The Hengtian Sect’s intentions were self-evident.

 

They instinctively shut their eyes, utterly powerless to resist, resigned to awaiting their demise.

Yet, at that very moment, just as the black claws were about to reach them, they suddenly froze mid-air, as if tens of thousands of galloping horses had been abruptly reined in. Maintaining their menacing, outstretched forms, the claws were immobilized in an instant.

The crowd, eyes tightly shut, waited for the excruciating pain of their lifeforce being drained but felt nothing. After a brief moment of hesitation, they began to cautiously open their eyes. What they saw left them all stunned.

"What... what is going on—?" someone murmured, their voice trembling with disbelief. Though soft, the words resonated with the confusion of everyone present. However, before the question fully settled, the black claws, which had been frozen mid-air as if time itself had paused, suddenly started writhing wildly.

The moment they moved, the previously bewildered crowd snapped back into a state of alarm. With a desperate resolve to fight for survival, they unsheathed their weapons and activated protective formations. In an instant, the already devastated Wanchao Valley lit up with chaotic flashes of light.

Yet, as they braced for battle, they noticed something unusual—the black claws, despite their frantic movements, weren’t targeting them. Instead, they seemed to be struggling against some unseen force, as though frantically resisting being restrained by a powerful leash.

It became evident that some external power was holding back the black claws, fighting to subdue their rampage.

A senior elder from the Shaoyang Sect suddenly pointed toward the black vortex swirling above the Ice Soul and shouted, "Look there! Heavens—what is happening?!"

At his exclamation, everyone turned to the vortex, only to realize something was terribly amiss. The ferocious storm that had devastated every living thing in Wanchao Valley was now, like the black claws, momentarily frozen before suddenly beginning to reverse direction. The black vortex, twisting in reverse, started to fade and unravel as if it were being dismantled.

As the vortex thinned, two figures began to emerge from its center. Their silhouettes alone left the crowd utterly astounded—two people trapped at the heart of the Ice Soul had neither been obliterated into blood nor reduced to lifeless husks. They were still intact. This was something no one present had ever witnessed before.

Those who had survived the calamity centuries ago wore expressions of sheer disbelief.

Moments later, the shock intensified. Not only were the two figures physically unscathed, but they were also... alive.

Being dragged into the heart of the Ice Soul and surviving unscathed was an outright impossibility. Yet, there they were.

Yu Xian’s heart, which had been gripped with tension, eased slightly as he noticed the two figures moving. A hint of relief flickered across his expression, though his worries remained. The Ice Soul was a merciless and indiscriminate entity. Its infamy, built over centuries, had carved an enduring scar into the hearts of all who knew of it. Even though Junxiao and Bai Ke had miraculously survived for now, who could say what might happen in the next moment? Escaping the Ice Soul was their only hope.

The crowd was so shaken by the sight of Junxiao and Bai Ke that they forgot to react, paralyzed with disbelief. For a long moment, they didn’t even attempt to discern the two figures' precise condition.

However, as their initial shock began to fade, they could finally take in the full scope of what was happening.

Yu Xian, just about to urge the two to break free from the Ice Soul, suddenly froze in surprise. He noticed something peculiar—the black vortex around them wasn’t dissipating on its own. It was being absorbed by the two figures. The black vortex, once unstoppable, was visibly shrinking as it was drawn into their bodies. The reversal of the vortex sped up, its black hue fading until it became a pale, ghostly remnant of its former self.

At the exact moment the vortex vanished completely, another figure appeared, suspended in mid-air above the two. This person hovered in the void, arms outstretched, fingers curved like claws. What he held in his grasp was none other than the very source of the black claws that had been rampaging moments ago.

This figure was single-handedly holding back the entire expanse of black fog emanating from the Ice Soul, preventing it from spreading and claiming more lives.

“H-he…” someone stammered, their voice trembling, “he’s controlling the black claws barehanded and even touching the black fog… Why isn’t he being drained?”

“Because he isn’t human,” replied the Qingyun Sect’s leader gravely, his eyes locked on the figure above.

"What?!" The crowd was utterly stunned by this revelation. As they focused on the figure in question, they quickly realized that the Qingyun Sect's leader had spoken the truth—because that figure was nothing more than a phantom.

Bolts of lightning streaked through the sky, their violet brilliance piercing right through the figure’s form, clearly illuminating what lay beyond it. How could that possibly be a living, breathing person?

The storm raged on, wild winds howling and thunder rumbling. The phantom, dressed in long flowing robes, its sleeves billowing, and hair streaming in the wind, stood firmly amidst the chaos. Its hands gripped countless writhing black claws, as if holding back an unstoppable army. A suffocating pressure radiated from the figure in waves, spreading across Wanchao Valley and leaving the crowd feeling an oppressive weight on their chests, their ears ringing from the force.

