The Regressor of Mount Hua
Chapter 367. Encountering a Snowman (1)

Chapter 367. Encountering a Snowman (1)

With snow-white skin, thin, straight eyebrows, a prominent nose, and thick lips, the heckler's facial features were striking.

The silver hair tied back behind her head wasn’t flashy, yet it looked pretty.

The upturned corners of her eyes gave her a fierce look, and her tightly pursed lips made her seem stubborn.

Even with her winter attire, her chest was still visible, suggesting she had quite a figure.

She seemed to be in her late twenties and was as tall as most men.

The strongest expert of the North Sea Ice Palace, Dong Xuelian, glared at Zhou Xuchuan with a cold, unwelcoming gaze.

A man, moreover, a mere brat at that, is supposed to be the Sword God?

In the North Sea, where martial artists cultivated Frigid Yin Qi, women were generally strong while men were weak. It was the opposite of the Central Plains.

Though there were male experts in the North Sea, unlike in the Central Plains, none of them were as ridiculously young as Zhou Xuchuan.

In particular, the fact that this brat was the Sword God, the pinnacle of swordsmanship and object of her admiration, hurt her pride.

Zhou Xuchuan looked at her and asked calmly, "Is there something bothering you, Dong Xuelian?"

There was no emotion in his gaze.

Instead, he focused on recalling her identity.

The best swordsman in the North Sea and the strongest master after the North Sea Ice Palace Master, Dong Xuelian.

Before leaving, he had been informed about several key figures who would accompany him from Leng Yuefei and Hawar, with Dong Xuelian being the most representative of them.

Although she didn’t seem much older than he was, Zhou Xuchuan had been told that she had turned forty this year.

"I said that even if she tells you that it's hard, what difference will it make?" Dong Xuelian replied, her eyes filled with hostility.

"There are probably more than one or two people here who are struggling."

"Unlike you people of the Central Plains, the martial artists of the North Sea don't complain even if they are having a hard time."

"You've crossed a line that I can't ignore, it seems," Luo Xiaoyue said, frowning as if she couldn't stand the insults spat at her face. Her hand moved to the sword at her waist.

Zhou Xuchuan waved his hand slightly, signaling Luo Xiaoyue to leave it to him.

"Dong Xuelian," he said, turning to her.

"It's only natural for someone from the Central Plains who hasn't mastered the Ice Desolation Art to have a hard time in the North Sea's cold.[1] It’s even more understandable now, given the harsh climate. Most importantly, my Junior Sister hasn’t once said she was having a hard time."

"Hmph."

Dong Xuelian only snorted in response.

"Dong Xuelian. If you don't answer properly, I will take it as a clear insubordination and punish you for insulting your superior."

"Insulting my superior?"

Dong Xuelian’s fierce eyes narrowed.

"You're talking nonsense. How could someone from the Central Plains be my superior?"

Her thin, long eyebrows twitched.

"There is only one person above me, the Palace Master."

"I was appointed as a co-commander by order of the Palace Master. I can take that as you accepting that I'm above you then, right?"

"You really do talk with such a cunning tongue."

Shing.

A treasured sword with a pure white blade slipped smoothly from Dong Xuelian's waist.

"Master Dong Xuelian."

Hawar took a step forward to block Dong Xuelian.

"It's okay."

Zhou Xuchuan gestured to Hawar to stay away.

"I needed to set an example anyway, this is good."

The law of the North Sea was the law of the jungle. Even if he had been acknowledged by Leng Yuefei, if he didn't show his strength directly, the people of the North Sea wouldn't follow him.

Moreover, since the lower level warriors couldn't properly gauge a master's realm, there were many cases in which people didn't believe in his strength until they saw it with their own eyes.

In particular, since Zhou Xuchuan was not a native of the North Sea but an outsider from the Central Plains, their hostility toward him was even stronger. Even though he held the title of Empyrean Overlord, that title had come from another region.

In fact, aside from Dong Xuelian, more than half of the people who had come with him were watching him with clear hostility.

If they entered battle in this state, there was a strong chance the others would refuse to obey his commands. There was an urgent need for him to correct this lack of discipline in advance.

"Come out."

Dong Xuelian tilted her chin toward the outside of the cave.

"He was irritating me anyway, this is better."

"Even if he's the so-called Sword God, he's still just a brat from the Central Plains."

