Half an hour later, the cave was piled high with blocks of ice—the corpses of Snow Sprites. There were also many severed limbs and blood spatter staining the white snow, an extremely jarring sight. When Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan finally exhausted their strength, Tan Zeshan, in his grief and unwillingness, chose to self-destruct, perishing in the explosion along with dozens of Snow Sprites and a grade-two Ice Scorpion. As for Ye Xiuwen, he attempted to use his last sliver of Righteous Qi to break out. But after using the Righteous Qi to kill two other grade-two demonic beasts, he too collapsed from exhaustion and was eventually devoured by the swarming demonic beasts, leaving only a broken, blood-streaked skeleton.
Cheng Wenming was terrified, a deep fear rising from the depths of his heart. Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan were already dead, and he was now wretchedly dodging the Snow Sprite Lord's attacks. He could only resort to hit-and-run tactics. The reason the swarming demonic beasts behind him hadn't pounced was that they were afraid the Snow Sprite Lord would mistake it as them trying to snatch its food, so they only surrounded him without attacking.
"Brother Jiang, no, Senior Jiang! I know you're here! We were wrong about what happened before. I beg you to spare me! As long as you let me live, I'm willing to pay Spirit Stones, many, many Spirit Stones! Fifty thousand, oh, no, a hundred thousand, is that alright?" Cheng Wenming shouted into the empty space, his tone changing from the earlier curses that echoed Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan to one of pleading. In his mind, he had long since seen Li Yan as a Golden Core cultivator; otherwise, how could he have left so easily?
But no matter how he pleaded, apart from the strange cries of the demonic beasts, the voice of that "Senior Jiang" did not appear. This made him gradually grow anxious.
The moment Cheng Wenming spoke, even the Snow Sprite Lord, who had been relentlessly attacking him, showed a look of fear on its face. The cultivator who had escaped so inexplicably had made it feel deeply uneasy all along. But no matter how it searched, it could not sense that person's presence. It had been more inclined to believe that the mysterious cultivator had some kind of protective magical treasure given by an elder or sect, which was how he had escaped.
But the appearance of those ice spikes just now had shattered the illusion in its heart. It also knew that the other party was right here, and had been secretly observing. It was just that the other party had not acted, as if they were unable to kill it, so for a time, they did not dare to show themselves. But to be called "senior" and "your lordship" one after another by Cheng Wenming inevitably made fear rise in its heart. Could it be that it had really guessed wrong?
'That cultivator definitely doesn't have such profound cultivation. Otherwise, if a Golden Core cultivator wanted to kill all the demonic beasts and cultivators here, it would just be a matter of a wave of their hand. And when I fought with him before, his spirit power was clearly still in a flowing state, not the solidified state of a Golden Core cultivator. This is the mark of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. But for this person to be ambushing nearby also shows ill intentions. He wants to wait until I have devoured the person before me, and then, during my weakened state, capture me. Hmph, if that's the case, then I'll capture him as well. Although I can't devour him immediately, I can seal his cultivation and save him for later, which would be a very good thing. But now I must resolve matters here quickly. It's already been long enough. Other Snow Sprite Lords might arrive at any time.'
Thinking of this, the Snow Sprite Lord was no longer afraid. After all, it still firmly believed that Li Yan's strength was not that great, and he was also a fire-type divine ability cultivator. Although his escape just now was a bit inexplicable, it was just the work of a protective talisman. The higher the grade of a talisman, the more restrictions on its use. Otherwise, wouldn't a cultivator with a life-saving protective talisman be able to act with impunity among those of the same level?
So it intensified its attacks, and began to unreservedly fly out one blue ethereal flame after another from its body. It also let out a low whistle from its mouth, emitting a strange syllable. Immediately, the Snow Sprites that had been surrounding it became agitated, their eyes glowing blue as they pounced towards Cheng Wenming. Instantly, in the not-so-wide cave, the space for Cheng Wenming to move became even smaller. After holding on for less than five breaths, he was grabbed by the waist by a Snow Sprite. Before he could circulate his spirit power to shatter this Snow Sprite, more Snow Sprites swarmed over like a throng. Cheng Wenming's mind was instantly breached. In his horrified eyes, a large hand was already covering his Celestial Crown. Then, his vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.
The Snow Sprite Lord looked at Cheng Wenming, whom it was holding in its hand. Its pair of sharp eyes scanned the surroundings. With a wave of its hand, the two storage bags on the ground flew towards it. A cultivator's storage bag contained many good things. Then it let out a whistle and flew deep into the Melting Cave. The remaining Snow Sprites and demonic beasts behind it also followed. As long as it had captured Cheng Wenming, it didn't matter whether he used his fire spirit power or not. It could just go directly into his Dantian's Purple Mansion and take it. It was just that even after it had captured Cheng Wenming, the mysterious cultivator still had no intention of showing himself. Only then did the Snow Sprite Lord relax a little. It seemed that the other party was just highly skilled in concealment, and with a life-saving talisman, he could escape its attack. Now, he was wary of it. That person was lucky this time. Then, next, he would go to his secret cave to devour the spirit power. There was no point in wasting time here.
