“Holy moi boch! he can bring down an entire brigade?”
Paul asked stupidly, his mouth still wide open.
As a powerful Overlord of the Dark World, Paul had frequented the battle fields in the Middle East and Northern Africa, so he knew the deadliness of modern military’s firepower first hand.
He would think twice even to face against a hundred strong squad much less a fully armed brigade of four thousand strong. Neither could he wrap his mind around Chen Fan’s striking down three F-15 fighter jets.
“Do you believe me now?” Yang Qinhu asked with a grin.
Paul nodded vigorously. Russians could be arrogant but they were fiercely loyal once you get to know them. Many of them were battle-hardened warriors who only obey the order of the strongest. Because of their bravado and defiance, they were often called the Warrior Race among netizens in China.
“Paul, we are heading north deep into the tundra to find a valley.”
After everyone sat down around the table, Yang Qinhu unfurled a map on the table and said.
“Why are there suddenly so many people who want to go to the Icewolf Valley?” Paul scratched his head and murmured to himself.
“Someone else had asked you about it as well?” Yang Qinhu asked urgently.
“Yes, quite a few of them. Some from Europe, some from America and even a few from the Middle East. They are disguised as tourists, but this old nose can smell the blood on their hands from miles away. Some of them are our old friends.” Paul said casually.
Yang Qinhu gave Chen Fan a glance and asked hesitantly.
“Senior Master, it seems that the cat is out of the bag. What should we do?”
“It doesn’t matter, the valley is a few kilometers deep, not even a helicopter can get down there. Plus, I doubt they have the exact location of the pond, so they might have to spend a lot of time searching for it. Don’t worry, we will be fine.” Chen Fan said lightly.
Not only Yang Qinhu nodded at Chen Fan’s reassurance, but also Paul.
Chen Fan was the most powerful man in the Dark World, so of course, the other treasure seekers were no match against him.
“We should head out right away, just in case.”
Chen Fan rose to his feet.
Although Paul was not going with them, he had offered his help by sending a few guides and a couple of his bodyguards to join their trip. When they finally embarked on their journey to the frozen tundra, their ranks had swelled to a dozen or so.
They headed out of the city in a convoy of snowmobiles. It wasn’t long before they reached the barren wasteland. In the beginning, there was a small village every few dozen kilometers, but as they went further north, the sight of small villages became less frequent.
Chen Fan sat on the snowmobile in the passenger seat and cultivated.
He was surprised to find out that Spirit Qi was much more abundant in the lifeless tundra than in the city. The concentration of Spirit Qi on the tundra had reached almost half of the average Qi concentration on other planets. Most of the Spirit Qi here was of ice and water elements which would be good for the spells of the same element but would greatly hinder that of fire and wood element.
“It makes sense now why the Fruit of Embryonic Essence would appear here.” Chen Fan thought to himself with his eyes closed.
The Fruit of Embryonic Essence was a superior-grade Spirit Fruit. Chen Fan was quite astonished to find out that it still existed on earth. Once he consumed the Fruit of Embryonic Essence, he would be lifted to the late-stage of Ethereal Enlightenment right away.
Such was the miraculous effect of the Superior-grade Spirit Fruit.
“Senior Master Chen Fan, we have been on the road for more than ten days and had ventured eight hundred kilometers north of where we started. The valley must be near.” Yang Qinhu proud of the map unfurled it and said.
“The only place for resting was a small hamlet a hundred kilometer away from us. That’s where Wang Baoguo got their supplies. Shall we stop by there to restock our supply and stretch our legs?”
“Oh? There is a hamlet?”
The revelation had caught Chen Fan’s attention.
He was able to spot a few villages on the first few days of his journey and by now, he hadn’t seen even the slightest human activity for four days. So Chen Fan was taken aback after he heard that there was a settlement this far into the tundra.
“It had been there even when my grandpa was still a babe. They named the settlement ‘Snow wolf’” The guide named “Old Man Logan” said in Russian.
“They say that people in that village can commune with the wolf spirit and control wolf packs. The elders told us to stay away from there, saying it’s a village filled with demons.”
“Snow wolf?”
Chen Fan nodded as he murmured to himself.
Most ancient settlements in the middle of nowhere had some mojo attached to the place, the village of snow wolf must be no exception. Otherwise, no one could have survived in such a harsh environment.
“Let’s head straight to the valley, we have no time to waste.” Chen Fan decided.
Yang Qinhu nodded.
