"Oh?" A captivating smile touched the lips of the woman in the black robe. "Interesting." She turned, her gaze fixed on the doorway leading out of the hall. A long, slender figure in white robes stood framed in the soft, oblique light, appearing as if veiled in starlight, dimming every other source of illumination within the chamber.

Behind the black-robed woman, the Ice and Snow Goddess upon the frozen throne dissolved slowly, like a candle melting into a pool of water and ice, flowing across the floor to seep into the cracks and vanish.

"An Image Clone," the black-robed woman's voice was exceptionally melodic, laced with surprise and a light chuckle. "Is this the function of the Source of Water Void Artifact? Truly impressive. To utilize such an ordinary water-element manual to create an illusion so lifelike that even I was fooled."

The Ice and Snow Goddess's beautiful face was etched with frost as she fixed the black-robed woman with an intense stare, articulating each word: "You... who exactly are you?"

"Me...?" A slight curve played at the corner of the black-robed woman’s mouth. She lifted her head, the bangs across her delicate eyebrows swaying gently, revealing a small gap on her forehead, through which shone four sesame-seed sized specks of light. "Recognize this?"

"The Four Seal Emissary!" A horrifying, chilling sound clawed its way across the Ice and Snow Goddess's flawless features. A sudden, profound cold spread from her head to her toes. "You, you are from the Heart Realm?!"

"Indeed..." The black-robed woman smiled. "You answered correctly."

A gentle light bathed the Ice and Snow Goddess from above, enveloping her in a soft radiance that traced her skin. Yet, she felt no warmth whatsoever; instead, an agonizing chill pierced her, as if her feet were planted on the slick body of some colossal, soft serpent. She yearned to flee instantly, but her body was flooded with such immense terror that she could not move an inch.

"Then..." The black-robed woman smiled and slowly raised her hand. "Give it to me."

A dense yellow light coalesced in her palm. Her nearly transparent nails flashed with sharp brilliance, coated in a thin, pale-yellow aura. The slender form of the Ice and Snow Goddess outside the hall seemed to shrink, now only the length of that small hand. She smiled, and her fingers began to slowly clench.

Crack~ Crack.

The entire Ice and Snow Palace shrieked with a grating sound of compression before collapsing violently. A spiraling vortex of energy rushed toward the Ice and Snow Goddess, stirring up waves of white light around her body. Countless plumes of white cold mist billowed from the ground, wildly resisting the intense tearing force.

The Ice and Snow Goddess’s body soared backward like a white snowbird. Her robes snapped loudly in the gale. Her toes tapped the air, creating a ripple like disturbed water, and her body instantly retreated tens of thousands of kilometers, continuing to accelerate away into the distance.

At the center of her brow, a thread of blue, watery light emerged, resembling a magnificent blue ice crystal gem, glittering with breathtaking radiance. This light enveloped her body in a shimmering, wave-like refraction, extending the range of her teleportation even further.

Run! Run! Run!

The Ice and Snow Goddess had only one thought: escape the Snow God Mountain, flee far, far away to a place unknown.

As she teleported at breakneck speed, she glanced back to sense the presence behind her. Discovering that the black-robed woman was not pursuing, relief washed over her heart. She had already blinked across space hundreds of times; with the aid of the Source of Water Void Artifact, each jump carried her ten times farther than a powerful expert of her caliber could manage. She must have lost her pursuer by now.

She looked back again, seeing only a vast expanse of white mist; she had definitely cleared the boundaries of Snow God Mountain.

Suddenly, a soft, laughing voice drifted from ahead: "Were you looking for me?"

The Ice and Snow Goddess froze instantly, then turned her head. In the void ahead, the black-robed woman leaned gracefully against the wind, her transcendent black robes flowing like soft clouds around her.

The Ice and Snow Goddess halted her flight. The tension in her pupils slowly relaxed. She took a deep, measured breath, then calmly fixed her gaze upon the woman before her. "Do not delude yourself into thinking you can seize the Source of Water Void Artifact. Though I cannot fathom why someone of your power would require it, I will never surrender it, not even in death. If you doubt me, I can show you the light of the Void Artifact detonating."

"Are you threatening me?" The black-robed woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Indeed," the Ice and Snow Goddess sneered with genuine coldness. "I didn't expect that after all these eons, you monsters would return to the Ancient World. I wondered why so many corpses had been reanimated lately; I should have known."

"It’s a pity you realized too late."

The black-robed woman shook her head with a faint sigh. "However, even if you had known sooner, you wouldn't have escaped. Unless, of course, you hand the Source of Water Void Artifact to someone else, then I might spare myself the effort of killing an ant."

A shadow of grimness washed over the Ice and Snow Goddess's face. Beneath her nearly translucent skin, faint blue veins pulsed. She took a sharp breath, reached up, and plucked the sapphire-like blue crystal from her brow, clutching it tightly. Staring at the black-robed woman, she said coldly, "If you do not vanish now, I will immediately detonate the Void Artifact and perish with you!"

"How dare you!" A sharp, cold glint flashed in the black-robed woman's eyes.

