Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 228 Demon King
Lu Xingzhou knew from his previous exploration of the secret realm with Dugu Qingli that Little White Hair was extremely experienced in exploring secret realms and ancient tombs.

The training in Frozen Moon River is not about playing in the wilderness and surviving. The reason why this place is a good place for trials is that beneath the ancient glaciers, at different depths underground, lies a history from many different eras.

It can be said that there are countless opportunities, as long as you can endure loneliness and have a certain amount of luck.

In the world of spiritual cultivation, effort and reward are not always proportional. "Talent" and "resources" are the first two major hurdles, while "opportunity" and "luck," which are hard to define, can sometimes determine more.

The Frozen Moon River is so vast, with a radius of over a thousand miles, larger than the area of ​​many countries. While many people in the Frost Kingdom have wasted ten years searching the outskirts of the Frozen Moon River without finding a single trace, Dugu Qingli, at such a young age, has already dug up countless graves.

The little white-haired girl, with her icy constitution, wasn't as afraid of the cold as everyone else; spending the night outdoors was no problem for her. The reason she built the hut was clearly because she had discovered something nearby that required long-term exploration.

Lu Xingzhou's judgment was correct.

That night, the master and apprentice huddled together at the foot of the house, arms wrapped around each other, and spent half the night there. When the next day was slightly brighter, Anuo got up with snot hanging from her nose, while Lu Xingzhou had been circling the mountain for a long time, pondering.

Seeing Ah Nuo rubbing her sleepy eyes as she came out, Lu Xingzhou kicked the icicles on the mountainside: "Did you notice? The ice here is thinner and more brittle. It must have been dug up and then re-frozen."

Ah Nuo strolled over, hands clasped in her sleeves, and peeked inside: "But Master... even if there are secret realms or ancient tombs here, they've all been explored by Sister Qingli. What value do they still have? Besides, even places that Sister Qingli explored back then are at most at the fourth or fifth rank level, which isn't enough to meet the old woman's requirements..."

“I don’t know about Frozen Moon and Cold River, but I do know about Little White Hair… With her knowledge of medicinal herbs, I bet she can get her hands on the best stuff like a sieve.” Lu Xingzhou raised his fist and slammed it down on the ice.

Sure enough, with a crisp sound, a large, dark hole appeared below.

The two jumped down with a thud, and at least the biting cold wind was gone, making them feel much warmer for no reason.

Fortunately, what's below isn't a graveyard, but a small secret realm.

There are many reasons for the formation of secret realms, some naturally formed, others man-made. More often, it's because a certain treasure is lost somewhere, and the released energy isolates it from the soil, forming a small space that, due to its own characteristics, evolves into a special region. Once the treasure is taken away, the secret realm ceases to be special.

What we see now is like a pit left after the treasure has been taken, basically useless. But because of the treasure's presence, some special crops might grow inside. Those who don't know its value might not clear it away, and later buyers could snatch it up.

Ah Nuo ran to a corner and dug half a foot down, unearthing a root-like thing that looked like a sweet potato: "Master, this is useful, but it's only at the fourth-grade level."

"This edge and shallow secret realm couldn't have been that strong to begin with... Rank 4 is enough. Hmm, this is a good antidote; it'll be good for making some auxiliary materials." Lu Xingzhou put it away, stroking his chin as he looked around.

Ah Nuo looked at him expectantly: "Master, what are you thinking about?"

"Little White Hair once took a treasure here. Judging from the accompanying crops, it might be a magical artifact with purifying properties. The question is, why would a separate magical artifact have fallen here?"

Ah Nuo said, "Because a battle had taken place in the skies nearby, some magical artifacts were shot down. Then the original owner died, and no one retrieved the fallen artifacts."

"Then there should be other remains buried under the ice not far away. I wonder if Little White Hair has touched the corpse... Logically speaking, based on her experience, she should have."

"So, Master, are you testing me or trying to follow in Qingli's footsteps?"

"Is there a difference? Following the legacy of Little White Hair, we can easily pick up bargains."

"Master, you're cheating."

"Otherwise what? Little White Hair is a natural glacier traveler, but we aren't. In this godforsaken place where everyone looks exactly the same, what are we supposed to find?"

"But Master, is this the test the old woman is giving us?"

“When did you become so honest… But then again, that makes sense.” Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment: “Right now, we are all fourth-grade, and our alchemy skills can only be said to be able to produce third-grade pills. We are not true third-grade alchemists. Mr. Ye’s intention is for us to find the threshold of the third grade. The most typical difference is that the third grade opens up the cultivation of the divine soul. Therefore, her intention should be that we try our best to train our divine sense and intuition to solve problems, rather than taking shortcuts.”

"But if we haven't started cultivating our spiritual soul, how can we train our spiritual sense?"

"Not having awakened the cultivation of the divine soul doesn't mean we lack divine soul power; it just means we don't know how to use it. In fact, we use it every day. For example, your talent for communicating with flowers and plants, or the control we have when refining pills, are actually done through divine sense, but we just don't know the specific operating principle. It's like how you digest food naturally, but you don't know how digestion works, or whether you can actively stop or speed up digestion..."

When it came to food, Anuo immediately understood: "Is it beneficial to eat in Frozen Moon Cold River?"

