Snow blanketed the thick ice, sealing the lake surface. At a glance, it was hard to spot any other color; all that stretched was a vast expanse of white, desolate and bleak.
This icy lake spanned not just hundreds of miles, but nearly gave the impression of the boundless Northern Sea. Explosions repeatedly erupted overhead, causing the sky to flicker between light and darkness. At times, torrential fire rained down; at others, the black-and-white Primordial Qi surged, as if signaling the end of the world.
Cao Ruixuan of the Cyan Moon Sword Sect and Mingfa from the Water Moon Nunnery were surrounded by Haswula and four Golden Tent Warriors. They could only barely hold their ground.
Outnumbered, they were already showing signs of defeat and seemed destined for a tragic fate soon. Yet their minds remained calm and composed. They had already seized an opportunity to send a distress signal. Given their distances, before they collapsed completely, at least four allies would arrive to encircle Haswula and his men in return.
Haswula swung his saber without revealing the fact that the “Solar-Scorching Bow” was already on him, patiently waiting for an opportunity—waiting for the enemy reinforcements to arrive. The more, the better!
Not far away, amidst swirling frost and mist, a coffin floated silently, its inner glow a subdued yellow, revealing a heavy iron-black surface.
High above, a streak of light shot up, bursting into dazzling fireworks visible for thousands of miles, like a real meteor.
“Chanyu the Ice Fairy,” Ye Yuqi, was lightly stepping through muddy ground, searching a primeval forest, when suddenly she sensed something. She looked up to the sky, catching sight of the “fireworks” through gaps in the branches and leaves.
So Haswula and the others were indeed counterattacking! Ye Yuqi knew the enemy had many Grandmasters, and the situation for Mingfa and Cao Ruixuan in that direction must be dire. As the leader of this mission, ensuring their safety was her duty—she couldn’t just rely on other Grandmasters arriving in time.
Thought followed action, and a transparent sword appeared in her hand, exactly three chi, three cun, and three fen long. It seemed forged from a block of ten-thousand-year-old ice, crystal clear, reflecting faint light, surrounded by cold mist. Hidden within the frost were numerous Daoist inscriptions and characters related to “ice,” faintly visible like the most beautiful patterns, rising and falling with the white vapor.
As soon as the sword appeared, the mud beneath Ye Yuqi’s feet froze, forming permafrost as if transforming into the farthest northern land.
This was the divine treasure she had painstakingly acquired—”Soul-Severing Cold Light Sword”!
A cold glow flared, enveloping Ye Yuqi like divine radiance, as she activated the divine weapon and traversed the void at a speed far surpassing normal Grandmasters. Within two or three breaths, she sensed Mingfa and Cao Ruixuan.
Haswula and his Grandmaster subordinates were still putting on an act, careful not to let the two opposing Grandmasters sense their restraint, which might reveal the trap. They wanted to avoid giving the enemy any chance to fight desperately for survival, abandoning hope of reinforcements and ruining this golden opportunity.
Just then, they felt a piercing chill, like needles stabbing their bodies. A crystalline, icy light pierced through space, far outpacing the other Grandmasters and heading straight toward them.
“A divine weapon!”
“Ye Yuqi actually has a divine weapon!”
Haswula was both startled and furious, his heart sinking. Divine weapons were rare in the world. The Huamei Villa was a newly risen top sect with little accumulation. Besides Lu Daxian’s life-linked sword, there shouldn’t be any other divine weapons. Yet Ye Yuqi truly wielded a divine weapon!
This unexpected development threw their plans into chaos. With the divine weapon, Ye Yuqi arrived at a speed far surpassing other Grandmasters, completely disrupting their strategy.
If they opened the secret realm now and released the demonic aura, it would trap only Ye Yuqi and the two surrounded Grandmasters. The other Grandmasters had not yet entered the affected area. At that point, someone among them might contact a Law-body expert, and Haswula’s group would dare not delay or linger, turning their attempt to kill Ye Yuqi and the three into a wasted effort.
But if they didn’t open the secret realm and release the demonic aura, a half-step Law-body with a divine weapon could suppress Haswula, who also had a divine weapon, weaken the other warriors, and give the two Grandmasters a chance to turn the tide. If the King of Yama intervened, it might expose the trap, making subsequent Grandmasters more cautious and less likely to walk into it.
An unforeseen variable nearly ruined the entire plan!
Frustrated, Haswula saw two ornamental brushes fly out—one with a black handle and white bristles, the other white handle and black bristles. Life was hidden within death, and death within life, forming a massive Taiji diagram of life and death midair, pointing toward that crystalline cold light.
The King of Yama had intervened after all.
Haswula inhaled sharply, understanding the King of Yama’s intent. The secret realm was unknown to outsiders; the enemy wouldn’t know where the trap was. Even if they saw the King of Yama and sensed something strange, there was still a good chance they would walk into it.
Thus, he steadied himself, drew his divine bow, and unleashed his full power, accelerating to the extreme to prevent Mingfa and Cao Ruixuan—who had spotted the King of Yama—from escaping, patiently waiting for most of the prey to enter the trap.
As soon as Ye Yuqi saw the black-and-white brushes, she grew alert. Her crystalline sword-light slashed, opening all her acupoints and releasing her dharma body.
Instantly, the area within a hundred miles turned dark and boundless, surrounded by countless stars. Everyone felt as if they had been transported into a vast starry sky.
