“It’s Senior Brother Chu Yunzhou! I’ve heard Master mention him many times—he’s the most gifted sword cultivator our Profound Frost Sect has produced in the past hundred years. This time, the Snow Domain Alliance is doomed to lose!”

  “Senior Brother Chu, uphold our sect’s prestige!”

  The inner disciples of the Profound Frost Sect were fired with passion. The losses of the first two matches had shaken them deeply, and now their confidence surged back. Several female disciples gazed at the purple-robed figure on the platform with undisguised admiration.

  Master Han Jing himself revealed a faint smile, thinking to himself that with Chu Yunzhou stepping forward, this match was surely theirs.

  Yun Han cast Chu Yunzhou a jealous glance and snorted softly, saying nothing.

  On the other side, the Snow Domain Alliance disciples were visibly shaken as well. Chu Yunzhou’s name was no stranger to them—during the exchange between the two sects twenty years ago, although he had ultimately lost by a narrow margin, he had left an extremely deep impression on the Snow Domain Alliance elders.

  Ouyang Shuo’s expression darkened slightly.

  “Xu Han, I permit you to解除 the Profound Ice Seal and reveal your true cultivation.”

  Xu Han’s face grew solemn. He loosened his robe, revealing a dark-blue ice-crystal talisman affixed to his chest. Ancient runes traced its surface, faintly radiating a terrifying fluctuation of power.

  The elders of the Profound Frost Sect were all taken aback. Upon closer inspection, their faces were drained of color.

  “Elder Ouyang… this talisman…” Master Han Jing blurted out.

  Ouyang Shuo’s eyes flickered as he said calmly,

  “Fellow Daoist Han Jing, since the occasion presents itself, there is something I should make clear. Today’s sparring—if the Snow Domain Alliance wins, then aside from our prior agreement, an additional condition will apply: your sect’s Cold Abyss Secret Realm must be lent to my Snow Domain Alliance for study—for five hundred years.”

  Faces changed instantly.

  Master Han Jing narrowed his eyes.

  “Elder Ouyang, what do you mean by this?”

  Ouyang Shuo shook his head.

  “Please look at that talisman. The spiritual power condensed upon it cannot be forged by anyone below the Nascent Soul Realm. To be frank, one of our Snow Domain Alliance’s Nascent Soul ancestors has recently returned from the ‘Outer Domain Battlefield’ of a Tier-Four Cultivation Nation… He brought news that several of your sect’s ancestors have already fallen.”

  Master Han Jing’s expression shifted repeatedly before he finally spoke in a low voice,

  “Elder Ouyang, do not speak recklessly! Otherwise, do not blame the Profound Frost Sect for disregarding old ties!”

  Ouyang Shuo smiled faintly.

  “It is precisely because we value the century-long friendship between our sects that we did not force the matter and instead left you some dignity. If your sect wins this sparring, the matter will be dropped. I have delivered the message—Fellow Daoist Han Jing, let us continue the match.”

  Though the inner disciples of the Profound Frost Sect barely understood the full implications, they all felt as though a heavy stone had settled upon their hearts. Even the sky seemed to dim.

  Yun Che’s heart tightened. So what Li Han said within the stone bead was true after all… The cultivation world is truly divided by nations—where the weak are devoured by the strong.

  Zhang Mingyuan’s face turned deathly pale as he muttered to himself,

  “It’s over… If the ancestors have truly fallen, our sect once relied on their lingering prestige to intimidate other factions and barely hold our ground. Now…”

  He gave a bitter laugh.

  “If not for the Tier-Four Cultivation Nation, the Netherfrost Upper Realm, forcibly conscripting all Nascent Soul cultivators of Zhao State five hundred years ago to fight over outer-domain stars, how would our sect ever have fallen to this point?!”

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  Seeing the panic spreading among elders and disciples alike, Master Han Jing forcibly suppressed his own unease and shouted loudly,

  “Disciples of the Profound Frost Sect, do not panic! The truth of this matter will be verified by our Core Formation elders. Panic is useless! Chu Yunzhou—continue the match!”

  On the platform, Chu Yunzhou had also been momentarily shaken by Ouyang Shuo’s words. He now cast aside all distractions and opened his mouth—

  A streak of purple light shot forth, expanding with the wind into a gigantic ice-crystal hand entwined with dark radiance, which lunged through the air toward Xu Han!

