The man had long harbored resentment towards the rat-man, and now that he had the opportunity to speak his mind, he was even more outspoken. Seeing the rat-man acting like a bully, he felt a surge of displeasure. The rat-man turned his head away; this was the first order he had issued since gaining power, and yet someone dared to disobey his first order. What would happen after that? Who would listen to what happened next?

“Just do as I tell you to do. Don’t try to challenge my authority here. My words are the only truth, do you understand? The master has entrusted everything to me. You must do as I tell you to do!” The rat-man’s eyes were filled with fanaticism and anger over the matter.

The man was startled, and the object in his hand trembled for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "If anything goes wrong, the master will hold you accountable, and you will be fully responsible. Don't even think about shirking your responsibility."

After saying that, when he met the rat-man's gaze, the other obediently did it, with a somewhat unnatural glint in his eyes. Fortunately, the matter proceeded smoothly.

Down the mountain, Xu Yuehuai immediately sensed something was wrong. She stretched out a hand, looking at the snow in the sky and the mountaintop getting closer and closer to them. She keenly noticed something amiss. Yan Zhi, seeing her serious expression, thought something earth-shattering had happened. "What's wrong? We've been on the snow mountain for so many days now. Do you still have the mind to admire the snow scenery here?"

“No, something’s wrong with this snow.” Xu Yuehuai shook her head, her eyes filled with seriousness and confusion.

Yan Zhi also reached out her hand and began to carefully examine the falling snow in front of her, just like Xu Yuehuai. She said, seemingly unsure of what was going on, "I don't think anything is wrong. Maybe you're overthinking it? Isn't this just normal snow? It's been like this all the way here."

Xu Yuehuai shook her head. "Look at the mountains in the distance. When we were at the foot of the mountains, we could still see the tops clearly, but now they are all covered up. The temperature has dropped, and the snow is getting heavier."

Yan Zhi carefully observed the scene as Xu Yuehuai had described, and found that it was exactly as she had described. She opened her mouth in shock, "What do we do now? Will we drown here? If this snow keeps falling, won't we be very likely to be buried in the snow? We'll die before we even reach the top of the mountain."

Yan Zhi's words were not at all alarmist. Xu Yuehuai was on high alert, but before she could come up with a solution, the people behind her overheard them. "What are you talking about? What do you mean we can't survive? Don't talk nonsense like that! This is not something you can talk about carelessly! Right now, it's just that the weather is a little bad. In a few hours, when the weather gets better, it'll be nothing!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with the weather? If you don't understand, then stop talking nonsense here. It's annoying!" Everyone was discussing the matter, but no one took Xu Yuehuai's words to heart. They all thought it was just a trivial matter, and that Xu Yuehuai was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Xu Yuehuai glanced at the others with a serious look in her eyes. In everyone's eyes, there was only mockery and disdain. No one took this matter to heart. Everyone was trying to climb up the social ladder, afraid that if they missed a second, someone would surpass them.

"Hurry up, everyone! I heard there are only 100 spots available this time. If only these 100 people survive, the rest of us probably won't have a chance. So this time, everyone needs to give it your all!" someone in the crowd encouraged.

Xu Yuehua couldn't understand. She couldn't understand if nothing else mattered in this world besides living. Did her own morality and sect not matter at all? Faced with living, all of this seemed like a dramatic scene, with everyone struggling to climb upwards, wanting to reach the top and see the scenery of this world.

Among these people, there is another group struggling to resist this unjust fate. They may become the next Quan Cang, but they will never become those who side with Quan Cang.

Xu Yuehuai felt she was not qualified to say such a thing. She was already incredibly fortunate to be alive. She didn't understand why so many opportunities had come her way. If these opportunities hadn't come to her, would she have been able to live to where she is today?

"Hey, look, aren't those the two who were trying to stop us from going up the mountain? They probably said that on purpose so they would have one less competitor! Such a treacherous trick! No human could come up with that!" Someone pointed at Xu Yuehuai and Yan Zhi, their eyes filled with deep disgust.

Among this group of people, Xu Yuehuai and Yan Zhi stood out. Women are naturally more susceptible to the cold, and very few people can get here. Most of them are men, so the presence of two women traveling together in this place made them a very unique sight.

Xu Yuehuai showed no sign of backing down or feeling guilty. She didn't reveal her purpose for going up there. She didn't know whether the people in front of her were human or ghosts. If she rashly revealed her purpose, she would only be handing them a handle. "So what if it is? So what if it isn't? Everyone got up here based on their own strength. Since none of you listened to me, you have no right to criticize my actions."

As soon as Xu Yuehuai said this, she was immediately met with the man's contempt. "Pah! You vicious bastard! I was just thinking you were a good person, but now it seems you're nothing but a scoundrel!"

Yan Zhi impulsively took a step forward. The snow on the ground was already above her knees, making her step extremely difficult. But all of this did not pose any threat to the man. He had a disdainful smile on his lips and looked at them with a mocking gaze.

"Why don't we join forces and take down these two liar bastards first? So they won't resort to any more underhanded tactics later!" The man stared at them with eyes that seemed to be poisoned, sending chills down their spines.

Xu Yuehuai paused, then casually flicked her wrist, sending a burst of spiritual energy crashing into the man. Instantly, the man felt as if his entire body was sealed, rendering him unable to move. In just a moment, he tumbled down the mountain.

Fortunately, the snow on the ground was thick enough that rolling on it didn't feel like anything.