Two days later, deep within the Severing Edge Mountains.

  Yun Che lay prone at the edge of an icy crevice, scooping up a handful of freezing water and swallowing it down. At the same time, his divine sense swept the surroundings with vigilance. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he cursed under his breath.

  “Persistent bastard!”

  The Blood Fiend Sword burst forth from his body. Stowing away the now-empty Cold Jade vial, Yun Che leaped across the crevice and darted deeper into the mountain range.

  Moments later, Teng San arrived, carefully restraining his aura as he pursued. He looked utterly miserable.

  The golden sheen of his Golden Scale Armor had dimmed significantly, with multiple sections stripped away. His left arm hung limply at his side, the wound coated in bizarre black ice. His hair was disheveled, his face ashen, and fury all but erupted from his eyes.

  Since childhood, as a prodigy of the Teng clan, when had he ever been reduced to such a sorry state?

  All of this—was thanks to Yun Che!

  Two days ago, those eerie Spirit-Devouring Ice Patterns had nearly buried him alive in an ice tomb. He never imagined that those deceptively beautiful frost markings were actually living entities. The blue fluid sprayed from the vines had even begun corroding and melting his Golden Scale Armor upon contact.

  Worse still, the demonic vines were impossible to eradicate—cut one down, and it split into two, multiplying endlessly. Even the Ice-Soul Lightning imbued in his jade sword failed to purge them completely.

  And then there was Yun Che’s sinister Blood Fiend Sword, launching ambushes at every opportunity. His injured left arm had been struck by that blade; the frigid aura had penetrated deep into his bones, leaving him unable to circulate spiritual energy properly to this very moment.

  In the end, he had been forced to use the life-saving trump card his grandfather had bestowed upon him—a Demon-Breaking Ice Talisman sealed with the power of a Golden Core cultivator’s full strike.

  He had treasured that talisman for years, never once willing to use it. But trapped between the demonic vines and the blood sword’s constant harassment, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and activate it.

  The talisman erupted, freezing and shattering most of the vines. The remnants retreated back into the ice layers, allowing him to break free of the encirclement.

  Even now, recalling it made his heart pound with lingering fear.

  His hatred toward Yun Che had carved itself into his bones.

  Especially because that brat never fought head-on—only ambushed from the shadows. That ghostlike Blood Fiend Sword was impossible to guard against, forcing Teng San to constantly expend spiritual energy to maintain his jade sword’s defensive field.

  At the icy crevice, Teng San cautiously scanned his surroundings. After a brief hesitation, he crouched down and scooped up some water. After days of nonstop pursuit, his throat was parched beyond measure.

  The icy water slid down his throat—clear, sweet, refreshing.

  Just as he was about to drink again—

  Suddenly, a change!

  A dark-green miniature sword flashed soundlessly before his face, stabbing straight toward his head!

  Teng San’s pupils shrank violently as he retreated at full speed, simultaneously commanding his protective jade sword to intercept.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Amid the metallic clashes, the Blood Fiend Sword was clearly outmatched. Several new cracks appeared along its blade before it flickered and vanished.

  “Trash! Once I catch you, I’ll tear out your soul and refine it—make you wail for eternity!” Teng San roared hoarsely, touching the hair at his temple that had just been sliced away by sword qi.

  In the distance, Yun Che sped through the icy rocks. His face turned pale, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

  The Blood Fiend Sword reappeared in his palm. Looking at the deep new fractures along the blade, pain flickered through his eyes—quickly replaced by an even colder killing intent. Without a word, he accelerated his escape.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Five days later, deep night.

  After days of pursuit and flight, the two had reached the very heart of the Severing Edge Mountains.

  As Yun Che ran, he suddenly came to a halt.

  “Kid! There’s violent spiritual energy fluctuation to the northeast—go check it out!” Li Han’s voice rang urgently. Over these days, he had remained fully alert, relying on his vast experience to help Yun Che evade danger time and again.

  Without hesitation, Yun Che turned northeast.

  Not long after, the sight before him made his pupils contract sharply.

  Under the moonlight, an entire icy valley ahead had been flattened. Shattered ice piled up like mountains. At the center lay an ancient corpse, lifeless, its body entirely encased in deep azure ice crystals.

  Above the corpse’s head, a fist-sized Ice-Soul Pearl floated in midair, frantically devouring the surrounding cold qi and forming dozens of swirling frost vortices.

  “An Azure Ice Corpse Wraith? And it even formed an Ice Fiend Core?” Li Han exclaimed in shock. “Didn’t expect someone in this backwater to practice a side branch of the Nine Nether Corpse-Refining Art.”

  “Ice Fiend Core?” Yun Che asked.

  Li Han explained slowly.

  “The ancient demonic art Nine Nether Corpse-Refining Art records such a method. The refiner condenses part of their cultivation into a Corpse Core and implants it into the corpse. Once the corpse absorbs sufficient yin-cold fiend energy, the core transforms into an Ice Fiend Core.

