From the fake emperor to the concubine

Chapter 944 Storage Artifact

Taking advantage of the situation, Zheng Yi retreated, slipped, and was already ten feet away.

Snow Nightmare gave him no chance to catch his breath, and with a stomp of its limbs, it crashed directly into the snow layer.

The ice beneath Zheng Yi's feet suddenly bulged up.

"boom!"

A white shadow burst forth from the ground, its massive jaws aimed straight for Zheng Yi's waist and abdomen, the cold glint between its fangs resembling two rows of inverted ice blades. If this attack landed squarely, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be severed in two on the spot.

A hint of seriousness finally appeared in Zheng Yi's eyes.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, his spiritual energy surging within him, the pure energy in his dantian rushing upwards and flowing into his limbs and bones. His aura suddenly rose, and a low, thunderous vibration emanated from his body.

Then, he stepped down.

"town!"

This step, though not a spell, still created a visible shockwave of spiritual energy.

As soon as the Snow Nightmare emerged from the snow, its body was at its most vulnerable moment, when it was suddenly pressed down by the shockwave, even its open maw tilted half an inch to the side.

Seizing this opening, Zheng Yi flipped himself into the air, his spiritual energy condensing into a nearly transparent blade on the short sword, and thrust it straight down at the previous wound.

"puff!"

This cut is deeper than the previous one.

The blade plunged deep into Xueyan's neck along the old wound, almost completely submerged. Demon blood gushed out instantly, but it wasn't the usual red; instead, it was a cold, almost dark blue liquid that condensed into blackened ice beads on the snow.

Snow Nightmare was completely enraged and began to roll around wildly.

Its already enormous size caused the surrounding ice to shatter as it rolled, sending large swathes of snow billowing into the air. Zheng Yi, however, remained pressed against its neck, channeling his spiritual energy into the blade from his palm, forcefully slicing along its bones and tendons.

Finally, during its third roll, Snow Nightmare's movements abruptly froze.

Zheng Yi's eyes turned cold. He drew his sword, twisted his wrist, and slashed again.

A blade of light, even brighter than before, suddenly shone brightly.

The next moment, the enormous wolf head soared into the sky.

"Boom—"

The headless corpse lunged forward for several dozen feet, smashing through half of an ice ridge before crashing heavily into the snow. Its head rolled to the other side, the fierce light in its eerie blue beast eyes fading rapidly before it could fully dissipate.

The wind and snow swirled up again, quickly covering the large patches of blood.

Zheng Yi stood still and slowly exhaled a breath of white air.

This battle wasn't particularly difficult, but it was certainly exhilarating.

Especially in a place like this, with no one around and the wind and snow forming a curtain, there's no need to worry about what others think. The killing and fighting that belongs to cultivators no longer needs to be disguised as something ordinary people can understand.

He flicked the demon blood off his knife and strode to the corpse of Snow Nightmare.

For these ice-type demonic beasts, the most valuable part is not their fur, but their inner core.

Zheng Yi pressed his palm against the corpse, using his spiritual power to break through the thick flesh, and quickly extracted a fist-sized demon core from deep within its chest and abdomen.

The demon core was a translucent, dark blue color, with a cloud of extremely cold mist slowly flowing inside. As soon as it separated from the demon body, the surrounding air suddenly dropped several degrees, and even Zheng Yi's fingertips were faintly covered with a layer of white frost.

"good."

He said in a low voice.

The quality of this inner core is even better than expected.

If he were to sell it, it would be enough to exchange for a batch of excellent spiritual materials; if he were to refine it directly, it would be a suitable tonic for him in his current state. Especially in this snowfield, where the icy spiritual energy is abundant, refining it with the help of this energy would be twice as effective with half the effort.

Without hesitation, Zheng Yi turned around and found a sheltered, icy valley.

The icy valley wasn't deep, but it looked as if it had been cleaved diagonally across the snowfield by a giant axe, with the ice walls on both sides blocking most of the wind. After entering, Zheng Yi first raised his hand to set up several simple restrictions to suppress the aura and the smell of blood, and then sat down cross-legged, holding the demon core in his palm.

A ghostly blue light shone on his face, giving off a chilling aura.

Zheng Yi closed his eyes and slowly probed his inner core with his spiritual energy.

At first, it was bone-chillingly cold.

It wasn't the cold of the wind and snow outside, but a chill that penetrated straight into the meridians, as if to freeze flesh and spiritual power. If an ordinary cultivator rashly refined this kind of demon core, nine times out of ten they would be harmed by the cold poison, suffering damage to their meridians at best, and freezing of their dantian at worst.

But Zheng Yi, in both his past and present lives, has never lacked control over spiritual power.

