Ye Chen’s heart gave a sudden lurch, but his expression remained unchanged as his eyes locked onto Sylphigran, a slight breeze weaving between them.

In the profound silence, his voice, low and sharp, finally broke through. "I don't know you. However, if I haven't guessed wrong..."

A glint flashed in his eyes. "The leviathan in the lake beneath the Gate of the Snow Domain outside—that was your doing, correct? Furthermore..." He patted the Silver Wolf beneath his feet. "This one... and all the monsters I encountered on my journey through the glacier—they were all slain by you, too?"

Sylphigran’s smile was captivating and rich. "Indeed. How did you surmise it?"

"The moment I arrived, you sensed me, yet I detected absolutely no approach from you. To possess such power, combined with being closest to the glacier, naturally points to you." Ye Chen’s voice was slow, imbued with a cold resolve, his chiseled brows furrowing slightly. "There is just one thing I fail to comprehend."

"And what is that?" Sylphigran inquired, a semblance of patience in her smile.

—One usually only entertains patience when conversing with the astute.

"I pose absolutely no threat to you. Why then, do you wish to kill me?" Ye Chen’s gaze was like a perfectly honed rapier, fixed upon Sylphigran's exquisitely formed features.

Sylphigran watched him with keen interest. "Judging by your strength, and the fluctuation of the primal essence of the Wind Law emanating from you, if I am not mistaken, you must be an emissary from the Realm of Truth? In that case, you should be aware of what is sealed within this Snow Domain..."

"Are you referring to... the corpse of the Goddess of Blight?"

"Precisely."

Ye Chen fell silent for a beat, then spoke. "Though you likely won't believe me, my purpose in coming here is not for the Goddess of Light's corpse. Moreover, you must know that with the meager power I possess, entering the depths of the Snow Domain, let alone claiming her body, is impossible. It should be obvious that wherever the Goddess of Light chose to inter her remains, there must be seals or guardians. Obtaining it would be arduous to the extreme; I have no desire to attempt it."

"I am aware of that." Sylphigran's smile was alluring, her delicate crimson lips curving into an arc that revealed a hint of pearly white teeth. "But... killing you eliminates any potential future worries. Some people in this world are masters of disguise, and I cannot afford to be careless..."

Cold sweat beaded on Ye Chen's palm. He managed to say calmly, "Only the dead offer you true peace, then?"

"Not entirely..." Sylphigran snapped her fingers, and the air seemed to ripple like transparent waves spreading outward. "So, do try not to struggle. I shall be gentle with you..."

Ye Chen glared at her coldly, then lunged backward with explosive force. The Silver Wolf beneath him shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, howling as it charged.

"Wind Evasion!"

Ye Chen swiftly formed a hand seal, a cyan light flashing in his dark pupils. A watery shimmer enveloped his body as the wind surging up from the cavern whipped his clothes. Just as he was on the verge of becoming transparent, almost vanishing, the wind-whipped snow-filled air seemed to writhe like countless tentacles, crawling over him. A chilling sensation permeated his entire body, as if gripped by the transparent hand of Death itself, rendering him utterly immobile.

"Hmph!"

The massive Silver Wolf leaped high, its sharp white fur bristling, its dagger-like fangs bared as it lunged fiercely toward Sylphigran.

The strong headwind made the feathers on Sylphigran’s silver-white hood stream backward. Her expression remained smiling and enchanting. She delicately raised one slender, pale finger, then moved it slightly to the side—

An immense force suddenly struck the side of the Silver Wolf’s enormous body, slamming it violently. It let out a pained howl, thrown off balance, tumbling into the deep chasm beside them. Its massive form vanished into the swirling white mist of the snowstorm.

Ye Chen's dark pupils constricted sharply. He stared at the Silver Wolf as it plummeted into the abyss, his mouth slightly ajar, unable to form a sound. Only when he heard the crunch of boots crushing ice fragments approaching step by measured step did he turn back. He looked at Sylphigran, drawing nearer—this woman, whose features were refined to near perfection, now appeared as a demon clad in the guise of a smiling goddess.

Ye Chen’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally, his neck feeling constricted by terror, forcing him backward inch by inch. Yet, his limbs felt bound by invisible shackles, impossible to break free.

"Is this it, then?" Sylphigran gazed at him with a winning smile, her body nearly pressed against his chest. Her long, pale hand gently traced the contours of Ye Chen’s cheek, as if admiring a piece of art. "It seems this is all you amount to..."

Her hand drifted from his cheek down to his neck, her fingers slowly tightening. "Pfft—"

A streak of lightning-fast cyan light suddenly shot out from Ye Chen's chest, slicing toward Sylphigran's face. But in the brief flash of light, Sylphigran recoiled instantly, flying backward, landing with the lightness of a swallow just before him, having gracefully evaded the sharp strike.

She tilted her head up slightly. A stray lock of her pitch-black hair, dislodged by the breeze, fluttered down, revealing a clean, neat cut at her temple.

