The howling cold winds of the Eternal Frost Tundra were amplified into a deafening roar at the foot of Frostblade Snow Mountain. The massive mountain body resembled an ancient ice frost giant sword, thrusting straight into the sky shrouded by eternal storms.
"Huff..." Fa took a deep breath of the bone-chilling, thin air that made her lungs faintly ache. Her right eye's star pupil gazed through the wrapped cloth strips at the rolling, thunder-flashing violent cloud layer above. The essence of cold silence flowed quietly within her body; that power originating from the end resonated strangely with this environment, causing the most violent blizzards around her to unconsciously slow down and divert within a few meters of her, forming a relatively calm airflow circle. This would be one of the key assets for climbing this divine mountain.
"Set up camp and rest." Fa's voice pierced through the wind and snow, clear and steady. "Depart at dawn."
Lin Ya's emerald green body shimmered with flowing light, her roots deeply burrowing into the frozen soil, and a sturdy life wooden hut quickly rose from the ground. This time, the walls and roof of the wooden hut were interwoven with intricate ice crystal patterns and emerald wood grains, emanating a dual glow that resisted extreme cold and impacts. Inside, the root floor emitted warmth, and the soothing herbal tea aroma prepared by Lirian before leaving permeated the air. Everyone silently organized their equipment, the atmosphere heavy and focused.
Karim's carefully prepared "Frostblade Climber" emergency kit was taken out one by one. The specially made mountaineering ice axe gleamed with cold light, its tip exceptionally sharp; the reinforced cables with strong grappling hooks were neatly coiled; the anti-cold and anti-freeze ointment emitted a spicy herbal scent; a small bottle of crystalline 'Ice-Melting Powder' was carefully stored. Most importantly, the 'Rune Goggles' engraved with intricate runes. Fa put them on, and the runes on the frame faintly glowed. Instantly, the violent blizzard became clearly discernible in her vision, the blinding snow blindness disappeared, and even the space-distorting blizzard turbulence seemed weakened by a few degrees.
"Good stuff!" Tisk exclaimed in admiration, as he checked the runes on his lava hammer with rough fingers, blue cold air flowing between the dark red lava patterns. "With this thing, at least we won't become blind with eyes open."
"Equipment status good, cold resistance coefficient increased." Rex's electronic eye scanned everyone's equipment, and several nano-drones covered in thin frost flew out from the armor seams, beginning to preheat their energy cores.
Kayla stretched her muscles, lightning and cold air alternating under her bronze skin; she was adapting to the finer control after her fourth transformation. "This wind... sounds like a giant beast roaring overhead. I really want to go up and give it a punch." She grinned, her fighting spirit high.
Arya gently adjusted Fa's collar, her fingertips' warm life energy soothing the hidden pain in Fa's right eye. "Be careful." She whispered, her eyes filled with unspoken worry and trust.
Yuyuer held the crystal ball, gazing at the slowly rotating ice crystal storm within, seemingly rehearsing possible dangers. Zhamisi quenched her poison fang curved blades with a new mixed deadly poison, her snake tail coiled, ready to strike. Salsa's mechanical cat quietly crouched beside Lin Ya's roots, its amber electronic eyes occasionally flashing with ghostly light.
The night passed without words, only the howling of the wind and snow as the eternal background sound.
Dawn Climb: Essence Shelter and Storm Assault
When the first pale ray of morning light barely penetrated the thick storm clouds, the team was already geared up and ready.
"Depart!" Fa's voice sounded somewhat faint in the wind, yet carried an unquestionable decisiveness.
Without sleds and war elephants, the climb relied entirely on manpower. Fa walked at the front, the power of her cold silence essence naturally dissipating, like an invisible repulsive barrier, forcibly pushing aside the densest "white devil" snow fog that could engulf vision ahead, forming a relatively clear path with slightly eased wind force. This was not absolute shelter; violent blizzards still whipped from the sides, lashing at everyone's bodies, but at least the path ahead was visible, greatly improving travel efficiency and safety.
"Follow Fa! Maintain formation!" Arya followed closely behind, the Storm Bow on her back, hands gripping the ice axe tightly, each step solidly nailed into the hard ice.
