A Warrior Lord's speed in the air was slower than the one he could show on the ground indeed, but Bai Qi originally was practically born capable of skywalk. And so, his speed had not decreased at all, even while he carried the two girls with his aura.

Still, he had to account for the speed of his companions. As except Kass Shaa'r, trained by him, the other beastmen were uneasy and slow.

Thus, Bai Qi slowed down, even more than because he was carrying at first two and then three people unable to use skywalk. And while Kass Shaa'r did offer to take Ye Su himself, Bai Qi shook his head while pointing at Gi La, who could not maintain her balance correctly and was inching in place of actually walking.

In such a manner, the eight-mile journey upwards took the group over an hour, compared to the few minutes that an experienced Warrior Lord, or King, would have required.

***

On top of the several miles high mountain, there was an area called the [Lands of the Ice Exalted]. A plain, snow-covered plateau that extended in an almost square shape for over a thousand square miles.

Not a single tree, grass blade, or even elevation was present as one's eyes could see, and the freezing air was enough to make even an Earth-realm cultivator feel the cold.

As they arrived, Bai Qi quickly formed an array to keep back the cold and another one to mask their presence. The former because of the two girls, whose cultivation, innate as they never practiced, was just of the Spirit realm. As for the latter, Bai Qi considered that if the [Void Palace] was under siege, his reinforcements in the form of six beastmen comparable to low-level Warrior Kings could be far more effective if concealed correctly.

"If I am not mistaken, the palace is inside a ravine in the center of this area. I will go scout and contact you with a talisman as soon as I find something." Having agreed to his plan, no one said anything. Not that Bai Qi missed the Bai sisters' frown or Kass Shaa'r and Heise Zhao's worry, but he chose to avoid showing it.

And so, after leaving a couple of instructions related to the arrays replenishment if he took over a day to return, Bai Qi signaled to Fan Jia, and they moved out.

***

Skywalking proved impractical because of the sudden gusts that arose from nowhere and increased in strength as they advanced. Just a hundred miles from the arrays, the gusts were strong enough to push them back even while using their aura. Thus, Bai Qi chose to walk. And even though the glacial winds and deep snow slowed their movement on the ground, they at least moved.

In such a manner, slowly and spending qi and aura to keep both cold and snow out, Bai Qi, Fan Jia, and Ma Su continuously moved forward.

Speaking without using qi was nearly impossible, so Bai Qi resorted to qi transmission to ask about Ma Su's intentions.

{If you are worried about treason, don't be. I could have attacked you as soon as we left your protectors behind.} Now that she was the strongest cultivator around, Ma Su's reverted to a more casual, with no hints of compliance, speech.

{Actually, I was asking in hopes of knowing if I should consider you an ally or just a passerby when we encounter danger.} As transmissions did not convey emotions, Bai Qi shrugged when her eyes landed on him as to show he did not think of her as a possible hostile.

{Depends on what danger it is.} Ma Su knew that her remark was hardly the one it should be, but she could not help to at least somehow show, even if to herself, that she was now free.

{What about beasts?} Bai Qi lightly smiled as his senses caught on several low-level Saint Beasts that started moving towards them. He almost felt gratitude for such an encounter.

{Hmm, only three of them, and neither is above the 2nd level. Why would you even need my help?} Ma Su rebuked.

{Truly? Your senses did not yet catch on to the 4th level Beast aiming for you?} Bai Qi was close to adding a couple of less-benign words, but he restrained himself.

{Huh?!}

***

While first Bai Qi's and then his two companions' senses noticed the beasts' approach, how the latter appeared was still impressive.

Roaring and thumping their chests, three beasts jumped out from beneath the snow, blocking Bai Qi and Fan Jia.

As for the fourth beast, it was aiming for Ma Su and was seemingly unaware of being noticed yet.

Standing on their legs while thumping their chests with one fist, the beasts were close to eight feet tall. White fur with dots of blue. Muscular arms that reached to the floor. Fangs visible even with jaws closed. And most importantly, armed with club-like weapons made of bluish ice.

{Savage beasts. A fight is unavoidable, but try to avoid killing. Only beat your opponents into submission.} Seeing the lack of understanding in Fan Jia's eyes, and with Ma Su asking why they should not kill, Bai Qi added, {Well, kill if you want to walk through the snow. But I am not planning to do that.}

[Low Snow Ape], a territorial and all-devouring beast. They did not develop full intelligence during their advancement, continuing to act on their instincts. And while they should be able to understand speech and communicate with other races and even humans, [Savage] beasts rarely did it.

Usually banding into groups or packs of dozens and commonly commanded by a more advanced type of beast, as a [High Snow Ape], the more advanced, intelligent, and powerful form of theirs. Still, even the lower form was a dangerous beast to encounter, especially in the snow.

With almost perfect ability to camouflage, some could even hide their presence. [Snow Apes] also used weapons. And while they looked like simple icicles, formed by their ability to accumulate and strengthen ice with their aura, they had a hardness equivalent to a top-tier Spirit weapon.

As Bai Qi flared his aura, two beasts of the three in front rushed towards him.

"I am off!" With the two beasts following, he dashed off.

Bai Qi only stopped two miles away from his companions. It wasn't that he did not want them to see his fight, or he wasn't interested in seeing theirs. But after thinking about it, Bai Qi decided that it was for the best, as he planned to test his current strength, and no one knew how it would go.

*Roar* *Roar*

Both beasts roared as they saw that the human in front stopped running and sprang forwards with renewed energy while flailing their icicle-like clubs.

"Come!" Bai Qi responded while dropping into a horse stance and converging his inner qi into the fists. A qi that now resembled a storm cloud, black-colored, with flashes of crimson and purple.

While Bai Qi had entirely absorbed the [Ghostflame], he had been cautious to not mix all of his qi with it. He always kept part of his qi pure to avoid falling into the trap of being able to use a single element.

Between the two instances in which Kui Mulang had infused his essence into Bai Qi, first by himself and then because of their agreement, Bai Qi's body got used to it. And unexpectedly, Bai Qi had found that a small amount of it was now naturally flowing in his pathways as if it had always been there.

As for the [Lightning Baptism] as his cultivation method had called the process, Bai Qi found out that such amount of [Lightning Essence] did not only improve his cultivation. No, it also changed his qi. And now, whenever he circulated his qi, purplish and electrified strands emerged.

But these were three distinct things, so Bai Qi had never thought of, or even believed possible, mixing them into one. But either because of the tribulation or something else, all three mixed, forming something unique to Bai Qi alone. A qi formed of flame, lightning, and demonic parts. But at the same time, without being any of them.