The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

Chapter 436: Desperate Icefield, Dawn of the Divine Artifact

After Yun Yao and Chu Mochen had a brief rest, they headed towards the Arctic Ice Field without stopping. Along the way, the cold wind whistled, scraping across their cheeks like a knife. The two wrapped themselves tightly in their clothes and sped through the air.

When you reach the edge of the ice field, you will see a vast white world, with huge icebergs standing in a disorderly manner, and the ice ridges gleaming coldly in the sunlight. The ground is covered with a thick layer of ice, and every step you take makes a dull echo, as if the ice field is resisting the intrusion of outsiders.

"Chen, it's bone-chilling here, you must be careful." Yun Yao looked at Chu Mochen with concern, and circulated the spiritual power in her hands to create a layer of protective barrier for the two of them to resist the biting cold wind.

Chu Mochen nodded slightly, and looked around vigilantly: "Don't worry, Yao'er, let's find the artifact quickly. We should not stay here for long."

The two of them carefully went deep into the ice field. Not long after they went, they encountered the first test of the ice field - the ice storm. The strong wind wrapped in sharp ice chips, howling like a mad beast, instantly blocking the vision. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen stood back to back, releasing their spiritual power to the fullest, forming a shield to resist the invasion of ice chips.

"This ice storm is coming with great force. It must be a natural barrier protecting the divine weapon. We can't resist it head-on. We have to find shelter." Yun Yao shouted loudly, her voice torn apart by the strong wind.

Chu Mochen's eyes focused, and with his keen perception, he found an iceberg not far away, and it seemed that they could take shelter in the depression of the mountain. The two of them moved towards the iceberg with difficulty, and each step seemed to be heavy. The strong wind kept hitting their bodies, but fortunately, they finally hid in the valley without any danger.

After the storm subsided, they continued to move forward. But soon, the ice beneath their feet suddenly cracked, and cracks spread rapidly like ferocious mouths. Yun Yao reacted quickly, tapped her toes, and pulled Chu Mochen to jump to a more solid ice surface next to her. However, the crisis came one after another. A group of ice wolves rushed out from behind the snow pile, their eyes flashing with dark green light, and their teeth bared, obviously considering the two of them as a meal.

The direwolves were agile and ran on the ice as if they were walking on flat ground. They fanned out and surrounded them, and the white air they exhaled filled the air. Yun Yao drew her sword, and the cold light on the sword body shone, blending with the coldness of the ice field: "We can't let these beasts succeed today."

After that, she rushed towards the wolf pack first, her sword moves were agile, and every swing of the sword brought up a piece of ice, accurately stabbing the wolf's vitals. Chu Mochen followed closely behind, and his spiritual power turned into palm wind, slapping the approaching wolves and knocking them away. But the ice wolves were numerous and fearless, and they rushed forward one after another.

During the fierce battle, Yun Yao was careless and was scratched on the arm by a dire wolf. Blood oozed out instantly, staining the sleeve red. Seeing this, Chu Mochen was extremely anxious. He roared angrily, and his spiritual power burst out, shocking the surrounding wolves back several steps. He hurried to Yun Yao's side: "Yao'er, how are you?"

Yun Yao gritted her teeth and said, "It's okay, just some flesh wounds." As she spoke, she took out some medicine from her bosom and simply treated the wound. Her eyes became more determined, "We must break through the wolf pack as soon as possible and find the artifact."

The two regrouped and cooperated more and more tacitly. Yun Yao used sword skills to restrain the wolves, and Chu Mochen attacked with spiritual power. Gradually, the wolves' offensive power weakened and they began to flee in all directions.

After resolving the wolf pack crisis, they continued to go deeper. As they continued to move forward, the temperature around them became colder and colder, and even the spiritual energy in the air seemed to be frozen. Yun Yao's system suddenly issued a warning: "There is a strong restriction fluctuation ahead, and the artifact is likely behind the restriction."

The two quickened their pace, and as expected, an ice cave emitting a faint blue halo appeared in front of them. The entrance of the cave was covered by a layer of complicated forbidden runes. Yun Yao walked forward and carefully examined the runes, trying to find a way to break it. She had learned a lot of forbidden knowledge through the system, and at this moment she was concentrating, with fine beads of sweat oozing from her forehead.

After a long while, her eyes lit up: "Chen, I have found a way to crack it. It requires the power of yin and yang, combined with a specific order of spiritual power operation, to open a gap."

