The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Tang Xixue looked at him, took out several items, and placed them on the table one by one.

A bag of fine rice, a few packets of dried meat, a thick cotton coat, and a neatly folded cotton quilt.

"Then we'll exchange these supplies for this information. What do you say?"

Chu Qiao's gaze swept over those items, then he looked at her, raising his eyebrows.

"Sister, did you come to Ice Abyss for sightseeing? Why are you carrying so much stuff?"

"It's always better to be prepared when you're traveling."

Tang Xixue said calmly.

Chu Qiao reached out and touched the quilt, pressing her fingertips against the thick cotton batting, a very faint ripple passing through her eyes.

He lived in this icy abyss for countless years, covered with animal hides and cushioned with dry grass.

During the coldest part of winter, you can only add a few more pieces of firewood to the stove.

A cotton quilt.

What might not mean to others is a luxury he never even dared to dream of.

But he suppressed that fluctuation in less than half a breath and put on that carefree smile again.

"Deal! Sister, you're really savvy. No problem, leave it to me. I'll personally take you there."

"but……"

He changed the subject and held up one finger.

"That underground river is no simple matter. The current is swift, there are many forks in the path, and there's a section that requires diving to cross. How good are you three swimmers?"

"I'm fine!"

Feng Zhuo patted his chest, his voice booming like a bell.

"I've swum in all the glaciers of northern Xinjiang, so what's a little underground river?"

Mu Liang nodded, speaking sparingly.

"Can."

Tangxi Xue put down her teacup.

"It doesn't bother me."

For outsiders, the icy underground river might be a considerable challenge, or even extremely dangerous.

But for her, the danger was within a manageable range.

After all, she possessed the water-repelling pearl given to her by Si Xingxuan.

With the water-repelling pearl on your body, even if you are in a bottomless abyss, you can walk as if in a leisurely garden.

Originally, Tangxi Snow could have Fengxue Yinlong Xingmi try from above.

But she remembered that Xingmi had been injured and had not yet recovered, so she did not want him to take any more risks and did not even mention it.

She protects her dragon herself.

Chu Qiao's gaze swept over the three faces, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll take you there once this blizzard subsides. Rest here tonight and get some rest so you can travel well tomorrow."

As he spoke, he stood up, dragged several animal hides from the corner of the wall and spread them on the ground. His movements were so swift that it didn't seem like he was making a bed, but rather like he was setting up some kind of mechanism.

The animal hides were laid out one by one, their thick fur gleaming with a deep brown sheen in the firelight.

Although not as soft as a cotton quilt, it has its own primal and rugged warmth.

"The room is small, please don't mind. The animal hides may not be pretty, but they're really warm. You can sleep here, I'll sleep by the stove."

"You live alone, why do you have so many animal hides?"

Tangxi Xue asked.

Chu Qiao paused for a moment.

"I once hunted a bear. The pelt was too big to make clothes from, so I kept it as a bedding set."

He didn't even look up, speaking casually as if he were just talking about what he ate that day.

Mu Liang's gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Fight the bear.

A person.

The bear's pelt, when spread out, almost took up most of the room; a spirit beast capable of growing such fur must have been enormous.

And this seemingly frail and lonely boy, all alone and with his bare hands, turned it into bedding.

His strength is not weak.

It might even be very strong.

Mu Liang lowered her eyelids and quietly moved her wooden stool half an inch closer to Tang Xixue.

Beneath the Dragon's Nest Ice Abyss lies no safety.

Tang Xixue got up and walked to the window, looking out through the gap in the window paper.

The wind and snow continued to churn, and dusk had fallen, turning the pristine white sky into a grayish-blue hue.

The spiderweb-like cracks on the ice wall gleamed with a deep, cold light in the dim glow.

This wooden house stands at the deepest part of the ancient icy abyss, like a chess piece forgotten by the world, yet it burns with a single, persistent flame.

"Ah Qiao, can't we leave tonight?"

Feng Zhuo, being impatient, couldn't help but ask.

It's no big deal for him to live here; he's used to living in military camps, where he can fall asleep anywhere, even in snowdrifts or haystacks.

But his Ah Xue has been pampered and spoiled since childhood, how could she endure such hardship?

He would rather suffer himself than let his Ah Xue suffer even a little bit.

"Brother Feng, look, it's almost dark outside."

Chu Qiao gestured towards the window with his lip, his tone carrying the confidence of someone who had been through it all.

"You have no idea how incredibly cold the nights are in the Dragon's Nest Ice Abyss. The daytime cold is already unbearable, but at night the temperature can drop by half again. Not to mention..."

He paused, then smiled without continuing.

"It's not worth traveling at night anyway."

He spoke casually, but Tang Xixue deduced the hidden meaning from the various animal skins in the room.

Bear skins, deer skins, wolf skins, and a few other furs whose names she didn't know were piled up in the corner.

Each sheet is meticulously tanned, and behind each sheet lies a fierce battle.

Apart from being alone, this place has everything else you could want, such as ferocious beasts.

But those who survive here are more ferocious than beasts.

"But before it gets completely dark, we can go catch some fish."

