A crimson shadow flashed out from Nie Kong's chest. Tai Yan cried out in triumph, appearing on the snow, the ball-like gourd rolling from Nie Kong's chest onto his shoulder, its bead-black eyes darting around.

Nie Kong finally let out a long breath, a faint smile touching his lips at last.

His luck was quite good. From his current position, he could faintly make out a small opening at the very tip of the distant sphere of ice and snow. That must be the passage into the Glacial Snow Domain!

"Go!"

With a soft exclamation, Nie Kong swept Tai Yan’s delicate frame up and shot straight ahead. Moments later, two figures, one black and one red, arrived outside the hole.

With almost no pause, Nie Kong and Tai Yan slipped inside.

The passage was about two meters high, but barely a meter wide. Moreover, the uneven walls and the occasional ice stalactites hanging from the ceiling made the tunnel feel exceptionally constricted. To move forward, Nie Kong had to hold Tai Yan almost entirely within his embrace to avoid bumps and scrapes.

Winding and turning all the way, though there was no sunlight, the passage was as bright as day.

After nearly an hour, an exceptionally vast space opened up before them. As far as Nie Kong and Tai Yan could see, countless ice peaks of varying heights jutted out, rising and falling in continuous waves. Between these peaks lay numerous depressions and valleys, crisscrossed by ravines. From a distance, the entire scene resembled a gigantic ice sculpture, majestic beyond description.

"Gourd, suppress your aura."

Nie Kong commanded softly. The gourd immediately responded, its tender, pale body suddenly dimming. Sensing this wasn't safe enough, it promptly tucked its head into Nie Kong’s embrace as well. Seeing this, Nie Kong couldn't help but chuckle softly, continuing to hold Tai Yan’s delicate form as they sped onward.

It wasn't just the gourd that concealed its presence; Nie Kong also cloaked his own aura, deliberately reducing his speed to that of a peak Void Spirit level practitioner. As for Tai Yan, no instruction was necessary. Though she could manipulate the majority of primal forces, those powers usually remained hidden within the corolla, betraying no fluctuation in aura unless actively used.

The reason for this caution was naturally to lull any enemy into a false sense of security. While Nie Kong didn't know what trouble Bai Yuqing had encountered, if she was trapped by some living entity, Nie Kong's current cautious approach might achieve the surprising effect of 'playing the pig to eat the tiger.' If Bai Yuqing had simply stumbled into some uninhabited isolated space by accident, that would be even better.

Ice peaks streamed past behind them...

Nie Kong simultaneously sensed the mental imprint within the spirit slip while completely merging his spiritual sense with the world around him, silently sweeping for any anomalies within several thousand meters. After entering the Glacial Snow Domain, the connection between his mental imprint and Bai Yuqing’s main body had grown progressively clearer. Now, Nie Kong could easily determine the correct direction to advance.

Several hours later, the surrounding terrain shifted dramatically. The overlapping ice peaks were entirely gone, replaced only by dense, concave valleys. These depressions were arranged with remarkable regularity, resembling hemispheres, each about four meters in diameter.

"This should be the place."

Nie Kong halted. The connection between the mental imprint and the main body here seemed to condense into a tangible thread, incredibly clear and precise. However, Bai Yuqing appeared completely isolated from the outside, causing that thread of connection to feel tenuous, swaying like a willow in the wind.

Nie Kong slightly lowered his eyes, allowing his spiritual sense to expand to its maximum range. This world of ice and snow was also filled with potent vitality. Yet, in Nie Kong's current perception, these vital energies were clustered in thick masses deep within the valleys, and the vitality contained in each depression appeared uniform. Furthermore, between every two clusters of vitality, there was a subtle link of life force connecting them. Beyond this, he sensed no other living beings. Could it be that an isolated space truly lay hidden here? Nie Kong frowned deeply.

"Tsk tsk, what a beautiful lady..." Just then, a frivolous, low chuckle suddenly echoed through the expanse, the sound betraying undisguised astonishment and delight.

"Hm?"

Nie Kong's pupils constricted. Hundreds of meters away, a massive surge of vitality suddenly erupted from one of the valleys, only to vanish without a trace the next instant. It appeared without warning and disappeared without a trace, showing no sign of its arrival.

"Brother, someone's here!" Tai Yan instinctively clutched Nie Kong's arm, her clear, beautiful eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Brother isn't a person; Brother is a flower thief..." The voice sounded again, shifting rapidly—now east, now west, now north, now south—as if the speaker was everywhere at once.

Hearing this, a cold light flickered in Nie Kong's eyes. Just like last time, that pulse of vitality shot out from a valley and then abruptly vanished. However, the last time the voice spoke, the vitality appeared only once; this time, it surfaced a full four times, and each appearance occurred at a significant distance from the others.

Giving Tai Yan a subtle glance, Nie Kong’s mind settled completely. Tai Yan understood immediately, studying the area for a moment before asking with feigned curiosity, "What is a flower thief?"

"Eh?" The person gave a surprised little gasp, then sounded as though they had struck pure gold, "Such a pure young maiden, not even knowing what a flower thief is. But Brother likes exactly this type of girl... A flower thief, you ask? That's a thief who specializes in picking flowers! Of all the thieves in the world, only the one who steals fragrance and beauty truly knows how to cherish tenderness, hehe. Once Brother has picked the maiden's flower, she will understand."

"Really?" Tai Yan replied with a sweet, innocent look. "Then can you tell me how many flowers you've picked?"

"Not many, a mere ninety-seven blossoms. Add you, and that makes exactly one hundred," the person feigned modesty, though their voice betrayed unrestrained pride.

"Liar! You can't even count properly. Adding me makes only ninety-eight!" Tai Yan pouted, wrinkling her nose in mock displeasure.

"The maiden doesn't know," the voice replied with a hint of regret. "I found two flowers half a month ago, but sadly, I haven't managed to pick them yet. Add those two, and doesn't that make one hundred?"

A trace of cunning flashed across Tai Yan’s watery eyes. "Didn't you say flower thieves know best how to cherish tenderness? Why wouldn't they let you pick their flowers?"

"No need to worry, in half a month at most, Brother will have succeeded," the voice chirped happily. "Little maiden, who is that stick next to you?"

"He is my older brother, and also my man. My brother is the flower thief who cherishes tenderness the most; I pick his flowers every night." Tai Yan's face flushed a delicate pink, looking utterly luscious. As she spoke, she pressed Nie Kong's arm tighter between her breasts, causing her already full jade globes to strain forward aggressively.

"What?"

The person immediately shrieked, undisguised fury leaking into their voice. "Such a beautiful flower has already been picked? Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Brother can't take it..."

"..."

At that very moment, Nie Kong, who had remained silent until now, suddenly snapped his eyes wide open!

... ...RO