Chapter 424 The Hidden Chess Piece

Inside the Ghost King Hall.

The Ghost King’s face twitched awkwardly when he heard Chen Fei’s last words. He slowly turned to look at Fang Ping and the other divine souls.

Fang Ping and the others were barely holding back their laughter.

“Haha, that must have been a hallucination! Yes, a hallucination! Chen Fei’s a good kid—still worth cultivating!” the Ghost King growled through gritted teeth.

He couldn’t wait to see the kid’s face next time they met.

Fang Ping nodded approvingly. “Indeed! That boy has great hand-feel.”

Everyone turned their heads to stare.

Hand-feel…? Was that really something serious?

The Ghost King chuckled—then suddenly his face changed.

“Crap! I forgot something!”

Everyone turned back again.

Looks like the Ghost King’s been asleep too long—he’s getting forgetful.

“The Heavenly Silkworm Gu is a treasure only usable by Void Realm cultivators. Giving it to him now… it might just drain all the qi from his body,” the Ghost King muttered, shaking his head.

“No, no, this kid is weird. I sensed an aura from the Upper Realm on him—he’s probably someone else’s hidden piece.”

Fang Ping raised an eyebrow. “And you still picked him?”

“Why not?” The Ghost King smiled mysteriously.

He waved a hand. “Forget it. Let’s keep watching. It won’t be long now.”

Northern Wilderness Highlands.

A vast, frigid expanse rarely visited by people. Snowfall was constant year-round, except for ten sunny days in June.

These ten days marked the grandest festival of the Northern Wastes: The Muhan Festival.

The name means “herding the cold”—clearly created by a powerful cultivator with a bold flair.

Normally, this festival was marked by bright weather.

But this year was different.

The snowstorms were even fiercer.

Across the snowy plateau, a caravan trudged forward through the wind and snow.

“We’re almost to the mountain pass! Keep pushing! Once we cross it, we can rest and warm up. One more night and we’ll reach Northgate City!”

The lead shouted with confidence, but quickly shut up—the icy wind nearly froze his lungs mid-sentence.

In the Northern Wastes, even Yuan Realm cultivators couldn’t afford to inhale too much icy air.

Anyone traveling here wasn’t weak.

The group moved faster and finally reached the mountain pass before nightfall.

“Strange… Old Head, was there always a pass here? I don’t remember this spot at all.”

The team leader frowned and looked back at the white-bearded old man behind him.

This man was none other than Old Qin, known throughout the Northgate region for his unmatched survival experience.

No one knew his real name. Everyone just called him Qin Ba-tou.

He was famous for surviving three months alone in the Northern Wilderness—back when he was only at the Dao Realm, not even Yuan Realm!

Old Qin studied the surroundings with a deep frown.

Navigational tools like compasses were useless in this place due to the extreme cold. Only experience could guide one safely through the wilds.

A single misstep often meant being buried beneath endless snow.

“This pass wasn’t here before. This terrain is man-made,” he said gravely.

The leader, Mo Qing, froze.

In the Northern Wastes, unnatural changes were always ominous.

It was best to avoid them when possible.

“Hey—look! There’s someone there!”

One of the group pointed ahead in shock.

Meanwhile…

Chen Fei slowly opened his eyes.

It was freezing around him—but his arms were toasty warm. He looked down to see Ji Wugou still fast asleep, pouting slightly like she was still crying in her dreams.

Chen Fei was speechless.

He scanned the snowy landscape around him and cursed the Ghost King silently.

What kind of dump did he toss me into this time?!

As he moved, Ji Wugou stirred, only to shiver violently from the cold.

“Where are we?”

Her face flushed as she realized she was curled up against him.

Although she didn’t want to leave that warm embrace, she still bit her lip and quickly backed away—glaring at him.

Chen Fei said lightly:

“If you were shivering, it’s fine. But if I were shivering, then we’d be in trouble.”

Ji Wugou frowned. She didn’t get it.

Chen Fei was relieved she didn’t burst into tears again.

He wasn’t worried about explaining things—it was just annoying.

“My body’s messed up. My qi is completely drained. What about you?” he asked.

There was a crowd watching from nearby, and the environment was unknown. Chen Fei stayed alert.

Ji Wugou perked up. If this bastard had no qi, then she could finally teach him a lesson!

But as she tried to gather qi—her face froze.

Her body felt clogged too.

Nothing flowed.

“I… I don’t know!” she replied reluctantly.

Chen Fei continued inspecting his body—and finally figured it out.

It was the Heavenly Silkworm Gu.

The thing looked asleep, but its mouth hadn’t stopped chewing