The nine-tailed fox sprinted across the snowy ground, calling out to the Qingwu Sword within his spiritual sea. However, it was as if the sword spirit had fallen into a deep slumber, showing no response.
The sword spirit wasn’t damaged, which meant it simply couldn’t connect with him—something had happened to Sang Dai.
Anxiety surged within Su Xuan, and anger rose from the depths of his heart. He turned abruptly and prepared to rush back.
As soon as he turned, a killing intent swept in from the side, a crescent blade of spiritual power slicing through the air toward him.
The nine-tailed fox dodged to the side.
The crescent blade missed its mark, its spiritual power dissipating and transforming into a crimson feather that floated gently to the ground.
A Linghe (spiritual crane) stood poised atop a cliff, its wings shimmering with green feathers marked by red streaks. Its beak was white, and faint traces of eerie fire flickered with each breath.
Su Xuan spoke in a low voice: “Bi Fang.”
Unlike Su Xuan’s Hellfire, Bi Fang was born alongside Erratic Flame, a fire that was uncontrollable.
Just like Tian Yuxue, one brought freezing cold for miles when they emerged, while the other brought great fire upon appearing.
However, Bi Fang’s innate ability wasn’t Erratic Flame—it was Suppression.
Su Xuan understood immediately.
The nine-tailed fox was born with Hellfire, and Su Xuan specialized in Hellfire Arrays. Hellfire required spiritual power to fuel it; the stronger Su Xuan grew, the stronger the Hellfire became.
His innate ability, however, was Soul-Seizing, which had little use in direct combat. When fighting, Su Xuan typically relied on Hellfire and occasionally the Qingwu Sword.
But in the Snow Abyss, where spiritual power was suppressed, his Hellfire wasn’t as strong as before, and the Qingwu Sword was not at his side.
Bi Fang, however, was different. Its innate ability was Suppression, which it used in battle. Unlike Su Xuan, Bi Fang didn’t rely on spiritual power to fight; it could still use its innate ability even under suppression.
The nine-tailed fox’s massive stature towered above the landscape. Even with the Linghe perched atop the mountain peak, it could still meet Su Xuan’s gaze head-on.
The Linghe spoke in a human voice, laughing: “It’s been many years since we last met. Back then, you were gravely injured. I thought you were dead, but it turns out you were in seclusion. And now you’ve emerged as a Grand Ascension demon cultivator—a true Heaven-Grade Spiritual Root awakener.”
Su Xuan asked coldly, “You intend to stop me? Did he send you?”
The Linghe chuckled: “If I don’t stop you, with the two of you Heaven-Grade Spiritual Root awakeners working together, who could possibly kill Sang Dai?”
Su Xuan scoffed, his tone icy: “Even Tian Yuxue alone couldn’t kill her. Sang Dai is far stronger than Tian Yuxue.”
The Linghe raised an eyebrow. “Of course, I know that. Which is why… he went too.”
The previously composed nine-tailed fox’s expression instantly turned dark, the Hellfire around him spiraling out of control.
He had been reassured letting Sang Dai pursue because he knew how powerful she was. Tian Yuxue alone couldn’t touch her.
But what if the mastermind had gone too?
Someone whose cultivation level they couldn’t even guess.
Su Xuan could no longer bother with Bi Fang and immediately turned to chase after Sang Dai.
At that moment, an invisible restriction descended from the heavens. The nine-tailed fox, who could once traverse thousands of miles in a blink, found his steps slowing, and the Hellfire surrounding him began to wane.
The Linghe flapped its wings and soared into the void. Its beast form gradually faded, replaced by a handsome young man clad in red.
The nine-tailed fox also withdrew its true form, transforming into a black-robed young man. Su Xuan wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his lips, his expression cold and grim.
Bi Fang spoke: “Beast King, you won’t be able to save her.”
Su Xuan ignited Hellfire with a backhanded motion. The crimson flames spread across the snowy ground for hundreds of miles, resembling an inferno engulfing half of the Snow Abyss. The flames roared into the sky, with powerful spiritual energy surging in all directions.
“If you want to stop me, you’d better make sure you’re qualified.”
A black shadow flickered, and in an instant, Su Xuan appeared before Bi Fang. The Hellfire coalesced into a sharp blade that slashed toward him, leaving trails of fire in its wake.
Bi Fang dodged to the side, laughing as the young man said playfully, “I certainly can’t stop you for long, but delaying you for an hour is enough. Don’t you feel your actions have been hindered?”
In the Snow Abyss, where spiritual power was suppressed, Su Xuan’s strength was doubly constrained—first by the abyss itself, and then by Bi Fang’s innate ability, Suppression.
Although the surroundings seemed to be nothing but flames and snow, both of them knew that an invisible restriction encircled Su Xuan. It was a crushing force, like carrying the weight of ten thousand pounds, making even a simple movement a thousand times harder than usual.
This was Bi Fang’s innate ability—Suppression.
And it required no spiritual power to use.
Su Xuan gripped the Hellfire blade tightly, tilting his head slightly with a chilling smile. “Why don’t we see if I can kill you within fifteen minutes?”
The Hellfire suddenly intensified, becoming several times more powerful than before. Even though Bi Fang had a fire-aligned spiritual root, he could feel waves of scorching heat.
Bi Fang’s playful smile vanished. Meeting Su Xuan’s onslaught, he pushed his innate ability to its limit, and the sound of bones fracturing echoed faintly.
Su Xuan’s face grew paler, but he didn’t frown. On the contrary, the Hellfire surrounding him burned even brighter.
