Chapter 346 : Heading to the Polar Ice Plain
Chapter 346: Heading to the Polar Ice Plain
The Polar Ice Plain was covered in snow and ice year-round, and everywhere one looked was an endless expanse of white.
Now, in December, the Polar Ice Plain was further shrouded beneath blizzards that blotted out the sky and covered the earth.
The wind howled furiously, making heaven and earth appear as though they had returned to primordial chaos.
Yet within this land where life scarcely existed, three figures floated in midair.
Within several meters around them, neither snow nor wind could approach.
The three were Zhou Ming, Duanmu Ruibo, and Ge Hui, the helper whom the Duanmu Family had hired from the Hunter Guild.
“I never expected the environment of the Polar Ice Plain to be this harsh.”
Looking at the scene before him, Zhou Ming, who was visiting the Polar Ice Plain for the first time, could not help but sigh.
Perhaps it was precisely because of such conditions that the foreign races had little interest in the northern territories of the Alliance.
Only creatures naturally attuned to ice and snow could survive in such an environment.
“Lord Zhou Ming is probably visiting the Polar Ice Plain for the first time. This bit of wind and frost has little effect on Transcendent beings like us. The truly frightening things are the dangerous regions hidden within the Polar Ice Plain.”
Upon hearing Zhou Ming's evaluation, the short and stout Ge Hui seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and immediately pointed out the true dangers of the Polar Ice Plain.
Hearing this, Zhou Ming looked somewhat surprised.
Aside from Ferocious Beasts, were there actually dangerous places here capable of threatening Transcendent beings?
According to the information provided by Duanmu Ruibo, Ge Hui came from a commoner background and had joined the Hunter Guild in his youth.
Uninterested in power and authority, he devoted all of his efforts to Beast Taming cultivation and eventually advanced all the way to Transcendent Master.
Even after becoming a Transcendent Master, he never became involved in the guild's internal power struggles. Instead, he accepted the position of Hunter Guild Elder.
Now that he had successfully advanced to Mid-level Transcendent Rank, even without holding an official position within the Hunter Guild, his strength alone made him impossible to ignore.
Since there were places in the Polar Ice Plain capable of making even a Mid-level Transcendent Rank expert fearful, Zhou Ming naturally wanted to learn more.
“Elder Ge, could you tell me about them?”
“Of course.”
Ge Hui smiled warmly and readily agreed.
As it turned out, although Ge Hui was an elder of the Hunter Guild, he had not chosen the Beast Knight path.
Instead, based on profession compatibility, he had advanced as a Phantasmal Tamer.
Since his Phantasmal Beast possessed an ice attribute, he had frequently ventured into the Polar Ice Plain in search of resources to cultivate it.
As a result, he was quite familiar with the hidden dangers of the region.
Aside from Ferocious Beasts, the Polar Ice Plain contained three exceptionally dangerous forbidden regions.
They were the Crystal Ice Wasteland, the Frozen Prison Caverns, and the Ghostbone Mountain Range.
The Crystal Ice Wasteland lay to the west of the Polar Ice Plain and stretched across thousands of miles.
For unknown reasons, a disaster known as the White Tide would periodically occur there.
This White Tide was caused by wind and water energy particles becoming unstable and fusing into a freezing aura capable of freezing both spirit and soul.
Faced with the all-extinguishing White Tide, even ice-attributed Elemental Energy Lifeforms struggled to survive.
As for the Frozen Prison Caverns, they were located near the Arctic Ocean.
Within enormous ice fissures formed entirely of frozen ice lived countless ice elemental creatures, many of which had reached Transcendent Rank.
Rumors claimed that deep beneath the gigantic ice fissures, there already existed a kingdom established by ice elemental lifeforms.
As for the final dangerous region, the Ghostbone Mountain Range, it had originally been a human settlement on Blue Star over a thousand years ago.
When Blue Star's terrain underwent drastic changes, tens of millions perished.
