Yun Che’s expression tightened. Just as he was about to recall the Ice Soul Wheels, the crimson flying sword suddenly underwent a violent transformation—

  The dark-gold patterns along the blade flared brilliantly, and a blood-red sword phantom peeled away from the solid blade itself! The phantom moved like a specter, slashing toward the Ice Soul Wheel formation almost the instant it appeared!

  Rip—!

  The Seven-Star Spirit-Locking Formation formed by the seven Ice Soul Wheels was cleaved straight through. Their spiritual connections shattered instantly, and the wheels let out mournful cries as they scattered in all directions. Three of them even developed spiderweb-like cracks across their surfaces, their spiritual glow rapidly dimming.

  Killing intent burst forth in the white-robed man’s eyes. His right hand formed a seal as he pointed through the air!

  The crimson flying sword trembled violently, its tip locking onto Yun Che. With a piercing sword shriek and a stench of blood, it tore through the air straight at him!

  Yun Che frowned. With a sweep of his gravitational hand, he flung the unconscious Zhang Mingyuan backward, then stepped onto the Frost Trace Sword and retreated rapidly.

  At that moment, another blood-colored sword phantom peeled off from the crimson blade!

  This phantom was even faster—almost like a streak of bloody lightning. Yun Che saw only a flash of red before the sword phantom was already upon his face!

  At the critical instant, Yun Che flipped his right hand. A palm-sized jade talisman engraved with icy patterns flew out from his storage pouch. It expanded instantly in the wind, transforming into a translucent ice-blue barrier before him—

  Clang—!!!

  The blood-colored sword phantom slammed into the barrier. The metallic crash shook the surrounding snow loose in cascading waves! The ice-blue screen trembled violently, cracks spreading across its surface—but it held.

  Yun Che took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of pure ice-element spiritual energy. The barrier absorbed it, shifting from pale blue to deep cyan, its semi-transparency solidifying into crystalline ice. The cracks rapidly sealed, barely stabilizing the defense.

  However, the jade talisman itself let out a sharp crack—a fine fracture split across its center. This single-use defensive artifact, the Profound Ice Barrier, was on the verge of collapse.

  “Oh?” The white-robed man narrowed his eyes. “It seems… you are no ordinary Qi Condensation Eighth Layer cultivator. But even if you have concealed your strength, you will not escape my Blood Fiend Sword today!”

  His expression hardened. With rapid hand seals and a low incantation, the crimson sword flew back and plunged once more into the pitch-black scabbard.

  This time, nearly a third of the blade sank inside. Its color darkened from red to inky black. The twisted patterns on the scabbard seemed to come alive, slowly writhing like living things.

  “Draw!” the white-robed man barked.

  Clang—!

  The sword leapt free!

  The blade was now completely pitch-black, crisscrossed with dark-gold patterns pulsing like blood vessels, radiating a terrifyingly malevolent aura. Wherever its edge passed, the air itself seemed corroded, hissing softly.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Yun Che’s pupils constricted. Each transformation of this evil sword multiplied its power. When crimson, it had already shattered the Ice Soul Wheel formation—now, in this blackened form, even the Profound Ice Barrier would not withstand a single strike!

  He did not hesitate.

  With a slap to his storage pouch, a jade slip—pure white and shaped like an icy prism—rose slowly before him.

  The instant it appeared, a vast, abyssal cold spread outward. The temperature plummeted. The ground froze into layers of profound ice inches thick, and even falling snowflakes crystallized midair!

  This was Yun Che’s life-saving trump card, refined during four years of seclusion under Li Han’s guidance from the remnants of the Frost Condensation Sect—

  “Profound Frost: One Strike.”

  This was not a conventional artifact, but a sealed strand of natal frost fiend energy left behind by a Core Formation elder of the Frost Condensation Sect. Though usable only once, its power… was enough to threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators.

  Yun Che’s expression remained calm. His hands formed seals at blinding speed, streams of icy-blue spiritual energy flowing into the jade slip. One by one, nine ancient frost sigils lit up across its surface, arranged like stars!