Chu Mochen nodded, and stood side by side with Yun Yao. The two held hands, blended their spiritual power, and slowly injected it into the restriction according to Yun Yao's instructions. For a moment, the light in front of the ice cave shone, and the runes flickered. With a slight hum, the restriction slowly cracked into a gap that was only big enough for one person to pass through.

"Hurry up!" Yun Yao shouted, and the two quickly flashed into the cave. The cave was filled with thick cold fog, and visibility was extremely low. They groped forward cautiously. Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound was heard, and several ice cones shot out from the darkness. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen dodged sideways, but found that the ice cones were endless, as if some kind of mechanism had been activated.

"We can't be so passive. I will mobilize the spiritual power to disrupt the operation of this mechanism. You take this opportunity to find the artifact." Chu Mochen made a prompt decision. He formed seals with his hands and powerful spiritual power burst out and rushed to the top of the cave, causing the surrounding ice to rustle and the firing of ice cones became chaotic.

Yun Yao took advantage of this gap and searched around the cave walls with her sharp eyes. Finally, deep in the cave, she found a stone platform emitting a soft blue light. On the platform was a crystal-clear long sword that seemed to be carved from ten thousand years of black ice. Runes flowed on the sword body, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura - it was one of the artifacts they had been searching for.

"Chen, we found it!" Yun Yao shouted happily.

Chu Mochen heard this and quickly got rid of the mechanism and came to Yun Yao. The two looked at the stone platform and found that there were also restrictions around the stone platform, and this restriction was more complex and powerful than the previous one, obviously to protect the artifact.

Yun Yao was not discouraged and devoted herself to studying the restriction again. This time, the difficulty was far beyond her imagination. She repeatedly deduced and tried many methods, but she still could not break through. Time passed by, and the ice storm outside the cave seemed to be coming back again, and the whistling sound could be heard faintly.

"Yao'er, don't worry, let's do it together." Chu Mochen held Yun Yao's hand and transferred his spiritual power to her without reservation. The spiritual powers of the two intertwined, producing a subtle resonance with the aura of the artifact.

Under this resonance, Yun Yao's mind flashed, and she found the key node of the restriction. The two worked together to accurately inject spiritual power. With a dazzling light, the restriction around the stone platform was shattered. Yun Yao stepped forward and gently grasped the hilt of the sword. In an instant, a powerful icy force flowed into her body along her arm. Her body trembled slightly, but she gritted her teeth and persisted, trying to tame this power.

"With this magical weapon, we are one step closer to saving our sect." Yun Yao's eyes flashed with hope, and she smiled at Chu Mochen.

However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the ice cave began to shake violently, and ice cubes fell from the top of the cave. It was obvious that the artifact had been taken away, triggering some kind of protective mechanism.

"Oh no, this cave is going to collapse, let's go!" Chu Mochen embraced Yun Yao and rushed towards the cave entrance. Along the way, ice cubes kept falling, and the two dodged left and right. With their agility and tenacious will, they finally rushed out before the ice cave collapsed completely.

Just after leaving the cave, the ice storm swept in again, more violent than before. The two held the artifact tightly, faced the storm, and flew towards the outside of the ice field with difficulty. In the strong wind, Yun Yao held Chu Mochen tightly, secretly rejoicing in her heart that although she had gone through hardships, she finally got the artifact and the sect was saved... When the storm gradually subsided, they set out on their way home, ready to start the final showdown with the unknown crisis of the sect. At this moment, the artifacts in their hands, like the dawn of light, illuminated the way forward.

On the way back to the sect, Yun Yao and Chu Mochen did not dare to slack off. They knew that every moment of delay could put the sect in a deeper crisis. Yun Yao gently stroked the ice artifact in her arms, feeling the icy power it continuously transmitted, and secretly thought about how to maximize its power to cope with the next challenge.

"Chen, this magic weapon is highly compatible with my spiritual power. When I return to the sect, I need to retreat for a while and thoroughly master its essence. Only in this way can I have a better chance of winning the duel with the remnants of the evil cult." Yun Yao turned to look at Chu Mochen with a firm gaze.

Chu Mochen nodded in agreement: "Yao'er is right. I also need to consolidate my cultivation. If we work together, we will be able to protect the sect. But on the way back, I'm afraid there will be variables, so we must be careful."

The two of them sped up and flew through the air. But not long after, a strange dark cloud quietly covered their heads, with lightning and thunder in the clouds, and purple lightning streaking like angry dragons, as if warning them not to move forward.

"Is this... a thunder cloud? How could it appear here?" Yun Yao was shocked and looked worried. In the world of cultivation, thunder clouds are usually triggered when cultivators break through a realm or touch a heaven-defying treasure, but they haven't broken through yet. Could it be a phenomenon caused by a divine weapon?