Tisk, Kayla, and other strength-type characters were responsible for carving more stable footholds or dealing with ambushes. Rex's mechanical feet popped out ice claws, firmly gripping the ice surface, while continuously scanning the environment and providing warnings. Zhamisi's snake tail wrapped around the reinforced cable at her waist, moving flexibly on the steep ice walls. Yuyuer and Lin Ya were protected in the middle; the former handled remote support and illusionary distractions, the latter continuously emitted life glow to nourish everyone's stamina and used roots to sense movements under the ice layer. Salsa's mechanical cat clung to Rex or Tisk's shoulder, ready to release scouting shadows at any time.
Relying on Fa's essence repulsion and the rune goggles' assistance, plus everyone's coordination, the climbing speed exceeded expectations. In less than half a day, they had passed the gentle slope at the mountain foot and entered the truly treacherous area of Frostblade Snow Mountain—the ice-sealed cliffs covered in eternal hard ice, with angles as steep as walls. Huge ice crevasses like abyssal giant mouths lay across the necessary path.
"Stop!" Rex's electronic eye emitted a red light alarm. "The ice bridge ahead has an extremely fragile structure, depth below exceeds three hundred meters. Suggest detour or reinforcement."
Detouring meant spending several more hours, with greater risks in unknown areas. Tisk stepped forward, his stout body steady as a rock in the gale. "Reinforce! Watch this old man!" He roared lowly, smashing his lava hammer heavily into the ice wall at the ice bridge connection. This time, the runes on the hammer body were not pure scorching red light, but interwoven dark red and ghostly blue! "Forge Rune · Ice-Fire Suppression!"
Buzz! A strange shockwave fusing lava high heat and cold silence ice seal spread out. The struck ice wall did not melt; instead, under the instant alternation of high temperature and extreme cold, its internal structure was forcibly compressed and densified, emitting a piercing "creak" sound. The originally fragile and loose ice crystals were forcibly "forged" into nearly transparent hard ice crystals, like embedding a massive reinforced crystal, instantly stabilizing the ice bridge's foundation several times over.
"Done! Cross quickly!" Tisk wiped the ice shards from his beard, his voice proud. Everyone quickly and orderly crossed this natural chasm.
However, the trials of Frostblade Snow Mountain were far from over.
Mana Storm: Baptism of Elemental Chaos
Just as the team had crossed the ice bridge and reached a relatively open ice plain slope, a sudden change occurred!
Woo—Howl—!
Not wind sounds, but countless sharp, chaotic, malice-filled howls rising from all directions! The sky suddenly darkened further, not from thickening clouds, but from countless out-of-control, cyan-gray translucent wind elemental spirits condensing and manifesting from the blizzard! Their forms twisted like shredded rags, yet containing terrifying cutting power. These were Frostblade Snow Mountain's unique "Mana Storm"—a disaster phenomenon formed by the twisted fusion of violent wind elements and thin mana under extreme cold and high pressure!
The storm formed instantly! Hundreds of visible, cyan-gray wind blades composed of compressed air and sharp ice crystals, like out-of-control meat grinders, swept indiscriminately from all directions with piercing shrieks! The air was cut with explosive sounds, and the hard ice surface was instantly covered in deep scars. More terrifyingly, these wind blades contained mana-disrupting fluctuations, with extreme erosive power against pure energy defenses!
"Defend!" Fa shouted sharply, her right eye's star pupil flashing with ghostly light, "Time Stagnation!" Not on a large scale, but precisely applied to the trajectories of several fatal wind blades targeting her and Arya, suddenly slowing their speed.
"Light Wind Barrier!" Arya reacted extremely quickly, instantly drawing the Storm Bow fully. Light elements and wind elements coexisted, forcibly fused with the heart control of Iron Heart Therapy! A energy shield swirling with white light and wind-generated tornadoes, like a circular ring, instantly unfolded before her and Fa. Sizzle sizzle sizzle! Several stagnated wind blades crashed into the Light Wind Barrier, emitting piercing friction sounds, energy consumed violently, yet barely blocked!
