Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 501 Ambush
Regardless of what happened to the king, Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli were both exhausted at this moment.

Dugu Qingli had fought several battles in a row, each one leaving her wounded. Even after recovering, she would vomit blood, more than Yuan Muyu had vomited when he suffered a qi deviation. Now, with Lu Xingzhou pressing down on her, she couldn't muster the strength to push him away.

She wasn't even thinking about pushing him... but rather about how he had decisively stood in front of her and taken the blow.

And then I got it all over my face again...

The same thing can evoke completely different feelings, even if your face is covered in smears.

The white one would only make all the blood rush to your head, making you so angry your face would split open, and you'd just want to chop him up with a sword.

The red one, however, left people stunned, their minds blank, completely devoid of thought.

Lu Xingzhou lunged at the king from the side to block, and he could have easily tried to deflect the king's punch with a single blow. The only reason he chose to block with his back was because it was the safest option.

The king was ultimately a cut above everyone else. Lu Xingzhou wasn't confident that his attack would be able to repel the king. What if it didn't? Wouldn't that hurt Little White Hair?

Only by completely blocking the shot can you achieve the most stable result.

So the instinctive choice was to block.

Dugu Qingli, with her vast combat experience, instantly understood the reason behind Lu Xingzhou's choice. Then the database connection was lost, and she simply stared blankly at his pale face.

Lu Xingzhou was also exhausted. Originally, it was alright, as Dugu Qingli was mainly in charge of the battle, and his setting up the formation only took some mental effort. But this last block was a bit serious, and his whole body still felt like it was falling apart. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even move his fingers, and he simply collapsed onto the little white-haired boy.

The Dragon-Subduing Armor, enhanced by Long Qinghuang, has another large hole in it... Well, it was given to Dugu Qingli by her beloved master anyway, so using it to save Dugu Qingli is quite reasonable, right? The Dragon-Subduing Armor, the Golden Dragon Body, and the Void Rotation—all three defensive systems are damaged like this. Luckily, it wasn't Little White Hair who took this hit.

If Dugu Qingli knew that his current thought was, "Thank goodness it wasn't Little White Hair who took this hit," she might be even more stunned.

"Tap..." The sound of the king's footsteps startled the two of them. Lu Xingzhou struggled to get up, while Dugu Qingli gripped the hilt of her sword.

"Who...are you?" the king asked in a hoarse voice. "Why...do you evoke such instinctive hatred in me..."

Dugu Qingli: "..."

Why else... If your entire city were destroyed by the Ice Demon, you would instinctively feel that the Ice Demon was right in front of you, and therefore hate it.

Previously, the demonic influence had made it more authentic, but now that it has regained its spiritual light, it can no longer recognize the little white-haired boy as an ice demon, leaving it completely bewildered.

Can you say that? Saying it would mean certain death. Don't let the king's current weakness fool you; the two of them are truly unable to move at this moment.

Lu Xingzhou's mind raced as he replied, "Perhaps it's because my companion cultivates the art of frost that His Majesty mistakenly believes him to be an enemy. But then again, even without my companion, His Majesty's previous demonic influence and desire to kill any living being were quite evident."

The king was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Yes... I am dead... I died when I was about to lead the entire army to attack the Ice Demon."

Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli exchanged a glance, both feeling a chill in their hearts.

Even after the king's death, he still possessed the strength to overwhelm two people, indicating that he was undoubtedly a powerful Qian Yuan cultivator in life, with many Hui Yang warriors under his command. Yet, in an instant, he was completely annihilated by the Ice Demon, leaving the entire city dead. How could a Super Grade cultivator possibly contend with such strength?
That makes sense. If the Ice Demon represents the Law of Frost, then it's a Law-level life form, a level that could only be the legendary Formless One. Therefore, it can't be killed by ordinary means; it can only be sealed.