Chu Qiao picked up a simple set of homemade fishing tools from the corner of the wall: a smooth-polished animal bone fork and a net woven from vines. His movements were so practiced that it seemed like he had done it a thousand times before.

"Sister, it's very cold outside. Why don't you rest here? We'll make you some soup when we catch the fish."

He called to Feng Zhuo, and they prepared to go outside to catch fish.

For him, this was the highest level of hospitality for distinguished guests.

"It's alright, I'll go take a look too."

Tang Xixue put down her teacup, stood up, and a hint of interest flashed in her eyes.

"Fishing sounds interesting."

She always listened to advice, and since Chu Qiao said it was inconvenient to travel at night, they could set off tomorrow.

Since she has already let the outside world know she is safe, her brother and the others won't be too worried.

The Sea Emperor's Encounter was indeed reliable. Upon receiving the news, he immediately notified the Moon Guards, instructing them to rest on the spot.

He then dispatched the Tianxing Guards to pick up the person. The Tianxing Guards are known for their speed, so it was most appropriate for them to provide assistance.

Yue Zhongtian, the commander of the Yuelan Guard, was extremely frustrated.

He sat in the makeshift tent, his forehead wound already bandaged, but his face looked even worse than the wound itself.

"How unlucky! Are we, the Moonlit Guard, destined never to receive Her Majesty the Empress?"

Every time he came to fetch Her Majesty the Empress, things never went smoothly.

Last time it was intercepted by Xinglan Guard, this time it was a tornado, who knows what will happen next.

"Bai Duo always picks him up... He's so lucky!"

When Bai Duo, the commander of the Heavenly Star Guard, arrives, who knows how long he'll be laughing at him.

That brat surnamed Bai never holds back when he laughs at him.

However, upon learning that Her Majesty the Empress was safe, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to treat the injury on his forehead.

Inside the Ice Abyss Dragon's Nest, beside the underground river.

Tang Xixue stood on the ice, her cloak drawn around her, with a snow-white kitten appearing beside her at some point.

Silver Sky crouched at her feet, its fluffy tail gently sweeping the ground, its azure eyes curiously surveying this unfamiliar icy abyss.

"When did raccoons appear in this icy abyss?"

Chu Qiao heard the cat meowing and turned around to look in confusion.

The cat was pure white, without a single stray hair, and squatted on the ice as if it had become one with this icy world.

But those bright blue eyes were excessively lively, unlike the usual glint of a raccoon dog.

"It's my raccoon dog; we came together."

Tang Xixue offered an explanation, and Yin Kong rubbed against the hem of her skirt in a cooperative manner.

Chu Qiao stared at Yin Kong for two seconds before looking away.

"Oh, since you came with your sister, then it's fine. Otherwise, you should be careful."

He didn't say exactly what to be wary of, but it certainly wasn't anything good.

Then he bent down and cautiously scanned his surroundings.

Those eyes, which were always full of smiles, were now as sharp as a hawk's.

After scanning every crack on the ice wall and passing through the shadowy depths of the lower reaches of the underground river, only after confirming that it was temporarily safe did he straighten up.

"This is it. There are the most fish down here."

He took out a sharp stone hammer from his waist. The hammerhead was made of the hardest black iron stone from the depths of the Ice Abyss, and it felt heavy in his hand.

Chu Qiao swung the stone hammer and smashed it down fiercely onto the ice.

"Click—"

The stone hammer fell with a sound like thunder.

The ice layer, which had been frozen for countless millennia, so thick that even Mu Liang's blade might not be able to cleave it with a single blow, shattered suddenly at the point where the stone hammer struck.

Cracks spread in all directions like a spider web, making a continuous, crisp sound, as if someone were beating a giant drum deep within the ice.

"Um?"

Tang Xixue looked surprised when she saw him break through the ice layer with apparent ease.

This seemingly casual strike contained astonishing power.

What concerned her even more was that the power was controlled with extreme precision, without the slightest leakage.

Only the parts that were supposed to break broke; the surrounding ice remained completely still.

Effortless and effortless.

This is not brute force, but mastery achieved through countless trials and tribulations.

"Wow, that's easy! I thought the ice was much thicker—"

Feng Zhuo's words came to an abrupt halt when he saw the thickness of the ice layer.

His eyes widened, his mouth opened into a circle, and the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.

The ice layer is a full ten meters thick.

The ten-meter-thick layer of ice was smashed through with a single hammer blow.

This means that Chu Qiao's strength is terrifying.

What's even more chilling is that there was no fluctuation of spiritual energy or leakage of true qi when he made his move.

Even Feng Zhuo, who was standing next to him, did not notice anything unusual.

Just one hammer blow.

A simple and unadorned hammer blow.

If it hits someone on the head, wouldn't it smash a little head in?

Feng Zhuo suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

"Ah Qiao, is it...that powerful?"

He swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.

I originally thought she was a thin, pitiful little thing, trapped alone in the icy abyss, all alone and miserable.

As a result, good heavens, who could possibly smash through ten meters of ice with a single hammer blow?

He had fought in the northern frontier for so many years and had seen quite a few fierce generals.

Those who can achieve this level can be counted on one hand.

What is Chu Qiao's cultivation level? Eighth rank? Or... ninth rank?

It can't be higher, right?

How old is he?