Douluo Continent: I can overdraft the future in advance

Luo Yun crouched under the ice, holding his breath.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the ice above. He could sense the enormous body above him. The Titan Snow Demon blocked out some of the faint sunlight, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

He dared not move, dared not breathe, and tried his best to relax his body and slow his heartbeat.

Luo Yun silently repeated to himself: I can't find it, I can't find it, I can't find it...

Footsteps sounded again.

This time, the sound gradually faded into the distance, but just as Luo Yun's heart relaxed a little, the footsteps stopped again.

He didn't go particularly far; he stopped not far away. The sound didn't fade or grow fainter; instead, it lingered around the ice hill where he was hiding.

"Thump...thump...thump...", each step was a tap on his heartbeat.

Luo Yun gritted his teeth. It refused to leave.

He quickly calculated in his mind. The Titan Snow Demon was an ice-attribute soul beast, and its perception would be greatly enhanced on the icy plains. Although he had sealed the cracks with ice thorns and filled the gaps with ice mist, its aura couldn't be completely concealed. It knew he was hiding in this area, but it wasn't sure of his exact location.

A while later.

"boom--"

A loud bang came from overhead, the ice layer shook violently, and shards of ice tumbled down from the edge of the crack, hitting Luo Yun on the head and shoulders.

Luo Yun's body stiffened.

It started smashing the ice.

It's unlikely they discovered his exact location; rather, they were extensively disrupting the ice surface in an attempt to force him out. Each impact caused the entire ice surface to tremble, and cracks spread overhead.

Luo Yun crouched under the ice, covered in ice shards. He dared not move, not even daring to raise his hand to wipe the ice from his face.

The smashing stopped.

The footsteps started circling back and forth again.

Luo Yun closed his eyes.

He got it.

Titan Snow Demon is not leaving.

It was determined to stay here. It knew there was prey in this area, and it had the patience to wait. It was originally a spirit beast from the far north and was very adapted to this environment. It could stay here for several days, or even longer.

But Luo Yun couldn't.

His food and water supplies were limited. Although he still had some dry rations in his storage bracelet, it wouldn't last long. What was more troublesome was that he couldn't light a fire, couldn't make any noise, and didn't even dare to make any large movements.

This is a protracted war.

Luo Yun opened his eyes, staring at the crack sealed by icy thorns above him in the darkness. Through the crack, he could see the hazy light of dawn outside, indicating that it wasn't dark yet. He had entered the cave in the afternoon, so not too much time should have passed.

He forced himself to calm down and began to calculate his supplies.

They should be able to hold out for a few more days without any problem.

Luo Yun took the dried rations out of his storage bracelet, moving as quietly as a thief, afraid of making the slightest sound. He tore off a small piece of dried meat and put it in his mouth. He didn't dare to drink water in big gulps, but could only hold a small piece of ice in his mouth and wait for it to slowly melt.

After finishing his meal, he leaned against the cave wall, closed his eyes, and tried to rest.

But I can't sleep.

The footsteps overhead continued.

The Titan Snow Demon paced back and forth across the icy hills, sometimes closer, sometimes farther, but never leaving. It inspected every corner again and again.

Luo Yun didn't know how much time had passed; he could only judge the time by the changing brightness of the sunlight overhead. The light outside dimmed once, then brightened again, and then dimmed again—a day had passed.

The Titan Snow Demon is still here.

Luo Yun leaned against the cave wall, staring at the crack, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.

It's been a day.

This ancient Titan Snow Demon had been squatting there for a whole day.

Why exactly?

He reflected on his journey, from encountering the Spirit Treasure Sable, entering the underground cave, obtaining the Ice Marrow and Ice Silkworm Silk, to discovering the Ice Phoenix Temple… where did things go wrong? Was he targeted by it while flying? Or did he stay in the underground cave for too long, and when he came out, he happened to run into its range?

He thought about it for a long time, but had no answer.

