Wang Yu
Chapter 243: Extreme Cold
Han Li did not enter the pavilion but came to the bow of the spirit boat, standing alone with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance. His clothes billowed in the wind, rustling.
All that could be seen above the sea was a vast expanse of white, with thick ice everywhere. Occasionally, some black reefs or huge icebergs covered with white frost could be seen sparsely emerging from the sea.
In the far reaches of the sea, the misty waves were vast and the fog pervasive, making the view very blurred.
The entire sky above the sea rarely saw any birds. Both the sea and the sky appeared very quiet, giving a person a sense of emptiness and desolation, as if life was frozen in this ice-bound world, with not many living things.
In fact, Han Li could sense through his spiritual sense that in the higher clouds in the sky and in the depths of the seabed, and even in some icebergs, there were many powerful demon beasts hiding, but they did not dare to act rashly because they were afraid of the powerful auras of the three of them.
Thinking of the previous thunderstorm ocean, Han Li couldn't help but feel a bit of emotion about the diverse geographical environment of this Northern Cold Immortal Territory.
After all, neither the human world nor the spirit world seemed to have such scenes before. He believed that there were many unseen, even unimaginable scenes in the places he had not been to.
At this thought, he did not know why, but his mind suddenly flashed back to the short but rather warm time he spent with Nangong Wan, flying together before he secretly ascended to the Spirit World.
This memory had always been sealed in the deepest part of his heart, a place he was unwilling to touch.
This was also the reason why he had mostly traveled alone since embarking on the path of cultivation, unwilling to easily get involved in matters of love.
After all, the separation of life and death from loved ones was something he was unwilling to face, even for him now.
"If Wan'er could be by my side, soaring through the sky together, traveling through the eight wildernesses and four seas, enjoying this Northern Cold wonder, how carefree it would be."
"I don't know how Wan'er is now. The resources I left her should be enough for her to cultivate to the Great Ascension stage, right?"
"I don't know if there will be a day to reunite in this life..."
Han Li murmured to himself a few times in a daze, then silently turned around, walked into the first floor of the pavilion, and closed the door.
...
About half a year later.
In the southern part of the Frozen Sea, a vast expanse of misty waters was floating with a white island less than a thousand feet in size.
The island was round and had a clear outline, looking like a huge white porcelain plate. Obviously, it was not naturally created but artificially opened up.
On the island, there were also tall and short white stone pillars everywhere. Some of them were engraved with patterns, and some were inlaid with pieces of spirit stones full of spiritual power.
The whole island looked like a huge white magic formation.
Just then, a golden-patterned spirit boat flew from afar above the sea near the island. After hovering in the air for a moment, it suddenly disappeared with a flash of golden light.
In the high air, three figures flew down and landed on the island.
These three were Han Li and others, who had been rushing all the way to Yanling Island. However, at this time, their cultivation aura was not overly concealed, and their appearances and figures had been greatly changed.
Lin Jiu transformed into a burly man with a face full of beards, Lin Shiqi transformed into a refined scholar in a blue shirt and a tall crown, and Han Li transformed into a fair-skinned young man.
The three landed on a small square on the edge of the island. Seeing a large hall built of white stone in front, they walked towards the hall together.
The furnishings inside the hall were extremely simple. There was only a circular stone platform in the center of the hall, on which sat a white-bearded old man cross-legged.
Han Li glanced over and was surprised to find that this person was a True Immortal Realm Early Stage cultivator, and the clothes he was wearing were actually the style of an inner sect elder of the Candle Dragon Dao.
"You have come here to go to the Underworld Cold Continent?" The white-bearded old man glanced at the three and asked without getting up.
"Exactly." Lin Jiu, who had transformed into a burly man, said unhurriedly.
"Seven Immortal Essence Stones per person." The old man said expressionlessly.
After the three paid their fees, the white-bearded old man straightened up, walked down from the circular stone platform, and led the three out through a stone gate behind the hall.
After leaving the hall, the three followed the white-bearded old man along a road a dozen feet wide towards the center of the island.
Han Li looked down at the road under his feet and found that the road was slightly lower than the ground on both sides by a few inches. It looked like a groove embedded in the earth, with a group of runes engraved every few feet.
The closer to the center of the island, the denser such roads became, crisscrossing each other, extremely complex, and appearing somewhat strange and mysterious.
"Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu, if I am not mistaken, the clothes worn by this old man are those of a Candle Dragon Dao cultivator?" Han Li looked at the back of the old man in front of him and asked through voice transmission.
"That's right. This person should be an inner sect elder of the Candle Dragon Dao." Lin Jiu replied.
"Could it be that the teleportation array between the Ancient Cloud Continent and the Underworld Cold Continent was built by the Candle Dragon Dao?" Han Li asked with some doubt.
"That's not the case. The teleportation array built and controlled by the Candle Dragon Dao is only at Yanling Island. The teleportation array near the Underworld Cold Continent's Ice Pole Island is controlled by the Northern Cold Immortal Palace." Lin Jiu replied.
"I see, thank you for your guidance." Han Li said through voice transmission.
While the two were talking, they had already arrived with the white-bearded old man at a flat ground near the center of the island.
Han Li glanced over and saw from afar that there was a circular magic formation surrounded by dozens of stone pillars on the open space in front. Each pillar required at least seven or eight people to surround it, and it looked magnificent.
There were seven or eight people on the square outside the magic formation, some standing with their hands behind their backs, some sitting cross-legged on the ground, waiting there.