After Chen Fan was gone, Paul registered that something significant was happening. Why were there so many visitors to the city of Yakutsk of late? Worse, almost all of them reeked with the smell of the Dark World.
“Whatever, it’s none of my business. I’ll hit the bar and relax a bit.” Paul shook his head and sauntered toward the best bar in the town. As soon as he entered the bar, the bartender poured him a cup of his favorite drink: rum and vodka.
Paul upped the cup and drank all of it, even as he was about to order another one, someone else sat down beside him and patted him on the shoulder.
“Dear Paul, it’s been a while.”
“Who is that?” Paul about-turned and saw a middle-aged redhead with a shrewd look on his face.
Paul’s face lit up with surprise. “Firefox! What are you swindler doing here?”
Ryan Park, also known as Firefox was a renowned pedaller of secrets in the underground world. Paul knew the sight of him meant trouble, big trouble. As dictated by the nature of his word, Firefox tends to appear amidst a conflict, touting whatever secrets he knew to both parties.
Lo and behold, Firefox shrugged and said: “Old buddy, I think you are going to get busy. Many people wanted intel on the Icewolf Valley. They offered enough money for you to buy a small island. They are all serious customers with serious businesses.”
“Humph! Yakutsk is my turf, even if the captain of the Crimson Wings comes to knock on my door, I still wouldn’t give a damn.” Paul poured the contents of the second cup down his throat and said proudly.
Crimson Wings was a mercenary group in western Europe and the second most powerful in the world. It’s captain Karl was number thirteen on the Dark Roll.
Firefox gave him a dim smile and kept his silence.
Then, Paul watched in uttermost disbelief as a tall slender British man in a black snow speckled peacoat walked into the bar. The man’s red eyes were two burning coals in the dark night.
“Karl of the Crimson Wings?”
Paul jumped out of his stool, two cups of vodka had made him feel thirsty.
His astonishment didn’t stop there as more people filed into the bar. Paul didn’t know all of them, but he had recognized a few leaders of powerful organizations in the Dark World. Each one of them were a formidable force to be reckoned with.
“Glansit from the God Balde?”
“Lady Catelyn from the Blizzard Witch?”
“The Hong Sect’s Underboss Hu Zongxiu?”
“Lahar the Demon Elephant from the mercenary band Diablo?”
“Dark Titan?”
The intimidating sight of these strangers scared the local pub-goers. They paid up their tab and left the bar, leaving Paul alone with these powerful men and women of the Dark World.
“Holy moi boch! these men and women represented at least eight organizations and five of them are on the Dark Roll.”
Paul was stunned.
The Dark Roll has twenty spots, so excluding the top three and Chen Fan, nearly half of the Dark Roll had assembled here.
“What is going on? Why did so many Overlords suddenly come to this forgotten place on earth.”
Paul was shaken to the core. There were over twenty Grandmasters in this room right at this very moment. All the Grandmasters in China might only add up to that number.
Nearly half of the Super Overlords in Europe were here.
What surprised Paul the most was the expectant look on these Overlords faces. It was as if they were waiting for someone even more powerful to arrive.
“The only ones who could make these mighty figure wait so patiently were—”
Paul felt his heart skipped a beat as he saw something incredible.
An old man pushed open the door and walked into the bar. His hair was messy and unkempt and his eyes were dull and lifeless. He could be mistaken for any drunken old man in the Russian streets if not for the flashes of sparks that can be seen from time to time above his head.
Paul nearly fainted when he recognized him.
“Zeus the Thunder Lord!”
He used to be number three on the Dark Roll and currently was sitting at the fourth spot. He was one of the very few who had escaped a US military’s raid. He was considered the most destructive man on this planet.
Little did Paul know that there was more shocking development behind that door.
A man appeared behind the old man. He was wearing a funny black top hat and an over the top monocle. His movement and style of clothing had such a theatrical and performative quality to it that it made him look like a stage magician. Paul shouted incredulously under his breath: “The Fool!”
He ranked second on the Dark Roll and was a Grand Magus of the Magus Poison Sect. He was well versed in all types of curse sorceries or arts of the Onmyoji. Therefore he was considered the most powerful Spellcaster alive.
Paul had thought that the Fool was the last one, but there was another. When the brawny War Bear recognized the last visitor, he nearly collapsed out of fear.
It was a young jovial man with blond hair. However, Paul knew the terrifying power hidden underneath that cordial facade.
“Adam!”
He was the former number one on the Dark Roll.