Cold There's a Warm Air Conditioner

Xu Mu deepened his perception another level and sensed the inside of Zilan Yin’s body.

He could see that her blood had turned into ice crystals. It had become extremely viscous, flowing at an agonizingly slow rate—she was almost at death’s door.

What was more, despite the freezing weather, she had bizarrely taken off her clothes.

Her purple dress had been torn open, revealing the black binding straps beneath. Several deep knife scars were also clearly visible.

This was the false warmth that came before death. Many people who froze to death were often found not wearing thick clothing when they died. Instead, they had taken their clothes off.

“Even an expert at the Breakthrough level can be frozen this badly. It seems the temperature around here is coming from some kind of formation.”

As Xu Mu spoke, he couldn’t help shivering.

He immediately sent a voice transmission to Chen Xuan and Li Hongdou. Chen Xuan did not respond, but Li Hongdou’s voice came through.

“Xu Mu, it’s so cold here. Every time I breathe, it feels as though my organs are about to freeze solid.”

“Senior, where are you right now? Release a marker into the sky.”

Xu Mu immediately transmitted his reply, then looked up and surveyed the surroundings.

The next moment, a ball of flame appeared in the sky to his left.

“Senior, look this way. I’ll release a fireball too.”

Xu Mu continued transmitting as he also sent a fireball shooting into the sky.

In an instant, he felt an incomparably powerful wave of cold seep into his body. It felt as if his insides were about to freeze.

He immediately realized that something was wrong. He had been fine just moments ago, but after releasing his qi, the cold had instead become even more intense.

Moreover, the qi he had released was fire-aligned. Normally, it should have made the area warmer.

“Senior Hongdou, don’t release any more qi!”

Xu Mu immediately sent her a voice transmission. “There’s something wrong with the formation here. It seems to get even colder after qi is released.”

“That’s right. I feel the same way. I’m already having trouble moving.”

Li Hongdou’s voice came from the other side. “I can see your fireball. I’ll head over to you now. You should come this way too. The markers we released might be seen by other people.”

“Good.”

Xu Mu agreed and began walking toward Li Hongdou.

After passing by Zilan Yin, he hesitated briefly before crouching down beside her.

First of all, it was certain that he couldn’t use qi to warm her.

But if he didn’t use qi, what could he use?

Could he use his own body to warm her?

Xu Mu shook his head. In weather this cold, hugging a block of ice would be tantamount to taking his own life.

After thinking it over, Xu Mu decided to take her with him first.

Li Hongdou had been right. By releasing his power just now, he had exposed his position.

He was still quite far from the treasure, and he had no intention of fighting the eighth-rank experts here.

Thus, Xu Mu hoisted the already-stiff Zilan Yin over his shoulder and hurried toward the area where Li Hongdou was.

After walking for roughly ten minutes, Xu Mu discovered that the surroundings were growing colder and colder. Even though he was in better shape, he felt that Li Hongdou might already be in trouble.

“Senior Hongdou, how are you?”

Xu Mu immediately sent her a voice transmission.

“My mouth… feels a little frozen. It’s… becoming difficult to speak.”

Li Hongdou’s voice came from the other side. “How about I release my qi… and fly over to you?”

“It’s best if you don’t. I’ll release my qi and go to you!”

Xu Mu had just checked the distance between them. They were at least ten kilometers apart.

If he relied solely on walking, he had no idea how long it would take to reach her. Besides, his physique was stronger.

With that thought, he released his qi and began accelerating.

Just as he had guessed, as long as he continued releasing power, the intensity of the surrounding cold increased several times over.

By using his perception to examine his body, he discovered that frost had begun appearing inside his windpipe.

Suddenly, Xu Mu released a black shadow one meter in front of him.

He then transferred himself onto the shadow, while Zilan Yin, who had been draped over his shoulder, fell to the ground.

Xu Mu raised his hand and carefully sensed his condition. He found that his body, which had nearly frozen stiff, had regained its feeling.

Now, the sensation was about the same as when he had first entered this place.

It seemed that the cold surrounding them inflicted continuous damage on the body, but his divine-level cultivation technique could allow him to enter a brief state of nothingness.

That state dispersed the cold accumulated inside his body. Thus, every time he shifted, his body would recover completely.

With this technique, Xu Mu could now travel by qi without suffering any harm.

Another five minutes passed, and Xu Mu saw Li Hongdou in the distance.

Her long black hair had already frozen into ice crystals, making it look like she had a head of white hair. Her eyelashes were the same.

However, she could still move. At the very least, she had not lost consciousness like Zilan Yin, who was draped over his shoulder.

“Xu Mu, something’s wrong with this place. My qi is fire-aligned, but the more I release, the colder my body becomes.”

As Li Hongdou spoke, the breath leaving her mouth contained tiny ice crystals.

“Let’s find somewhere to rest first.”

Xu Mu looked around before finally heading behind a nearby hill.

He used the White Emperor Sacred Sword, hoping to break through the layer of ice, but the ice here withstood the attack. Clearly, it was part of the formation.

He could only place Zilan Yin on the ground first, leaning her against the icy slope behind them.

Li Hongdou sat down there as well, her body trembling uncontrollably.

“Since releasing qi is useless, I’ll try using fire.”

Xu Mu opened his storage space and took out the large number of spatial rings he had obtained earlier, checking whether any of them contained something like firewood.

He searched through the rings one by one, taking out the phones and other personal belongings inside.

Suddenly, perhaps because his finger touched the screen, one of the phones lit up.

He immediately picked it up and tapped the button on the screen.

“Xu Mu, what is it?” Li Hongdou asked when she noticed him suddenly looking at the phone.

“Judging by this, the cold surrounding us only affects people, not objects.”

Xu Mu turned the phone screen toward Li Hongdou. “Look at the battery. Under normal circumstances, temperatures of negative twenty or thirty degrees Celsius would be enough to shut a phone down. The temperature here is much lower, and it affects us directly, yet the phone is completely unharmed.”

“What have you figured out?”

Li Hongdou was certain that Xu Mu had come up with a solution.

Xu Mu said nothing. Instead, he took out his Cadillac Escalade and placed it on the ice.

He opened the door and started the engine. Sure enough, the surrounding cold had no effect on the vehicle at all. He then turned on the heater.

“Senior, get in.”

Xu Mu opened the door and got back out, speaking to Li Hongdou.

Afterward, he picked up Zilan Yin and prepared to put her in the back seat. However, her arms and legs had frozen stiff.

Xu Mu could only grab her by the shoulders and forcefully push her inside.

He finally got her in, but the black binding straps snapped in the process.

He shut the door, then returned to the driver’s seat.

Li Hongdou, sitting in the passenger seat, stretched her waist with all her strength.

“Ah! I’m alive again! Xu Mu, thank goodness you were here. I never thought we could use this method.”

[Favorability +20]

“You’re welcome.”

As Xu Mu spoke, he suddenly frowned. Someone was approaching.

It was the middle-aged woman from the Holy Light Clan.