Encounter

"What a pity there was only one set of the spirit array." Su Nü looked down at the fragments of the jade bracelet, regret flickering across her face. Her cultivation was somewhat inferior to that youth's; she had managed to kill him entirely by catching him off guard and relying on that set of restriction implements. Thinking back to his dying words, Su Nü's gaze wavered. She wondered if she really had overthought things and misunderstood their intentions. Yet the moment she recalled her tragic past—those young girls whose vibrant, flower-like lives had been extinguished under evil arts, and the repulsive countenance of Immortal Aunt Yue—she could not help but shudder. That ordeal was a nightmare she could never banish from her mind. Without those memories, she certainly would never have doubted the Eastern Pole Alliance Leader's high regard for her, and she would have treated those people as true kith and kin. Letting out a soft sigh, Su Nü waved her hand to wipe away every trace of the battle. She searched the youth's mustard seed bag, keeping what was useful and utterly destroying the rest. She surveyed her surroundings and was just about to activate her movement technique to take flight. Suddenly, a dull rumble echoed from beneath the ice, rushing toward her at blistering speed. At first, Su Nü did not pay it much mind, assuming it was an ordinary ferocious beast drawn in by the commotion. She had slain two ice lizards here, fought a fierce battle with her senior brother, and detonated restriction implements; it was only natural to create a tremendous stir. Yet in the next breath, Su Nü's expression changed dramatically. *Crack!* The distant ice sheet abruptly shattered. An ice flood dragon surged out from beneath the ice. Its flesh was crystal clear, allowing its blood and skeleton to be seen with the naked eye. Flying into midair, the dragon looked down at Su Nü, its gaze dripping with madness and murderous intent, savage and menacing. "Comparable to the late Core Formation stage..." Sensing the dragon's aura, Su Nü's heart tightened. To win the youth's trust and lure him into the trap, she had not hesitated to injure herself as a disguise, and she had subsequently fought a grueling battle with him. Her strength had suffered greatly, leaving her far from her peak. Faced with so formidable a beast so suddenly, she truly lacked confidence. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than an even more alarming sight unfolded. The surrounding ice began to groan and crack. In an instant, fractures crisscrossed the entire expanse. Beneath the ice sheet, numerous white shadows darted through the depths, converging on her with astonishing speed. They were ice flood dragons of all sizes! She had not disturbed a single beast, but an entire pack of them! While powerful beasts comparable to late Core Formation cultivators certainly existed in the Trial Realm, and one might run into them with bad luck, alarming so many at once was exceedingly rare. She had only herself to blame for lingering in one place for too long. A wave of bitterness welled in Su Nü's heart. Had she truly overthought things? At this rate, she might lose her life here before the Business Alliance's schemes even had a chance to unfold. "Wings of the True Demon!" Her lips parted slightly as she hastily formed an incantation hand sign. True demonic qi surged violently from her body and coalesced behind her back, finally taking the shape of a pair of black wings. The demonic wings were peculiar, resembling skeletal wings devoid of membranes or feathers. Shafts of black bone composed of true demonic qi were pieced together into a crude, skeletal frame. *Whoosh!* Flapping the demonic wings, Su Nü shot toward the thinnest section of the surrounding ice flood dragons, directly opposite the dragon king in the air. The Ice Flood Dragon King roared with an ear-piercing shriek, coiled its body, and pounced toward her at breakneck speed. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* The ice sheet shattered in succession as white shadows burst forth, vying with one another to lunge at Su Nü. "Demonic Yuan Slash!" Gritting her teeth, Su Nü shifted her hand sign. True demonic qi concentrated within her palms, instantly transforming into an enormous black demonic saber nearly two zhang in length. Knowing full well that she stood little chance of survival if she failed to break free immediately, Su Nü unleashed her full might. Compared to the colossal demonic saber, her figure seemed frail and tiny. Leaping into midair, she hoisted the blade with both hands and slashed down furiously toward the pack of dragons! *Slash!* The shadow of the demonic blade flashed like a streak of black light, appearing extraordinarily glaring against the pristine white expanse of the ice plain. *Rip!* The two mid-sized ice flood dragons in the lead were sheared in two without the slightest resistance. To her dismay, however, the other dragons were not frightened away; on the contrary, the scent of blood only drove them into a greater frenzy. *Crash! Crash! Crash!* The severed carcasses crashed onto the ice sheet. Carving a path with the demonic blade, Su Nü charged forward. Behind her, the Ice Flood Dragon King drew ever closer, making her hair stand on end, while more and more ice flood dragons gathered toward her beneath the ice. Finally, after the demonic blade cleaved through another ice flood dragon, the way ahead cleared. *I'm through!* A surge of joy washed over Su Nü. Flapping her demonic wings, her figure flashed as she broke free of the encirclement. Without hesitation, she stowed the demonic blade and vanished into the distance as a black streak of escaping light. Enraged, the Ice Flood Dragon King bolted like lightning, clinging to her heels. Beneath the ice sheet, white shadows darted about unpredictably. After flying for a while, Su Nü cast a glance over her shoulder, only to find the dragon king relentlessly pursuing her as if nursing a blood feud. What worried her most was that this chase was kicking up an even greater commotion, already alarming other ferocious beasts. If a few more great demons on par with the Ice Flood Dragon King were drawn here, her situation would become truly perilous. At this thought, Su Nü had no choice but to retrieve a talisman from her mustard seed bag—one of the life-saving means the Business Alliance had provided before her departure. Activating the talisman, green qi enveloped her body, and her flight speed drastically increased out of nowhere. *** In another corner of the Mystic Ice Plain. Paying no heed to the bitter chill, Qin Sang effortlessly dispatched a ferocious beast, then continued on his way as if nothing had happened. Naturally, he did not act with reckless abandon. The Mystic Ice Plain was not without threats to him. From what he knew, there might even be apex spirit beasts comparable to the Nascent Soul stage within the Trial Realm, and no one could say for certain whether one lurked right here in the Mystic Ice Plain. Those who were overly arrogant rarely met good ends. Before long, Qin Sang seemed to sense something. Abruptly lowering his escaping light, he looked toward his right rear. A slight frown creased his brow. After casting a glance in all directions, he flitted into the distance and concealed his figure, fading completely from sight. Moments later, the ferocious roars of beasts suddenly echoed from the direction Qin Sang had been watching, mingled with the piercing shriek of displaced air. Soon after, a black escaping light entered Qin Sang's field of view. Evidently, a cultivator was being hunted down by ferocious beasts! *As expected, formidable ferocious beasts are lurking in the Mystic Ice Plain!* Qin Sang mused in concealment. His gaze swept over the fleeing cultivator, and just as he moved to see what manner of beast was giving chase, his eyes narrowed sharply. *How could it be her?* To his astonishment, Qin Sang realized the person being hunted down was Su Nü! After becoming a confidante of the Eastern Pole Alliance Leader, her cultivation had skyrocketed to the late Core Formation stage in a short span. Such progress was not something natural talent alone could achieve; the Eastern Pole Alliance had undoubtedly poured vast resources into nurturing her. With the backing of the Business Alliance, passing the first three trials should not have been overly difficult for Su Nü. Yet to Qin Sang's surprise, she had somehow sustained injuries, fled without daring to strike back, and appeared thoroughly battered. "Huh?" Just then, Bai's voice suddenly drifted out from the corpse puppet pouch. "This girl... Her cultivation art is rather peculiar. Those wings on her back... feel very familiar to me!"