Elf: Is the bear apprentice the weakest? I'll shatter the sky with my fists.

There, the sky took on an unnatural swirling shape, and the faint outline of a black spire was visible.

"Before that, let's explore the west first."

A topographical map of the Crown Snowfield flashed through Li Chen's mind. He touched Latias's neck with his fingers and said, "Fly in that direction."

"Wu~"

Latias suddenly accelerated.

The scenery on both sides instantly blurred into blocks of color, and only the biting cold wind whistled in my ears.

As the altitude increases, the view becomes clearer.

The falling snow appeared a dreamy pink and purple color under the reflection of the blood moon, better than countless falling cherry blossoms.

The continuous snow-capped peaks in the distance are like the back of a giant dragon, looming in the sea of ​​clouds.

The white air exhaled by Li Chen condensed into ice crystals in an instant, and frost had already formed on his eyelashes.

He shrank his neck, secretly thankful that the Vulcan Moth was right next to him and still had some warmth left.

However, let’s look at Celebi who has the grass attribute.

It happily shuttled through the snow, leaving behind a string of emerald light trails.

"what?"

Meloetta poked her head out of her bag, a few snowflakes clinging to her musical note-shaped hair accessory. "Why are you here?"

It looked around curiously. Although it was surrounded by ice and snow, its blue eyes were bright and fearless.

Li Chen was surprised by its words and raised his eyebrows: "Do you know this place?"

"Hmmmm~"

Meloetta floated lightly to the other side of Li Chen's shoulder, put her hands in front of her eyes and looked into the distance, "I used to come here often for concerts. But it wasn't this cold back then..."

"Haqiu!"

A snowflake landed on the tip of its nose, and the little guy sneezed: "If only Victini were here~"

As she spoke, Meloetta hummed a warm melody.

......

......

Half an hour later, Latias began to descend in a spiral.

As the altitude decreased, the outlines of several pointed-roof wooden houses gradually emerged from the snow.

The smoke from the chimney stubbornly maintained its shape in the cold wind, and the orange light from the window looked like stars fallen on the ground.

"Land right here."

Li Chen said slowly while comparing the map in his mind.

If I remember correctly, this village surrounded by blizzard should be the Frozen Village.

That is, one of the few places in the Crown Snowfields where humans live.

Li Chen's eyes were solemn and slowly lowered.

"Hmm? Human?"

The door of the wooden house creaked open, and several figures wrapped in thick fur walked out one after another.

The Sunset Empire Alliance badges on their chests shimmered in the light, clearly indicating they were trainers stationed here for a long time.

The leader was a bearded uncle. His rough fingers pressed on the Poké Ball at his waist. He squinted his eyes and looked at Li Chen: "Kid, what are you doing in this damn place?"

The hot girl in fur next to her snapped her makeup mirror shut, her eyes suddenly lighting up beneath her heavy makeup: "Dad, did he dye his hair white on purpose? It's quite fashionable~"

The rest of the people also tacitly dispersed to form an encirclement.

Li Chen glanced at the guarded postures of the crowd and asked, "Is this place monopolized by the Sunset Empire?"

"That's not the case."

The uncle's rough laughter shook the snow off the eaves, but his eyes were still scrutinizing.

He pointed to a cave shrouded in snow in the distance. "However, this lair is very dangerous. If a young man ventures here alone, he will either get lost or die."

Then, the uncle pointed his rough finger behind him:

"If you want to save your life, follow the red signs posted by the Alliance. You'll reach the safe zone in two days. This damn place just swallowed three elites last week..."

"That's dangerous indeed."

Li Chen nodded, and suddenly changed the subject, "But what a coincidence, I am also gym-level."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Vulcan Moth's gilded wings spread out, and the heat wave instantly melted the snow within a radius of ten meters.

Latias simply stood up, and the dragon-like pressure caused the ice spikes on the eaves to break.

Everyone:? ? ?

Damn? !

A king-level Pokémon?!

The uncle's pupils suddenly contracted, and the veins on the back of his hand pressing on the Poké Ball bulged, but he slowly released it.

"interesting..."

He grinned, revealing his tobacco-stained teeth. "Then let's get to know each other formally."

A rough hand reached out through the snow and wind. "Oper, commander-in-chief of the Sunset Empire's secret exploration team. Specializing in dealing with young people who don't know their place."

Li Chen held the scarred hand and said, "Li Chen, a trainer from the Chinese Alliance, specializes in exploring areas that local organizations cannot handle."

"Hello~"

The hot girl came bounding over in thick-soled boots, the hem of her fur coat lifted up with her movements, revealing the Poké Ball pinned to her leg ring.