"While all the Martial Artists Under the Heavens may be in the Central Plains, the Greatest Martial Artists Under the Heavens are in the North Sea."

"The Central Plains isn't a harsh land like the North Sea, where one can freeze to death just by breathing. In the end, they're just sheep in a pen."

As people who had survived the brutal contest of the fittest, those of the North Sea had a lot of pride, no less than those of the Righteous Faction. They did not hesitate to make openly disparaging remarks.

"Draw your sword."

Zhou Xuchuan stood comfortably, his figure reflected in Dong Xuelian’s cold gaze.

"I'm already prepared, so just come."

He lightly tapped the snow with his toes.

Dong Xuelian almost snapped, ready to accuse him of mocking her, but she held back the rising anger in her throat when she saw something odd.

He was standing on top of snow that should have reached his ankles, yet it hadn’t sunk beneath him.

I don't know what he's thinking, but maybe that wasn't a complete lie...

Dong Xuelian quickly readjusted the grip on her sword.

Surrounded by the gazes of the five hundred warriors of the North Sea and the two from the Central Plains, it was Dong Xuelian who made the first move.

Tap!

She pushed off the ground, her body lifting onto the snow.

Her feet landed on snow piled nearly seven cun high, yet strangely, they did not sink. It looked as if she were running across solid ground.

It was the Traversing Snow, Traceless Steps, a lightness technique similar to Floating Duckweed Crossing Water. Even though she was stepping on snow and rain, she left behind no footprints.

I'll show you how the sword of Mount Hua gets frozen by the sword of the Ice Palace.

From the depths of her dantian, she drew upon her qi, the Frigid Yin Qi.

The cold energy accumulated in the great nature of the North Sea surged through her body, traveled through her fingertips, and flowed into her sword.

Crack!

The moisture in the air froze and haze formed. Wherever her sword passed, a trail of haze followed, resembling ice flowers.

Gliding smoothly across the ice, Dong Xuelian advanced toward Zhou Xuchuan, her sword extended and the Frigid Yin Qi rippling sharply forward.

In that moment, even time itself seemed to freeze.

It only felt that way due to Zhou Xuchuan’s senses, which had far surpassed human limits.

In this slowed perception, he could clearly see the haze at the tip of Dong Xuelian’s sword solidify into sharp, white ice.

Sword aura.

The vanguard troops here were elite even by North Sea standards, which was already full of experts. Sword aura was no surprise.

Moreover, Dong Xuelian was known as the best expert in the North Sea Ice Palace. Her cultivation was also at the top of the Harmony Realm.

Swish.

Zhou Xuchuan showed off his lightened footsteps using the Phantom Steps.

He stepped back with his right foot, turned his body slightly to the right, and in the same motion, thrust a Resonant Palm forward with his left hand.

The palm moved in a sweeping arc from left to right, colliding directly with Dong Xuelian’s icy white sword aura.

The moment his palm touched the aura, he felt the intense qi within it being converted into an attack. That force surged into his palm.

Foolish brat!

Dong Xuelian laughed inwardly at Zhou Xuchuan, who didn't draw his sword till the end and just responded with his hand.

The moment you responded to the North Sea's great divine art, the Ice Soul Divine Sword, without any weapon but your bare hands, it was over.

The Ice Soul Divine Sword was renowned as a peerless divine art comparable to the North Sea Ice Palace Master's Ice White God Art.

Even within the North Sea, it was considered an extreme art that leveraged Extreme Yin that was so cold that it froze not only what it touched but the very air around it.

Even the people of the North Sea, who were resistant to the cold, were helpless in the face of that Frigid Yin Qi, or rather, the Ice Desolation Qi.

However, there was something Dong Xuelian overlooked.

What?

Her narrow eyes filled with shock.

Zhou Xuchuan, who should have staggered back or suffered a severe internal injury, remained completely still.

He looked unshaken.

As expected. Is this the Ice Soul Divine Sword I've only ever heard of?

He had heard of Dong Xuelian, so there was no way he would have been unaware of the Ice Soul Divine Sword.

Therefore, Zhou Xuchuan knew very well what kind of martial arts she would display.

He hadn't struck out with his bare hands without thinking. He had something he believed in, too.

His Extreme Temperature Immunity and overflowing qi reserves.

The Extreme Temperature Immunity, as its name suggested, referred to a state where both cold and heat had no effect on the body.

