"Ants are ants," Lian Guang stated indifferently. "It's just that someone used a butcher's knife to kill a chicken. Don't you think the way this corpse died is rather sophisticated? There are no fatal wounds on him, yet his soul fluctuation is gone, and the brain center is perfectly intact. A technique like that would require a degree of difficulty even for you to employ, wouldn't it?"

Di Zichuan started, then glanced back at the deceased Bart. "That's true. Usually, even someone a whole realm higher, employing mental suppression or soul attacks, could directly destroy the opponent's soul without harming the body. But in such cases, the brain center would collapse and be damaged during resistance. This corpse, however, is as if its life force was suddenly drained, yet its skin still contains vitality—it's as if the body hasn't aged to death, but the soul has."

"Precisely," a light flashed in Lian Guang's eyes. "To use such a troublesome method on such a minor figure, very few people would bother. It's clear the opponent achieved it with ease, and only someone from that world could accomplish it so simply..."

Ice Snow Empire, wooded hillside.

Sunlight, snow, a snow-covered hillside.

The biting cold wind blurred the vision. On a distant, misty slope, a figure in black robes stood tall, like a winter phantom, entirely concealed within the dark cloth, showing no trace of human warmth.

Sefigran trod upon the snow, her footprints marking the path behind her. She walked until she was a certain distance from the black-robed figure and then halted, her slender form standing perfectly straight on the snowy ground.

One black, one white—two utterly distinct auras warred silently over the snow.

Sefigran lifted her silver-white hood and coldly commanded, "Hand it over."

The black-robed figure remained silent for a long moment before a pale, delicate hand emerged from the robe. She pushed back her dark hood, revealing a face so exquisitely perfect it bordered on flawlessness. Her deep contours and clear eyes met Sefigran's gaze placidly as she smiled and said, "It should be you handing it over."

Sefigran stared at her for a moment, then suddenly said, "Ling, fall back."

Ling, who had been following behind, paused. He looked up at Sefigran's back, then at the distant robed figure. The figure seemed vaguely familiar. After a quick mental recall, he realized it was the black-robed woman he had seen earlier in the tavern.

He was secretly startled. He had been walking this way since leaving the tavern and hadn't spotted the woman. To find her now ahead of him, seemingly waiting for a considerable time, surprised him.

He cast a worried glance at Sefigran. Then, driven by the ingrained obedience of his slave nature, he didn't stubbornly insist. Complying, he clutched his cyan battle blade and stepped onto the thick snow, retreating toward the distant woods, leaving deep indentations behind him.

The biting wind whipped the hem of Sefigran's silver-white robe, causing it to billow around her like floating clouds. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "If my senses don't deceive me, the 'Tear of the Water God' is on your person, isn't it?"

"Indeed." The black-robed woman raised her hand. On her wrist was a string of ice-blue crystal beads, like the tears of a deep-sea mermaid, crystal clear. "You seek the 'Tear of the Water God' not to complete the Nine Great Origin Void Artifacts to activate the [Twilight of the Gods], correct?"

Her eyes flashed with intelligent light as she smiled. "Furthermore, meeting you here... if I'm not mistaken, you must be here for the corpse of the Goddess of Light, sealed away in the [Snow Domain]."

"It's useless telling you; you no longer need to know."

Sefigran spoke dismissively, slowly raising her palm. Exquisite patterns were carved onto her silver-white vambrace. As if carefully appreciating a fine work, she slowly lifted her hand. "Clock of Time!"

A surging shockwave swept out from her, sweeping away nearby snow like a hurricane. Above her head, a colossal silver-white clock materialized suddenly, hovering silently. The body of the clock was a smooth silver alloy, inlaid around the edges with gems of various colors, seemingly pierced by a sharp cone. Beneath the clock was a pointed, long silver tip.

The surrounding spacetime inexplicably grew quiet and slightly distorted.

In the sky overhead, dark clouds were dragged toward the center by a mysterious force, churning and roaring. The biting wind that had been blowing fiercely from afar now became inexplicably gentle, softly lifting the edges of their robes.

Hiding behind a massive tree at the edge of the woods, Ling secretly watched Sefigran and the black-robed woman. He was instantly stunned by the sudden appearance of the enormous clock. Then he saw Sefigran, who had been clearly visible just moments before, suddenly appearing as if standing alone on some distant doomsday peak, her tall, silver-white silhouette radiating an indescribable loneliness.

His eyes widened in shock.

