“The Snow Camel Ridge route, I have considered it too, but although the journey is short, the probability of encountering powerful demon beasts along the way is several times higher than other routes, which is really a bit dangerous.” Bai Suyuan frowned slightly, revealing a hint of timidity.

“Don’t worry, Junior Sister Bai, with me, Qi, I will definitely not let you suffer any harm.” Qi Huanyu, upon hearing this, quickly patted his chest and assured her.

“Young Master Qi, aren’t you afraid of the wind and snow making you stumble over your own tongue! How dare you say you can protect Junior Sister Bai?” Before Bai Suyuan could speak, Tang Chuan walked over, a look of disdain on his face.

“Senior Brother Tang, don’t say that. Senior Brother Qi means well.” Bai Suyuan said with a smile, trying to explain for Qi Huanyu.

Upon hearing this, the latter immediately felt a warmth in his heart and coldly rebuked Tang Chuan, "I invited Junior Sister Bai to come along, what’s it to you? Go cool off somewhere else."

“Junior Sister Bai, Chen and I plan to take the White Fox Valley route. The benefits are no less than Snow Camel Ridge, and the risks are a bit lower. After all, our ultimate goal is the Snow Bear. Why don’t you join us?” Tang Chuan ignored Qi Huanyu and spoke directly to Bai Suyuan.

Upon seeing this, Bai Suyuan twisted her hands together in front of her, appearing very hesitant.

Seeing this, Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan wanted to say something, but the woman suddenly spoke:

“I’ll go with Senior Brother Sun Ke and the others on the Pine Cone Ridge route.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan were both stunned. Even Sun Ke and the others, who had already started walking towards Pine Cone Ridge, couldn't help but pause and stop in their tracks.

The few rogue cultivators traveling with Sun Ke were immediately invigorated. There were not many female cultivators on this trip, and most of them had already decided to join Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan's teams when they were on the flying boat. Now, to have Bai Suyuan, the most beautiful of them all, join them, was naturally a welcome surprise.

Only a bitter smile flashed across Sun Ke's lips.

He only wanted to complete this trial peacefully, but he didn’t want to get involved in other people’s entanglements at all. But since Bai Suyuan had called his name, they couldn’t just completely ignore it, so they turned around and looked over.

But at this moment, the gazes of Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan towards him were already blazing with fire. Almost simultaneously, they were both considering whether to change their routes and travel the same path as Bai Suyuan.

“I am not as strong as the two senior brothers, so it is better to choose the safest route. Both of you are the best among our generation, and I admire you greatly in my heart. Although I cannot accompany you, I sincerely want to cheer you on. I just don’t know who will win the championship this time?” Just then, Bai Suyuan said again.

With a few casual words, she threw out a high hat, making the two feel extremely comfortable, while also dispelling their thoughts of changing routes.

Neither of them looked at Sun Ke anymore. They glared fiercely at each other, said goodbye to Bai Suyuan, and led their respective teams towards the two most difficult routes.

“Senior Brother Sun, I will accompany you on this trip. You don’t mind, do you?” After these people left, Bai Suyuan came to Sun Ke and the others, smiling charmingly.

“You're most welcome.” Sun Ke smiled politely and said.

The others behind him expressed their joy and welcomed her with a few words, and began to introduce themselves.

At the same time, in the sky above the Snow Ridge, more than a hundred miles away, Han Li and Su Tongxiao, who had concealed their auras, were suspended in the air. A thin layer of water curtain was shining in front of them, displaying an image of Bai Suyuan and the others.

“This Bai family girl is quite remarkable. With just a few words, she incited the two strongest competitors to go to the dangerous routes. Her scheming is top-notch.” Su Tongxiao couldn’t help but admire.

“Don’t blame others for scheming; blame yourself for being too foolish.” Han Li had long been aware of this woman’s various schemes and didn't find it strange. He just smiled and said.

“Haha, Brother Li is right, as the saying goes, ‘It’s hardest to bear a beauty’s favor.’ They were given such expectations by the Bai family girl, they will have to fight to the death to win the championship, right?” Su Tongxiao said with a smile.

“It is said that one of Bai Suyuan's ancestors was also an inner sect elder of our Candle Dragon Dao, and seems to have quite a bit of influence in the sect. I wonder if Brother Su knows him?” Han Li didn’t seem to want to say more on this topic and changed the subject.

“That’s right, his ancestor should be Elder Bai Fengyi, who disappeared thousands of years ago. He was acquainted with Elder Qi Liang. Although I never had deep interactions with him, I did meet him a few times within the sect.” Su Tongxiao nodded.

“Does Brother Su know what happened to this Elder Bai back then, and why he suddenly disappeared?” Han Li asked with an expression of interest.

“Well… there are many different opinions within the sect. Some say that he accidentally died while on a mission, and others say that he was designed and framed by enemies… In my opinion, Elder Bai may have gone to a certain place to enter a closed-door life-or-death cultivation to break through the bottleneck of the late True Immortal Realm and achieve the Golden Immortal Realm… By the way, according to some secret news within the sect, the Yuan Soul Lamp that Elder Bai left in the sect has not been extinguished.” Su Tongxiao said after a little thought.

Upon hearing this, Han Li felt that this matter didn’t seem simple, but that was all. He didn’t think about delving into anything.