Instead of confronting the chill head-on, he divided his own energy into thin streams, slowly guiding them along the patterns of cold energy within his inner core. Like drawing silk or unraveling threads, he peeled away the most violent and impure demonic energy bit by bit, leaving only the purest source of ice spirit, which he then slowly absorbed into his body.

Time passed little by little.

Inside the icy valley, Zheng Yi was initially enveloped in a swirling mist, which gradually began to seep back into his body through his breath and pores. A fine layer of frost formed on his brow, shoulders, and even the edges of his clothes, yet the energy within his body grew increasingly stable and robust.

Within his dantian, the already quite solid spiritual energy was compressed little by little once again.

Like steel forged through a hundred trials.

It's like an already deep pool of water being constantly pressed down, forcing out an even thicker base color.

Until a certain moment—

"Om."

A very faint tremor suddenly came from Zheng Yi's body.

That wasn't an external sound, but rather an echo produced when one's own energy resonates briefly with the surrounding world during a period of advanced cultivation. The frost flowers on the surrounding ice walls trembled almost simultaneously, then shattered silently.

Zheng Yi slowly opened his eyes.

The demon core in his palm was now just a grayish-white outer shell; with a gentle squeeze, it turned into dust and fell through his fingers.

He lowered his head to assess his own cultivation level, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

It has taken another step forward.

Although he hasn't truly broken through to the next realm yet, his foundation is noticeably stronger, and his spiritual energy flows with a touch more icy coldness than before. If he were to face that Snow Nightmare again, he probably wouldn't even need thirty breaths to kill it.

Outside the icy valley, the wind picked up again.

Snowflakes slanted in from the valley entrance, landing at Zheng Yi's feet. Before they even touched his boots, they were gently bounced off by the chill that had not yet completely dissipated from his body.

He stood up and flexed his fingers.

A faint "clicking" sound came from between the knuckles.

That's not stiffness, but rather the reaction of the muscles and bones as they adapt after spiritual energy passes through the meridians.

Zheng Yi looked down at his palm.

A trace of pale blue frost remained at the edge of his palm lines, which slowly faded as he circulated his energy.

"The entry of ice into the body is not necessarily a bad thing."

He muttered something to himself and casually put the dagger away.

Outside the icy valley, the Snow Nightmare's corpse was mostly covered by snow, with only a section of its grayish-white back protruding from the snow. Zheng Yi walked over, took some usable scales and fur, and cut off two pieces of ice.

This thing is not as precious as a demon core, but it is still considered a spiritual material.

He had just finished tidying up when he suddenly stopped.

There are other sounds in the wind.

It's not a monster.

are people.

Zheng Yi looked up towards the northwest.

Through the thick snow, several faint figures could be seen moving in the distance, their pace not slow, but their steps steady and deliberate. An ordinary person would never be able to walk like that on such a snowy plain.

He didn't speak immediately, but stood beside the Snow Nightmare Corpse and waited.

Not long after, five people emerged from the snow.

The leader was a very tall man with broad shoulders and a thick back. He was covered in heavy animal skins, his hair was tied back with a bone ring, and there was an old scar on his face that ran diagonally from his eyebrow to his chin.

He held no swords or knives, only a dark, heavy bone spear.

The four people behind them were also dressed similarly.

When they saw the Snow Nightmare's corpse, they all stopped in their tracks.

One of the young men couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath. Zheng Yi couldn't understand it, but he could hear the shock in his voice.

The leading man stared at Xue Yan's severed head, then looked at Zheng Yi.

The two looked at each other across the snow and wind, a dozen steps apart.

After a moment, the man asked in slightly broken Central Plains dialect, "Did you kill him?"

Zheng Yi nodded: "Yes."

The man's expression changed slightly.

It was neither reverence nor fear.

It's more like a reassessment.

He took two steps forward, the bone spear hanging at his side: "One person?"

"Ah."

The young man behind him couldn't help but speak up, his voice sharp: "Impossible! The Ice Horn Snow Nightmare requires three hunting teams to surround and kill, and they even need to use oil pits. How can you, a southerner, possibly kill it?"

Zheng Yi glanced at him: "If it bites me, I'll kill it."

The young man choked. The leader, however, laughed.

His laughter was low, like stones rolling through snow.

“Well said. If it bites you, you kill it. That’s the way it is in the wasteland.”

He thrust the bone spear into the snow and placed his hand on his chest: "My name is Wu Chen, the hunter of the Black Rock Tribe."

Zheng Yi said, "Zheng Yi."

Wu Chen read it aloud: "Zheng...Yi".

His pronunciation was a little awkward, but he remembered very carefully.

"You came from the south?"

"Yes."

"Cultivator?"

This time, Zheng Yi gave him another look: "You know about cultivators?"

