Chapter 243: Extreme Cold

Shortly thereafter, after a burst of tremors, all of the runes on the Golden Veined Spirit Boat lit up, and it rose up into the sky amid a vast expanse of golden light, flying toward the frozen sea.

Instead of entering the pavilion, Han Li made his way to the bow of the boat, where he cast his gaze into the distance while standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

Up ahead was a boundless expanse of white with thick layers of ice spreading as far as the eyes could see, only punctuated by some frosty black rocks or giant mountains of ice jutting out of the surface of the sea.

The view in the extremely far distance was quite blurry due to the presence of the mist up ahead, and birds were an extremely rare sight in the sky above the frozen sea.

Both the sea and the sky above it were extremely silent, giving this frozen region a bleak and lifeless appearance.

However, through his spiritual sense, Han Li was able to detect the auras of many powerful demon beasts lurking in the clouds in the sky, the depths of the sea, and even within some of the mountains of ice, and the only reason why none of them had come out as they were fearful of Han Li's trio.

Thinking back to the Thunderstorm Sea, Han Li couldn't help but marvel at the vast diversity in the geographic environments in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region.

There were virtually no places like this in the Mortal Realm or in the Spirit Realm, and he was certain that there were still many more places that he couldn't even fathom here in the Immortal Realm.

For some reason, the memory of the short time that he had spent traveling the Spirit Realm as a pair of lovebirds prior to his ascension suddenly sprang into his mind.

This memory had always been one that he had suppressed and relegated to the bottom of his heart, and it was also why he had been alone for the vast majority of time during his cultivation journey, unwilling to casually dabble in relationships.

Parting with his loved ones had always been a painful experience that he didn't want to have to endure.

"If Wan'er were by my side, we'd be able to roam the Northern Glacial Immortal Region freely together. I wonder how she's doing right now. The resources that I left her prior to my ascension should be enough to support her cultivation to the Grand Ascension Stage. I wonder if we'll ever be reunited someday..." Han Li murmured to himself with an absentminded expression, then turned and made his way into the first-floor pavilion.

……

Close to a year later.

There was a white island with a radius of no more than 10,000 feet situated in the southern region of the frozen sea.

The island was circular in shape with a clear outline, resembling a massive white plate, and it was clear that it had been created artificially.

On the island were a series of white stoned pillars of different heights, some of which had runes engraved upon them, while others were embedded with spirit stones that contained abundant spiritual power.

The entire island appeared to have been a massive white array.

Right at this moment, the Golden Veined Spirit Boat arrived in the air from afar, then paused momentarily in mid-air before vanishing amid a flash of golden light.

Han Li's trio appeared in the sky, then began to descend toward Smoke Tomb Island.

They weren't making any efforts to conceal their own auras, but their appearances and statures had all been altered significantly.

Qilin 9 had turned into a burly man with a thick beard, while Qilin 17 had adopted the appearance of a scholarly man wearing an azure robe, and Han Li had transformed into a fair-skinned young man who appeared to have been around 20 years of age.

The three of them descended onto a small plaza on the edge of the island, and there was a hall constructed from white stone up ahead.

The three of them strode into the hall to find that the furnishings were extremely simple, with only a circular stone platform in the hall, atop which sat an elderly man with a white beard with his legs crossed.

To Han Li's surprise, the elderly man was an early-True Immortal cultivator, and his attire indicated that he was an inner sect elder of the Blaze Dragon Dao.

The elderly man took a glance at Han Li's trio, remaining seated as he asked, "Have you come here to travel to the Infernal Frost Continent?"

"Correct," Qilin 9 replied.

"That'll be seven Immortal Origin Stones per person," the elderly man said in an expressionless manner.

After the fee was issued, the elderly man rose to his feet, stepping down from the circular stone platform before leading Han Li's trio out of the hall through a rear door.

After emerging from the hall, the three of them followed the elderly man over a path that was around 10 feet wide, making their way toward the center of the island.

Han Li took a glance at the path beneath his feet to find that it was several inches lower than the ground on either side of it, giving it the appearance of a small trough embedded into the earth, and there was a rune engraved onto the ground once every several dozen feet.

The closer they drew to the center of the island, the more frequently these paths appeared, forming a complex system that was quite mysterious in appearance.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Fellow Daoist Qilin 9, if I'm not mistaken, he's wearing a robe of the Blaze Dragon Dao, is that correct?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

"Indeed. This man seems to be an inner sect elder of the Blaze Dragon Dao," Qilion 9 replied.

"Could it be that all of the teleportation array between the Ancient Cloud Continent and the Infernal Frost Continent was constructed by the Blaze Dragon Dao?" Han Li asked.

"That's not the case. The teleportation array on Smoke Tomb Island is the only one that was constructed by and is under the control of the Blaze Dragon Dao, while the teleportation array on Extreme Ice Island near the Infernal Frost Continent is under the control of the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace," Qilin 9 replied.

"I see. Thank you for enlightening me, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said.

As the two were conversing with one another through voice transmission, they followed the elderly man to a plot of flat land near the center of the island.

Han Li took a glance at the area to find a circular array surrounded by several dozen stone pillars in the distance. Each pillar was so thick that a chain of seven or eight people would've been required to link hands around it, and they were quite spectacular to behold.

There were seven or eight other people on the plaza around the array, some of which were seated with their legs crossed, while others were standing.

