The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

Chapter 434: Desperate Icefield, Sincere Embrace

On the Arctic ice field, the wind was howling and raging with blizzards, and there was a vast silence between heaven and earth, as if all life was permanently frozen by the cold. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen struggled forward in this endless white wasteland, and every step seemed to exhaust all their strength. Their clothes had long been soaked by ice and snow, and the biting cold wind cut their skin like a blade, bringing piercing pain.

"Yao'er, try harder, we will definitely find clues to the artifact." Chu Mochen's voice was firm, but he could not hide his exhaustion. The hot air he exhaled instantly condensed into frost on his lips. He held Yun Yao's hand tightly, trying to pass on the warmth in his palm to her. The two of them interlocked their fingers, as if this could resist the harshest cold in the world.

Yun Yao nodded slightly, her eyes full of determination: "Well, Chen, I won't give up. Although this ice field is dangerous, as long as we are together, nothing can stop us." Her little face was frozen red, and there were fine ice chips on her eyelashes, but her smart eyes still sparkled with hope.

At this moment, a strange shriek pierced the sky, breaking the brief silence of the ice field. The two looked up alertly, and saw a group of ghostly ice beasts surging out of the snow fog. They were huge, emitting a cold blue light, and their icy fangs flashed a ferocious light in the dim light.

"Be careful!" Chu Mochen shouted, quickly protecting Yun Yao behind him, holding the sword horizontally, the sword body hummed, sword energy overflowed, and instantly condensed into an ice-blue shield in front of him. Yun Yao was not to be outdone, she waved her bare hands, and several ice spikes broke out of the snow and shot towards the ice beasts like sharp arrows, standing side by side with Chu Mochen to fight the enemy together.

The ice beasts rushed forward with their fangs and claws bared. Each attack was powerful enough to shake the snow. Chu Mochen frowned, his eyes were as cold as ice, and he danced with the sword in his hand tightly. Every swing of the sword brought up a splash of blood. The broken limbs of the ice beasts were scattered all over the ground, but they seemed to be fearless and continued to attack. Yun Yao was agile and moved freely among the ice beasts. With the help of the special perception given by the system, she cleverly avoided the deadly attacks of the ice beasts. At the same time, she used her spiritual power to control the ice and snow, either turning them into sharp blades to cut, or condensing them into ice to trap the enemy. She cooperated with Chu Mochen perfectly.

However, there were too many ice beasts, and after a fierce battle, the two gradually became exhausted. Yun Yao was careless and was swept by the long tail of an ice beast. She flew out like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily on the snow. A mouthful of blood spurted out, staining the white snow with a dazzling red.

"Yao'er!" Chu Mochen was furious, and rushed over desperately, swinging the long sword in his hand wildly, killing all the ice beasts that surrounded him, and in a moment he was next to Yun Yao. He helped Yun Yao up anxiously, gently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and said in a trembling voice: "Yao'er, how are you? Where are you hurt?"

Yun Yao's face was as pale as paper, but she forced a smile: "Chen, I'm fine, don't worry." Having said that, her body couldn't stop shaking, and it was obvious that she was seriously injured.

Chu Mochen was distressed. He looked around and found that the group of ice beasts were still staring at him, with no intention of retreating. Without hesitation, he hugged Yun Yao tightly, used the sword-flying technique, and rushed towards the depths of the ice field. The ice beasts chased after him, roaring, but as the distance got farther, their voices gradually disappeared in the wind and snow.

After flying for an unknown amount of time, Chu Mochen found a hidden cave under an ice cliff and quickly took Yun Yao inside. The cave was dark and damp, and the cold was still overwhelming, but at least it could temporarily avoid the pursuit of the ice beast. He carefully put Yun Yao down, took out a thick cloak from the storage ring, gently wrapped it around her, and took out a healing pill and fed it to her.

"Yao'er, you should have a good rest first. It's safe here for the time being." Chu Mochen said softly, his eyes full of concern.

Yun Yao leaned against the cave wall and shook her head slightly: "Chen, we can't delay too long, we have to find the artifact as soon as possible. This ice field is full of dangers. The longer we stay, the more variables there will be."

Chu Mochen felt warm in his heart. He knew Yun Yao was right, but he was worried about her injury. "You are injured like this, and you are still thinking about the artifact. Heal your wound first, and we can talk about other things later."

Yun Yao gently held Chu Mochen's hand: "Chen, I understand your feelings, but the sect is in danger, and we are carrying everyone's hopes. I can still bear this little injury."

Looking at Yun Yao's determined eyes, Chu Mochen knew that he couldn't persuade her, so he could only nod helplessly: "Okay, wait until you recover a little bit, and then we'll go out together to look for clues."

After a short rest in the cave, Yun Yao's complexion improved a little, and the two decided to continue to explore the whereabouts of the artifact. As soon as they walked out of the cave, a more violent blizzard hit them, almost making it impossible to open their eyes. Chu Mochen held Yun Yao tightly and moved forward with difficulty in the wind and snow.

