Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

Everything was ready. After boarding the specially reinforced carriage, the team of herbalists and Yang Yu’s squad spent a day traveling to the Ghostly Cold Forest.

Near the silver crystal grass lurked some black-and-white leopard-like demons, with a level around seventy. Their average attributes seldom exceeded a thousand, but their speed and attack were extremely high, making them fast and fragile.

Such demons would be a bit challenging for S-Class or A-Class adventurers, but for Yang Yu and his team, they were merely easy targets.

Yang Yu went ahead to pull monsters, keeping them within a certain range, while Bai Jin used magic to reap them, and the others were responsible for finishing off.

In no time, Yang Yu and his squad created a safe harvesting area for the herbalists, exterminating any demon daring to approach.

The harvesting of silver crystal grass lasted two and a half days. After confirming all the silver crystal grass had been picked, the herbalist’s shop owner granted Yang Yu and his team their deserved rewards.

Stowing away the silver crystal grass, Yang Yu didn’t linger, quickly leading his companions aboard the Lotcar straight for the Bitter Cold Land at the northernmost part of the Luo Ze Empire.

On the way, seeing Bin Luo’s status had improved considerably, Yang Yu actively inquired about some intelligence on the Luo Ze Empire.

Of course, it was all about the war.

Adventurers engaged in various jobs, and even if unwilling, some intel inevitably reached their ears.

Yang Yu didn’t ask for much, just some information would suffice.

Upon arriving at the Luo Ze Empire, what concerned Yang Yu most were the ruins and synthetic beasts.

To cope with this war, the Luo Ze Empire imported Steel Dragon Wolf synthetic beasts from Silver Orchid Commerce, yet from the beastman soldiers fighting alongside, Yang Yu hadn’t heard of any Steel Dragon Wolf being active on the battlefield.

Yang Yu knew that Silver Orchid Commerce only produced Steel Dragon Wolf as synthetic beasts.

Considering the information on that Golden Ape’s panel as well as the letter it carried, it wasn’t hard to guess that Silver Orchid Commerce obtained synthetic beast technology from the Luo Ze Empire.

Yang Yu hadn’t been very hopeful, but an unexpected result occurred.

Although Bin Luo didn’t know where the synthetic beast research center was located, he knew some forbidden areas in the Luo Ze Empire.

The Luo Ze Empire claimed those places were haunted by dangerous demons and banned entry, but anyone with discernment could tell Luo Ze was deceiving.

Such ”non-secret secrets” were common in the Luo Ze Empire.

However, even knowing the location, one couldn’t rashly infiltrate.

Entering without high-level permission would lead to criminal charges by the Luo Ze Empire and being sent to a military tribunal.

Bin Luo advised Yang Yu not to be overly curious while also marking some special locations he knew on the map.

The pace of Lotcar was swift; within a day, they arrived at the Bitter Cold Land.

Looking out, the land was an expanse of white, with nothing visible but snow and ice.

The ice and snow formed the mountains and land, but they couldn’t form life—everything was lifeless.

The desolate cold wind swept over the mountains, bringing an eerie howl.

This extreme cold region at the northern end of the Luo Ze Empire, unlike the Sailuomen Plain, was still effective for flame magic.

If a flame is ignited, unless encountering a fierce blizzard, the cold can be dispelled.

”It’s already late winter; blizzards aren’t common.”

As soon as Bin Luo uttered this, the heavens seemed to hear him, and a fierce blizzard began.

Yang Yu and his crew could only cling to Lotcar and press on through the blizzard. He Meng even considered reverting to Slime form and hiding in Lotcar’s mane.

After half a day of trekking, when the blizzard ceased, a Cold Ice Palace finally appeared before Yang Yu and his team.

It was said that a mage grew tired of worldly life and came to this extreme cold region, establishing this palace that faced the south from any direction.

Within this Cold Ice Palace, there were many magic dolls made of ice defending and protecting it.

Even if the mage met an unfortunate death, those dolls continued to move, performing their duties.

If the mysterious creature hiding within destroyed those dolls, it would indicate its immense strength; but if the creature chose to control rather than destroy them, Yang Yu’s team would face not just one mysterious entity, but a large group of ice dolls.

The Cold Ice Palace was tremendously large, even greater than double the size of the Wansheng Country’s Imperial Palace.

Pushing open the over six-meter-high ice doors, Yang Yu and his team entered, and the transparent ice emitted a distinct pure white, illuminating the entire palace.

The lengthy corridor led somewhere unknown, disappearing into the distance.

Bai Jin placed his hand on the ice bricks that formed the palace and discovered they were made of highly condensed magic power. To destroy this palace would require an immense amount of time and energy.

With a rough glance, Yang Yu withdrew from the Cold Ice Palace and asked Bai Jin:

”If super large magic is used here, could we directly demolish this palace?”

Bai Jin shook his head, ”The bricks composing the Cold Ice Palace form a special magic barrier.

I once read in a book that if a house is entirely made of magic power, it is very easy to set up such a barrier.

This barrier evenly distributes any attacks endured by each surface throughout the palace, thus making the entire structure indestructible.

If some key magic ice cubes could be found, it might destabilize the barrier’s foundation...

Producing this quantity of magic ice cubes would take at least a decade—even with exceptional talent.

There must be a significant number of magic ice cubes to deal with, not something that can be demolished easily.

Because all the ice here consists of magic ice cubes, my detection magic becomes diluted, unable to further probe deeper.

This palace is thoughtfully designed.”

Upon hearing Bai Jin’s report, Yang Yu turned his gaze to He Meng: ”Xiao Meng, could I assign the investigation to you? Your magic is quite special, with excellent detection capabilities, and should perform this task perfectly.”

”Remember you owe me a reward afterward.”

He Meng lazily stretched and leaped down from Lotcar’s back, a water ball appearing in her hand, seemingly her Slime form.

The semi-liquid constituting He Meng, once separated from her body, retains some sensory ability. Using this characteristic, He Meng can easily manipulate her attack, expanding perception, not to mention simple tasks like investigation.

But this capability has a downside...

With resolve, He Meng tossed the water ball in her hand into the doorway. The blue water ball rolled down the long icy corridor into the palace’s interior.

He Meng closed her eyes and connected her consciousness with the ”water ball.”

Suddenly, giant claws descended from above and crushed the blue water ball He Meng had thrown, rendering it completely mangled.