In the depths of the jungle, a massive wolf roughly three zhang tall leapt and bounded between towering trees. Its fur was a pristine silver, spotless and lustrous, its form sleek and graceful. The aura it radiated was unmistakably at the pinnacle of Demon King level.
A pair of emerald-green wolf eyes glinted with a cold light, periodically sweeping their surroundings with an almost human intelligence.
At a certain moment, the silver giant wolf suddenly halted its sprint, cocking its head to listen. After a brief pause, it turned and charged off in a new direction.
A thousand li away from the silver wolf's position, in a valley enclosed on three sides by mountains, violent energies ran wild. Several figures flickered back and forth in a relentless clash.
The aftershocks of their overwhelming power churned the valley into chaos. This should have been a place of breathtaking beauty, but now it lay in utter devastation.
Sword qi bit through the air, sword intent radiated a bone-piercing chill, and the entire valley was shrouded in a layer of freezing cold. Frost blanketed the ground from edge to edge.
Amid the sharp ringing of clashing weapons, a slender figure was sent hurtling back dozens of zhang before barely managing to stabilize herself. A faint flush crept across her pale cheeks as she forced down the roiling qi in her chest, her brows furrowed tightly.
Gazing at the two enemies before her—one tall, one short, both wreathed in demonic qi—Bing Yun let out a soft sigh. This was going to be trouble. She had run into these two Half-Sages by chance inside the Profound Heaven Palace. She was alone, while they were two, so there had been nothing to discuss. A fierce battle had erupted the instant they crossed paths.
Though Bing Yun wished to flee, the two Demon Half-Sages clearly had no intention of giving her the chance. They had chased her relentlessly and cut off her escape in this valley.
With no other option, Bing Yun had been forced into a hasty engagement.
Though she was a Pseudo-Emperor as well, she had only advanced to that level a short time ago—a little over a decade, by the reckoning. How could she compare to the deep accumulation these two veteran Half-Sages had built up over countless years? Even facing one of them alone would have been a struggle, let alone two joining hands against her.
Unable to run, unable to win, the road ahead full of peril—yet Bing Yun's expression remained perfectly composed.
After so many years of cultivation, she had long since made peace with life and death. Along her journey, she had witnessed all manner of beautiful scenery, and to have the extraordinary fortune of participating in this grand event that occurred only once in tens of thousands of years was already a heaven-sent blessing. Even if she truly perished inside the Profound Heaven Palace, she would have no regrets in this life.
The only one she still held in her thoughts was Yang Kai. Before entering the Profound Heaven Palace, she had arranged everything carefully—she and Yang Yan would protect Yang Kai, contend for that singular opportunity, and help him ascend to become a Great Emperor, resolving the Star Boundary's crisis. But after more than ten days inside, she had found plenty of treasures, yet not a single trace of Yang Kai.
Still… never mind. She could hardly look after herself at this point, let alone worry about anything else.
She took a quiet breath, shifted her longsword behind her back, and began circulating the Dao of Ice.
Across from her, the two Demon Half-Sages regarded her with cold eyes. The taller one had a pair of scarlet eyes so vivid that even his hair seemed stained with fresh blood—he hailed from the Blood Demon clan, without question.
The slightly shorter one had muscles knotted and coiled across his frame, radiating an explosive sense of power—clearly a member of the Strength Demon clan. With the two of them joining hands, suppressing Bing Yun would be child's play. Barring any surprises, this battle was destined to end with Bing Yun's fall, and all they needed to do was pay as small a price as possible.
The Blood Demon gazed at the woman dressed entirely in white, spotless and immaculate, and licked his lips. "Cold as ice, that one. Her blood must be exquisite. Don't kill her outright—I want to drain every last drop from her veins."
The Strength Demon gave a cold snort. "Kill her first, then we'll talk."
The woman before them was indeed a ravishing beauty, but at their level of cultivation, what kind of woman hadn't they seen? They naturally wouldn't let their guard down over a bit of beauty. No matter what, the woman across from them was still a Pseudo-Emperor, and if she fought back with the desperation of one facing death, she might very well drag one of them down with her.
"I know, I know. How boring!" The Blood Demon dropped the matter, but as he spoke, his gaze drifted—seemingly casual, yet deliberate—toward a pile of rubble not far away, and he let out a contemptuous smirk.
The Strength Demon glanced in the same direction, snorted coldly, and paid it no further mind.
In the very next instant, the Blood Demon transformed into a streak of crimson light and charged straight at Bing Yun. The Strength Demon followed close behind. Though his speed was a fraction slower, the moment he moved, the earth beneath his feet shattered with a thunderous crack. Before he even arrived, his fist was already launched forward, wreathed in an aura of absolute annihilation.
Bing Yun's expression didn't change. Her longsword traced a great circle before her body. The Dao of Ice spread outward, and a bone-deep chill became visible to the naked eye.
After the great circle came a smaller one, then an even smaller one. Ring upon ring, nested within one another, each giving rise to the next in an endless cascade that seemed to stretch toward infinity.
The Blood Demon plunged headlong into this seemingly boundless maze of sword circles. In an instant, his figure was exposed. The rampaging sword intent shredded his garments to rags and left countless fine cuts across his skin.
But the blood flowing from those wounds behaved as though alive, transforming into writhing serpents of crimson that pierced through the barrier of sword circles and shot straight toward Bing Yun herself.
Bing Yun's brow creased. Without breaking the rhythm of her sword circles, she drifted gracefully backward.
The Strength Demon came hurtling down from above, a fist hammering toward the earth.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the valley. The nested sword circles lost their shape, a sliver of an opening appearing in their formation. The Blood Demon seized the chance and surged through, a savage grin splitting his face. "If you know what's good for you, surrender now and spare yourself some suffering!" He was still thinking about capturing Bing Yun alive, then slowly refining and savoring her blood drop by precious drop.
It was at that exact moment that a sudden frown crossed his face. A vicious twist of irritation surfaced in his expression as he turned to look to the side. "You court death, you little insect!"
The instant before he could make his move, a silver giant wolf—three zhang tall, impossibly agile—burst from behind a pile of rubble. Its fangs were bared wide, and its massive body moved with an agility that defied belief as it lunged for his throat with jaws agape.