Each star grew larger and closer, falling from the “sky.” Upon closer inspection, each star was a delicate, translucent snowflake, brimming with coldness, radiating sharp, icy sword qi.
Blizzards raged, countless “snowflakes” drifting rapidly toward the coffin, which had begun to emit blood-yellow mist again, and toward Haswula and the four Golden Tent Warriors.
The snowflakes were numerous, the sword qi swift and fierce. One Golden Tent Warrior couldn’t block them all in time and was grazed on the left shoulder.
In an instant, his left shoulder turned icy blue, flesh, blood, and bone all frozen solid.
Gritting his teeth, he twisted his right silver-white claw, tearing off the left shoulder along with the arm and discarding it.
The arm fell rapidly but hadn’t even hit the snow before turning into an ice sculpture from tip to tail.
Crashing down, it shattered into ice fragments.
With one sword strike, not only was the King of Yama’s “Brushes of Life and Death” hindered, but even Haswula and the other Grandmasters were greatly affected. Mingfa unleashed a flurry of arms, and Cao Ruixuan performed the “Cyan Moon Cleansing the Sky,” instantly turning the tide.
A half-step Law-body, combining techniques and a divine weapon, could briefly resist a Law-body expert!
Haswula raised a longbow in front of him—ancient, heavy, and twisted, exuding a sense of destruction.
The bowstring trembled slightly, and the sun appeared, melting the snowflakes.
Meanwhile, the iron-black coffin, shrouded in blood-yellow mist, creaked open, revealing a gap.
Snap! A pitch-black, enormous hand gripped the edge of the gap, with fine, white hairs growing on the back, sending chills down one’s spine.
Bang! The coffin lid was flung off, releasing a surge of blood-yellow mist like a hot spring, bubbling and thick, icy and sinister.
From the mist, a colossal figure sat up, about ten zhang tall—definitely too large to have fit inside the coffin before.
The figure was shrouded in a blood-yellow mist, faintly discernible in a dark ceremonial robe and an ancient high crown. Merely sitting up sent violent tremors through the void, draining the sky of its hues. Within a radius of two to three hundred miles, all life perished—ice beasts collapsed, evergreen trees withered, and bizarre insects burst apart.
A blood-yellow phantom river, unknown in origin and destination, appeared behind the giant figure, seemingly his dharma body.
The most mysterious half-step Law-body, the “King of Yama,” finally revealed his true form, exuding terror, as if composed of countless divine weapons!
The giant swayed, its surroundings glowing blood-yellow. The star-like snowflakes that entered were instantly drained of vitality, turning pitch-black before being washed away.
He stretched out his hands, catching the “Brushes of Life and Death,” one stroke black, one white, attacking Ye Yuqi, as if pronouncing her fate.
Ye Yuqi’s expression turned grave. She knew she faced an opponent unlike any she had ever encountered—far stronger than the dying Law-body experts with exploitable weaknesses. Her dharma body was still incomplete.
The two clashed rapidly, shaking heaven and earth. The ice lake cracked open, massive waves surging into the air like fountains, yet frozen in place like ice sculptures.
Within moments, Grandmasters began arriving one by one, including He Xiu from the Eastern Sea Sword Estate.
Just as Meng Qi approached the ice lake, he suddenly stopped, sensing a vague danger.
Behind him, Chen Zhao chased with Liu Zejun, shouting loudly, “I am Chen Zhao from the Northern Extreme! May I ask your honorable name? I shall come for a rematch in the future!”
Being defeated was not shameful. A setback in confidence didn’t mean losing all hope. He could still grow, still improve. One day’s loss was not a permanent defeat. But to be casually defeated by a passerby, without even knowing his name, would deeply wound his heart.
At that moment, seeing most Grandmasters already engaged, with only a few either not yet arrived or hesitating at the edge, seemingly sensing something, the King of Yama decisively crushed an object in secret.
Boom!
A phantom explosion erupted, and the ice lake shattered completely. Pitch-black, heavy mist spread rapidly.
Suddenly, the King of Yama sensed his “Bone of the Yellow Spring” within his true form resonating intensely with the Demon Lord’s fiendish aura—an unprecedented phenomenon during its sealed confinement within the coffin. In an instant, the mist erupted violently, plunging thousands of miles into pitch-black darkness. A terrifying suction force yanked everyone off balance, its scope vastly surpassing even the King of Yama’s direst expectations!
(Note: Adjusted “魔君” to “Demon Lord” as a more natural fantasy title convention, while preserving the original’s dramatic escalation through intensified verbs like “erupted” and “yanked.” The phrase “pitch-black darkness” enhances the atmospheric dread, and “direst expectations” underscores the unforeseen magnitude of the event.)
Meng Qi had originally stopped at a safe distance, but now found himself enveloped in the mist. Everything he saw seemed hazy and distorted, as if he had truly entered the Ninth Hell, his mind slightly restless.
An illusion? Meng Qi frowned. The Unceasing Primordial Symbol between his eyebrows subtly formed the Primordial Seal. A golden Buddha within his yuan-shen suppressed the chaos. His eyes, like crystal, shot out tangible divine light, piercing through the mist and darkness, revealing a towering peak where a sigh echoed:
“Resolve the final doubt, break through life and death, and sit in meditation here.”
Chen Zhao protected Liu Zejun, glancing around in confusion and transmitting voice, “Senior, do you feel this resembles the outer forbidden arts of the Ice and Snow Fairy Palace?”
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