Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Only after confirming that the other party was completely dead did Xilun feel relieved.

He immediately bent down and picked up the yellowed parchment that had fallen on the snow.

He shook off the snow and looked at it thoughtfully.

"It looks like a complete map."

The map marks many of the terrain features of this wonderland, the most prominent of which is the large snow-capped mountain in the very center.

Beside the snow-capped mountain, numerous routes are marked with densely packed small characters, seemingly valuable experiences left by previous explorers.

Of course, judging from the new ink marks, it's possible that Ross himself added them after coming in these two times.

Xilun grinned and exclaimed, "Good stuff."

His eyes were sharp as he stared intently at the section of the map that depicted the snow-capped mountains.

Next to many of the routes marked on the snow-capped mountain, some are labeled "Extremely dangerous, nothing to be found," while others are marked with a question mark and labeled "Unexplored."

Xilun pondered, "With this thing, at least I've saved a lot of time from blindly wandering around. Now, I have a clear direction."

He counted carefully and found that there were three routes leading to the top of the snow-capped mountain that were marked as unexplored.

He silently memorized the route and glanced back at the still calm frozen lake.

"That old guy should be realizing it soon."

After a moment's thought, Xiren realized that time was of the essence, so he immediately crouched down and began to quickly search Ross's still not completely stiff body.

Soon, he took out a piece of crystal-clear jade and weighed it in his hand.

This is an extremely rare piece of red jade.

Holding it in his palm, the jade slowly emitted a gentle and lasting warmth, instantly restoring sensation to Xilun's fingers, which had become somewhat stiff from the frozen lake water.

Even on a snowy day when water freezes instantly, wearing this will bring you a touch of warmth and make you feel no cold at all.

"nice one."

He sighed again and unceremoniously stuffed it into his inner pocket.

Xiren glanced at the high-quality cross-blade on the ground and shook his head. The thing was too conspicuous and heavy; he used a gun, and carrying it would be a burden.

Having carefully placed the most important map inside, Xilun made no further stops.

Carrying his rifle, he swayed and, braving the swirling snow, resolutely sped towards the snow-capped mountain marked on the map.

After a while.

boom!

The surface of the frozen lake suddenly exploded, and water columns shot into the sky.

Like a furious lion, Rox leaped out of the lake and crashed heavily onto the shore.

He immediately spotted Ross's body lying in a pool of blood, his neck twisted.

Rox was struck dumb, his whole body trembled violently, and his eyes turned blood-red in an instant.

"Young Master—!!!"

He lunged forward, checked Ross's breath, and roared furiously to the sky, "You little beast! I'll tear you to pieces! You want to die?!"

With his desperate and ferocious roar, the pressure of a second-tier extraordinary being was released without reservation.

The snow on the ground melted from the terrifying sound waves, and ripples spread outwards.

His heart was filled with anger, astonishment, and endless regret!

The younger generation he had watched grow up, the future hope of his family, died in such a humiliating way right in front of him!

Moreover, he was plotted against and killed by that commoner, that little beast he had always regarded as an ant!

"Ahhhhh!"

Rox pounded the ground frantically, shattering the ice.

After venting his anger, he stood up and stared intently at his surroundings with eyes like a hawk.

"They escaped?"

He looked at the trail of footprints stretching towards the snow-capped mountains, a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Could they be heading up the mountain?"

Judging from this single footprint, it seems that this is indeed the case.

However, ahead lies a vast, boundless snow-covered mountain range, where a strong wind could instantly bury any traces, leaving no way to find them.

Rox's face contorted in a violent struggle, his teeth grinding together.

After a long while, his mind, which was in chaos due to anger, finally came up with a plan.

No matter what that kid finds on the mountain, he'll eventually have to come down; otherwise, when the time comes, he'll be trapped in this strange place forever.

"Good, very good."

Rox turned around, gritting his teeth, and raised his crossblade like a ghost who had lost everything.

He walked to the only entrance to the snow-capped mountain, sat cross-legged in the wind and snow, and placed his knife across his lap.

He stared intently at the direction leading up the mountain.

Waiting for prey to walk right into the trap.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, the majestic snow-capped mountains resemble a silent, ancient behemoth, stretching across the heavens and earth.

The gale was like a knife, cutting through every inch of the exposed air.

"call--"

Xilun hid behind a huge ice rock and slowly exhaled a long breath mixed with white mist.

He turned around, his dark eyes warily piercing through the wind and snow, carefully observing the direction he had come from.

Confirming that there was only a vast expanse of white at the end of the line of sight, and that no one was following, they found that...