Ignoring Bi Fang’s Suppression, he wielded the fire blade, each strike aimed directly at Bi Fang’s vital points.
Bi Fang cursed inwardly. This man was truly reckless. Even with shattered bones, he continued to fight as if possessed—a complete madman.
But regardless, Bi Fang had to hold him back.
In the void, the two figures weaved through the blazing inferno. The intense flames glowed brightly, and snowflakes falling from the sky melted into droplets of water as they touched the fire.
Farther away, a woman in a pale pink dress held a hand warmer. Her cold eyes watched the battle between the two.
Her beautiful face was clouded with gloom. A gust of cold wind blew past, and she covered her mouth, coughing lightly.
Shi Yao wiped the blood from her palm with an air of nonchalance before lifting her gaze to the overcast sky.
She knew that beyond the eighty-one heavens above, a pair of eyes was watching them.
“If Sang Dai dies, it will all end,” Shi Yao murmured wistfully. “Don’t deceive me.”
The only response she received was the ever-thickening snowfall.
—
Sang Dai followed Tian Yuxue deeper and deeper into the void, unsure of where she was. All she saw was emptiness.
She estimated that nearly fifteen minutes had passed, yet there was still no end in sight. Tian Yuxue remained silent.
Changmang and Qingwu had given up trying to persuade her to leave. One listlessly coiled around Sang Dai’s wrist, while the other stayed quietly in its sheath, trying to reach its owner.
Tian Yuxue finally spoke: “We’re here.”
She suddenly stopped walking, and Sang Dai halted as well.
Tian Yuxue tilted her head back, raising a hand to indicate for Sang Dai to look. “There.”
Sang Dai followed the direction she pointed.
What she saw were towering skeletal structures rising from the ground, their cold, pale-white bones assembling together. It felt as though the two of them had entered the expansive and colossal ribcage of some great creature.
The skeletal remains stretched for thousands of miles, disappearing into the horizon.
“This is the Snow Owl. It’s the one searching for you.”
Sang Dai was incredulous. “The Snow Owl’s remains were said to have turned into the Snow Realm, weren’t they?”
Tian Yuxue turned to look at her. “That’s just a rumor.”
She flipped her palm over, and a bone appeared in Tian Yuxue’s hand.
“This is me. I am one of the Snow Owl’s ribs.”
For a moment, Sang Dai felt as though everything she thought she knew had been overturned.
“But you’re clearly a divine beast…”
Tian Yuxue shook her head. “I’m not a divine beast. I’m a spirit born from a single rib of the Snow Owl. During the Great Wild era, the Snow Owl fell. Ten thousand years later, one of its ribs transformed into me.”
“You’re not a divine beast—why do you have an innate ability?”
“I have the Snow Owl’s bloodline. As long as there’s divine beast lineage, the Heavenly Dao will grant an innate ability.”
At this, Tian Yuxue chuckled softly, her gaze teasing. “For instance, if you and Su Xuan were to have a child, even though it wouldn’t be a pure-blooded nine-tailed fox, with half the divine beast bloodline of the nine-tailed fox, the Heavenly Dao would still grant it an innate ability. Although it might not necessarily be Soul-Seizing.”
Thus, the rumors that Tian Yuxue was a descendant of the Snow Owl were, in a sense, true.
But she wasn’t a pure divine beast—she was merely a rib of the Snow Owl.
Sang Dai wasn’t interested in this detail and instead asked, “Why is the Snow Owl searching for me?”
Tian Yuxue shook her head. “It’s looking for the Weisheng family bloodline.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Everything. If you have the Weisheng bloodline, you’ll live.”
“And if I don’t?”
“The Snow Owl will kill you. You’ll die under the power of Bewilderment.”
Tian Yuxue stowed away the rib, her smile faint. “The power of Bewilderment doesn’t just cause confusion in memory. It’s strong enough to tear apart space. For instance, right now, you’re no longer in the Four Realms.”
She was in a rift outside the Four Realms.
That’s why Su Xuan couldn’t find her.
No one could.
Sang Dai remained silent, saying nothing.
Tian Yuxue smiled and said, “It only needs to use the power of Bewilderment to crush this space, and you’ll vanish along with it.”
She extended her hand, opened her palm, and then clenched it tightly.
“Crushed to death.”
Most people would feel fear in the face of death. Tian Yuxue had witnessed countless deaths over the years, but on Sang Dai’s face, it was as if fear could never exist.
Back then, Sang Dai, at only the early Nascent Soul stage, had dared to confront Tian Yuxue alone, pulling her into her own barrier, enduring the intense cold Tian Yuxue radiated just to demand answers.
Even when she was being consumed by frost poison, Sang Dai showed no fear.
And now, decades later, she was still the same.
Tian Yuxue’s smile faded. “I never thought you could be the person I’ve been looking for.”
And back then, she had almost killed Sang Dai.
An inexplicable sense of unease suddenly rose in Tian Yuxue’s heart.
She looked at Sang Dai, her gaze carrying a trace of admiration.
That test earlier had proven that Sang Dai’s cultivation had advanced significantly. Her reactions were swift.
But Sang Dai didn’t notice the subtle change in Tian Yuxue. Instead, she asked again, “So, every time you’ve awakened and ventured out into the world, it wasn’t just for eating, drinking, and playing, but to search for this person?”
“Not entirely,” Tian Yuxue paused, then added, “I’ve been searching for the entire Weisheng family.”
Sang Dai had never heard of the Weisheng family before.
She frowned. “A sect?”
“Yes.”
“If it’s a sect, it should be easy to find.”