Chapter 112

Chapter 112: White-haired God of Death

Lou Yun had no time to respond to Chang Xiang’s confusion. Because right now, that White-haired person had already flown far away, and if he didn’t follow immediately, he might lose him. So Lou Yun urgently lifted his figure and rushed to follow.

Although Lou Yun couldn’t fly yet, by relying on the footwork of the "Wind Play Decision", even on a mountain, he moved as if on flat ground. Moreover, the White-haired person’s flying speed wasn’t particularly fast, almost as if he was intentionally waiting for Lou Yun. Consequently, Lou Yun just managed to keep up with the other’s figure.

Thus, one flew in the sky while another ran on the ground. Lou Yun paid no heed to the path, whether it was high mountains or flat land, he simply desperately followed the White-haired person’s silhouette. After running for nearly two hours, the White-haired person finally stopped. Pointing towards a snow-capped mountain ahead, his voice reached Lou Yun’s ears: "The Qi Cai Xue Lian is on that mountain!"

Lou Yun looked in the direction he pointed and naturally saw nothing. However, since the other had so enthusiastically personally guided him here, he presumably wouldn’t deceive him. Thinking that he would soon see the Qi Cai Xue Lian, Lou Yun’s mood accordingly brightened.

Of course, Lou Yun wasn’t foolish enough to think the Qi Cai Xue Lian would just be waiting there for him, ready to be picked as soon as he saw it. Although Qi Cai Xue Lian wasn’t considered extremely rare medicinal herb, it still held significant value. Someone was bound to be guarding it.

However, Lou Yun had already resolved: if the Qi Cai Xue Lian truly had an owner, he would use the things on him to trade for it. And currently, Lou Yun had many fine items on him, especially advanced weapon techniques and high-grade spiritual crystals. The value of these things was absolutely far greater than that of Qi Cai Xue Lian. Therefore, Lou Yun was somewhat confident he could obtain it.

At this moment, the White-haired person descended from the sky to the ground and stood in front of Lou Yun. Without speaking, he strode forward. Lou Yun hastily followed, yet he discovered that even though the White-haired person wasn’t flying, his walking speed was extremely swift, faster even than Huangfu En’s footwork, and this likely wasn’t even his full speed.

Led by the White-haired person, they quickly reached the mountainside, where there was a cave.

Standing at the cave entrance, Lou Yun could feel waves of warm air wafting from within. He couldn’t help but feel intensely curious: in this world completely covered by ice and snow, how could there possibly be warm currents blowing out?

The white-clad man stood at the cave entrance and spoke coldly: "Xue Lao San, come out!"

Almost as soon as his voice fell, a figure appeared at the cave entrance. Seeing this person’s attire, Lou Yun felt a chill run through his entire body.

The other was a middle-aged man. In this environment, he was bare-chested, wearing only long pants. His body was extremely burly. When he saw the White-haired person standing before him, deep fear visibly flooded his face; his originally straight body involuntarily bent forward. Even his voice sounded utterly unnatural: "Ah, i-it’s y-you, you! H-how come you have, have time to visit my place today!"

"I need one Qi Cai Xue Lian from you."

Hearing these words, a look of obvious relief instantly washed over Xue Lao San’s face. He immediately nodded obsequiously. "No problem, no problem! Please wait here, I’ll fetch it for you right away!" After saying this, he turned around to head back into the cave.

The White-haired person suddenly said to Lou Yun: "Go in with him and choose one."

The reason he said this was that Qi Cai Xue Lian actually varied in quality. Good Qi Cai Xue Lian have seven colors evenly distributed across the petals, bright and vivid. Poor ones still have seven colors, but the distribution is uneven, and the colors are dull and lackluster.

The White-haired person’s intention was clearly for Lou Yun to pick a good one. Filled with gratitude towards the White-haired person, Lou Yun nodded. "Alright! Thank you!"

Xue Lao San said nothing more. With a respectful demeanor, he addressed Lou Yun: "Please, follow me!"

Clearly, because he feared the White-haired person, he regarded Lou Yun as his friend, treating him with equally great reverence.

Lou Yun didn’t stand on ceremony and followed Xue Lao San into the cave.

The moment he stepped inside, Lou Yun immediately felt a warm, comfortable heat invade his body, an indescribable pleasant sensation spreading through his limbs.

