When I woke up, I wanted to go home.

The three stood on the edge of the vast snow-covered mountains, looking ahead at the endless white expanse, with the occasional howl of a wolf.

Zhu Chongjiu asked the two men, "Have you two been to the vast ice and snowfields before?"

I've been to Ninth Brother twice before, this is my third time.

The first time was a joint effort by multiple grades, with college mentors leading the team, to go deep into the vast ice and snowfields to carry out a mission.

That time, one mentor and three students were left here forever.

As Wu Da spoke, he pointed ahead!

The second time, my brother and I came alone, but we only hunted a level one monster on the edge of the snowfield.

Zhu Chongjiu asked the two brothers, "Do you two have any methods for traveling quickly?"

The vast snow-covered mountains are covered in snow all year round, and it's not an easy place to walk. Even if you two are very strong, you won't get very far in a day if you're just walking normally.

How long would it take to travel three thousand miles? And that doesn't even include guarding against monsters, and most importantly, escaping.

Zhu Chongjiu continued, "It's okay if we can't beat them, but if we can't outrun them, then we're really just waiting to die!"

Wu Da replied, "Ninth Brother, before entering the vast ice and snow plains, we all learned a martial arts technique called 'Treading on Snow Without Leaving a Trace.' After successfully mastering it, it's like flying close to the ground, allowing you to travel hundreds of miles a day!"

"Oh? Then show me your internal energy!" Zhu Chongjiu said to Wu Da.

Upon hearing this, Wu Da immediately activated his skill.

At this moment, Zhu Chongjiu saw that although Wu Da's feet were still touching the snow, he could clearly feel that Wu Da himself was floating on the snow like a feather, weightless.

Zhu Chongjiu said to Wu Da, "You can run a few steps forward and let me take another look!"

Wu Da ran a few more steps forward. After sensing the aura, Zhu Chongjiu understood something: he used his internal energy to enter some acupoints in his legs and feet through his meridians and release it to reduce his body weight. He could then use running and his own jumping ability to achieve short-distance low-altitude flight!

After Zhu Chongjiu understood the principle, he said to Wu Da and Wu Er, "You two can go do your missions now. Don't worry about me. I'll be following behind you."

I will not show up unless it is a matter of life and death.

If the mission is completed and I haven't appeared yet, you two can go straight back to the academy and don't need to worry about me, understand?

Wu Da and Wu Er replied in unison, "We know, we've arrived, Ninth Brother!"

The two brothers were not the type to dawdle. After bidding farewell to Zhu Chongjiu, they used their internal energy to fly directly towards their target.

Zhu Chongjiu remained in place, using his internal energy to clear the meridians in his legs and find acupoints to open. After more than ten minutes, the acupoints for the martial art "Treading Snow Without a Trace" had all been opened.

Zhu Chongjiu tried it out and found it quite effective, but when Zhu Chongba was opening up the acupoints, he clearly felt that there were still many acupoints whose function he didn't know.

After Zhu Chongjiu had mastered the "Treading Snow Without Leaving a Trace" technique, he thought to himself, "I'll try to open up all the acupoints on my legs that I can feel, and then test the 'Treading Snow Without Leaving a Trace' technique!"

Two hours later, Zhu Chongjiu smiled to himself; It's done!

Thanks to Zhu Chongjiu's improvements, the same internal energy output is almost twice as fast as before!

Moreover, Zhu Chongjiu felt that with his internal strength, he could definitely fly through the air.

Zhu Chongjiu also tried flying through the air, but found it too exhausting. He secretly calculated that, based on his current internal energy, he could only fly through the air for about four or five hours.

This was because I hadn't properly connected the internal energy output through my meridians and acupoints; otherwise, I could have lasted longer.

I won't study it for now; I'll learn it at the academy later. Why bother with all this brainpower?

Through repeated experiments with this martial arts technique, Zhu Chongjiu came to the conclusion that not all acupoints need to be used.

It's not that the more acupoints there are, the stronger the power.

It has to be a perfect fit, a perfect match.

