Chapter 39: The Ice-Cave Gorge

The twelve members of Cangyang Valley broke free from the swarm of Flying Ice Bees and continued flying for over a month.
The gale winds appeared more frequently, with intense gusts everywhere, leaving no place to hide. They could only rely on their own cultivation to withstand the incoming winds.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew toward them, possessing the power of the late stage of Diversion. Li Heng’s eyes flashed as he swung his Peaceful Sky Axe, shattering the hundred-meter-long axe-shaped wind gust.
Immediately afterward, another sword-shaped wind gust rushed over like lightning.
Without time to recover, Li Heng swung his Peaceful Sky Axe again to disperse the wind. After blocking two consecutive gusts, his energy became disrupted. He realized his vital energy was running low, and blocking just one more gust might injure him.
Without hesitation, he took out a He’e Dan and swallowed it quickly, restoring his vital energy.
Li Heng became vigorous and fierce once more, but his eyes were filled with worry. Each elder in the early stage of Fusion in Cangyang Valley was allocated a hundred He’e Dans.
Even for a powerful place like Cangyang Valley, the supply of such low-grade spiritual herbs was limited. Normally, obtaining just two He’e Dans would require a great deal of effort—especially since it was related to the Eight Directions Sword.
Li Heng had already consumed two He’e Dans, and it seemed there were still many left. But they were now in the middle of the gale zone, where winds kept coming from all directions. His vital energy was depleting rapidly, meaning he would need to use more He’e Dans. Considering they still had to pass through the spatial rift area, he doubted he could reach the South Pole.
Yet deep down, he still held out hope—thanks to the Dimension Ball. He believed Qu Yi would intervene to save him at the last moment.
The other eleven members of Cangyang Valley were in a similar situation. With no way to avoid the gales, they could only fight back, causing their vital energy to deplete quickly. After swallowing He’e Dans, they too were worried about what lay ahead.
Whoosh!
As the gales rushed in, the twelve members of Cangyang Valley quickly cast spells to shatter the winds, then continued onward toward the South Pole with grim determination.
……
Inside the Dimension Ball, the Artifact God approached the Panfire Cauldron, watching as Qu Yi controlled the true fire to melt the materials for crafting. At that moment, a piece of Silver Deep Jade was slowly melting inside the cauldron under the heat of the Samadhi True Fire.

It had been over a year since Qu Yi devoted himself to using the furnace to get familiar with various basic materials for alchemy. Now, his control over the Samadhi True Fire had reached a masterful level, and he handled the use of true fire with complete ease. Inside the furnace, the Silver Azure Jade was melting and solidifying. Qu Yi had already understood its properties and deduced that it could integrate thousands of different arrays, making it one of the higher-quality materials among the basics. Seeing that Qu Yi had stopped the Samadhi True Fire and retrieved the Silver Azure Jade, the Artifact God spoke up, “Qu Yi, it seems the people in Cangyang Valley are in great trouble right now.” Qu Yi was startled and immediately asked, “What happened? Is someone dead?” Due to the Artifact God’s supervision, Qu Yi hadn’t paid attention to anything outside the Realm Ball for four months, focusing instead on scanning the One-Element Dao Array and getting familiar with alchemy materials. The Artifact God fluttered its eyes and suddenly shouted, “When did I say someone died? You say it, you say it!” Qu Yi opened his mouth in surprise, realizing he had annoyed this mature yet ‘infantile’ being again. He quickly apologized, “Artifact God, don’t shout so loud—it’s bad for your throat. By the way, have the people in Cangyang Valley encountered any problems?” The Artifact God chewed on its lips before regaining its calm expression and saying, “The gale winds are very strong. Right now, the people in Cangyang Valley are consuming their vital energy rapidly. They’ll likely need to take a He’e Dan in just five days. If that continues, they probably won’t be able to reach the South Pole.” Upon hearing this, Qu Yi understood what the Artifact God meant—the Gale Wind Region and the Spatial Rift Region were becoming increasingly dangerous, and it seemed the people in Cangyang Valley really wouldn’t be able to make it to the South Pole. “Artifact God, how are the other nine sects doing now?” Qu Yi suddenly asked, rolling his eyes. The Artifact God controlled one person from each of the other nine sects and could communicate with them through their souls, so it immediately knew the situation in each sect. “The people in those nine sects are in a similar situation to those in Cangyang Valley. The pills they use to replenish their vital energy probably won’t last long either. Moreover, people from the Hundred Beasts Peak, Qingyun Sect, Yingtian Sect, Biyan Peak, and Lanyang Palace have all died,” the Artifact God said calmly. Hearing this, Qu Yi was even more shocked. The Gale Wind Region, with gales only as strong as those at the late stage of Divination, had already killed these strong warriors at the early stage of Fusion—this showed just how fierce the Gale Wind Region really was.

“Spirit of Vessels, I have an idea. Since the people from these ten sects can’t make it to the South Pole relying solely on the pills they carry, let’s arrange for them to meet in pairs and have one sect fight the other. That way, the pills of the defeated sect will belong to the winner, and they should be able to reach the South Pole without problems.” Qu Yi said with a smile.

“Haha, Qu Yi, you’ve become smarter now—thinking along with me again. This is indeed the only way for us to reach the South Pole.” The Spirit of Vessels laughed joyfully.