"Thunder Protection!" Kayla roared, her whole body erupting with blinding lightning, Thunderstorm Giant Claws form instantly covering her arms, crossed in front of her. The violent lightning formed an electromagnetic barrier, deflecting or shattering incoming wind blades with electricity, but the lightning also rapidly dimmed.
"Poison Mist Vortex · Erosion Wind!" Zhamisi danced wildly with dual blades, the ink-green deadly poison mist not diffusing but forcibly rotated and compressed into a high-speed spinning poison mist vortex. Though the deadly poison couldn't directly kill wind elements, its strong corrosive energy could weaken the wind blades' structure, greatly reducing their power. Several wind blades crashed into the vortex, dissipating like mud cows into the sea.
"Ice Crystal Barrier!" Yuyuer raised her dragon bone staff high, mobilizing the newly comprehended cold air and illusions within her. A massive, crystal-clear ice wall instantly rose from the ground; the wall was not solid but composed of countless tiny, high-speed rotating ice crystal mirrors! Incoming wind blades hit the ice wall; some were blocked by the hard ice, more were refracted and deflected by the rotating ice crystal mirrors, even colliding and canceling each other.
"Root Entanglement · Life Shield!" Lin Ya's roots grew madly, interweaving into a thick emerald wooden wall, its surface flowing with life glow and ice crystal patterns. Wind blades cut into it, wood chips flying, but the wood's tenacity infused with vitality was extremely strong, plus the ice crystal reinforcement, stubbornly withstanding several waves of impacts.
"Energy Shield Full Open! Drone Swarm, Frost Disruption Bombs, Launch!" Rex's armor hummed, blue-white energy shield expanding to maximum, while dozens of nano-drones whistled out, firing ice-blue energy bombs. These energy bombs didn't directly attack wind blades but exploded on their paths, releasing extreme cold disruption fields, instantly destabilizing the wind blades' structures, causing them to collapse prematurely or sharply reduce power.
Tisk swung his heavy weapon, directly smashing the leaked, weakened wind blades.
This sudden mana storm lasted a full two hours. Everyone displayed their divine abilities, pushing their new powers and tacit understanding to the extreme, barely holding the line in this baptism of elemental chaos. When the last wind blade dissipated, everyone was panting, energy greatly depleted. Lin Ya immediately released stronger life glow to restore everyone's stamina. Yuyuer's face was pale, evidently the large-scale ice crystal illusion had consumed a lot.
"Damn ghost place!" Kayla shook her somewhat numb thunder claws, covered in fine cutting marks. "Tougher than hundreds of snow wolves!"
"Energy consumption 38%, shield strength decreased. Suggest finding a relatively safe area to rest soon." Rex reported the status.
Fa looked upward, the storm clouds seeming even lower. "Can't stop. This kind of storm could come again anytime. Continue forward, target the mid-mountain platform."
Ice Plain Giant Beasts: Deadly Hunt of Steel Needle Snow Apes
Crossing the ice plain slope, the terrain became even more treacherous. Massive glacial fracture zones formed bottomless ice abysses, connected only by narrow ice ridges. The blizzard continued, but under Fa's essence repulsion, visibility was still manageable. Just as everyone carefully advanced along a blade-like ice ridge, Rex and Lin Ya's warnings sounded simultaneously!
"High-energy life reaction! Left ice wall, approaching at high speed!"
"Careful! Something's moving in the ice!"
Before the words finished, the left ice wall covered in thick snow exploded! Several massive white shadows wrapped in sky-filling ice blocks and snow foam pounced toward the team like cannonballs!
These creatures were enormous, ape-like in form. Their bodies were covered in half-meter-long, steel needle-like erect pure white fur, the tips flickering with ghostly blue cold light, evidently containing terrifying ice cold power. Their faces were ferocious, fangs exposed, limbs robust, fingertips sharp ice-blue hooked claws. Most chilling was their movements—leaping freely on steep ice walls, landing silently, even briefly blending into the ice snow background like ghosts—"Steel Needle Snow Apes"!
"Roar—!" The particularly robust snow ape leader let out a deafening roar, the fishy wind shockwave causing everyone's eardrums to sting. Its massive body carried tremendous force, huge ice-blue hooked claws tearing the air, straight for the seemingly "weakest" Yuyuer and Lin Ya in the team center! The other three pounced toward Fa, Arya, and Kayla respectively, their tactics clear—divide and surround, prioritize casters and remote support!
