The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

Chapter 443 Polar Exploration - Distress on the Icefield

Yun Yao and Chu Mochen reorganized themselves a little, and then resolutely headed towards the Arctic Ice Field to explore the whereabouts of the first ancient artifact. Along the way, the cold wind whistled, cutting the skin like an ice knife, the sky and the earth were white, the vision was limited, and every step forward was extremely difficult.

Although Yun Yao was wearing warm robes, she still couldn't help shivering. She tightened her collar and turned to look at Chu Mochen beside her. Seeing that he was standing tall and firm, like a towering iceberg in the cold, she felt relieved. "Chen, this ice field is so vast, where could the artifact be hidden? We have to work harder, the sect is still waiting for us."

Chu Mochen nodded slightly, looking into the distance with deep eyes: "Don't worry, Yao'er, since the ancient books have given some guidance, there must be clues to follow. We just need to pay close attention."

The two of them followed the vague clues given by the system and headed north. After walking for an unknown amount of time, a strange ice forest suddenly appeared in front of them. The ice was like swords, towering and shining with a cold blue light in the dim light. Yun Yao's heart moved, "Chen, the atmosphere here is strange, maybe the artifact is nearby." As she said that, she turned on the system's perception function and stepped into the ice forest carefully.

As soon as she entered the ice forest, a piercing chill hit her face, and Yun Yao felt that the spiritual power in her body had become sluggish. Suddenly, a low roar came from the depths of the ice forest, and the ground began to tremble violently. A huge ice beast broke through the ice. It was as big as a mountain, and its body was covered with thick ice armor. Every time it moved, large pieces of ice flew out.

Yun Yao's eyes shone, and she quickly drew her sword, the sword humming, echoing the icy air. Chu Mochen also instantly used his magic weapon, a flash of cold light passed, and his flying sword circled around him, ready to go. The beast opened its bloody mouth and spewed out an icicle, sweeping towards the two of them like a torrent. Yun Yao tapped her toes lightly, dodged sideways, and swung her sword at the icicle at the same time. The spiritual power on the sword surged, and it actually split a gap in the icicle.

"Chen, this giant beast has thick skin and flesh. We can't fight it head-on. We have to find its weakness!" Yun Yao shouted loudly.

Chu Mochen responded and controlled the flying sword to hit the beast's eyes. The beast felt pain and shook its head wildly. Its huge claws scratched deep grooves on the ice, stirring up ice mist. Yun Yao took the opportunity to go behind the beast and found a piece of glimmering ice crystal on its back near its neck. She thought to herself, "Could this be its weak spot?"

She was about to attack, but the beast seemed to sense danger and swept its long tail across. Yun Yao was unable to dodge and was swept to the ground, bleeding from the corner of her mouth. Seeing this, Chu Mochen was extremely anxious and rushed towards the beast regardless of everything. The magic weapon in his hand shone brightly and hit the beast hard, causing the beast to change its target again and pounce on him.

Yun Yao struggled to get up, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes full of determination: "I will not lose here today!" She mobilized all her spiritual power, the light on the sword was dazzling, and she rushed to the back of the giant beast like a meteor, and when the time was right, she stabbed the ice crystal fiercely. The giant beast let out a deafening roar, struggled wildly, the ice armor broke, and large pieces of ice flew. Yun Yao gritted her teeth and stirred hard. With a "click", the ice crystal shattered, and the giant beast fell to the ground, turning into a pile of ice chips and dissipating.

Both of them were panting. Yun Yao leaned in Chu Mochen's arms and recovered after a while. "Chen, I'm glad to have you." She said softly.

"Silly Yao'er, you and I have shared life and death, no need to thank me." Chu Mochen stroked her hair gently.

After a short rest, they continued to go deeper into the ice forest. As they moved forward, the temperature around them became ridiculously low. Yun Yao felt her hands and feet gradually go numb, and every step seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. The system suddenly issued a warning: "There is danger ahead. There are powerful ice restrictions hidden. If you move forward rashly, you may be in danger of your life."

Yun Yao frowned, looked at Chu Mochen, and said, "But if we don't move forward, how can we find the artifact? If we are careful, we may be able to find a way to crack it."