The assembled crowd included not just the newly initiated disciples participating in the trials, but also some of the finest masters from the leading sects—individuals who represented the pinnacle of cultivation in their era. Yet even they found themselves struggling under the crushing aura emanating from the phantom.

And this was merely a projection, not a living person. If it had been a living being, what terrifying level of cultivation would they have reached? How many such beings could possibly exist in the world?

The sect leaders and elders looked at each other, their faces etched with disbelief and suspicion, each silently speculating about the identity of this apparition.

Only Yu Xian knew exactly who the figure was.

Years ago, Junxiao had sacrificed one of his own life-souls to save the final fragment of Bai Lingchen’s soul from the Ice Soul. Bai Lingchen was finally reincarnated, but Junxiao’s life-soul remained trapped within the Ice Soul. To stabilize the destructive artifact, Junxiao's life-soul had become part of the array sealing the Ice Soul, suppressing its malevolent energy. However, this came at a steep price: the Ice Soul also imprisoned that fragment of Junxiao's soul.

That life-soul had remained within the Ice Soul for thousands of years. In a sense, it had become an integral part of the Ice Soul itself, rendering it immune to the soul-consuming black claws. However, this prolonged entanglement with the Ice Soul had made it incredibly difficult for the life-soul to remain fully aligned with Junxiao's original self.

At this moment, it was unclear how much mental and spiritual effort Junxiao had expended to control that fragment of his soul. But there it was, exerting a tremendous will, suppressing the rampaging black claws and pinning them mid-air, preventing them from advancing to harm the people in Wanchao Valley or retreating to endanger Bai Ke, who was still on the Ice Soul.

This fierce clash with the Ice Soul’s energy, however, only made the artifact more unstable. Its spiritual energy surged with increasing ferocity.

The Ice Soul had long ago absorbed the life force of countless beings—many of them immensely powerful cultivators, and an untold number of lesser ones. All their spiritual energy had been devoured and transformed into the energy of the Ice Soul. Though Bai Lingchen’s sealing array had critically weakened it centuries ago, its remaining power was still formidable. Moreover, the Hengtian Sect had been continuously feeding the Ice Soul with blood beasts over the millennia. While it might no longer be at its peak, its reserves of spiritual energy remained astonishingly vast.

Now, as this energy spiraled out of control, its turbulence exceeded the combined oppressive force of dozens of great cultivators. The resulting shockwaves no longer merely shook Wanchao Valley—they rocked the entirety of the Hengtian Sect.

The sect’s grounds quaked violently. Thunder roared, and dark clouds loomed overhead. The protective arrays encircling the Hengtian Sect’s domain began to crack under the strain of the spiritual energy outbursts. Soon, the innermost layer of the barriers, which had held firm for centuries, shattered completely after only a few minutes of resistance.

The collapse of the sect’s defensive formations caused such a tremendous upheaval that it threatened the very foundations of the Hengtian Sect itself.

Around Wanchao Valley, massive rocks tumbled from the surrounding mountains, which began to crumble piece by piece in the violent tremors. Within the valley, a Hengtian Sect elder gasped in alarm. “This is bad! The formation is breaking apart!”

His exclamation snapped the rest of the sect members out of their stunned stupor. As the other sects’ disciples and elders regained their senses, they began to realize that something was deeply wrong.

The trial’s participants were newly admitted disciples, their cultivation levels and awareness of danger still in their infancy. Wanchao Valley, as the designated trial site, was supposed to be challenging but not deadly. How could such a sinister entity suddenly appear? Even seasoned masters barely survived contact with the Ice Soul—what chance did fresh disciples have?

More importantly, the Ice Soul had been sealed centuries ago by Bai Lingchen of the Yusheng Sect, buried deep beneath the earth, never to surface again. And yet, here it was, reappearing in the present day—and right here, in this trial venue.

The implications were clear. The Hengtian Sect’s intentions were self evident.

The sect leaders and elders, upon realizing the truth, were instantly consumed by rage. Spurred by the Hengtian Sect elder's alarmed outburst, they quickly remembered to turn their fury toward the real culprits behind this catastrophe. For years, there had been no shortage of sects secretly discontent with the Hengtian Sect. However, Hengtian’s longstanding dominance—whether in scale or influence—had made it impossible for any single sect to openly challenge them. But now, the situation had changed.

In the face of the Ice Soul, this malevolent artifact, the other sects had, without prior agreement, aligned themselves against Hengtian Sect. With so many factions unified in their stance, their chances of taking on Hengtian Sect had suddenly grown immeasurably stronger.

And so, in this moment, chaos reigned. The sect’s protective barriers shattered, mountains crumbled, and thunder raged without respite!

While those caught in the Ice Soul’s grasp hovered on the edge of life and death, outside, the gathered sects seethed with hostility, weapons drawn and battle-ready. The atmosphere crackled with tension, as if the heavens themselves were about to be torn apart.

 

Translator : DarNan