More than an hour has passed since he left the frozen lake.

"Looks like they've shaken them off."

Xilun thought to himself, "That's right. The snowstorm in this godforsaken place is ridiculously strong. It can completely bury footprints in just a few minutes. Even if that old guy has second-tier strength, he can't possibly lock onto my location like a hunting dog."

With his tense nerves relaxing slightly, Xilun lowered his head and took out the parchment map he had looted from Ross from his pocket.

He stuck the map onto the ice rock and quickly scanned it using the faint light of the snow.

"The woman in black robes wanted me to find the Serene Snow Lotus..."

Xilun's mind raced. After a moment's thought, he realized, "This kind of extraordinary object that can repair soul wounds must have an extremely demanding growth environment."

The probability of finding a plant growing in the extreme cold of high-altitude snow-capped mountains is definitely much higher than that of one growing halfway up a mountain.

His gaze fell on the three dangerous routes marked "unexplored" on the map.

"If we're going to search, we can't take the usual route."

Xilun's eyes turned cold, and he pressed his finger heavily on the very edge of the route, the one marked as the most treacherous.

He planned to start climbing directly from this steepest, most difficult, and highest route.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xilun put away the map, took a deep breath of the cold air, and took a step forward.

creak.

The heavy combat boots sank deep into the soft snowdrifts, reaching up to their thighs.

The wind and snow here are far more violent than at the foot of the mountain. The cold wind, mixed with ice crystals, is like countless sharp knives, frantically scraping against Xilun's cheeks and neck.

But Xilun didn't even flinch.

His eyes were resolute, and he simply removed some of the protective qi and blood on his body, allowing the biting cold to directly invade his flesh.

"The wind and snow forge the body, and the cold tempers the bones."

Xilun viewed it as an excellent form of spiritual practice.

He trudged through waist-deep snow, each step requiring tremendous effort.

However, instead of using the red warm jade that could radiate heat, he chose to use the most primitive method to withstand this extreme environment.

Inside the body, the "Heavy Sea Giant Whale Guiding Technique" combined with the "Bone Forging Iron Armor Ascetic Cultivation Method" began to operate wildly and spontaneously under immense external pressure.

Xilun slowly inhaled and exhaled, feeling his muscles tearing in the cold and then rapidly healing under the influence of his innate abilities.

With each cycle, the body becomes a little more resilient.

On his retina, which only he could see, the data stream of experience points was steadily climbing upwards at an extremely slow but incredibly steady pace.

Xilun, braving the blizzard, was like an ascetic monk, slowly making his way towards the summit.

The circulation of Qi within the body is like a tireless steam engine, roaring incessantly.

"No rush, there are still six and a half days."

Xilun reminded himself of this.

In a place like Wonderland, where danger lurks everywhere, maintaining peak physical condition is the only way to survive.

Although the snow-capped mountains ahead are towering into the clouds and seem insurmountable, let's just treat this long climb as a training exercise to hone our physical bodies to the extreme.

……

Time passed, and in this wondrous place, day and night became indistinguishable, with only eternal wind and snow.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the snow-capped mountain.

Two figures, one old and one young, were slowly walking out of the wind and snow.

The leader was a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious bronze armor. He had a rugged face and exuded an undisguised aura of a second-tier extraordinary being.

Walking beside him was a handsome young man with a somewhat sinister look in his eyes.

"Father, is this the place?"

The young man straightened his collar and asked the middle-aged man beside him.

The middle-aged man took out a specially made map from his pocket, which was several times more detailed than Ross's. He carefully examined the surrounding terrain and nodded slightly.

"It can't be wrong."

The middle-aged man's tone revealed an undisguised fanaticism, "The ancient bronze door that our family elders discovered here after a near-death experience is hidden on the summit of this mountain. As long as you follow this secret route up, you can find the entrance."

He patted a heavy metal box at his waist and smiled confidently:

"Before coming here, the patriarch specially went to the clan's secret vault to retrieve the 'Qi-Breaking Cone'."

With this high-level sealing artifact in hand, we should be able to forcefully break the seal on that door and enter the ruins.

The two exchanged a glance and slowly walked towards the entrance to the mountain.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, the two spotted a figure sitting cross-legged in the wind and snow, like a stone sculpture.

It was an elderly-looking man, covered in frost, his body cold.

However, within his body, a violent aura, suppressed to the extreme, was boiling, like an active volcano about to erupt at any moment, appearing extremely angry.

Sensing someone approaching, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, his bloodshot eyes flashing with a terrifying killing intent.

