On a small hill thousands of miles away from Tianfeng City,

    Xu Nian was meditating and healing his injuries.

    After a long while, Xu Nian opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

    "Alas, I didn''t expect the Earth God Devouring Sky technique to be so damaging to the body. It''s been two days, and my body has only recovered by half, with significant loss of strength," Xu Nian said, shaking his head helplessly.

    His combat power was now at most at the level of a One-star Battle Sect. To return to his peak form, he would need a few more days of rest.

    With his current strength, not to mention slaying a Nine-star War Sect Level Demon Beast, he might not even be able to defeat a Demon Beast at a Three-star Warrior level.

    Fortunately, there were still nearly ten days left until the deadline for his mission, giving him plenty of time to execute it.

    This mission was not simple—the opponent was a tremendously powerful Six-winged Ice Crystal Viper.

    Moreover, the location of Ice Dust Lake was a bit special; it sat at the border between East Field County and Southern Wilderness County.

    The border between East Field County and Southern Wilderness County was mostly steep, rugged mountains, which made Ice Dust Lake an essential thoroughfare for north-south traffic.

    Three months ago, the Six-winged Ice Crystal Viper came to Ice Dust Lake and took over this body of water.

    Many merchant ships traveling between the two counties were dragged to the bottom of the lake by this terrifying Demon Beast and devoured completely.

    Gradually, the number of merchant ships traveling between the two counties dwindled, with even those setting out employing strong mercenaries for protection.

    The civilians who depended on Ice Dust Lake for fishing were suffering tremendously.

    During this period, it wasn''t that no powerful individuals tried to deal with this beast, but the creature was extremely cunning and hid at the bottom of the lake without emerging.

    Ice Dust Lake was vast, and even high-level Battle Generals couldn''t do anything about it.

    It''s safe to say that this mission was exceedingly difficult.@@@@

    Nevertheless, Xu Nian had taken on this mission, firstly to eliminate a menace.

    Secondly, he was also targeting this particular Six-winged Ice Crystal Viper.

    The Six-winged Ice Crystal Viper was descended from the Ice Frost Giant Dragon, ranked fifth among the Nine Great Ancestor Dragons, and contained the Bloodline Power of the Ice Frost Giant Dragon within its body.

    If Xu Nian could obtain this Bloodline Power of the Ice Frost Giant Dragon, his Body Cultivation would be significantly enhanced.

    "I should not be very far from Ice Dust Lake now; I''ll just walk there slowly," Xu Nian said to himself.

    Given his current level of Cultivation, hurrying to Ice Dust Lake would be futile; it would be better to cultivate along the way.

    Moreover, recently Little Xu Yu was at a critical point of breaking through to the Six-star Silver Moon Level, and Xu Nian did not want to disturb him.

    At the same time, other mercenaries also drew their curved blades, all of them warily looking at Xu Nian.

    Although the old coachman on the carriage did not move, his murky eyes were tightly locked on Xu Nian.

    "I mean no harm, I was just passing by and got curious seeing you rush along," Xu Nian said with a smile.

    He certainly did not wish to start a fight with these people, firstly because he had no grudges with them, and secondly, with his current strength, facing these people would only mean courting death.

    However, the mercenaries were not relaxed by Xu Nian''s words.

    "Don''t be nervous, we are still in East Field County. Even if someone over there has long arms, they wouldn''t dare to cause trouble here. This young brother means no harm," the old coachman''s aged voice sounded, slightly hoarse.

    Listening to the old coachman''s words, the guards around them finally sheathed their curved blades, though their gaze towards Xu Nian did not soften much.

    Xu Nian helplessly smiled, not minding their attitude.

    Rather, the old coachman jumped down from the carriage and walked towards Xu Nian with a beaming smile.

    Xu Nian instinctively took a step back; this old coachman was a Nine-star Martial Sect Peak Powerhouse. If he harbored any malice, Xu Nian would stand no chance at such close range.

    But the old coachman showed no malice and instead cheerfully said to Xu Nian, "Young brother, I see you''re heading in the same direction as us. Are you also going to Ice Dust Lake?"

    "Yes, I have something to do at Ice Dust Lake," Xu Nian nodded and said, not concealing anything.

    The old coachman chuckled and said, "Although it''s not too far to Ice Dust Lake—about a hundred fifty miles away—it will still take at least two to three days on foot. We plan to go to Binglan Town up ahead before heading to Ice Dust Lake. If you don''t mind, young brother, how about you travel with us?"

    The guards around frowned upon hearing this, clearly not expecting the old coachman to invite Xu Nian to join them.

    However, they dared not disobey the old coachman''s words, so they remained silent.

    Xu Nian thought for a moment and smiled, "Then I thank you, Old... Grandpa Yann!"

    The old coachman laughed heartily and said, "You''re about as old as my granddaughter. My surname is Yann, you can call me Grandpa Yann!"

    Xu Nian scratched his head awkwardly.

    "Come on, let''s get on the carriage," Old Coachman Yann patted Xu Nian''s shoulder and smiled.

    Xu Nian did not hold back, pulling back the carriage curtain to enter the coach.

    But the moment he opened the curtain, he was completely stunned.

    Inside the carriage, the girl in black was as beautiful as a heavenly immortal, her delicate and fair youthful face seemed like a fairy untouched by the mortal world.

    But what really shocked Xu Nian was the eyes of the girl in black.

    Her eyes were eerily red, and at the moment their gazes met,

    Xu Nian saw a vision of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, causing an involuntary shiver of fear within him.