Volume 4 Chapter 9: A Bewitching Flower Blooms on the Face
After changing into the bronze plate light armor, the moment he took a step outside of the warehouse, a blast of bone penetrating coldness immediately rushed over.
As he looked at the barren mountains covered in light snow, Lin Xi knew that without the cold resistant academy cloak, his nights from here on out would definitely be even more unendurable than those nights in the Half Snow Gray Plains.
After walking a few steps in the snowy land, after stopping to look around for a bit, Lin Xi couldn't help but shake his head.
It was because what scattered through the air were actually ice fragments, smaller than real snow, but also much more compact. That was why even though the snow wasn't all that thick, it was extremely sturdy. When one stepped on it, there would only be a faint footprint. Judging from the way the mountain winds blew, how the ice fragments scattered down, after just four hours, all footprints would be completely covered.
Lin Xi took a moment to sense the wind direction. When he gazed in that direction, he also took a look at the color of the sky.
It was completely clear. The weather for the next two days would most likely be bright and sunny.
While Lin Xi was doing these things, Bian Linghan also already walked out from the other room.
The two of them simultaneously broke some pine branches that were full of pine needles, binding them to their feet, making the traces they left on the snow even lighter, disappear even faster in this way.
Then, the two of them quickly rushed into the forest, doing their best to not make any sound as they headed towards the area marked peak number five on their maps. They quickly removed the large copper plates embedded into the light armor on their bodies, also binding some pine branches to their bodies in a simple manner.
No cultivators would feel that this type of light bronze sheet would have any use in a battle between cultivators, and in this type of bright and sunny snowland, this type of copper sheet would easily reflect light, exposing them to enemies who seized the high ground.
However, these thin copper plates were still quite useful for Lin Xi, especially the palm-sized thin plates by his chest. They could be easily rolled up into containers to cook things in.
...
Two hours later, Lin Xi already started a fire in a small depression. Meanwhile, Bian Linghan climbed the pine tree that offered the best vantage point, hiding herself. She was in charge of keeping watch.
This fire was started in front of a crack in the mountain, the current wind direction completely sending the smoke produced by the flame into that crack.
This was also something they learned in Green Luan Academy's Wilderness Survival course.
As long as they accurately judged the wind direction and found suitable mountain cracks, in this type of weather, the smoke would quickly condense in the mountains. Through the filtering of the mountain's cracks, there would be almost no sign of smoke appearing.
Right now, the copper sheets in their light armor that had been removed had already been rolled up into several bowl-shaped containers, cooking some amber like pine resin in one of them.
In this type of cold high elevation zone, pine resin melted extremely slowly, but Lin Xi was full of patience.
When all of the pine resin melted into a light yellow liquid, Lin Xi quickly scattered in some white ashes made from plant roots, and then the pine resin quickly became a milky white. Some of the impurities and ashes combined together, producing sediment, the layer of resin at the very top becoming clear and translucent, moreover turning from the previous pale yellow color into a slightly green-white color.
Lin Xi removed this layer of resin, and then transferred it into a vessel made from a copper sheet, ensuring that this sticky resin always remained in a melted state.
Then, he turned a hollowed out dried branch into a blowing tube, frantically blowing the fire, making the fire burn to the point where the sticky resin completely boiled, starting to evaporate.
Black arrows were then propped up on a rack like meat being smoked... Under Lin Xi's continuous adjustment, after using up an hour of time, the black arrows' surfaces were all applied with a layer of white resin, as if they were releasing a white oily radiance, releasing a unique sweet scent.
While looking at the arrows that had completely changed, Lin Xi couldn't help but once again sigh with praise, admiring some of the academy's methods. With just the most commonly seen pine resin and some special root powder, this type of result could be created.
Moreover, Lin Xi knew that he only learned one of Tong Wei's recipes.
The other two recipes could turn the arrows green or still black colored, separately used in a rainforest full of greenery or for assassination at night.
Right now, this type of white color was naturally more suited to this type of land of ice and snow.
Lin Xi began to carefully test out the completely cooled arrows. In the end, he put away forty seven arrows that already became white-colored, burning the remaining arrows, completely burying the arrowheads as well.
They didn't waste any of the leftover pine resin either, both him and Bian Linghan smearing it over their light armor, the originally black Yunqin light armor almost completely turning white. When the two of them moved in this world of ice and snow, if the enemy was too far away, it would be extremely difficult to see them.
...
Right when Lin Xi and Bian Linghan finally completed all of their preparations, about to start putting their all into their search, Yuhua Tianji was currently walking in the shade of a mountain ridge.
Since this place was always shrouded in shadows year-round, the ice and snow here were more damp and slippery, the air also even colder.
