Snow covered ground. A man and a woman were walking slowly.
"Xu Mingzhi, how about... we go back first?"
Feeling the piercing cold and the wounds on her body that hadn't fully healed, the long-haired girl dressed in a silver-gray combat uniform asked after a moment of hesitation.
Xu Mingzhi frowned, "Lanqing, this kind of opportunity doesn't come often. If we don't seize it, we could be stuck at the Gold Level for another year!"
Zhou Lanqing said, "But without Little Lu's Healing Skill, our injuries are healing very slowly..."
Xu Mingzhi replied, "They must have gone further into that snow-buried ancient city. If we go, we still have a good chance of catching up with them.
That's an entire unexplored ancient city. Think about how many valuable things there could be!
Not to mention the chance to break through to the Gold Level. If we gather enough, we might even make it into the Academy's top ten experts!
If we go back now to regroup and come back, the good stuff will probably be taken by someone else, and we'll miss this opportunity!"
Hearing these words, Zhou Lanqing was somewhat convinced by Xu Mingzhi and hesitated again.
The Black Snow Country had four top academies named with the character "Snow": Flying Snow, Blowing Snow, Xi Xue, and Xuxue.
Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing were senior students at Flying Snow Academy.
Both had been stuck at Silver High Stage for months, not even close to touching the Gold Level threshold.
Now, with a sudden change in the Snow Burial Plain Secret Realm, a large unexplored area had emerged; this was a great opportunity for Xu Mingzhi and his companions!
Even though it was outside the Black Snow Country, Xu Mingzhi had immediately taken note of it. After a few days of preparation, he spent a significant amount of money to buy information from an informant.
The information revealed that deep in the Snow Burial Plain, there was an ancient city buried by ice and snow!
This made Xu Mingzhi very happy. He immediately contacted several friends of the same Silver High Stage, including Zhou Lanqing, and rushed over from the Black Snow Country.
Although the difficulty of the Secret Realm had increased significantly, most Star Card Masters from the Black Snow Country specialized in Water Element or Ice and Snow Series. They could excel in this environment, displaying strength beyond the usual.
Unfortunately, half a day ago, Xu Mingzhi and his party encountered an attack by over thirty Silver Demon Wolves led by a Silver Frost White Wolf.
Despite their strong abilities, Xu Mingzhi and his group only managed to escape with their lives, but the team was scattered.
At this moment, although the star power and physical strength of the two had mostly recovered, their wounds were healing very slowly in the harsh weather.
Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing moved while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.
However, they didn't notice the slight movement in the snow behind them, something fast approaching and reaching them within moments.
Snowflakes danced, a cold glint flashed, and two long knives rapidly thrust toward Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing from behind!
When they realized someone was attacking, it was already a bit late; at such close range, they couldn't react much.
However, Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing, being seasoned seniors with rich combat experience, quickly turned to avoid vital areas and swiftly spread Star Power over their bodies for defense.
The sound of blades entering flesh echoed. The long knives, only pausing briefly, easily pierced through the Star Power defense and into their chests, stopping just two or three inches from their hearts!
Xu Mingzhi roared in anger. Turbulent Ice Star Power burst from his body. Frost Flowers roared, causing the snow beneath his feet to crack and explode towards the rear!
But the two attackers, being experienced, immediately withdrew their knives and retreated, avoiding Xu Mingzhi's strong counterattack without any harm.
Realizing their attack had missed, Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing turned around, clutching their wounds, and looked angrily at the two ambushers who had retreated a dozen meters away.
One was short and fat, with a slightly unpleasant smile on his face;
The other was tall and thin, with sharp features and a cold expression.
Who would have thought they'd be ambushed by humans right after being attacked by Star Beasts!
Using Ice Star Power to temporarily freeze the wounds and stop the bleeding, Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing's faces turned extremely grim.
Xu Mingzhi shouted, "Who are you?!"
"Who are we? Just some robbers looking to make a bit of profit."
The short fat man, Feng Hao, laughed, his beady eyes scanning Zhou Lanqing's chest and thighs.
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"And perhaps, a bit of fun~"
"You... Scoundrel!" Zhou Lanqing shouted angrily, unable to bear the lewd gaze of the short fat man.
Feng Hao licked his lips, excited, "Curse, curse all you want! The more you curse, the more I look forward to what comes next..."
"Enough, Haozi. Let's finish them first."
The cold man beside him seemed unable to tolerate Feng Hao's perversion and interrupted him with a frown.
Feng Hao laughed, "Old Gao, I'm only trying to distract them."
Xu Mingzhi and Zhou Lanqing felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
They looked down at their pierced chests and saw that the wounds, temporarily staunched with Ice Spiritual Power, were oozing pitch-black poison spreading around.