appear here,” Yang Di added immediately to draw everyone’s attention. At that moment, the people of Cangyang Valley dared not be distracted anymore. They focused intently on everything around them, their vital energy flowing continuously as they prepared to deal with whatever might suddenly arise. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Three short howls passed, and suddenly, three massive colored cloud vortices appeared in the sky, dozens of miles wide, with a huge hurricane over a thousand meters wide forming beneath them. Its strength was equivalent to that of the middle stage of the Divination Realm.