For some unknown reason, their souls became trapped within their frozen corpses, transforming into undead-like Frost Corpses that wandered endlessly throughout the snowy mountains.
Unable to find salvation, the accumulated resentment and suffering of a thousand years eventually caused these Frost Corpses to mutate.
Among them were many Frost Corpse Lords possessing Transcendent strength and commanding tens of thousands of Frost Corpse subordinates.
Because the vast Northern Wasteland separated the Polar Ice Plain from the Alliance, only a small number of people knew these secrets.
“Old Master Duanmu, the Divine Awakening Flower needed by Scorpion-Lion isn't located within one of these three dangerous regions, is it?”
Duanmu Ruibo had been quietly standing at the side while Zhou Ming and Ge Hui talked.
Hearing Zhou Ming's question, he immediately shook his head.
“Young Friend Zhou Ming, rest assured. If it were truly located within one of those three dangerous regions, I certainly wouldn't hide that from you.”
“According to the intelligence I obtained, both the Divine Awakening Flower and the Frost Giant Python guarding it are located roughly a thousand miles south of the Frozen Prison Caverns. There is no need to worry about threats from those ice elemental creatures.”
After hearing Duanmu Ruibo's explanation, Zhou Ming thought it over briefly before believing him.
After all, Duanmu Ruibo was facing the same risks during this expedition.
Furthermore, considering Ge Hui's familiarity with the three dangerous regions, Duanmu Ruibo would never have been able to hire him if the Divine Awakening Flower truly grew within one of them.
“In that case, let's head toward the Divine Awakening Flower's location as soon as possible. If anything unexpected happens, we'll still have time to react.”
Naturally, Duanmu Ruibo did not object.
After all, this matter concerned not only his grandson's future but also the interests of the entire Duanmu Family.
The three immediately ended their discussion.
Using their Innate Force Fields, they transformed into three streams of light and flew deep into the Polar Ice Plain amidst the endless blizzard.
The fierce winds howled, and the cold pierced to the bone.
Yet the extreme environment had no effect whatsoever on the three Transcendent Experts.
With the aid of their Innate Force Fields, by the time night descended, they had already arrived at a valley recorded in the intelligence reports.
The valley was formed by two snow-covered mountain ranges stretching hundreds of miles.
The mountains blocked the blizzards from entering.
Within this frozen world, snow pine-like plants actually grew.
In addition, mosses and lichens clung stubbornly to life amidst the ice and snow.
“So this is the place?”
Looking at the mountain ranges stretching for hundreds of miles, Zhou Ming could not help wondering why the Divine Awakening Flower would grow here.
“Yes. According to intelligence obtained from the Hunter Guild, a Transcendent Expert nearing the end of his lifespan once traveled through the Polar Ice Plain a hundred years ago and discovered a Divine Awakening Flower seedling.”
“Because the seedling was difficult to transplant, and because the Frost Giant Python already possessed Mid-level Transcendent Rank strength at the time, he ultimately exchanged the information with the Hunter Guild in return for rewards that would take care of his descendants.”
After hearing Duanmu Ruibo's explanation, Zhou Ming finally understood how he had learned about the Divine Awakening Flower.
For the Hunter Guild, obtaining substantial resources from the Duanmu Family and potentially gaining another Transcendent Expert was naturally worth revealing the flower's location.
After all, ever since the Duanmu Family's founding, its relationship with the Hunter Guild had always been deeply intertwined.
As for the specific deals between the two sides, Zhou Ming had no interest in learning the details.
What truly concerned him was whether he could seize this opportunity to take down the Frost Giant Python.
After briefly explaining the situation, Duanmu Ruibo turned toward Ge Hui.
“Elder Ge, I'll have to trouble you to investigate the situation.”
“Of course.”
Since Ge Hui had accepted benefits from the Duanmu Family for this mission, he naturally had no reason to refuse.
He immediately summoned his Phantasmal Beast.