The one-eyed human leading the way seemed to have suffered a severe blow from the Orcs, coughing violently with streaks of blood occasionally surfacing at the corner of his mouth with every few steps. He looked quite weak, needing his companions to support him as he staggered forward. After walking a few hundred meters further, the Elf clearly had no intention of staying with the group; appearing to be in the best physical condition, he dashed off toward the path down the mountain. The Dwarf, however, stroked his frost-covered beard, his eyes gleaming with cunning intelligence as he trailed behind Fang Senyan and the other two.

The bloody flaying, the brutal tossing, the eerie brazier, the soaring demonic bird... all these elements became intertwined, flashing before Fang Senyan's eyes one by one. Since escaping that cruel sacrificial altar, his thoughts had not ceased.

Vaguely, Fang Senyan seemed to grasp something, yet the crucial piece to connect it all was still missing.

The descent proved far more arduous than the ascent. The surroundings were either vast stretches of white snow, slick glaciers, or bottomless chasms; there was truly no place to flee. Fang Senyan and Reef found this terrain intensely uncomfortable, making it impossible to accelerate their pace. The girl, Wuge, showed no signs of waking up in this environment, only occasionally letting out a cough. Fortunately, the "Hichmga Mucus" they had administered earlier was still working slowly and continuously, mending the damage caused by her forced use of the Flame of Life. The more time they had, the better their chances of recovery.

The mountain path stretched endlessly. Fang Senyan’s party walked for a full hour, yet they had only covered slightly more than half of the icy route down. Just as they were about to pause for a brief rest, they suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a group of powerful Orcs rushing up from below! There were at least a dozen of these strong Orcs, clearly outnumbering them. The leader was exceptionally tall and burly, with a ferocious countenance and intersecting scars across his chest. Even in this severe cold, he still flexed his corded upper body, his tusks protruding past his lips—his strength seemed almost equal to Lutz’s!

This Orc chieftain held an immense, crude spiked club in his left hand, while his right hand carried a dripping, bloody head… it was the head of the Elf who had been running ahead!

Even more horrifyingly, further down the path, they could clearly see the headless corpse of the Elf thrashing wildly on the ground. The ice beneath it, though harder than refined steel, was being gouged with bloody tracks by the corpse’s fingers! Where such terrifying vitality originated was unknown, though it seemed inextricably linked to the Hichmga Mucus.

Although Fang Senyan’s group had traveled for quite some time, this location remained a dead end: an unfathomable ice valley on one side and an unyielding ice wall on the other. The Orcs opposite were clearly elites sent out. Even the Elf, who possessed considerable power, had his head twisted off before he could utter a sound, indicating the formidable combat prowess of these Orcs. Fang Senyan and Reef exchanged glances—cornered against these foes, they stood no chance of victory!

However, just then, a shadowy illusion suddenly materialized on one of the adjacent ice peaks. At first glance, the illusion seemed jarringly out of place, but upon closer inspection, Fang Senyan found it strikingly familiar. Its shape bore an uncanny resemblance to the eerie Wizard Tower constructed at the Orc settlement.

Suddenly, a dazzling flash erupted from the projection of the Wizard Tower! This light was as if sunlight had been condensed tens of thousands of times, shooting straight up into the sky. If one looked closely, the beam seemed aimed toward the sky near the Orc encampment!

The flash appeared extremely abruptly. It seemed to strike empty air, but in the next second, faint black mist materialized there, followed by an enraged screech! This cry was unmistakably familiar—the furious shriek of that massive "Son of Sauron," the demonic bird, from earlier!

This demonic bird possessed proficiency in illusion magic! Clearly, the one directing the illusion from the Wizard Tower and firing the beam must be a projection of Saruman. After all, the power a mage can wield within their own tower is at least several times greater than normal. Therefore, it was natural that they possessed sufficient power to pierce the demonic bird’s perfect camouflage from such a distance.

The faint black mist surrounding the Son of Sauron’s body was the residual vapor formed when the light beam struck the bird’s surface feathers, causing them to burn away. Fang Senyan also keenly noticed something else: the giant demonic bird’s flight pattern seemed peculiar. Looking closer, he saw that its talons clutched something—something that radiated startling streaks of crimson. However, due to the distance and the howling snow wind, it was impossible to see clearly.

