Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 184 Frozen Desperation and Thunderous Counterattack

The cable car leading to the "Devil's Back" advanced ski run took Lin Yan to a position near the summit. Upon exiting the station, a biting wind swept over him like knives, and the temperature plummeted. The scene before him was completely different from the intermediate and lower-level ski runs.

The so-called "snow runs" are more like narrow paths forcibly carved out of ridges and cliff edges, with an average slope exceeding 40 degrees, and some sections even reaching an astonishing 50 degrees. The snow surface is no longer smooth and compacted, but covered with hard snow crusts formed by wind erosion, abrupt patches of ice, and snow cornices that may have been covered by snowfall in the previous days but have hollow bottoms. One side of the snow run is a near-vertical rock wall, and the other side is a bottomless cliff shrouded in mist. The terrain here is extremely complex, filled with mushroom-shaped snowdrifts, cliff drops, and narrow forest passages, putting skiers' skills, courage, and split-second judgment to the extreme. A chilling silence pervades the air, with only the howling wind.

Lin Yan took a deep breath, the icy air filling his lungs. Far from being afraid, a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes. Having cultivated the Great Zhou Heavenly Star Body Refining Technique to the Copper Skin Realm, his physical strength of 100,000 jin granted him unparalleled confidence. He stood steadily at the starting point of the ski slope, his divine sense like an invisible radar, already locking onto the five figures that were stealthily following behind him.

"As expected, they followed." Lin Yan sneered inwardly. "Since you're courting death, don't blame me."

Without the slightest hesitation, he lightly tapped his snow staff and shot into this perilous white wasteland like an arrow released from a bow.

At first, the five men tried to conceal their intentions, following him at a distance. But soon, seeing Lin Yan glide steadily and quickly through such treacherous terrain, his patience wore thin as they watched him narrowly avoid obstacles, despite the limitations imposed by the terrain.

On a relatively wide snow slope, the five suddenly accelerated and, relying on their familiarity with the terrain and their good skiing skills, began to surround and intercept Lin Yan.

Sometimes they would pair up and weave in from the left and right sides at high speed, trying to squeeze Lin Yan's skiing space and force him to crash into the rock wall or lose his balance; other times one person would suddenly stop the ski in front, kicking up a lot of snow mist to obscure the view, while the person behind would take the opportunity to flank from the side, and the ski poles would even be deliberately extended in front of Lin Yan's ski path!

"Kid, this isn't a place for you!"

"Go back to your Asia!"

The malicious shouts were accompanied by dangerous maneuvers. This went beyond a mere squabble; it was clearly an attempt to kill him!

Lin Yan's eyes were icy cold. With his powerful divine sense, he could always predict their movements and routes a fraction of a second in advance. What seemed like a perilous ambush to others was like a slow-motion replay to him.

He wasn't in a hurry to escape immediately, but instead weaved through the net woven by the five people as if toying with prey. His copper-skinned body made him impervious to minor collisions, and his powerful leg strength allowed him to forcefully carve and stabilize himself on the near-vertical ice. Once, facing a deliberate obstruction from the person in front and a pincer attack from the side, Lin Yan suddenly leaped and turned at high speed, twisting his body in mid-air, his snowboards grazing the rock wall as he narrowly avoided being surrounded, leaving the three behind him who almost collided due to their inability to stop in time.

"Damn it! This kid is as slippery as an eel!" The men were both shocked and furious, and their attacks became even more ruthless.

Lin Yan's patience was gradually running out. On a narrow section of the mountain ridge with cliffs on both sides, he clearly "saw" through his divine sense that the eyes of two people were meeting, a hint of murderous intent flashing between them. They were preparing to exert force at the next bend, forcing him towards the seemingly snow-covered but actually hollow snow eaves on the right!

"You're courting death!" Lin Yan's killing intent was already made up.

He no longer held back, his speed suddenly increasing, rushing towards a steep ice slope like a blue phantom. Seeing this, the five people thought he had panicked and hurriedly gave chase.

Just as the tall young man in the lead was about to catch up with Lin Yan, a sinister smile appeared on his face, and he was about to reach out and push Lin Yan from behind—

Without turning his head, Lin Yan casually brushed his left hand, which was holding a ski pole, across the ice to his left!

An extremely condensed stream of ice-attribute true essence, like an invisible thread, silently disappeared into the smooth ice surface he had just glided across.

In an instant, the temperature of the already hard ice surface plummeted to an unbelievable level, and a layer of extremely dark ice, invisible to the naked eye but with almost zero friction, condensed on the surface!

"Whoosh—!"

The tall young man skiing at high speed lost all his reliable grip the moment his ski blades touched the ice!

"What?!" He only had time to let out a terrified scream before his snowboard went completely out of control, as if he were stepping on absolutely smooth glass. He was instantly thrown off course, heading straight for the snow ledge where the deadly trap was hidden!

"Crack—Boom!"

The snow-covered eaves could not withstand the impact and collapsed instantly. The tall young man, along with the plank, fell into the bottomless abyss of clouds amidst desperate cries and swirling snowflakes, his echo reverberating through the valley.

This sudden turn of events terrified the four people following behind!

But they were too fast and too close, so there was no time to react!

"Swoosh—!"

"ah!!"

