A Chaotic World

A small crowd of around ten to fifteen people gathered in the middle of the cave, all of watching intently at two people who were fully focused on their discussion, as though completely oblivious that they were being watched.

Nanlan Qianxue's eyes were fixed on her two hands that were busy carving strange symbols into a palm-sized wooden plate.

"How about replacing the second half of the sequence with that of the Golden Lion Sequence? That might bring about a better effect."

The one who spoke was a man seated opposite her. He looked to be in his forties, sporting short black hair and a full moustache.

He looked intently at the wooden plate in Nanlan Qianxue's hands, then looked up towards Nanlan Qianxue.

"...No."

The man frowned at Nanlan Qianxue's response that did not explain anything, but chose not to complain outright. Instead, he turned his gaze back towards the wooden plate and continued observing.

Shortly after Nanlan Qianxue arrived a month ago, he found out that Nanlan Qianxue was a fellow talisman master. He naturally did not let go of this opportunity, and had been spending his time discussing about the subject with her since.

Initially, he saw Nanlan Qianxue as a junior whom he could guide along on the path of talisman making.

Then, he started seeing Nanlan Qianxue as a peer who had interesting thoughts of her own regarding how to approach the subject.

In the past few days, he finally realised why they called Sacred Cliff City the City of Artificers. The techniques and thoughts that originated from there were truly of a magnificent standard!

Bit by bit, the wooden plate became more complete.

And bit by bit, he slowly understood what Nanlan Qianxue meant.

"So it's like this..." he rubbed his chin in contemplation. "If we have adapted from the Golden Lion Sequence, it would have caused the tasliman to take on a conflicting attribute. But in this case, would the Grand Eagle Sequence have worked as well?"

"...Yes."

The man had already gotten used to Nanlan Qianxue's curt replies by now, so he merely smiled to himself, proud that his theory was acknowledged by the other party. "Come, let me try!"

From afar, Lu Tianzi smiled as he watched the crowd that was fully immersed in the world of talisman making.

Nanlan Qianxue had always had an affinity towards the ice element.

Because of that, their stay here in the Shimmering Plains had been nothing but beneficial towards her. Others might grow weary of the frozen climate, but she only felt like a fish that had returned to water.

In this period, not only had her rate of cultivation increased, but her comprehensions into the Law of Ice had greatly improved as well.

But more than that, Lu Tianzi was more amazed at how easily Nanlan Qianxue had fitted in with the Frost Guards, especially considering her usual cold demeanour towards strangers. Perhaps it was a fortunate thing that the Frost Guards also had a respected talisman master on their side.

"Young Sir Lu, we are almost ready. Will you be coming along this time?" Nanlian Hui walked to him and said.

"I would like to if possible," Lu Tianzi nodded. "Hold on, let me tell Qianxue as well. I'm sure she would love to come along too."

Lu Tianzi walked off to inform Nanlan Qianxue, who quickly dropped what she was doing to join him, much to the disappointment of the rest of the group.

The duo were joining in on a hunting trip by the Frost Guards, this one led by none other than the haughty Nanshen Qin.

Or at least that was how Lu Tianzi would have described him a month ago.

Nanshen Qin had been extremely sceptical of them initially. But now that the Piercing Wind Overlord had started to show signs of recovery under the treatment regime prescribed by Lu Tianzi, Nanshen Qin's attitude towards them had made a complete turnaround.

"Hahaha! You are here, Young Sir Lu, Young Lady Nanlan!" Nanshen Qin welcomed them with open arms as they joined up at the entrance of the cave. "Come, today I will show you the superb hunting skills of this Qin!"

Even Nanlian Hui could not help but smile to himself as he watched his senior apprentice brother from the side. This man who had lost his bearings was slowly regaining his joyful nature of the past.

"Then I will be counting on you," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards Nanshen Qin.

"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Nanshen Qin waved it off. "Now then..."

Biii-!

Nanshen Qin made a loud whistle, and within moments, the snow around them began to tremble. As the layers of snow on the ground parted, a giant serpent emerged from beneath the snow, towering over them in a menacing manner.

