"Kill!"
Deafening battle cries echoed through the vast, snow-covered mountains.
Countless figures held their ground atop immaculate white ice fortresses, relentlessly casting spells to slaughter the demon beasts surging out from the Great Snow Mountain.
Yet this beast tide was ferocious beyond all expectation.
Under repeated, violent assaults by several Demon Kings, the black-ice citadels reinforced with numerous defensive formations began collapsing one after another.
Boom!
As another ice fortress collapsed, two nearby bastions crumbled with it.
It was a chain reaction triggered by their interconnected formations.
That a group of Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement cultivators could hold out against this beast tide was entirely thanks to the immense strength of those arrays.
Once an array core failed, the ensuing backlash was all the more devastating.
Gu Xiaorou and a crowd of junior sisters were forced backward. Gazing at the gigantic frost wolf king that had smashed through the fortress, a wave of despair washed over her eyes.
Beside her, a junior sister asked in utter confusion, "Where are Martial Aunts and Uncles? Why haven't they stepped in yet?"
Gu Xiaorou ground her teeth and forced out, "They were gravely wounded during the Lingkong Secret Realm expedition organized by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect. Right now, none of them can be spared. We can only rely on ourselves!"
As she spoke, she slapped a talisman onto her body. Instead of retreating, she surged forward, charging straight for the frost wolf king amid the gasps of her junior sisters.
A vast amount of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, drawn by the black-ice talisman, converged upon her, sending her aura skyrocketing.
The sight bore an uncanny resemblance to a Nascent Soul cultivator manipulating the ambient spiritual energy.
Yet the frost wolf king merely cast her a disdainful glance.
One paw!
Smack!
Gu Xiaorou flew back as fast as she had charged.
She tumbled across the bone-chilling ground like a rolling gourd.
When she finally came to a stop, she could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood.
*Pfft!*
Despair crept into the young woman's eyes.
The disparity was simply too vast. Without Golden Core cultivation, there was no way to contend with a third-tier Demon King.
And that was only a single frost wolf king.
On the nearby battlefield lurked a Seven-Ring Snow Python and a Barred Snow Owl.
Both were third-tier Demon Kings comparable to Golden Core cultivators. Deprived of the formations' protection, this group of low-tier female cultivators from the Ice Fort stood no chance at all.
*Is this truly as far as we go?*
Inexplicably, the most dependable figure she knew flashed through Gu Xiaorou's mind.
*Senior Sister, where are you?*
Right at that moment!
A burst of sword qi surged into the heavens from Mount Tian.
A dazzling sword light traversed a thousand li in the blink of an eye. Amid the frost wolf king's terror, the sword pierced it clean through the heart.
Gu Xiaorou froze.
Then, she watched as a familiar silhouette gradually emerged before her.
"Senior Sister Canglong?"
The woman did not turn around, gazing only into the distance.
Beside her, the massive corpse of the frost wolf king crashed to the ground. In the distance, the Seven-Ring Snow Python swept forward with wind and snow, while overhead, a Barred Snow Owl shed feathers that rained down like sharp blades.
Her expression remained calm. She simply summoned her flying sword again, sending it stabbing toward the Barred Snow Owl King.
As for the rampaging Seven-Ring Snow Python, she acted as though it were invisible.
Gu Xiaorou struggled to her feet and cried out, "Senior Sister, watch out!"
The next instant, Canglong gave her hand a flick, revealing an object resembling a cross between a fortress and a pagoda.
With a forceful toss—
The miniature fortress expanded continuously until it grew nine stories tall, crashing downward with immense force.
Boom!
In a mere instant, the terrifying Seven-Ring Snow Python was pinned down completely by the nine-story ice fortress.
High above, after letting out a miserable shriek, the Barred Snow Owl King flapped its wings and fled in headlong panic.
In a breath, of the three Great Snow Mountain Demon Kings leading this beast tide, one was dead, one wounded, and one had fled.
The crisis had been resolved in an instant.
Deprived of their leaders, vast hordes of low-tier demon beasts tucked their tails and scattered in panic.
