Rumbling filled the air. The Demonic Qi had blocked the incoming beam, but the power of the attack was still there, spreading out into the area. Meng Hao wrapped his arm around Hanxue Shan’s waist, then shot away toward the city wall to avoid the attack.
Hanxue Shan looked up at the star-shaped objects collapsing, the Western Desert Cultivators who were appearing on various sections of the city wall, and the glow of magical techniques that filled the sky. Her voice bitter, she said, “You should leave. They want to kill the Frigid Snow Clan, not you. With your Cultivation base, it would be easy for you to get out of here right now.”
Off in the distance, the old woman, Third Elder, coughed up a mouthful of blood, then gritted her teeth and continued to fight.
“It’s useless,” said Hanxue Shan, despair filling her eyes. “Even if I went all out and used the Frigid Snow Thorn Rampart, the Patriarch is withering away and barely conscious. There’s no way to use the secret Dragoneer technique to catalyze the thorns….” A rumbling sound filled the air as an entire section of the city wall collapsed, and a fierce-looking Western Desert Cultivator shot into the city.
“What Thorn Rampart?” asked Meng Hao, frowning.
“The Frigid Snow Thorn Rampart is indestructible, and could protect the city for an entire month,” she said softly, her voice filled with bitterness. “It’s a sacred relic that the Frigid Snow Clan brought with us many years ago when we moved here from the Western Desert. After all the years, it’s mostly withered. Only a special secret technique can be used to revive it.
“That technique is only known to Elders and certain others with the right bloodline to master it. Right now, no one can catalyze the thorns. Only the Patriarch has a Cultivation base sufficient enough to do so.” She slapped her bag of holding to produce a dried up seed.
“This is one of eight seeds. The Elders all have one, and the rest are with the Patriarch. None of us were ever able to succeed.”
“Catalyze?” said Meng Hao, his eyes glittering. He was about to continue when suddenly a boom filled the air, and the city wall shook. Meng Hao’s face flickered. He grabbed Hanxue Shan, retreating again. Off in the distance, a huge group of Black Lands Cultivators was approaching.
As the city wall crumbled, miserable screams filled the air. Meng Hao continued to retreat with Hanxue Shan in tow. His voice urgent, he said, “Tell me that catalysis technique. I’m an alchemist, and I already have my own catalysis techniques; perhaps because of that, I will be able to understand yours.”
Hanxue Shan gaped at him for a moment. Under normal circumstances, she would never reveal a secret Clan technique. Even Soul Search would be useless; the technique was a legacy magic that was branded into her very blood. However, after thinking for the space of a few breaths, she made her decision. When the Frigid Snow Clan had existed in the Western Desert, at the height of their power, this was the secret technique used by generations of their Grand Dragoneers! Her voice soft, she began to explain it to Meng Hao.
The secret technique was not very long, only about a thousand characters in length. As the words entered Meng Hao’s ears, his heart began to shake. It was as if all of the sights and sounds of the battle around him vanished. The only thing left were the thousand characters that made up the secret technique!
“….cause Time to sink, the ebb and flow of the moon, grasp the will of the shining sun, all living things contain the will of eternal life….” Hanxue Shan softly spoke the words that could cause a frenzied commotion if they were revealed in the Western Desert. In fact, when the rebel clan member Hanxue Zong was spared by his father, all memories of this secret technique were erased from his mind. That was one of his reasons for coming back to settle his old score and eradicate the Frigid Snow Clan. There was no way for him to reacquire the technique other than to have a Clan member personally tell him!