Scattered snow, swirling like sprites caught by the wind, danced around Sefigran. She looked coolly at the black-robed woman opposite her. "You used sound transmission to arrange this challenge here. You can rest assured. This place is far from the small city; no matter the power of your attack, it cannot breach my Time Barrier. From this moment, you have exactly twelve minutes. If you exceed that time, I will claim your life force."

The hands of the Clock of Time above her head slowly moved half a position.

"Is that so?" A captivating, almost eerie smile bloomed on the black-robed woman's cheek. "Do you really think this is enough to trap me? It seems that after all these years, the quality of envoys from your Time Realm has regressed significantly. Judging by your methods, you must rank among the top three in the Time Realm?"

Sefigran waited silently, choosing not to speak, deeming further talk a waste of effort.

The smile on the black-robed woman's face slowly faded, replaced by a cold sneer. "You should know that the Mind Realm controls the earth, and most importantly, the 'Tear of the Water God' can manipulate all water-elemental energy, including the snow here, which is also..."

As she spoke, the Tear of the Water God in her hand slowly radiated a soft, ice-blue glow, illuminating her delicate chin. She looked like an ancient, mysterious sorceress, her eyes becoming pure and pale gold like amber, as if liquid gold were flowing within them.

"Water God Barrier!"

"Earth Piercing!"

A wave of blue light automatically rose from the ground beneath her feet, resembling the energy shield of a mecha, smoothly enveloping her entire body into a spherical blue light shield akin to an atmosphere.

The ubiquitous snow suddenly surged, forcing up countless sharp black spikes from within. These spikes shot toward Sefigran like raindrops, moving with lightning speed. Even with Sefigran's physique, she barely had time to react before her body was pierced by the dense, sharp black needles.

Ling stared, his eyes wide open. His entire body trembled violently, chilled by the cold wind. A surge of hot blood rushed up from his chest, flushing his entire face and neck crimson. His hair seemed to stand on end, and a beast-like roar erupted from his throat: "N-No!!!"

The massive tree before him suddenly exploded into countless tiny splinters.

However, no one saw this scene.

Dragon Scale Mountain, in the canyon.

The dark cave, shrinking between two towering peaks, resembled cold, sinister eyes staring at Ye Chen and Bai Yijun.

The two waited quietly, sensing the surrounding vegetation, guarding against an ambush by ferocious beasts. After waiting for nearly an hour, Ye Chen began to feel restless and uneasy. He reached out, tore open the rune space, retrieved the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat, and then led Bai Yijun inside.

"Will she..." Bai Yijun asked worriedly.

However, her words were cut short by a sharp scream, filled with heart-rending pain and terror, followed by the whistling rush of wind like a cannonball hurtling closer.

Ye Chen and Bai Yijun were both greatly alarmed, their faces draining of color, filled with suspicion and shock. Ye Chen abruptly turned his head to look and saw a dark figure shoot out from the black cave, covered in gore. Thick blood dripped from countless tiny wounds covering his body.

"Open the hatch quickly!" Ye Chen roared instinctively. He recognized the blood-soaked figure as the Tenth Pavilion True Master who had entered earlier.

The hatch was thrown open violently, and a gale rushed inside. The Tenth Pavilion True Master's expression was one of terror and grimness. Before even fully entering the hatch, he roared, "Go! Quickly!!!"

Xiao Zhongsheng's hand trembled as he swiftly pressed the retreat button. The Heavenly Dao Divine Boat's engines had been on standby and instantly engaged, roaring backward. The ship's discharge nozzles and secondary thrusters opened, and the boat's wings adjusted, swiftly turning its stern into its bow as it bolted away.

Just then, a curved black lightning bolt suddenly shot out from the dark cave behind them. Before Ye Chen could clearly see it, the entire Heavenly Dao Divine Boat shuddered violently, shaking fiercely as if it had slammed into a massive boulder.

Ye Chen looked on in horror and saw that what extended from the cave was none other than a thin, long black tentacle.

"Bad!" Xiao Zhongsheng cried out in alarm. "Master, the power generation plate for the secondary engine has been damaged! The second support strut is jammed in the rotor! I need one minute to repair it!"

One minute—normally an instant.

But now, it felt like an eternity.

This was a fatal minute.

Ye Chen’s face paled, yet he did not panic. He clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and said quickly, "What's the solution?"

Xiao Zhongsheng's reply was just as fast, her mind processing far beyond human speed. "The second support strut needs to be pried open. That's the only way."

"Good!" Ye Chen spoke no further, surging out of the hatch like a gust of wind. (To be continued)