Guidance

The area before the Qilin screen wall had already turned into a world of ice and snow. Snowflakes as large as human palms danced wildly in the wind, blanketing everything between heaven and earth in a stark, blinding white. The blizzard was immense and furious, yet its boundaries were sharply defined, confined to a limited perimeter around the screen wall without affecting the area farther away. The figures of the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling had vanished into the snow, their whereabouts unknown. Amidst the blizzard, a bone-white chill wafted from the Qilin screen wall. At times, the true form of the frigid energy could be discerned: an ice qilin weaving through the snowstorm, elusive and ghostly. The ice qilin seemed to frolic in the snow, yet lethal intent lurked within its every motion! *Rumble...* The snow and ice danced wildly as deafening roars continuously echoed from within. Faint glimmers of spiritual light, such as streaks of green radiance, could be seen bursting out from inside, only to be quickly swallowed by the snow. A fierce clash was clearly unfolding amidst the blizzard. Fearing no death, the ice qilin charged forward repeatedly, never to return. Yet soon enough, another ice qilin would leap out from the screen wall, turning into a ray of freezing light to plunge into the battlefield. As long as the Qilin screen wall stood, the ice qilin could revive at any moment, growing stronger with each rebirth. Behind the screen wall, in a shadowed corner of the garden, an ice bee crouched silently, watching everything unfold. This ice bee had been left behind by Qin Sang's incarnation. After discovering the wonders of the Qilin screen wall, the incarnation had recalled all the ice bees elsewhere, leaving only this single one behind, which was sufficient to keep watch here. As the snow piled thicker and thicker, freezing heaven and earth into a cage, whoever was trapped inside would find it impossible to escape! Yet the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling were not about to wait helplessly for the cage to take shape. Before long, a swelling began beneath the thick layer of snow, gradually spreading outward like a python slithering beneath the snowpack. Finally, a fissure cracked open across the snow, exposing what lay beneath—an ancient, earthen-yellow tree root. The root grew outward. Its movement swiftly drew a counterattack from the Qilin screen wall. An ice qilin plunged into the snow layer, tearing the root to shreds with fangs and claws before giving chase along the path of the spreading root with a low growl. The root failed to break through the blockade. One move thwarted. Yet the scar-faced man had already achieved his goal. After all, this was an ownerless object. Though the restrictions on the Qilin screen wall were powerful, they lacked adaptability and bore damage. Against ordinary cultivators, they might suffice, but trapping great cultivators would not be so easy. Furthermore, there were two of them! Caught off guard at first, the two had not expected the Qilin screen wall to be so potent; fearing they might trigger a chain reaction in the remnant formations of the ice palace, they had felt somewhat restrained. Once they calmed down and discerned the screen wall's underlying nature, they quickly devised a countermeasure. In an instant, a thunderous roar erupted from within the snow domain. The sound was like rolling thunder. The snow layer quaked violently. Winding furrows bulged forth in succession as thick tree roots, resembling countless coiled dragons, burst through the snow. Crisscrossing and sprawling across the entire domain of snow, the roots instantly dragged this realm of bitter winter into a lush, thriving jungle. At the same time, Cave Master Qiling's shout resounded from high above. "Halt!" Following his shout, the phantom of the red flower treasure manifested. Its true form was nowhere to be seen, only a colossal phantom emerging amidst the pouring blizzard, hovering at the pinnacle of the snow domain with its opening pointed downward. In an instant, time seemed to freeze; the snowflakes stopped dead in the air. One by one, the ice qilins were forced to reveal their forms. Above each ice qilin's head hovered a dainty red flower, radiating immense restraining power. Cave Master Qiling was actually holding every single ice qilin motionless by his own power alone! Of course, such restraint was only temporary. Under the influence of the Qilin screen wall, even someone as mighty as Cave Master Qiling could only maintain it for a fleeting moment. His purpose was to buy room for the scar-faced man! *Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!* The tree roots thrashed wildly, actually bursting through the snow domain to crawl onto the Qilin screen wall. In the blink of an eye, the screen wall was covered—submerged, even—in roots, resembling a crumbling wall abandoned in a forest for countless ages. The wall's restrictions continued to fight back, frigid light beaming through the gaps between the roots, only to be promptly engulfed by the overwhelming tide of wood. At the peak of vitality came terrible decay. The Senluo Withered Prison appeared once more! This time, however, it was nothing like the simple display used against the ice qilin earlier; the scar-faced man held nothing back, unleashing the full might of this supreme secret technique. All the roots disintegrated together, vanishing into thin air. A deathly aura surged forth, enshrouding the Qilin screen wall to form a black vortex thick with death, steadily expanding to erode and strangle the wall. *Crack, crack, crack...* The sound of fracturing continuously echoed within the vortex as the screen wall projected beams of cold light that warped inside the swirl. Right at that moment, a piercing whistle rang out from the snow domain. A black line shot forth, transforming into the phantom of a wooden spike several tens of feet long as it neared the vortex, plunging deep into the Qilin screen wall! This treasure belonged to Cave Master Qiling—the very item he specialized in for breaking restrictions. *Boom!