Ye Chen watched the hand Kaelen lifted from the folds of her robe—if one could even call it a "hand." The arm, long and slender as bleached bone, was flawless until the wrist, where the palm was a patch of cyan, covered in fine, sharp scales, ending in talon-like nails, like those of some monstrous creature.

The snow-white light struck it, reflecting an icy sheen.

"You... are not human?" After the initial shock, a wave of dread washed over Ye Chen. "The energy on you is nothing like what a human possesses—it’s unfathomable. A human body could never contain that much power at your level..."

In his perception, the energy within Kaelen was like a bottomless pit, with no end in sight.

"Oh dear..." Kaelen sighed with a hint of plaintiveness. "How could you say such a thing? I’ve been practicing being 'human' for ages! I have all the etiquette and cultivation you possess, though I admit, I occasionally miss the feeling of eating meat..."

Ye Chen’s shock quickly settled into calm resolve. "You say these things to scatter my focus because you aren't entirely confident you can kill me in one strike. Your calculation is flawed."

"Is that so?" Kaelen smiled broadly. "Do I need to scatter your focus to kill you?"

"Those who generally waste life—let’s call them 'humans' for now—value their existence highly. Therefore... you are unwilling to risk it; you are waiting for an opportunity." —Waiting for a chance to deliver a single, killing blow.

"You seem to know humans quite well," Kaelen observed, her smile fading.

"Not exactly know," Ye Chen stated indifferently. "I’ve just seen more. Anyone who believes they fully understand humanity is either a simpleton or a fool."

"It’s just a pity..." Kaelen offered a wistful tone. "I am not human, so you cannot truly see me."

"True," Ye Chen conceded.

"Then are you prepared to give up?"

"No."

"And you are waiting for an opportunity?"

"Indeed," Ye Chen admitted, as he was indeed waiting for one.

"You believe..." Kaelen squinted, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes, "that the meager power within you stands a chance of killing me?"

"No one knows until they try," Ye Chen looked at her coldly, then suddenly smiled. "But there is one thing I know for certain: if you move now, I can slay you instantly!"

"Oh?" Kaelen countered. "With the little power you possess? Less than one percent of what's inside me? You think you can kill me?"

"Why don't you try?" Ye Chen challenged her with cold composure.

"If you can do it, why don't you act?" Kaelen shot back with a sneer.

"Because I also dare not take the risk," Ye Chen remained calm.

"So you aren't certain either?"

"Only a seven-tenths certainty."

Kaelen fell silent. She narrowed her eyes, studying Ye Chen from head to toe. After a long moment, she spoke again. "You state that so naturally, hoping to give me the impression that you control the overall situation, making me hesitate. If a person harbors doubts, it becomes difficult to exert full power. This is your stratagem, but alas, I also understand humans, and... I understand them absolutely more than you do!"

The moment the words left her mouth, her body flashed like lightning, closing the distance to Ye Chen. The cyan claws in her hand ripped downwards viciously, tearing five translucent arcs of light from the air, soaring towards Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's pupils contracted slightly. Remaining unruffled in the face of danger, he slipped to the left. The Origin Power of Wind within him spun frantically, propelling his body to the edge of the Icewind Valley in a thousandth of a second. Simultaneously, the Moon Demon Wolf materialized before him, roaring as it lunged at Kaelen.

Kaelen scoffed. Her delicate and slender figure looked minuscule, like an ant before the Moon Demon Wolf, yet she charged fearlessly toward it.

At the instant of imminent collision, her pupils tightened sharply. The Moon Demon Wolf let out a howl as it was repelled by an invisible surge of energy, slamming hard into a nearby ice mountain. Countless fine, black fissures spread out from its impacted body.

Kaelen turned her head toward Ye Chen. The fierce wind whipped his hat up, making his smooth blue locks stand on end, fluttering in the air, framing his snow-white cheek and blue eyebrows—a mesmerizing and alluring vision like a sorceress. She licked her lips and walked toward Ye Chen step by measured step.

"Little thing, this time, you are mine."

Her movement suddenly halted, the smile freezing on her face.

Because in her sight, Ye Chen, standing at the mouth of the valley, suddenly lifted into the air, his body suspended in the void. His arms were spread wide, the raging, biting cold wind whipping his robes and scattering his hair. He slowly lowered his head from the sky, looking down at Kaelen.

Directly above his head, a thin, almost invisible thread of transparent light had formed into a dagger-like blade, poised like a viper aimed at Kaelen.

