Chapter Eighty-Nine: Seeking Plum Blossoms through the Snow, Part Two

The bald, scruffy boar hopped and danced about for a long while, while Leng Tian stood nearby with keen interest, watching as the boar’s size gradually diminished.

Eventually, it shrank to the size of a small dog, its body reduced by more than ten times, yet the two tusks above its head grew enormously large, floating above the tiny boar’s head and making its diminutive form below seem even smaller.

Those two tusks had also grown to more than twice their previous size, their color deep yellow, emitting a faint halo of light. “Kid, let me show you my ultimate skill.”

The scruffy little boar stamped all four hooves on the ground, then leapt high, landing atop the two tusks. Its snout opened and words issued forth: “Unite the boar tusks, shatter mountains and rivers!”

The boar’s form blurred and merged with the tusks, becoming one entity. The newly formed tusks transformed dramatically—now overlapped and fused together. Behind the tusks appeared a downward-hanging blade, pitch-black and imposing.

Leng Tian stood dumbfounded, thinking, “Is this even possible?”

“Go to hell, kid!” The tusk hammer trembled violently, leaving afterimages as it surged forward in an instant.

“I’ll poke... I’ll smash...”

The sounds of thunderous blows rang out, sparks flying in all directions. The overwhelming power was too fierce to gaze upon directly. Leng Tian’s golden-white protective aura flickered slightly, deflecting the explosive attacks.

“Boom! Boom!”

Seeing that raw force couldn’t break through his aura’s defense, the scruffy boar changed tactics, using the blade behind the tusks to fiercely strike at the protective aura.

It hammered over a hundred times, yet Leng Tian remained unscathed. Instead, the little boar grew exhausted, revealing its true form. The two deep yellow tusks shriveled to about half a foot and retracted back into place.

Seizing the moment as the scruffy boar landed, Leng Tian unleashed a lightning kick with his right foot, sending it flying into a withered tree. The tree snapped in two with a crack, its trunk pierced by the boar’s tusks.

Retracting his golden-white aura, Leng Tian silently lamented that if he had brought more spiritual milk at the start, he might have already ascended to the Platinum Saint Body and could briefly fly through the void using his power.

“Kid, get me down, or you can forget about finding a way out!” The scruffy boar struggled desperately but couldn’t pull out the tusks embedded in the tree, then shamelessly threatened Leng Tian.

Stepping forward, Leng Tian kicked again, shattering the remaining trunk. The boar landed steadily, stretching its four hooves forward and backward with a grunt, then its body began to stretch and grow curiously.

After several breaths, it returned to its original size, the tusks reverting to their dirty, scruffy appearance. Only then did it raise its head and look toward Leng Tian, whose white robes fluttered in the cold wind.

“Kid, your character’s not bad,” it said.

“Likewise,” Leng Tian replied with a broad smile.

“Go ahead. You’ve passed the test with the Pig Lord here,” the scruffy boar said with a grin.

“Alright…” Leng Tian’s smile deepened. “But before I go, tell me—what’s this ‘Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms’ all about?”

The scruffy boar’s eyes rolled a few times before speaking, “If you were a woman, it would be perfect. Then that big dumb bear and I could leave together. We wouldn’t have lost our cultivation so badly and wouldn’t be unable to defeat even a low-rank novice like you!”

Seeing the boar’s sudden gloom, Leng Tian asked, “Why does it have to be a woman? Would a man not do?”

“You don’t know anything. Our cultivation used to be heaven-reaching and earth-shattering. For a weakling like you, I could crush you a hundred times with a single finger!” the scruffy boar scoffed disdainfully.

“Fine. How powerful you were before is none of my concern. But now I can trample you, so you’d better answer honestly to suffer less!” Leng Tian couldn’t bear the boar’s narcissism and threatened him with a mischievous grin.

The boar’s face fell instantly, sneaking a glance at Leng Tian’s ill-intent before abandoning his boastfulness.

“Honestly,” he said, “to leave this realm, you must find the Heavenly Ladder! See that ridge? Climb over it, then turn eighteen times along the path. After walking several miles forward, cross two more mountains, and there you’ll see a magnificent crystal palace. Above that palace is where the Heavenly Ladder lies!”

The scruffy boar finished speaking, suddenly thirsty. He gnawed at some snow, exhaling white breath. “Kid, I’ve told you everything I know. Now go—I’m going to sleep!” With that, he dove headfirst into a nearby snowdrift.

Leng Tian watched the boar’s half-exposed rear vanish into the snow, offering a helpless smile before setting off.

After Leng Tian disappeared from sight, a giant bear peeked its head from behind a distant hill, whispering softly, “Dead pig, is that you? Has that kid left yet?”

“Keep your voice down, you brat!” The scruffy boar’s voice came from behind the bear, startling it nearly into submission. “Want to scare me to death? Stop being so sneaky!”