"Oh dear..." Sylphigran looked at the fallen strand of hair, a note of plaintive regret in her voice, yet a strange, grotesque smile reappeared on the corners of her lips. "Remarkable. To still be able to summon the power within you to resist while your entire body is frozen within a segment of time... The taste of the primal law of Wind... truly intoxicating."

She raised her fingers to the hood near her shoulder and snapped them once.

A transparent ripple, like shaking water, stirred the air.

Thump-thump...

Seven or eight blood-red cavities abruptly appeared on Ye Chen's chest, as if pierced by something invisible. Blood streamed from the wounds, trickling down his boots to drip onto the ice, where it instantly froze into dark red crystals.

Ye Chen’s dark pupils contracted tightly. His fists clenched, his mouth wide open, yet no sound escaped. Veins bulged on his arms and neck, his face contorted in agony.

"Let's see what you know..." Sylphigran’s lips curved into an irresistible smile, her eyes slowly flashing with light. The world within her vision suddenly dissolved into pure white; the Ye Chen before her became a schematic—the meridians within his body and the faint blue threads emitted by his thoughts were all clearly visible.

Her gaze began to probe toward Ye Chen's brain...

Whoosh!

A beam of white, aurora-like light streaked across her vision, reflecting the world background into utter blackness, like the only light in an abyss.

Clang!

A sharp, resonant hum, like a taut string vibrating, shredded the neural network into countless fragments. The pain was so intense that she instantly aborted the probe.

Innumerable desolate roars, a blood-red world, endless corpses—and bodies falling like raindrops from the sky. Within this vision, that single streak of white, aurora-like blade light seemed to pierce through from another dimension, illuminating the entire firmament. The blade light whistled and charged toward her; all of it flooded into her pupils like shadows.

Her body convulsed violently. Blood began to seep from her eyes, flowing down like tears of gore.

"Ah!" A scream of agonizing torment made her scalp feel as if it were tearing open. The world before her blurred into a sickening crimson. In the final moment before blindness, her hazy vision registered Ye Chen breaking free from the relaxed constraints. In agony, she swung her hand, sending out a transparent wave that violently slammed Ye Chen’s body into the deep chasm beside them, where he vanished from sight.

Then, her body collapsed painfully to its knees, both hands clamped over her face, her shoulders trembling with suffering.

Ling cried out in alarm, rushing to her side and squatting down to support her shoulders. "What is it, Sister? What happened to you?"

Sylphigran shook her head painfully, shrugging off his touch. Through the gaps between her fingers covering her face, crimson blood trickled out, sliding down her pale palms like sluggish earthworms. Some drops splattered onto the ice, leaving round, scarlet blossoms that, curiously, did not freeze immediately in the cold.

"Knife... knife..." Fear choked her voice as she whispered the words.

The Snow Domain, the bottom of the deep chasm.

The biting cold wind howled past his ears, the fierce gusts pulling his hair straight back, making it impossible to open his eyes. Ye Chen felt himself plummeting vertically at a terrifying speed into the swirling white fog. Then, his chest seized with a violent pain, as if something had torn through him. The dull, crushing impact numbed his entire torso; his bones and flesh felt utterly pulverized.

Ye Chen could no longer resist the descent. He desperately tried to awaken the primal power of the Wind Law within him, wrapping his body in tens of thousands of layered wind barriers, simultaneously channeling light wind-elemental forces to cushion his fall, attempting to slow his speed.

However, the order of this world seemed to forbid flight. Ye Chen’s Law-based power proved utterly useless. After a brief resistance against the world's primal order, it succumbed, and he slammed headlong into the depths of the canyon.

The wind howled.

Ye Chen’s consciousness began to fade.

It was as if light had suddenly appeared.

When Ye Chen opened his eyes again, he found the hazy, brilliant sunlight piercing through the narrow gaps between distant, fragmented shadows in the sky, illuminating his cheek with a sensation of warmth.

Am I dead?

Ye Chen felt utterly weak, unable to even muster the strength to flutter an eyelid. He lay sprawled awkwardly on soft grass, gazing at the indistinct sky, which slowly sharpened into clarity. What met his gaze were several towering trees, slivers of sunlight filtering through the dense foliage into the jungle, warm and soft.

After a long while, Ye Chen slowly regained a fraction of his strength. Ignoring the tearing pain throughout his body, he forced himself into a sitting position, circulating his internal energy to accelerate the recovery of his bodily functions. He turned his head to survey his surroundings: a tranquil jungle. The shadows between the distant trees were deep and impenetrable, looking like a pair of dark eyes were fixed upon him from within.

Ye Chen frowned. He held his breath, suppressing his heartbeat to an almost imperceptible rhythm. The surroundings were utterly silent, so still that he could hear the sound of his own blood flowing through his veins, like a trickling stream.

Ye Chen felt a prickle of unease and intensified his efforts to regain strength.