"You brat—courage is admirable, but courage without brains is worthless. Repent your sins in hell, and if you ever get another life, don't go chasing after swans when you're a toad. Some people are far above your station!" Ran Yunting frantically drove her domain force, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Each crystalline snowflake contained her comprehension of the Martial Dao and the Heavenly Dao. Her domain, nearing perfection, was only a hair's breadth from a true Domain—in the Void Return Realm, it made her invincible.
The snowflakes blanketed Yang Kai's body.
His aura plummeted in an instant. Visible frost spread across his exposed skin, freezing it solid...
More snowflakes settled on Yang Kai.
It was as though every last ounce of cold in heaven and earth had been funneled into his body.
Two breaths later, Yang Kai had been frozen into an ice sculpture, still holding the posture of his punch. His eyes blazed with fury as he hung suspended in midair—even his black hair maintained its windblown sweep.
He looked like a masterpiece crafted by some grand artisan.
Several li away, Qingya had just regained her footing when she looked up and saw the sight. She panicked immediately and cried out, "Yang Kai!"
Her voice was filled with anguish.
Yang Kai couldn't withstand even a single strike from the Grand Elder?! Was the gap in their strength truly that vast? But if he really died here, then Su Yan...
Qingya barely dared to follow that thought any further. Her entire being went numb, her mind descending into utter chaos.
In that moment, she would rather have been killed by Bing Die moments ago than watch Yang Kai perish here because of this trouble.
"Kill that traitor!" From several li away, Ran Yunting cast a cold, distant glance at Qingya and issued her command to Bing Die nearby, her eyes thick with loathing.
With that, she didn't spare Qingya another glance.
It seemed that whether Qingya lived or died was of absolutely no consequence to her. As long as she could patch the flaw in Su Yan's state of mind, she would cut down everyone connected to the girl.
Bing Die had been wounded by Yang Kai's earlier strike, but her life wasn't in danger, so she recovered quickly. Without a moment's hesitation, she surged toward Qingya. Her gaze was icy, Saint Qi churning within her body, wisps of frigid energy coiling around her form as she regarded Qingya with absolute coldness: "Let's see who can save you this time!"
Even as the words left her lips, she had already closed to within five zhang of Qingya and struck out with a palm.
Qingya didn't move a muscle, paying no heed to the killing strike. She stared, entranced, at Yang Kai frozen in midair. All she could see was that ice sculpture.
Her eyes brimmed with grief. Her expression was desolate.
Never mind, never mind. If Yang Kai died at the Grand Elder's hands, she would have no face to see Su Yan again. Being buried alongside him here wasn't the worst choice—at least on the road to the underworld, she would have a familiar face for company.
Facing Bing Die's fatal strike, Qingya slowly closed her eyes, bracing herself for death.
Bing Die did not hold back because of her lack of resistance. To her, the Grand Elder's command was absolute.
All around them, the Ice Heart Valley disciples cried out in shock. None of them had expected this affair to take so many twists and turns—yet it would end, after all, with the deaths of Qingya and that man.
Many looked somber, their faces etched with regret.
Just then, amid the frozen landscape, a small head suddenly popped up from in front of Qingya. The head had sharp, defined angles, as if carved from stone, and two black-bean-sized eyes that were remarkably spirited, shimmering with a lively gleam.
Right after, that little head pulled upward, and like a radish being tugged from the ground, its full form was revealed.
An odd creature standing less than three feet tall now stood before Qingya.
There was clearly no trace of life emanating from it, yet judging by its nimble movements and spirited gaze, it undeniably possessed its own intelligence, its own awareness.
It was like a stone puppet!
"What is this..." Bing Die's delicate brows furrowed tightly as she stared suspiciously at the stone puppet that had appeared before Qingya, her mind struggling to keep up.
Then she witnessed something utterly unbelievable.
The tiny stone puppet actually leaped up on the spot, positioning itself in front of Qingya, and swung one arm that was disproportionately long compared to its body. Its fist was clenched tight as it met her incoming strike head-on.
There was no energy fluctuation whatsoever, yet the moment that stone puppet's fist connected, her Cold Ice Force crumbled like straw dogs—utterly helpless, shattered in an instant.
The next instant, a force so immense it filled Bing Die with despair surged toward her!
One overwhelming force crushes ten thousand techniques! Only when power reaches a sufficient magnitude can it disregard elemental attacks entirely, breaking all arts with brute strength alone!
Bing Die was horrified!
A scream tore from her throat as she was sent flying backward once again. This time, the injuries she sustained were visibly far worse than when Yang Kai had struck her earlier. She hit the ground and slipped straight into unconsciousness, her fate unknown.
Countless onlookers heard the sharp crack of bone shattering in one of her arms.
Hsss...
A collective gasp rose from every direction.
Bing Die was an inner island disciple, a member of the Law Enforcement Hall, with a cultivation realm at the first level of the Void Return stage.
What exactly was this thing that had suddenly appeared and blocked Qingya's attack? With nothing more than a casual punch, it had reduced Bing Die to this state.
And where had it come from?