The night was deep.

The snow was still falling.

Qian Feng led his grand army to the northeastern part of the Dark Wind Hills.

Just ahead was the west bank of the middle reaches of the Hong River Basin; crossing it would bring them to the Wind Shelter Valley.

Until this moment, he had not received a reply from Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body. And tomorrow would be the last day of the three-day deadline.

Although returning to the Wind Shelter Valley would allow them to avoid the pursuit of the ten-thousand-strong Ghost King Battalion behind them, he had no intention of going back there. To him, going back to the Wind Shelter Valley was equivalent to waiting for death: without their restraint, the five major families would be annihilated by the Ghost King Battalion, and then they would become the next target of the Ghost King Battalion.

"Everyone halt!" Qian Feng suddenly pulled his flying horse into the sky and commanded to the hundred-thousand-strong army behind him, "The Ghost King's army is right behind us, quickly arrange the formation and enter a state of battle readiness!"

Qian Feng's abrupt decision left the Li Family Clan Leader utterly stunned!

When Qian Feng landed, he hastily pulled him aside and said, "Clan Leader Qian, what are you doing? Weren't we supposed to retreat to the Wind Shelter Valley?"

Qian Feng glanced at Li Zuole with disdain and said, "Haven't I said it before? Going back to the Wind Shelter Valley is no different from waiting for death!"

"But dying later is always better than dying earlier!" Li Zuole said with a bitter face.

Qian Feng was immediately enraged, his teeth clenched in fury, wondering how Li Zuole's father, who was such a valiant warrior in his day, could have sired such a son who was so greedy for life and afraid of death.

"The fight hasn't started yet, how are you so sure it's us who will definitely die?" Qian Feng retorted.

"Although the numbers of our forces are roughly similar, we have thirty thousand ghosts padding our ranks, and they are far inferior to those experienced soldiers of the Ghost King Battalion!"

"Don't underestimate those ghosts," Qian Feng said coldly, "Don't forget, they are all vicious ghoul-like creatures that have endured tens of thousands of years of severe torture in Hell. When they strike, they might be even harsher than you!"

..

..

Two hours later.

Leaving a trail of long and deep footprints in the snowy ground, the hundred-thousand-strong army led by the Dark Law King had drawn very close to Qian Feng.

He even felt a spiritual power with Yin Qi as strong as his own emanating from Qian Feng.

When he reached the top of a hillside, he looked back and saw the footprints left by tens of thousands of soldiers in the snowy ground being filled by the incessantly falling snow, as if they had never been there.

The Dark Law King shuddered involuntarily, feeling that the snow, just like this season and war itself, was merciless.

"Stop!" The rhythm of the orderly trudging through the snow was disrupted by the Dark Law King's shout, and immediately both the infantry troops in the snow and the cavalry, archers, and heavily armored soldiers flying on horses in the sky halted their advance, plunging the forest into a terrible silence.

The Dark Law King dismounted, and his horse let out a neigh. That cry echoed from near to far and lingered long in the cold wind.

"The allied forces of the Qian and Li families are waiting just ahead for us," the Dark Law King shouted to his troops, then drew the sword from his waist, "This war will be as merciless as this snowstorm. Either we get buried in the snow, waiting to become floating corpses when it melts, or we walk out of this snowy land over the bodies of our enemies. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" The hundred-thousand-strong army responded in unison.

"Louder, I can't hear you!"

"Understood!" This time the volume was several times louder, so much that the allied forces of Qian Li could hear it from several miles away.

A quarter of an hour later, the two armies clashed, and the great battle began!

First, exploding fire stones soared through the air, sometimes colliding with the ranks of the enemy, sometimes smashing into one another in the sky and emitting blinding flashes of light;

Next came the tens of thousands of arrows, flashing with purple Yin Fire, streaking across the sky;

Finally, the soldiers engaged in close combat, plunging into a chaotic melee. With thirty thousand fierce and vile ghosts present, the sounds of ghostly wailing and wolfish howling were incessant!

Soon, the pure white snowscape was stained red with patches of blood, only to be covered by falling snow and returned to pristine white, a cycle that repeated over and over. The ground, originally piled high with snow, became a massive grave filled with countless bodies.

...

...

By the middle and lower reaches of the Hong River, next to the Dragon Spring.

Silver-white moonlight illuminated the world of ice and snow below.

With a "bang," the massive column of water known as "Heaven's Water" once again broke through the thin ice on the surface of the river, shooting towards the sky. Shortly after the water column fell back down, the river's surface froze over once more.

On the riverbank, under a withered tree, Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao sat down with their backs against the tree, facing a burning pile of firewood.

The two had been waiting here for a day and a night. If it weren't for the warmth of Yang Energy, they would have long become two ice sculptures.

"Yuqiao, are you cold?" Chen Hao asked, holding Ye Yuqiao tightly in his arms.

Ye Yuqiao shook her head, her brows slightly furrowed, "Hang on a little longer, it's almost there!"

"No problem!" Chen Hao said with a goofy smile, "As long as I'm with you, I don't mind how long I wait."

"Fine, I'll give you that—you're sweet-talking!" Ye Yuqiao said with a light laugh, then lifted her head and left a shallow kiss on Chen Hao's face.

After an unknown amount of time, the cold wind around them grew even more fierce, and the flames in the fire struggled to stay lit.

With a "bang," a column of water broke through the ice.

However, what was different from any other time was that as soon as the water column burst forth, ice formed rapidly around the surface of the water.

As the water surged upwards, the freezing spread just as quickly.

In the end, when the water column reached its peak and fell down, the bottom half had already frozen into a massive, protruding column of ice.

"Yuqiao, look, that water column has frozen!" Chen Hao said excitedly.

Ye Yuqiao smiled, took Chen Hao's hand, and said, "Wait, it's not over yet."

Minutes later, with both of them watching intently, the next column of water surged forth. However, because the ice column that had just formed was too thick, the water column did not break through but instead pushed the ice column up by more than twenty meters.

And the moment it emerged from the surface, the water beneath the ice column instantly froze as well.

Thus, a towering ice mountain over a hundred meters tall was created on the surface of the river.

"It's finally ready," Ye Yuqiao said, looking up at Chen Hao with anticipation, "I call this massive ice column the Ice Castle, which I think is the most beautiful sight in the Netherworld. What do you think, do you like it?"

"I love it!" Chen Hao's gaze was still a bit dazed, as the process of the Ice Castle's formation replayed in his mind, "It's truly magical, absolutely unbelievable."

Ye Yuqiao smiled contentedly, then stood up while holding Chen Hao's hand and said, "Quick, take me up to the Ice Castle."

Chen Hao nodded, then stood up, scooped Ye Yuqiao into his arms, and with a leap, flew to the top of the Ice Castle.

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