  The white-robed man’s pupils shrank violently.

  “Th-this… this is… a pill-grade forbidden technique?!”

  After a brief hesitation, he clenched his teeth and bit through his tongue, spraying three mouthfuls of natal essence blood!

  The blood transformed into golden-red threads that burrowed frantically into the black flying sword. The dark-gold patterns blazed brilliantly as the sword shrieked in exhilaration, circling its master once before streaking toward Yun Che as a torrent of intertwined black and gold light—leaving a lingering black trail in the air!

  Yun Che’s gaze was icy. He ignored the incoming sword and raised a single finger toward the jade slip.

  “Profound Frost—Seal.”

  Three frost sigils detached instantly, forming a triangular array before colliding with the flying sword! Crackling ice-blue lightning wove between them, forming a sharp-edged crystalline prison that trapped the sword within!

  Buzz—buzz—buzz!!!

  The evil sword thrashed like a trapped beast, each collision shaking the ice prison violently and spawning cracks—but the sigils rotated continuously, sealing them as fast as they formed.

  The white-robed man’s face finally turned deathly pale.

  “Daoist, stop! I am a disciple of Blood Refinement Venerable! My master is a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator—!”

  Before he could finish, Yun Che’s hand seals changed again.

  The remaining six frost sigils aligned in a straight line and shot forward as six streams of icy-blue light!

  “No—!!”

  The white-robed man retreated in terror, releasing seven or eight defensive artifacts—bone shields, blood banners, black flags—but before the frost sigils, they shattered like paper.

  The first sigil struck his chest.

  Puff!

  His chest collapsed inward, his blood freezing into icy shards before it could fall.

  The second sigil pierced straight through his body.

  Blood poured from his seven orifices, freezing instantly into a grotesque mask of crimson ice.

  The third sigil slammed into his torso.

  Without a sound, his body—along with the storage pouch at his waist—froze, shattered, and disintegrated into a cloud of fine ice crystals that scattered in the wind.

  Only one object remained intact—

  The pitch-black sword scabbard fell from the air with a heavy clang onto the ice.

  Yun Che exhaled deeply, suppressing the turmoil in his qi and blood. With a single hand seal, the remaining three sigils halted and returned, merging back into the jade slip. The crystalline prison dissipated as well—the three sigils had exhausted their power and dissolved into light.

  The black flying sword, now masterless, gradually quieted and hovered silently in the air.

  Yun Che carefully stored the dimmed jade slip away. Though originally a one-time forbidden technique, Li Han had modified it, dividing the frost fiend energy into nine sigils. Its power was reduced, but it could be used multiple times. After this battle, three sigils were lost.

  Only then did Yun Che realize sweat covered his forehead.

  The fight had been brief—but it was the most dangerous battle he had faced since stepping onto the path of cultivation. Without Profound Frost: One Strike, today’s outcome would have been grim.

  “Boy,” Li Han’s voice sounded, unusually serious, “do you know why I did not intervene earlier?”

  “First, my remnant soul’s strength is precious and cannot be squandered lightly. Second—life-and-death combat is something you must face alone. This battle… was well fought.”

  Yun Che nodded faintly. His gaze fell upon the black scabbard on the ice and the hovering black flying sword. A gravitational hand swept out, pulling both into his grasp.

  The scabbard was icy cold, its material neither metal nor wood. The twisted patterns on its surface pulsed faintly, like something alive.

  The flying sword was even more unsettling—even without control, the dark-gold patterns continued to circulate, radiating a subtle suction, as if yearning for blood.

  first full reveal of the Blood Refinement path, and a crucial turning point in Yun Che’s cultivation journey.

  1?? Yun Che’s first true encounter with a lethal, same-realm demonic cultivator

  2?? The true value of the Frost Condensation Sect’s legacy

  3?? Zhang Mingyuan’s fate being irrevocably dragged into darkness