Gu Buxiu's rotting flesh cracked like porcelain as the sudden blizzard engulfed him. His mismatched corpse-arms froze solid, fingers snapping off as he whirled to face the new threat.
"Who—?!"
A blade of crystalline ice pierced through his chest before he could finish.
"Ice Burial."
Yun Qianxue's voice carried no emotion as her sword erupted from Gu Buxiu's back, its glacial edge freezing his blood before it could spill. The Corpse Refiner's eyes bulged, his remaining flesh turning blue as frost spread through his veins.
"You—" His jaw locked mid-sentence, teeth shattering from the cold.
Yun Qianxue twisted her blade.
CRACK!
Gu Buxiu's frozen torso exploded into diamond-like shards.
But the wily necromancer wasn't finished. His head tumbled through the air, black energy swirling as he scread:
"Corpse Rebirth!"
The scattered ice fragnts trembled, inching toward each other.
Yun Qianxue's eyes narrowed. She raised her free hand—
"Eternal Frost."
The temperature plunged further. Space itself crystallized as absolute zero claid the battlefield. Gu Buxiu's reassembling body froze mid-motion, his regeneration spell locking up.
"No! NO!" His disembodied head shrieked. "I'll give you treasures! Divine techniques! The secrets of—"
"Silence."
Yun Qianxue clenched her fist.
BOOM!
Gu Buxiu's frozen remains detonated into subatomic particles, his final scream preserved as an echo in the ice crystals now raining down. The blast wave flattened nearby ruins, leaving only pristine snow where the Corpse Refiner had stood.
Yun Qianxue didn't spare the aftermath a glance. She strode toward Lan Qinghe, her boots leaving no prints on the enchanted snow.
"Qingxuan?" Her voice was calm, but the blizzard intensified with each step.
Lan Qinghe coughed blood, her severed limbs already cauterized by frost. "Taken... Kai Xuan... The Haven..."
The snowstorm turned violent. Yun Qianxue's usually impassive face darkened like gathering thunderclouds.
"When?"
"Monts ago... He said... Lintian must co alone..."
Yun Qianxue's sword hand trembled—not from weakness, but from the sheer force of her restrained fury. The ground beneath her feet fractured into complex ice patterns.
She knelt, pressing a palm to Lan Qinghe's wounds. Frost blood across the injuries, forming temporary cryo-stasis seals.
"Can you move?"
Lan Qinghe shook her head weakly. "Don't...waste ti... Save her..."
Yun Qianxue's eyes flashed. "Foolish." She carefully lifted the injured woman. "We're family."
As the blizzard condensed around them, a spatial rift tore open nearby. Yun Qianxue spun, sword raised—
A towering figure stepped through—his golden dragon scales gleaming under the pale light, his aura oppressive enough to make the earth itself tremble.
Long Wu's draconic eyes swept across the battlefield, taking in the bloodstained snow, Lan Qinghe's injuries, and the lingering traces of dragon blood in the air. His expression darkened like a brewing storm.
"Where is Qingxuan?" His voice was deceptively calm, but the air around him crackled with barely restrained power.
Yun Qianxue t his gaze evenly. "Taken. By Kai Xuan, First Rank Chaos Knight. To the Haven."
Long Wu's pupils constricted into slits. The ground beneath him shattered as his draconic might leaked out uncontrollably. "Chaos Knight..."
He took a deep breath, forcibly calming himself. "What's your plan?"
Yun Qianxue's frost-blue eyes glead. "We wait for Lintian."
"WAIT?!" Long Wu's roar sent shockwaves through the air. "My Dragon Princess is in their hands!"
"And charging in blindly will only get more of us captured," Yun Qianxue countered coldly. "Don't forget that it's the God of Ti who is waiting for you there."
Long Wu's fists clenched until his scales drew blood. He knew she was right—the Haven was the God of Ti's domain, a place where even top-tier True Gods would struggle.
"Then what?" he growled.
"We protect the others," Yun Qianxue said, her voice like frozen steel. "They will target more of Lintian's won. We cannot let them take another."
Long Wu exhaled sharply through his nose, smoke curling from his nostrils. As much as he hated it, Yun Qianxue's logic was sound.
"Fine. But the mont Yun Lintian arrives, we move."
Yun Qianxue nodded. "Agreed."
***
Northern Expanse Battlefield.
The night sky shimred with eerie purple light as Lin Xinyao stood atop a frozen lake, her long black hair swaying in the unnatural wind. The crescent moon above seed to pulse in ti with her breathing, its glow reflecting in her athyst pupils.
Opposite her, Tantai Xue floated effortlessly, her black robes blending into the darkness. Her eyes—void-like and endless—locked onto Lin Xinyao with predatory interest.
"Lin Xinyao," Tantai Xue purred. "The Moon Goddess's inheritor. Yun Lintian's most cherished woman." Her lips curled into a sinister smile. "You shouldn't have co alone."
Lin Xinyao's grip tightened around her sword, its blade gleaming with condensed moonlight. She had already guessed Tantai Xue's intentions the mont she appeared on this battlefield.
"You want to capture ," she stated calmly. "To use as leverage against Lintian."
Tantai Xue chuckled. "Smart. But it won't save you."
She raised a hand—
"Law of Order: Shackles of Divinity."
Golden chains materialized from nowhere, their links inscribed with divine commandnts that restricted all movent. They shot toward Lin Xinyao, aiming to bind her completely.
Lin Xinyao didn't dodge.
Instead, she raised her sword and her aura flared up.
The chains passed through her as if she were a mirage, their restraints closing around empty air. At the sa ti, her afterimage flickered behind Tantai Xue, her blade slashing downward.
Tantai Xue barely twisted in ti, but the edge still grazed her shoulder, drawing a thin line of blood.
"Tch." She licked her lips, unfazed. "A moon illusion? Cute."
She snapped her fingers.
"Order's Decree: Nullify."
The space around them rippled as all illusions within a hundred ters were forcibly dispelled. Lin Xinyao's afterimage shattered like glass—
But the real Lin Xinyao was already moving.
"Moonfall."
The crescent moon above distorted, its light condensing into a single beam that lanced toward Tantai Xue like a falling star.
Tantai Xue's eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms—
Buzz—
A golden shield materialized before her, inscribed with ancient runes of absolute defense.
BOOM!
The lunar beam slamd into the barrier, cracking it instantly. Tantai Xue was sent flying, her body skidding across the frozen lake before she regained her footing.
Lin Xinyao didn't let up. She leaped, her sword trailing moonlight as she aid for Tantai Xue's throat.
Tantai Xue grinned.
"You made a mistake."
She clapped her hands together—
"Confine!"
The space around Lin Xinyao solidified, trapping her mid-air like a fly in amber.
Tantai Xue wiped the blood from her lips, her smile widening. "Now then, let's get you—"
CRACK!
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