  “Though inferior to a true Golden Core, it can self-detonate with power comparable to a Core Formation cultivator’s strike. Some demonic cultivators refine hundreds of corpse wraiths, using mass detonation as their method of slaughter—infamous and terrifying.”

  Yun Che’s gaze flickered.

  “How many Ice Fiend Cores does this one have?”

  “For a newly formed corpse wraith, even one is rare. This one has only just awakened spiritual intelligence—likely someone who practiced an incomplete corpse-refining art in life and transformed after death.”

  The corpse wraith sensed Yun Che. Without rising, it merely raised a finger and pointed.

  Whoosh!

  A streak of deep-blue frost shot toward Yun Che’s brow!

  He retreated instantly. The frost ray did not pursue; instead, it spun in midair and formed a blurry crystalline phantom, emitting a hoarse, broken voice:

  “Leave… trespass… die…”

  The phantom shattered into countless ice crystals, dissolving into the cold wind. The violent spiritual fluctuations vanished completely.

  Yun Che retreated cautiously. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

  Instead of fleeing, he stopped where he was, Blood Fiend Sword hovering before him—waiting.

  Waiting for Teng San.

  Teng San cut through an ice barrier ahead. His expression shifted, then twisted into a savage grin.

  “Not running anymore?”

  The jade sword shot forward toward Yun Che’s visible figure. Yet Yun Che’s unnatural calm made Teng San hesitate; the sword halted ten zhang away.

  “Given up?” Teng San sneered, sweeping his divine sense around—finding nothing amiss.

  Yun Che remained silent.

  The Blood Fiend Sword transformed into a green streak and thrust forward! At the same time, Yun Che activated the Mystic Frost Strike jade slip, forming hand seals and expelling a breath of spiritual qi!

  Of the five remaining frost-pattern talismans on the slip, four lit up and shot into the air!

  Teng San grinned viciously. He bit his left index finger, smearing essence blood onto the jade sword. Blood light surged as the sword expanded into a three-zhang ice-crystal greatsword, encircled by over a dozen lightning spheres—though barely half of its former peak.

  The greatsword descended with thunderous force!

  The Blood Fiend Sword blinked into existence behind Teng San, stabbing straight for his back! Teng San slapped his storage pouch, releasing a palm-sized ice crystal bell that expanded into a translucent dome around him.

  Clang!

  The blood sword struck the bell, ripples spreading outward—but failed to break through.

  At the same moment, the greatsword reached Yun Che’s head!

  The four frost talismans collided with it and detonated!

  BOOOOOOM—!!

  Ice explosions and lightning intertwined, pulverizing the surrounding cliffs. The greatsword was knocked back high into the air.

  Yun Che retreated rapidly, arriving at the corpse wraith’s icy valley in the blink of an eye.

  All four talismans were gone. The greatsword paused briefly—then descended again with even more violent force! The ground cracked, ice peaks collapsing on both sides.

  As the blade neared—

  A burst of blue light flashed from Yun Che’s chest.

  Void Shift!

  Shhk!

  The blade sliced through his afterimage, a thin line of blood trailing down from his brow.

  The greatsword slammed into the valley!

  “RAAAAAAH—!!!”

  A shriek like ghostly wailing erupted. A deep-blue figure shot skyward from the gash, carrying overwhelming corpse stench as it lunged at Teng San!

  Teng San’s face changed drastically. Though he had suspected a trap, he never imagined something like this. With rapid gestures, lightning spheres rained down from the greatsword!

  Lightning—pure yang, absolute bane of yin corpses.

  Explosions tore across the corpse wraith’s body, rotten flesh and ice scattering, blackened bones exposed.

  Teng San laughed coldly, condensing even more lightning spheres as the greatsword swept horizontally.

  He would annihilate both the monster and Yun Che in one strike!

  Yun Che’s heart sank.

  Was this corpse wraith really this weak?

  At the brink of annihilation, the corpse wraith let out a shrill scream and spat out the Ice Fiend Core!

  The moment it appeared—

  The world fell silent.

  Then—

  BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!

  A ring-shaped ice-fiend shockwave erupted outward, reducing everything in its path to powder!

  Teng San was too close to escape.

  He clenched his teeth, biting his tongue and spraying essence blood onto the ice crystal bell!

  The bell solidified, ancient runes surfacing across its surface.

  The shockwave struck!

  CRACK—!!!

  The bell shattered after holding for mere breaths.

  Seizing that instant, Teng San frantically hurled out multiple defensive treasures—tortoise shell, bone shield, blood banner—layers of light enveloping him.

  Meanwhile, at the moment the shockwave reached him, Yun Che activated his final life-saving talisman—

  Earth Profound Barrier.

  Yellow qi surged forth, shielding his body.

  Through the haze of yellow light, Yun Che’s gaze locked firmly onto Teng San.

  Unblinking.

  pursuit to counter-hunt.

  The limits of the Blood Fiend Sword, the cost of Void Shift, and the appearance of the Corpse Wraith and Ice Fiend Core are all paving the way for the real battle of Seizing the Foundation at the Ice Abyss.

  ?? Is Yun Che setting up a desperate reversal… or pushing himself into an even deeper abyss?