Chapter 1359: [10Year] Secret of the Ice Sea
They assumed He Xiaotian was alone, but this was actually a terrifying conspiracy! The three clan heads were all much older than Han Chen, each sporting white hair. Yet they were still in high spirits like tigers. Seeing this, Han Yunxi and Long Feiye exchanged looks and knew the situation was bad.
The He, Qi, and Su clans, combined with the Shangguan Clan in Mysterious Continent's south, were considered the Four Great Clans of the four cardinal directions in Mysterious Continent. The Wolf Sect wasn't part of them, but its strength was on par with the Shangguan family. Because the Wolf Sect had always been lowkey, it never participated in mundane affairs. Only after Han Xiang took control did it show up frequently in the affairs of the southern region. Actually, He Xiaotian had secretly met with the Shangguan Clan Head years ago to test his thoughts about Cloud Realm Continent. If the other was willing, the powers of the four great clans combined could easily divide up Cloud Realm. But the Shangguan Clan Head wasn't interested in Cloud Realm Continent, so the He Clan Head threw out an olive branch to Han Xiang instead.
Han Xiang wasn't as strong as Han Chen and was simply considered a pawn by the three clan heads. Moreover, they also had another huge secret unrelated to Cloud Realm Continent!. It concerned the Ice Sea. They three of them had spent over a decade unraveling it. Naturally, the fewer who knew about it, the better. In their eyes, Han Xiang had no right to be part of the secret.
Currently, the cracks were still spreading across the surface of the Ice Sea. Standing on its surface made one feel like the earth was splitting apart, but no one paid it any mind under the circumstances. Han Chen, Han Yunxi, and Long Feiye were surrounded by the other trio. Leaving aside the fact that Han Chen and Long Feiye were still recuperating, even the two of them at full strength had no chance of winning against their current opponents. After all, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi didn't know these foes at all. They had only cultivated true qi for around a decade, which was only enough to put them in the top five of the current generation. The trio before them were the top of the top, ranking in the top ten of all Mysterious Continent experts!
Han Chen himself was ranked fifth in Mysterious Continent's experts, while the He Clan Head was #6, the Su Clan Head #7, and the Qi Clan Head #4. Their strength was unfathomable! As long as Qi Lianjue held back Han Chen, either He Xiaotian or Su Qicheng could easily eliminate Han Yunxi and Long Feiye's lives.
It was clear that an all-out brawl was not an option!
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye stood back-to-back while Han Chen stood on their right. The three of them faced the three clan heads while remaining on guard.
"If these three families wanted us dead after teaming up, they would've killed us already. There's no need to go to such lengths," Han Yunxi whispered.
"It must be related to the Ice Sea melting and Phoenix power," Long Feiye muttered back.
Han Chen's thoughts were an enigma, but they were probably similar to the couple's guesses. Since full-out fighting wasn't an option, they could only be prudent.
Han Yunxi said coldly, "I've long heard of the Mysterious Continent's Four Cardinal Clan Heads. Heheh, I didn't expect you all to be so shameless and bully the weak. Sneak attacking us makes you audacious old beasts!"
Even after being cursed so thoroughly, the three clan heads didn't move. They seemed to be waiting for something and were in no rush. What was it? Enough to have them bear such humiliation? Han Yunxi grew doubtful, but Long Feiye muttered, "It doesn't seem like they're surrounding us, but more like…"
Han Chen suddenly unsheathed his sword. "Kill!"
Yet the three clan heads merely backed away without intentions to attack. They only observed.
Strange…
"What are they waiting for? It has to be related to the splitting ice!" Han Yunxi was convinced.
But as soon as she poke, the ice beneath their feet moved strangely. The trio immediately leaped into the air at the same time a small section of ice collapsed beneath them. On the fragmented surface a huge hole appeared, depthless and lined with frost. The entire sea shook in response like a massive earthquake, fragmenting the ice even further until it collapsed and began to melt. At this moment, the three clan heads had taken to the skies as well. They actually combined powers to send a burst of mighty energy into the hole! Heaven knows how deep it was, but the energy blast showed had no echoes as it blasted in.
"There must be a secret to the ice melt! They're trying to speed it up! Definitely!" Han Yunxi cried in alarm.
With these people's strength, it would be easy enough to kill her and Long Feiye before wresting Cloud Realm Continent into their hands. Their true motive was to melt the Ice Sea! Flooding the northern region of Cloud Realm Continent was but a small part of their goals, so there must be an even bigger secret behind it!
