I Grind to Martial Saint

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, they were trekking along the rugged, winding spine of the mountain.

ROAR!

A ferocious beast’s roar assaulted them.

Han Yuan looked over.

A great white bear appeared from behind a massive boulder and charged toward the group.

The bear seemed ravenous, its eyes glowing red as it saw Han Yuan and the others.

"You’re courting death!"

A masked Swordsman scoffed, then pushed off the ground and charged the great white bear himself.

PSHFFT!

A flash of sword light streaked past.

The great white bear let out a pained cry as a thin red line appeared on its throat, followed by a frantic gush of blood.

It struggled, swiping its claws in an attempt to crush the masked Swordsman, but he easily dodged.

THUD~

The great white bear collapsed onto the snow, blood pooling around it.

"Amitabha."

The old monk couldn’t help but sigh at the sight.

He walked over to the bear’s corpse, extended a withered right hand, and closed its eyes.

Han Yuan watched this, lost in thought.

"Monk, spare us the fake compassion,"

The masked Swordsman who had struck sneered.

The old monk said nothing, merely shaking his head and returning to the group.

"Everyone, let’s get moving."

The One-Eyed Dragon quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

The masked Swordsman seemed to want to say more, but his companion stopped him.

The group didn’t dwell on the small incident and continued onward.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~~~

The wind and snow suddenly intensified.

The change was incredibly drastic; a blizzard had erupted out of nowhere!

In an instant, the world seemed to fill with an endless flurry of snow, with flakes dancing wildly through the air.

"Watch out!"

"It’s a blizzard!"

the One-Eyed Dragon shouted.

But his voice was quickly swallowed by the raging storm.

Even he hadn’t anticipated the blizzard’s sudden arrival.

There had been absolutely no warning.

Even Han Yuan frowned.

He stood his ground, motionless as a statue.

No matter how fiercely the blizzard raged, it couldn’t move him an inch.

The others, however, were not so lucky.

The world was a whiteout, and Han Yuan couldn’t see a thing.

He could only faintly hear a scream or two.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The blizzard finally subsided.

A figure suddenly leaped up from the snow.

He looked around, frowning.

All he saw was a vast expanse of snow. The One-Eyed Dragon and the others were gone without a trace.

The blizzard had been truly terrifying; only someone like Han Yuan could have withstood it head-on.

The others had been swept away to who knows where.

Naturally, Han Yuan couldn’t care less if the others were alive or dead.

The only one he cared about was the One-Eyed Dragon.

That man couldn’t die.

Otherwise, who knew how much time he would waste trying to get out of Snow Dragon Mountain.

POOF!

Just then, a portly figure burst from the thick snow.

"Meow! I was almost buried in the snow."

"What rotten luck."

The Orange Cat leaped onto Han Yuan’s shoulder and grumbled.

"Fat Thief, see if you can pick up the One-Eyed Dragon’s scent,"

Han Yuan said softly.

"Alright, I’ll give it a try."

The Orange Cat nodded.

Its little pink nose twitched, trying to catch the One-Eyed Dragon’s scent.

But soon, it shook its head. "No good... The blizzard blew all the scents away."

"Let’s go, then. We’ll find a cave to take shelter in first,"

Han Yuan said quietly.

He noticed the sky was already growing dim.

It wouldn’t be long before it was completely dark.

When that happened, Snow Dragon Mountain would become unusually eerie.

The only solution was to find a cave and hide.

If the One-Eyed Dragon and the others were still alive, they would likely be searching for a nearby cave as well.

The Orange Cat, of course, had no objections.

The man and cat began to search the area, but they couldn’t find a single cave to take shelter in.

"This is a real pain without that One-Eyed Dragon,"

the Orange Cat muttered.

"Yes... He’s so familiar with the Snow Dragon Mountain Range that he could find a cave with his eyes closed."

"For us to find one is like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"It seems tonight is destined to be anything but peaceful."

Han Yuan shook his head.

He wasn’t particularly afraid, though.

He had lost count of how many strange, eerie things he had killed.