Chu Mochen nodded in agreement, and the two slowed down their pace and carefully observed their surroundings. They saw that the ice in front was engraved with complex runes, which were shining with a faint light, as if guarding something. Yun Yao squatted down and tried to decipher the runes, but as soon as she touched them, a strong icy force attacked her arm, freezing her arm to purple instantly.

"This rune is too overbearing. Breaking it forcibly will only trigger a stronger restriction." Seeing this, Chu Mochen hurriedly held Yun Yao's hand and used his own spiritual power to dispel the coldness for her.

Just when the two were at a loss, Yun Yao caught a glimpse of an ice wall at the edge of the ice forest flashing with a strange light, which was out of tune with the surrounding ice walls. "Chen, there might be something strange over there!" She pulled Chu Mochen and walked quickly.

When approaching the ice wall, it was discovered that the light was actually coming from inside the ice wall. A vague outline could be seen faintly, resembling an ancient book. Yun Yao's mind moved, and she used the power of the system to try to penetrate the ice wall and take out the ancient book. As the spiritual power was injected, a crack slowly appeared in the ice wall, and the ancient book slowly floated out. But just when the ancient book was about to be obtained, the ice wall collapsed with a loud bang, and a surging icy torrent with countless ice spikes shot out like a rain of arrows.

Chu Mochen reacted quickly, protecting Yun Yao behind him and using magic weapons to prop up a light curtain to resist. However, the impact of the torrent was so strong that the light curtain was shaky. Yun Yao was extremely anxious, as she knew that if the light curtain was broken, the two would be seriously injured by the ice torrent. At the critical moment, she suddenly remembered the method of reverse operation of ice spirit power mentioned in ancient books, which might be able to weaken the power of the torrent.

She didn't have time to think about it, and immediately activated her spiritual power, guiding the icy spiritual power in the opposite direction according to the ancient book. For a moment, a strange light appeared around her body, competing with the icy power from the outside world. A miracle happened, the speed of the torrent slowed down, and the power of the ice spikes was much less than before. Chu Mochen seized the opportunity and used all his strength to activate the magic weapon to shatter all the remaining ice spikes, and the two of them escaped.

Yun Yao collapsed to the ground, her face pale. The forced circulation of spiritual power just now had almost exhausted her spiritual power. Chu Mochen hurriedly helped her up and fed her a pill, with a distressed look on his face: "Yao'er, you're trying too hard. What if you hurt yourself?"

Yun Yao smiled weakly: "As long as we can find the artifact and save the sect, everything will be worth it."

After Yun Yao recovered some strength, the two opened the ancient book, which contained a vague legend, suggesting that the artifact was hidden on the top of an ice peak at the end of the ice field. It was guarded by ancient ice spirits and was extremely dangerous.

"No matter how difficult the road ahead is, we must bring the artifact back." Yun Yao's eyes were determined. She and Chu Mochen supported each other and moved forward with difficulty towards the towering ice peak at the end of the ice field, which looked like a road to the sky.

Along the way, they encountered several blizzards, with howling winds and snow covering the sky, almost burying the two. There were also ice cave traps hidden under the snow, and if they were not careful, they would fall into the abyss. But with their mutual understanding and tenacious will, they managed to escape danger again and again.

Finally, the ice peak appeared in front of them. The mountain was steep, the ice wall was as smooth as a mirror, and there was almost no way to climb it. Yun Yao looked up, and a sense of pride surged in her heart: "Chen, let's climb to the top!"

Chu Mochen held her hand tightly: "Okay, let's do it together!"

The two used their spiritual power to slowly climb along the ice wall. But just as they climbed halfway up the mountain, a large piece of ice suddenly rolled down from above, smashing down like a boulder. Yun Yao slipped and almost fell. Chu Mochen was quick to grab her wrist and hold on to the protruding part of the ice wall with his other hand. His veins bulged, and he gritted his teeth and persisted.

"Yao'er, hold on to me!" Chu Mochen shouted.

Yun Yao calmed down and regained her footing, and the two continued to climb. After finally approaching the top of the mountain, they saw clouds and mist lingering on the top of the mountain. The cold air seemed to be a sharp blade that cut the skin. Before they stepped in, they heard a ethereal chanting sound, like a warning from ancient times.

"Is this the deterrence of the ancient ice spirit?" Yun Yao murmured to herself.