Soon, the Spirit of Vessels explained the relationships between the ten sects, the strength of their members, and their locations on the Ice Continent.

“The Taiyuan Gate is the strongest among the ten cultivation factions and leads the four immortal cultivation sects. The Jinyang Sect is the leader of the three demon cultivation sects. The Hundred Beasts Peak is the most powerful among the demon cultivators. Among the ten elders from the Xianyue Cliff and Jiugong Island sects, five are in the middle stage of fusion and five in the early stage—this is also very strong. Near the Cangyang Valley, there are two sects: the Jinyang Sect and the Lanyang Palace. It seems we can only fight it out against the Lanyang Palace.” Qu Yi murmured to himself, analyzing the situation of the ten sects.

The Spirit of Vessels clapped its hands a few times and said, “Qu Yi, let’s go with that. I’ll go tell Ronghuo of the Lanyang Palace right now and suggest that he advise Rongju, the leader of the Lanyang Palace, to seize the pills from other sects. I’ll also ask Li Heng to suggest doing the same, to provoke these two sects into fighting each other.”

Qu Yi nodded.

Immediately, the Spirit of Vessels used soul communication to inform Ronghuo and Li Heng to come up with strategies as the situation arose.

As for the other eight sects, the Spirit of Vessels quickly gave orders to its agents: the Taiyuan Gate and the Hundred Beasts Peak, Xianyue Cliff and Qingyun Sect, Jinyang Sect and Yingtian Sect, Jiugong Island and Biyan Peak—these eight sects were to form pairs and engage in a fierce battle.

……

Seeing a gust of wind approaching, and noting that no other winds were forming around him, Li Heng quickly dodged by flashing away.

Suddenly, Li Heng sent a message through his spiritual sense to Li Zhen: “Senior brother, at our rate of consuming vital energy, we’ll run out of He’e Pills soon. I think we should lay an ambush on other sects. As long as we can seize their pills, we’ll have enough to support us all the way to the South Pole.”

The four swords in front of Li Zhen cut through the gust of wind before he replied, “Junior brother, that’s a good idea. But it’s hard to say whether we’ll encounter other sects in this wind zone. Moreover, if we run into the people from the Taiyuan Gate, we’ll suffer heavy losses.”

Obviously, Li Zhen also had such thoughts, but he still had some reservations.
“Senior brother, the Taiyuan Sect surely won’t let us meet. They set off from Xingguang Island, while we set off from Chenbo Island. If we reach the Ice Continent, there will be two sects between us. If my guess is right, the sects on either side of us are the Jinyang Sect and the Lanyang Palace. As long as we fly to the right, we’ll definitely encounter the Lanyang Palace. I believe that with a proper plan, we can kill them all and seize their pills,” Li Heng explained in detail.
Upon hearing this, a glint appeared in Li Heng’s eyes, and he had already made up his mind.
Soon, the twelve members of Cangyang Valley dug a cave dwelling beneath a towering pyramid-shaped ice peak and gathered together.
“Elder Li Heng suggested that we launch a ambush on the Lanyang Palace to steal their pills. I think this plan is feasible, but I still want to hear everyone’s opinions to see if there’s a better way,” Li Zhen said directly, revealing the situation.
Li Zhen’s words made it clear that he had already made up his decision.
Apart from Li Heng, the other ten also understood Li Zhen’s intention and thought carefully. If they wanted everyone to reach the South Pole safely, this was indeed the only option. Without seizing more pills, it would be lucky if half of the twelve members of Cangyang Valley could survive their journey to the South Pole.
“Captain Li Zhen, I also think this method works. Anyway, when we reach the South Pole, our ten sects will have to fight to the death. So, starting the battle early not only allows us to get the pills but also reduces our number of opponents,” Yang Di said in support.
The other nine also agreed.
Then Li Zhen laughed and said, “Good, since everyone agrees, let’s plan in detail how to launch an ambush on the Lanyang Palace.”
At that moment, Yang Di suddenly remembered something and said immediately, “Captain Li Zhen, I’ve remembered. In this Gale Region, there seems to be an underground canyon. When my disciples and I came here, we sensed that there were monstrous beasts in that canyon, and it’s extremely long, far beyond the reach of my spiritual perception.”
Upon hearing this, Li Zhen’s eyes shone. This information undoubtedly needed to be made good use of. It was also a blessing for Cangyang Valley. If not for Yang Di, who went to Tianhua Star to hunt the murderer after his son was killed and stayed on Baiyin Star due to the emergence of the Eight Directions Sword, thus arriving early at the Ice Continent to explore the route, this underground canyon in the Gale Region would not have been utilized properly.

“Since that’s the case, let’s rush to the Ice Caverns at full speed. I believe once we’re inside, there should be no strong winds, and we can use teleportation to reach the area ahead of Blue Sun Palace and set up an ambush.” The eleven members of Cangyang Valley were overjoyed, with smiles on everyone’s face.
Of course, the Instrument God inside the Dimensional Sphere also learned about these Ice Caverns. After some planning, it passed on the information to the informants within the four sects—Bai Shou Peak, Qing Yun Sect, Ying Tian School, and Bi Yan Peak—asking them to set up ambushes against the other four sects, just like Cangyang Valley had done.