They headed towards the Ice and Snow Sacred Land.
Riding their mounts, they were quite fast, and there were no monsters along the way.
Outside was a massive stone with the words "Ice and Snow Sacred Land" carved on it. This was likely a mysterious place of the Ice and Snow Tribe.
They walked in and saw a gate, a very mysterious gate.
"How do we open it?"
Zhou Yan stepped forward, intending to open the gate, but he heard a voice.
[Do you accept the trial of the Ice and Snow Sacred Land?]
"A trial?"
Zhou Yan was very curious. What rewards would there be after passing this trial?
Then, he heard a voice from the Ice and Snow Sacred Land.
[Upon passing the trial, you may choose one reward from the Ice and Snow Sacred Land.]
[The Ice and Snow Sacred Land can be opened once every ten years, with ten slots available each time.]
[Each person has only one opportunity in a lifetime. If the trial fails, you will be forcibly teleported out.]
The Ice and Snow Tribe had vanished long ago, and this Ice and Snow Sacred Land had naturally not been opened for a very long time.
This meant that this time, ten people could undergo the trial together.
Although he didn't know what the rewards were, he decided to enter and try his luck.
He examined the place and found that it was not a building, so it couldn't be taken away.
"Ten people can enter."
Zhou Yan turned around and looked at Diao Chan and the others.
There were only four of them: Diao Chan, Zhen Mi, Sun Shangxiang, and himself.
It would be too troublesome to call people from elsewhere. They could just select from the remaining people.
"Si Hu, Si Long, Si Wu, you three, select three more people to accompany me and see what trials await us inside."
Zhou Yan commanded.
"Yes!"
They selected three people, and then the ten of them began the trial of the Ice and Snow Sacred Land, being teleported inside.
[Ice and Snow Trial - First Layer: Defeat the opponent before you.]
After being teleported in, Zhou Yan found himself alone.
He was in a plaza. As a voice fell, a man holding an ice staff appeared before him.
The opponent began to attack, launching a hail of ice arrows towards him.
He sensed the attack and judged it to be around the Tenth Heaven realm, not particularly strong.
He activated "Dou Zhuan Xing Yi," twisting the trajectory of the ice arrows and sending them back to the opponent.
The vast hail of ice arrows curved around and flew back towards the opponent, engulfing and killing them.
Three items appeared before him.
The first was a bronze-grade staff, the second was a bronze-grade mage robe, and the third was a pair of bronze-grade boots.
"The first layer should all be bronze-quality items." He chose the boots and was once again teleported to a new location.
[Ice and Snow Trial - Second Layer: Kill the Ice and Snow Beast before you.]
This was an enclosed area, about a thousand square meters in size.
As the voice spoke, a beast exuding an aura of ice walked towards him.
This beast was a level 20 Silver boss. After sizing him up for a moment, it opened its mouth and unleashed an ice storm.
Zhou Yan raised his palm, channeling his spiritual energy, and with a forceful grab, he seized a bolt of lightning as if holding it in his hand, then swung it with all his might.
"Crack!"
A lightning bolt appeared in his hand, and then a lightning strike erupted, shattering the ice storm from the monster's mouth and striking it fiercely.
The monster immediately dissolved into fragments and disappeared.
As the beast vanished, three treasures appeared before Zhou Yan for him to choose from.
None of these items were of particular interest to him. He casually picked one and was teleported to the third layer.
[Ice and Snow Trial - Third Layer: Find a way to leave this maze.]
"Oh, it's a maze. This trial isn't just about strength, is it?"
Zhou Yan was somewhat surprised, having expected all the trials to test his strength.
He looked at his surroundings, finding himself at a crossroads.
There were six paths before him. He didn't know which one was the correct path, so he left a mark and chose one to proceed.
The corridor was not wide, only about five meters, with a height of ten meters. The walls on both sides were formed of ice.
After walking a hundred meters, two more crossroads appeared. He left a mark and proceeded to the left. After another hundred meters, another crossroads appeared.
"This maze won't have a crossroads every hundred meters, will it?"
He began to speculate. Proceeding further, halfway along this time, a monster emerged from the ice wall, opening its sharp teeth and lunging at him.
He clenched his fist and leaped forward, his fist violently striking the monster's head.
"Bang!"
The terrifying power directly shattered the monster. This monster's strength was approximately that of a level thirty Bronze boss.
For others, such a monster would likely not be a problem, and passing this stage wouldn't be difficult, just time-consuming.
As expected, after another hundred meters, there was another crossroads. He left marks at each crossroads; if this path led nowhere, he would have to choose another direction.
Along the way, ice and snow monsters would frequently ambush him, sometimes from behind, sometimes from the front, sometimes from above, and sometimes from below.
But he killed them all one by one.
Half an hour later, he reached a dead end and had to turn back to find another path.
He recorded the patterns of the routes and took out paper and pen to draw, hoping to find a pattern.
After a long while, he reached another dead end and had to turn back again.
Two hours later, he finally discovered the pattern within the maze.
In every maze, there was a crossroads every hundred meters. Many crossroads were interconnected, but only one was the correct route.
With the pattern mastered, he began to try. This time, he indeed found the correct path, and this path had no monsters. It wasn't until he reached the end and saw three treasures floating in the air that he knew he had passed.
The reward this time was three B-grade skills, all ice-elemental spells. He chose a crowd-control type skill and was once again teleported to the fourth layer.
He stood on a high platform. The platform was not large, only about ten meters in diameter, and there were stairs all around it.
[Ice and Snow Trial - Fourth Layer: Endure monster attacks for ten minutes.]
As the voice finished, he heard roars coming from all directions, everywhere.
The monsters appeared, another group of ice-themed creatures.
He checked the strength of these monsters; they were all level 30, not particularly strong, so enduring for ten minutes was not a problem.