"Hmm... The feeling I got from Little White Hair several times is that he was already able to utilize the power of his soul to a limited extent before reaching the third rank. This must be an effect brought about by this place. 'A heart as clear as ice, a moon reflected in a cold river.'" Lu Xingzhou said, "In fact, when I said I was going to find the location of the remains, I also needed to use this method. Otherwise, if I said I was looking for the remains in the surrounding area, what direction would that be? How would I find them?"

Ah Nuo stared blankly as Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes.

Actually, my master is really a genius, as long as he doesn't try to be lazy or take shortcuts.

When the spirit cannot be manifested and used, relying on the mind is actually just cultivating an intuition. This intuition is used in many aspects of daily life. For example, when danger is imminent, strong people will feel a "warning sign," a kind of tingling sensation on their scalp, which is a direct manifestation of this.

It is difficult for people to actively find and use it, but it is advantageous in the Frozen Moon River.

The extreme cold weather makes people feel extremely cold and calm, as if even their thoughts are being solidified.

Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes, and he could vaguely see his own soul sea, which was quiet and boundless.

I wanted to use it, but it was like a pipe dream, elusive and intangible. A faint stirring stirred within me, a feeling that what I was looking for was somewhere in the right direction, and that following that direction would surely bring benefits.

So he closed his eyes, picked up Ah Nuo, leaped out of the cave, and flew straight toward the place he had in mind.

Not long after, Anu struggled to get up.

"Did you see any traces of pits where bones were dug up?" Lu Xingzhou asked.

"No, but I saw people..."

"Could it be that the remains were simply dumped onto the ice?"

"I'm talking about living people!" Ah Nuo struggled, "If you keep moving, you'll run into them!"

Lu Xingzhou suddenly stopped and opened his eyes.

A woman stood silently with her hands behind her back, watching his performance-art-like act with a strange look—he was about to bump into her if he took three more steps forward.

Lu Xingzhou took a half step back and looked at the woman strangely.

She's quite the performance artist too.

He was dressed in a golden robe, even more dazzling than Gu Zhanting's dragon robe, because many parts of it were indeed made of gold.

The phoenix crown on her head was made of piled-up jewels and ornaments, and looked extremely vulgar at first glance.

Her eyeliner was also drawn with gold glitter, and there was a gold pattern on each side of her face, making her look like she had escaped from a mental hospital.

However, when paired with her stunning beauty, it all became art.

With sword-like eyebrows that reached his temples and eyes like cold stars, just staring at him could give people a sense of oppressive fear. The invisible pressure almost made Lu Xingzhou's knees buckle, but he stood firm again.

Thus, the vulgar laurel wreath became the crown of the emperor, and the strange facial markings became the blood-quenched blade.

It's commonly said that if someone is good-looking, they'll look good even if they're wearing a burlap sack, let alone gold...

Lu Xingzhou had no interest in appreciating the spectacle; only one word flashed through his mind: Demon Emperor!
Shen Tang said she had the aura of an emperor, but even in her most unromantic and dignified state as the sect leader, she lacked the majesty and pressure of this woman, after all, she was still young.

Mr. Ye is said to be aloof and arrogant, but she is closer to a lotus in the snow mountain. She is pure and noble, yet very peaceful. You will not feel pressure or death from her. Yuan Muyu is bloodthirsty and ruthless, and the murderous aura in her eyes is tangible, but she never has this kind of aura that makes everyone bow down. It is as if you would unconsciously want to kneel down if she glares at you.

Putting everything else aside, this aura alone would make Lu Xingzhou directly compare Mr. Ye and Yuan Muyu. If this weren't the Demon Emperor, Lu Xingzhou would dare to cut off his own head.

What the hell do you mean by following your intuition? My intuition tells me I'm looking for things that are "beneficial for alchemy"...

Oh right, Mr. Ye said the Demon Emperor is a female dragon... Dragon, tell me if it's suitable for alchemy!
Lu Xingzhou almost cried.

Ah Nuo timidly tugged at Lu Xingzhou's sleeve and hid behind him; it was the first time she had ever felt afraid of someone.

The woman's gaze also fell on Anuo, her brows furrowing slightly, her dignified gaze showing a hint of confusion.

"Human," the woman finally spoke, "how did you manage to walk straight towards me with your eyes closed?"

"Um..." Lu Xingzhou said awkwardly, "I was using the Frozen Moon River to hone my spiritual senses... This is probably... a gut feeling that there's an unparalleled beauty here?"

Ah Nuo stared wide-eyed in horror.

Don’t you want to live?
Lu Xingzhou had no way to express his suffering. He couldn't very well say that he had a gut feeling there were alchemy materials here, and it goes without saying which was more dangerous.

The woman seemed to see right through him, a cold smile playing on her lips: "Perhaps you have a gut feeling that there is fortune here... Unfortunately, fortune can only be used if you are alive."

In fact, Lu Xingzhou also found it strange. This kind of intuition should really be about seeking advantage and avoiding harm. How could he come here with his eyes closed when there was an absolute crisis? He should definitely stay as far away as possible and go in the opposite direction.

Moreover, the Demon Emperor actually had the interest to talk, instead of simply slapping these two ants to death...

Does this prove that she is actually not dangerous?

Are you injured? Or are you just putting on an act?
But who would dare to be so reckless as to test it!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Please vote for me with your monthly tickets, sob sob~
(End of this chapter)