"Yuyuer!" Zhamisi was extremely furious, her snake tail fiercely kicking the ice surface, speed erupting to the extreme, poison fang curved blades carrying ink-green afterimages, straight stabbing the snow ape leader's ribs! However, the snow ape leader's steel needle fur suddenly erected and hardened, like donning a layer of ice spike armor! Ding ding dang dang! Zhamisi's curved blades chopped on it, sparking a trail of fire, only cutting a few steel needles, the venom blocked by thick ice layers, hard to penetrate!
The snow ape leader's giant claw continued unabated! It seemed about to smash Yuyuer and Lin Ya into meat paste!
"Don't underestimate a treant!" Lin Ya roared lowly, emerald green light shining brightly! Several extremely thick wooden roots burst out like giant pythons from the ice, instantly entangling the snow ape leader's giant claw wrists! Ice crystal patterns flickered on the roots, granting them astonishing toughness and cold resistance, stubbornly halting the terrifying smashing momentum! At the same time, Yuyuer's crystal ball blazed with blue light: "Illusion Tide · Ice Crystal Cage!" Countless twisted light ice crystals instantly condensed around the snow ape leader's head, though unable to fully trap it, severely disrupting its vision and perception.
This brief block gave Kayla reaction time! "Your opponent is me!" She abandoned defense against her own snow ape, directly activating "Ice Thunder Charge," her whole body turning into a stream of ice thunder interwoven light, ruthlessly crashing into the snow ape leader's side waist! Boom! The impact with immense force made the snow ape leader's massive body stagger, the claw toward Yuyuer completely deviating.
"Thunderstorm Heavy Fist!" Kayla pressed the advantage, thunderstorm giant claws wrapped in blinding arcs, ruthlessly smashing into the snow ape leader's shoulder blade! Piercing bone-cracking sounds and scorched smell came simultaneously!
On the other side, the snow ape pouncing toward Fa, its giant claw halfway, found the target eerily "disappearing" from place! Not instant movement, but Fa activating "Time Stagnation" at the critical moment, twisting her own time flow, dodging the fatal strike with an almost impossible low slide step, while her short blade infused with earth mana ruthlessly stabbed the snow ape's relatively soft ankle tendon! Puff! The short blade sank in, yellow earth mana erupting, causing intense pain and sluggishness.
Arya displayed elven agility, backflipping in the instant the snow ape pounced, the Storm Bow already drawn full in mid-air. "Wind Binding · Multi Whirlwind!" Several arrows wrapped in strong whirlwinds precisely hit the snow ape's limb joints, the strong binding force instantly deforming its massive body, the pounce missing, heavily smashing into the ice surface.
The snow ape pouncing toward Kayla was blocked by Tisk's lava hammer! The lava hammer shattered the steel needle fur on the snow ape's arm, bringing out a spray of ice-blue blood; making it roar in pain.
Rex's ion cannon locked on the snow ape bound by Arya: "Superconducting Freeze Bomb, Launch!" The ghostly blue energy bomb hit the target's chest, instantly releasing absolute low temperature, freezing and brittling a large patch of steel needle fur and skin on its chest! "Now!" Fa seized the opportunity, her figure like lightning, short blade infused with cold silence essence's icy power stabbing like a venomous snake into the brittled area! Pale white cold air madly surged through the wound, instantly freezing the snow ape's internals! Its massive body stiffened, crashing down.
Salsa's mechanical cat's eyes flashed with ghostly light: "Shadow Falcon, Disrupt Sight and Sound!" Several falcons composed of shadows and cold air shrieked toward the remaining snow apes' faces, disrupting their perception. At the same time, she lowly shouted: "Undead Revival · Ice Skeleton Assault!" Several skeletons flickering with ghostly blue soul fire drilled out from under the ice layer, fearlessly hugging the snow apes' legs, though instantly torn apart, successfully delaying their movements.
