Chapter 004: The Fate of a Disposable Pawn

Standing at the very end of the line, Lin Zhan cast a sidelong glance, secretly surveying the group and quietly counting, “One, two, three… thirteen!” Including himself, there were only thirteen people. Adding the third young lady, Qin Qingxuan, and the young Daoist at her side—her attendant Lian Ming—they amounted to just fifteen in total.

The Qin family, once famed for a force of ten thousand, now reduced to barely over a dozen! Good heavens, this was terrifying. Lin Zhan felt as if he had truly become cannon fodder in another world; perhaps in the next moment he’d be dead. Was this a dream, or a game? If he died, could he revive and go home?

What nagged him most was that, instead of tumbling into a bath filled with floating red petals and a beautiful lady, or stumbling across an exotic beauty sunbathing, he had managed, of all things, to fall into a pit of corpses.

“Sigh, I really opened the wrong way!”

After counting heads and rousing the group with a stirring speech, Qin Qingxuan at last wiped her tears away and led the party in the direction where figures had soared through the sky.

Lin Zhan turned to look at the imposing white city they were leaving behind. Their path was taking them farther and farther away.

“If only I could visit a grand city like that, it would be worth dying for!” he thought.

Along the way, Fang Daguang—the honest-faced man, noticing Lin Zhan’s confusion and youthful inexperience—decided he must be a greenhorn, or a bumpkin from some backwater, and so he began to patiently explain the situation.

The City of Blue Ice opened once every three years. Lin Zhan had arrived just as the gates had closed once more. Now, a new three-year cycle was beginning, and this month marked the competition among elite youths of all races for the coveted spots available three years hence. Those who succeeded would obtain superior cultivation techniques and resources, bringing glory to their clans.

The competition was brutal. Every tribe, family, and sect outside the City of Blue Ice would fall into bloody chaos, battling for the right to enter the city. It was this chaos that had nearly wiped out the Qin clan.

Blazing Ice Mountain was the final gathering point where the fateful qualifications would be decided. All young people from sects, clans, and tribes would rush there, enduring countless battles along the way—only survivors would reach their prize.

The Qin family, a low-ranking human clan in this icy world, had never produced a cultivator. They relied solely on their physical strength and primitive weapons to fight hostile tribes and the harsh elements. This was why, to win even a single entry to the city, the entire clan would mobilize, fighting side by side, refusing retreat no matter the cost.

If even one among them was chosen by a major sect, it would transform the fortunes of the whole tribe, granting them patronage, resources, and a place among the middle ranks.

As Lin Zhan listened, his imagination conjured scenes of dazzling duels between cultivators—surely a spectacle fit for a blockbuster film!

But with such dramatic battles, wouldn’t someone as insignificant as himself be caught in the crossfire and perish?

“Would cultivators really attack ordinary humans like us?” he asked at last, unable to keep silent when his life was at stake. “If so, the power gap is just too vast!”

“There’s no need to worry about that,” Fang Daguang replied kindly, unbothered by the naïve question. “Cultivation sects must abide by strict laws. If they break them, the enforcers of Blue Ice City will hunt them down. So, they almost never do anything like that.”

He paused, a steely resolve in his eyes as he recalled the Qin family’s misfortune. “Miss Qingxuan is the most gifted of the Qin’s younger generation. As her retainers, if we can just escort her safely to Blazing Ice Mountain, the clan will not perish.”

“Thank you for your guidance, Brother Fang!” Grateful for Fang Daguang’s patient and earnest help, Lin Zhan found his unease slowly fading. Indeed, Fang had helped him a great deal along the way.

The boundless snowfield was daunting, and even more terrifying were the many bizarre beasts roaming the land: white tundra rats with razor claws and fangs lurking beneath snowdrifts, ice monkeys that burst from the ground to launch coordinated attacks, and the low-flying snow bats whose shrieks could drive one mad.

To fight is to live; to refuse is to perish.

Ahead lay an immense, nameless forest. Icy crystals hung from the treetops, and the dense canopy blocked out the sky. Fang Daguang said that once they made it through the woods, they would reach the foot of Blazing Ice Mountain—dawn was just ahead.

This route had been discovered at great cost, but it was the safest path they knew.

Although none of the snowfield’s wild beasts had yet appeared, Lin Zhan clearly sensed the group’s tension. One by one, they fell silent, heads down, marching onward.

At last, danger appeared!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two figures flashed into view, halting in midair to glare coldly at one another.

A duel was imminent.

The fifteen travelers had to stop; the duelists were too close for comfort.

Lying flat on a snowy slope, Lin Zhan looked up and saw two young men. The one in white was as elegant as jade, his features refined, every movement exuding a mysterious grace. His robe fluttered in the wind, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

Facing his opponent in gray, he called out, “Yang Kai, since when does the Ice Shadow Sect send the likes of you to take the lead?”

A sneer twisted Yang Kai’s lips. “Heh, Mo Li, the Ice Shadow Sect always has new talent rising—each stronger than the last. Unlike your so-called Frost Snow Sect, where it’s always you, the senior brother, who shows up. What, are your junior disciples too weak to send out, afraid they’ll die?”

“Enough nonsense. Let me take you down first—don’t say I bully the younger generation.”

“Ha, come then!”

In an instant, the atmosphere shifted. Both were enveloped in shimmering elliptical shields of energy.

“Condense!”

Mo Li, senior disciple of the Frost Snow Sect, formed seals with his hands and pointed forward. A terrifying vibration thundered in Lin Zhan’s ears.

“Quick, cover your ears!” Fang Daguang shouted. “Damn it, this guy’s insane—opening with his strongest move, no shame at all!”

Protecting Qin Qingxuan, Lian Ming snapped, “Quiet, this isn’t even a big move. Don’t make a fuss!”

Lin Zhan stuck out his tongue. “Seriously? That wasn’t a big move? My ears nearly burst…”

He clamped his hands tightly over his ears, eyes wide, fixed on the heart of the battle.

As Mo Li raised his hand, a surge of energy shot from his fingertip straight toward Yang Kai of the Ice Shadow Sect.

Yang Kai didn’t take the blow head-on. With a strange twist, he dodged the long-range attack, then, moving like lightning, appeared at Mo Li’s side and struck with a heavy fist.

Mo Li’s blast missed and struck a towering tree, splitting it in two with a crack.

As Yang Kai’s fist descended, Mo Li stood firm, calmly raising his arm. The energy shield around him gathered instantly at his left forearm.

Boom!

The two forces collided midair, erupting with a thunderous crash. The forest beneath them shuddered violently; the icy crystals on the treetops vaporized into mist and vanished.

Both men were thrown apart by the backlash.

Pff!

Yang Kai was hurled into a rocky ridge, coughing blood as he crashed into the stone.

Seeing Mo Li unscathed and closing in again, Yang Kai made a snap decision, producing a talisman that flashed with light and vanished instantly into the void.

Landing on the empty ridge, Mo Li swept his long hair back with a laugh. “The Ice Shadow Sect is certainly well-versed in the art of escape.”

With that, Mo Li glanced at the hillside where Lin Zhan and the others were hiding, then soared away into the distance.

“Good heavens, that was incredible!” exclaimed Lin Zhan, still drenched with icy water, as he staggered to his feet and cheered at the receding figure.