Looking around the interior of the cave, Lou Yun’s eyes also brightened with comprehension as to the source of the warmth. In the very center of the cave lay a sizable lake. Hot steam rose from its surface—the temperature of the water was evidently very high. And floating upon the lake were several Qi Cai Xue Lian, emanating a lightly colored, seven-hued glow!

So, Qi Cai Xue Lian grew in such warm water!

Xue Lao San led the way while saying to Lou Yun with a smile: "This is your first time visiting our Great Snowfield, isn’t it? This mountain is actually a volcano. Fire lurks beneath the earth, hence the high water temperature—just perfect for nurturing Qi Cai Xue Lian."

Lou Yun knew of volcanoes, but this was truly his first encounter, especially one on a snow-covered plateau like this.

Xue Lao San added: "By the way, what is your relationship with Elder Leng?"

"He’s named Leng?" Lou Yun countered, while inwardly feeling that both the appearance and aura of the White-haired person matched this surname perfectly.

This question clearly caught Xue Lao San off guard. "You… you don’t know Elder Leng… Leng Cangqiong?"

"Leng? Cang? Qiong?"

Lou Yun’s eyes widened as he stared at Xue Lao San. Slowly, he pronounced the White-haired person’s name, syllable by syllable.

The reason Lou Yun had such a peculiar reaction upon hearing this name was because he simply couldn’t believe his ears!

Having spent nine years being labeled useless since childhood, Lou Yun wasn’t familiar with many of the famous experts on the Spirit Weapon Star. However, he did know a few names renowned throughout the entire Spirit Weapon Star, and Leng Cangqiong was unquestionably one of them!

Leng Cangqiong, like Ao Wushen, was one of the super experts on the Spirit Weapon Star whose magical weapon realm attained emperor rank. While Ao Wushen was currently acknowledged as the strongest magical weapons master, if one were to consider who was most likely to become the Weapon Emperor—a title unseen for a very long time on the Spirit Weapon Star—then that person was absolutely none other than Leng Cangqiong!

Many stories circulated about Leng Cangqiong, whether fabricated or true, but all shared one significant characteristic: Leng Cangqiong was… ruthless and devoid of emotion!

His nature was neither of pure goodness nor pure evil; he acted solely based on his whims. Moreover, he killed without the slightest hesitation. Essentially no one who had ever crossed blades with him survived. His most infamous confirmed deed was annihilating three mid-sized sects in three days consecutively, just to cultivate a particular weapon technique!

These three sects comprised nearly a thousand members and harbored absolutely no enmity or past grievances towards Leng Cangqiong. Even more baffling was the fact that Leng Cangqiong slaughtered every single member of these schools, wiping them out root and branch, merely for the purpose of practicing a weapon technique!

It was from this event that Leng Cangqiong’s name almost overnight spread throughout the entire Spirit Weapon Star. Simultaneously, combined with his head of snow-white hair, it earned him the moniker… the God of Death with snow-white hair!

What puzzled everyone was that Leng Cangqiong suddenly disappeared at the height of his infamy. No one knew where he had gone or why he vanished. However, most people hoped he was already dead. That said, this hope was practically zero, for deep down, everyone believed no one could possibly kill Leng Cangqiong!

Leng Cangqiong, the God of Death, someone even Ao Wushen wouldn’t dare provoke, was now residing here on this Great Snowfield! Even more unexpected for Lou Yun was that Leng Cangqiong hadn’t killed him on sight but was instead so enthusiastically leading him to find the Qi Cai Xue Lian.

But this wasn’t overly strange either, since Leng Cangqiong was intrinsically neither good nor evil and acted purely on his impulses. Lou Yun could only assume the man was in an exceptionally good mood today, hence offering to help him acquire the snow lotus.

Lou Yun swallowed hard, distinctly feeling his heart pounding rapidly. Recalling the moment he first laid eyes on Leng Cangqiong, a pang of lingering fear surfaced within him. Upon seeing the figure with snow-white hair in white robes, he hadn’t even realized who it was!

Honestly, this couldn’t be blamed on Lou Yun. Leng Cangqiong had been missing for many years. While not entirely forgotten, he had gradually faded from common memory. Furthermore, Lou Yun’s knowledge of famed figures like Leng Cangqiong came solely from books and hearsay; he possessed no concrete mental image to draw upon. Therefore, the recognition naturally eluded him.

Lou Yun thought to himself, had Leng Cangqiong been in a foul mood today, he’d probably be a corpse already!