Only then did Canglong turn around, a smile gracing her lips as she looked toward the young woman.
"Junior Sister Xiaorou, why look so disheveled?"
Gu Xiaorou's mouth hung open in astonishment. "Senior Sister, have you broken through to the Golden Core stage?"
Canglong smiled faintly and waved her hand to recall the blood-stained flying sword. With a simple wipe, its original brilliant sheen returned.
"Had I not attained the Golden Core stage, how could I have slain a Demon King?"
Gu Xiaorou swallowed hard. Her senior sister's Golden Core breakthrough was surely far from ordinary.
Having only just broken through, she already possessed such terrifying combat prowess, effortlessly manipulating two magic treasures simultaneously. Such immense divine soul foundation surpassed anything she had ever seen even from her senior martial aunts and uncles in the past.
Moreover, if she was not mistaken, that nine-story ice fortress had to be their sect's premier treasure—the Moonlight Ice Fort!
When had Master bestowed this artifact upon Senior Sister?
Canglong did not linger to chat. Instructing her to tend to her wounds, she strode onto the battlefield to mop up the remaining skirmishes.
Gu Xiaorou struggled over to lean against a wall, taking stock of her injuries.
Beside her, a gentle, resonant voice sounded.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, seeing you charge at the frost wolf king just now truly made me view you in a new light!"
Gu Xiaorou looked up and saw an exceptionally handsome face before her.
If her memory served her right, he was a cultivator from an Ice Fort vassal family, surnamed Shang?
He had been invited to help repel the beast tide, and he looked entirely unscathed.
Gu Xiaorou shook her head and replied dejectedly, "I was merely overestimating my own strength."
The Shang cultivator chuckled. "To dare draw your sword against a third-tier Demon King with mid Foundation Establishment cultivation—that courage alone deserves commendation."
Hearing this, Gu Xiaorou felt a warm swell in her heart.
In truth, she had not thought that much at the time; she had simply felt instinctively that she could not let her junior sisters face the Demon King, so she had charged ahead.
Struggling to stand, she said, "I am Gu Xiaorou. Might I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"
To her surprise, the man reached out and pressed down on her shoulder.
Amid Gu Xiaorou's confusion and embarrassment, the man smiled. "Do not move recklessly. I am an alchemist and possess some medical knowledge. Your tendons and bones are likely broken. If you accidentally damage your Qi Sea, it will be dire.
"Allow me to tend to your wounds first!"
Gu Xiaorou parted her lips, her face turning bright red, yet in the end she did not refuse his kindness.
The handsome man moved deftly, resetting her bones and shifting her meridians before casting spells to disperse the contusions across her body.
At the same time, he shared his background.
"My name is Shang Hu. You may call me Xiao Shang. In age... I should be about the same as you."
"Mm."
As the two conversed, cries of alarm suddenly rose in the distance.
A blizzard swept out once more from the Great Snow Mountain!
Within it, a crimson glow flickered, radiating an aura so formidable that none dared look directly at it.
*Could another Demon King have arrived?*
Canglong once again stood before the crowd, sword in hand, her expression a mix of surprise and suspicion.
A junior sister behind her moved to attack by launching a dharma weapon, but Canglong stopped her.
"Senior Sister?" the junior sister asked in confusion.
Canglong shook her head and, amid the crowd's worry, took a step forward.
"Is that you?"
Through the wind and snow, an enormous red dog strode into view.
At the sight of the newcomer, Canglong could not help breaking into a long-awaited smile of reunion.
"Big Doggy, you're finally back!"
...
Atop Mount Tian, the red dog sat on its haunches, gazing down at the myriad living beings below.
Behind it, inside a cave estate, Canglong sat beside a bed, conversing respectfully with a sickly yet beautiful woman.
"Master, thanks to the sect-guarding treasure you bestowed, this disciple has quelled the beast tide."
The woman looked upon Canglong with profound affection and said softly, "Even without the Moonlight Ice Fort, slaying those three Demon Kings with your strength would not have been difficult."