As she was walking, Yun Yao suddenly stopped and stared at the ice wall in front of her that was flashing with a strange blue light: "Chen, look over there, something seems to be wrong."

Chu Mochen followed her gaze and saw some ancient runes faintly emerging on the ice wall. The runes were flashing with a faint light, as if telling some long-standing secret. The two hurriedly approached, Yun Yao stretched out her hand and gently touched the ice wall. A chill instantly spread through her body along her fingertips, but she was unaware of it, and only the mysterious runes were in her eyes.

"These runes... seem to be related to the artifact." Yun Yao muttered to herself. She closed her eyes and tried to interpret the meaning of the runes with the system's ability. After a moment, she opened her eyes, her eyes full of surprise: "Chen, I know! There is a artifact sealed under this ice wall. As long as we find a way to unlock it, we can get it."

Chu Mochen was overjoyed when he heard this: "Great, Yao'er, let's look for it quickly."

The two searched carefully around the ice wall, not leaving out any corner. Finally, they found a palm-sized groove at the bottom of the ice wall. There were some fine patterns engraved in the groove, which seemed to be an ancient mechanism. Yun Yao squatted down and studied the pattern carefully, thinking about how to crack it.

"Chen, I think this mechanism requires a specific order of spiritual power injection to open. Look at this pattern, it seems to be related to the five elements of spiritual power." Yun Yao said, pointing to the pattern in the groove.

Chu Mochen nodded slightly: "I understand, Yao'er, let's try it together."

The two of them each circulated their spiritual power and carefully injected spiritual power into the groove according to the order Yun Yao had guessed. At first, the ice wall did not react at all, but as the spiritual power continued to be injected, the ice wall gradually began to tremble and emit a low roar.

"It's almost successful, Yao'er, try harder!" Chu Mochen shouted.

At this moment, something unexpected happened. There was a sudden violent tremor from deep in the ice field. Then, the ground began to crack. Huge ice cracks spread rapidly like the mouth of a ferocious beast. The two of them lost their footing and almost fell into the ice cracks.

"What's going on? Did we trigger some restriction?" Yun Yao exclaimed.

Chu Mochen looked around with a serious expression: "No matter what, we must stabilize the mechanism first. This artifact is the key to saving our sect, and we must not give up."

The two of them endured the shaking of their bodies and continued to inject their spiritual power with all their strength. Just as the ice crack was about to spread to their feet, there was a loud bang, and the ice wall shattered. A dazzling blue light shot up into the sky, and in the light, a magical artifact exuding a mysterious aura slowly emerged.

"Found it!" Yun Yao shouted excitedly.

The two of them had no time to rejoice, and hurriedly reached out to grasp the artifact. At the moment they grasped the artifact, a powerful force surged into their bodies, and they felt warm all over, and their fatigue and pain seemed to be relieved a lot. However, before they could fully feel this power, the vibration of the ice field became more and more violent, and the whole world seemed to be collapsing.

"Oh no, the ice field is about to collapse, we have to leave quickly!" Chu Mochen shouted loudly.

He hugged Yun Yao tightly, and once again used his flying sword to fly, rushing towards the edge of the ice field. Along the way, ice peaks collapsed, snow waves surged, and there were many dangers, but the two of them relied on tacit understanding and courage to avoid crises again and again.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally saw the edge of the ice field. The ray of dawn seemed like a beacon of hope, guiding them forward. Just as they were about to break through the ice field, a huge block of ice whizzed down from the sky and smashed directly towards the two of them.

"Be careful!" Chu Mochen exclaimed. He pushed Yun Yao away violently, but he was unable to dodge and was hit hard on the back by the ice. He fell forward and fell heavily to the ground, his life or death unknown.

"Chen!" Yun Yao screamed heartbreakingly. She rushed over desperately and helped Chu Mochen up. Chu Mochen's face was as pale as paper, his breath was weak, his back was a bloody mess, and the blood dyed a large area of ​​the snow red.

"Chen, wake up, don't scare me!" Yun Yao was in tears. She hurriedly took out all the healing pills from the storage ring and fed them into Chu Mochen's mouth, but Chu Mochen's condition did not improve at all.

"Why? Why are you so stupid..." Yun Yao was grief-stricken. She hugged Chu Mochen tightly, as if this could save his fading life. In this desperate situation on the icy plain, she felt unprecedented helplessness and despair. The wind was still howling, the blizzard was still raging, but her world seemed to completely collapse at this moment.

After a long while, Yun Yao slowly raised her head, with a look of determination in her eyes: "Chen, you will be fine. I will never let anything happen to you. Even if I have to pay any price, I will save you..."

She hugged Chu Mochen tightly and walked towards the distance step by step. Her figure gradually went away in the vast snow field, leaving only a string of deep footprints, as if telling the hardships and perseverance they had experienced along the way.