She hadn’t put on her outer robe, only a light undergarment secured with thin strings that outlined her slender waist—so narrow it seemed it could be held easily in one hand.
Su Xuan had held her waist many times before. He knew how soft and how slender it was.
He would often think she was far too thin, yet he carefully took care of her, as if afraid that a gust of wind might blow away his delicate sword cultivator.
“Su Xuan?” Noticing that Su Xuan wasn’t speaking, Sang Dai called out again, “What are you doing with Zhiyu?”
She walked toward him, confusion in her expression.
Su Xuan blinked.
Sang Dai heard: [Damn.]
Sang Dai: “?”
[So beautiful, soft and fair. I really like her.]
Sang Dai: “……”
[I want to kiss her again. I’ll definitely kiss her next time.]
Sang Dai snatched back her sword and put it away.
Su Xuan cleared his throat, averting his gaze. “It’s nothing. I was just looking at Zhiyu.”
Sang Dai stepped past Su Xuan and moved to the innermost side of the bed. Su Xuan always liked to sleep on the outer side, so Sang Dai naturally took the inside.
The fox spirit turned over and pulled the brocade blanket over Sang Dai, leaving only her head exposed.
[So cute.]
Sang Dai: “……………”
She asked, “Su Xuan, how old are you?”
That question again.
Su Xuan answered honestly, “One hundred and thirty-three.”
Sang Dai tugged the blanket down to expose her neck and said flatly, “You seem more like you’re three.”
Su Xuan pulled up his own blanket and lay down beside Sang Dai, turning his head to look at her. “Then, Miss Sang, you’ll have to protect me. I’m so fragile and weak. At such a young age, I need companionship and care.”
Sang Dai closed her eyes, pretending he was just air.
Su Xuan tucked the blanket over her.
Sang Dai pushed it down again.
Su Xuan pulled it back up.
Sang Dai pushed it back down.
Su Xuan persistently covered her again.
Sang Dai opened her eyes. “What are you doing?”
Su Xuan replied, “This is the Beast Realm. The night temperatures here are colder than you can imagine, and you already have a cold constitution.”
Su Xuan had known about Sang Dai’s cold constitution for many years. Her body temperature wasn’t just lower compared to his, as a blood-hot divine beast, but even compared to ordinary people without spiritual roots, she was noticeably colder.
As a result, Sang Dai was also quite afraid of the cold.
Sang Dai froze for a moment, but Su Xuan had already pulled the brocade blanket back over her, wrapping her tightly.
“Sleep now. You won’t feel cold with me here.”
Cocooned in the blanket, Sang Dai could sense the Karmic Fire Array Su Xuan had set up around the bed.
Su Xuan’s body was always so warm.
She didn’t struggle anymore. Su Xuan had already closed his eyes, his figure tucked under another brocade blanket, his side profile sharp and well-defined.
Sang Dai watched him for a moment, noticing how his breathing gradually became steady, as though he had fallen asleep.
She smiled faintly, thinking that Su Xuan was almost unbearably adorable.
He even kept such a regular sleep schedule.
The little fox seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. Amusement tugged at the corners of Sang Dai’s lips, and she reached out to poke Su Xuan’s face.
“What did you eat growing up? Your skin is so good.”
Indeed, the fox spirit had the potential to be a proper fox spirit. To Sang Dai, the faces of others were just that—a face. Even if everyone said she was beautiful, to her, she simply saw an ordinary face in the mirror.
But Su Xuan’s face, after all these years, was the only one etched deeply into her memory.
If anyone were to ask Sang Dai who the best-looking person in the Four Realms was, she would unhesitatingly answer:
Su Xuan.
That certain fox spirit really did have some charm.
Sang Dai poked him again, but Su Xuan remained motionless. Worried she might wake him, she decisively withdrew her hand and lay quietly back down.
Surrounded by warmth, Sang Dai closed her eyes and let down all her guards.
With Su Xuan beside her, there was no need to worry about any danger.
About a quarter of an hour later, Sang Dai’s breathing grew steady and even.
The pretending-to-sleep fox finally revealed his tail.