"Meow~ I’ll make a fireball for you!"

Seeing the sky turn completely dark, the Orange Cat opened its mouth and spat out a crimson fireball.

The fireball illuminated the entire area.

After nightfall, Snow Dragon Mountain did indeed become much stranger.

The faint sound of the wind and snow was like the weeping of lonely ghosts.

Beyond that, the atmosphere grew oppressive and gloomy.

The towering snow-capped peaks loomed like dark beasts, seeming to watch his every move.

Even Han Yuan felt a tremor in his heart.

"Looks like this place really is off after dark," Han Yuan murmured.

Immediately after, he felt a profound malice descend upon him from behind.

But when he turned around, he saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.

"Meow~ You felt it too?"

The Orange Cat began to lick its paws.

"Yeah... Looks like we’re being watched."

Han Yuan nodded, then added, "Let’s ignore it for now. We’ll see how long it can hold back."

The two of them continued forward.

Before long, a snowman appeared in Han Yuan’s sight.

It looked like something a five or six-year-old child had built, standing just over a meter tall with crooked, comical features.

But when Han Yuan saw the snowman, he got a strange feeling.

It was as if the snowman were alive.

’It’s watching me.’

A thought surfaced in Han Yuan’s mind.

And then...

BAM!

He swept his leg out in a direct kick.

The snowman stood no chance, instantly shattering from Han Yuan’s kick.

"It’s not your fault you’re so ugly."

"But letting me see you, that’s your mistake."

Han Yuan muttered.

He continued walking forward.

After walking just a few dozen meters, another snowman appeared ahead of him.

It was identical to the last one.

This time, before Han Yuan could even act, the Orange Cat opened its mouth and spat out a large fireball.

BOOM!

Flames erupted everywhere.

The snowman instantly exploded.

Then he walked another few dozen meters.

The snowman appeared again.

"Is there no end to this?"

Han Yuan narrowed his eyes.

He stared intently at the snowman, as if trying to observe something.

At that exact moment, a tree branch silently appeared behind Han Yuan, jabbing violently toward his heart.

BAM!

Han Yuan spun like a top, his right leg lashing out in a ferocious sweep!

A snowman was sent flying over ten meters by his kick.

The dark tree branch was, in fact, the snowman’s hand.

This snowman stood over two meters tall. Han Yuan’s kick had merely left a footprint on its chest. It wore an eerie smile as it stared at Han Yuan and the Orange Cat.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!

Immediately after, the wind and snow erupted with renewed fury.

The snowman’s body swelled in an instant.

Two meters... three meters... four meters... five meters...

Finally, it transformed into a colossal snowman over ten meters tall, swinging its arm down to crush Han Yuan.

Its huge, menacing branch of an arm was like the hand of a demon.

"Celestial Spirit - Shattered Clouds!"

Han Yuan planted his feet, launched himself into the air, and focused a terrifying amount of power into his right fist, smashing it toward the snowman’s head!

BOOM!!!

The explosive, terrifying Fist Force instantly obliterated the snowman’s head!

In that moment, the raging snowstorm abruptly ceased.

Now headless, the snowman’s body also began to melt rapidly, turning into a puddle of slush.

"That looked pretty intimidating."

"And that’s all it was?"

Han Yuan had originally planned to play with the snowman for a bit, but he hadn’t expected it to be unable to withstand a single punch.

"Who’s there?"

A voice called out.

It seemed someone had heard the commotion and was quickly approaching.

Han Yuan looked over.

A masked Swordsman appeared not far away.

His companion, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"It’s you..."

The masked Swordsman’s expression softened when he saw Han Yuan.

Although he and Han Yuan didn’t know each other well,

encountering a companion in the oppressive environment of Snow Dragon Mountain still brought a sense of security.

"Have you seen the One-Eyed Dragon?"

Han Yuan asked.

"No."

"I was swept away by the blizzard... By the time I regained consciousness, I was all alone,"

the masked Swordsman said, shaking his head.

"Then you’re of no use to me."

Han Yuan shook his head, then shattered the masked Swordsman’s head with a single punch.