At that moment, a terrified yell suddenly erupted from behind Fang Senyan and Reef. It came from the Dwarf who had been trailing them. He began to tremble uncontrollably, staring blankly at the sky. Dwarves who spend long periods mining underground usually possess excellent eyesight; if anyone could discern what the giant bird held in its claws, it would be him.

"This... this..." The Dwarf slumped weakly to the ground, gasping for air. His eyes held a look of bizarre dread, as if he had completely forgotten the dire situation before them.

Fang Senyan desperately wanted to press the Dwarf for what he saw, but after taking only a few steps, he suddenly looked back toward the illusion of the Wizard Tower. Although the heavy snow made everything indistinct, Fang Senyan’s perception was working overtime. He could clearly grasp the rhythm and flow of the battlefield: If I were the attacker, the second strike would be launched at this precise moment!

Indeed, a fierce beam of light flashed again, shooting forth!

The Wizard Tower illusion that launched this strike became thinner. This time, the demonic bird, the "Son of Sauron," flapped its wings vigorously in the air, stirring up a massive blizzard. Its defensive power was terrifyingly high; even after being hit directly by the previous beam, it seemed only a few feathers had been shed, suffering no substantial damage. This time, the Son of Sauron was clearly prepared. The storm it whipped up roared through the air, colliding violently with the ray.

Above the ice peak, a muffled explosion suddenly sounded, sending snow dust soaring hundreds of feet high, enveloping the surroundings like mist. Yet, within it, a dim, dark light remained condensed and persistent, giving the feeling that it could pierce the truth of history, the river of time! Fang Senyan’s heart jolted. This familiar sensation was the immense power of Saruman’s projection. Could the Orcs’ elaborate efforts have been aimed solely at hunting down the Son of Sauron in the Misty Mountains?

The Wizard Tower illusion on the distant ice peak flickered and swayed incessantly, clearly on the verge of collapse as its energy supply was severely weakened. The giant Son of Sauron was also suffering; it let out a piercing cry, its talons suddenly loosening, and the object it held plummeted downward, falling toward the area near the Orc camp. It also lost its balance in the air, flapping its wings frantically while spinning before slamming heavily into the snowy peak!

The demonic bird's brute strength was terrifying; even the eternal ice and snow peaks standing steadfast between heaven and earth shuddered instantly.

The location where the giant demonic bird struck the snow peak was several thousand feet directly above the mountain path where Fang Senyan’s group stood. Snow and ice accumulated over countless ages found an instantaneous breach and poured down in a torrent. Faced with such a colossal avalanche, individual strength could only be described as minuscule and hopeless, reduced to its absolute limit!

Neither Fang Senyan nor Reef had ever experienced an avalanche this terrifying before. However, at this moment of life and death, Fang Senyan’s mind grew sharper. He fixed his gaze intently on the group of strong Orcs opposite them... Living here, they must know how to survive an avalanche. Thus, the moment he saw the Orcs throwing themselves toward the mountain walls and choosing spots with overhanging rocks, Fang Senyan immediately followed suit.

In just a few breaths, centuries of accumulated snow began to pour down like a waterfall. Fang Senyan felt his vision darken, the furious wind of the avalanche roaring down behind him. Fortunately, the hard ice and rock above his head acted like a mighty pillar, deflecting the cascading snow and cleverly carving out a space for him to survive.

But just as Fang Senyan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way! It felt as if the entire world convulsed and shattered in that instant!

The snow peaks in this area were referred to by the Orcs as "Daridardaka," meaning "The Place Where Gods Originated." They had stood here for millennia and were expected to remain steadfast for thousands of years more. After long eras of weathering, the ice layers on these peaks were harder than steel; even chipping at them with a chisel would yield only sparks and minimal damage, and flame would barely melt them. Therefore, the winding mountain path Saruman’s projection had painstakingly constructed to ascend the peak was not achieved through conventional "destructive" methods of carving rock, but by adopting an ingenious method of "construction"!