The Jade Snow Peak 's mountain road was covered with snow.
This was originally a blessed place of the Sword Sect, but when Yun Tianchong came here to achieve the Deification stage a hundred years ago, the lightning tribulation struck the spiritual veins of the earth. As a result, the spiritual energy of this place became unstable, making it experience continuous wind and snow throughout the year. It was impossible to control a flying sword or explore the surroundings with spiritual sense.
So, when Ye Anping reached the mountainside with his sword, he had no choice but to continue on foot along the steep mountain road leading toward the peak.
Feng Yu Die, who was half a head shorter than him, stuck close to him, tightly holding onto his clothes like a little girl afraid of getting lost. She pulled her hood to shield herself from wind and snow.
After walking along the mountain road for some time, Ye Anping finally saw the Snow Dragon Cave from his memory, located on a cliff of the Jade Snow Peak .
The cave was originally a natural rock cave, but it was excavated and rebuilt into a hidden cave by Zhuang Yan several years ago. With the chaotic spiritual veins of the Jade Snow Peak and the concealment of wind and snow, even cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage couldn't find it with their spiritual sense.
Players searching for Yun Yiyi's whereabouts in the game had to follow the task prompts up the mountain road to find seven or eight clues before finally arriving at this place based on the clues.
But since he had been there and already knew where the Snow Dragon Cave was, the process of finding clues was naturally omitted.
However, although Ye Anping was just trying to make things easy, Feng Yu Die became suspicious when she saw the cave in front of her. "This is it?"
"Yep."
Seeing Ye Anping nodding, Feng Yu Die looked around again and found no distinctive objects. All she could see were snow-covered rocks and bare tree trunks. A hint of confusion appeared in her eyes, and she couldn't help but ask, "Say, Young Master Ye..."
"What?"
"How do you know about this place?"
"..."
Seeing that Ye Anping suddenly became silent, Feng Yu Die narrowed her eyes, spread her hands, and said, "Back then, on the Seven Slayers Sect mission, you gave me a detailed map of the Seven Slayers Sect's Fort of Secrets . Guess what?"
"What?"
"I also found a map when I was looking for spirit stones in the Fort of Secrets , but it turned out the map was not as detailed as the one you gave me."
"..."
"Also, you knew months in advance that something was going to happen in the Dragon House , and you went ahead with sister Pei to make preparations."
"..."
"But this place... It doesn't seem like the kind of information that can be obtained by asking around the black market. Where did you get this information from?"
Ye Anping pursed his lips and didn't know how to answer, so he simply said, "I'm not telling you."
"..."
Feng Yu Die choked on her words, then rolled her eyes and asked, "Then, how about we trade secrets, okay? I'll tell you one of mine, and you'll tell me one of yours?"
Ye Anping glanced at her. "...Is there anything about you that I don't know?"
"Of course~ I have some secrets that even my master didn't know~" Feng Yu Die narrowed her eyes and thought for a while, saying, "For example..."
Ye Anping raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
"I won't tell you!"
"..."
Ye Anping looked at her, speechless. Seeing that they were almost at the entrance of the cave, he said, "Stop talking. I'm going to carry you in now. Pretend to be weak, got it?"
"Ah? You're carrying me again? Ten thousand, yes?"
Ye Anping pursed his lips and didn't bother to bargain with her. Anyway, he had the final say in the payment at the end, so he just took out the jade charm Si Xuanji gave him from his storage bag, held it in his right hand, and reached out to her.
"Hold my hand?"
"Huh?"
"We will use this jade talisman together so that the cultivators in the Foundation Building stage won't be able to detect anything. However, it may not be foolproof for cultivators above the Core Formation stage. Moreover, you are in the middle stage of the Foundation Building while Yu Shuiting is in the early stage, so it's just for insurance."
Feng Yu Die pouted and reluctantly reached out to take Ye Anping's right hand, holding the jade pendant between their palms.
"...Oh."
"Hold tighter."
"I know~" Feng Yu Die pursed her lips again and spread out her fingers, intertwining them with Ye Anping's. After a pause, she raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Your hands are quite warm."
"Your hands are cold."
Ye Anping rolled his eyes at her, then pulled her to lean into his right arm. He half-squatted and stretched his left hand behind her knees, lifting her into a princess-carry. Then, he gave a slight push to make sure she was lying properly before saying, "For the last time, once we go in, don't speak or act recklessly. Listen to my commands."
"I got it~ Why are you so long-winded?"
"Because you are not like my sister." Ye Anping sighed. "Tell me about our objective."
Feng Yu Die tilted her head and said uncertainly, "That should be to save Yun Yiyi and Yun Jiujiu, right?"
Ye Anping helplessly shook his head. "After Zhuang Yan leaves, we will secretly assist the two of them to escape. My sister will bring Yun Xi and the Elders of the Sword Sect to help. Remember every word in this sentence. We must wait until Zhuang Yan leaves. Before he leaves, no matter what happens, you have to hold back, otherwise we will die for sure, and we must assist secretly, without revealing our identities."
"Okay! Got it~"
"Don't be so perfunctory, be more serious!"
Seeing Ye Anping's serious expression, Feng Yu Die immediately wiped away her previous careless appearance and nodded earnestly. "Understood!"
"Then, let's go in..."
Ye Anping sighed and held Feng Yu Die tighter. Then, he slightly lowered his gravity center, pushed off the ground with force, and leaped four times, following the rocks on the cliff wall as a foothold. Thus, he entered the cave in the center of the mountain slope.
As soon as they stepped into the cave, they were met with the sound of swords being drawn around them.
Several early-stage Foundation Building cultivators dressed in Sword Sect uniforms gathered around them cautiously. It looked like they had just been keeping vigil around a bonfire.
The leader glanced at Ye Anping carrying Feng Yu Die in his arms and asked, "May I ask what's the password?"
After considering for a moment, Ye Anping nodded and replied, " Windflower Snow Moon ."
"What is your name?"
"My name is Ye An, and in my arms is my companion, Yu Shuiting. She was injured earlier and cannot speak."
"Oh... someone from Senior He's faction." After hearing this, the man breathed a sigh of relief and signaled the others to sheathe their swords. "Sheathe your swords. They are our people."
Ye Anping nodded to the people around, then carried Feng Yu Die past them and walked into a narrow passage that looked like a mine tunnel.
On both sides of the passageway, there were wall lamps made of spirit stones, but because of the instability of the spirit veins in this place, the lights were very dim and flickering.
After walking about a hundred steps along the passage, they arrived at a wooden lift platform. Two people were standing in front of it, and seeing them approach, they asked, "Password?"
" Windflower Snow Moon ."
"You may go."
"Thank you..."
Ye Anping nodded, stepped onto the wooden platform, and instantly felt the vibration of gears in his soles. Under the gaze of the two people guarding the elevator, they slowly sank into the ground.