Chapter 291: Chapter 177: A Slash for a Slash

’The region changed again?’

Gu Zheng shot into the air, hovering as he scanned his surroundings.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a vast expanse of snow.

Just like the yellow plains and the vast mountain forests before it, this new landscape stretched on endlessly.

Gu Zheng didn’t mind the change of scenery. He was just curious about the mechanism behind these sudden shifts.

’Is it triggered by certain conditions? Or is it completely random?’

...

WHOOSH~

A frigid wind howled, carrying flurries of snow through the air.

Gu Zheng flew at a low altitude.

Entering this icy region actually saved him the trouble of searching for one.

After all, the most important treasure in the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm—the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus—could only be found in such an icy region.

However, the region was enormous, which made finding a Celestial Gate Snow Lotus incredibly difficult.

It mostly came down to luck.

Gu Zheng continued his low-altitude flight, extending his senses as he pushed forward in one direction against the swirling snow.

A search like this was truly a matter of luck.

Suddenly, Gu Zheng came to a halt, turning to look behind him and to the right.

For just a split second, he had felt a gaze from that direction, watching him.

Although it had vanished almost instantly, Gu Zheng had still detected it.

Now that he had turned, he activated his Eyes of Golden Flame and scanned the area.

There was nothing but accumulated snow.

’An illusion?’

"VWOOM—!"

His Divine Wondrous flared. Gu Zheng formed a Fist Seal and smashed it directly toward the spot.

With a thunderous BOOM, a huge patch of snow exploded, showering into the air and scattering everywhere.

In the large patch of cleared snowfield, a crater had formed. Its bottom and edges were riddled with cracks.

But the watching presence was still nowhere to be found.

’Interesting.’

Gu Zheng’s gaze shifted. He drew the Red Abyss Blade, infused it with his Divine Wondrous, and effortlessly unleashed a series of Sword Gangs.

SWOOSH~!

The scorching Sword Gangs shot out at an angle, sweeping horizontally across the snowfield.

Wherever they passed, the ice and snow instantly vaporized, leaving a wide, empty area in their wake.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Gu Zheng didn’t pause. He continued to swing his blade, unleashing one scorching Sword Gang after another to melt the deep snow that covered the ground.

This "melting" wasn’t turning it into slush or mist—the snow was vanishing completely.

In an instant, vast stretches of snowfield had reverted to hard, frozen earth.

With the meters-deep snow gone, the exposed ground was revealed to be permafrost, ancient and of unknown age.

"SWOOSH SWOOSH~"

As the scorching Sword Gangs swept onward, the snow farther away finally began to react.

In the distance, the thick blanket of snow suddenly seemed to come alive, coalescing into animals of various shapes and sizes that immediately began to flee.

’The snow came to life?’

’Was the watching presence from before the snow itself?’

Gu Zheng stopped swinging his blade, watching as the herd of Snow Beasts stampeded into the distance.

He had unleashed over a hundred Sword Gangs from the Red Abyss Blade and melted a huge area of snow, but he hadn’t detected the presence of any Spirit Essence or energy.

In other words, killing these Snow Beasts would just be a waste of his Divine Wondrous.

There were no Demon Points to be gained.

Although these fleeing Snow Beasts were indistinguishable from Demon Fiends, they were not ordinary Demon Fiends at all.

Blasting them apart wouldn’t kill them; they would simply disperse and turn back into snow.

Melting them with the power of the Red Abyss Blade yielded no rewards, either.

’So what would be the point in chasing them?’

Gu Zheng hovered in the air, watching as the tide of Snow Beasts swept away all the ice and snow, revealing the hard, frozen earth beneath.

With that, the intangible feeling of being watched vanished completely.

’So it really was the snow itself that was watching!’

Gu Zheng shook his head and turned to leave, but a flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Were those... a few flowers swaying in the distance?

WHOOSH!

In a flash, Gu Zheng shot through the air toward the spot.

When he got closer, he saw three open blossoms, like lotuses, growing out of the hard, frozen earth. A cool, crisp fragrance washed over him, instantly invigorating his Spirit and making his entire body feel cleansed.

’Celestial Gate Snow Lotus?’

Gu Zheng carefully examined the three lotuses, his gaze fixed on the center of the blossoms.

He saw several purple-black lotus seeds, each shimmering with a faint, mysterious light.

Just looking at them and breathing in their fragrance made the blood and energy within Gu Zheng stir restlessly.

Celestial Lotus Seeds!

These three fully bloomed, faintly glowing, snow-white lotuses were none other than the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus!

’So the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus grows buried in the snow?’

Buried under meters of snow, how could anyone possibly find a Celestial Gate Snow Lotus without clearing it all away?

If the snowy region were smaller, one could conceivably melt all the snow. But with a snowfield of unknown size, doing so was clearly impossible.

Therefore, it all boiled down to two words.

Pure luck!

And Gu Zheng’s luck was quite good. A few slashes from his Red Abyss Blade had forced the snow to flee, leaving the three Celestial Gate Snow Lotuses unable to hide or escape, completely exposed.

SHHH~

His Divine Wondrous surged, performing the Absorption on the seeds.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

From the three Celestial Gate Snow Lotuses, he Absorbed a total of seventeen Celestial Lotus Seeds.

A single Celestial Lotus Seed was equivalent to three to five third-rank Demon Pills.

Heh!

What a haul!

A smile touched Gu Zheng’s lips as he swung the Red Abyss Blade again.

SLICE! SLICE! SLICE~

The Sword Gang formed a thin line that flashed past the roots of the three Celestial Gate Snow Lotuses.

Then, with a single use of Absorption, he harvested the Snow Lotuses as well and placed them in his Storage Leaf.

The Celestial Lotus Seeds were an important Treasure Medicine, and the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus itself was also a rare Spirit Medicine.

Since he’d stumbled upon them, Gu Zheng certainly wasn’t going to pass them up.

...

With both the Snow Lotuses and their seeds secured, Gu Zheng was no longer in a hurry to leave. He continued to follow the Snow Beasts, hoping to find more Celestial Gate Snow Lotuses.

Following the Snow Beasts offered a much greater chance of finding more Snow Lotuses than searching aimlessly on his own.

He followed them for the better part of the day.

After fleeing for most of the day, the Snow Beasts noticed that Gu Zheng was no longer swinging his blade or unleashing scorching Sword Gangs. One by one, they slowly came to a halt, turning back into snow and settling into mounds and drifts.

’Not running anymore?’

’That won’t do!’

Gu Zheng raised his blade, about to strike again and unleash another scorching Sword Gang.