High-level martial arts: Contract cashback, invincible starting from the Zerg.

the next day.

Chen Feng followed behind Xue Yue Bing Li, while a member of their tribe who was also heading to the Eternal Frozen Fortress walked alongside Chen Feng toward the north gate of Snowstorm City.

Chen Feng used the Lucky Contract System to take a look at the boy.

They discovered that the boy seemed to have the same bloodline as Xueyue Bingli—that of an ice dragon.

As they approached the north gate, Chen Feng saw a group of clansmen dressed in the attire of the Fengxue nobles standing there.

Flags fluttered with ice manta rays among the crowd, and the wind whistled through the gaps in the battlements, making people's robes and flags flutter loudly.

Xueyue Bingli's steps suddenly slowed down, and a few strands of her long silver hair were lifted by the wind, falling onto her snow-white cheeks.

Her eyes were a clear, icy blue, and amidst the swirling snow, she looked as beautiful as a finely crafted jade statue.

When the three reached the city gate, the people standing below bowed in unison.

The leading elder of Wind and Snow City lightly tapped his ice crystal cane on the snow and said in a deep voice, "Young Master."

Xue Yue Bing Li nodded slightly, her voice clear and cold like the clashing of ice springs, yet warmer than when she spoke to her subordinates: "It's cold and windy, I'll trouble the Grand Elder to see me off outside the city."

"The Frozen Fortress is related to the seal of the Northern Territory. Patriarch Xue Nai has personally ventured into the perilous territory no less than ten times. Now it is the young patriarch's turn to personally face the danger. How can we sit idly in the city?" The Second Elder of Wind and Snow City stepped forward, took out a palm-sized ice box from his sleeve, and handed it over with both hands.

"Here are three Ice Marrow Heart Protection Pills, treasured by our clan. If you are affected by the Fiery Abyss's malevolent energy, taking one will cure you. Young Master, you must carry them with you at all times."

Xueyue Bingli smiled and reached out to take the Ice Marrow Heart Protection Pill.

"Thank you, Second Elder. After I leave, the city's defenses will continue according to Aunt's original plan. If we do not receive your message within ten days..."

She paused slightly, and the expressions of the surrounding clansmen all tightened.

"Young Master, please reconsider!" A young member of a collateral branch in the crowd couldn't help but speak up, his face full of urgency. "You are a genius that our clan has seen only once in decades. Even in the Snowstorm City-State, you are exceptionally talented. If you cultivate steadily in Snowstorm City, becoming a Domain Lord again will not be difficult. There is no need to take this risk at this time."

Xue Yuebingli looked up, her icy blue eyes filled with gentleness, devoid of any fierceness.

"My aunt must have had her reasons for making those arrangements."

At this moment, a girl in a light blue dress walked out from the crowd, holding a neatly folded silver-white inner armor in her hands. Her eyes were slightly red. She walked up to Xueyue Bingli and knelt down to greet her: "Sister, this is an inner armor woven by Mother using ice silkworm silk mixed with snow wolf down. It can block the cold air of the Ice Abyss. I hope you... will be safe."

The girl in front of me is Xue Ning, Xue Yue Bing Li's cousin.

He's usually very clingy to her.

Xueyue Bingli looked at the moisture in the corners of her eyes, and her expression softened even more.

She reached out and gently brushed away the snowflakes clinging to the girl's hair, her touch as light as falling snow: "I understand. Stay home and listen to the elders. Remember, don't sneak off to hunt snow foxes on the ice plains again."

Xue Ning bit her lip and nodded, but tears welled up in her eyes, making her look as aggrieved as if she had been forced to eat hundreds of meat buns.

Only then did the clansmen's gazes fall, seemingly casually, on Chen Feng, who was standing to the side.

After all, he was an outsider and an envoy from the Great Xia to take Xueyue Bingli away, so it was inevitable that people would scrutinize him a bit more.

The First Elder approached Chen Feng and said politely, "Special Envoy Chen Feng, I trouble you to accompany the young master to the Eternal Frozen Fortress. The journey will be fraught with danger, so I hope you will be careful."

Chen Feng nodded in return: "It's my duty, and Xiaoxue has always been my friend, Elder, there's no need to be so polite."

Xue Yue Bing Li and Chen Feng exchanged a glance. Without further delay, the three of them fluttered their cloaks and walked directly toward the three ice manta rays in front of them.

......

At this moment, in the main hall of Wind and Snow City, Xue Nai, dressed in dark silver snow patterns, stood by the railing. Her long silver hair was loosely tied up with an ice dragon jade hairpin, and a few strands of hair at her temples were covered with fine gray snow.

His gaze toward Xiaoxue, however, held a deeper intensity.

As three ice manta rays spread their translucent ice wings, carrying three figures, they flew out of the city gate, the air currents cut by their wingtips scattering the snowflakes flying everywhere.

They gradually shrank into three blurry white dots, eventually disappearing into the somber, leaden-gray clouds of the north, leaving no trace.

Xue Nai stood quietly for a long time, letting the gray snowflakes from high above cover her face, until a thin layer of frost condensed on her eyelashes, before gently exhaling a breath of white air.

"Xiaoxue, will you blame me?"

The moment the words left her lips, the hall behind Xue Nai seemed to darken a little.

The jade floor, which was originally bright and clear under the snow outside the palace, has been covered with a layer of shadow at some point.

The shadow was not the usual dim light, but rather carried an almost tangible sense of stagnation, spreading silently from the corners of the walls and behind the palace doors, and also carrying a very faint, eerie, and sweet-smelling scent.

At the heart of the deepest shadow, a human figure was silently taking shape.

The blurry gray figure slowly solidified three steps behind Xue Nai, without footsteps or the rise and fall of breath, as if it were a part of Xue Nai's figure.

Outside the palace, the wind and snow howled, whipping up Xue Nai's robe and causing it to flutter wildly, but they couldn't budge the gray robe even slightly.

Xue Nai's voice was as cold as a stone at the bottom of an icy abyss, with only a sternness that ran deep to the bone.

"Are you satisfied now?"

The gray shadow behind her slightly raised its head, and two dark red lights lit up in the depths of the shadows, like two will-o'-the-wisps that were about to go out, looking at Xue Nai's back through the deep darkness.

Immediately afterwards, a hoarse voice came from the ethereal figure.

It sounds extremely terrifying.

"It's time to let her see for herself just how many shady secrets her respected aunt is hiding."

A sudden gust of wind rushed into the palace corridors, swirling up the scattered snowflakes and churning shadows.

Xue Nai suddenly turned around.

Snowflakes fell softly from her temples with her movements, and her icy blue eyes surged with a chilling coldness and barely suppressed anger, her previous melancholy transformed into a sharp, piercing light.

The moment her icy blue spiritual energy exploded, the temperature inside the hall plummeted, and a layer of white frost instantly formed on the jade floor.

In an instant, dozens of sharp ice shards condensed in front of him, their tips gleaming coldly, pointing directly at the gray-robed figure!

But the next moment.

The gray shadow, however, quickly faded away with the surging shadows, as if it had merged back into Xue Nai's figure, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Only a low chuckle remained, echoing for a long time in the empty bedroom...