Wu Chen nodded: "I know. A long time ago, a cultivator from the south came here. He knew how to use flying swords, fire, and lightning. He wasn't particularly strong, but he had many tricks up his sleeve."

The young man behind muttered, "It's not all that powerful. Grandpa said there was a cultivator who was smashed to pieces by a single slap from a snow bear."

Wu Chen turned around and glanced at him.

The young man immediately shut up.

Zheng Yi wasn't annoyed, but simply asked, "Are you chasing this Snow Nightmare?"

Wu Chen said, "Three days ago, it dragged away two of our horned bulls and injured a child. We followed the trail here, intending to set up an ambush."

He said, looking at the corpse, "Not needed now."

Zheng Yi said, "I have already taken the demon core."

Wu Chen waved his hand: "You killed Xueyan, so the pill is yours. We just want some flesh and bones."

Zheng Yi said, "Whatever."

The people behind them visibly relaxed.

The young man couldn't help but ask again, "Don't the cultivators in the south value the corpses of demonic beasts? You don't want them?"

“I’ve already taken what I needed,” Zheng Yi said. “The rest, I can’t take with me, and there’s no need for me to take with me.”

Wu Chen looked at him and suddenly said, "You're not quite the same as the people who came before."

"What's different?"

“They like to beat around the bush,” Wu Chen said. “And when they look at us, they look at us like we’re wild animals.”

Zheng Yi was silent for a moment, then said, "You are not like wild beasts."

The young man snorted: "Of course we are not."

Wu Chen didn't respond to that, but instead turned around and gave a few instructions.

The four people behind immediately dispersed.

They took out bone knives and skillfully peeled, separated the flesh, and dismembered the bones. Zheng Yi had felt the extreme toughness of the Snow Nightmare's skin and flesh when he used his knife earlier, but the bone knives in these people's hands, though not particularly sharp, were able to cut into the gaps in the fascia with every single stroke.

Especially black agarwood.

He only bent down to look at it a few times before pressing down on Xueyan's neck bone with one hand and using his other hand to pry the short knife along the broken edge.

"Click".

He forcefully removed a section of the stiff neck bone.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It's purely about strength, hand strength, and familiarity with skeletal structure.

Zheng Yi's eyes finally showed a bit more interest.

Wu Chen seemed to notice his gaze and looked up to ask, "What are you looking at?"

Zheng Yi asked, "You practice body training?"

Wu Chen frowned: "Body training?"

Zheng Yi put it another way: "Strengthen your muscles and bones, enhance your qi and blood, and make your body stronger than the average person."

Wu Chen understood this time: "We call it Ao Shen."

How do you cook it?

The young man chimed in, “How else can we endure it? We’ll freeze, carry stones, be battered, drink animal blood, eat bone meal, chase snow deer, and wrestle with bears. Whoever can’t take it will just lie there.”

Wu Chen said coldly, "Red Fang."

The young man immediately lowered his head: "I didn't say anything wrong."

Zheng Yi asked, "Your name is Chi Ya?"

The young man raised his chin: "Kuroiwa-bu Akagami."

Zheng Yi nodded: "You have good blood and energy."

Chiya was taken aback, then a hint of smugness appeared on his face, which he quickly suppressed: "Do you even need to tell me that?"

Seeing that he was about to get cocky again, Wu Chen raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Move the meat."

Chiya was slammed forward, muttered a few words, but still obediently carried a large piece of Snow Nightmare meat.

That piece of meat must have weighed at least several hundred pounds.

He draped the lap over his shoulder, bent his knees slightly, and quickly regained his balance.

Zheng Yi looked at it even more intently.

This young man was not old and had no spiritual power, but he managed to approach the physical strength of an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator by relying on his muscles, bones, and blood.

If a hunter like Wu Chen were to make a move, he could probably hold his own against a cultivator who has just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, relying solely on his physical strength.

Of course, it's just a head-on collision.

If one were to encounter a Foundation Establishment cultivator skilled in magic and artifacts, the outcome would be uncertain.

But that's already quite astonishing.

In a place without cultivation methods or spiritual roots to draw energy, to be able to endure physical hardship to this extent cannot be simply achieved by "enduring the cold and carrying stones".

Zheng Yi asked, "Is your tribe far from here?"

Wu Chen said, "Half a day's journey."

"Is it convenient for me to come and take a look?"

Upon hearing this, the people who were dividing the meat paused for a moment.

Chiya immediately turned his head: "You're going to our tribe?"

Zheng Yi said, "I want to see how you guys train your bodies."

Chi Ya frowned: "Do the cultivators from the south also want to follow our example?"

"I want to see it, and I also want to learn it."

Even Wu Chen fell silent.

The wind and snow swept past them.

After a while, Wu Chen asked, "Can you trade something for it?"

Zheng Yi asked, "What do you want?"