The second and third people's skis followed closely behind, grinding against the deadly ice surface. They also lost control instantly, as if they were being violently thrown by an invisible hand. One person crashed heavily into the rock wall on the side, making a tooth-grinding sound of bones cracking; the other rolled and fell down a steep slope on the left, his body slamming wildly against the rocks and hard snow.

Lin Yan locked onto the last two people with his divine sense, and repeated the same method as they passed through the next narrow forest passage. He released a small amount of true essence, and a patch of snow covered in shadow at the entrance of the passage instantly turned into solid ice.

The fourth person tried to brake but it was too late. His skis slipped, and he flew sideways, crashing into a thick pine tree with a dull thud. His spine twisted unnaturally.

The last person, slightly behind, witnessed the horrific scene of his companion ahead in terror. He desperately tried to slow down by shoving his ski poles into the ground, his skis swung wildly along the edge of the ice. In the end, he narrowly missed the edge and managed to glide past, avoiding the deadly ice area. But he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, his face as white as snow, watching Lin Yan's figure disappear at the end of the forest path as if he were watching a demon returned from hell.

In just a few dozen seconds, of the five people who intended to kill Lin Yan, one died (falling off a cliff), three were seriously injured (shattered bones, life or death unknown), and the only survivor was completely terrified.

Lin Yan didn't even glance back at the "accidental" tragedy he had orchestrated. To him, it was nothing more than swatting away a few buzzing, biting flies. Since the other party had murderous intent, they should be prepared to be killed in return. His ruthlessness was always reserved for those who deserved it.

The wind on the advanced ski slopes remained biting, as if nothing had happened. Lin Yan adjusted his breathing, his gaze fixed on the deeper parts of the slope, where even more extreme challenges awaited him. As for the trouble behind him? That wasn't much of a problem; after all, the slopes being icy was just an accident, wasn't it?

Having dealt with the "flies" behind him, Lin Yan's mind was completely immersed in his dialogue with this "Devil's Backbone" advanced ski slope. The wind whistled in his ears, like the heavy breathing of the mountains. His divine sense spread out in all directions, like the most sophisticated detection network, clearly transmitting every detail within dozens of meters ahead—the subtle changes in snow quality, the rocks hidden under the powder snow, the thickness and direction of the ice layer—into his mind.

The following sections became increasingly treacherous. He encountered near-vertical "fall lines," requiring pendulum-like precision in body control, utilizing extremely short lateral descents and instantaneous jumps and turns to cope. His robust physique, enhanced by his copper skin, made him fearless against high-speed impacts and occasional friction with the snow and ice. He then came to a shadowy icefall area, where the snowboard blades screeched against the ice, but with immense strength, his legs firmly pressed down on the snowboards, forcing him to carve a breathtaking arc across the ice where an ordinary person could not even stand.

He even deliberately slid into an uncultivated area of ​​deep powder snow, where his skis were instantly submerged, greatly increasing the resistance. An ordinary person would struggle to move here, but Lin Yan let out a low shout, his leg muscles bulged, his blood circulated throughout his body, and a surge of power erupted, carving a deep trail through the waist-deep powder snow. Snow waves rose behind him like a white waterfall, creating a spectacular scene.

In this process, his understanding of skiing also improved rapidly. From initially relying mainly on physical strength to overcome the terrain, he later began to use the shifting of his center of gravity and the undulations of the terrain to accelerate or decelerate with greater finesse, combining strength and control with increasing skill. His skiing style gradually shifted from brute force to a graceful, precise, and efficient aesthetic. This was not just skiing, but also an ultimate refinement of his own power.

When he finally reached the end of the ski slope and came to a steady stop on a relatively flat snowfield, the setting sun was painting the distant, continuous snow-capped peaks in a magnificent golden-red hue. He was slightly out of breath, sweat beading on his forehead, but his eyes were bright, and he felt a surge of exhilarating joy. He had completely conquered this "devil's spine."

When Lin Yan took the last cable car back to the hotel in the night, all the turmoil had subsided on the surface. The hotel was still brightly lit, and the tourists were enjoying the tranquility of the night, completely unaware of the tragedy that had taken place on the mountain.

Li Wenbin, Zheng Jiaming, and others had already finished practicing and were relaxing by the hotel's warm water pool when they saw Lin Yan return and immediately surrounded him.

"Ah Yan! You're finally back! How was the advanced slope? Was it super exciting?" Li Wenbin asked excitedly, his face still bearing the bruises from his fall earlier that day, but his eyes were shining.

Zheng Jiaming also looked at Lin Yan with curiosity.

Lin Yan smiled and said casually, "Yeah, the scenery was nice, but it was quite challenging." He made no mention of the life-or-death chase and the fierce counterattack, as if it were just an insignificant interlude.

Tang Liuqian was more observant and noticed that Lin Yan's breathing was slightly more rapid than usual, and his snowsuit was also covered with some natural snow dust that was different from what the snow groomer had processed. However, he wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

Back in his room, Lin Yan soaked in the steaming bathtub and closed his eyes. His mind replayed every moment on the advanced ski slope, from the exhilaration of conquering treacherous terrain to the ruthlessness of dealing with those "flies," all of which deepened his understanding of power, humanity, and the world.