Su Xuan quickly turned around. It had taken him nearly all the self-control he had in this lifetime to stop himself from smothering her in kisses earlier.
Seeing Sang Dai sleeping so soundly, Su Xuan poked her nose gently, whispering softly, “You little ingrate, are you taking advantage of me?”
Whenever Sang Dai was near him, she let her guard down completely and slept deeply, unlikely to wake up easily.
Su Xuan moved a little closer to her and murmured, “You’ve already taken advantage of me—why not take a bit more and give me a kiss?”
He was perfectly happy to let her hug and kiss him. If Sang Dai actually kissed him, Su Xuan figured he’d probably be so overjoyed that his tail would wag for her.
The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. He couldn’t help but poke at her eyelashes, then at her soft cheek, his heart turning to mush. He wished he could revert to his fox form, curl his tail around her, and keep her tightly in his embrace.
Sang Dai instinctively leaned toward the warmth, nestling closer to him without realizing it.
Su Xuan didn’t move away. Instead, he subtly adjusted his position and welcomed her into his arms, holding her tightly and grinning from ear to ear.
The little fox, who had caught his beloved sword cultivator, rubbed his chin lightly on the top of her head, kissed her hair softly, and patted her back gently through the blanket, lulling her to sleep in his own way.
The night grew deeper and darker.
—
The Chunqiu Tower had 188 floors, with Qiu Chengxi residing on the very top level.
The Chunqiu Tower encompassed numerous buildings, but this main tower served as his personal residence. The first hundred floors below were used for hosting banquets and gatherings.
As for the disciples of the Chunqiu Tower, they didn’t live in the main tower. Instead, they resided in the buildings situated behind it. Thus, whenever Qiu Chengxi entered seclusion, the main tower would remain unoccupied.
After leaving Sang Dai’s room, Qiu Chengxi walked swiftly back to his quarters. Outside his door, a young boy and girl awaited him.
The pair bowed respectfully. “Tower Master.”
“Mm.”
Qiu Chengxi stepped inside, and the boy and girl closed the door behind him, activating a soundproofing array.
“Nanmu, Beihe, speak.”
The boy, Nanmu, dressed in a purple robe, lowered his head and replied, “Tower Master, Tian Yuxue seems to have awakened. This might… lead to a Great Wild.”
Qiu Chengxi frowned. “It’s only August—why would she awaken? The last time was sixty years ago. Why so soon this time?”
The girl, Beihe, dressed in pink, answered respectfully, “She hasn’t left the Snow Realm yet, but the seals on the Snow Realm have been disturbed, which likely means she’s awake.”
“Does Ji Cang know?”
“He knows.”
“What did he say?”
“Ji Cang has gone to the Snow Realm.”
Qiu Chengxi abruptly stood up, his voice sharp. “Ridiculous. Has he lost his mind? That’s not a place he can go!”
Nanmu responded, “Ji Cang didn’t go alone. It seems someone accompanied him.”
Qiu Chengxi’s tone turned icy. “What difference does it make? Whether one person enters or a thousand, the outcome will be the same.”
He sat back down, grabbed the tea next to him, and gulped it down before sneering, “They’ve both lost their heads. If Tian Yuxue truly awakens, Ji Cang won’t be coming out alive.”
Beihe suddenly spoke up, “Tower Master, if Tian Yuxue does awaken, it’s fine if she stays in the Snow Realm. But if she leaves… many people will die.”
Qiu Chengxi was well aware of that.
When Tian Yuxue emerges, the Great Cold follows.
Countless mortals without spiritual roots would freeze to death. Even cultivators at the Qi Refinement Stage with insufficient cultivation would succumb to the frigid cold brought by Tian Yuxue.
“Back then, Ji Cang and I led a group of powerful cultivators and almost exhausted all our cultivation just to put her to sleep. Even if she were to awaken, it should have been decades later. The seals shouldn’t have only held her for sixty years. Besides, Tian Yuxue only awakens in the winter.”
As he thought of something, his expression turned grim.
Beihe asked, “Tower Master, what have you realized?”