I can only lament that my journey has been a mix of good and bad fortune.

Encountering the Spirit Treasure Sable was a blessing. That ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Treasure Sable led him to the storage necklace, where he obtained the Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, Gold Soul Coins, pills, herbs, and also found the Ice Silkworm Cave, where he harvested Ice Silkworm Silk.

Falling into the underground temple was both a blessing and a curse. The corpses of eight ice phoenixes and an egg whose hatchability was uncertain—the value of these items was immeasurable. But because of falling into that place, he was delayed, and by the time he emerged it was already late, forcing him to camp at the foot of the ice cliff. If he hadn't camped there and had instead traveled south through the night, perhaps he wouldn't have been targeted by the Titan Snow Demon.

Being targeted by the Titan Snow Demon was utter disaster. The combat power of a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast was far beyond his capabilities, let alone a top-tier soul beast like the Titan Snow Demon, which, according to legend, possessed the bloodline of Titan giants. He was now trapped in this ice cave, afraid to go out, afraid to make a sound, and could only wait.

But without the Spirit Sable leading the way, he wouldn't have ventured so far into the far north. If he hadn't fallen into the underground temple, he wouldn't have wasted so much time. If he hadn't wasted time, he wouldn't have been lingering near the ice cliffs after dark. And if he hadn't been near the ice cliffs, perhaps he wouldn't have been targeted by the Titan Snow Demon.

Good fortune and misfortune are interdependent, and each is linked to the next.

Luo Yun shook his head, suppressing these thoughts. Thinking about these things now was useless; the most urgent matter was how to survive.

As Luo Yun pondered, he gradually felt drowsy. After all, the perilous chase during the day had been extremely exhausting in terms of both physical and spiritual energy. "If the Titan Snow Demon could find me, it would have shattered the ice layer during the day. It probably doesn't have a specific target either," Luo Yun thought, and finally fell asleep.

the next day.

Luo Yun squatted under the ice, his legs already numb. He dared not move too much, and could only change his position little by little, moving his left foot first, then his right. He ate a small piece of dry rations, using his soul power to maintain his basic body temperature, remaining calm and unhurried.

The footsteps overhead were still there.

This Titan Snow Demon's perseverance far exceeded his imagination. Now Luo Yun even felt that it could wait motionless on the ice plains for several days, but he could only hold out for a few more days in this ice cave at most.

He began to seriously consider the possibility of breaking through.

A head-on confrontation? They can't win. Their flying soul tool is useless; they can't outrun it. A diversionary tactic? It didn't work last time, and it's likely to fail this time as well.

Luo Yun gritted his teeth.

If it doesn't leave by tomorrow, he'll have to take a risk. Under the cover of night, he'll crawl out of the ice cave and run in the opposite direction, as far as he can. He can't outrun it, but a surprise attack might offer a glimmer of hope.

Just as he made up his mind—

The footsteps overhead suddenly changed.

The previously steady, rhythmic footsteps became rapid, and the Titan Snow Demon accelerated its movement.

Then, a roar came from overhead.

It wasn't the dull warning of before, but a roar filled with anger and a sense of warning.

Luo Yun suddenly raised his head.

There's some noise outside.

It wasn't the Titan Snow Demon's activity—it was something else.

Then he heard another sound.

That intense sound? It's the sound of battle!

Luo Yun's heart suddenly raced.

Something is fighting the Titan Snow Demon.

He didn't know what was coming, whether it was a spirit beast or a human, friend or foe. But one thing was certain—the Titan Snow Demon's attention had finally shifted away from him.

He crouched beneath the ice, listening to the deafening roar overhead. The ice trembled violently, fragments of ice constantly falling from the edges of the cracks, and the entire ice mound shook. The roars, crashes, and the sounds of ice breaking mingled together, like a small earthquake.

Luo Yun clenched his fist.

He didn't know what was happening outside, but he knew this was his only chance.