For certain!
"Stop them!" Long Feiye and Han Yunxi chorused.
Unexpected, the large ice cave beneath them suddenly erupted with a chilling aura that was also extremely dazzling. Within the frosty aura was a palm-sized spherical ice crystal that slowly ascended from its depths. It was just as fragmented as the sea, but a powerful force emanated from its core.
"That's it!" Long Feiye's voice was cold.
Although they were blank on details, it was certain this ice crystal was the reason behind the Ice Sea melting. The three masters must have been pumping it full of power! And the Phoenix power must be the key to awakening the ice crystal that the trio worked together to lure out from its thousands-year slumber. The reason why the Ice Sea had remained frozen for a thousand years with many strange occurrences was because a piece of thousand-year-old xuan ice slept at its bottom. Once awakened, the Ice Sea would begin to break apart and melt. If you broke apart the xuan ice, its powers would overflow and could be absorbed by the body. Abruptly, the three clan heads teamed up again and attacked the ice from the perimeter!
The ice crystal withstood their assault and cracked even further. Beneath it, the entire sea of ice seemed to suffer a huge blow and split even further.
"They want to destroy the xuan ice! And the Ice Sea!" Han Yunxi screeched.
"Protect that ice crystal!" Han Chen roared.
Han Chen raised his sword to attack Qi Lianjue while Han Yunxi and Long Feiye joined forces with him in front and her in back to target the He Clan Head!
#4 Qi Lianjue was very arrogant and didn't take Han Chen seriously at all. His focus was still on the ice cave as he raised a sword to deal with Han Chen one-handed. One had to admit that Han Chen's true qi was one whole level lower than Qi Lianjue's. Moreover, he was injured, so the block was enough to send him flying. He landed on the surface of the ice and sank in one chi deep before spitting up fresh blood.
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye weren't doing well either. Long Feiye shielded from the front while Han Yunxi remained behind him to use poison arts. But faced with Mysterious Continent's experts, the effects were miniscule. She was sensed as soon as she tried poisons. The He Clan Head didn't even need to evade her, but just used his body's true qi to deflect all of her needles. She could only used the poison storage space to take back the needles before they hit Long Feiye instead. After three moves, Long Feiye was knocked down onto the ice. Afraid to battle outright, she quickly chased after him and helped him up.
Three moves!
Long Feiye was a fifth-level martial arts master, but could still take three moves from the He Clan Head's seventh-level skills. If this spread across Mysterious Continent, it would be nothing short of a miracle! This had never happened in Mysterious Continent history. Leaving aside a fifth-rank martial arts expert, even a sixth-rank wouldn't be able to take three of He Clan Head's moves!
But nobody cared about miracles at a time like this. It was only a difference of strong and weak.
And goals!
"Abominable!" Long Feiye wiped away the blood by his lip, refusing to accept reality. He wanted to charge again, but the three clan heads once more combined their powers to re-attack the ice crystal!
Heavens!
The ice crystal was just short of breaking into pieces. Another serious blow would shatter it completely! By then all of the Ice Sea would break apart with unthinkable consequences! Long Feiye and Han Yunxi didn't hesitate and headed towards the ice crystal. If they couldn't stop the attack, they would block it with their bodies!
But Han Chen's speed exceeded them both!
Before the trio's energy hit the crystal, Han Chen rushed in front of it and endured both its chilling aura and the triple-fortified blast coming his way! In a flash, blood gushed out of his mouth and his whole body was knocked down to the edge of the ice hole. He almost fell in. Heaven knows how much damage he incurred, but he sprawled on the ground as blood slowly flowed from his body to stain the ice red.
"Father-in-law!"
"Father!"
Long Feiye and Han Yunxi exclaimed at the same time. They had probably never called him with such heartfelt feelings.
In the past ten years, every spring was spend tasting tea at Celestial Fragrance Teahouse in the southern mountains. Every summer saw Rui'er taught martial arts at Clearbreeze Peak. At the end of each year, Long Feiye sent people to place a present at the entrance to Clearbreeze Peak's secret cave. At the first day of the first month, Long Feiye, Han Yunxi, and both children received red envelopes in exchange.
The likes of Tang Zijin wouldn't dare gift Long Feiye red envelopes even if he was qualified. Long Feiye had already forgotten how young he was when he stopped receiving them from his elders. Despite his cold personality and powerful martial arts, despite the Ten-Year Agreement between them, Han Chen had long been considered family!