Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

The sky in the north is covered with dark clouds, and the final thunder is brewing.

The bloody fumes of Yehu Ridge had not yet dissipated in the cold wind, and the lingering fear of Nanzhao King Duan Siming's retreat still reverberated across the northern border. The infamous reputation of the Daqian Black Armored Cavalry, etched with Tuoba Hong's bloodied head, was seared into the very bones of every individual who attempted to profit from the fire. Temporarily subdued by this cold iron fist and bloody thunder, the chaos of the northern border fell into a suffocating, pre-storm silence.

Luoyingpo, Daqian’s imperial tent.

The candlelight shone brightly, yet it couldn't dispel the invisible heaviness. A vast map of the northern border lay spread out in the center, its ravines and gullies crisscrossing. Qin Ming sat upright on a coiled dragon chair, his dark formal attire reflecting a face as icy and stone-carved under the light. His visor rested quietly on the desk, revealing eyes as deep as the abyss, reflecting a single point on the map—Snow God Valley.

"Meng Zhi."

"I'm here!" The giant man like an iron tower took a step forward, his armor clanging.

"How about the scout of the front army?" Qin Ming's voice was not loud, but it sounded like the friction of metal, hitting the stagnant air.

"Your Majesty!" the intelligence officer's voice was tense. "Since Tuoba Hong's execution and Duan Siming's retreat, Hua Yunhong has remained silent at Burial Bone Cliff. His royal court is utterly silent, and his shadow guards are dormant. Helian Tieshu led the last of the elite Shenmu troops—approximately five thousand 'Rotten Heart Willow Guards'—and broke camp three days ago. Their whereabouts remain a mystery! I, your humble servant... am incompetent and have yet to pinpoint their whereabouts!"

The clues were broken. The last elite of the sacred tree disappeared without a trace, as if swallowed by a gray-white poisonous miasma.

A crushing silence reigned within the tent. The generals' expressions were solemn. Hua Yunhong, this venomous snake, would never surrender! Where would his final madness lead?

Qin Ming's gaze, covered with his face, slowly swept across the map, passing over the rolling mountains and icy rivers, and finally stopped at the depths of the Snow God Valley - the shocking point circled by heavy blood-red cinnabar.

Those are the remains of the bloody battle between Chang Baishan and Liu Yueli in the Ice Valley! The remaining plague, corpses, and insect nests... temporarily sealed by the extreme cold! Deeper still... lies the final secret research cave of Kaligon!

Hua Yunhong’s target...is this really the place?

"Ying Qi." Qin Ming's voice was like cold iron falling to the ground.

"Here." A withered figure appeared silently.

"Deep in the Snow God Valley...Karigon's Secret Cave...is there any movement?"

Ying Qi's icy eyes flickered slightly. "The entrance to the secret cave... has been completely frozen since the Ice Valley War, and no one has ever set foot there. However... a few months ago, a hunter observing from afar outside the valley saw... a very faint... emerald green phosphorescent light... flashing fleetingly deep in the valley floor."

Emerald green phosphorous fire... the aura of the Heart-Eroding Willow Miasma? !

Qin Ming's pupils suddenly contracted beneath his mask! Hua Yunhong! He wasn't dead after all! Like the most patient venomous spider, he was weaving his final, fatal blow! The vanished five thousand Corrupted Heart Willow Guards were undoubtedly heading for Snow God Valley! Their target—the source of the remaining plague deep within the Carrigon Secret Caverns. Perhaps even... the cavern itself was a massive poison sac trap! He was going to exploit this fortuitous opportunity, freeze this dangerous place, and set up a final killing spree!

"Pass the order!" Qin Ming stood up suddenly, his black cloak fluttering without wind, and murderous aura swept across the entire venue like a real ice stream!

"Meng Zhi!"

"The general is here!"

"Call the troops immediately! Eight thousand 'Black Armored Heavy Cavalry'! Three thousand 'Divine Machine Crossbow Battalion'! Follow me... and move to Snow God Valley!"

"Shadow Seven!"

"exist!"

"I order you to lead all the 'Tingfeng Guards'! Sneak into the Snow God Valley first! Find that secret cave! Find... Hua Yunhong's final poisonous fangs!"

"Here!"

"The rest of you generals!" Qin Ming's cold gaze swept over the crowd, "Prepare your troops for battle! Station your forces at Luoying Slope! Keep the beacon fires burning for twelve hours! Nail them down here...!"

“Here——!!!” The deafening response tore through the dead silence!

The military order was as heavy as a mountain! The camp instantly transformed into a boiling furnace! Heavy hooves crushed the frozen earth! Dark iron armor gleamed with the chill of death under the cold moon! Eight thousand heavy cavalry and three thousand crossbowmen, like a silent black torrent of steel, crushed snow and ice under the cover of night, surging northwest—towards the extremely cold snowy valley shrouded in legend and death!

Snow God Valley.

A truly frozen and desolate place. Ten-thousand-foot snow-capped peaks on either side, like silent giants, eternally gaze down upon the narrow, deep valley. The perpetual cold freezes everything within in an eternal, deathly silence. The snow, several feet deep, resembles frozen white jade. The biting wind howls through the jagged icicles and frozen rock, emitting a howl like the ghosts of the dead in the underworld.

Meng Zhi led the vanguard scouts, trudging through waist-deep snow. Every breath of icy air felt like a knife piercing his lungs. Looking out, the valley was a vast, deathly white, broken only by a few dark spots—the remains of corpses frozen into ice sculptures! Some were those of the Divine Tree Shadow Guards, some of the Great Qian Black Armored Soldiers, and even more... were the bizarre remains of insects and beasts, as if frozen in a moment of agony! Embedded in the icy cliffs, their frozen expressions of despair and hideous insect limbs exuded a suffocating eeriness and foreboding in the bleak daylight.

"General! There is something... under the ice rock ahead!" A scout lowered his voice with horror.

Following the sound, everyone looked and saw a dark cavern carved into a vast, inward-facing glacier, barely wide enough for a few people abreast. The edges of the cavern were covered in thick, dark-green moss that wriggled like a living thing. A faint, poisonous miasma, carrying the pungent scent of sulfur and the sweet, cloying aroma of decay, emanated from the cavern like the breath of a sleeping giant.

The smell of the Heart-Eroding Willow Miasma! Hua Yunhong had indeed been here!

Even more terrifying was the sight—on the shattered ice before the cave entrance! Over a dozen corpses, clad in dark green vine armor, lay frozen in agonizingly twisted positions! Some were bloated, their skin cracked, revealing the dark green pus frozen into ice shards within! Others persisted in their attempts to climb toward the cave entrance, their nails digging deep into the ice, their faces frozen with unspeakable terror! Their deaths…were identical to those of the Corrupted Heart Willow Guardians in the secret passage of the Burial Bone Cliff, who had been devoured by their own miasma mothers!

"It's... it's the Rotten Heart Willow Guards who were exploring the way earlier!" The scout's voice trembled. "Did they... did they trigger the mechanism of the Kaligong Secret Cave? Or... were they abandoned as explorers by Hua Yunhong?!"

A fierce gleam flashed from Meng Zhi's bell-like eyes! He gripped the great axe tightly! He looked fiercely into the depths of the dark cave entrance! What exactly was hidden inside? Hua Yunhong... this madman! For the power of the plague, he would even sacrifice his last trusted elite?!

at this time!

“Rumble——!!!”

A dull, earth-shaking roar suddenly erupted from deep beneath their feet! The entire glacial valley trembled violently! The snow on the ice peaks on both sides poured down like white waterfalls!

"Avalanche——!!! Retreat!!!"