Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 684. Xejin Tundra

The location where the Soul Flayer was suspected to dwell was beyond the no man’s land region north of Kazhan. This region was dominated by spirit beasts. Xan Chi told the others that Kazhan had attempted to build a settlement in the region several times in the past, but each attempt had been met with failure.

The no man’s land region was a massive jungle. While flying above might be faster, Xan Chi advised everyone to refrain from doing so. Many powerful beasts surveyed the sky. Either from the jungle or from up above the clouds. Anything they considered weak traveling in the sky would become prey.

Xan Chi also left behind his Gajashura. The tamed beast was too conspicuous for a stealth mission. They wanted to pass through this jungle without ruffling too much hair. Their objective lay beyond the jungle, in an area called Xejin Tundra.

During their passage through the jungle, they were aided by a hired tamed-beast. The beast was a Ying Fox. It was a weak Lower Superior Beast, but it had acute senses that warned everyone if powerful spirit beasts were nearby. It was also good at tracking and could remember previously travelled paths well.

The team stopped by a Kazhan town before setting out. This was where they hired the Ying Fox. Like the Great Eagle, the beast tamer could instruct his tamed beast to guide the team without the tamer tagging along. Plenty of Kazhan cultivators had braved the Northern region. The beast tamer who rented his Ying Fox was one of the few cultivators who managed to set foot into Xejin Tundra. Hence, the reason Xan Chi hired his tamed beast.

Under the guidance of the Ying Fox, the five arrived at the periphery of the tundra without any major incident. The Ying Fox turned around and left them. The task was only to bring them to the tundra.

"Damn, this place is cold," Huang Er complained. This was the first time she had come so far North. The temperature was far different from Echos’ temperate climate.

"Worry not, princess. I brought extra clothes for cold weather," Sima Fang said as she produced a long coat made of thick fur.

"I’m fine," Huang er refused the offer.

"Come on, princess. Stop treating me like I’m an enemy. I do consider you one of my dear friends."

"Friends don’t trick one another," Huang Er stated. "You have lied both to Echos and me. I can’t forgive you for that."

"Sigh... Very well," Sima Fang put the coat on herself. "I hope you will forgive me one day. For now, let’s remember that we are allies in this mission."

"Are you two done spilling your hearts out? We must move," Amon said.

"Don’t get me started on you. Your actions are very close to getting you branded a traitor to Echos," Huang Er told Amon.

Amon responded by turning and walking away.

This raised Huang Er’s anger. "Hey, you! I am not done talking to you."

Sima Fang chuckled. "I am glad we have a bigger villain to shift her anger from me."

Xan Chi turned to Sura Yao and asked, "Do you understand what the three of them are fussing about?"

Sura Yao walked forward, ignoring Xan Chi’s question.

"Yeah, fuck you too," Xan Chi said before following the others.

*

The tundra was vast. It was flat and barren, with sparse dead trees. This gave the five great visibility. With Eagle Eye, Amon could spot spirit beasts in the distance before their cultivation senses picked up on those beasts’ presence. This allowed them to avoid unnecessary confrontations.

"Do we know exactly where this Soul Flayer is?" Huang Er asked. "Or, are we going to just wander around this tundra aimlessly like this?"

She was getting tired of using her aura to blanket her from the cold. The cold was starting to seep in. She now regretted not accepting Sima Fang’s offer. She looked at Amon, who was also wearing his usual attire. There was no sign of bother on his face. Was he truly feeling no cold or simply faking it?

"Soul Flayer lived inside a cave," Amon said. "We are searching for one."

Huang Er looked around. The land was flat. There was no sign of a cave. "How confident are we regarding the information that this is where the Soul Flayer dwells?"

"A report archived inside the temple’s library mentioned a survivor from a party that encountered this spirit beast," Sima Fang replied. "No action was taken to validate the story, but to have it archived inside the temple’s library should mean that the news came from a trusted source. The news is, however, around a hundred years old."

"No offense, but I don’t think that sounds convincing," Huang Er said.

"Actually, I have asked around the tribespeople at the border town where we hired the Ying Fox," Xan Chi said. "There have indeed been a few reports of sightings of a spirit beast with characteristics resembling the Soul Flayer from those who attempted to brave this tundra."

As they continued their journey, they came upon a frozen lake. The entire lake was covered by ice. If they walked straight, they would have to travel above the lake. Amon stopped before they did and moved to the side to circle the lake.

"Stay away from that lake," Amon informed.

"Why? We can just fly above it." Huang Er didn’t see any problem with the icy lake. She also didn’t sense anything, but most of all, she didn’t like having Amon act like the leader. There was never an agreement on who was the leader in this hunting party. If they must refer to ranks, she should be the one giving orders to Amon. Her feet left the ground, and she floated above the ice.

"Foolish woman," Amon cursed.

Before Huang Er could scold Amon back for his cursing, she went into alarm. That was because she heard cracking sounds from the ice on the lake.

The ice exploded, followed by countless geysers of cold, icy water shooting out of the lake. Huang Er flew up to avoid getting splashed by the water. The water was the least of her worries, though. Hundreds of white-furred creatures flew out of the water, chasing her.

She quickly erected a defensive golden wall before those creatures caught up. The creatures banged into the golden wall and recoiled from the impact. She had a good look at them then. They looked like penguins, but each was the size of an adult human. They had white feathers all over their bodies. Only their eyes were a different color, dark red.

*

"Dread Penguins," Sima Fang identified the spirit beasts. "They are lower mythical beasts. They could conceal their aura underwater, which explained why we couldn’t sense them earlier. A Peak Mystic Stage cultivator like me could fight one or two, no problem. Their strength, however, came from their behavior to swarm their prey. When they were in a collective, they didn’t shy away from attacking stronger prey. That’s why they dared to attack the princess."

Sima Fang turned to Amon, who stood with folded arms. "Aren’t you going to help?" She asked.

"No. This is her blunder. Let her deal with it," Amon replied.

"You are the worst," Sima Fang said. She flew up toward Huang Er. Her battle puppet appeared by her side.

Xan Chi looked up and said, "Well, I don’t care about that princess, but I have heard that Dread Penguin’s meat is a rare delicacy one should taste at least once in their lifetime. I’m going to get me one of those meats."

He flew toward the fight as well.

Only Amon and Sura Yao remained on the ground. They were content with just watching the battle.

*

More Dread Penguins slammed into Huang Er’s golden wall. Despite the wall being powered by Spirit Stage energy, it couldn’t endure nonstop hits. It first cracked before shattering. The swarm of Dread Penguins advanced toward Huang Er.

Huang Er was ready by then. She fled earlier because she was caught off guard. She brandished a long sword in her hand, which split into many elongated segments and became a whip. Her sword-whip flashed. These flashes struck any Dread Penguins that came close.

The Dread Penguins had thick and hard muscles, which gave them strong defense. Huang Er’s sword-whip drew blood with each strike, but was unable to cause a deep enough wound to kill them.

Huang Er also used her earth element art that conjured drilling rock spears. These rock spears had enough piercing power to penetrate the penguins’ hard bodies and kill them with one thrust. Unfortunately, she could only create a limited number of these rock spears.

The Dread Penguins, on the other hand, seemed limitless. They all tried to get to Huang Er to rip her apart using their iron-like beaks. She had to increase her slashing speed to keep them at bay.

Alas, the Dread Penguin’s weapon was not only their beaks. Huang Er noticed the stomachs of some of the largest penguins began to bloat. These penguins then opened their mouths, and icy breath spewed out.

Huang Er’s slashes couldn’t stop the gas. When this gas touched her, she felt like she had been frozen.