"Boom! Boom!!"
With a series of earth-shaking explosions, the surrounding snow-capped mountains seemed to ignite, violently churning as if coming alive.
The frigid air instantly vaporized into thick white mist.
This mist surged like turbulent waves, rapidly spreading to envelop the entire fleet of flying ships.
The ships flickered in and out of visibility within the mist as temperatures plummeted, causing the vapor to quickly condense into frost.
A layer of frost soon coated the surfaces of all the flying vessels.
Facing this sudden crisis, the cultivators aboard abandoned all pretense and unleashed their most powerful techniques.
Li Xuanxiao watched the increasingly chaotic scene with furrowed brows, already contemplating retreat options.
".............."
Beneath the mountains, numerous figures stared intently at the trapped fleet.Clearly, they had prepared extensively for this ambush.
"Attacking such a large fleet is our first major operation," remarked the White-Furred Ape chieftain, gazing at the spectacle with awe.
"This success belongs to you."
Beside the ape leader stood a young man who seemed strikingly out of place—a human cultivator amidst a gathering of mountain spirits.
Even more remarkably, this human appeared to hold considerable status within their ranks.
Given the mountain spirits' notorious hostility toward humans, this sight defied all expectations.
The young man merely smiled faintly.
The ape chieftain continued praising, "Truly worthy of being a Shushan disciple—so different from us rough folk."
At the mention of "Shushan disciple," the young man's expression flickered momentarily.
The chieftain had encountered him thirty years prior during a mission gone wrong—pursued and fleeing for his life into these very mountains.
Normally, any human found in these peaks would be executed on sight.
By sheer chance, he'd been bound rather than immediately slain, awaiting execution later.
When the chieftain learned his prisoner was a Shushan disciple, everything changed.
Though from different worlds, the ape leader recognized Shushan's legendary reputation.
Deeming the captive valuable, he spared his life.
News traveled slowly through these frozen wastes.
Only much later did they learn of Shushan's destruction—a revelation that struck both the chieftain and the captive disciple simultaneously.
Over time, the chieftain came to admire the young man's brilliance and strategic mind.
With his counsel, the ape leader conquered neighboring tribes, uniting the snowfields under one banner.
Originally planning to sell the disciple for profit after exploiting his talents, the chieftain found himself unable to give the execution signal during a drunken feast.
Assassins waited in ambush—a dropped cup would seal Qin Wenke's fate.
Yet the cup remained raised.
".........."
"This time, we might actually bring down the entire fleet!" the chieftain exclaimed excitedly.
Qin Wenke shook his head. "Those ships hold formidable experts. They haven't shown their full strength yet because pushing them to desperation would cost us dearly, even in victory."
At dusk, the ape leader sent envoys to negotiate with the merchant convoy's leader.
Reading the outrageous demands, the merchant leader gritted his teeth in fury.
The first talks collapsed.
That night, fighting resumed. The next day, the ape leader arrived personally—with a human cultivator in tow.
Qin Wenke walked calmly beneath the hostile stares of every crewmember as they boarded.
"A human colluding with mountain spirits?"
"Since when do these tribes tolerate our kind?"
"He... looks strangely familiar."
".........."
Murmurs spread among the diverse crew until someone shouted:
"That's... a Shushan disciple!"
"What?!"
"Qin Wenke—I recognize him! A Shushan disciple!"
"Truly from Shushan?"
The battle-weary crowd seethed with resentment at this revelation.
But when the ape leader's piercing gaze swept across them, most averted their eyes under its pressure.
With a hearty laugh, the chieftain gestured for Qin Wenke to sit.
Glancing at the bloodied deck strewn with uncleared corpses, Qin Wenke showed no discomfort.
Soon, both parties reached agreement—the merchants recognizing this as their least terrible option.
Yet as they departed, the convoy leader couldn't resist a final jab.