The elderly man led the trio onto the plaza, then said to a middle-aged man who was also in Blaze Dragon Dao elder attire, "Elder Fu, these people are traveling to Extreme Ice Island as well. We have enough people, so we can activate the array now."

"Alright, you can all enter the array now," the middle-aged man said as he turned to the others on the plaza.

Those people had already been waiting for quite some time, and they were quite elated to hear this as they eagerly stepped into the array.

Han Li's trio immediately followed suit, and once all 10 people had entered the array, the elderly man gave the middle-aged man a nod, and the two of them strode over to the circular stone platforms on either side of the array before sitting down with their legs crossed.

Immediately thereafter, the two of them began to chant an incantation, and the white stone pillars around the array lit up one after another, while the spirit stones embedded onto the ground and the runes engraved there also began to radiate dazzling light.

The light quickly spread until all of the patterns on the ground had lit up, and all of the stone pillars situated elsewhere on the island also began to give off dazzling radiance as the entire island array was activated.

A faint buzzing sound rang out, and the entire island began to tremble violently.

Situated within the array, Han Li looked up at the sky to find that the clouds up above were churning violently, gradually forming an enormous hole, out of which was emanating powerful spatial fluctuations.

The mist enshrouding the outskirts of the island was also impacted by these spatial fluctuations, quickly receding to form a ring-shaped wall of mist around the island.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out, and the entire island shuddered violently as a vast expanse of five-colored light erupted out of the array at the center of the island, forming a massive pillar of five-colored light that erupted straight into the heavens.

Han Li and the others were swallowed up by the five-colored light before instantly vanishing on the spot.

Shortly thereafter, the array gradually subsided, but the hole in the sky and the wall of mist around the island continued to linger.

……

In the northern region of the frozen sea, fierce winds were howling incessantly, while dark clouds hung low in the sky.

Snow was fluttering everywhere, encompassing the entire area of the sea.

On the dim surface of the sea, the frozen snow and seawater had been molded into giant ice spikes by the ferocious wind, and they were pointing diagonally up at the heavens.

Amid this forest of ice spikes was an ovular island that was enshrouded under an azure light barrier.

Right at this moment, a sound that resembled a rumbling thunderclap suddenly rang out high up in the sky, and the entire ovular island shuddered as a vast expanse of five-colored light appeared, following which Han Li and the others emerged on an array at the center of the island.

Due to the symptoms from ultra long-distance teleportation, everyone was looking rather pale, and the ones among them with the lowest cultivation bases were even feeling some instability in their souls.

As for Han Li, he merely felt a slight tightness in his chest, but that quickly subsided.

He took a glance at his surroundings to find that the layout of the area was much the same as the one on Smoke Tomb Island, except the white stone pillars around the array had been replaced by pillars of translucent ice.

Right at this moment, a cold voice rang out from outside the array. "The teleportation is complete, it's time for all of you to go."

Han Li turned to discover a thin elderly woman with a head of white hair. She was wearing a white cloak while holding a white horned dragon wood cane, and she was looking at everyone with an inhospitable expression.

Everyone hurriedly stepped out of the array before making their way toward the northern border of the island under the elderly woman's instructions.

There was a white hall of ice standing there, within which was a wide table with a benevolent-looking round-faced elderly man seated behind it.

In contrast with how cold and inhospitable the elderly woman was, the elderly man had a far more friendly appearance.

"Welcome to the Infernal Frost Continent, everyone. I'll be requiring all of you to submit a further three Immortal Origin Stones per person prior to leaving Extreme Ice Island," the elderly man said with a smile.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, then turned to Qilin 9 with an inquisitive look in his eyes.

"This has always been the arrangement between the Blaze Dragon Dao and the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace, and the same fee applies when we go back to Smoke Tomb Island," Qilin 9 explained.

Han Li nodded in response, but he couldn't help but feel a little speechless.

A one-way trip required 10 Immortal Origin Stones, so a return trip was going to require 20, which was more than the reward that he would receive from completing a low-level mission for the Transient Guild.

If it weren't for the fact that this fee was quite paltry compared with the handsome reward for this mission, there was no way that he would've been willing to accept this so easily.

After the Immortal Origin Stones had been submitted, everyone was directed to a door on the side of the hall.

The round-faced elderly man remained seated as he swept a sleeve through the air toward the door, and a burst of azure light appeared on its surface, following which a circular passageway that was as tall as a grown man emerged on the light barrier that encompassed the door.

"I wish you all safe and smooth journeys, fellow daoists," the elderly man said with a smile.

Qilin 9 led the way out of the door upon hearing this, arriving on the plaza outside the hall, followed closely by Han Li and Qilin 17.

After them came the other seven people who had also been teleported here.

As soon as they emerged from the hall, they were immediately met with heavy snow and a bone-chilling glacial aura. Han Li was already prepared for this, but his brows still furrowed slightly in an involuntary manner.

Looking at the snow-covered world before him, Han Li couldn't help but think back to when he first ascended to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region. At the time, he had also been in an extremely cold setting, and the glacial aura from that time seemed to have been even more potent.

He could still recall the excitement he had felt as if it had only happened yesterday, but to this day, he still couldn't recall anything that had happened after that.

The path of cultivation was one that was fraught with peril, and he couldn't help but wonder when he would be able to present himself in his true name without having to worry for his own safety.

His hands clenched up into tight fists as this thought sprang into his mind.