“Sorry, Miss Redford, I don’t have time to waste here,” Leo said directly.
Going to the Pill Sovereign’s palace was Leo’s main goal. If he arrived late, he might miss out entirely.
Moreover, the Fire Spirit Jadefruit was a precious treasure for the Spiritfire Sect, but it was dispensable for Leo.
“In that case, I was being presumptuous,” Frida said with a slight smile, nodding in understanding after Leo’s firm refusal.
“Goodbye,” Leo cupped his hands towards Frida and then turned to walk back to Seraphina.
The two of them transformed into streaks of light and left the valley.
The elite disciples of the Spiritfire Sect murmured their dissatisfaction, “Hmph, who does he think he is? So arrogant! Frida personally invited him, and he actually refused. How ungrateful.”
In the Spiritfire Sect, and even throughout the Crescent Dynasty, Frida was revered like a goddess. For her to be rejected by a man in front of so many cultivators was unprecedented.
“Silence!” Frida glanced coldly at the Spiritfire Sect disciples behind her.
The elite disciples immediately fell silent.
Frida then looked in the direction Leo had left and said softly, “There is more to him than meets the eyes; his will is extremely firm. Since he has enmity with the Savage God Sect, the enemy of my enemy can be considered a friend.”
“Elders, juniors, there’s no need for us to stay here any longer. Let’s check other valleys, and if we find nothing, we’ll head directly to the Pill Sovereign’s residence.”
“Yes, Frida,” the elite disciples responded in unison, and the four elders nodded in agreement.
On the other side, after traveling for a while, Leo suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Seraphina asked in confusion.
“The Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus inside me suddenly had a reaction!” Leo said.
Seraphina knew about Leo possessing a Celestial Artifact; Leo didn’t want to hide it from her.
“What kind of reaction?” Seraphina didn’t quite understand.
“Wait a moment, I’ll check.” Leo closed his eyes and used his spiritual sense to inspect his dantian.
At this moment, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus in Leo’s dantian emitted a crystal-clear glow, with its lotus leaves constantly shaking.
Celestial Artifacts were inherently spiritual. This was the first time since Leo had acquired the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus that it had shown such a reaction.
Soon, Leo opened his eyes and instinctively looked towards a direction in the mountains.
“In that direction, there seems to be something that interests the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus,” Leo said, his eyes flashing as he pointed with his hand.
Whatever could cause a reaction from the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus was undoubtedly extraordinary.
Seraphina followed Leo’s gaze and saw several small snow-covered peaks.
“Seraphina, come with me to take a look,” Leo said.
“Alright, let’s go.” Seraphina was also curious about what could cause such a reaction from the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
The two of them transformed into streaks of light and flew towards the snow-covered peaks.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the foot of the mountains, where the base was covered with towering snow pines, their branches and leaves heavy with snow.
This large island was magical, with different areas having distinct climates and geographical features.
The temperature at the foot of the mountains was very low, with snowflakes gently falling from the sky.
As they walked through the snow pine forest for a short while, they heard voices coming from ahead.
Leo signaled Seraphina to slow down, and they both concealed their presence as they moved forward cautiously.
Reaching the edge of the snow pine forest, they hid behind a tall, thick snow pine tree and peeked out.
Ahead was an open area before a valley, covered in a blanket of white snow.
Four people stood in the open area, facing off in pairs.
Coincidentally, Leo recognized all four individuals.
Standing at the mouth of the valley were two elders, one fat and one thin, both wearing white rune-embroidered robes with intricate golden symbols on their chests.
These two elders were Derick and Glenn from the Runecarver Sect.
Facing them were two men dressed in black robes with sinister patterns. The two men looked identical and were extremely ugly.
Each held a black curved blade and exuded a chilling aura.
These were none other than Evan Malice and Derek Malice, known as the Malevolent Twins, whom Leo had encountered before.
“The Malevolent Twins, this ice valley has been claimed by our Runecarver Sect. Please leave,” Elder Derick said coldly, his old eyes glaring at the Malevolent Twins.
The Malevolent Twins glanced towards the ice valley but couldn’t see far due to its length.
Despite their twisted minds, the Malevolent Twins were cunning. The fact that the Runecarver Sect had claimed this valley and stationed two elders at its entrance suggested there was something valuable inside.
“This is Pill Sovereign’s island, not your Runecarver Sect’s domain. You can’t just claim it as you please,” Evan Malice said in a grating voice, his bulging eyes fixed on Derick.
Evan Malice’s words darkened Elder Derick’s expression. “On Pill Sovereign’s island, might makes right. We’ve claimed this place. If you know what’s good for you, leave now. If not…”
“What if we don’t?” Derek Malice asked menacingly.
“If not, you’ll end up like them!” Elder Derick pointed to three cultivator corpses lying in the snow nearby.
The bodies were partially covered with snow, indicating they had been dead for some time.
The Malevolent Twins glanced at the corpses without showing any fear on their ugly faces.
“Just you two?” Evan Malice’s voice turned icy.
As he spoke, a sinister aura surged around the Malevolent Twins, and their black curved blades gleamed coldly.
Seeing this, Derick and Glenn’s expressions changed. The aura emanating from the Malevolent Twins was much stronger than theirs.
Derick and Glenn knew that if they fought these twisted demonic cultivators head-on, they would be at a disadvantage.
“The Malevolent Twins, don’t think you can do as you please just because you’re strong. Our Runecarver Sect’s Elder Frost and Elder Thunder are inside the ice valley!” Glenn said coldly.
Glenn’s words made Evan Malice and Derek Malice exchange glances, their ugly faces showing slight changes in expression.