Su Mo’s heart felt itchy. He wanted it so badly.

However, Su Mo still tried hard to maintain a calm and composed appearance externally.

"...Miss Yang."

"Hm?"

"Can I learn it too?"

Yang Qingxi nearly laughed after hearing his extremely serious tone.

Especially while seeing his eyes practically glowing. She forcefully suppressed the smile threatening to appear on her face.

"You know better than anyone how Special Techniques work. They can’t simply be taught normally."

Su Mo’s expression immediately collapsed.

Disappointment visibly appeared on his face.

Then, suddenly, he thought of something.

His eyes lit up again.

"What if I drink the remaining cup of Enlightenment Tea?" he suggested seriously. "Wouldn’t there be a chance of learning it, then?"

Yang Qingxi’s lips twitched violently.

Immediately, she rejected the dangerous proposal.

"Don’t do anything stupid, Su Mo!"

Her voice became unusually firm.

"Don’t gamble such a precious item on a random experiment."

She knew very clearly how heaven-defying the Enlightenment Tea truly was.

Earlier, after drinking merely one cup each, both of them had instantly comprehended Empty Steps—an S-Rank movement technique.

Even Body Flicker Technique, which she previously struggled to master properly, became simple afterwards.

Now she could freely switch between both movement techniques, depending on the combat situation and spiritual energy consumption.

Such an item was priceless.

And now this idiot wants to waste the final cup purely because he got excited over explosions.

Yang Qingxi instantly felt a headache coming. She must stop this recklessness.

"We don’t even possess the learning method for the Explosion Technique," she explained patiently. "No matter how much your comprehension improves, if I can’t properly teach the technique itself, the tea will simply be wasted."

Su Mo became silent.

After several seconds, he sighed deeply in disappointment.

"...You’re right."

The tone sounded so regretful that Yang Qingxi almost felt guilty. But the next second, she put away her guilt.

’No, Qingxi, you can’t be soft-hearted. It is your responsibility to correct his bad habits.’

Su Mo slowly shifted his gaze back toward the battlefield.

The smoke gradually dispersed.

What appeared before them was a massive crater carved directly into the forest floor. Trees within the explosion radius had completely vanished. The surrounding ground was blackened and cracked from the terrifying heat.

Not even ashes remained from the monster.

Su Mo narrowed his eyes slightly.

[This damage is honestly ridiculous.]

[And the growth potential seems even more terrifying.]

[A technique that compresses and detonates energy... if developed further...]

The more he imagined future possibilities, the more jealous he became.

Men simply couldn’t resist explosions. It was instinctive.

"Nothing had remained." Su Mo muttered regretfully. "It was completely vaporised."

"I originally wanted to figure out what exactly that monster was."

Yang Qingxi suddenly coughed awkwardly. "That attack earlier was actually casual."

Su Mo slowly turned toward her.

Yang Qingxi looked slightly embarrassed now by his gaze.

"I didn’t expect the explosion to become this powerful either."

Su Mo rolled his eyes internally.

[Miss Yang has learned the art of showing off.]

She said it casually.

But her expression earlier, while snapping her fingers, clearly showed she enjoyed it immensely.

Especially the smile before the explosion.

Dangerous women truly suited explosions frighteningly well.

The combination was unfair.

Cold wind blew through the ruined battlefield.

The smell of burnt earth lingered heavily in the air.

The earlier eerie atmosphere of the forest had completely transformed into devastation.

However, the deeper parts of the Frostspine Mountains remained silent.

As though the mountain range itself had merely watched everything quietly.

Su Mo glanced toward the distant snowy peaks.

The Yin Energy within those mountains still felt dense and oppressive.

And now...

After encountering that strange monster, the earlier warnings from the ranch owner no longer sounded exaggerated.

"These mountains are definitely problematic," Su Mo muttered quietly.

Yang Qingxi also nodded lightly.

"That creature earlier didn’t feel like an ordinary undead."

She thought of those undead inside the tomb near the Tianzai Village.

"Mn..." Su Mo agreed.

"The White Moon Sect should know something."

Then he looked toward Yang Qingxi.

"Let’s continue."

"Since nothing remains here, staying longer is pointless."

Yang Qingxi nodded.

Soon, the two returned toward the skeletal horse, waiting nearby obediently.

The bone horse looked especially eerie now beneath the dim mountain fog and burning forest background.

Yet strangely... the atmosphere between the two felt lighter than before.

---

However, the peace after the previous battle didn’t last long.

As Su Mo and Yang Qingxi crossed another frozen mountain path, the surrounding Yin Energy suddenly became denser once again. Cold mist drifted silently between the trees while snowflakes occasionally fell from the dark sky above.

The deeper they entered the Frostspine Mountains, the more oppressive the atmosphere became.

At that moment, Su Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"I found more."

Yang Qingxi immediately became alert.

"How many?"

"Four."

Her spiritual sense spread outward cautiously, and soon she also detected several strange presences hidden deeper within the forest.

Unlike before, these monsters hadn’t discovered them yet.

The creatures wandered between the trees in an unusually stiff manner. Their movements resembled corpses dragged around by invisible strings.

Yang Qingxi’s eyes brightened slightly.

After her earlier battle, she honestly wanted to test the Explosion Technique again.

However, before she could speak—

Su Mo suddenly said,

"Let me handle this one."

Yang Qingxi looked toward him, who continued.

"I want to learn more about these monsters first."

She hesitated briefly but eventually nodded.

Her Explosion Technique indeed wasn’t suitable for investigation work.

Once she used it... There was nothing left to study afterwards.

"Be careful," she reminded quietly.

Su Mo grinned.

"Relax."

The next second—

His figure flickered and vanished directly from atop King. Body Flicker Technique activated silently.

A moment later, Su Mo appeared within the forest, only several meters away from the four monsters.

The creatures immediately reacted.

Their twisted crimson eyes locked onto him almost instantly.

Unfortunately for them, it was already too late.

[Let’s start with illusion.]

Su Mo activated Devil’s Eyes.