"Master overestimates me."
The woman sighed with emotion. "It is no overestimation. The foundation of your divine soul is extraordinarily rare in this world; even Han Zhan, the once-in-a-century genius of the Luoyun Sect, falls short of you by a notch. When our Golden Core generation duels, we look first at magic power and second at divine sense. You have already mastered the Ten Directions Frozen Limit Dao, giving you vast magic power sufficient to stand proudly among your peers. With that immense divine sense you developed through unknown cultivation, my Ice Fort finally has a worthy successor."
Canglong had felt somewhat pleased with herself, but hearing these words, she grew flustered.
"Master, you and the other martial aunts and uncles are still hale and hearty. Why speak of what comes after?"
The woman grasped the younger woman's slender, tender hand and coughed, saying, "The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect harbored malicious intent, using the Lingkong Secret Realm expedition as bait to inflict grievous losses on the experts of our six sects. Even your Martial Uncle Wen perished within. Over the next hundred years, the Sword Sect will surely make more moves."
Canglong was taken aback. "They are an exalted Nascent Soul upper sect. How could they stoop to such underhanded methods?"
The woman smiled faintly. "There are differences even among Nascent Soul upper sects. Though the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect lords over the Jade Cauldron Domain and boasts unmatched combat prowess, compared to upper sects with deep heritage, they are fragile. They cannot even deploy enough personnel to secure their interests in this domain. Thus, they can only resort to sordid ploys to whittle down the strength of major Golden Core sects like ours."
Canglong parted her lips, absorbing information that felt somewhat unfamiliar yet faintly known to her.
Those ploys—instigation, suppression—were meant to wait until the sects fell into internal chaos, allowing the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect to gradually take control of the Jade Cauldron Domain without lifting a finger.
"Master, what should we do?" she asked worriedly.
The woman sighed. "What else can be done? It comes down to unity within and seeking allies without."
She then analyzed potential allies for Canglong one by one.
"Especially the Luoyun Sect!
"In this expedition into the Lingkong Secret Realm, relying on the advantage of puppets, they suffered the fewest casualties and preserved the most strength. Among the younger generation, they have outstanding talents like Han Zhan and Linghu Jie. It can be said that the Luoyun Sect's future rise is inevitable.
"If we can forge an alliance with them, our Ice Fort will not be left isolated and helpless.
"Coincidentally, I heard not long ago that Han Zhan has successfully formed his core and intends to travel abroad through the various domains of the Eastern Desolation. You may accompany him to foster closer ties."
Canglong was momentarily stunned. She had met Han Zhan before.
He had an honest face, but his mind ran quite deep.
Back during the Foundation Establishment stage, he had once sought to borrow the Ice Fort's Ice Prison to cultivate a divine soul secret art, though she had refused him because she had needed the Ice Prison to cultivate the Soul Splitting Art at the time.
"Travel with him?"
The woman smiled. "It is time for you to travel abroad. Even with heaven-defying abilities, without sufficient worldly wisdom and experience, you could easily stumble in a ditch. Only when you have grown in every respect can this master rest easy entrusting the Ice Fort to your hands."
Hearing her master speak in the tone of leaving behind her final affairs, the young woman's heart ached.
"Ranran understands."
"Ranran?"
The woman was startled. "You remember the past?"
Canglong nodded. "When I broke through to the Golden Core stage, I remembered everything. My family name is Xie, given name Ran. I hail from Guangling Commandery. It was to seek medicine for my mother that I embarked on the path of seeking immortality."
A complex expression appeared on the woman's face.
Reaching out, she stroked the young woman's cheek.
"Good child!
"In that case, while traveling abroad this time, you should return to your hometown to have a look."
Canglong nodded. After chatting a while longer, she refrained from disturbing her master's recuperation and respectfully took her leave.
Stepping out of the cave estate, the woman's heart felt heavy.
Only upon seeing the red dog sitting quietly did her mood brighten slightly.
"Big Dog, now that you're back, you won't leave again, will you?"
