Zhou Yue stared intently at the unusually lush patch of Snowline Vines, pondering as he spoke,

  “This place is strange. For the past two years, faint spiritual energy has occasionally leaked out from here, attracting many exotic beasts to breathe and cultivate. An enforcement elder from the sect once came to investigate and concluded that it was merely a natural leakage from an underground ice vein—not the emergence of any heavenly treasure.”

  Hearing this, Lin Xuan pouted in disappointment.

  “So it’s not a treasure after all…”

  Zhou Yue shook his head with a chuckle.

  “In the cultivation world, there aren’t that many fortuitous encounters. Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll pick a Frost Crystal Marten with decent spiritual awareness, and then we’ll head back to the sect.”

  With that, he spread his divine sense, sweeping over dozens of rare beasts in the valley. He quickly locked onto seven or eight Frost Crystal Martens, their bodies crystalline and eyes glowing blue, and was about to examine them more closely—

  Suddenly, a drastic change occurred!

  All the beasts in the valley that had been breathing and cultivating seemed to be struck by some invisible suppression at the same time. They erupted into chaos!

  Snow-Hoof Deer stamped their hooves in terror. Ice Plain Foxes bristled with raised fur. The Frost Crystal Martens let out piercing screeches. In just a few breaths, all the roars, cries, and low growls merged into a single uproar, as every beast turned its gaze toward the cliff covered in Snowline Vines!

  Zhou Yue’s expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to shout for his fellow disciples to retreat, an overwhelming divine sense—vast as an abyss—descended without warning, sweeping across the entire valley!

  The strength of that divine sense far exceeded his comprehension.

  With his Qi Condensation Eleventh Layer cultivation, when that divine sense passed over him, he felt as though he were standing naked beneath the heavens. The circulation of his spiritual energy, the paths of his meridians, even the tiniest fluctuations of the qi vortex in his dantian—everything was laid bare!

  “Not good!”

  Terror surged in his heart. The flying sword beneath his feet flared wildly, nearly slipping out of control.

  Beside him, Xu Wei let out a muffled groan as the sword light beneath her feet collapsed completely. She fell straight down! Crying out, she barely managed to circulate her qi—yet still plummeted together with Lin Xuan, who was clutching her clothes in panic.

  Zhou Yue gritted his teeth and unleashed all his remaining spiritual energy, diving down at full speed. He barely managed to catch the two before they hit the ground. That single action left him drenched in sweat, his spiritual energy nearly exhausted.

  The moment he landed, he bent deeply and clasped his fists, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

  “Junior Zhou Yue of the Snow Domain Alliance inner sect! I did not know a senior was cultivating here. We have rashly disturbed you—this junior begs for forgiveness!”

  Xu Wei’s face was deathly pale as she hurriedly followed with a salute.

  “Junior Xu Wei of the Snow Domain Alliance pays respects to Senior.”

  Lin Xuan was utterly terrified, hiding behind Xu Wei, his teeth chattering so hard he couldn’t utter a single word.

  As for the beasts in the valley—they lay prostrate on the ground, bodies trembling, their eyes filled with fear and submission.

  “Snow Domain Alliance…”

  An aged, indifferent voice echoed leisurely from all directions. Its tone betrayed no emotion, yet it made the trio’s hearts sink even further.

  Zhou Yue secretly groaned in misery.

  If he were alone, he might still gamble on a desperate escape. But with a junior sister and a young junior brother in tow—if he fled alone, he would face severe punishment upon returning to the sect. At this moment, he could only hope that the other party would take the Snow Domain Alliance into consideration, and that, seeing they had not truly offended him, he would spare their lives.

  Yet after those three words, the voice fell silent again.

  Time trickled by.

  Each breath felt as long as a year.

  Cold sweat seeped from Zhou Yue’s brow as his thoughts raged in turmoil. In the end, the instinct to survive overwhelmed everything else—if the other party truly decided to kill them, he would have no choice but to save himself first!

  Xu Wei’s nerves were stretched taut as well. Seeing even her usually steady Third Senior Brother turn pale, her fear deepened. After hesitating again and again, she finally spoke in a trembling voice:

  “Senior… we truly did not know you were cultivating here. If we have unknowingly offended you—”

  Before she could finish, the aged voice suddenly let out a soft “Eh?”, tinged with hesitation.

  “Your surname is Xu?”

  Xu Wei froze, then quickly replied,

  “Yes, Senior. My surname is Xu. My given name is Wei.”

  Silence followed.

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  The valley fell deathly quiet, broken only by the rustling sound of snow being swept along by the cold wind.

  After a long while, the voice sighed faintly, filled with indescribable emotion.

  “Go.”

  Before the word had fully faded, heaven and earth’s spiritual energy surged violently! An invisible giant hand manifested out of thin air and gently swept toward the three—

  They felt their bodies tighten as if frozen in ice, unable to move. In the next instant, they were sent flying backward, hurled dozens of zhang away in the blink of an eye!

  The moment the restraint vanished, Zhou Yue’s face turned ashen. He grabbed Xu Wei and Lin Xuan, igniting all remaining spiritual energy, and fled in a panicked streak of light toward the northern sky—never daring to look back.

  Only after escaping more than a hundred li did the three finally dare to slow down.

  Zhou Yue glanced back toward the direction of the valley, his eyes still filled with lingering fear.

  “That senior just now… was at least late-stage Foundation Establishment—perhaps even a Core Formation expert! We truly survived by sheer luck.”

  Xu Wei was equally shaken. Yet deep down, she felt that voice carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity. No matter how she tried to recall it, however, she found no clue.