Not long after the Snow Sprite Lord left, three hundred zhang away from the previous battle site, a blurry figure slowly appeared. Although it was just a phantom, it was undoubtedly Li Yan. He rested his chin in his hand, looked at the remaining bone fragments on the ground and the glaring blood spatter from Tan Zeshan's self-destruction on the cave wall, then looked in the direction the Snow Sprite Lord had disappeared, and said to himself, "This Snow Sprite Lord's strength is truly formidable. Even if Cheng Wenming hadn't lost his composure and fought it one-on-one, he probably wouldn't have lasted long. The key is that Cheng Wenming didn't dare to use his fire-type divine abilities. Failure was already certain. Then next, let's see if there's any advantage to be had."
As his words faded, his already illusory figure became even more indistinct. Then he floated deep into the Melting Cave, in the direction the Snow Sprite Lord had fled. Although "Stealthy Night Art" was good at concealing one's figure, with Li Yan's current cultivation, if he only moved slowly, he could still maintain the optimal state. But if he flew at high speed, the spatial fluctuations would be different from the surroundings. But now, the demonic beasts here had all gone with the Snow Sprite Lord. Li Yan just needed to hang back from a distance, so his figure just needed to not be too conspicuous.
Just like that, Li Yan followed behind and flew forward for seventy li. Although many Snow Sprites and other demonic beasts had already left or stopped along the way, with the cultivation of these grade-one demonic beasts, when Li Yan passed by them, they only felt a light breeze blowing through the cave passage and would not pay any attention at all.
In the end, only the Snow Sprite Lord was left ahead. It held the unconscious Cheng Wenming in one hand, its figure even more swift, turning into a flash of white light that was gone in an instant, silently, almost blurring into one with the surrounding cave walls. It was clear that it had pushed its speed to the extreme, trying to avoid something.
Soon, it deviated from the main cave passage and drilled into a narrow, slanted crevice on the side. That crevice was extremely small. Compared to the Snow Sprite Lord's huge body, it seemed so tiny that it couldn't even accommodate one of its arms. But strangely, the Snow Sprite Lord disappeared in a flash, without a trace. A moment later, a faint phantom appeared here. The phantom floated in mid-air, looking at the crisscrossing, now hidden, now visible, narrow, slanted crevices on the side.
These narrow, slanted crevices were actually everywhere in the Melting Cave. They were all thin cracks in the thick snow on the cave walls. Some were straight, some slanted downwards. At the end of a crevice, it might even fork into even thinner, slanted cracks.
Li Yan stretched out a finger and pressed it against a narrow, slanted crevice. With just a light touch, his finger turned a part of the crevice into a finger hole. With a soft "shasha" sound, his finger sank in. It wasn't until the snow reached his forearm that his fingertip felt the hard coldness, which should be the hard cave wall.
Then, he pulled out his arm and looked at the narrow, slanted crevice where the Snow Sprite Lord had disappeared. It was a crevice mixed among four snow crevices. This time, Li Yan did not use his finger to touch it. Instead, he closed his eyes and quietly released his Divine Sense, slowly probing towards that narrow, slanted crevice.
After a moment, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. "Mixed in with so many snow crevices, even if I check carefully with my Divine Sense, it's very easy to overlook. But how does the Snow Sprite Lord here know how to use formation restrictions?" Li Yan couldn't help but marvel at the creations of nature. Humans have their ways, and ghosts have their paths. The demonic beasts here used the conditions of heaven and earth to conceal themselves. If he hadn't been tracking it, there were as many narrow, slanted crevices on the side as there were hairs on an ox. He had passed countless of them on his way. Who would deliberately check each one? It was just that Li Yan was puzzled that when he had just used his Divine Sense to check the crevice on the cave wall where the Snow Sprite Lord had entered, there were actually formation restrictions. If he hadn't reacted extremely quickly, he might have triggered the restriction in that narrow, slanted crevice just now.
This Snow Sprite Lord was truly cunning. Others set up their cave residence restrictions to cover tens of zhang, hundreds of zhang, or even the entire mountain. As long as one stepped into these areas, the owner of the cave residence would know. But this Snow Sprite Lord did the opposite, only setting up the cave residence restriction on a single narrow, slanted crevice. Even if someone touched the snow a few inches away, it would not trigger the restriction. The disadvantage of this was that if the Snow Sprite Lord in the cave residence was not paying attention to the outside world at all times, then it would be unaware even if someone came to its doorstep. This was a major taboo for cultivators.
But the other advantage of doing this was that there were too many narrow, slanted snow crevices here. If someone really passed by this place and, intentionally or unintentionally, swept over it with their Divine Sense, it would be very difficult to discover that there was a formation fluctuation on this narrow, slanted crevice, and they would just sweep past it.
As long as a cave residence has a restriction, it's not easy for anyone to enter. So in this kind of environment, setting up the formation inside is actually more concealed. Li Yan couldn't help but marvel at the Snow Sprite Lord's cunning.
Now the question was how to enter the Snow Sprite Lord's cave residence. Unless one was a formation master, it would be possible to enter quietly and without a sound. Another way was if the cultivator who came was of a much higher realm and could simply ignore the existence of the formation and force their way in. But Li Yan could not achieve any of this. But he had the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief, this Ancient Treasure, so it was still possible for him to quietly break the restriction of this cave residence and enter. It was just that the fact that the demonic beast here knew about formations was what surprised Li Yan.