This meant that the user could withstand the cold or the heat without having to consume any qi.

When faced with an extreme cold martial art like the Ice Soul Divine Sword, the Extreme Temperature Immunity was not only a great match, but also provided an advantage, minimizing the power of the technique's attacks.

Even without it, Zhou Xuchuan’s overwhelming qi reserves alone would have allowed him to neutralize the Ice Desolation Qi completely when facing it head-on.

This was a nightmare for Dong Xuelian. At the same time, Zhou Xuchuan used the Resonant Palm to shake off the sword aura on her blade, which had hardened like ice, dispersing it instantly.

Not only had the Ice Soul Divine Sword failed, but Dong Xuelian’s beautiful face turned pale with shock as her technique was instantly rendered powerless.

Heavy Plain Step.

BOOM!

Zhou Xuchuan changed the flow of his qi on the spot. Thanks to the secret art of the Hundred Divine Transformations, altering his current qi pathways was not difficult.

He abandoned lightness and shifted toward heaviness. He felt his feet sink into the snow with a sloshing sensation as his weight anchored him.

Strike forward with the Power Strike Fist.

He turned his waist, which had been turned left and tilted to the right, in the opposite direction. His muscles, now enhanced with added weight, bulged.

Zhou Xuchuan left his heavy lower body alone, while his upper body twisted slightly at the waist. He drew a diagonal line upward and drove a punch directly into Dong Xuelian’s abdomen.

BANG!

"Agh!"

Dong Xuelian’s eyes widened. No blood spilled, but a sharp, painful breath escaped her mouth.

The shock that began in her abdomen surged like a wave, spreading through her entire body and finally rattling her brain.

Her upper body snapped forward, her back arched like a saddle, and then her strength gave out completely.

Dong Xuelian, with her emotions of shock and disbelief fading away, placed her body on Zhou Xuchuan's shoulder.

"..."

And everyone who saw that sight fell silent.

What did we see just now?

All five hundred people were frozen like ice, unable to even breathe. They were filled with shock.

Some were so stunned they stood with their mouths wide open, unable to think about closing them.

The lower level experts couldn't follow the movements of the masters with their eyes. The only thing they could figure out was that the best swordsman in the North Sea had attacked the Sword God of the Central Plains and was instantly defeated.

Not with a sword, but with a fist, and in a single blow.

...Huh?

Meanwhile, the mastermind, Zhou Xuchuan, was equally dumbfounded.

Did I... use too much strength?

It was the first time he had properly struck an opponent with a Resonant Palm or a Power Strike Fist.

Still, since the opponent was a master of the Harmony Realm and the environment was favorable to her, he had done his best to raise a considerable amount of force.

However, the power had been greater than he had thought.

It was only natural.

Zhou Xuchuan's realm was the Coruscant Realm. No matter how unfamiliar the techniques were, since he had not only the enlightenment of the Coruscant Realm but also the Manifestation of One's Path, Imitation, there was no need to further explain how strong his attack had been.

Moreover, since he had the upper hand in terms of compatibility, just like when he had fought Shao Leijin in the past, the result was obvious.

The warriors of the North Sea, still watching, now looked at him with awe, thinking to themselves.

So the Palace Master didn't acknowledge him for nothing, then.

He didn't even use a sword, but a fist! Moreover, he subdued her with a single blow!

He didn't hear me badmouthing him earlier, did he?

To think we underestimated an Empyrean Overlord just because he was from the Central Plains. How foolish was that?!

He's terrifying.

The law of the North Sea was the law of the jungle, and the survival of the fittest.

It was a place where the law of power applied just as much as the Demonic Cult.

Outwardly, Zhou Xuchuan may have looked like just a handsome young man, nothing more or less, but that perception had changed in an instant.

After defeating the North Sea’s strongest expert with a single blow, everyone’s attitude toward him shifted. Secretly, people exchanged glances and swallowed hard.

Before it was the Phantoms, but now he's even using a fist technique...

Luo Xiaoyue, who earlier had seemed annoyed, now wore a deeply concerned expression instead.

As expected of a junior disciple of the same generation, she noticed that the technique he had just used didn't match any of Mount Hua's martial arts.

1. It seems the author made a mistake in the earlier chapters and wrote Desolate Ice Art instead of Ice Desolation Art. We have fixed this. ☜