Seeing Bai Suyuan and the others in the water curtain gradually disappearing into the white snow towers supported by rows of pine trees, Su Tongxiao wiped away the water curtain and said, "Let's go, Brother Li, we have to catch up too."

Han Li nodded. The two of them stopped flying and landed in the mountains and forests, heading towards Bai Suyuan and the others, slowly following them, and using their divine sense to lock onto the movements of the three groups ahead.

After secretly following for a while, Han Li frowned slightly, as if he had noticed something, but then his expression returned to normal.

…

Sun Ke, Bai Suyuan, and the other six people were flying low along a mountain road with a gentle slope, heading towards the interior of the Profound Ice Mountains.

This place seemed calm, but there were many demon beasts that were good at concealing their auras through ice and snow. If they rashly flew high in the sky, they would easily become targets for demon beasts. Having learned from the experience of those before them, everyone naturally did not dare to be greedy for progress.

Perhaps due to a pre-arranged division of labor, Sun Ke took on the mission of clearing the way.

At this moment, a jade bowl-shaped magic treasure was floating above his head, and strands of white light fell down, covering his entire body. At the same time, four crystal-clear blue flying knives flew out, slowly rotating and dancing around his body.

He still seemed worried about this, and he was also holding a small earth-yellow shield with a smooth surface like a mirror in his hand.

Behind him, the other four male cultivators also protected their bodies with various means, looking around vigilantly with wary expressions.

At the end of the group, Bai Suyuan held a white jade ring, which transformed into a white halo that enveloped her body. She also wore a white gauze dress, which emitted silver-white light spots.

The group flew while being vigilant, their speed was not fast, but along the way, apart from a few demon beasts with low cultivation bases who didn’t know whether to live or die and launched sneak attacks, they did not encounter any major dangers.

As they went deeper into the mountains, the surrounding temperature became lower and lower.

Streams of bone-chilling icy air gushed out from underground, and gusts of cold wind mixed with ice and snow howled from time to time. Even Sun Ke and the others, with their Void Refinement Stage cultivation bases, felt a little unable to resist it, shivering. Except for Bai Suyuan, who could still resist, faint cyan and purple colors appeared on the faces of the others.

Surprised, these people started circulating their power to resist.

Unfortunately, the temperature was getting lower and lower, but they had not made any special preparations for cold protection. They couldn't help but feel regret in their hearts.

After all, relying on circulating power to resist the cold consumed a lot of mana, which was not conducive to the subsequent battles and hunts. If they had known this earlier, preparing one or two more cold protection magic treasures would not have been so embarrassing.

"I have some spirit wine here, which is made with fire-attribute spirit materials. It has some effect on warding off the cold. If you don't mind, you can try it." At this moment, Sun Ke suddenly stopped his escape light and said, then took out a fiery red exquisite wine bottle.

"Spirit wine…" The others exchanged glances, seeming a little hesitant.

Sun Ke flipped his hand and took out a cup, pouring out a cup of spirit wine.

The wine liquid was bright red in color, emitting a fiery red light, as if it were burning, making the surrounding temperature increase a lot.

At the same time, a strange wine fragrance spread out. Even Bai Suyuan's eyes lit up slightly, and the thought of tasting it arose in her mind.

"Good wine!" A sword-browed youth among the crowd, who seemed to be a wine lover, praised.

"Brother Lin is also a wine lover? If you don't mind the inferior wine, please try it. It will be of great help in warding off the cold." Sun Ke handed the cup over.

"Then thank you." The sword-browed youth impatiently took it and drank it all in one gulp.

As the wine entered his stomach, it felt like a line of fire flowing down his throat into his abdomen, and then turned into a ball of fiery heat, wrapping his stomach and intestines.

Immediately, this heat exploded, turning into streams of hot air, which flowed into his limbs and bones as if they had spirituality. His body became extremely light, as if he were about to float in the wind.

The sword-browed youth was as if struck by lightning, his whole body stiffened there, and a look of intoxication appeared on his face. It took a long time for him to recover.

"Good wine, it can truly be called immortal nectar. May I ask Brother Sun, what is the name of this wine?" He couldn't help but clap his hands and praise, asking.

"This wine is called Fire Saliva." Sun Ke smiled.

"Fire Saliva Wine! A good name, and it fits this wine perfectly. I had the good fortune to drink the Green Pear Immortal Wine, which is known as one of the top ten immortal wines, but the taste seems to be slightly inferior to your Fire Saliva." The sword-browed youth said excitedly.

This wine was not only exquisitely delicious, but also, as Sun Ke said, had the ability to ward off the cold.

At this moment, his whole body was warm, as if basking in the warm sunshine. The cold was completely dispelled, and a faint red glow appeared on his face.

Seeing this scene, the other three male cultivators had no doubts and asked for a cup of spirit wine, with expressions of surprise on their faces.

They were not wine lovers and did not care about the taste of the wine. What surprised them was that the cold in their bodies was easily dispelled.

Moreover, the heat transformed by the Fire Saliva Immortal Wine was wrapped around various parts of their bodies, and it would not dissipate for a while. In this way, they would not have to circulate their power to dispel the cold, and they could even find a way to replenish the mana they had consumed earlier.

"This Fire Saliva Immortal Wine has a long aftertaste, and the heat it transforms will exist for half a day before slowly dissipating. Junior Sister Bai, would you like a cup too?" Sun Ke said with a smile.

"Then thank you, Senior Brother Sun." Bai Suyuan thanked him.