The woman’s frame was shrouded in a black robe, her exposed arm delicately lifted, pulling the cowl back slightly from her brow, just enough to obscure the eyes. From beneath the wide, shadowed hat came a voice, melodious and refined, asking with perfect courtesy, “Pardon me, is this Mount Snow God, the headquarters of the Ice and Snow Empire?”

A faint, elegant smile touched the Ice and Snow Goddess’s cheek as she replied naturally, “Indeed, it is.”

“Then may I ask…” The black-robed woman’s hood shifted almost imperceptibly. She raised her chin slightly, gazing upon the Ice and Snow Goddess seated upon the Frost Throne, “Are you the Ice and Snow Goddess of the Ice and Snow Empire?”

“I am.”

“Then may I ask…” The black-robed woman paused, her voice imbued with an indescribable strangeness, “Which generation of Ice and Snow Goddess are you?”

The Ice and Snow Goddess rested her hands naturally at her sides on the throne’s armrests, her fingers tapping lightly against the frozen material. She scrutinized the cloaked figure before her. After a moment’s silence, she slowly spoke, “The nineteenth generation.”

“Oh…” The black-robed woman let out a long sound that lingered with resonance, then seemed to exhale a breath of relief. She reached up, pulling the hood entirely from her head. Cascades of ink-black, silken hair spilled forth, brushing against her pale cheekbones before swirling outward in the slight breeze. The entire Crystal Hall seemed to brighten in that instant.

Upon the exquisite features of the woman who shed the robe were eyes as luminous as twin stars. She inquired softly, “You need not erect the formation; it will be useless against me. I have only come to borrow one thing.”

The Ice and Snow Goddess, who had remained poised and serene, suddenly changed expression. Her pupils contracted sharply as she stared at the woman of perfect countenance. The tapping of her fingers on the ice armrest ceased abruptly; her hand froze mid-air for a breath, then slowly retracted, curling into a fist before settling back into her lap.

Where her fingers had struck the armrest, a minuscule trace of blue light remained—a thin thread that pierced vertically into the Frost Throne, descending to the very base. There, it rapidly expanded, etching a semicircular formation deep within the floor ice. The array was excruciatingly complex, only half-sketched; a third remained unfinished.

The Ice and Snow Goddess took a deep, measured breath, then spoke in a voice she forced to remain level and calm, “Borrow what, precisely?”

The black-robed woman smiled, uttering only a few words: “The Origin of Water, the Void Heaven Artifact.”

The Ice and Snow Goddess’s face tightened. Her gaze locked onto the borrower, and from that captivating smile, she sensed a rolling, roaring ocean of energy within, fathomless and deep.

“And if…” She slightly lowered her eyelids, her lashes trembling amidst the flurrying snow, “I refuse to lend it?”

All motion in the surrounding ice and snow ceased instantly.

Aboard the Eight Trigrams Ship.

The vessel had halted its forward momentum, hovering motionless in the void. A dozen surrounding spacecraft formed a perfect bagua circle around the Eight Trigrams Ship, their captains—all high-ranking personnel of the Spiritual Civilization—now assembled in the main hall.

More than ten Divine Emperor powerhouses stood along the edges of the hall near the couches, hands hanging stiffly at their sides, eyes stealing glances at Pangu and True Man Ten-Chambers seated on the sofa. Despite True Man Ten-Chambers being drenched in blood, his mink-lined robes shredded into tatters, his aura faint as a thread of silk, his very cells still radiated a terrifying, heart-stopping presence.

Pangu watched True Man Ten-Chambers with concern. After a few moments, the True Man opened his eyes. A measure of spirit returned to his face, the fatigue gradually receding. His pale lips were tightly pressed, as if silently enduring immense agony.

“We go to Dragon Armor Mountain,” True Man Ten-Chambers stated, his gaze fixed on the table before him, though it seemed to stare at some distant vista. His voice was low, laced with bitterness.

Pangu understood the profound impact of the recent events. Without further words, he motioned to Nuwa beside him. “Change course. We proceed to the Dragon Armor Mountain Range.”

“Yes.” Nuwa accepted the command with reverence. She spared a glance for True Man Ten-Chambers before turning gracefully and departing.

“Zhen Chen…” Pangu murmured, seemingly composing his thoughts before speaking carefully, “As I understand it, White Spirit Mountain is teeming with over a hundred civilization factions, numerous elders of the Bai family, and is personally guarded by Bai Tian himself. Coupled with the mountain-protecting Grand Formation established by their ancestors, breaching it will be exceedingly difficult. True Man, you should not take this too hard.”

True Man Ten-Chambers slowly shook his head. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes briefly before slowly opening them again. “A mere hundred civilization factions, and that so-called Bai Tian—they are dust in my eyes. It is just that I never anticipated such a terrifying anomaly field hidden within White Spirit Mountain…”

“An anomaly field…?”

“Indeed,” True Man Ten-Chambers affirmed gravely. “That place is too dangerous; it is best we never venture near it again.”

Pangu observed his somber expression, feeling a stone drop in his heart, sending vast ripples outward. “Monsters on White Spirit Mountain? Even a True Man cannot resist them? If such monsters truly exist, it’s fortunate they never emerged before, otherwise, would any life remain on the entire Ancient Continent?”