"Then try me."

The Ice and Snow Goddess let out a light laugh, gripping the Source of Water Void Artifact. Her lips moved subtly, as if reciting an ancient, arcane incantation. A sapphire-blue radiance emanated from her clenched fist, spilling through the gaps between her fingers like countless blue needles of light, engulfing her entire hand.

"Ancestor, your descendant is unfilial," the Ice and Snow Goddess whispered, closing her eyes. A single, crystalline tear tracked down her trembling lashes. "Be destroyed, Tear of the Water God!"

A terrifying aura erupted from her fist, booming and stirring the surrounding heavens. The ambient temperature plummeted instantly. Countless large, feather-like snowflakes began to drift down, but before they could settle, they transformed into solid ice. Even the clouds and mist in the sky rapidly froze into massive blocks that plummeted, smashing into the earth with thunderous impacts, shattering into crystalline shards that were instantly solidified in the air, as if time itself had been suspended.

The (Temple of Light), outside the mountain range perimeter.

The furious, shifting winds and clouds seemed to cease in that single instant, unfurling like a vast piece of cloth before drifting lazily away. Sunlight pierced through the dissipating mist and illuminated the battlefield, casting a deadly, absolute silence over everything.

A blinding, massive explosion of white light rose like a mushroom cloud, then slowly faded, everything settling as if a colossal wave had crashed and then returned to the smooth stillness of water.

The Great Elder and the others, who had been fleeing frantically, shielded their eyes from the intense glare. As the light began to recede, they opened their eyes to gaze toward the heart of the white radiance. Their expressions were so tense that their mouths hung slightly ajar, forgotten.

As the white light gradually dispersed, a faint silhouette remained standing within it. Her fluttering robes parted the misty white haze, her slender form intermittently visible. When the light finally vanished completely, Ye Zhu’s beautiful face was revealed to all—serene yet coldly distant. Her sacred robes were utterly undamaged by the ferocious blast, and her body was encased in a transparent, crystal-like glow.

The Great Elder and the others paused, then a surge of elation flushed their cheeks until they were bright red.

Ye Zhu lifted her gaze. Her sharp eyes were like arrows shot down from above, piercing through the dense army of dark, corpse-monsters and fixing directly upon the small girl in the crimson cowl sitting atop the white lion at the center. Her expression was as cold as glacial ice. She raised a delicate finger.

A single point of white light condensed.

"Annihilate..."

Whoosh. The beam of white light shot out abruptly, and just as the little girl in red recoiled in confusion, it pierced violently through her forehead, momentarily staining the entire world blood-red. Time seemed to freeze for a beat, and then the girl’s body tumbled down with a soft thud. The white lion beneath her reared back, roaring toward the heavens, staring in panic at Ye Zhu, who stood like a deity in the sky. It let out a long cry and quickly turned, cowering as it fled.

"Rest in peace, departed souls..."

Ye Zhu lowered her hand gently. The entire void convulsed violently, as if physically pressed down by several thousand meters. The ground below cracked open into dark fissures with a deep rumble, and countless screaming corpses fell into the abyss, vanishing into the darkness below.

A scene akin to the end of the world unfolded before everyone watching across the mountains and plains. This power, capable of devastating destruction with mere gestures, instilled a primal fear in every soul.

Innumerable corpses shrieked as they plunged into the earthquake-like cracks in the earth. Some monstrous, dead beasts attempted to take flight, but the air was suddenly constrained by a strange energy, forcing them brutally back into the ground.

Once the vast majority of the dead beasts were buried, Ye Zhu relaxed her hand, elegantly and casually snapping her fingers. The horrific fissures healed rapidly, as if tectonic plates were shifting back together beneath the earth.

Then, Ye Zhu turned her head, looking toward the distant location of the Temple of Light headquarters. A faint nostalgia flickered in her eyes. A flash of white light enveloped her, and she vanished into thin air.

Dragon Armor Mountain Range.

A spray of crimson blood erupted, splattering against the rock like scattered scarlet petals. A massive, lion-like monster collapsed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Pangu strode over its corpse without pause, but after only a few steps, he abruptly stopped. He looked up toward the depths of the golden, mist-shrouded peak ahead. His sharp gaze contracted, like an invisible steel wire tightening around every nerve and muscle in his body.

Nuwa and the others sensed the anomaly, a jolt of alarm striking them. They immediately grew grave, gripping their weapons tightly and standing firmly behind Pangu, staring into the dense fog ahead.

The sound of faint footsteps drifted slowly from the distance—step by step, as if following some strange, deliberate rhythm, approaching slowly.

As if emerging from the mist, a figure cloaked in black slowly stepped forward, stopping before Pangu and his companions. The oversized black robe obscured the entirety of the face; the head was slightly bowed, revealing nothing of the features, not even the chin, shrouded completely in shadow.

"You must not disturb the Master." A low, muffled voice issued from the black-robed man’s mouth.

The pupils of Pangu, Ye Chen, and Bai Yijun standing beside them contracted violently to pinpricks, filled with shock and dread. (To be continued)