"Elder Fu, these three are also going to Ice Pole Island. There are enough people, and the magic formation can be opened." The white-bearded old man led the three to the square and said to a middle-aged man on the square who was also wearing the clothes of a Candle Dragon Dao elder.
"You can enter the magic formation." The middle-aged man nodded and turned to say to those people.
Those people had been waiting for a long time. Hearing this, they immediately showed joy and walked into the teleportation formation.
Seeing this, Han Li and the others immediately followed in.
After all ten people were in place, the white-bearded old man nodded to the middle-aged man to signal, and the two came to a circular stone platform on each side of the magic formation and sat down cross-legged.
As a chanting sound came from the mouths of the two, the white stone pillars around the formation lit up one after another, and the spirit stones inlaid on them and the engraved patterns all emitted a dazzling light.
Soon, the light spread, and even the roads on the ground lit up, and the other stone pillars standing in various places on the island also lit up with brilliance. The entire island formation was in operation.
"Buzz buzz buzz"
A buzzing sound came out, and the entire white island trembled violently.
Han Li was in the formation, looked up at the sky, and saw that the clouds in the high sky were surging wildly, gradually forming a deep and immeasurable huge cavity, from which bursts of palpitating spatial fluctuations came out.
The fog surrounding the island was also affected by this force, retreating towards the surroundings of the island, accumulating into a ring-shaped high wall of fog.
Just then, there was a loud bang.
The entire island suddenly shook, and a five-colored brilliance came out from the magic formation in the center of the island, turning into a huge colored beam of light, directly into the sky.
The figures of Han Li and others were swallowed into the colored light and disappeared instantly.
After a moment, the magic formation gradually stopped, but the clouds disturbed by the magic formation in the high sky and the surrounding fog wall remained for a long time.
...
In the northern part of the Frozen Sea, dark clouds hung low in the sky, and the wind howled.
Snowflakes were flying all over the sky, covering the entire sea.
On the somewhat dim sea, the frozen seawater and blizzards, under the blowing of the strong wind, formed huge ice cones over a hundred feet high, pointing obliquely to the sky, densely packed like a forest.
In this forest of ice cones, there stood an elliptical island shrouded in a blue light curtain.
Just then, there was a sound of muffled thunder rolling from the high sky, and the entire elliptical island shook violently, lighting up a five-colored brilliance. On a magic formation in the center of the island, more than a dozen figures appeared.
They were Han Li and others who had been teleported here from Yanling Island.
At this time, because of the impact of the ultra-long-distance teleportation, everyone's faces looked somewhat pale, and some of the weaker cultivators even felt that their souls were shaking and unstable.
Han Li only felt a little stuffiness in his chest, and had no other feelings.
He glanced around and saw that the surrounding environment was similar to Yanling Island, with the same magic formation layout, but the original white stone pillars had all been replaced by crystal ice pillars.
"The teleportation has been completed, why don't you leave quickly, what are you waiting for?"
Just then, a cold voice came from outside the formation.
Han Li moved his eyes and saw that there was standing a thin old woman wearing a white cloak and disheveled white hair, holding a white dragon wood cane, staring at everyone with a cold face.
Everyone quickly walked down from the center of the magic formation and, under the guidance of the old woman, hurried towards the northern edge of the island.
There, stood a white ice crystal hall, with a wide desk inside, behind which sat a kind-faced round-faced old man.
Compared to the old woman's cold face, this old man's face was full of smiles.
"Welcome everyone to the Underworld Cold Continent, but before leaving Ice Pole Island, please pay three Immortal Essence Stones per person." The old man spread his palms and said with a smile.
Han Li was stunned and turned to Lin Jiu for an inquiring look.
Seeing this, Lin Jiu nodded and explained:
"This is the usual practice of Candle Dragon Dao and Northern Cold Immortal Palace, and the same goes for returning to Yanling Island later."
Han Li nodded silently, but couldn't help but feel a little speechless.
A one-way trip requires ten Immortal Essence Stones, which means twenty for a round trip. A long trip in the Impermance Alliance to do a not-low-level task, I am afraid that it is not worth this round-trip travel expense.
If it were not compared with the high reward of this task, this expense would not be anything. Otherwise, with his means, he would never have handed over the travel expenses so easily.
After everyone handed over the Immortal Essence Stones, they came to the door on the other side of the hall.
The round-faced old man did not get up, but just raised his palm and wiped it towards the hall door in the void.
A blue light flashed at the hall door, and a one-person-high circular passage was suddenly opened on the light curtain shrouded outside.
"I wish you all a smooth journey." The old man said with a smile.
Hearing this, Lin Jiu took the lead and stepped out of the hall door, came to the square outside the hall, and Han Li and the other two also followed closely behind and stepped out.
After the three, the other seven people who had come here also came out one after another.
As soon as he stepped out of the hall, snowflakes immediately poured down on his head, accompanied by a palpitating force of extreme cold. Even though Han Li had been prepared for this, he still couldn't help but frown slightly.
Looking at the white world in front of him, his thoughts could not help but drift back to the scene when he first ascended to the Northern Cold Immortal Territory. At that time, he also stepped into the wind and snow like this, but the force of extreme cold in his memory seemed to be even better.
At that time, he was full of longing, and the mood of first stepping into the immortal journey is still fresh in his memory, but the various encounters afterwards still cannot be remembered.
This immortal path is vast and full of dangers, and he doesn't know when he will be able to show his true name in a legitimate way.
At this thought, he clenched the fists hanging on both sides.