Chapter 1497 — The Beginning of the Trial
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Not bad! It seems everyone has been well-behaved today!" Xiao Qing swept her gaze over the crowd and the spirit beasts in their hands, then nodded.
The crowd could only smile bitterly. After the precedents already set, who would dare pull any little tricks right under the Ice Palace's nose? Would that not be courting death?
"Follow me, all of you. On the way to the trial there is to be no clamor and no fighting. Otherwise, don't blame me for being unpleasant!" With that, Xiao Qing turned around and walked forward at an unhurried pace.
No one dared to dawdle, and they hurried after her. Originally Yu Shan had meant to egg Feng Nitian on into making some small move against Yu Bing along the way, but now it seemed impossible. The Ice Palace people had already spoken their warning, and at such a time no one dared to defy them lightly.
The road at the beginning was flat and quite easy to walk, but once they entered the bounds of the Snow-Ice Spirit Mountain, the going grew harder and harder. Add to that the snow that swirled down without cease, and visibility along the way was very poor. Everyone circulated their own internal cultivation methods and kept themselves on guard.
Though Xiao Qing had said that fighting was not permitted on the road to the trial grounds, who could guarantee that no one would launch a sneak attack? In such poor visibility, if someone did ambush you, would you not be terribly unlucky?
They were all Profound Rank cultivators, and once they circulated their internal cultivation methods, their ears and eyes grew far sharper — just enough, in fact, to keep pace with Xiao Qing.
In truth, Xiao Qing had already deliberately held back her speed. Otherwise, with the strength of a Heaven Rank expert, it would be no exaggeration to say she could walk as swiftly as if she were flying.
"How is it? Holding up all right?" Yu Bing was somewhat worried about Wei Zhao. After all, walking like this was already hard enough for everyone. And Wei Zhao had a burden on his back — and it was plain to see that as he walked, he always turned his own body toward the wind, so that the wind and snow would not strike Feng Xiaoxiao's face.
Perhaps it made no difference at all to Feng Xiaoxiao, but it was merely an unconscious action on Wei Zhao's part.
"It's nothing!" Wei Zhao smiled. "She's actually very light... and besides, carrying her gives me even more drive..."
"Uh... I understand..." Yu Bing glanced at Wei Zhao, then at Feng Xiaoxiao's breasts pressed against Wei Zhao's back, and a look of "I get it" spread across his face.
"..." Seeing Yu Bing's lewd expression, Wei Zhao was momentarily at a loss for words. Where had this fellow's mind wandered off to? The drive he had meant was the thought of Feng Xiaoxiao's illness — that however bitter or exhausting it became, he had to keep going. What did that have to do with this?
Still, reminded by Yu Bing, Wei Zhao realized that it really was quite comfortable.
The group walked for a good hour and more before finally arriving at the foot of the Snow-Ice Spirit Mountain. There a line of Ice Palace disciples stood, all of them women dressed in white — though they did not look as young as the Ice Palace Mistress and Xiao Qing. Their features were quite ordinary as well, and they appeared to be thirty or forty years of age.
Their white garments differed from those of the Ice Palace Mistress. Hers was a flowing white gauze, while what these Ice Palace disciples wore was white cotton cloth, plain and unadorned.
What surprised Wei Zhao, however, was that every one of these Ice Palace disciples possessed strength at the Earth Rank or above, and the strongest among them had actually reached the peak of the late Earth Rank! Of course, there were no Heaven Rank experts among them.
To step into the Heaven Rank was probably no longer a matter of being an ordinary disciple.