The red dog gave no answer. It merely gazed at Canglong for a moment before descending Mount Tian.
*She remembers yesterday's deeds, yet still perceives not the dreamer within.*
...
"It is not yet time!"
Inside the cold, quiet new cave estate, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes.
Fairy Jueqing asked nervously, "Can my senior sister still not awaken?"
Luo Chen cast several hand seals toward the ice coffin and the Mortal Fate Immortal Mirror suspended above it, then calmly rose to his feet.
"The timing is not yet ripe. Awakening her now would bring more harm than good.
"We must wait a little longer!"
Fairy Jueqing looked disappointed, but remembering that she had endured all these years, waiting a bit longer was of no consequence.
As long as there was still hope for Senior Sister!
Looking at the apprehensive, cold woman, Luo Chen recalled the teasing remarks a cultivator surnamed Fei from Mount Ailao had once made in passing, as well as what he had just witnessed in the dream realm constructed by Canglong, and could not help chuckling.
Fairy Jueqing was baffled. "What is it?"
"Nothing. I simply didn't expect you to be quite so bold in the past!"
"Ah!?" Fairy Jueqing was thoroughly confused.
"Gu Xiaorou, charging a third-tier Demon King as a mere mid Foundation Establishment cultivator—truly a woman who outshines any man!"
Chuckling, Luo Chen sauntered out of the cave estate.
He left behind Fairy Jueqing, whose icy visage flushed crimson, breathtakingly radiant.
...
Mount Dan!
This was the cultivation site where Luo Chen currently resided.
He had chosen the name himself—partly in memory of the Alchemy Saint, and partly because the mountain had been scorched by the Nirvana Holy Fire, leaving it draped in cinnabar red.
The spirit vein running through the mountain had not only survived the Nirvana Holy Fire, but had drawn in an immense amount of fire-attribute spiritual energy, making it extraordinarily suitable for the cultivation of someone with a Fire Spirit Body like Luo Chen.
For other cultivators, however, practicing here was far less ideal.
After all, the heat above was simply too sweltering.
Returning to his cave estate on Mount Dan, Luo Chen exhaled a breath of relief.
By now, the Luotian Sect was properly settled. Though the time was not yet right for his old friend Canglong, taking things step by step would eventually bring her awakening.
That freed his hands to concentrate on his own cultivation.
Yet if he proceeded according to standard cultivation methods, he would at most increase his magic power and elevate his cultivation slightly.
It would not bring about a decisive qualitative leap in his current strength.
That was not what Luo Chen sought.
"Han Zhan once said that with my aptitude for spells, after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, there was a strong likelihood I could comprehend the corresponding law intent ahead of time.
"Yet because of the Wither-Bloom True Fire's misleading path, I took a shortcut, ending up running in the opposite direction.
"Without the distraction of the Wither-Bloom True Fire...
"Monarch Qixia also mentioned that with the Fire Spirit Body I gained after nirvana, I could naturally comprehend the Intent of Fire, and even advancing to Soul Formation would face little impediment.
"Now that I have returned to the orthodox path, how am I to comprehend that Intent of Fire?"
For a time, lacking any clear lead, Luo Chen sank into vexation.
Quiet meditation?
The results were too slow.
Sudden epiphany?
It could only be encountered by chance, never sought.
Relying on the majestic Nirvana Holy Fire to peer into the mysteries?
Wouldn't that be treading the same old rut of the Wither-Bloom True Fire all over again!
With no angle to approach the problem, Luo Chen had become the most troubled man among the Luotian Sect's five hundred disciples.
Suddenly!
Amid his whirling thoughts, he remembered the scene he had just witnessed in the dream realm—Fairy Jueqing, Gu Xiaorou, using that ice talisman.
"The so-called law intent is nothing more than the essence of nature, expressed externally through the control of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, and even the power of worldly origin.
"The Dao of Talismans operates on the exact same principle!
"Could I enter the Dao through talismans and comprehend a law intent unique to myself?"
At this thought, Luo Chen's heart began to thud violently.
Chapter 920