The food he brought on him before had already been completely exhausted on the way to those two wooden cabins before. Moreover, according to the competition's rules, they weren't permitted to bring anything from the academy. From yesterday night, Yuhua Tianji didn't eat anything, but because of the Yuhua Family's constant poor and simple living, the self torturing cultivation, his appetite was much smaller than that of normal cultivators. Not only was his appetite a lot smaller, he could also eat some things normal cultivators couldn't swallow down without even a frown, even some extremely bitter and nasty things that would make one immediately vomit intensely.
On top of all of this, he was able to endure hunger much better, able to ignore the panic-stricken feelings produced by hunger.
Yunqin's priests and Tangcang's ascetics were the existences of this world who could endure the most to begin with.
That was why Yuhua Tianji didn't make any plans to hunt, his powerful self control ability making it so that within three days of time, he wouldn't make an error in judgment because of hunger.
He only silently examined his surroundings, advancing at an almost uniform velocity.
A strong gust of wind blew past. The shrubbery under the shadows were blown until they looked like they had fallen, and then they all stood back up.
This was originally an extremely commonly seen scene in this mountain forest, but Yuhua Tianji instead immediately hurried towards the shrubbery, squatting down, carefully examining everything around this place.
On this shrubbery that didn't seem at all strange, there were a few tender branches that were missing. Yuhua Tianji also randomly broke a tender branch, a bit of juice immediately seeping out of the broken end. He slowly chewed on this tender shoot in his mouth. The taste was rather sour, but he sensed that the fibers were rather crisp and tender, the liquid also not making him feel any intuitive out of sorts... that was why even though he didn't know what the name of this shrub was, Yuhua Tianji immediately determined that this was something edible.
After swallowing down this tender branch that wasn't all that hard to swallow, he began to search around even more carefully. However, aside from discovering that someone should have torn off some tender branches to use as food, he didn't notice anything else.
Without much hesitation, Yuhua Tianji began to quickly head north.
Northward of his current location was where Heaven Ascension Mountain Range's snowy peak was located. Normal people definitely wouldn't think about heading to a place of even higher elevation, a place that was even colder, but this youngster who was born in Yuhua Family instead understood the hearts of most prisoners extremely clearly; under the drive of extreme fear, they would often head towards environments that were even more vile, escape to places that were even more devoid of life.
After just four hours of time, when the sunlight was most intense in this wasteland, Yuhua Tianji suddenly stopped before a lower elevation land. He faced several dried trees that were bent from the weight of ice and snow, shouting out, "You should come out now."
After five or six breaths, when he saw that there wasn't the slightest reaction, Yuhua Tianji readied his short spear, as if he was going to hurl it with all of his strength. Right at this instant, with huala sound, a figure rushed out from the withered thicket, fleeing away from Yuhua Tianji in an extremely panicked manner. However, this figure was clearly too rigid, after running less than ten steps, he continuously fell down twice.
Yuhua Tianji didn't make any movements, instead speaking with an emotionless, lecture-like voice, "I am someone from Yuhua Family, as well as a student of Green Luan Academy. With the names of both Yuhua Family and Green Luan Academy, I will save you. As long as you follow me out of this mountain, you can obtain amnesty."
The fleeing figure suddenly stopped, but he wasn't able to stand firm, falling heavily again.
Yuhua Tianji walked towards this prisoner dressed in a shabby gray robe, his blonde hair flickering with a radiance even more brilliant than sunlight.
The prisoner who collapsed, because of fear, doubt, and exhaustion spiritually and physically, was shaking endlessly. Meanwhile, what made Yuhua Tianji stare blankly for a moment, was that this prisoner was actually a young lady with a rather pretty appearance.
Her hair was already completely stuck together in a clump, her face covered in bloody scars left behind from lashes.
"It's all over... you will obtain amnesty, your crimes and darkness will depart from you." Yuhua Tianji's heart carried more mercy. He walked up to this young female prisoner whose life had been deeply entangled within fear and misfortune, wishing to first lift her up. However, right at this time, a trace of unusual redness suddenly appeared on his originally pale face.
It was because right at this time, this entirely shaking, almost twitching young female prisoner suddenly revealed a dazzling smile. At the same time, her hand carried a hint of cold light, shooting out of her sleeves, stabbing towards the pit of his stomach!
In that instant, he only had enough time to pull his body back a bit. This young lady suddenly erupted with explosive power, the smile on her bloody scar-riddled face was like an extremely bewitching flower. The black dagger in her hands stabbed down viciously, diagonally piercing into his shoulder! Hot blood splashed out from Yuhua Tianji's shoulder. At the same time, her slender and powerful legs stepped on Yuhua Tianji's body.