Chapter 344: Chapter 329: The Yellow Sparrow Behind
As the ice dragon emerged, everything within a hundred miles was frozen.
At that moment, the three of them were frozen in place, watching in horror as the massive white ice dragon, dozens of meters long, charged straight at them. Xiao Feng, being the primary target, was filled with shock and despair.
He was, after all, a Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion cultivator, and he still had many techniques left unused.
He was absolutely unwilling to meet his end here like this.
However, the ice dragon’s timing was impeccable. The ice-sealing power, aided by the power of a Tier Five Spiritual Artifact, had reached a level close to Tier Five Magic. Even with his Ninth-Layer cultivation, he couldn’t break free from its grip immediately.
Fortunately, he was not alone.
Not far from him, a layer of golden fiery flame suddenly ignited around Zhouyang, instantly melting the ice imprisoning him into vapor.
Then, he spat out a Flame Sword, also burning with golden true fire, which shot towards the charging ice dragon.
Boom!
The ice dragon swung its claws, slamming into the incoming Flame Sword, instantly causing it to explode into a ball of golden flames.
However, this slight obstruction was enough for Xiao Feng, with Zhouyang’s help, to break free from the icy confinement.
Once he broke out of the ice, he used his cultivation technique’s divine technique to conjure a Blazing Flame Golden Saber, swinging it fiercely at the ice dragon while shouting, "I’ll hold off this ice dragon for a while! Fellow Daoist Huang and Fellow Daoist Jiang, quickly open a retreat path. Let’s exit the array first, then figure out how to break it!"
With him blocking the ice dragon, Zhouyang quickly rescued Jiang Fengxian and the "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python." The three of them joined forces to fiercely attack a section behind them, eventually breaking through to the outside and seeing the green mountains and forests again.
"Phew, thank goodness Fellow Daoist Huang was here today. Otherwise, I would have been doomed. Thank you for saving my life. Please accept my gratitude!"
Outside the array, once Xiao Feng was the last to exit, he immediately cupped his hands in thanks to Zhouyang.
Seeing this, Zhouyang quickly stepped forward to support him: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, no need to stand on ceremony. Saving others is saving oneself. I, Huang, am only fulfilling my duty. How dare I accept such a grand gesture from you!"
While the two exchanged pleasantries, Li Zhengwei, who was outside the array keeping watch, was anxious and interrupted, asking, "You three came out so quickly? What’s the situation inside? Have you found a way to break the array?"
Earlier, when the array activated, the entire valley turned into a white mist that obscured everything, leaving him outside unable to see anything and only worried.
That’s why he asked.
With his interruption, Zhouyang and Xiao Feng stopped the formalities and immediately shared what happened inside the array, then the four of them discussed strategies to break the array.
After some discussion, the four of them decided on a new plan: an inside-outside pincer attack.
Zhouyang and Xiao Feng would enter the array to induce changes, while Jiang Fengxian and Li Zhengwei would attack the array from the outside, working together to deplete the array’s power.
With the plan set, Zhouyang and the others rested for half a day to restore their magical power before beginning their actions as planned.
The results proved that the inside-outside pincer attack was completely feasible.
Under the pincer attack, since the array was also under external assault, the pressure on Zhouyang and Xiao Feng inside the array was significantly reduced.
Having learned from their previous experience, Zhouyang released the "Qianyang True Flame" as soon as two quarter-hours passed, ready for the ice dragon’s return.
Of course, since the ice dragon was formed by the array’s power, as long as the array’s power wasn’t exhausted, its strength was endless. Zhouyang and Xiao Feng could barely defend themselves against it, and it was impossible to shatter it like the frost giant wolves.
But when the ice dragon couldn’t defeat them after two quarter-hours, the array changed once more.
At that moment, as the two struggled against the ice dragon’s attacks, a chilling gale suddenly arose within the array.
The sudden gale quickly turned the snowfield ice domain "realm" into a blizzard, accompanied by countless colorless and transparent wind blades wreaking havoc.
The duo, already struggling against the ice dragon, found themselves overwhelmed with the new development and quickly signaled their companions outside to launch a joint attack on a particular spot in the array, once again breaking a way out.
After retreating from the array this time, the four shared and discussed the information they gathered before Xiao Feng, the eldest and most experienced, summed up:
"We’ve basically figured it out now. With our strength, we must exit the array before it reaches the third stage of transformation, or we risk losing our lives."
"By this calculation, if we want to exhaust the power of this array, considering the time needed for magical power recovery, it will take at least two and a half to three months!"
Though a Tier Five Array is formidable, with the spirit vein grade in the valley reaching Tier Five, managing to break it in two to three months is quite fast.
Under normal circumstances, the four of them couldn’t break through a Tier Five Array with a host.
Thus, after Xiao Feng’s analysis, Zhouyang and the others didn’t voice any objections.