It was the Pure Snow Serpent King that they had encountered when they first met the Frost Guards.

"We are going with the Pure Snow Serpent King today?" Lu Tianzi asked in surprise.

This was not the first hunting trip that he had participated in over the past month. However, this was definitely the first where the giant serpent had appeared.

"That's right!" Nanshen Qin exclaimed with pride. "Little White, come greet our new friends. This is Young Sir Lu and Young Lady Nanlan."

The giant serpent turned its gaze towards the duo who probably seemed to be only as huge as cats in its eyes, then its gaze turned away from Lu Tianzi to be fixated upon Nanlan Qianxue.

"That's right. They will be coming with us today, so remember that they are friends... hmm?" Nanshen Qin suddenly revealed a look of surprise.

It was not just him, but the rest of of the Frost Guards present also widened their eyes in astonishment.

The proud Little White, which never listened to anyone apart from Nanshen Qin and the elders, suddenly lowered its head before Nanlan Qianxue. It lay down just inches in front of Nanlan Qianxue, its eyes level with hers.

Lu Tianzi frowned and was about to step forward when Nanlan Qianxue stopped him with a raised hand.

"Qianxue?" the confused Lu Tianzi asked, but Nanlan Qianxue did not answer.

As though in a trance, she slowly extended her hand towards the Pure Snow Serpent King.

When her slender fingers came into contact with the cold snout of the giant serpent, Nanlan Qianxue felt a sudden wave of familiarity wash over her, and she instinctively understood what was going on.

For some reason, her cultivation technique was resonating with the ice-element beast.

Nanlan Qianxue closed her eyes before silently drove her origin core, and the Hail Queen Body Refinement Technique started to display its prowess.

An illusory ice flower shimmered into existence behind her as Nanlan Qianxue started emitting an aura of frost that easily eclipsed the freezing winds of the Shimmering Plains. It felt like illusory silver tendrils were extending from her into the surroundings, seizing over control of the frozen landscape.

At this moment, she gave off the feeling of an undisputed queen of this frozen land, as though she could mould the landscape at her will.

Despite the fact that she had the lowest cultivation level among those present, everyone could not help but take a few steps back out of wariness.

Everyone except for Lu Tianzi.

Lu Tianzi's eyes shone with a silvery light as he carefully observed Nanlan Qianxue.

She seemed to have entered a moment of epiphany, where her command of her own cultivation technique was improving at a frightening rate.

The Hail Queen Body Refinement Technique was a high level cultivation technique that came from their master Xihuang Yuanfeng, just like his own Heaven Devouring Divine Art. It was almost impossible to cultivate it at such a speed!

Was it the Pure Snow Serpent King's mental state that was guiding her along?

Or was it enlightenment brought about by observing the state of the Pure Snow Serpent King?

He had never seen Nanlan Qianxue in such a state, and truthfully, was not even sure if it was a good or bad thing.

Even so, he did not back off.

Instead, he got ready to rush forward at the first sign of anything amiss.

"Are you okay, Little White?" Nanshen Qin asked hesitantly, but his words drew no response from the Pure Snow Serpent King.

Both the young lady and the giant serpent seemed to have entered a world of their own as they remained absolutely still, fully immersed in each other's presence.

A wild storm formed and circled around the duo, forming an unnatural barrier of white snow that completely concealed them from the outside. However, the space within the barrier was surpisingly calm, with Nanlan Qianxue's long flowy hair barely fluttering from the wind.

Due to the sheer size of the Pure Snow Serpent King, the rest of the group were naturally included within the peaceful centre as well, and were able to continue watching on without any trouble.

Fortunately, the two of them did not seem to be in any form of pain, which was why the rest of them chose not to carelessly interfere.

It was not until a good few minutes had passed until the aura of frost coming from Nanlan Qianxue finally subsided, and illusory ice flower behind her dissipated. Even then, nobody spoke a word. All of them were carefully watching Nanlan Qianxue and the Pure Snow Serpent King, unsure of what just happened.

