The Most Powerful Bodyguard

Yang Yan's memory goes without saying.

Even when walking across this vast ice field, where the surrounding landscape seems all too similar, he quickly locked onto the stronghold from the last time that had not been destroyed.

That place, Yang Yan remembers vividly.

He recalled that last time it was Gabriel who, through the mysterious Twilight Clan, coerced him, allowing that stronghold to be preserved.

"This is the place."

In just two hours, the group of five finally stopped at a spot on the ice field.

Ao Tian closed his eyes in silence for a moment, evidently using his Divine Thought to sense something.

Afterward, he opened his eyes, shook his head at Yang Yan, and said:

"There's no one left, but beneath us, there's a very secretive aura. I've detected its exact location."

Ao Tian's ability was evidently unaffected here.

If anything, to some extent, it surpassed Yang Yan's.

"These foxes are quick to escape."

This situation did not surprise Yang Yan.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly. Squinting, he said:

"Gabriel said this was their largest stronghold. If they didn't retreat and waited for us, I really would have been surprised."

"I'm just here to try my luck. Even if we can't find them, we've still got this."

With a flip of his hand, a blood-red orb the size of an egg appeared in his hand.

At this moment, the object emitted a scarlet glow, exuding an eerie vibe.

"What's going on with this? It's not about to explode, is it?"

Ao Tian murmured doubtfully.

With his eye for detail, he couldn't discern what this thing was when he first saw it.

But now, its changes were giving him an inexplicable sense of dread.

Yang Yan didn't mind and tossed the orb directly to him.

After examining it for some time, Ao Tian still couldn't make sense of it.

He could only feel a subtle wave of power inside, possessing an indescribable affinity, but other than that, he knew nothing.

"Did you figure anything out?"

Ao Tian gingerly placed the blood ball back in Yang Yan's hand and asked suspiciously.

Yang Yan gently shook his head:

"Since it's something they invested heavily in rituals to obtain, it must have an important use."

"I haven't figured out what this thing is for yet, but..."

At this point, Yang Yan paused, then changed the subject:

"There's more than just one or two of these things; I can sense other similar items exist."

After hearing Yang Yan's words, Ao Tian nodded immediately:

"If that's the case, let's see what else is below. Hopefully, it won't disappoint me!"

With those words, Yang Yan and the three swordsmen instinctively distanced themselves from him.

Boom!

The next moment, a powerful and intense aura emanated from Ao Tian.

Bam!

With a muffled sound, Ao Tian lightly tapped the ice layer with his right foot and suddenly leapt tens of meters high.

Crack——

With the sound of cracking ice, the ground where he stood moments ago spread out like a spider web with countless cracks.

But that was just the start.

In an instant, Ao Tian transformed into a beam of white light, a fierce white tiger manifesting on his fist.

Roar!

A tiger's roar echoed across the sky.

The surrounding space seemed unable to withstand this domineering force, creaking and trembling violently.

The next second, he shot towards the ground like a cannonball, with an unparalleled ferocity, smashing into ancient, steadfast ice.

Boom!

The ground shook violently as the hardened ice, under Ao Tian's ferocious strike, burst into countless ice shards, swirling throughout the air with the cyclone.

If one lacked strength, merely being caught in it would be enough for these ice fragments to shred them to pieces.

This trip to the Arctic was all about destruction for Yang Yan.

For them, causing a commotion was no issue.

If anything, it was advantageous for their actions.

Sometimes, startling the snake doesn't always have to be a bad thing.

The colossal underground palace hidden beneath the glacier immediately collapsed, and the surface ice instantly turned into countless ice fragments.

Countless shards refracted pristine, transparent light under the sunlight, giving off a semblance of beauty.

Yet Ao Tian didn't stop.

He charged directly downward, where the collapsing underground palace lay, with innumerable ice blocks madly crashing down.

Whoosh——

Soon, Ao Tian reappeared on the surface, dragging someone in his right hand.

Exhaling deeply, he tossed the person on the ground casually and exaggeratedly said:

"Lucky I'm fast, else I'd have been crushed to death."

Yang Yan remained silent, focusing his gaze on the person in front of Ao Tian.

The person rescued by Ao Tian was in a terrible state, with dried blood clots all over.

The terrifying scars, now healed, nearly covered this person's entire body.

Even without the tattered clothes, Yang Yan recognized his identity from his aged face.

"An elder from the Twilight Clan?"

Yang Yan asked in a deep voice.

The old man seemed to have but a breath left.

He weakly opened his eyes, recognizing Yang Yan, a man he'd seen once before, and began laughing hoarsely.

From what he recalled, this man not only possessed immense strength but was also an enemy of the Twilight Clan's enemies.

An enemy's enemy is a friend!

No wonder the old man seemed so agitated.

Ao Tian, not understanding the man's thoughts, looked at him as if he were mad, sneered, and said:

"This poor guy must've gone crazy! Even if he's an elder, or even the Clan Leader of the Twilight Clan, it wouldn't matter."

"Those people were really too ruthless, to have tortured this unfortunate guy like this."

What Ao Tian didn't expect was that his words seemed to have angered the old man on the ground.

He abruptly stopped laughing, glared fiercely at Ao Tian, then turned to Yang Yan and said in a hoarse voice:

"I'm not mad! I'm not mad! Yes! Sir, I'm one of the nine elders of the Twilight Clan! And I'm not dead!"

"Don't get worked up!"

Yang Yan squinted his eyes, clenched the man's wrist with one hand, and tapped his skull with the other.

Immediately, a gentle light enveloped him.

Under the glow, the elder of the Twilight Clan finally calmed down, soaking in the light, with his expression becoming more serene and peaceful, eventually closing his eyes slowly.

With this done, Yang Yan pulled back his hand, quietly waiting for the elder to absorb this energy and heal.

The effect was very fast.

The old man recalibrated his breath and soon reopened his eyes.

He didn't roar at Ao Tian again nor looked at Yang Yan, merely gazing silently at the ground.

On the ground, the smooth ice reflected his entire face.