  Xu Han’s expression changed. He slapped his storage pouch, sending six Blazing Sun Beads streaking out in golden arcs. Chu Yunzhou sneered, silently forming a sword seal with his right hand. The ice-crystal hand suddenly whipped aside, conjuring a bizarre gale!

  The wind was bone-chillingly cold. It forced the trajectories of the six Blazing Sun Beads to veer off course and even caused turbulence in Xu Han’s internal spiritual energy.

  Xu Han’s face went pale.

  “Explode!”

  All six beads detonated at once! A ring-shaped wave of blazing fire swept outward, forcing spectators to retreat.

  Chu Yunzhou snorted coldly.

  “Trifling tricks!”

  The ice-crystal hand clenched into a hammer, ignoring the flames as it smashed down with brutal force!

  Xu Han’s face was bloodless. Seeing the giant hammer descending, he clenched his teeth and released one final item from his storage pouch—

  It was a seemingly ordinary dark-yellow talisman. Xu Han bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood mist. The mist condensed into liquid midair, transforming into a vivid blood dragon!

  With rapid hand seals and murmured incantations, the blood dragon let out a low roar, coiled into an eerie formation, and slammed into the talisman!

  The talisman erupted with blinding light! A scorching golden radiance burst forth like a miniature sun, and the descending ice-crystal hammer began to melt away at a visible speed!

  Yun Che’s gaze sharpened—he had one such talisman in his own storage pouch! It was the mysterious hide scroll he had obtained from Liu De’s remains all those years ago!

  “A Spirit Flame Talisman?!” Chu Yunzhou frowned slightly and flicked his sleeve. Two white rainbows shot forth—

  Upon closer inspection, they were two gleaming white flying swords, transforming midair into twin ice wyrms that bared their fangs as they lunged toward Xu Han!

  Xu Han gave a bitter smile. He was already exerting all his strength to sustain the talisman—there was no way he could fend off the two ice wyrms.

  Just as their icy fangs were about to reach his throat, a cold snort rang out from within the Snow Domain Alliance ranks!

  In the next instant, a pitch-black chain shot forth like lightning, easily binding the two ice wyrms. The chain tightened with a grating crack, and the wyrms rapidly shrank back into two small silver-white swords.

  The black chain twisted violently—

  Crack!

  Both swords snapped in half and fell onto the icy platform.

  Chu Yunzhou’s expression changed drastically! His natal flying swords had been destroyed—his mind was struck with backlash, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, horror filling his eyes. The ice-crystal hammer suppressing Xu Han instantly dissipated as well.

  Xu Han narrowly escaped disaster. Clutching the dimming talisman, he staggered back, his face still pale with lingering fear.

  Chu Yunzhou’s expression turned bleak as he silently stepped down from the platform.

  Master Han Jing’s face was ashen as he shouted,

  “Snow Domain Alliance—do not go too far!”

  Several elders beside him glared furiously, their tempers flaring as magical treasures were already being summoned, poised to strike at the slightest provocation.

  By now, the inner disciples also saw the truth of the situation, their faces filled with indignation. The remaining two purple-robed disciples—Qin Shuang and a cold-faced female cultivator—both turned their gazes toward the green-robed man standing at the very back of the Snow Domain Alliance.

  That cold snort had come from him.

  Ouyang Shuo turned to look at the green-robed man and shook his head with a bitter smile.

  “This third match shall count as your sect’s victory. As for what just happened, this old man—”

  “Martial Uncle Ouyang, there’s no need for more words.”

  The green-robed man stepped forward arrogantly, stamping his foot down—

  Crack!

  A jagged fissure burst forth beneath his foot, racing across the ice-crystal platform all the way to its edge!

  He raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a sword, sweeping across the Profound Frost Sect.

  “The Profound Frost Sect… is nothing special.”

  At that very moment, the wind and snow seemed to freeze.

  Chu Yunzhou’s defeat is not a matter of lacking strength, but of being crushed by overwhelming momentum. The green-robed man’s intervention lays bare the ruthless law of power.

  Do you feel Chu Yunzhou’s fall was unjust, or long foreshadowed?

  And what kind of storm will that green-robed man unleash next?

  Share your thoughts in the comments—every message you leave fuels my motivation to keep writing.