Once, Zhu Chongjiu used his internal energy to release the acupoints he had discovered on his two knees. Zhu Chongjiu fell to his knees on the snow with a thud. Luckily, there was no one around!

Zhu Chongjiu placed a marker on Wu Da and Wu Er, which could be sensed within a ten-kilometer radius.

Even during a blizzard, Zhu Chongjiu stayed about seven or eight kilometers away from the two of them, also taking the opportunity to check for any monsters or rare treasures.

After using martial arts techniques for a while, Zhu Chongjiu found them uninteresting and thought his own Giant Jump was better. "Giant Jump!" As the name suggests, it's a jump like the Hulk, and it's Zhu Chongjiu's unique way of traveling!

Zhu Chongjiu leaped into the air, soaring a hundred meters high, gliding nearly a thousand meters, before crashing heavily to the ground.

Within Zhu Chongjiu's sensory circle, the most powerful creatures were only a few snow wolves and a snow leopard.

It's probably because it's located on the outskirts of a vast, icy, and snowy plain.

However, Zhu Chongjiu vaguely sensed that the changes in the vast ice and snowfields were such that, without even going too far, a few hundred kilometers further in, monsters would be rampant.

As the three ventured deeper, Zhu Chongjiu also sensed several hunting parties.

Some retreated, covered in wounds, while others cautiously ventured deeper into the area. During this time, Zhu Chongjiu casually hunted down a high-level demonic beast and a royal-level demonic beast.

Half a month later, Zhu Chongjiu and his two companions had ventured more than 2,000 miles into the vast icy and snowy plains, and were very close to their mission objective.

Zhu Chongjiu rested in a naturally formed ice cave, reminiscing about his days in the mysterious cave.

It now appears that the mysterious cave is about 1,500 miles away from the border town. Because Zhu Chongjiu was not yet used to his Emperor-level physique, he usually acted like a normal person, so it took him more than 40 days to reach the border town.

As Zhu Chongjiu ventured deeper into the area, he did indeed discover some problems.

Back then, only two level-two demonic beasts were seen in the mysterious cave, 1,500 kilometers away from the border town. On the way from the cave to the border town, not a single demonic beast was found.

We've only gone six or seven hundred miles into the area and we've already started encountering monsters.

When they ventured more than a thousand miles deeper, they discovered a royal-level demon beast, and there were many other low-level demon beasts as well.

Zhu Chongjiu hunted the high-level demonic beast because it was blocking his path. He didn't want to take a detour because of a high-level demonic beast, so he just hunted it down.

The reason they waited until they hunted down that royal-level demonic beast was because it had discovered Wu Da and Wu Er and had already laid an ambush on them.

When a royal-level monster attacks a high-level mage, unless the mage is prepared, there is a 70-80% chance that the monster will kill the mage with a single blow if it ambushes the mage!

Although the two brothers had the courage to advance in the face of life and death, that did not mean they could just throw their lives away in vain!

Therefore, Zhu Chongjiu had no choice but to hunt down and kill the royal-level demon beast that had been lying in ambush.

Perfect timing, Dean Wang also needs the inner core of a royal-level demon beast!

After traveling for another day, Zhu Chongjiu sensed a huge procession of demonic beasts, including ordinary ferocious beasts, low, medium and high-level demonic beasts, and three royal-level demonic beasts.

Even from hundreds of miles away, Zhu Chongjiu could feel their overwhelming ferocity.

Zhu Chongjiu sensed Wu Da and Wu Er; it seemed they hadn't yet discovered this army of demonic beasts.

Zhu Chongjiu stopped lingering behind the two brothers, concealed his aura, and used the Snow-Treading Without a Trace technique to leap twenty miles in front of them.

As they drew closer, Zhu Chongjiu spotted the demon beast horde with his naked eye.

There were probably around ten thousand of them. Because Zhu Chongjiu was quite close, the smell of blood was pungent!

Zhu Chongjiu pondered what they were doing.

Judging from this formation, this army of demonic beasts must have been driven away by those three royal-level demonic beasts.

Zhu Chongjiu took out a communication stone and told Wu Da and the other two, "Don't come any closer. This matter is beyond your capabilities. Retreat now and return to the border town!"