The battle was swift and brutal. Relying on the team's tacit coordination and individual power bursts, the four ferocious steel needle snow apes were finally slain. But the team paid a price: Kayla's thunder claws had several deep bone-visible claw marks, Tisk's shoulder armor torn, cold invading his body. Lin Ya's roots snapped a few, glow slightly dimmed. Yuyuer's face was even paler.
"Quickly treat wounds! These beasts' claws and fur have cold poison!" At this time, the ointment left by Lirian and Arya's life energy came in handy immediately.
Mid-Mountain Avalanche: Hand of the Dead and Ice Anchor Power
After treating injuries, the team continued upward. As altitude climbed, wind force became more terrifying, temperature low enough to freeze nasal cavities with breath. The air was thin enough to cause dizziness. They finally reached the mid-mountain waist—a relatively flat ice platform formed by massive ice waterfalls. One side of the ice platform was a steep ice waterfall, the other a bottomless cliff, connected upward only by a narrow ice ridge.
Just as everyone stepped onto the ice platform, slightly relaxing and preparing for a brief rest, disaster struck!
Rumble rumble—!!!
A muffled yet mountain-shaking roar came from above! Not thunder, but the terrifying sound of tens of thousands of tons of accumulated snow and ice blocks cracking and sliding!
"Avalanche!!!" Rex's alarm was sharp and piercing, electronic eye locking upward—only to see at the ice waterfall top, a large overhanging glacier covered in thick snow, due to accumulated vibrations from previous mana storm and battle, plus extreme low temperature causing ice layer brittling, finally unable to bear, cracking and collapsing!
Like a white sky curtain toppling! Tens of thousands of tons of ice snow mixed with house-sized ice blocks formed a world-destroying white flood, surging down toward the narrow ice platform below with overwhelming momentum! Speed so fast, range so wide, nowhere to escape! The ice platform where everyone was completely shrouded in death's shadow!
"It's over..." Tisk's face turned ashen, the runes on his lava hammer dimming. In the face of such massive natural heavenly might, individual power seemed so insignificant.
"No!" Fa's right eye star pupil instantly erupted with unprecedented ghostly light! "Time Stagnation!" She squeezed out all her mental power, expanding the ability to the limit, attempting to cover the entire area above the team! However, the avalanche's scale was too large! Her mental power crashed into an invisible giant wall, intense backlash making her star pupil bleed again, vision blackening, barely stagnating a small front area of ice snow, but more ice snow flood behind still pressed down irresistibly!
At this critical juncture!
"Salsa!!" Yuyuer shouted hoarsely.
"Eternal Frost Guard! Hold it for me—!!!" Salsa's mechanical cat shell emitted a sharp hum, her soul body erupting with unprecedented dark glow, with desperate madness! The accumulated snow and ice layer at the ice platform edge churned violently!
Roar! Awoo!
Countless skeletons flickering with pale soul fire, shadow demon wolf knights clad in ice armor, even dozens of "Shadow Frost War Elephants" composed of massive ice beast skeletons and resentment, like a legion crawling from hell, struggled out from under the ice layer! They didn't charge, but under Salsa's command, unhesitatingly used their bodies, bones, resentment energy, layer upon layer above the team, constructing a "flesh" dam of undead bones and extreme cold resentment!
Boom! Boom boom boom!
The avalanche flood ruthlessly crashed into the undead dam! Skeletons and demon wolf knights were instantly crushed into bone powder and ice shards, shadow frost war elephants emitted silent wails, massive skeletal bodies trembling violently, cracking! But this barrier forcibly piled with undead miraculously bought the team ten precious seconds!
"Rex! Below!" Fa endured the head-splitting pain and roared hoarsely.
"Ice Anchor Fix! Maximum Power!" Rex instantly understood Fa's intent. His back armor plates popped open, two thick, flickering ghostly blue cold light anchor devices shot out with shrieks into the deep ice platform below! The anchor heads instantly spread barbs, releasing terrifying ultra-low temperature, forcibly freezing themselves with surrounding ice layers into one! At the same time, dozens of reinforced cables shot from the anchor bodies, precisely wrapping around each team member's waist or arms!
The undead dam completely collapsed! Endless ice snow flood engulfed the ice platform!
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The earth-shattering roar and vibration lasted a full minute. The ice platform's location was completely buried under tens of meters of ice snow.