Under their watchful gazes, Nanlan Qianxue slowly opened her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Lu Tianzi asked.

Nanlan Qianxue smiled. "Yeah, I was just having a short chat with a friend."

"A friend? Since when have you become friends?" Lu Tianzi let out a bitter smile. "Isn't this only the second time you met this big guy?"

"Why? Are you jealous?" Nanlan Qianxue smirked.

"That you can befriend serpents quickly? Not really," Lu Tianzi shrugged. Still, he could not help but feel relieved that Nanlan Qianxue seemed to be all right.

"Are you okay, Little White?" Nanshen Qin stepped forward and lightly tapped the Pure Snow Serpent King, which hissed softly in response. "Seems like you are fine, eh?"

Nanshen Qin could not help but glance over at Nanlan Qianxue. "What just happened?"

"It's nothing. We were just having a short chat," Nanlan Qianxue shook her head.

"A short chat, eh?" Nanshen Qin looked over at Lu Tianzi, who could only shrug helplessly. "Well, would you still be able to join the hunt today?"

Nanlan Qianxue nodded, and the group set out shortly after.

The Shimmering Plains was a frozen land where signs of life could barely be found. However, the Frost Guards were extremely familiar with this area due to its proximity to Frostguard Mountain.

They knew exactly what to look out for, and where to look for them. Before long, the group was already encroaching upon a small group of white rabbits.

Well, they looked like ordinary white rabbits, but they were nowhere near as harmless.

Jumper hares – extremely aggressive beasts that loved to feast upon the essence energy of others.

Each jumper hare was the size of a dog, with white eyes that seemed to melt into their white fur coat. A fully grown jumper hare was no easy opponent, and could possess the strength that rivalled a Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist.

"Wait here, I will go in and draw their attention. You guys attack the moment their eyes are turned," Nanshen Qin instructed via voice conveyance. "Underst... Little White?"

Before Nanshen Qin could finish, the Pure Snow Serpent King was already rushing forward without a care in the world.

It did nothing to hide its presence. No, even if it did, its massive size meant that it was almost impossible to escape the detection of the sensitive jumper hares.

As expected, the very next moment saw jumper hares already trying to flee the scene.

No matter what, the Pure Snow Serpent King was still a tyrant of the Shimmering Plains. There were few beasts here that could match it in strength, and not even the aggressive jumper hares dared to mess with it.

However, it was also impossible for the Pure Snow Serpent King to catch up to their speed.

"Damn it, what's wrong with you, Little White!" Nanshen Qin cursed before rushing out.

Screech-!

It was the signature sound attack of the Pure Snow Serpent King, supposedly the same one that had plagued Old Qiao's group previously. But this time, the attack seemed to differ slightly.

The propagation of the sound waves brought with it a storm current that picked up the snow that had layered upon the surface of the ground. This wave of sound and snow easily overtook the swift jump hares, then exploded into a towering wall of snow that completely blocked off their path.

This wall of snow formed a complete circle around the Pure Snow Serpent King, trapping everything within like an arena of death.

The jump hares did not hesitate to slam their bodies into the wall of snow, but it was all in vain. The wall that seemed all so fragile had been strengthened by the powerful Pure Snow Serpent King's essence energy, and it was impossible for lesser beings like the jump hares to break it down in a short period of time.

Screech-!

The Pure Snow Serpent King roared once more before pouncing forward.

This time, there was no longer any escape for the jump hares.

"What on earth...?" Nanshen Qin gaped in shock. He had never seen Little White do anything like this!

Not just him, but the rest of the Frost Guards on the hunting trip as well, all of them turned their eyes towards Nanlan Qianxue. They could not help but think back to the white storm that had formed around Nanlan Qianxue and the Pure Snow Serpent King just before they set off for the hunt.

"Young Lady Nanlan, did you really only have a short chat with Little White earlier?" Nanshen Qin finally asked with a hint of helplessness in his voice.