"This..." Kaelen’s pupils constricted violently. "How is this possible? How can you fly? Here, only the Envoy Lords can fly! You, you..."

Her expression suddenly changed, as if realizing something far more terrifying. "Could it be... this is the three-tenths chance you were waiting for?"

"Indeed." As Ye Chen's icy voice rang out, the sharp wind blade above his head whistled down, slicing toward Kaelen’s neck like a razor.

Faster than light.

In this world, only wind could move faster than light.

Wind was everywhere.

Thus, Kaelen didn't even have the chance to dodge. A thread of extremely fine blood appeared on her alabaster neck, tracing a circle around it.

Her expression remained one of utter disbelief, her body still holding its standing posture. Yet, as a gentle breeze passed, her head slowly, inch by inch, slid off her neck.

The cut was clean.

Thud.

Her head struck the ground, half-sinking into the thick snow.

Ye Chen let out a breath, only then realizing his entire back was drenched in cold sweat. It had been a razor's edge between life and death just moments ago. If not for the violent winds in the Icewind Valley allowing him to transform and manifest the Origin Power of Wind to suspend his body, coupled with that natural gale immensely amplifying his own strength, and most crucially, striking with all his might during Kaelen's moment of surprise...

Wind could destroy anything.

When a person is surprised, they inevitably fail to notice other things, and their physical reactions lag by a fraction of a second.

Ye Chen had successfully exploited this.

The fierce winds within the Icewind Valley slowly subsided.

Ye Chen's body descended gently from the air. He walked with light, measured steps toward Kaelen’s corpse.

Hum. A massive barrier suddenly materialized in the clearing—a crimson barrier.

Ye Chen's body stiffened, the relief he had just felt instantly replaced by tension. He looked up to see Kaelen's severed head slowly floating up from the snow, rejoining her neck. The bloody trace healed and vanished without a trace.

"Is this your certainty?" Kaelen’s fingers pinched a speck of blood from her neck, which she delicately brought to her full, soft lips and gently sucked. Her smile was indescribably bizarre and captivating. "Now, you won't escape. I was indeed negligent. It is like a spear and a shield; no matter how large the shield, the spear only needs to pierce one point, so the shield will break. If I were truly human, that strike might have killed me..."

Ye Chen’s heart sank slowly into a glacial abyss.

Snowstorm Zone.

In the roaring blizzard, distant objects were obscured by the swirling snow, yet in the center of the tempest, two dark figures clung tightly together.

Stahl's lips curled up in an expression that was both supremely composed and utterly cold. His eyes were warm and full of confidence, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that his expression hadn't moved at all; even his pupils remained utterly still, as if frozen in place.

"Ca..." Jizouchuan sighed softly, drawing his hand out of Stahl's abdomen. It was smeared with thick, viscous white blood, like a layer of cream coating his palm. "You were too careless. This move was indeed formidable; if it were the old me, I might have struggled to handle it. Unfortunately... you didn't know that there is something in this world called the [Fountain of the Earth]."

"As long as my feet are touching the earth, the energy within me will never be exhausted. No matter how many times you strike, I can replenish it instantly."

He retrieved a silk handkerchief from his inner pocket and meticulously wiped the white blood from his fingers. Once entirely clean, the handkerchief was tossed casually onto Stahl’s body, which lay sprawled in the snow. He looked down with contemptuous arrogance at the corpse, then walked to where Stahl's head lay.

"I wonder how many more ants like you exist in this snow domain." He laughed cruelly, raising his hand. Stahl's body was lifted by a mysterious force, and his head was cupped in Jizouchuan's palm as he slowly closed his eyes.

After a moment, he opened them. "So it is, Ru Xin..." he murmured, lifting his gaze. His eyes remained bright and clear amidst the snowstorm. "How interesting. I thought this snow domain was desolate, filled only with savage snow beasts. I never expected Snow Country people. Yi Chen... the Snow Domain Envoy? Heh heh..."

Tiger Wave River.

Silphigran stood quietly in the swirling snow, gazing at the man ten feet before her. He was a strikingly handsome man with snow-white skin, dagger-like slanted blue eyebrows, white pupils, and a faint, cold curve to his lips. He exuded a unique aura.

An aura capable of instantly enchanting any young maiden upon sight.

"Are you one of the original residents here?" Silphigran looked at him calmly. "I know outsiders can be irritating to the natives, but I hold no malice toward you."

"Whether you do or not," Xuemite looked at the beautiful woman and realized her appearance was nearly equal to the Snow Domain Envoy’s. Fiery sparks ignited in his eyes. "My sole mission is to kill you!"