Everyone was blinded by the millennia-old inertia of the highest-grade beings in this world, and hadn't considered such an outrageous possibility. Ling Qixuan, in particular, had the audacity to even dare to plot against such a being.

If he really releases the Ice Demon, it will destroy the world.

The king's mind was still somewhat muddled, and he hadn't realized how many years had passed. He slowly said, "Two mere late-stage Cloud Ascension cultivators dare to enter the Ice Demon Battlefield. Who is your commander? How can you be so irresponsible?"

Dugu Qingli thought to herself, "If you can talk, then say more."

Lu Xingzhou said, "We just wandered into this place by mistake. Senior, do you need our help to send a message to the outside world?"

The king raised his head slightly, looking at the icy sky. He knew that the entire city was frozen like an egg, and he was in no condition to leave. He said, "We have been betrayed by Maha... He is not a virtuous monk, but just wants to trick us out of our spiritual water crystals. Convey this message to the Heavenly Patrol."

Lu Xingzhou subconsciously pulled his right leg back a little.

The condensed spiritual water is now part of my bones. It originally came from you. I wonder if you can sense it.

However, the spiritual water crystal that Maha obtained from them was probably still very young, so it needed to be nurtured in the Danxia Secret Realm. After being nurtured for so many years, and then undergoing the harmonization of water and fire within his own body, its aura should be quite different, which the king, in his current chaotic state, probably wouldn't be able to perceive.

And... Sky Patrol, a new character has appeared. The name sounds a bit like a codename; could it be the current Pursuers faction?
The king tremblingly reached out and pulled a small bottle from his robes, tossing it to Lu Xingzhou: "I can tell you also practice water magic. This is the Heavenly Divine Water, a gift for you."

Lu Xingzhou was taken aback: "What kind of water is this?"

The king was somewhat annoyed: "Who exactly is your commander? How can you not even know such basic knowledge?"

What's even more infuriating is that I was actually able to let this kind of scum successfully set up a trap right under my nose. Well, I guess it's a good thing.

Lu Xingzhou was somewhat embarrassed: "We are just unorthodox practitioners, and we hope Your Majesty will give us some guidance."

The king said, “Fire has its source, and water naturally has its own special kind of water. This water may seem ordinary, but if a single drop enters the body, it will weigh a thousand pounds, causing incurable damage that will rot the intestines. It can be collected and used like a source of fire to compensate for the lack of water-based attacks, and it can also be used to refine magical artifacts or elixirs.”

Lu Xingzhou was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The king waved his hand wearily: "You have purified my kingdom, which is a favor, but I must repay it."

He turned slightly, looking at the corpses strewn across the city, his eyes filled with sorrow: "The palace holds many treasures, but I won't give them to you. I need to resume my cultivation and rebuild the kingdom. You may go." "..." Lu Xingzhou knew he couldn't rebuild the kingdom, because his own soul fire was almost extinguished. It had only been preserved before by being frozen, but he was truly a dead man... he didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

Lu Xingzhou dared not expose the truth. The king still had some hope, but once that hope was gone, he might go mad. In fact, the king was already suppressing his madness. He clearly hated Dugu Qingli, and his only conversation partner from beginning to end was Lu Xingzhou.

Neither of them were greedy people, and they had already gained enough here, so there was no need to provoke each other; it was better to leave sooner rather than later. After talking for a while, both of them had recovered somewhat from their injuries, so they stood up, cupped their hands, and said, "Then this junior will take his leave."

The two leaped up and headed straight for the ice layer above.

Dugu Qingli turned around and looked at the devastation and the mountain of corpses where the king stood alone. She said in a low voice, "Now I can truly feel what you said earlier, that you were a little sad."

Lu Xingzhou reached out and ruffled her white fur: "That proves you're human, not an ice demon."

"No, don't touch my head!"

Lu Xingzhou feigned pain: "Hiss... My injuries are aggravating my condition, I can't fly anymore."

