Chapter 307: Chapter 184: Forced Body Search

Like a bedroll being whisked away, the several-meter-thick snow was instantly swept aside, revealing the hard permafrost beneath.

Gu Zheng put away his Red Abyss Blade and casually followed behind.

The Demon-Slaying Seal appeared in his hand. With a surge of Divine Wondrous power, he sent a message to Zuo Lingfeng.

If Zuo Lingfeng had also been transported to this snowy region, he would most likely receive it.

It was true that killing a large number of creatures allowed one to switch regions.

The first seven regions posed a limited threat.

But going to the eighth region would be disastrous.

And the ninth region was an even surer path to death.

Zuo Lingfeng didn’t know any of this, so of course Gu Zheng had to warn him.

He planned to wait in the snowy region for a day.

If he didn’t hear back from Zuo Lingfeng within that day, Gu Zheng would have to go looking for him.

Beyond just their bond as comrades, Gu Zheng owed Zuo Lingfeng a great debt for helping him obtain the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

For both personal and logical reasons, Gu Zheng couldn’t just stand by and watch Zuo Lingfeng die, trapped in the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm.

...

As it turned out, Zuo Lingfeng’s luck wasn’t so bad.

He, too, had been transported to the snowy region.

After following a horde of scurrying Snow Beasts and harvesting two more Celestial Gate Snow Lotuses, Gu Zheng received Zuo Lingfeng’s reply.

Gu Zheng immediately changed direction and, following the information from Zuo Lingfeng, sped toward his location.

WHOOSH~

WHOOSH!

He shattered through layer after layer of falling snow.

In less than half a minute, Gu Zheng found Zuo Lingfeng.

Zuo Lingfeng was in a small valley, locked in a fierce battle with a group of Ice Demons.

These Ice Demons were made entirely of icicles. When shattered or blown apart, they would scatter across the ground, reverting to simple ice and snow. Then, they would reassemble themselves and resume their attack on Zuo Lingfeng.

’They can’t be killed?’

And unlike the Bone Demons, they had no Soul Fire that could be extinguished to finish them off for good.

Despite his considerable power, Zuo Lingfeng was completely unable to deal with them.

"Zuo, I’ll give you a hand!"

SWOOSH~

Gu Zheng swung his Red Abyss Blade. With a surge of Divine Wondrous power, he unleashed waves of scorching Sword Gangs that melted the snow on the ground, along with the scattered shards of ice.

"Yiiiieee~!"

A series of shrill screams suddenly rang out, echoing through the valley.

The Ice Demons surrounding Zuo Lingfeng shrieked in unison, abandoned their attack, and fled in every direction.

Even the scattered ice shards and snow on the ground rolled away as if forming snowballs, scrambling to escape.

Gu Zheng didn’t pursue them, simply watching as they fled into the distance.

The main reason was that killing these Ice Demons yielded no Bloodshed, let alone any Demon Essence.

"Gu, thanks!"

Zuo Lingfeng sheathed his weapon and cupped his fist in a salute to Gu Zheng.

Then, he struck the hard permafrost—now exposed after the snow had fled—with his palm.

BOOM~

With a muffled boom, a hole was punched through the permafrost, its edges splintering with cracks.

A Celestial Gate Snow Lotus shot up from the hole, and Zuo Lingfeng snatched it out of the air.

’Huh?’

’A Celestial Gate Snow Lotus can jump by itself?’

Gu Zheng’s gaze swept over it, his sharp eyebrows rising. "That’s not a Celestial Gate Snow Lotus?"

It looked very much like a Celestial Gate Snow Lotus, but the one in Zuo Lingfeng’s hand had unusually developed roots. Its tendrils, like little arms and legs, continued to squirm ceaselessly even after being caught.

"It’s a Celestial Gate Snow Lotus, but this one has become sentient."

Zuo Lingfeng smiled and replied, "I chased it into this valley. The little critter hid underground and had those Ice Demons attack me. It’s clearly quite intelligent."

"Clearly,"

Gu Zheng remarked, surprised and impressed. "The snow moves, the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus moves... I wouldn’t be surprised if the rocks moved too."

"Stone Demons? I’ve run into them already," Zuo Lingfeng said. He tore the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus apart, found the Celestial Lotus Seeds inside, and tossed half of them to Gu Zheng.

Gu Zheng accepted them without ceremony.

"Speaking of which, Gu, your timing was perfect."

After storing away the Celestial Gate Snow Lotus, Zuo Lingfeng’s expression turned serious. "According to what you said, the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm is about to close again. I was just about to give up on those Ice Demons and go find some other Demon Fiends to kill so I could switch regions and head for the entrance to the Shadow Realm."

"It’s almost time already?"

Gu Zheng’s sharp eyebrows shot up.

’According to my calculations, there should be at least three days left before the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm closes.’

’Hearing Zuo Lingfeng’s words, Gu Zheng instantly realized just how quickly time must have been flowing during the short while he spent in the silent, starry expanse of the eighth region.’

’The cosmos is a vacuum, so it’s impossible to sense the passage of time.’

’Unless you’re deliberately tracking it, it’s truly difficult to perceive.’

"Then let’s go."

Gu Zheng gave a soft command. He connected his consciousness to the Divine Seed, merging with the world to sense the nine regions.

He scanned through them one by one and locked onto the first region, the one they had originally entered.

"Zuo, grab my shoulder," Gu Zheng said.

"Alright." Zuo Lingfeng quickly reached out and grabbed Gu Zheng’s shoulder. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

SHING!

The scene shifted.

They were transported from the snowy valley to an earthen slope.

On all sides of the slope, a desolate, yellow wasteland stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"This is the first region,"

Gu Zheng said. "Now I’ll sense for the direction of the Shadow Realm’s entrance."

The Divine Seed allowed him to accurately perceive the location of the vortex entrance.

Sang Qianying had told him this was a unique ability granted by the Divine Seed after it merged with the world.

"Alright."

Zuo Lingfeng took two steps back, scanning their surroundings and standing guard.

VMMMM~

Gu Zheng closed his eyes, using the Divine Seed to connect with the world and sense the fluctuations in space.

The spatial fluctuations around the Shadow Realm’s entrance were the most intense.

Soon, Gu Zheng had locked onto its location.

"Found it."

Opening his eyes, Gu Zheng deactivated the Divine Seed. "The entrance is that way," he called out. "Let’s go."

As his voice fell, he pushed off the ground and shot forward.

Zuo Lingfeng followed close behind.

WHOOSH~

WHOOSH!

A dry, cutting wind whipped past them.

The two of them flew side-by-side at a low altitude.