First, whether this monster had a dan, that was merely a legend.
Secondly, with just this bronze ancient sword in his hand, it would probably take until next year to dig it out.
Another point was that even if he did find a dan, it would be useless to him, and he had never heard of it being edible.
Even if it were edible, Ning Beichen would not dare to try it, for fear of being poisoned, or even turning into a monster himself.
Therefore, Ning Beichen abandoned the idea. Moreover, this monster was his match. Out of respect for his opponent, Ning Beichen did not wish to dismember it after death.
If it were just a beast, Ning Beichen might not have any psychological burden, but this monster before him clearly behaved seventy percent like a human.
However, Ning Beichen could refrain from desecrating the monster's corpse, but he did collect some of its scales. These scales could withstand his multiple attacks, and in Ning Beichen's eyes, they were treasures.
Ning Beichen was not greedy. After collecting enough scales to make a few sets of human inner armor, he stopped. Then, he sat down below the monster's belly to heal his wounds and recover his inner energy.
Meanwhile, James, at the camp, had been waiting for Ning Beichen's return. He waited and waited. Two hours had passed, and Ning Beichen was still nowhere to be seen.
"Could it be..."
The more James thought, the more scared he became, and the more fear he felt, the more negative thoughts arose.
Otherwise, why hadn't Ning Beichen returned for over two hours?
It was also the middle of the night, pitch black outside, and surrounded by avalanches. James was very worried that something had happened to Ning Beichen.
But he didn't have Ning Beichen's abilities. With avalanches still occurring outside, he dared not leave the camp. Besides praying non-stop for Ning Beichen's safety, he could do nothing else.
The dark night was extremely arduous. James was cold and afraid. He burrowed into his sleeping bag, his eyes wide open, waiting and trembling. Every time he heard the slightest sound, he would immediately get up to check, only to find it was just the wind and snow.
The short hours felt like years to James. Finally, when dawn broke, James ventured out of the camp. However, he saw that the surroundings of the camp had changed drastically, and even the original path was gone.
Last night's massive avalanche had completely covered the path they had taken to get there. Looking around, all he saw was endless white snow.
When James looked down, his heart pounded wildly with fear, because below the camp was a slope with a drop of at least five hundred meters.
And this slope was extremely steep, nearly eighty degrees, almost a sheer cliff. Once fallen, he probably wouldn't even find a body.
This camp had become a dead end with no way out. But it was precisely because Ning Beichen had found this safe spot to set up camp that the avalanche last night hadn't destroyed it.
"Ning Beichen..."
James could not leave the camp. The only thing he could do was to shout Ning Beichen's name loudly within the camp.
Unfortunately, James's throat became hoarse from shouting, yet there was still no sign of Ning Beichen.
At this moment, Ning Beichen was still at the bottom of the abyss, looking up at the smooth ice walls, at a loss.
His injuries had recovered considerably, and his inner energy was replenished. But after daybreak, he discovered that the rock walls on both sides of the abyss had turned into ice walls overnight.
If they were rock walls, Ning Beichen could still consider using his Qinggong to ascend. But with ice walls, the difficulty increased tenfold.
Ning Beichen had not tried. From morning until now, he had attempted it five or six times, each time slipping and falling back down because the ice walls were too slippery.
Even with the bronze ancient sword in his hand, it was useless. Without a point of leverage, even with the sword, Ning Beichen could not get out successfully.
They say it's a bottomless abyss, but this place was more than bottomless. Even Ning Beichen was helpless.
Since it was impossible to get out of the abyss now, Ning Beichen could only give up for the time being. He wondered if the ice walls would melt by noon. If they melted and revealed the rock walls, he would have a chance to get out.
So, Ning Beichen decided to explore the abyss.
Ning Beichen had no intention of eating the monster's corpse. However, his food and water were at the camp. Thus, Ning Beichen could only scoop up a handful of snow and stuff it into his mouth to quench his thirst.
As for whether his mouth would get frostbite, Ning Beichen was not too worried, as he had cultivated the Prajna Golden Body.
After eating a few mouthfuls of snow, Ning Beichen began to walk in the abyss.
But the bottom of the abyss was almost entirely covered in ice and snow, making it even colder and more difficult than outside, as one wrong step could lead to a fall.
Moreover, in such an icy and snowy environment, nothing could survive here.
Ning Beichen walked along the slippery ice and snow path for about a few kilometers, reaching the end of the abyss without finding anything.
Then Ning Beichen turned back and explored in another direction of the abyss.
The other direction was much the same as the place he had explored before.
Ning Beichen reached the end and felt a sense of disappointment.
Just as he was returning, a patch of ice beneath his feet suddenly cracked with a bang, and Ning Beichen fell into a slippery, vertical hole.
Ning Beichen frantically tried to brace himself with his hands, but the wall of the hole was as smooth as a mirror. The more force he exerted, the faster his descent became.
Soon, Ning Beichen experienced the thrill of a roller coaster. He slid rapidly down the smooth ice tunnel, twisting and turning along the way, leaving him dizzy and with no idea of his location.
This sliding process lasted for about twenty minutes.
Ning Beichen shot out from a high point and splashed into an ice lake within a cave.
Ning Beichen broke through the ice on the surface of the lake and fell into the water.
The bone-chillingly cold water instantly froze Ning Beichen, almost turning him into an icicle. His eyebrows and hair were already covered in frost.
Ning Beichen desperately broke through the ice above his head and emerged from the bone-chilling lake water, quickly crawling ashore.
Once on land, Ning Beichen was too exhausted to move, but he couldn't afford to stand still, as even his clothes were freezing and stiffening.
Ning Beichen quickly did a set of stretching exercises. After shaking off all the frost from his clothes, he had the mind to examine the cave.
Now, Ning Beichen was not just unwilling to go out; he was simply unable to.
Ning Beichen untied the box strapped to his back, took out a spare set of clothes to change into, and only then felt a little better.