As she finally started returning to consciousness, Li Ming could feel her entire body shivering.

The cold had seeped inside her bones making her suffer as she felt like a corpse. She was feeling so cold that at first, she did not even notice the pain coming from her right ankle.

She slowly tried to open her eyes, attempting to focus her sight on the gloomy area around her.

She was lying at the snow-covered bank of what looked like a huge sea. In front of her was a huge ice cave and behind her was a sea filled with chilled water that would probably succeed in killing her if she ended up there.

"Aaahh!"

A painful cry left her quivering lips as she tried to stand up. The pain that shot out from her right ankle finally succeeded in diverting her attention from the cold that was killing her.

As her eyes landed on her right leg, she took in the torn shoes around her ankles through which blood was seeping out.

The snow around her right leg was drenched in her blood. There were several cuts and scratches all over her body and her clothes were also torn from many places.

As she slowly took in her appearance, the memories of all the things, that happened to her after jumping into that pond, returned.

After she jumped into the pond, everything was calm for the first few minutes. The only problem was the cold water of the pond that immediately started making her regret her impulsive decision.

But within after five minutes of her swimming underwater in search of any hidden clue, the first vine covered with weird-looking white flowers, came in front of her sight.

Before she could even grasp what was happening, the attacks started.

One after other several vines covered in that similar white flowers surrounded her, each one suddenly shooting tiny needle-like things in her direction.

Without her powers, it was already hard for her to swim in that cold chilling water and those attacks just increased her problems.

Though she tried her best to dodge as many needles as she could but a few eventually succeeded in scratching her skin, at least, not a single one ended up piercing through her skin.

She had no idea what those needle-like things were. However, they sure were not something harmless.

Even though she somehow succeeded in getting away from those vines but soon there were huge pieces of rock aiming towards her with huge force.

By the time she saw the light coming from above the surface, she was already injured very badly.

Somehow, she succeeded in getting both herself and Snowy out of those dreadful attacks and reached the bank.

She was too tired, injured, and cold that the moment she had land under her feet, her consciousness left her, bringing her into the world of darkness.

"Snowy..." Li Ming softly whispered as she realized that the little furball was nowhere in her sight.

When no one replied to her soft call, her heart started getting heavy as her eyes looked around her surroundings to find her little familiar.

"Snowyyyy!"

Li Ming shouted at the top of her lungs in hope that her familiar would hear her call. However, her current state was too weak and her shout ended up in barely a meek call.

Her hands flew to her throat as she cursed her luck. It was futile to keep calling for Snowy. She would need to look for him to find him as soon as possible.

She tried to stand up but immediately landed on the cold ground with a painful scream as pain erupted in her ankle.

Her breath was coming out in short gasps as she tried to get her body under her control.

She tried to call her healing powers but even though her powers were still present there but it was not responding to her calls.

At the same time, she could also feel the bond that she shared with Snowy. It was there, giving her warmth and spreading calm over her.

Although, she could not activate her link with him to know his current location or to talk to him through their mind link, but knowing that he was safe gave her strength.

It took her quite some time to settle in the lotus position.

Although, she could not use her spiritual or magical powers for the time being, but she could cultivate to regain at least a little bit of her energy.

The spiritual qi that was present around the area was not the most powerful one. However, it was far much better than the ones present in the Han or Wang Empire.

She closed her eyes and focused her attention on the spiritual qi that was surrounding her. She let her body and mind relax while trying her best to not let her focus return to the unbearable pain in her ankle that was making her grit her teeth.

For the next twenty minutes, Li Ming cultivated the spiritual qi to regain some of her energy.

By the time she again opened her eyes, the pain in her ankle had become bearable and the cold was not making her crumble into dust.

She relaxed and once again tried to stand up. Even though the pain immediately exploded in her ankle but this time she succeeded in keeping it under her control.

Slowly she started walking towards the huge cave that was standing in front of her. Other than ice there was nothing else in her sight.

"Snowy...!"

Li Ming once again tried to call for her familiar but she was again met with dead silence.

She could tell that she was on the other side of the wards that she came across at the mysterious waterfall.

However, the world that was present in front of her eyes appeared like a completely different magical realm.

It had been around half an hour since she was walking in search of her familiar. And that's when she finally picked the very faint sound that was coming from her left side.

She turned towards her left and came across a huge wall of ice. Another wall!

A sigh left her lips as she dragged her body towards that ice wall. She once again pressed her ear against the cave wall.

And it didn't take her long to recognize the sounds of wings and animal feet moving on the ground covered with a thick layer of ice.

She started following the voice against the wall and it led her to an opening in the wall which was covered by a huge ice rock.

"What's this now?"

She asked out loud to no one in particular. Her eyes quickly roaming around the ice wall to find a way to get on the other side of the wall.

And somehow she did find her way. But little did she knew that the thing waiting for her was going to become the reason for her getting tied to the Snow Fields for the rest of her life.

----

The Immortals split into two teams to reach to their mate as soon as possible.

The first team, consisting of The Heaven Emperor, Hei Long, and Zhang Yong, headed towards the main entrance of the Forbidden Grounds in case if Li Ming was already inside the caves.

The second team with Wen Guiying, Ruoshan, and Lord Yueliang headed towards the Northern Entrance of the Forbidden Grounds to look for their young mate.

None of these six Immortals were ready to be suddenly attacked by a group of people dressed in dark robes.

Both the teams were busy in dealing with those weird attackers who kept coming no matter how many they killed.

And then suddenly an intense feeling took over their souls, making panic erupt between them.

It did not take them long to realize that the feeling that they were experiencing was because of Li Ming.

"S-she's hurt...!" Ruoshan said as he swiped his sword through the three attackers who were going to attack him.

His mind was suddenly filled with worry and tension for his mate who was probably injured.

The Immortals started fighting with double force to get rid of all the attackers as soon as possible. Their young mate needed them.

"Yueliang and Guiying, both of you should go ahead and find her as soon as possible. We will take care of these attackers." The Heaven Emperor ordered the two Immortals.

The two did not need to be told twice as they immediately left to continue with their mission of finding their mate.

While these Immortals were doing their best to get to their mate and safely pull her back to the safety of their arms as soon as possible, another force was trying to pull the injured and powerless Li Ming towards it.

The young girl was surrounded by hundreds of spiritual beings as she stood in the center of the opening where Snowy was currently sleeping inside a spiritual ball.

"Looks like we have a guest here today."