Before she could figure it out, a bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket came crashing down, heading straight for the two of them. Chu Mochen reacted quickly, pulling Yun Yao behind him, raising his hands, and gathering his spiritual power into a shield to withstand the lightning strike. The powerful impact shook the two of them, causing them to retreat several feet in the air.

"Yao'er, this thunder is coming with great force. I'm afraid it's aimed at the divine weapon. We can't fight it head-on. We have to find a way to divert it." Chu Mochen shouted loudly, his voice sounding a little weak amid the roar of thunder.

Yun Yao's eyes flashed, and a plan came to her mind: "Chen, I will use my spiritual power to attract the aura of the artifact and pretend to flee to the north. You take the opportunity to detour to the south, and we will meet in the valley ahead."

"No, it's too dangerous. How can I let you attract the thunder alone?" Chu Mochen frowned, his face full of worry.

"There is no time to argue. If we don't, the artifact will be damaged and all our efforts will be in vain. Don't worry, I have the help of the system and I will definitely be able to get out of this." Yun Yao said resolutely. Without waiting for Chu Mochen to refute, she sacrificed the artifact, and the icy power spread out, rushing towards the north.

The thunder cloud seemed to be enraged, and lightning bolts followed closely behind Yun Yao. Yun Yao used all her skills to dodge left and right under the clouds, and with the help of the system's warnings, she narrowly avoided fatal attacks again and again. Chu Mochen gritted his teeth and detoured south according to the plan, his eyes full of concern for Yun Yao.

Yun Yao led the lightning tribulation in circles, gradually moving away from the original route. However, the power of the lightning tribulation became stronger and stronger, and her spiritual power was consumed very quickly, and her body became slower and slower. Just when a lightning bolt was about to hit her, the system suddenly issued a quick reminder: "There is a lightning-avoiding spiritual crystal in the valley ahead, which can absorb the power of the lightning tribulation."

Yun Yao was in high spirits and rushed towards the valley with all her might. When she entered the valley, she saw a flashing light at the bottom of the valley, and several spiritual crystals emitting strange light were suspended in the air. She inserted the artifact into the spiritual crystal array without hesitation. In an instant, the spiritual crystals shone brightly and madly absorbed the power of the thunder tribulation. Lightning was drawn into the array and gradually dissipated.

After the power of the thunder cloud was exhausted, Yun Yao breathed a sigh of relief, put away the magic weapon, and after a short rest, rushed towards the valley where she had agreed to meet Chu Mochen. Fortunately, Chu Mochen had been waiting for a long time, and seeing her return safely, he finally felt relieved.

"Yao'er, you scared me to death. If anything happens to you, I..." Chu Mochen hugged Yun Yao tightly, his voice trembling slightly.

Yun Yao felt warm in her heart and patted his back gently: "I'm fine, let's go back to the sect quickly."

The two continued on their way, and finally, the outline of the sect appeared before their eyes. But before they stepped into the mountain gate, a strong smell of blood hit them in the face, and they saw that the sky above the sect was shrouded in a strange black fog, and bursts of screams were heard from time to time.

"Oh no! The remnants of the Demon Cult have launched an attack in advance!" Yun Yao's face changed drastically and she was extremely anxious.

"Yao'er, don't be afraid. We have magical weapons and we can definitely turn the tide." Chu Mochen held Yun Yao's hand tightly, and the two of them rushed into the sect without hesitation and rushed towards the thickest area of the black fog.

As soon as he entered the mountain gate, he saw many disciples fighting fiercely with the demons of the Demon Cult. The ground was covered with blood and broken limbs were everywhere. It was a horrible sight. Yun Yao's eyes were red and she shouted angrily: "Demons of the Demon Cult, today is the day you die!"

After that, she summoned the Icefield Divine Artifact, swung the sword, and the icy force surged out, instantly freezing the surrounding demons. Chu Mochen was not to be outdone, and his spiritual power burst out, fighting side by side with Yun Yao. Wherever they went, the enemies were defeated.

However, the remnants of the Demon Cult were clearly prepared. Following a sinister laugh, an old man in a black robe emerged from the black fog. With a sinister look in his eyes, he sized up the artifacts in Yun Yao and Chu Mochen's hands: "Humph, I didn't expect you to actually find the artifacts. However, this sect will still be destroyed in my hands today."

Yun Yao glared at the old man: "You are dreaming. You will never succeed as long as we are here."

The two sides are on the verge of a war, a battle that will decide the life and death of the sect is about to begin...