Qiu Chengxi clenched his tea cup tightly, shattering it in his grip.
“Someone forcibly awakened her.”
For someone to stir up trouble at this critical moment, enter the Snow Realm, and awaken Tian Yuxue—it could only be someone extraordinary.
“…Is it the one who left the spiritual root in the Chunqiu Tower?”
Apart from him, Qiu Chengxi couldn’t think of anyone else.
“If he wants to kill my sister, he could simply come directly. Awakening Tian Yuxue to drag innocent civilians to their deaths—what exactly is he trying to achieve? Does awakening Tian Yuxue really allow him to kill my sister?”
Sang Dai was a heaven-level spiritual root awakener and a Grand Ascension Stage cultivator. Even if Tian Yuxue awakened, it would merely require some effort to suppress her. Troublesome, yes, but not impossible to resolve. What’s more, she had an ancient divine beast born to counter the Great Cold by her side.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan was born with hellfire. If Sang Dai and Su Xuan joined forces, dealing with Tian Yuxue would hardly take much effort.
Nanmu and Beihe couldn’t figure it out either, lowering their heads in silent contemplation.
Qiu Chengxi leisurely wiped the tea from his hands, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the table.
When deep in thought, he often made such small movements. The tapping, sharp and crisp, did nothing to hinder his thinking.
Suddenly, the tapping stopped.
Nanmu and Beihe raised their heads to look at him.
Qiu Chengxi’s expression was even darker than before, so grim it seemed almost oppressive.
He gritted his teeth, speaking each word with venom, “The last person to see Immortal Lord Ying Heng before the destruction of the Guixu spiritual veins… was Tian Yuxue.”
The lamps in the room flickered under the force of his scattered spiritual energy. Nanmu and Beihe looked on in shock.
Qiu Chengxi’s voice was icy. “My sister is investigating the destruction of the Guixu spiritual veins. He’s trying to lure her to the Snow Realm.”
But the Snow Realm was a place of near-certain death.
—
In a land of extreme cold and frost, towering snow-capped mountains loomed.
A blizzard raged, the wind carrying sharp shards of ice, turning the world into a white expanse.
The snow in the Snow Realm was unlike ordinary snow.
Ordinary snow melted upon contact with air or ground.
The snow of the Snow Realm melted directly into a person’s meridians.
It landed on the skin, seeped beneath it, and solidified as ice, blocking the meridians. Before long, the victim would turn into an ice sculpture.
Even their lungs and blood would freeze solid.
Amid the endless snowfall, a young man in a dark red robe walked through the snowfield. The demonic energy surrounding him shielded him from the falling snow and obscured his otherwise unremarkable face.
Beside him walked another figure clad in a monk’s robe. Bald, his angular, handsome features were accentuated. A faint golden glow emanating from his robe protected him from the snowflakes above.
Tan Huai smiled warmly. “Demon Lord, since you’re not afraid of the cold, could you perhaps spare this poor monk an outer robe? I left in a hurry this time and only brought this one outfit.”
Ji Cang glanced at him coldly. “If a heaven-level spiritual root awakener can’t withstand this little bit of cold, then Master Tan Huai might as well freeze to death and save himself the embarrassment.”
Tan Huai shook his head, sighing. “Cold-blooded and heartless, truly cold-blooded and heartless.”
Ji Cang shot him a glare. If he didn’t still have use for this bald donkey, he would’ve thrown him out of the Demon realm long ago.
The ground began to tremble. The closer they got, the more intense the quakes became.
Ji Cang halted, lifting his gaze slightly.
Tan Huai clasped his hands together, closing his eyes in a solemn chant. “Amitabha.”
At the towering mountain peak, the silver-white barrier surrounding it began to fracture bit by bit.
At the same time, the mountain summit was cleaved in two by something immense, causing the earth to quake and the mountain to tremble.
From the fissure, a pair of enormous eyes appeared.
The pupils were pale and shimmering with a silvery glow.
She looked down upon them from above, her gaze cold and imperious.
Ji Cang said, “She’s awake.”
Tian Yuxue had awakened.