Chapter 150: A Bunch of Lunatics?

The basin stretched wide and vast. From Liu Pan’s vantage point, he could barely make out the sheer, towering ice walls on either side; the far end of the basin was nowhere in sight. Without a doubt, the superarray here was far grander than the one protecting the island.

A look of astonishment flashed in Liu Pan’s eyes—not merely due to the array’s immense scale, but because, far in the distance within his line of sight, he saw a patch of green.

Green plants? How could that be possible! Liu Pan doubted his own eyes. After all, this was an extremely frigid land, a cold so severe it defied ordinary comprehension.

Though the superarray blocked most of the biting chill, the temperature remained terrifyingly low. The thick, solid ice beneath his feet, stretching countless zhangs deep, spoke volumes.

Besides the green, Liu Pan also glimpsed some houses and faint silhouettes of people. Yet, given the great distance, it was impossible to discern the exact circumstances.

Retracting his gaze, Liu Pan fell silent. If he still couldn’t confirm that his arrival here was subtly guided by the elder at the Martial Saint realm, then the halo around this author would be wasted.

But what was the elder’s purpose? Surely it wasn’t a random, aimless guidance. And the appearance of that delicate young woman—was it mere coincidence?

His thoughts stirred, Liu Pan extended his spiritual senses toward the young woman concealed just beyond a nearby ice rock.

Her familiar face, the aura—indeed, it was the same presence he had sensed upon first arriving in the Northern Plains. This was no mere disguise or illusion.

Liu Pan was certain: this was the same delicate young woman he had met at the start. But why? Split personality? Dual souls? Amnesia?

A flood of melodramatic possibilities surged through his mind, leaving him with a headache. None were definitive; all seemed possible.

Moreover, he still harbored doubt. Undoubtedly, the reason he could pass through the array was that this young woman had given him the token allowing entry. But why would she do that?

Had she truly failed to recognize him, or was she feigning ignorance? Or perhaps the Martial Saint elder had instructed her to act this way?

Probing further with his spiritual energy, Liu Pan noticed the young woman cautiously observing him from behind the ice rock but showing no intention of emerging.

Under normal logic, granting him entry into the array must have some purpose.

Yet now, leaving him alone like this—was she expecting him to wander the basin by himself? Was this the true reason for letting him in? It was utterly baffling!

After a moment’s thought, Liu Pan stepped toward the ice rock where the young woman hid.

But after covering a third of the distance, he subtly adjusted his path, casually passing by her hiding place without drawing attention. Reaching the cliff’s edge, he immediately summoned his sword and descended into the basin.

He sensed the young woman’s tension, and as he drew near, she withdrew her aura further.

She didn’t want to be discovered.

Liu Pan had never been one to trouble others. Likewise, he believed in treating others as he wished to be treated. Since she wished to remain hidden, he saw no reason to force her out. Besides, he felt no hostility from her. It was best to let things unfold naturally.

After he passed, Liu Pan could sense her obvious relief.

Falling nearly three hundred zhang, he finally touched down on the solid ice below.

At that moment, a subtle clarity appeared in his eyes. Channeling his spiritual energy through the ice beneath his feet, he detected soil about two hundred zhangs below.

Initially, Liu Pan had doubted whether the greenery he saw atop the cliff was truly plant life. But discovering soil gave him some assurance.

Ultimately, in a world of fantasy, nothing was impossible. Even if this frigid land lacked any soil, seeing green plants growing here was something he had to accept.

Raising his gaze slightly, Liu Pan observed that the basin floor was uneven, shaped like a low funnel sloping inward deeper into the basin.

It was indeed possible, he mused, raising an eyebrow.

Scanning again for the young woman still perched atop the cliff, Liu Pan made no further delay and ventured deeper into the basin.

He chose not to summon his sword for flight, partly because he was unfamiliar with the basin’s interior, and partly because of the young woman behind him. As for the Martial Saint elder who led him here, Liu Pan neither wished nor could pay attention to him now.

Having stepped inside the array, Liu Pan no longer held most of the initiative. The safest course was to proceed cautiously, taking one step at a time.

As for turning back—perhaps the moment he sensed the young woman with his spiritual energy, the chance to leave had already passed.

After all, the one who guided him here was a Martial Saint-level powerhouse. Leaving would not be so simple.

He pressed onward. The path was mostly lined with ice rocks and sharp ice spikes, but for a nimble martial cultivator, they posed little difficulty.

In less than an hour, Liu Pan cleared the most treacherous ice spike forest. At its edge, his spiritual energy detected a young man of about twenty, a cultivator just a step shy of the Martial Master realm.

Despite thick cotton clothes and constantly circulating his cultivation technique to keep warm, the man shivered violently from the cold.

What puzzled Liu Pan most was that, despite his freezing condition, the young man still sat beneath the ice spike forest, diligently cultivating.

Freezing like a dog, yet still relentlessly training? Liu Pan felt a strange mix of admiration and disbelief—was this dedication or madness?

After observing the young man for a while and finding nothing unusual, Liu Pan habitually scanned again for the young woman trailing him, then pressed deeper into the basin.

At first, Liu Pan thought this young man was a peculiar madman. But after traveling farther, he was utterly stunned.

Could it be that everyone here was this fanatical?

Continuing deeper into the basin, setting aside the first young man, Liu Pan discovered dozens of cultivators similarly freezing yet still pursuing cultivation with fierce resolve over just ten miles.

Such a multitude of people training with such desperation? Liu Pan had believed that even in a novel, only a handful of characters, including the protagonist, would endure such self-inflicted torment. This reality utterly shattered his prior assumptions!

After aimlessly wandering ten miles, Liu Pan’s spiritual energy finally detected a house.

But at the same moment, he also found a person on the verge of death, frozen and gasping for breath…