After transmitting his voice, Zhu Chongjiu slowly lingered behind the demon beast army to see what they were up to.

Three days later, Zhu Chongjiu discovered that the demon beast army was marching in the direction of the border town. Zhu Chongjiu wondered, "Could it be that the recent surge in ferocious beasts and demon beasts outside the border town is due to this reason, and that some demon beasts have deliberately driven them there?"

Five days later, as Zhu Chongjiu was following behind the army of demonic beasts, he heard the cry of an eagle in the sky.

Zhu Chongjiu opened his eyes to their maximum power and looked up. He saw a giant eagle with a blackish-gray body and a white neck and above looking down at him from a thousand meters in the sky.

Holy crap, this is bad! It's the Azure Snow Giant Eagle, we've been discovered.

These past few days I've only been focused on the army of monsters, spending my days observing the forms and appearances of various monsters, comparing them with that encyclopedia of rare and exotic beasts, and I haven't paid any attention to the ones flying in the sky!

As the eagle's cry rang out, the three royal-level demonic beasts instantly stopped and looked in Zhu Chongjiu's direction!

Zhu Chongjiu concealed his entire aura, but he only concealed his aura, not became invisible.

The monsters ahead didn't see him, but the scouts in the sky spotted him.

Zhu Chongjiu looked at the army of demonic beasts that had turned around and were charging towards him, then looked up at the Azure Snow Giant Eagle and said, "Damn it, you ruined my good time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Chongjiu raised his hand and made a soft "poof" sound towards the Azure Snow Giant Eagle. He released a burst of true energy, and the Azure Snow Giant Eagle, which had been circling a thousand meters in the sky, flapped its wings twice and then fell straight down.

Then Zhu Chongjiu looked at the army of demonic beasts charging towards him and suddenly released his aura as an Emperor-level expert.

Upon seeing this, the three royal-level demonic beasts stopped less than a kilometer away from Zhu Chongjiu. As the royal-level demonic beasts halted, the demonic beast army behind them also stopped.

Some of the demonic beasts were even ready to unleash their innate divine abilities, but they were interrupted by Zhu's aura as an emperor-level expert.

Zhu Chongjiu addressed the three royal-level demonic beasts in front of him, saying, "I won't run away, but if you fight, you have a contract with the Ruixue Kingdom, and an emperor-level expert cannot attack someone below the emperor level."

Now, I'm giving you three hours to summon someone—no, I mean, to summon a beast.

I've summoned two Emperor-level demonic beasts for me to fight. If no Emperor-level demonic beasts arrive in three hours, then I'll kill you all.

Although I am an Emperor-level expert, I am not an Emperor-level expert of the Ruixue Kingdom, therefore, I am not required to abide by your agreement with the Ruixue Kingdom.

I did this to give face to the Kingdom of Ruixue!

After Zhu Chongjiu finished speaking, one of the royal-level demonic beasts stepped forward and communicated with Zhu Chongjiu through consciousness, saying, "We have already notified King Rift Sky Tiger. The king is on his way. You little human, just wait to die, hmph!"

Even if our lord doesn't come, you, a mere Emperor-level human, cannot face our army of nearly ten thousand demonic beasts. I think you should wait for our lord to arrive, then kneel down and beg for mercy, pleading with him to spare you."

The royal-level demon beast roared as it transmitted its voice to Zhu Chongjiu. After finishing the transmission, it even tilted its head back and laughed loudly, just like a human!

This royal-level snow ferret that communicated with Zhu Chongjiu telepathically was about the height of a person and was entirely white. According to the Complete Record of Rare and Exotic Beasts, the snow ferret had low combat strength among monsters of the same level, but it was quite intelligent, and its fur was priceless, making it a favorite of many top noblewomen!

Zhu Chongjiu looked at the ferret's arrogant expression and said, "You really think I wouldn't dare kill you?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Chongjiu raised his hand and released a burst of true energy, which pierced directly through the head of the ground ferret.

The ferret, with its increasingly faint laughter, lay stiff and motionless until it finally collapsed!