The two stepped into the clouds and saw an illusory spirit floating in the air, as if made of ice crystals. It had cold eyes as it stared at the intruder.

"Outsider, this is a forbidden area, leave immediately, otherwise don't blame me for being rude!" The ancient ice spirit made a cold voice.

Yun Yao stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Senior Bing Ling, we know that this place is dangerous, but our sect is in danger, and only the ancient artifact can save it. I beg you to help me and tell me where the artifact is."

The Ancient Ice Spirit snorted coldly: "Humph, how can a divine weapon be easily obtained by you? Many people have tried to get their hands on it, and all of them have died here."

Chu Mochen also bowed and said, "Senior, although we two know that the road ahead is difficult and dangerous, for the sake of thousands of lives, we will never back down. Even if it costs our lives, we must give it a try. I hope that the senior will help us because of our sincere hearts."

After hearing this, the Ancient Ice Spirit was silent for a moment, as if moved by the determination of the two: "Well, since you are so persistent, I will give you a chance. If you can pass through the Ice Spirit Illusion Formation I set up within one stick of incense, you will know the location of the artifact. But if you fail, you will stay here forever."

After saying that, the ancient ice spirit waved his hands, and the surrounding clouds and mists instantly changed, forming a huge illusion array. The scene in the array was ever-changing, like an endless icy purgatory. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen looked at each other and resolutely stepped into the array.

As soon as she entered the formation, Yun Yao felt a black screen in front of her eyes, as if she was in a dark ice field, with the sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling in the cold wind. Countless ice souls emerged from all directions, rushing towards her with bared fangs and claws. Yun Yao drew her sword to defend herself, and her sword moves were sharp. Every swing could disperse a piece of ice soul, but the ice souls continued to come and could not be killed.

At the same time, Chu Mochen was also in a tough battle. He was in a forest of ice spikes, which kept growing and piercing like living things. If he was not careful, his body would be pierced. He controlled the magic weapon and rushed left and right in the forest of ice spikes, looking for the flaws in the formation.

While Yun Yao was fending off the Ice Soul, she was keeping an eye on her surroundings, trying to find the pattern of the illusion array. She found that although the Ice Soul's attacks were chaotic, whenever she approached a certain direction, the Ice Soul would rush towards her more frantically. "Could that be the center of the array?" She thought to herself and rushed in that direction.

On the other side, Chu Mochen also discovered that the growth rate of ice spikes would slow down in certain areas. He followed the clues and gradually approached Yun Yao. After the two met up, they attacked the suspected center of the formation together.

Just as they were about to reach the center of the formation, a huge ice wall suddenly appeared in front of them. Complex runes flashed on the ice wall, and the runes released a powerful restraining force as they flowed, blocking the two people's steps. Yun Yao was anxious, and there was little time left. If she couldn't break through the ice wall, all her efforts would be in vain.

She recalled her previous experience of breaking the rune in the ice forest. After discussing with Chu Mochen, the two decided to work together to attack the rune with spiritual power, trying to disrupt the operation of the rune. The two mobilized their spiritual power, gathered it at one point, and hit the ice wall rune fiercely. Once, twice... The ice wall trembled under the impact of spiritual power, and the rune light flickered.

Just as the incense stick was about to burn out, with a loud bang, the ice wall collapsed and the illusion dissipated. A trace of surprise flashed in the eyes of the ancient ice spirit: "I didn't expect you to be able to pass. Well, the artifact is in the ice cave at the top of the ice peak, go."

Yun Yao and Chu Mochen were filled with joy and ran towards the ice cave on the top of the ice peak. The ice cave was so cold that it seemed to freeze the soul. Deep in the ice cave, a divine weapon emitting soft blue light was suspended in the air, and runes were flowing on the artifact, as if it contained endless mysterious power.

Yun Yao carefully reached out her hand and touched the artifact. A warm force spread through her fingertips and dispelled the coldness around her. "Finally found it." She was so excited that her eyes were red.

Chu Mochen was also pleased: "Yao'er, let's take the artifact back to the sect quickly. There are still two pieces. We will definitely be able to collect them all."

The two put away the artifacts, slowly descended along the ice peak, and set out on their return journey. Although they knew that the road ahead was still difficult, at this moment, their hearts were full of hope, and the artifacts in their hands seemed to give them endless power to meet the subsequent challenges.