"It's so cold."

Standing under the suddenly risen sunlight, Chen Xu belatedly felt a chill seeping from his bones.

He gently exhaled a breath and quickly circulated his Innate Qi.

Fortunately, the marvel of Innate Qi has never been the slightest false, and after a few circulations, the cold around him was dispelled entirely.

Only then did Chen Xu realize that although he didn't feel particularly cold while with the Little Snow Spirit, in fact, the chill escaping from her had silently pervaded him.

Even with the Fire Armor Body protecting him, he hadn't noticed at the time—

No, instinctively, Chen Xu did sense something was amiss.

This might be due to the higher his cultivation level becomes, the more naturally he acquires a slight instinct to avoid danger.

Perhaps this sense isn't very acute, nor does it always activate.

But the moment it did, it drove Chen Xu to instinctively bid farewell to the Little Snow Spirit immediately.

His swift decision saved him.

It's not that the Little Snow Spirit intended to harm him; rather, it's that her species' nature is indeed difficult to guard against.

Chen Xu, standing in the small valley, couldn't help but look back at the towering snow peak behind him.

Jade Cold Peak stood tall, as if reaching the sky.

Everything in the snow had faded away, yet this snowy encounter would surely leave a vivid mark in Chen Xu's memory.

Chen Xu thought of his frostbitten state and quickly checked on the Little Mouse and Little Hedgehog.

The two little demons were fine because Chen Xu had been deliberately channeling Literary Qi to protect them.

The Little Mouse and Wei Yuan were even puzzled as to why Chen Xu said it was cold, not realizing why he left so suddenly.

Chen Xu explained the cause to the two little demons, and after listening, Wei Yuan said, "The teacher often says, 'In this vast world, nothing is too bizarre.' He tells me that if I truly want to understand cultivation, I must travel and witness the world more.

"Only by seeing it all can I comprehend the vastness of the world and realize where I stand.

"But the teacher also said, 'My mana is weak; although I can come and go freely with the Earth Escape Technique, I must never be careless.'

"Because there are many dangers in this world that you can't even detect, let alone respond to or avoid in time."

The Little Hedgehog sighed softly, marveling again at the wonders of the world and its own insignificance.

The Little Mouse said, "Scholar, the Snow Spirit isn't annoying either; her nature is actually quite good. But her cold aura means that even a brief contact with someone of your cultivation would be invasive.

"Imagine having no friends around her; no wonder she was so eager to approach you when she saw you.

"She must be very lonely."

Saying this, the usually jealous Little Mouse felt some empathy for the Little Snow Spirit.

It was both an empathetic connection and perhaps a reminder of its own days of hiding with Master Jiu.

A certain wandering feeling always lingered in its heart.

The Little Snow Spirit's mother lay asleep in the snow, just as Master Jiu rested in the Little Mouse's belly.

Though Master Jiu said repeatedly before becoming Shejun Sand that he wouldn't die, how can one call him forth again?

Ah Shi didn't know; it didn't dare express its worry to Chen Xu.

It feared telling Chen Xu wouldn't help, and what good would it do to add another person's worry at that point?

Ah Shi also didn't know that Chen Xu was already contemplating Master Jiu's situation.

Such matters need not be mentioned by Ah Shi; Chen Xu would naturally care.

[Snow of the Passing Year] has now been obtained, so naturally, the journey continued along the Lingxi Mountains, moving from Qinglin Prefecture to Pingyang Prefecture.

Among the Lingxi Mountains were several fabled dead volcanoes, and Chen Xu continued to travel north.

Having learned from previous experiences, Chen Xu speculated that within these vast mountains lay many unpredictable and unguarded dangers. So even as he traveled along the mountain paths, he did not truly delve deep into the mountains.

This so-called lack of depth meant he walked along the roads on the outskirts of the mountain ranges—

Sometimes, when there was no road, he flew between the jungle cliffs using Wind Control.

He avoided the peaks and stayed away from strange caves and dangerous ravines.

In short, he took paths seldom trodden but never truly left behind traces of humanity.

Sometimes he stayed overnight at the homes of villagers living on the mountain, learning about the local scenery and the lives of those at the mountain's base.

Occasionally encountering injustice, Chen Xu would act accordingly.

Whether to kill, capture, or perhaps teach a lesson and then call the authorities, etc.

Chen Xu himself had studied legal texts, and he wasn't an outlaw. Anything that could be handled by the Great Li Dynasty's laws, he was willing to guide the people he encountered to act in accordance with the law.

As for those he killed directly—

This is the peculiarity of the cultivation world.

Some matters can be dealt with legally, but others require immediate action.

For example, in a village like the one on the small slope, waiting for the government to come and judge everything case by case might leave enough time for Immortal Witch Zhu to wield some evil technique.

Thus, the Great Li Dynasty has a special provision for such matters:

In cases related to demonic and heretical activities, one may act expediently.

Slaying demons and destroying evil is not considered illegal.

In reality, this is a significant loophole, easy to blur and for people to overstep.

But matters of cultivation, how else could they be dealt with?

Frankly speaking, Chen Xu himself is a beneficiary of this "special provision."

For now, it's hard for Chen Xu to overturn it theoretically.

While traveling northward for only a dozen days, Chen Xu covered over a thousand miles.

This pace for Chen Xu was quite slow.

He intended to delay his journey, enter the city quietly to partake in the provincial examination, and thus slowed down.

Additionally, because the mountains offered beautiful scenery and occasionally provided spirit fruits and spirit herbs to collect, Chen Xu lingered more often.

Speaking of mountain spirit fruits and spirit herbs, unlike the rare spiritual materials Chen Xu obtained through the Food Cauldron Celestial Book, the mountain products were mostly for replenishing Qi Blood or the Divine Soul, and occasionally some were laden with toxins.

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