Ye Chen frowned, a sudden premonition striking him. He glanced back at Bai Yijun standing behind him. He saw her slender, pale hand slowly unclench from a tight fist. A flicker of relief seemed to cross her exquisite features. He moved his lips slightly, gently taking hold of her palm.

Startled back to awareness, Bai Yijun raised her head, meeting a pair of bright, clear eyes.

The Brightness Temple, Outer Mountain Range.

Great swathes of black cloud were being ripped apart by the howling gale. Light, sharp as shards of ice and snow, pierced through the gaps in the mist, washing over the corpses strewn across the battlefield below, finally illuminating two figures suspended in the sky.

Bathed in the warm light, Ye Zhu’s white garments billowed. On the white flower she held, only three petals remained from the original nine; the rest had vanished. Her eyes held a deep solemnity as she stared at a churning mass of black mist opposite her.

This mist was as black and thick as ink, boiling and rolling, occasionally revealing flashes of red lightning that snaked and darted within. From the deepest recesses of the fog, a grating, high-pitched shriek could be heard now and then—like fingernails screeching across glass, piercingly sharp.

“Is this the power of two Corpse Seals…?” Ye Zhu’s brow furrowed slightly. After a moment of fixed observation, she plucked another petal from the white flower. She brought it to her lips, exhaled gently, and the petal floated upward. Then, emanating from the petal like a scorching midday sun, an intense white light burst forth, radiating in countless needle-like beams that illuminated the entire sky.

The white light spread to every corner of the heavens, then instantly contracted, coalescing into a single, towering beam of pure white energy. This beam rapidly shrunk, transforming into a sword of white light. Its sharp, piercing aura sliced the air into rippling layers. Just as Ye Zhu’s pupils tightened, the sword shot forth with lethal force.

Whoosh!

The air tore open like a bolt of satin, producing a loud rip. The white light streaked faster than lightning, arriving before the black mist the instant it was launched, slicing directly through it with blinding, thunderous speed.

After piercing the mist, the white light sword refracted and flipped, instantly returning for a second pass. It cut again and again, over a hundred times, shredding the black fog into wispy, fragmented strands that drifted aimlessly. With every cut, the mist emitted a shriek of agony, like some beast caged in the abyss roaring in pain toward the heavens.

Ye Zhu’s eyes, sharp as sword-glow, cast a cold glance at the mist. Casually, she plucked another petal and tossed it forward. The petal fluttered briefly before suddenly blooming into an expanse of scorching white light that swiftly obscured the world. It then retracted, forming a net of white energy that swept over the shattered mist, enveloping the fragments and binding them into the space contained within the net.

Where the black mist touched the white net, it hissed like melting snow, emitting shrill cries laced with terrified horror. “How can you wield such a potent secret art? This is the very least that a Brightness Emissary of the Top Three Halls could wield! Could it be… could you be the reincarnation of a Brightness Emissary from the Top Three Halls? Impossible, impossible! Master said they were all annihilated during the last Great Saint War!!”

Ye Zhu elegantly raised her eyelids, spared him a glance, and murmured, “What your master knows is not necessarily correct. Nor is it required that only the Brightness Emissaries of the Top Three Halls can employ this technique. You know too little…”

“Vanish, ignorant sinner.”

She raised her hand and plucked the final petal, tossing it lightly into the wind. The petal scattered into countless specks of white luminous dust; the disturbance it caused was less pronounced than before. Yet, from within the black mist erupted a sharp, pig-slaughtering cry: “Even in death, I will take you with me! Yao Xiang, run!!!” His final words were directed toward the little girl in the red hood within the army of corpse monsters below.

The white net contracted tightly, producing sounds of grinding bone. The churning black mist swelled violently, and amid a final, despairing roar, it abruptly shrank to the size of a fist. The misty form condensed into a near-solid black stone, upon which two blood-red markings, wide as fingers, etched themselves. Then, in the next instant, it expanded and detonated!

BOOM!!!

An earth-shattering explosion, possessing the power of ten suns combined, unleashed a shockwave of energy shaped like a white energy shield across the sky. Roaring, it whipped up the surrounding storm clouds, spreading outward in violent arcs. Below, countless weak corpse-monsters were caught in the vortexing pull of the shockwave, sucked in and drowned in the white light.

Many figures visible on nearby peaks screamed as they were likewise swept into the maelstrom.

The white light spread with terrifying speed, quickly engulfing Ye Zhu’s form, silencing her as she disappeared, as if her very body had been assimilated by the radiance.

The convulsing sky, the blinding white light, the harsh, windswept desolation—it all rushed into the pupils of the little girl in the red hood, seated atop the White Lion’s back. Tears of blood streamed from her eyes as she whispered hoarsely, “Why? Why were you so foolish? It would have been one thing to self-detonate the Corpse Seal, but why destroy the Soul Source as well? Even Master cannot resurrect you now…”

I’m back in Hangzhou today. Phew. Updates will resume normally tomorrow. My head feels a bit foggy today; the train ride was too exhausting. Just one update today; I’ll try harder tomorrow. Time to eat, phew, I’m starving.