He gripped the cross-shaped blade across his knees with both hands, about to shout something in anger.

However, when his murderous gaze swept over the bronze family crests worn on the chests of the two men in front of him, his expression suddenly changed.

The profanity that was on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.

The old man immediately shut his mouth, stood up without saying a word, stepped aside, and cleared the way up the mountain.

The middle-aged man and the young master merely glanced coldly at Rox, clearly accustomed to the retreat of the weak, and paid him little attention.

They strode ahead, passing Rox and heading straight for the uphill route.

Rox stood in the snowstorm, his eyes fixed on the clan crests on the two men's chests, his face filled with shock.

"The Shudalk family?!"

He exclaimed inwardly.

As a baronial family in Saint Laurent City, he naturally recognized this viscountial family, which was known for its profound heritage.

"Why would the Shudalk family, instead of visiting other treasure troves within this wondrous realm, choose to come prepared to this snow-capped mountain, a place widely considered barren?"

Rox pondered silently, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes.

The Ocelli family had explored this snow-capped mountain several times before, but they hadn't found anything and concluded that there was nothing there.

"After all, the snow-capped mountain is just too vast. Could it be that we were searching in the wrong direction?"

"Could it be that the Shudalk family explored this area and actually discovered a hidden treasure somewhere in the snowy wilderness?!"

Greed instantly overwhelmed the pain of losing its master.

Rox pondered for a moment, then silently tightened his grip on the cross blade.

He lowered his body, concealed his aura, and like a ghost, secretly followed behind the two, making his way towards the top of the snow-capped mountain.

The metal box at the middle-aged man's waist definitely contained a powerful treasure for breaking the seal.

If they really find some extraordinary treasure, I can follow behind and seize the opportunity to make a move and get a share, thus making up for the huge loss that the young master's death has brought to the family!

……

at the same time.

Top of Snow Mountain.

Xilun's gaze remained calm and serene.

He was slowly climbing the last steep section of the mountaintop at an extremely steady pace.

The breath was peaceful and lingering.

The higher you climb, the more violent the wind and snow become, and the lower the temperature drops to an appalling level.

But this extreme cold actually made it easier for him to maximize the efficiency of his breathing technique.

Even now, he still hasn't used the red jade stone in his arms that he can use to keep warm.

Xilun stopped, pondered for a moment, and took out the map from his pocket to compare it.

We're almost there.

He looked at the markings on the map and muttered to himself.

The road is marked "Unexplored," meaning that Siren was the first person to traverse this deadly route.

But along the way, apart from a few frozen low-level snow worms, he did not encounter any abnormal situations that could threaten his life.

Xilun looked down.

He found that he had been climbing at a high intensity for a whole day and night without realizing it.

Such terrifying endurance would have been unbearable for anyone else without the support of a peak-level physical body; they would have died of exhaustion halfway there.

He felt he had conquered most of the snow-capped mountain and was about to reach the summit.

Xilun put away the map and looked up at the peak ahead.

Suddenly, his calm pupils contracted slightly.

In what was originally a scene of blinding whiteness, so familiar it was numbing, a rare and unusual touch of color appeared.

It was a deep, heavy bronze color, imbued with the vicissitudes of time!

Xilun blinked and immediately focused his gaze.

On the mountaintop, which was ravaged by gales year-round, there was a huge ancient bronze gate embedded in the rock!

"Looks like we've found something good."

Xilun felt a surge of warmth in his heart and quickly quickened his pace.

A few minutes later, braving the strong wind, he finally approached the mysterious door.

Standing in front of the door, Xilun finally sensed its eeriness.

The gate is less than three meters high, but it is a full eight or nine meters wide.

This strange proportion appears extremely disproportionate, as if it were tailor-made for some kind of flat and wide behemoth.

The bronze door is covered with intricate rust and unknown totems, exuding a chilling sense of oppression.

Such a heavy and enormous bronze door was clearly beyond human power to push open.

Xilun stepped forward and tried to place his palm on the door.

He mobilized his internal energy, attempting to channel a wisp of blood and qi into the crack in the door to investigate, only to be shocked to find that his energy seemed to have struck an invisible barrier of laws, completely blocked and unable to penetrate even a fraction of it.

"Some kind of high-level sealing field?"

He withdrew his hand, pondered for a moment, and was about to say something.

Suddenly, his ears, which were far more sensitive than those of ordinary people, twitched.

Amidst the wind and snow, besides the howling of the gale, faint, heavy footsteps and extremely faint conversations could be heard.

"Someone's coming!"