  Lin Xuan wore a miserable expression.

  “Senior Brother… Senior Sister… are we still going to catch a Frost Crystal Marten…?”

  “Catch my ass!” Zhou Yue snapped. “Return to the sect immediately! What happened today—no one is allowed to speak of it. Just say… just say the Frost Crystal Martens have migrated elsewhere and that we came back empty-handed.”

  The three hurried away, never daring to turn their heads again.

  The valley returned to silence.

  Suddenly, a faint crack echoed from the cliff covered in Snowline Vines.

  The vines and ice moss coating the surface peeled away inch by inch, revealing an ice-sealed cave entrance beneath. The layer of ice quietly melted, and a figure stepped out slowly.

  The man looked about twenty years old. His long hair had grown down to his waist, casually draped over his shoulders. His face was fair and handsome, while his eyes were deep as a frozen abyss. Wherever his gaze swept, the prostrated beasts trembled even more violently.

  It was Yun Che, emerging after four full years of seclusion.

  Standing outside the cave, he took a deep breath of the biting cold air and lifted his gaze toward the north—

  toward the Snow Domain Alliance’s mountain gate, and the former land of the Profound Frost Sect.

  Four years.

  “The Qi Condensation Realm has long been perfected, and the Void Light Realm honed to its extreme,” Yun Che murmured. “But this final threshold of Foundation Establishment… I’ve attempted it dozens of times, only to fail at the very last moment. Elder Li—does that method you mentioned truly work?”

  “Heh heh. When have I ever lied to you?”

  Li Han’s voice rang out from the stone bead, tinged with pride.

  “The difficulty of Foundation Establishment lies in balancing the qualitative transformation of spiritual energy with the metamorphosis of the physical body. Ordinary cultivators rely on slow accumulation, or the aid of masters. But you have neither protection nor vast resources—only my Foundation-Seizing Method can allow you to succeed quickly.”

  A cold light flashed in Yun Che’s eyes.

  “A Foundation Establishment cultivator is no easy prey. With my current strength, even facing one head-on would be a struggle—let alone capturing one alive.”

  “That’s why I said I’d assist you,” Li Han replied coldly. “As long as you can create a momentary flaw, I can activate my remaining Void Source to temporarily restrain their soul. Just make sure your target is someone who’s only recently established their foundation, with an unstable realm. That way, the cost to me will be minimal.”

  Yun Che fell silent for a long time, then slowly shook his head.

  “This method is far too vicious. Seizing another’s Dao foundation and ruining their future—how is that any different from demonic cultivation?”

  “Naive!” Li Han roared.

  “The cultivation world has always been one of the strong devouring the weak! Their Dao foundation is a foundation—so your Dao path isn’t? If you can’t harden your heart, then go find supreme Wood-attribute spirit items, complete the Wood Element of the Heaven-Defying Pearl, and use the rotation of the Five Elements to establish your foundation. Or find a Nascent Soul old monster willing to empower you—can you do that?”

  Yun Che gave a bitter smile.

  “Is there truly no other safer path?”

  “There is,” Li Han sneered.

  “Proceed step by step and cultivate bitterly for another twenty or thirty years—maybe you’ll have a fifty or sixty percent chance to establish your foundation on your own. Or find external pills like the Ice Soul Foundation Pill. But with your current wealth, you can’t even afford the pill formula.”

  Yun Che gazed toward the northern horizon, his eyes unfathomably deep.

  After four years of seclusion, he had pushed the Void Light Realm to true grand perfection. Within his dantian, the vortex fused with void-light specks had solidified like a liquid star—on the verge of a qualitative change at any moment.

  Yet this final step felt like an insurmountable chasm.

  “Xu Wei…”

  He suddenly murmured her name.

  Old acquaintances had already pledged themselves to enemy sects, their cultivation advancing swiftly—

  while he still lingered before the gate of Foundation Establishment.

  Wind and snow howled, lifting his long hair into the air.

  Yun Che slowly raised his hand, palm facing upward. A strand of incomparably pure ice-blue spiritual energy surged from his fingertips, condensing into a slowly rotating ice crystal lotus in his palm.

  The lotus was crystalline and translucent. Within it, countless tiny points of light flowed—

  the unmistakable sign of power fused with the void.

  Four years of tempering had changed him completely.

  He was no longer the menial disciple who could only endure and hide.

  “Elder Li,” Yun Che said suddenly, his voice calm.

  “If I were to use that Foundation-Seizing Method… what would I need to prepare?”

  Li Han fell silent for a moment before replying slowly:

  “First, you must find a suitable furnace.”

  “Second, you must set up a Spirit-Seizing Formation. This formation requires thirty-six mid-grade spirit stones as its foundation, supplemented by three Yin-cold attribute materials.”

  “And finally—most importantly,” Li Han’s tone turned grim,

  “you must be prepared to bear a life on your conscience. Once this method is used, there is no turning back. If your Dao heart is not firm enough, it will consume you instead.”

  The ice lotus in Yun Che’s palm shattered silently, dispersing into countless motes of light.

  He watched those lights drift away in the wind and snow. After a long time, he spoke softly:

  “Let me… think it over.”

  He turned and walked back into the ice cave.

  The frozen entrance reformed, sealing everything away once more.

  Only after that suffocating presence completely vanished did the beasts in the valley dare to lift their heads, exchanging frightened looks before scattering in all directions.

  The wind and snow continued as before, as if nothing had happened.

  Only the unusually lush Snowline Vines on the cliff swayed gently in the cold wind—

  vivid, verdant, and full of hidden secrets.