The little robot never even considered that this could be a lie. It silently reached out and embraced him, then disappeared into the ice above.

Lu Xingzhou secretly made a "V" sign.

When I came down, I was pulled by the ankle, but when I came up, I was carried. The treatment was completely different.

However, both of them forgot one thing...

When they came down, they circled the entire city for a long time before finding a rift to descend into, which means that the location of the spatial rift was not in the center of Hanchuan.

At this moment, they went straight up through the crack, emerging from the ice layer, which was not the place where Si Han and the others were waiting to meet them.

On the contrary, another group of people seemed to have guessed where they came from and set up an ambush there in advance.

The two had just emerged from the ice and hadn't even adjusted to the light when a net-like magical artifact immediately descended upon them.

It was accompanied by a low chuckle: "They're really embracing now. That Lu guy is quite the ladies' man."

"That little snow maiden has a cold exterior, but is actually quite flirtatious."

Fortunately, both reacted extremely quickly. Before the net could even reach them, one used Ice Release and the other Water Release, instantly scattering the net. The teasing voice hadn't even finished before it turned into a furious outburst: "They're badly injured! Use area-of-effect damage to force them out of their escape techniques! Don't let them get away!"

"Boom!" Various area-of-effect spells raged wildly around them. The two of them groaned almost simultaneously, and sure enough, they were forced to reveal their true forms. They staggered and continued to flee.

Behind him, a beam of light shot out, and dozens of white-clad men wearing masks chased after him.

Lu Xingzhou asked urgently, "Where is this? Do you have any directions?"

Dugu Qingli said, "Hanchuan is to the south. Not far south is a place called Hantie City in the Tianshuang Kingdom. Shall we head south?"

“No,” Lu Xingzhou said. “Since it’s obvious that we can enter the city by heading south, they must have laid a trap in the south. It’s the right thing to turn north and meet up with Si Han.”

"Okay." Dugu Qingli pulled Lu Xingzhou, changed direction, and continued to flee.

Both were seriously injured and had not recovered, which greatly slowed their speed, and the streaking light behind them was getting closer and closer.

Dugu Qingli swung her sword and swept it backward. Where the sword light passed, the ice on the ground rumbled and stood up behind her.

"Bang!" A group of people broke through the ice wall, only to find themselves in a sea of ​​flames.

Lu Xingzhou's teamwork was impeccable. He originally wanted to use the Myriad Soul Banner, but the banner, which had just been upgraded to a higher level, was unusable due to his severe injuries. Any movement caused pain in his soul sea, so he could only casually set off a fire.

"Damn, that guy surnamed Lu is cunning." The group of people each summoned their magical artifacts to protect themselves from the flames and ran through the sea of ​​fire. The two of them had already run so far that they were just tiny dots.

"Chase them! They're badly injured; they can't have gone far!"

As Lu Xingzhou sped along, the scenery before him seemed somewhat familiar.

Even though the Frozen Moon River stretches as far as the eye can see, there will still be some icebergs and ice rocks. Of course, ordinary people may not remember the difference even if they have seen them before, but cultivators can recognize them.

Not far away was a pit, and Lu Xingzhou knew how it came to be. This was the Xuan Snake Secret Realm that he had visited with Ye Tinglan before. After emerging from the water, they would pass through a spatial rift to arrive here. At that time, they were caught red-handed by Su Yuan while their clothes were disheveled.

"Just use the ice wall again to block their view." Lu Xingzhou squeezed Dugu Qingli's hand.

"Alright." Without another word, Dugu Qingli turned her sword around and swept it again.

The ice wall rose again, and Lu Xingzhou pulled Dugu Qingli forward into the pit ahead, disappearing in a flash.

When the pursuers broke through the wall and were preparing to defend against the sea of ​​fire, there was no sea of ​​fire, and everyone was gone.

"Where are they?" the masked leader roared in fury. "Where could they possibly hide in this flat plain!"

(End of this chapter)