Chapter 495: Snow Glacier Mountains
The travel through the Magical Forest was very slow, but there were no mishaps. No beasts tried to attack them, and every Saint ranked beast they came across chose to back away, not show off their power. Truthfully only suicidal beasts would have attacked, but not all beasts were very intelligent. Hui Yue had indeed feared that there would be a few beasts who would attack humans with complete disregard to their personal strength being quite inferior.
They did not return to the village as Hui Yue had already said goodbye, and since Sha Yun's sisters were out roaming the world, she had no reason to return either.
Instead, they moved towards a certain mountain range. They were headed for the Snow Glacier mountain range where the Frozen Palace was. Back when the Frozen General met up with Hui Yue in Muchuan City he had made sure to tell the younger man where he could find him, should their endeavor succeed.
"You don't think we’re walking into a trap?" Wang Ju Long asked with a long sigh as they finally left behind the dense forest. Entering a large area where there were no trees, only small bushes and wilted grass that could be seen with animals of various kinds. Some were in herds while others were on their own. Herbivores and carnivores were walking on this vast plane, and in the distance, Hui Yue could see the mountains rising up forming the highlands. These precipitous mountains were filled with snow that never melted and continual snowstorms. Those snowy peaks were precisely their destination: the Snow Glacier mountain range.
"I don't know." Hui Yue answered honestly. "It’s odd that the Frozen General knows about the Formation of Life, and even more odd that he has not gone for it himself." He admitted. "But even so, we made a deal with him. If we managed to succeed, I said I would share the benefits with him. We already benefitted greatly from the Formation of Life and the fiery realm so if it is an ambush, then so be it. Even if it is an ambush, I think we will be fine. Also, do not forget about Huli. Although I am unaware of how strong she truly is, I know she cannot be weak."
As Hui Yue spoke the fox woman on the side nodded her head. Although she did not speak much, she still opened her mouth this time to agree with Hui Yue. "If anyone wishes to kill master, I will make sure that person is the one to die!"
There was a sinister gleam in her eyes, and her aura exploded forth scaring all the beasts in the surrounding area. Her aura was so overpowering that it even caused Jo to stumble backwards in fright. Because of the pressure, Sha Yun, who was close to the fox-woman, was not much better off and even Hui Yue, who was a God, felt his heart tighten.
"Huli!" He called out. Hearing him, she instantly realized her mistake and withdrew her terrifying aura. This caused a collective sigh of relief to escape everyone's lips. Huli and her unknown strength were simply frightening.
Their travel through the highlands was as simple as their trip through the forest. Everywhere they went, the beasts would get out of their way voluntarily. As soon as they felt the imposing aura from this group, not even the Saints of the area felt like challenging this group of travelers. It was clear that their destination was not in these highlands and thus there was no reason to fight against these outsiders.
Their speed was not slow, nor was it incredibly swift but it was enough for them to pass through the highlands in a day before they reached the snowy mountains. Arriving at the foot of these snowy mountains, their faces were all filled with mixed emotions.
They were unsure if they were walking into a trap set up by An He, but they also knew Hui Yue's personality well enough to know that he was not going to go back on a promise he had made.
Standing still for a brief moment, it was clear that what Hui Yue was worried about was not himself, but those who followed behind him. With a glance back at his friends, and seeing their trusting eyes gazing at him, he grit his teeth and stepped onto the snow covered mountains.
Seeing that Hui Yue was feeling uncomfortable, Sha Yun quickly went to his side and took his hand into her own while Wang Ju Long did the same on the other side. Behind them, Huli, who was left behind, could only pout. She had acted just a little too slow and had not been able to conquer one of Hui Yue's hands. Instead, her body suddenly transformed into that of a small black fox, and in a streak of light, this fox disappeared before it reappeared on Hui Yue's shoulder where she comfortably wrapped herself around his neck.
Feeling the love and affection from these three women, Hui Yue's heart was much calmer. He was certain that they would be able to complete their task at hand. He also kept thinking that it was not likely that they would walk into an ambush. If An He truly wished to kill them, then he would have done so already.
'Don't be too sure about that.' Lan Feng suddenly said. 'An He definitely wants to gain access to the Formation of Life and to do so he would need the assistance of someone else. Since he could not reenter the red realm like my old man said, I am sure that An He was very annoyed at being tricked by the Divine Beast Gods.'
