Chapter 1

Book 10 Chapter 1 – The Zeshe and the Frost Pearl

SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 ~ EMILYEVELAN

In all the time that Lei Xinfeng spent at Hanya Castle, he still hasn’t seen a single Ice Beast, only heard of it from the words of others .  He didn’t know how strong they were, but he was very confident in his abilities . Ever since he reached Sixth Ring, he gained the ability to fly . The space where he could fight in increased by a whole dimension . He had much more freedom whether it’s in offense or in retreat .

As a result, he wasn’t really scared of Ice Beasts .

The white fog continued to expand . “I think it’s a zeshe!” said Song Qiao .

The name was strange, and Lei Xinfeng didn’t understand . “Zeshe? What’s that?”

“It’s a type of Ice Beast . It has a weapon consisting of extremely cold white fog . It’s nowhere near as powerful as those present during the Frost, but it’s still able to slow a person’s movements . If the victim isn’t strong enough, he might freeze to death .

“Ah Feng, you stay back . You probably wouldn’t be able to handle his fog . Everyone else get ready . ”

Lei Xinfeng was a little disappointed, but he understood that in the Outer Worlds, he wasn’t strong enough . Only when he was an Eighth or Ninth Ring Sage can his strength be considered sufficient . As he was now, even if he was able to chase away a Ninth Ring Sage with his Chaos Ring, he still had no way of competing with someone fighting seriously . The difference in cultivation levels was hard to ignore .

Xin Zhaolun’s eyes shined . “Zeshes aren’t bad . As long as you can avoid the fog, it’s not scary . ”

Song Qiao smiled . “Yes, I was a bit over cautious . Ah Feng can also fight . He has his Chaos Wheel . It should be pretty effective . ”

Lei Xinfeng became happy . He also wished to fight, mainly because he wanted to practice using his Chaos Wheel . After the two tests before, he found that the Chaos Wheel was a very good ranged weapon . He believed that once he completely mastered the weapon, he’d never need to get into dangerous close-combat scruffles again .

However, he didn’t rush . He waited to see how Xin Zhaolun attacked . Song Qiao also stepped back . With his rank, stooping to attacking such a weak opponent was completely out of the question . Unless an Ice Beast that even Xin Zhaolun and the other Ninth Ring Sages can’t defeat appears, he’ll continue to only watch .

With Song Qiao supporting, Xin Zhaolun and the others could go all out . There weren’t many chances to do so . This time, they could completely disregard any dangers, and their attack power was even stronger than before . Without wasting a single bit of energy on defense, they attacked with all their might .

The zeshe was hidden in the fog cover, obscuring his form . Sometimes, his shadow appeared . From the shape, Lei Xinfeng felt it was like a toad, squatting on the ground, fog billowing from his mouth .

A toad?

Lei Xinfeng felt surprised . Even though he could only see the silhouette, he really thought it was a toad . However, if it was a toad, then it would be a toad that’s as tall as two people . Who’s ever seen a toad that big?

Boom!

Jin Daya attacked first . That strike blew away some of the fog, revealing the zeshe’s true form .

It really looked similar to a toad . However, it still had a tail, and its mouth looked like an alligator’s . With a wide and long mouth, it had long and sharp teeth lined closed together . A hole at the top of its head continuously emitting fog . There was a layer of ice armor on the zeshe’s body, glowing blue and white .

A lizard?

Lei Xinfeng didn’t know how else to describe the beast in the only way he knew: comparing to animals in his previous world .

Shu!

Under the combined attacks of five Ninth Ring Sages, the fog disappeared completely . However, they realized that the zeshe was gone . None of them thought that its speed would be so quick, and all were surprised . “Where is it, where is it?” Hongjie asked .

Lei Xinfeng didn’t know why, but he felt something . He looked up and found the zeshe hiding in the ice ceiling above them like a gecko would . He didn’t even have the chance to point when he launched his Chaos Wheels .

The zeshe jumped off the ceiling, target locked on Lei Xinfeng .

Lei Xinfeng also made his own attack . The Chaos Wheel slammed into the zeshe’s body, wreathed with thick lightning flow . The zeshe was way worse off than Lei Xinfeng after that attack . Lei Xinfeng didn’t stop at that either . Whenever he made an attack, it would be followed immediately by a flurry of blows reminiscent of a hurricane .