* Under their joint assault, the Qilin screen wall, which had stood unyielding for ten thousand years despite the weathering of time, collapsed today! The vortex of deathly aura dispersed, revealing the ruins within. The remnant restrictions continued to emit frigid rays, but soon extinguished completely, perishing along with the screen wall. Only at this moment did the snow domain truly settle. A series of popping thuds rang out as the eight ice qilins detonated into fragments, vanishing from the world. Two figures emerged from the snow domain one after the other. The moment the Qilin screen wall collapsed, the ice bee hidden in the dark melted away without leaving a trace. Before the Hall of Ancestors, Qin Sang's incarnation looked grim. His warning measures having served their purpose, he had already sensed what had transpired at the garden entrance through the ice bee. "It's him!" The incarnation recognized the Senluo Withered Prison deployed by the scar-faced man. This divine ability was even more terrifying than before. It was unclear whether the scar-faced man's cultivation had progressed further or whether he had neutralized part of the poison in his body, restoring his strength. Qin Sang realized that the scar-faced man's presence in Bingyi Palace was clearly aimed at the incarnation—he remained relentless in pursuit of the incarnation's spirit wood body. Otherwise, possessing wood-attribute divine abilities, he should have gone to the Wood Phase Palace instead! The scar-faced man's senses had also grown sharper; even though the incarnation had penetrated deep into Bingyi Palace, he had still detected him. With a flicker of uncertainty in his expression, the incarnation turned around and retreated back into the secret hall. The other party could lock onto his location through the aura of the spirit wood; none of his movements would escape him. With the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling arriving together, they had broken the Qilin screen wall far too quickly. Going out now would almost certainly result in being cornered by them. Returning to the eye of the spiritual formation, the incarnation glanced over the ice disc and the ice platform, his gaze finally resting on several intact treasure banners. Bingyi Palace had only a remnant formation left. However, the ice platform was intact, and he had brought the ice disc. He had stayed here for a while earlier, intending to commit this spiritual formation to memory so he could set up a similar one in his cave dwelling later to replenish energy for the ice disc. That brief period was naturally not enough for him to comprehend the entire spiritual formation, but he was already capable of controlling a portion of the remnant formation's power. Still, the formation was severely damaged; he could only control the portions corresponding to these few treasure banners. The other ruined banners could probably be utilized as well, but they would not last long. His eyes gleaming, the incarnation weighed the remnant formation's might, wondering if it could stall the two of them and help him escape. He had already secured the most precious tribulation-transcendence formation; even if Bingyi Palace were destroyed, he would feel no regret. Pondering this, the incarnation was just about to send a signal to the true body to request assistance when he suddenly sensed the faint aura of the true body rapidly approaching. His expression immediately relaxed, and he changed his mind. It seemed that the disturbance caused by the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling triggering the Qilin screen wall's restrictions had caught the true body's eye. ... Stepping out of the snow domain, Cave Master Qiling recalled the red flower and kept it hovering above his head, not daring to put it away. He gave a scoff. "A dilapidated palace, yet it still harbors such powerful restrictions. Earlier, I thought you took far too long in the Wood Phase Palace, Fellow Daoist. Looking at it now, I vastly underestimated the Wuxiang Immortal Sect." "Though I do not know the Wood Phase Palace inside out, I am familiar with a thing or two. Relying on my cultivation method and spiritual sense, I steered clear of several perilous areas; otherwise, escaping wouldn't have been so easy." The scar-faced man stood upon the ruins of the Qilin screen wall. Having confirmed that the rubble posed no threat, he appraised the garden and the main structure of the ice palace behind it. Even after coming this far, there was still no trace of a living presence. Nor were there any signs of battle before the Qilin screen wall. After a brief discussion, the two headed straight for the main palace. ... Meanwhile, seeing the strange phenomenon at Bingyi Palace, Qin Sang's true body rushed over without stopping. Even before reaching Bingyi Palace, he could faintly sense the incarnation's location. The incarnation was still deep within Bingyi Palace with no sign of movement, which meant he was not yet in danger. Either the incarnation had yet to notice the uninvited guests, or everything was under control. Qin Sang's true body arrived before the gates of Bingyi Palace. After a brief pause, he slipped inside and gazed toward the rear of the grove. Seeing that the disturbance had subsided, he knew the intruders had likely neutralized the crisis. Once the Heavenly Eye Butterfly came out, she was reluctant to return. She perched on Qin Sang's shoulder. At her master's command, she activated her Heavenly Eye, ensuring no anomaly could escape her sight. Qin Sang also unleashed his divine consciousness to the fullest, taking in his surroundings. In terms of divine consciousness, Qin Sang was never one to underestimate himself. With the Heavenly Eye divine ability coupled with a divine consciousness nearing the Deity Transformation realm, if he still failed to see through the other party's traps, he could only accept it. Bypassing the small lake, he arrived before the grove. Just as Qin Sang was about to send his divine consciousness in to probe the