'Let’s say he wants to become the real Crowned Sovereign of this world. To do that he would send someone into the red realm to get the formation and then wait for them to return to this world. Then it is as simple as killing a chicken and picking up the formation he has wanted all this time. Stealing the formation from us is probably considered an easy task to An He. Were it not for Huli, then that really might be the case.'
Lan Feng sounded certain in his words, and Hui Yue was rather surprised to hear such calculations from the bird in question. When it came to An He, he truly gave it his all to figure out how the other was thinking and what could happen. Having been tricked once by this expert, he would not be tricked again.
'Of course, this is all just guessing.' Lan Feng said with a shrug, 'I don't think that he is actually behind this since he would have been able to get a hold of the Formation of Life one way or another if he truly wanted it. Just look at those Generals of his. They managed to become Gods, but none of them took the formation with them when they left the red realm. Either they did not have the ability or An He did not ask for them to do it.'
'And if he really were to want the formation, instead of having someone like you who has a strong enmity towards him, it would be much better to find someone loyal to him. It would be better to find someone who would give it up as a gift.'
Lan Feng kept contemplating about whether or not he thought An He was behind this whole incident and somehow it made Hui Yue feel much more relaxed. Listening to the blabbering bird was calming for him.
Sensing that Hui Yue was feeling better, Wang Ju Long instantly took her hand back as her face was beet red. She turned back to walk together with Jo and Lao. Although she loved Hui Yue dearly, she was often embarrassed by displays of affection. She also had a great relationship with the two children. She truly felt as if they were her own, and therefore, she often traveled by their side taking care of them and ensuring that they had what they needed.
Seeing that Wang Ju Long retreated, Huli instantly took the chance and transformed back after which she hooked her arms around Hui Yue's and hung on for dear life. Sha Yun on the other side was clearly annoyed by this. Therefore she too inched closer and closer to Hui Yue, resulting in the poor man being pressed against the two women.
"That's enough you two." He said with a bated voice as he shook his head. Their constant rivalry was a source of trouble for him, but he was fortunate that both somewhat listened to his commands.
The Snow Glacier mountain range was tremendously big. The party walked for a full nine days before they finally saw the outline of the Frozen Palace in the distance. Seeing the palace waves of worry once more resonated in Hui Yue's body, but he steeled his resolve and sped up. They rushed closer and closer towards the large palace built in the middle of nowhere.
On their way, they met many guards, but these guards behaved as if they did not see Hui Yue and his friends. Hui Yue, in turn, also acted as if he had not seen them. There was no Crusaders present, and the only guards he could see were the Frozen Brigade. These were experts and young geniuses who no longer breathed, but their eyes were filled with a cold iciness that seemed endlessly deep.
"An Ice Snake!" Huli praised the moment she saw the frozen guards, and Hui Yue, who could not completely remember what kind of magical beast the Frozen General was, just nodded his head. As far as he remembered, the Frozen General was some sort of an Ice Snake with poison that eroded the bodies of the young geniuses he took a liking to.
Hui Yue had never before seen the Frozen Brigade. He had thought that it was a small group of experts that the Frozen General had collected throughout the years, yet the further they went into Zhong Fai’s territory the more Frozen Brigade members appeared. By the time they had reached over a thousand, Hui Yue had stopped counting.
Finally, they reached the main door of the Frozen Palace and as they did they gently knocked on the door to make their presence known. After knocking, it slowly opened and revealed that nothing was inside apart from a hallway made from ice. The beauty of this place was impossible to describe. Everything shone like a thousand diamonds, but it was all created from ice.
Hui Yue and the entire team, including Huli, were completely flabbergasted. They had never imagined that ice could be so beautiful.
"Please, follow the corridor in front of you, and it will take you to the throne room. I am sorry that I am incapable of coming to greet you right now."The Frozen General's voice sounded out, and Hui Yue was on high alert. The longer he was here, the more uneasy he felt about this whole situation, but he could do nothing about it now. Instead, he clenched his hand and stepped in front of all his friends. He would protect them against whatever might come their way.
With steady steps, they all moved towards the throne room. None of them were relaxed, and they all feared an attack, yet so far nothing had happened. As they moved further and further into the palace, they came across more frozen brigade members and a few maids here and there. Even the maids had lost their lives to the frozen poison controlled by Zhong Fai and were mindless zombies.
Finally, they reached the throne room. A massive set of doors were closed, and as soon as they reached it they knocked gently. The doors swung open and displayed a rather startling sight within.