As Lei Xinfeng yelled, the Chaos Wheel became line after line of blue light with the crack of lightning bolts . The zeshe let out a pitiful cry after being attacked so many times and was struck back a hundred meters, his entire body bleeding with blue blood .

In the instant that the zeshe was pushed back, Jin Daya shouted, “My turn!”

He held a steel spear the width of an egg and threw it . It stabbed through the zeshe’s neck, pinning it against the ice wall behind it .

It struggled and wailed for several minutes because it finally died .

“Your Chaos Wheel is so powerful, Ah Feng,” Xin Zhaolun said . “It couldn’t resist at all . ”

“The zeshe was probably numbed by the lightning, or I wouldn’t have been able to hit it so easily,” Jin Daya said .

After killing the zeshe, everyone was smiling . Lei Xinfeng went over next to the corpse and saw that it was around five meters long, half of which is its tail . Its legs were short and stubby, and it did not have claws . Instead, it had pads of suction cups on the bottom of its feet . After its death, the layer of ice armor broke and fell off, revealing white skin underneath .

Song Qiao was very familiar with zeshes and took out a two foot long knife . He opened the skull of the Ice Beast easily and dug out a bead the size of a fist .

“Is this bead a material too?”

“It’s not a materia,” Song Qiao said, smiling . “It is utterly useless . Here, at least . However, if you bring it to a hot location, it is infinitely valuable . ”

“What is it used for?”

“As long as you can build a rack to hold this, you can cool an entire room with just this bead, even if it’s extremely hot outside,” Song Qiao explained .

“That’s nice,” Lei Xinfeng said . A condenser, he thought .

Song Qiao tossed the bead to Lei Xinfeng . “You can have it . I have plenty of these already . ”

“Is there anything else we can harvest from the body?”

“None . The zeshe’s skin is fused with the ice . Once the ice falls off, it’s utterly useless . Indeed, except for that bead, its body is completely useless . ”

“You can’t eat it?” Lei Xinfeng asked .

Jin Daya answered . “The meat of zeshe is not edible . If you put it in hot water, it will melt immediately, leaving nothing behind . The average practitioner avoids battle with zeshes, since it leaves nothing but the bead behind . ”

“Oh,” Lei Xinfeng said, understanding . “Even if you win, there’s not much to gain, but if you lose…I’ll stay away next time too . ”

“Not really,” Song Qiao said . “Even if the zeshe has no materials worth harvesting, just the bead is sufficient gains to justify attacking . This is called a frost pearl, a type of pearl treasure . When you go to a hot region, this is more valuable in trade than most anything else . ”

Lei Xinfeng agreed . With this bead, one could sleep comfortably in a hot region . It was quite the luxury item .

“Well, then we might as well find some more . The attack power of a zeshe isn’t high . The only thing you need to be wary of is the white fog and its high speed . With Lei Xinfeng’s attack, we can easily kill them,” Xin Zhaolun said .

“If there’s one, then there’s others nearby . Zeshes are Ice Beasts that like to gather; herd animals, if you will,” Song Qiao said .

The group followed the traces left by the zeshe and entered a deep cave .

There are two worlds within the Ice Cave Plains . One of them was the upper layer with powerful winds and countless pitfalls on the ground . The other was the labyrinthine cave system below, filled with Ice Beasts waiting in ambush .

Following the tracks, they walked for over an hour . When they finally came out, they saw a giant cave made up of several smaller caves joined together . Large ice pillars stood in the center, formed unnaturally . The surface was filled with countless scars, left behind by something unknown .

There was large white and yellow plants growing on the ground . There was a few zeshes walking among them .

“Do they eat plants?” Lei Xinfeng asked .

“Their main diet consists of mineral rich water . The plants are supplements,” Song Qiao explained .

“Fascinating . ”

“This cave is probably formed by zeshes’ activities . Because they like mineral rich water, they’ll slowly expand the cave, as you can see from the marks on the walls and pillars . They’re left by zeshes,” Song Qiao said .

“Oh, I thought they were left by man,” Lei Xinfeng said .

Song Qiao continued . “Although zeshes don’t have any hunting value, they’re important in that they expand possible living locations for other Ice Beasts . Of course, they’re prey for other Ice Beasts too . ”

“I can see around seven zeshes here, no, eight . They’re spread out, so let’s hunt them one by one,” Xin Zhaolun suggested .

“Let’s work together,” Jin Daya said .