grove, a strange look flashed across his eyes, and his divine consciousness pulled back like an ebbing tide. "To think he has such methods..." Qin Sang thought to himself. Through the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's vision, the grove appeared normal on the surface, yet on the bark of some branches lay infinitesimally fine threads of wood spirit, scattered haphazardly throughout the woods. These wood spirit threads were exceedingly stealthy, yet those who could enter the Wuxiang Immortal Sect were all great cultivators, so noticing them was not difficult. However, the wood spirit threads were merely decoys to confuse an opponent. The scar-faced man had left behind an even subtler warning method: using a secret technique, he had turned certain plants into extensions of himself, making them exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations in divine consciousness. Should an intruder habitually rely on divine consciousness to evade the threads of spiritual power, the man would detect it at once. What the scar-faced man had not anticipated was that Qin Sang's divine consciousness was already beyond what ordinary great cultivators could match. Before those plants could perceive anything, Qin Sang had sensed something amiss and drawn his divine consciousness back into his body. Beyond that, Qin Sang discovered no third trap. Cave Master Qiling presumably trusted the scar-faced man's capabilities and had left nothing behind. Before the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, the wood spirit threads had nowhere to hide. Concealing his aura, Qin Sang darted into the grove, advancing and retreating along a winding path. It seemed erratic, yet he effortlessly avoided all the wood spirit threads and crossed the woods! Soon, the ruins of the Qilin screen wall came into Qin Sang's view. By now, the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling had already entered the ice palace. Qin Sang could see constant anomalies within the ice palace. Lacking an ice disc, their entry into the main palace triggered an automatic counterattack from the eerie blue sky-light. But because it was merely a remnant formation, the counterattack was far less potent than that of the Qilin screen wall. Following his senses, the scar-faced man drew closer step by step to the Hall of Ancestors of the Water Phase branch. The connection between Qin Sang's true body and his incarnation grew stronger, though their thoughts could not yet synchronize. Fortunately, he felt no anxiety from the incarnation, so his mind was at ease as he hurried across the garden to the front of the main palace. The eerie blue sky-light hung overhead, its faint glow enveloping the main palace, appearing harmless from the outside. Yet with the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling as precedents, the remnant formation would attack any trespasser. Earlier, when the incarnation entered, no disturbance whatsoever had occurred. Qin Sang knew his own affairs best; among the items the incarnation possessed, only one could produce such an effect: that mysterious ice disc! "The ice disc is an object of Bingyi Palace, likely connected to its grand formation as well..." Qin Sang grew thoughtful. Standing before the main palace, he was momentarily unsure whether he should enter. The ice disc was in the incarnation's hands. If the true body entered the ice palace, he would inevitably expose himself and alert the intruders. Yet the incarnation had delayed showing himself, presumably harboring some other plan. Right at that moment, Qin Sang noticed a subtle ripple in the eerie blue sky-light before him, silently parting to both sides. "This is..." Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly, followed by immense joy. This was clearly a sign that someone was manipulating the remnant formation! Within Bingyi Palace, only the incarnation could accomplish this! It appeared that the connection between the ice disc and Bingyi Palace was even closer than he had imagined; the incarnation could actually control the remnant formation. Without hesitation, he stepped into the range of the eerie blue sky-light. Sure enough, he met with no attack; wherever he went, the eerie blue sky-light parted to the sides, granting him an unobstructed path. Qin Sang quickened his pace, guided by the incarnation as he sped toward the depths of Bingyi Palace, drawing closer and closer to the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling. Finally, as the distance between him and the incarnation closed to a certain point, their thoughts synchronized. Qin Sang's true body learned the whole story, and at the same time, discovered the enemies' identities! ... Inside the secret hall, the incarnation sat cross-legged beside the ice platform. Eyes closed, hands resting upon the ice disc, true essence radiance shimmered in his palms, continuously pouring into the disc. The spiritual formation, silent for countless years, welcomed its first controller since the opening of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. Several intact treasure banners fluttered, snapping crisply in the wind. The formation runes between the banners lit up in sequence, illuminating the secret hall and casting their glow upon the incarnation's face. The incarnation wore a stern expression, tinged with a hint of chill. Although the illuminated runes were merely a tiny fraction of the grand formation, this indicated that the incarnation had brought this part of the spiritual formation under his control. Some of the damaged banners also showed signs of stirring. Proceeding with care, the incarnation gradually took command of all the damaged banners, though he did not activate their power. Through these intact and damaged banners, everything within the main palace lay within the incarnation's perception. Not only could he manipulate the intact portion of the remnant formation, but he could also barely channel the chaotic energies of its other areas. Though he could not fully control them, he could guide the true body, forging an unobstructed path for him!