Having encountered her again in the far north, she suspected that the Empress had known about the strange phenomena in the far north all along, which was why she sent Jun Lintian to accompany her when she learned that Jun Lintian was going to the far north.

However, the Empress probably didn't expect her to refuse.

"Little Jiu Jiu, what a coincidence." Jun Lintian came to Ji Jiuying, panting. Behind him was an old man, whom Ji Jiuying recognized as Uncle Ji.

The man called Uncle Ji nodded to Ji Jiuying, and Ji Jiuying politely returned a smile.

"Jun Lintian, is it really just a coincidence?"

This was the first time Jun Lintian had heard Ji Jiuying call him by his full name. Of course, no one else would dare to call him that!

Just as Jun Lintian was about to say something, he was interrupted by a pleasant voice from behind him.

"Second Prince, are you also here to search for the strange phenomenon? Would you like to travel together?" Han Qianning looked at Jun Lintian with affection and delight.

She spotted him as soon as he reached the summit of the snow-capped mountain.

"Han Qianning, it's you again?" Jun Lintian said coldly with a gloomy face.

He had only accidentally wandered into her bathroom, yet she had lingered with him for so long. Besides, she was already dressed, so he hadn't seen anything he should or shouldn't have seen.

Han Qianning's expression stiffened. He was still rejecting her so ruthlessly, but she had no intention of giving up.

Han Qianning looked at Ji Jiuying. The girl was about the same age as her, with a delicate and beautiful face that was so exquisite that even her older sister, Han Qianmeng, the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Jialan, would pale in comparison.

If she wasn't mistaken, Jun Lintian had just shown that playful expression to her.

She immediately asked, somewhat displeased, "What is your relationship with Jun Lintian?"

"She is my childhood sweetheart!"

After Jun Lintian finished speaking, he quickly cast a pleading look at Ji Jiuying.

Although the people behind Ji Jiuying looked somewhat displeased upon hearing this, they didn't say anything more.

On the contrary, Yingyue finds Junlintian increasingly displeasing to the eye!

"Hmm!" Ji Jiuying responded coldly. She and Jun Lintian had known each other since childhood, but they weren't exactly childhood sweethearts.

Han Qianning bit her lip, glanced at Ji Jiuying with jealousy in her eyes, snorted softly, and left unwillingly.

"Alright, you can get lost now!" Ji Jiuying said coldly to Jun Lintian.

"Oh, little Jiu Jiu, we'll keep each other company!" Jun Lintian looked at Ji Jiuying with a resentful gaze.

At that moment, a strange aura wafted through the air, and then the entire snow-capped mountain seemed to shake.

"What's that?" Everyone pointed in the direction of the frozen lake.

"Could this be the strange phenomenon that appeared some time ago?"

"Everyone be careful, the fog came too suddenly!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone became wary.

The once pristine, mirror-like frozen lake now appeared hazy, with mist constantly billowing towards the crowd.

Ji Jiuying took a few steps back warily. "This fog isn't right. Let's hold hands so we don't get separated."

"Ah!" Just as she was about to take out the Xuanming Mirror, her body was as if it were being sucked into the mist.

Not only her, but almost all the spiritual cultivators on the snow-capped mountain peak were absorbed into it.

A wave of dizziness washed over them, and everyone lost consciousness.

Tick-tock!

After an unknown amount of time, Ji Jiuying opened her eyes with difficulty and sat up warily. All around her were spiritual cultivators who had been sucked in by the mist. Her phoenix eyes scanned her surroundings. This place was like the bottom of a glacier, with caves of all sizes everywhere.

She was the first to wake up, and none of the others were around; it seemed she had been separated from them.

In the corner, they found Jun Lintian unconscious. Ji Jiuying went forward and asked, "Jun Lintian?"

"Jun Lintian? Wake up!"

Ji Jiuying picked up his hand and examined it, but found nothing wrong. She then patted his face, but he still didn't wake up.

Looking at his palm, he hardened his heart and slapped it. A crisp sound echoed in the ice cave, and a handprint appeared on Jun Lintian's left cheek.

Ji Jiuying was dumbfounded. Why wasn't she awake?

Then, a series of snapping sounds echoed through the ice cave, and finally, Jun Lintian frowned and Ji Jiuying stopped her slightly numb hand.

"Jun Lintian! Jun Lintian! Wake up!"

"Little Jiu Jiu? What happened?" Jun Lintian rubbed his eyes. "Ouch~ Why does my face hurt so much? Did I disfigure myself?"

Jun Lintian said he was about to get up and look at the snow wall.

Ji Jiuying awkwardly touched her nose, quickly grabbed him, and said guiltily, "Yes, yes, I probably just fell. I happen to have some medicine here that can relieve pain and reduce swelling. Let me put it on for you."

Upon hearing this, Jun Lintian felt that Xiao Jiujiu's words made more sense. Remembering that Xiao Jiujiu was a Heaven-level alchemist, he immediately sat down obediently.

After the medicine was applied, the spiritual cultivators on the ground also woke up one after another. Ji Jiuying felt even more guilty. If she had known they would wake up so quickly, she wouldn't have wasted her energy!

"Where is this place?" Jun Lintian asked, looking around in confusion.

"This is very likely beneath the glacial lake."

Where are they?

"We must have gotten separated from them. Let's search for them first." Ji Jiuying looked at the holes of various sizes, finding it difficult to choose.

Then he randomly chose a hole and went inside.

Qingling, Yingyue, and Ye Qingchen also face the same problem.

Yingyue tried to sense Ji Jiuying's location, but couldn't.

Ye Qingchen took out a fan that looked somewhat like the Crimson Fire Phoenix Fan and tried to sense its location, but he could only detect a faint aura.

"How is it? Do you have a direction?" Yingyue asked.

Ye Qingchen shook his head, "I only know it's nearby, but I don't know its exact location."

Upon hearing this, Yingyue looked at Qingling, who was still unconscious in her arms, and said, "It seems that we can only wait for Qingling to wake up and see if the communication butterfly can find the princess."

Feng Che had already used his compass to pinpoint Ji Jiuying's location, but he was quite far away. He darted through various ice caves along the way and happened to encounter Lian Qingcheng, who was unconscious on the ground.

He frowned slightly, patted Lian Qingcheng, and seeing that she was still unconscious, he carried her on his shoulder.

······

Ji Jiuying observed the caves of all sizes, and she always felt that something in the shadows was watching their every move, which made her feel absolutely terrified.

Ji Jiuying transformed the little boy into a bracelet-sized object that wrapped around her wrist.

"Little boy, have you discovered anything?" Ji Jiuying communicated with it using her divine sense as she walked.

“There seems to be a trace of demonic energy above this cave.”

Another demon? Could it be that a demon lives beneath this snow mountain? Or perhaps, it was a demon that brought them here?

What's the purpose of bringing them here?

Just then, footsteps sounded ahead, and Ji Jiuying and Jun Lintian immediately looked ahead warily.