She moved closer and looked at Li Chen's face carefully. The rich smell of perfume mixed with the cold wind blew in her face.

"My name is Nia, an elite trainer~"

As she spoke, Nia's rhinestone-studded nails traced across her chin. "You have a king-level Pokémon at your age... Could you be the illegitimate child of some Chinese king?"

"Nia!"

Opel shouted, and the snow on the eaves poured down with a "crash".

His big hand grabbed his daughter's collar and pulled her back like a Pikachu.

"It's funny."

Opera's rough fingers pinched his brow, and the scar across his left eye wrinkled. "This girl is used to being wild in the secret realm."

Chapter 456 Are the sacrifices ready?

"It's okay." Li Chen waved his hand casually, not caring about Nia's teasing.

Oppel's tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he rubbed his red nose. "So, what on earth are you trying to do by risking your life to come to this damn place?"

"Let's find a place to stay." Li Chen pointed to the snow-covered ridge in the distance. "Let's try our luck at the summit tomorrow morning."

"You want to go up the mountain?!"

Oppel's brows knitted into knots instantly, and even his beard stood up. "That won't work these days."

"Why?" Li Chen raised his eyebrows.

Oppel's Adam's apple rolled, and his voice suddenly dropped to a very low level: "Tonight... is the day of the ghost parade."

"ghost..."

As soon as Li Chen opened his mouth, Opel suddenly made a gesture to silence him.

His calloused index finger was raised to his lips, and his other hand had already pushed open the creaking wooden door.

The heat from the house mixed with the aroma of stew hit me in the face.

Everyone walked in.

Nia quickly locked the door and drew the heavy curtains tight around every window.

Only after making sure all the gaps were sealed did Oppel take down a copper oil lamp from the fireplace.

The lampshade is densely engraved with runes to drive away evil spirits.

"Sit down and talk."

He threw a few pieces of frozen fruit into the iron pot, and the soup immediately surged with an eerie purple light. "In the Spiritual Mystery Realm, there are certain words... that you can't say at night, especially during the 'Ghost Parade'."

"So besides wild Pokémon, are there any other special dangers associated with the Ghost Parade?"

Li Chen took the hot tea handed to him by Nia, and his confused expression was reflected in the hot steam.

Opel added a handful of dark purple wood to the fireplace, and the flames suddenly turned an eerie bluish-white. "It's certainly okay to go up the mountain on weekdays. But on parade nights..."

Woohoo~

Suddenly, there were intermittent sobbing sounds coming from outside the house.

Nia unconsciously leaned closer to her father.

Opera's voice lowered: "The strength of those ghost-types will increase several times, and their number will be more than ten times the usual amount."

The wall fire cast his solemn profile on the wall, and the shadow was like a demon with bared fangs and claws.

"The scariest thing is..."

Bang~

The copper lamp suddenly shook violently.

Opal pressed down on the lamp holder, his pupils reflecting the trembling flames, and whispered, "The legendary Ghost King will appear tonight. All the trainers who have disappeared in the past hundred years... have disappeared on this night."

"So evil?"

Li Chen put down the teacup, and the bottom of the cup made a slight sound when it hit the wooden table.

Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, he casually asked, "What's the specific origin of that Ghost King?"

Opel suddenly stood up and took out a roll of yellowed parchment from the secret compartment above the fireplace.

After unfolding, a charcoal drawing suddenly appeared:

The pitch-black horse stood with its head held high on a throne made of bones.

And under its raised hoof, there was a broken crown!

"The last survivor said madly that it commanded the entire ghost army."

The parchment fluttered up, and the eyeballs of the "King Lingyou" in the painting turned strangely!

Nia pressed down hard on the blueprint, her rhinestone-studded nails pressing against the crack in the crown. "Dad! The rune's broken!"

As soon as the words fell, the whole wooden house suddenly shook violently, and the sound of wind and snow outside the window...

Mixed in was the crisp sound of horseshoes hitting the ice.

"Hold on!"

Opel held his daughter's trembling shoulders with one hand and tore off a few talismans from her neck with his other hand.

He bit his thumb, smeared the blood on the talisman paper, and then slapped it on the violently shaking door panel.

"Fight fire with fire..."

Oppel muttered to himself, and quickly pasted the remaining three cursed talismans on the window frame.

The runes on the talisman paper began to wriggle, emitting an uncomfortable purple-black mist.

A strange balance was formed.

The sound of horse hooves outside the house gradually faded away, but fine beads of blood seeped out of the walls.

Nia clutched the edge of her father's clothes tightly until the last sound faded away, and then she realized that her nail polish had dug into her palm...

"Phew, it's okay."

Oppel let out a long sigh, his whole body sinking into the armrest like a deflated tire.