Dragon's Origin

Chapter 699: The Boat (Part 1)

Despair gripped not only the leading elders of each faction within the core of the Thousand Serenity Ground but also the supervisors in each faction's Thousand Serenity Ground camps.

The powerful aura that erupted from the Thousand Serenity Ground's core affected more than just the core itself; it also washed over the areas dozens of miles around the edge of the Ice Snow Basin.

For a time, all the experts in the entire Thousand Serenity Ground camp were suppressed by that immense aura, barely daring to breathe. The terrifying pressure made them suspect that a super-powerful master existed right outside the camp's gate.

The aura slowly dissipated after a full hour. Then, just as they were about to send someone to check the edge of the Ice Snow Basin, they suddenly received the highest level of alert.

The shocked camp experts quickly rushed to their guard posts. What they saw chilled them to the bone.

In front of the camp, at least a hundred white demonic beasts of various sizes were running swiftly. Anyone who had been to the Thousand Serenity Ground's core knew what kind of place these beasts lived in and how ferocious they were. Those who hadn't been there were slightly less worried.

Most of the people in the camp were there to replace those entering the core, and even if just for practice and adaptation, they had been in and out of the Ice Snow Basin's edge and had seen these beasts.

Why were the demonic beasts from the Thousand Serenity Ground's core frantically running out? Considering the powerful aura they had felt not long ago, even an idiot would know that something big had happened inside.

The white demonic beasts seemed to know they were leaving a dangerous place. They stopped around the camp, not planning to move on, and instead began to examine their surroundings with interest. If nothing else happened, the forests outside the Thousand Serenity Ground would be their next home, and they were already starting to plan how to claim their territories.

The experts in each camp were surrounded by these hundred or so demonic beasts, and they didn't dare to force their way out. Even though there were over a hundred of them, no one was confident in fighting off the attacks of so many beasts simultaneously. Even gathering a team might not guarantee victory, so they could only wait anxiously.

The only two forces that could probably still laugh were the Song family and the Xia family. The Song family had withdrawn in time, starting their full retreat over ten days ago, and now all their people were in the Thousand Serenity Ground camp. As for the Xia family, everyone inside was already dead, so they didn't have to worry about anything.

The Xia family would be even happier to see everyone else's people inside die as well, which would mean everyone was back to the same starting line. If that happened, the Xia family would probably laugh in their dreams.

Of course, the Song and Xia families weren't worried about anything else right now, but they were extremely curious about what had happened in the Thousand Serenity Ground's core. However, like the other families, they were surrounded by the hundred or so demonic beasts and couldn't leave. Understanding the situation was important, but the lives of their own disciples were even more so!

The demonic beasts besieged the camp for over forty hours. Only when they realized that the human experts in this area with many powerful individuals had no intention of attacking them did the white demonic beasts gradually disperse.

Seeing this, the impatient factions immediately sent out a few legendary peak experts with high speed and cultivation to check. After confirming that the white demonic beasts had indeed scattered, they dispatched small teams of experts to rush into the Thousand Serenity Ground's core and head towards the Ice Snow Basin.

After so long, the experts soaking in the icy water were exhausted. Fortunately, they started by walking on the ice and snow, then wading through water, and finally swimming in the water. Unfortunately, some fell directly into the water from the ice and snow. Now, they had been soaking for over forty hours.

Continuously using spiritual energy to ward off the cold and keep warm for over forty hours was too much even for someone made of iron, especially since they also had to swim constantly to avoid drowning.

The experts trapped in the icy water now regretted not cutting down more wood underground when they left the excavation site. Beneath the frozen ground, many trees were firmly frozen inside. If they had brought some, they wouldn't be suffering so much now. At least they could climb onto the wood to rest.

Even if they didn't have wood, they could have brought more firewood! Everyone had brought firewood, but only enough for a month, because they knew from the relics of the peerless treasure trove excavated by the Shi and Gan families that there was a lot of wood underground. So, they didn't need to bring much, just enough for the road and to last until they dug through dozens of feet of frozen ground to reach the wood.

Who had time to bring firewood when they left in a hurry? Now, everyone was dumbfounded. They should have brought it! It was truly a case of 'hindsight is 20/20'!

Now, the experts could only take turns resting. Two people in the water would lift another companion out of the water, allowing them to circulate their energy to dispel the moisture from their clothes, quickly perform a few cycles of cultivation to recover, and ensure they could last a little longer.

But this time wouldn't last long because the two people below also needed to take turns resting. Being lifted above the water wasn't as stable as floating on the water, so even cultivation was done quickly and cautiously. Then, they had to quickly replace their companions, as their companions were in similar conditions and couldn't last too long either.

This method could temporarily alleviate some of the exhaustion, but it couldn't completely solve the problem. Because while ensuring their companions could rest on their shoulders for a moment, they couldn't move and had to stay in place.

The good news was that taking turns resting could ensure they wouldn't lose body temperature and freeze to death while soaking in the icy water, and they could also recover a little bit of energy, preventing them from freezing or drowning due to exhaustion. The bad news was that it was extremely physically demanding, and they couldn't move, only waiting for rescue in place.

Even worse, because all the icebergs had melted, everyone had completely lost their reference points. It was now night, and even more tragically, there were no stars, so they were completely lost. Even if they wanted to leave, they didn't know which direction to go.

The ice under the water was still melting slowly, but dozens of feet of ice obviously hadn't formed in a day, and melting wouldn't happen in a day or two either.

Besides staying in place and waiting for outside rescue, they had no other options.