Over the next two to three months, Zhouyang and Xiao Feng went in and out of the array dozens of times, continuously depleting its power.
After two and a half months, upon entering the array again, they noticeably felt its power weakening.
The typical example was the frost giant wolves, which initially appeared in hundreds but now numbered fewer than sixty.
This discovery delighted the two, knowing that the day to break the array was not far away, they became more enthusiastic in battle.
Eight days passed in this manner, and they were unsure how many times they had entered the array, but the number of Frost Giant Wolves facing them was now barely thirty.
"It seems about right, the day to break the array is now, today let’s try the third gate and see if this array has a fourth change!"
Looking at the sparsely attacking Frost Giant Wolves, a spark of energy returned to Xiao Feng’s weary old face as he turned to Zhouyang with bright eyes and suggested.
"Let’s follow Brother Xiao’s suggestion and give it a try." Zhouyang nodded, agreeing promptly.
Two quarters of an hour later, the white Ice Dragon appeared as expected.
At this moment, the size of the white Ice Dragon had reduced yet again, now only thirty-some yards, shrunken to more than half its former size.
Of course, even then, Zhouyang and his companion could not eliminate it, at most they had gone from barely holding on initially to now gaining the upper hand.
Another two quarters of an hour passed, and the third change in the array appeared again.
"How about it? Fellow Daoist Huang, can you still hold on?"
Amidst the sky full of wind and snow, Xiao Feng and Zhouyang supported the protective shield, fending off the three-layer attack of ice cones, wind, snow, and wind blades, battling fiercely with the Ice Dragon.
"No problem, I feel I can manage."
Zhouyang pursed his lips, answering Xiao Feng’s inquiry while controlling the Flying Sword to continuously attack the Ice Dragon.
"Alright, then let’s continue to see if there is a fourth change."
One quarter of an hour!
Two quarters of an hour!
Three quarters of an hour!
After three quarters of an hour in the third change of the array, there were no further changes, which relieved both greatly.
"Alright, let’s exit first to recover Magical Power and restore our spirits, next time the four of us can enter the array together and break it once and for all!"
A moment later, the two exited the array, sharing the good news with Jiang Fengxian and Li Zhengwei outside, then seized the time to recover Magical Power preparing for the final battle.
Resting for a day, Zhouyang and the other three entered the array together, and within less than half an hour, they completely broke the array that had blocked them for three months.
With the array broken, the ’Realm’ dissipated, and the scenery of the mountain valley basin appeared before Zhouyang and the others once more.
Simultaneously with the array dissipating, the Tier Five Magical Artifact suppressing the array revealed its true form and landed on the ground.
This object was remarkably an ice mist-wreathed Frost Longsword, judged by the Spiritual Light it emitted, it was considered a Tier Five Middle Grade Magical Artifact.
"Let Li hold onto this item for now. Once the treasure hunt ends, we can distribute these treasures according to our agreement."
Just as Zhouyang eyed the Frost Longsword to discern whether the refining materials were ’Thousand-year-old Ice Jade’ or ’Thousand-Year Cold Iron,’ Li Zhengwei had already unleashed a burst of Magical Power, wrapping the artifact and storing it in his Storage Bag.
Observing this, not only Zhouyang’s brows furrowed slightly, but even Xiao Feng and Jiang Fengxian’s expressions showed slight displeasure.
All the way through, along with breaking the array this time, the greatest contributors were the three of them, Li Zhengwei’s current approach was definitely not principled.
However, the four had previously signed a ’Nether Blood Contract,’ defining the allocation shares for the rewards of this journey, thus despite displeasure with Li Zhengwei’s approach, Zhouyang and the three remained silent, tacitly agreeing with his method.
With the constraint of the Blood Contract and confidence in their own strength, the three were not afraid of Li Zhengwei hogging the treasures.
If Li Zhengwei truly planned on doing that, the three would be more than happy.
"What’s next? Shall we pick those Spirit Elixirs first, or head to that courtyard?"
Zhouyang suppressed his displeasure, pondering aloud.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhengwei immediately responded, "Definitely pick the Spirit Elixirs first, the courtyard is right there and won’t disappear."
"I also agree with picking the Spirit Elixirs first." Jiang Fengxian nodded, voicing her opinion.
Finally, Xiao Feng nodded slightly, saying, "Let’s pick the Spirit Elixirs first!"
Seeing this, Zhouyang promptly said, "Since fellow Daoists all suggest that, let’s proceed."
After speaking, his figure moved, heading to the medicine field to pick Spirit Elixirs.
However, at that moment, the faces of Zhouyang, Xiao Feng, and Jiang Fengxian changed almost simultaneously, all exclaiming: "Be careful, someone’s ambushing!"
Before the exclamation faded, several gleaming Magical Artifacts were already hurtling toward the four.