"Is this the Snow Howling Beast's lair?" Han Li gazed at the impossibly deep ice crevice, from which ceaseless frigid winds howled forth, and furrowed his brow as he asked.
"That's right — this is precisely the place my sect's disciple described!" Bai Yaoyi, the lovely woman, hovered beside Han Li. After casting her gaze in every direction for a moment, she confirmed with certainty.
"In that case, let's lure them out directly." Han Li nodded. With a single hand forming an incantation seal, spiritual light flickered around his body, and specks of fire suddenly appeared before him. With several soft popping sounds, the fire sparks surged violently, each expanding into a fist-sized crimson fireball.
"Go!"
His sleeve swept lightly over the dozens of fireballs before him, and with a whistling roar, a sheet of red light enveloped the fireballs as they plummeted downward, vanishing into the dark crevice in the blink of an eye.
Han Li and Bai Yaoyi stared below without blinking.
But after a good while, the crevice remained as calm as before — not the slightest sound of explosion drifted up. The silence was somewhat eerie.
Han Li and Bai Yaoyi exchanged a glance, each showing a flicker of surprise on their faces.
"They're only fifth- or sixth-grade demon beasts — there's no way they silently absorbed those fireballs. It seems there are more powerful beasts down below." Han Li stroked his chin as he spoke.
"Quite possibly. My sect's disciple never ventured deep into the ice crevice. He spotted the Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Ice and Mystic Ice right at the edge before being discovered by those Snow Howling Beasts." A trace of gravity appeared on Bai Yaoyi's face as well.
"Heh, it doesn't matter. I'll use my spirit beasts to flush them out too." Han Li said calmly. He gave a light pat to a spirit beast pouch at his waist, and twelve streaks of white light shot out from it. They circled once in midair and transformed into snow-white centipedes roughly a foot long, each bearing transparent double wings and looking fierce and savage.
Han Li let out a low hum and pointed a finger at the six-winged frost centipedes in the air.
The flying centipedes swayed their heads and tails, their bodies radiating waves of cold light, and they dove downward one after another.
Seeing this, a flash of surprise crossed Bai Yaoyi's face, though she said nothing.
Han Li had no fear of danger befalling these six-winged frost centipedes. After all, with all twelve working together, they could easily escape even if they encountered an eighth-grade demon beast.
Sure enough, before long, a rumbling sound of battle rose from the crevice below, growing louder and louder, as though something was about to burst out from within.
Han Li pressed his lips together and, without a word, flicked his sleeve. Over a dozen streaks of golden light shot from within, transforming into more than a dozen gold swords roughly a foot long that hovered motionless above the crevice, glinting brilliantly.
Bai Yaoyi smiled but made no move to attack.
It was obvious she believed that Han Li alone could handle the demon beasts about to emerge below with ease.
A moment later, a strange bestial roar clearly sounded from below, followed by gust after gust of white, misty snow wind surging outward. Within the wind were seven or eight snow-white beasts that resembled lions, each wearing a look of extreme terror, as though they were fleeing for their lives.
Han Li recognized them at a glance — these lion-like demon beasts were the so-called "Snow Howling Beasts"!
Without the slightest hesitation, he mentally activated his sword incantation. Several gold swords trembled, releasing a radiant glow as they transformed into streaks of golden rain and shot downward.
Each was roughly a zhang long, dazzling and blindingly bright.
The flying swords moved with the speed of thunder and lightning. In a single flash they sliced through the seemingly fierce snow wind and arrived beside the demon beasts.
Before the beasts could even react, the golden streaks eerily coiled around them.
Several agonized screams rang out, and the beasts were sliced clean in half at the waist. Their severed remains tumbled from the sky and plunged back into the ice crevice.
The very next instant, an earth-shaking roar erupted from below, and then with a thunderous boom, a hurricane column several zhang wide surged skyward from the depths of the crevice.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and looked upward.
Atop the hurricane's crest crouched a massive beast several zhang in size, its eyes blazing with fury.
Its appearance was remarkably similar to those slain Snow Howling Beasts, but its fur shimmered with a brilliant silver glow, and its body was more than twice their size.
"Hm? That's not a Snow Howling Beast — it's an Ice Fierce Beast! How did such a high-grade demon beast end up here?" Bai Yaoyi let out a soft exclamation of surprise, clearly finding it very strange.
Han Li's eyes flashed, but before he could say anything, over a dozen streaks of white qi shot out from the crevice once more. They flickered and resolved into twelve snow-white centipedes, spewing cold breath as they lunged at the silver-furred beast.
Though the beast appeared to be only a seventh-grade demon beast, it seemed utterly unafraid of the six-winged frost centipedes' cold energy. Furthermore, it was extraordinarily fierce in close combat — biting and tearing with savage abandon — and was actually able to tangle with all twelve centipedes simultaneously, holding them in a stalemate.
Han Li's brow arced upward. He let out a cold snort, raised a finger, and a flash of green light appeared at its tip as he prepared to command the hovering gold swords to descend and slay the beast.
But at that moment, Bai Yaoyi suddenly spoke:
"Wait! Please show mercy, fellow Daoist. This Ice Fierce Beast is a rare demon beast with both ice and wind attributes. Allow me to capture it — it could prove very useful!"