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

Just as the Cloudwing Steed's four hooves landed firmly on the ice, its one-minute lifespan came to an end.

The divine servant instantly transformed into countless tiny golden-white dust particles, scattering in the crisp wind, leaving only a faint trace of residual energy.

Chen Feng and Xiao Xue also arrived at the plains outside the Troll Glacier.

The ice demon that had been chasing them had also vanished without a trace.

......

Before Chen Feng lay an endless ancient glacial plain.

Beneath our feet lies soft, frozen soil covered in snow, with ancient ferns carpeting the ground beneath.

The magnificent sunlight of the illusory realm flows and spreads along the gentle slopes of the ice field. From a distance, it looks as if the entire land is covered with flowing neon lights, and people walking on it feel as if they are stepping on a broken galaxy.

On the plain, towering ice crystal peaks rise up, each dozens of meters high. These are ice towers sculpted by millennia of icy winds. The mist emanating from their bases creates layers of iridescent rings in the sunlight, making them look like man-made wonders on the ancient glacial plain.

In the distance, tiny figures could be seen moving slowly, clearly giant beasts from the ancient glacial plains.

"This is the ancient glacial plain." Xiaoxue's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Although Xiaoxue, as the strongest in Snowstorm City, has always enjoyed preferential treatment, Xuenai has never allowed her to cross the Troll Ice Valley, so she has never seen the true appearance of the Ancient Ice Plains.

Xiaoxue tiptoed and stepped on the frozen ground. Her boots rolled over the thin snow, revealing clusters of dark green ancient ferns emerging from the soil. Tiny ice beads clung to their leaves, gleaming like emeralds in the sunlight.

These ferns did not wither in the extreme cold; instead, they grew along the ice cracks, as if embroidering dark patterns on the earth.

"Brother Chen Feng, we did it!" Xiaoxue said with a smile, her eyes crinkling.

Chen Feng nodded, but walked towards one of the ice towers.

The ice tower in front of us is over forty feet tall. Its body is made up of countless hexagonal ice crystals stacked together. The edges of each layer of ice crystals are as thin as a knife blade, as if they have been polished smooth and translucent by some mysterious force.

At the base of the tower, milky white cold mist continuously emerges. This mist is formed by the evaporation of ice energy at the base of the ice tower when heated. The mist slowly rises along the patterns on the tower, like layers of garlands adorning the ice tower.

"Xiaoxue, these ice towers don't seem to have formed naturally?" Chen Feng asked.

Xiaoxue shook her head.

Her slender, white fingertips gently brushed across the cool ice crystals on the ice tower, her eyes filled with a hint of bewilderment: "I don't know either. Although there are extensive descriptions of ice towers in the ancient books of Snowstorm City, there is very little information about their origins. Even the earliest tribal epics do not record their origins."

Xiaoxue paused, then looked up at the tip of the ice tower that disappeared into the upper layer of mist.

"I once heard Aunt Xue Nai tell me that these ice towers may be relics that existed in ancient times. Some people say they are altars left by the ancient ice god, while others say they are the core of a formation to suppress the evil energy underground, but these are just legends."

Chen Feng nodded.

He tapped the tower with his fingertips, and the hexagonal ice crystals immediately emitted a clear and melodious echo.

Unlike ordinary ice.

In Chen Feng's palm, he could feel the demon-controlling energy, when it probed into the surface of the ice layer, being bounced back by a gentle yet resilient force deep within the ice tower—it was neither the legendary evil energy nor ice-type energy.

It's more like an ancient, silent force of order.

Chen Feng gently ran his fingertip along a pattern of ice tower, feeling its smooth and even texture, as if it had been embedded in the ice tower when it was formed.

"There are some runes on these ice towers, but they are too ancient for me to recognize the language... If they were built by some ancient civilization, their strength would probably be far beyond our current understanding."

Xiaoxue nodded and glanced up at the towering ice tower.

The gilded patterns flashed and disappeared in the sunlight, yet the tower remained standing silently.

Like an old man who has witnessed countless ages, it calmly watches over every visitor who steps onto this land.

Just then, several small, dark figures darted across the snow beside the tower.

They were a group of palm-sized frosty rats with silver-gray fur and three wisps of light blue fur on their backs.

Clutching the ice crystal berries, they sized up the two people standing before the ice tower. Seeing no malice, they hopped into the ferns and disappeared into the ice cave.

And in a more distant place.

A herd of frosty-horned giant deer were leisurely strolling across the gentle slope.

They are nearly two zhang tall at the shoulder, with snow-white fur all over their bodies, and a pair of forked, icy antlers on their heads.

While nibbling on the ice crystal moss on the ice field, it occasionally flicks its tail to drive away the snowflakes that land on its back.

Further away, several tundra ice-ridged elephants were slowly flapping their ears as they picked up ice crystal ferns from the ground and put them into their mouths.

The entire ancient glacial plain was peaceful and serene.

Following Chen Feng's gaze, Xiao Xue smiled when she saw these ancient icefield creatures.

"The ancient glacial plains have abundant life and energy, so there is almost no need to compete for survival resources. Therefore, it is generally quite peaceful, unless we encounter top predators on the glacier."

"A top predator?" Chen Feng turned his head to look at Xiaoxue.

"The predators of the ancient ice plains are divided into several tiers. The recognized top tier consists of eight kinds of giant beasts. Above them, there is a true lord of the ice plains, a ruthless character that even earth-rank ice demons dare not easily provoke."

"The most common ones are the Frostback Bear, Shadow Leopard, Frost Abyss Ice Crocodile, and Illusion Eye Ice Fox. The Icefield Lord I'm talking about is called Frost Nether Sky Scale."

"Frosty Sky Scale?" Chen Feng repeated the name.

"Hmm." Xiaoxue nodded, her eyes reflecting the distant rainbow light. "Legend has it that this is a branch of the Glacier Dragon. The oldest fragment of the Icefield Chronicles in Snowstorm City mentions it briefly, saying that its entire body is covered with ice crystal scales like moonlight, it has a spiral horn on its head, and its tail feathers bloom with layers of frost-like patterns when it is spread out... But I have only seen it once or twice."

"The dragon race...that does sound very powerful," Chen Feng said.

As soon as Chen Feng finished speaking, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

It turned towards the horizon on the eastern side of the plain.

There, in the direction of the Troll Ice Valley, where the illusionary realm and mist intertwined, a very thin black shadow was creating faint energy ripples that carved a mark on the ancient ice plain.

In just over ten breaths, the white dot condensed from a speck of dust into a blurry white shadow, like a snow-white falcon flying low over the ice, smashing and swaying the ice and snow along its path.

"Someone's coming," Chen Feng whispered a warning.

Xiaoxue looked in the direction of the sound, squinted for a moment to make out the voice, and her expression brightened: "It's Xueyue Yanju, he's come out too."