Yun Ya’s movements were skillful and fluid as he molded his creation, which was a bird the size of a domestic chicken. Its form and expression were remarkably lifelike. Feng Miaojun thought that this man’s painting and sculpting skills must be excellent.

As soon as the eyes were outlined, the bird came alive, turning its head slightly.

Yun Ya tossed it into the air and lightly commanded: “Go!”

The one-legged bird truly began to flap its wings and fly, rising higher and higher. After circling in the sky a few times, it let out a clear cry and plunged into the cloud layer.

What was strange was that it had originally been crimson red, but during flight, it gradually turned white, and its form grew larger. By the time it entered the clouds, it had become pure white with a wingspan exceeding thirty zhang (100 meters). While not exactly like clouds hanging from the sky, it was still a creature that could block out the sun.

“Shangyang!” Feng Miaojun had read many ancient texts and recognized this as the mythical bird Shangyang, which always danced gracefully before storms, and was thus known to have the ability to summon rain. Yun Ya had used elemental power to create and release a Shangyang, and his purpose must be…?

Sure enough, after the Shangyang entered the clouds, the cloud layer suddenly thickened, and strong winds began to blow across the river surface, making it difficult for people to keep their eyes open.

Feng Miaojun felt something coming from the wind, sticking to her face with bone-piercing coldness.

She grabbed one to look at it—a hexagonal snowflake.

It was snowing, and it was a heavy snowfall with goose feather-sized flakes.

Snowflakes danced, and the world became a vast expanse of white.

The surrounding temperature plummeted. If Feng Miaojun’s clothing had been sufficient to keep her warm before, now it was hardly better than paper. A swan flying high in the sky suddenly plummeted and crashed into the ice surface with a “crack,” creating a small crater.

In just these few moments, it had frozen so hard that it became harder than stone.

Yet Feng Miaojun and the others remained unharmed.

When the snowstorm suddenly arose, Yun Ya had casually deployed a barrier that separated everyone from the extremely low temperatures outside. Standing inside, they couldn’t feel even a hint of cold wind.

More amazingly, the sudden weather change was limited to the river surface. The Wei army standing a hundred meters away on the shore was almost unaffected. Otherwise, such extremely low temperatures would have frozen many people to death in an instant.

The loose river ice outside the barrier began to solidify at a visible speed.

Everyone heard “creaking” sounds from beneath their feet—the sound of river ice rapidly freezing.

By now, how could Feng Miaojun not understand? Yun Ya was employing a strategy of cutting off resources at their source. What did it matter if the River God wouldn’t emerge? He simply used magic to reinforce the entire river’s ice layer!

As long as the ice beneath their feet was thick and solid enough, the Wei army could pass through smoothly. If the River God wanted to come out and cause trouble then, it wouldn’t be so easy.

Looking down, she could see several fish and a large crocodile frozen solid three feet below the ice layer!

The crocodile was over a zhang (more than 3 meters) in length, a nightmare for anyone who fell into the water, but now it was rigid in the ice block, unable to move. She didn’t know how thick Yun Ya had made the ice with his elemental power, but creatures that hadn’t escaped from below the water’s surface in time had now become fresh frozen food in a refrigerator.

Among them, there might even be the River God.

Indeed, within a few breaths, cracks suddenly appeared in the smooth ice surface of a hundred zhang in front of Yun Ya. The cracks grew wider and wider, finally breaking with a loud crack to form a large hole. Something emerged from inside, glaring at Yun Ya: “State Preceptor of Wei, you go too far!”

All the aquatic creatures in the river were its subordinates, and now who knows how many had been frozen. Ice formed from elemental power was not like ordinary ice; it might not even melt by spring. If that were true, the river creatures would truly be annihilated!

This creature was ten zhang tall, with its lower half still buried in the ice layer. It had a thin, elongated body, and almost everyone who saw it gasped in shock. Feng Miaojun was greatly startled, while Lu Ming’s eyes widened as he exclaimed involuntarily:

“Jiao!”

This creature had rabbit eyes, ox ears, a snake-like rounded body covered in silver scales, and eagle-like claws, appearing especially fierce. People seeing it for the first time might mistake it for a dragon, but it only had two small bumps on its head, not forked like dragon horns, so Feng Miaojun knew this wasn’t a dragon but a jiao.

It exhaled a breath from its enormous nose, which became a cloud of mist in the outside air.

The saying “swallowing clouds and spitting mist” was just like this. Moreover, only half of this jiao was exposed above the ice; below the ice surface, it must be at least another ten zhang long.

Such a huge creature was two sizes larger than the Spider King that Feng Miaojun had encountered in the Cliff Mountain underground palace. Even the ao-fish of the dragon family would look like a child beside it.

The jiao was a dragon-type creature that lived in freshwater, whether in rivers, lakes, or even streams and ponds, depending on its power and supernatural abilities. It wasn’t surprising that the water god of this great river was a jiao. Indeed, only such a powerful creature could block an entire army’s advance.

Upon seeing this divine creature, Lu Ming immediately led everyone to retreat quickly.

“If you won’t drink the toast, you’ll have to drink the forfeit.” Yun Ya examined it with an unruffled expression. “Surrender now, and bygones will be bygones. I can still appoint you as the Three Rivers Water God. If you dare to stubbornly resist, I’ll let the fifty thousand Wei troops taste what River God meat is like tonight!”

Feng Miaojun thought of the large pots used for cooking in the army, but still couldn’t quite imagine the scene of the iron pot stewing big jiao.

The giant Jiao’s answer was to spit a dragon breath at him. As a water god officially appointed by the royal court, if it didn’t wholeheartedly protect the local area, it would suffer severe backlash from its contract. Otherwise, if it could enjoy incense offerings without working, wouldn’t that be too good to be true?

Yun Ya flashed to a spot ten zhang away.

In front of this giant jiao, his figure was as small as an ant, and it seemed like the creature could flick him away with one snap of its fingers. However, Feng Miaojun had witnessed him fighting the Fire Spirit alone and knew that this man was not as harmless as he appeared on the surface.

Although his words were arrogant, he maintained sufficient caution. The dragon breath missed him and scattered within a five-zhang radius, turning into a light cyan mist. When the mist touched the ice surface, it made hissing sounds and surprisingly corroded a hole almost a zhang deep in the hard river ice.

The toxicity of this dragonbreath was extremely potent!

The poisonous breath remained condensed without dispersing even in such strong wind, rapidly spreading into a vast fog that blurred visibility.

After the giant jiao appeared, everyone had already retreated more than twenty zhang, but the poisonous fog still came aggressively. Lu Ming raised a barrier, keeping the poisonous fog outside.

In his palm, there was a slowly floating virtual image of a golden leaf.

Behind her, several other cultivators exchanged glances and transformed into their original forms before charging out.

The State Preceptor managed the nation’s fortune and was considered the pillar of the state. For cultivators, his importance even far exceeded that of the ruler, so typically he didn’t need to personally lead from the front. In battles and wars, it was up to these cultivators to serve with their labor.

As soon as they went out, they disappeared. Feng Miaojun strained her eyes to see that the world outside the barrier had turned a miserable green, with visibility reduced to nothing, giving an extremely unsettling feeling.

Yet besides the sound of the wind, she could hear nothing else.