Ice Mystic

The Dangur Desert, outer Gobi.

This place was vast and boundless, comparable in size to the territory of the Taiwu Dynasty, but the environment was far harsher.

It was desolate and uninhabited, without a single blade of grass.

Aside from mercenaries who came here to capture slaves, hardly any human cultivators would be found here.

"So what you're saying is."

"In this story arc of the Dangur Desert, almost all the early-stage factions will participate, including the Taiwu Imperial City, the Yunxiao Sect, and the Snake-People Tribe's Medusa?"

Clad in linen clothes, Ye Shu asked while staring up at the hem of the floating Danxia's skirt to satisfy his eyes.

"Exactly."

Xiaobai nodded, looking proud. "This is a major climax of the early stages! In order to obtain the Azure Lotus Heavenly Flame, you first get a fragment recording the whereabouts of the strange flame from the Little Fairy Doctor. Then, to upgrade the Burning Mantra, you follow the clues all the way to the Dangur Desert. Eventually, you discover the aura of the strange flame, rush over, and find it's no longer there. After going around in circles and investigating multiple sources, you finally discover that the strange flame was taken by Queen Medusa of the Snake-People Tribe. She wants to use the power of the strange flame to break through to the Dou Zong realm... uh, no, I mean... break through from Soul Formation to Void Return, thereby leading her people out of the harsh desert to a better living environment."

"All in all, she is a very charming female lead!"

"Then you take the opportunity to infiltrate the Snake-People Tribe, secretly searching for the whereabouts of the strange flame. At the same time, people from the Yunxiao Sect and the Taiwu Imperial Family also arrive in the great desert to look for the strange flame."

"But you are one step ahead of everyone else!"

"Finally, you take advantage of..."

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!"

Ye Shu abruptly waved his hand to interrupt her.

"Next, is it that I get burned by the strange flame, suffer agonizing pain, and then get hunted down by the Yunxiao Sect, the Taiwu Imperial Family, and the Snake-People Tribe all at once? And while fleeing all the way, I just happen to run into Feng Mengli, who gets soft-hearted and lets me off the hook, allowing me to successfully escape?"

"How did you know?" Xiaobai looked dumbfounded.

"Why did you have to include so many factions for no reason?"

Ye Shu covered his face with one hand and sighed at the sky. "What a sin. With so many factions, the bare minimum is Soul Formation. How am I supposed to play this as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

"And if I'm not mistaken..."

"The Qingxuan Sect will also send people."

"Why?" Xiaobai looked curious. "The Qingxuan Sect has a strange flame of their own. There's absolutely no need for them to come, right?"

"There really is no need to come."

"But, but."

Ye Shu said but twice in a row.

"The problem is, the system is in the Qingxuan Sect. In its eyes, as long as it takes away any strange flame, my path to immortality will be severed. So it will inevitably send villains over to fight for it."

"Fuck me, how the hell am I supposed to play this?"

"Let's compare the enemy's forces with ours."

Ye Shu sat on a large rock and counted on his fingers. "Enemy forces: Soul Formation, Soul Formation, Soul Formation, Soul Formation. Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul. Fucking Golden Cores aren't even qualified to make an appearance."

"The female leads have all reincarnated, and everyone knows where the Azure Lotus Heavenly Flame is hidden."

"My time advantage is gone too."

"Medusa has definitely already heavily surrounded the strange flame and completely protected it."

"After this battle, the system has definitely been alerted."

"Our forces: Foundation Establishment, and a Void Refinement remnant soul."

"That's it."

Smack.

Ye Shu clapped his hands, then spread them out and looked at Xiaobai.

"Originally, when the cards were hidden, there was still room to bluff. Now everyone has four twos and a pair of jokers in their hands, while I'm holding a pair of threes. How am I supposed to play? I can't play shit!"

"How about we find a big sandstorm, dive into it, fly up to the sky, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun?"

"Uh..."

Xiaobai dangled her snow-white bare little feet on the rock, gripping her skirt and thinking for a long time before looking up. "Why don't we just run away? Let's just forget about the Azure Lotus Heavenly Flame!"

"You don't need that thing anyway."

"No!"

Ye Shu refused with a serious face.

"Why?"

"Setting aside the fact that I won't just give my stuff to others, secondly, the Poison Pill requires three types of strange flames. So I absolutely must get this Azure Lotus Heavenly Flame!"

Ye Shu stood up and strode toward the desert.

"Most importantly..."

He turned back and gave a faint smile to Xiaobai, who was stunned in place. "The thing I love doing most in my life is accomplishing the seemingly impossible."

"Y-you guy..."

Xiaobai sat there, staring blankly at his back.

Every time... it was like this every time.

Even though a dragon's den and a tiger's lair lay ahead, where the slightest carelessness would lead to an unburied death, this guy would always complain verbally, talking about how impossible it was. But the very next second, he would stand up and face it with a smile. And somehow, he actually survived every single time, living better than anyone else.

"What are you thinking about? Aren't you coming?"

Ye Shu, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around and waved at her.

"C-coming!"

Only then did Xiaobai snap out of it, huffing and puffing as she moved her short little legs to catch up.

The wind blew across the Gobi Desert as the young man entered the great wasteland.

With a little girl on his back and a mature beauty floating in front of him.

They walked and walked.

Until an inn gradually materialized in the midst of the desert.

"This is the location of your only helper, Bingxuanzi. He was originally one of the enshrined experts of the Taiwu Dynasty, but he accidentally lost in a great battle with Medusa. His cultivation was sealed, and now he only has the cultivation of the Golden Core realm, living incognito in some inn..." Xiaobai whispered while lying on Ye Shu's shoulder.

"Wait, wait, wait."

Ye Shu asked while walking toward the inn.

"With such an important combat power, how can you be sure that this guy hasn't reincarnated?"

"The reason is very simple."

"He is a man."

"Then it's not surprising, then it's not surprising." Ye Shu suddenly saw the light. His originally hesitant footsteps instantly became brisk as he strode into the inn.

The inn was empty, with hardly anyone around.

In fact, there was no one at all.

There was only a person wearing a hood at the counter, only about one and a half meters tall, looking like they hadn't even started puberty yet.

"Shu'er, that is Bingxuanzi."

Danxia's reminding voice echoed in Ye Shu's heart. "He is a martial arts fanatic who cultivates the path of ice and snow. He cares about his face more than anything. Don't be fooled by his current destitution; he is actually a great cultivator of the Soul Formation realm. He is fiercely loyal to his friends. As long as you make friends with him sincerely, he will definitely help you."

"Rest assured, Master. I am the best at making friends."

Ye Shu walked up to the counter, sat down brazenly on a stool, knocked hard on the table, and shouted at the hooded figure.

"Hey, you little bean sprout over there! Can't you see your granddaddy is thirsty? Get your granddaddy a bowl of shaved ice."

Danxia: "............"

Xiaobai: "............"

Bingxuanzi raised his head. His eyes were red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. In all his life, he had never encountered such humiliation.

"Brat, you are fucking courting death!!!!"

Boom—

The inn exploded.