Chang Xiang felt no inclination to scorn Lou Yun’s lingering fear, frankly because he himself was oblivious to Leng Cangqiong’s fearsome reputation. Moreover, he was still wracking his brain over a puzzle: why, under his spiritual sense, did Leng Cangqiong only appear to possess a Mystery Rank cultivation?

Leng Cangqiong was unlike the Sixth Prince. The Sixth Prince cultivated a unique art allowing him to conceal his magical weapon realm. Similarly, Leng Cangqiong differed from those like Tie Sha and Wen Hou. Tie Sha and Wen Hou possessed a tremendous internal force powerful enough to mask their true magical weapon strength. Chang Xiang readily conceded that, given his current state, his spiritual sense was incapable of piercing through the concealments used by these two sorts of people.

But Leng Cangqiong hadn’t cultivated any special concealing art, nor did he harbor a powerful force within him. How could Chang Xiang have possibly misperceived Leng Cangqiong’s magical weapon realm?

Chang Xiang was utterly baffled!

Both Xue Lao San and Lou Yun had come to a halt. Seeing Lou Yun’s question and the expression etched on his face, Xue Lao San instantly understood: Lou Yun simply didn’t know Leng Cangqiong.

Yet Leng Cangqiong had brought Lou Yun to find him, Xue Lao San, to demand the Qi Cai Xue Lian? Xue Lao San, equally unable to comprehend this point, couldn’t help but blurt out: “I say, when you encountered Elder Leng, what exactly did you say? What did you do? What made him treat you so differently?”

Since Lou Yun evidently had no prior relationship with Leng Cangqiong, Xue Lao San’s tone was no longer remotely courteous.

Lou Yun pondered it himself but could think of nothing remarkable. He could only shake his head and say, “I have no idea. But I didn’t say or do anything special. The very first thing he said upon seeing me was to ask: ‘You’re not from around here, are you?’”

Xue Lao San’s expression froze for a fraction of a second before abruptly twisting into one of sheer panic. He stammered, “Y-you… did you see the common weapon sticking out of the ground by Elder Leng’s dwelling?”

Lou Yun naturally recalled that black longsword plunged into the earth. He nodded, “Yes, I saw the common weapon. It didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary. Seeing a common weapon usually meant people were nearby, right? I wanted to find someone to ask for directions, so I stepped over that sword and kept climbing.”

Xue Lao San sucked in a sharp, hissing breath, his eyes widening. He asked again, slowly, “You… you first saw Elder Leng after you crossed over the weapon?”

“Yes.”

Immediately, Xue Lao San began shaking his head vigorously, a look of profound disbelief clouding his face. He muttered to himself, audibly confused, “How is that possible? Breaking his rule… and still left alive? Such a thing has never happened! Could… could he truly just have been in a fantastically good mood today?”

“Rule?” Lou Yun caught Xue Lao San’s muttered words and pressed, perplexed, “What rule do you mean? What rule did I break?”

Xue Lao San lifted his gaze to meet Lou Yun’s. His expression was unreadable, a potent mix of shock, disbelief, and something approaching morbid curiosity. He spoke deliberately: “That common weapon is Elder Leng’s marker. Blade facing outward… seeing that weapon signifies that the area beyond its blade is his territory. Entry is forbidden. Trespassers are executed without mercy.” He paused, letting the weight of this declaration settle before adding grimly, “To this very day, not a single living soul has dared defy this rule.”

“You,” he stated, pointing a trembling finger at Lou Yun, “are the first. And I firmly suspect you will also be the only survivor.”

With that, Xue Lao San turned away from Lou Yun, dismissing him utterly, and continued trudging deeper into the cave. Lou Yun remained rooted to the spot, Xue Lao San’s chilling words echoing relentlessly in his mind.

An indeterminate amount of time later, a dazzling seven-colored radiance bloomed before Lou Yun’s eyes, snapping him out of his frozen state. He saw Xue Lao San approaching, his face a mask of utter, gut-wrenching sorrow, holding the magnificent but coveted Qi Cai Xue Lian out towards him. Xue Lao San clenched his jaw, voice tight with strained resignation: “…Take it. Damn it! Today has been absolutely, downright unlucky! Listen well, youngster: if it weren’t solely for Elder Leng’s direct intervention, there’s not a chance in any realm I’d be handing this over to you!”