“That’s because your skills are inferior. I’ve been here forever and still can’t detect anyone suspicious,” the bear replied.

“Can you stop acting so arrogant? I’m no human, so what’s the point of barking like one?” The bear stood tall, roaring angrily.

“Yeah, you’re a bear, not human. When our master’s successor comes and lifts our seal, I’ll take human form. You’ll still be a bear, alright?” the boar rolled his eyes in disdain.

“Don’t bother arguing. I’m just here to check if you’ve been beaten up by that kid, so I don’t have to cover for you!” the bear retorted.

The boar grumbled unhappily before turning and disappearing into a snow cave to sleep.

The bear looked after the boar’s exposed rear with a wicked curse: “You’ll be blossoming sooner or later!” Then it vanished amid the swirling snowflakes.

Leng Tian strolled leisurely through the snowy mountains, each stride spanning several meters. His white figure flickered like a mirage. In the time it took to drink tea, he had vanished from the opposite end of the mountain range.

“Indeed, the entire mountain is made of accumulated snow. This Divine Residence must be an ice-elemental one. Even if powerful, it’s still a branch of the water element,” Leng Tian mused as he scanned the base of the mountains with his divine sense. He confirmed the snow accumulation and stood on the other side of the range, looking down.

As the scruffy boar had said, a snowy valley lay at the foot of the mountain, winding and twisting through more than a dozen bends.

Leaping up to glide down to the valley floor, Leng Tian was immediately struck by a tremendous oppressive force, his body slammed back onto the snow.

Fortunately, the pressure had a limited range. Leng Tian dispelled the residual force with his aura, landing lightly; otherwise, an avalanche would have been inevitable.

“Gravity Nullification Zone!” Leng Tian wiped cold sweat from his brow, glanced anxiously at the swirling snow, and reluctantly headed down the mountain.

After about two hours, Leng Tian staggered out of the eighteen bends, muttering grimly, “Could all Divine Residences be this dull? This place really feels like a trap.”

“Brother Tian, don’t blame the Divine Residence. Their divine power is boundless and their lifespans endless. If they focused only on cultivation, it would be unbearably boring!” Snow Pup finally spoke after a long silence.

“Haha... I suppose you’ve been around the Divine Residence long enough to suffer the same fate!” Leng Tian teased.

“Brother Tian, you’re always teasing me. I’m ignoring you now!” Snow Pup huffed and fell silent again.

Facing the snowy peaks ahead, Leng Tian sighed but pressed on, climbing. After crossing two snowy mountains, he finally saw the crystal palace the scruffy boar had described.

An endless flat snowy plain stretched out, with a magnificent palace suspended midair at its center. The entire structure was smooth crystal, devoid of any patterns or totems—simple yet exuding intense cold.

A suspended stairway rose straight from the ground to the palace, and above the palace, another heavenly ladder stretched up to the sky, where swirling snow blurred the end from view.

Leng Tian unfolded his form and soared toward the stairway, only then truly grasping its immense height—it was a ladder reaching to the heavens!

Stepping onto the first step, he ascended one by one. After the fifteenth step, he began feeling pressure: an invisible, heavy oppression weighing on his body.

“Gravity Nullification Zone again!” Though visibly affected, Leng Tian remained unfazed. Long ago on the Primordial Continent, when he first created the Nine-Turn Earth-Shaking Fist to forge his body, he bore tens of thousands of pounds of giant stones to cross seven mountain ridges every day without fail, forging an indomitable physique.

The higher he climbed, the heavier the pressure. After a hundred steps, the gravity reached thousands of pounds, yet Leng Tian’s expression stayed calm, his steps steady.

Only after a thousand steps did he struggle slightly, but it mattered little. Golden-white radiance flickered, as his crystalline golden body shimmered with dazzling hues.

Looking upward, he saw thousands more steps ahead. Without hesitation, he surged upward like a shooting star.

The white figure darted swiftly, crossing dozens of steps in an instant. Time lost all meaning as he ascended, his gaze growing sharper with each step.

Surging with crystalline golden energy, he let out a long roar. His feet struck the steps fiercely, leaping high despite the crushing pressure, virtually skipping dozens of stairs.

With a somersault, he landed smoothly on the crystal platform. Turning to look back at the stairway, he counted nearly four thousand meters from the ground to the palace—nine thousand nine hundred ninety-eight steps in total.

“How come there’s one step missing? It should be a perfect 99 by 99!” he thought, puzzled by such a basic error from a Divine Residence.

His eyes scanned the platform and were drawn to a crystal monument nearby. Approaching, he saw finely inscribed small characters on its surface.

After reading for a while, he sighed softly, “So that’s what ‘Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms’ means…”

End of Chapter 89: Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms (Part Two).