The multicolored defensive lights shattered one after another under the Ice-Foul shockwave, as fragile as paper.

  Teng San crushed his final protective jade talisman. The last layer of light barely blocked the remaining force. His face turned deathly pale, his spiritual power nearly exhausted.

  After expelling the Ice-Foul Core, the corpse wraith had shrunk to less than half its size, collapsing on the ground and twitching violently—clearly at its limit as well.

  Teng San’s courage was completely broken. Without the sheer number of treasures he carried, he would already be dead. At this moment, how could he still think about hunting Yun Che? Survival was his only thought!

  With a virtual pull of his left hand, the massive sword hovering in midair shifted to block the corpse wraith, while his own figure retreated explosively backward!

  Yun Che had been watching him the entire time. Seeing this, the corner of his mouth curled into an icy arc.

  Now!

  He raised two fingers of his right hand and slashed through the air.

  A green flash streaked out!

  Pain exploded in Teng San’s back as he retreated. Shocked, he didn’t even dare look back, forcing his escape speed even higher.

  Yun Che frowned slightly—once again, the damaged Golden Scale Armor blocked the strike. The sword tip failed to fully pierce through.

  A ruthless gleam flashed in his eyes. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Blood-Fiend Sword floating beside him!

  “Zheng—!!”

  The sword shrieked violently as blood light surged forth. The cracks along the blade were temporarily sealed by blood energy!

  Another flash!

  Teng San had retreated over fifty zhang when a bone-piercing killing intent suddenly stabbed into his back. He spun around in horror—only to see a blood-colored arc already at his chest!

  His eyes nearly split apart. Several jade talismans burst out of his storage pouch, forming layers of spiritual barriers. At the same time, his left hand shot out, trying to recall the massive sword to slash Yun Che—

  This was a gamble with his life.

  He was betting on whether Yun Che’s sword would pierce him first, or his own sword would strike Yun Che down first!

  If Yun Che chose to activate Void Shift to save himself, his control over the flying sword would break—and Teng San could seize the chance to flee!

  Li Han roared frantically within Yun Che’s sea of consciousness:

  “You’re insane! Retreat—now!!”

  Blue light surfaced on Yun Che’s chest, but he forcibly suppressed it with sheer will.

  “Not yet,” he growled. “Hold!”

  A near-feral ruthlessness spread across his face. He completely ignored the massive sword slashing down above him, focusing all his mind on the Blood-Fiend Sword.

  The sword flashed again, bypassing the barriers and appearing three inches before Teng San’s face!

  Panic had only just appeared on Teng San’s expression—

  “Die!”

  The blade pierced straight through his chest and burst out his back!

  Almost simultaneously, the massive sword arrived above Yun Che’s head. The blade was less than an inch from his crown. His hair was severed by sword qi, his old forehead wound split open, blood flowing freely.

  Blue light erupted!

  Yun Che vanished beneath the blade, reappearing beside the ashen-faced Teng San.

  The massive sword slammed down, splitting the ground into a deep chasm.

  Ignoring the blood streaming down his forehead, Yun Che pressed his right hand onto Teng San’s chest. Li Han instantly understood—no words needed. Residual soul power surged out from the stone bead, Spectral Azure cold currents pouring into Teng San’s body through Yun Che’s palm.

  “Ka… ka-ka—”

  Teng San’s body froze at a visible speed, turning into a blue ice statue, his expression locked in terror and unwillingness.

  Everything happened in a flash.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  In the distance, the corpse wraith had just struggled to its feet. Seeing this, it froze for a moment, then stared at Yun Che warily.

  The thunder orbs raining down toward it dissipated. The jade sword shrank and fell, dropping into the fissure below.

  Yun Che grabbed the ice statue, the Blood-Fiend Sword circling him defensively, its tip pointed at the corpse wraith as he slowly retreated.

  The corpse wraith bared its fangs and growled, seeming ready to pounce—but after glancing at the deep chasm, hesitation flickered in its eyes.

  By the time it made up its mind, Yun Che had already retreated over three hundred zhang. Blue light flashed, and he vanished without a trace.

  The corpse wraith roared unwillingly, leapt into the fissure, and soon climbed back out with the jade sword clenched in its mouth. Ecstasy filled its face as it swallowed the sword whole.

  Yun Che carried the ice statue through treacherous ice crevices at full speed. Once he confirmed safety, he finally exhaled, set the statue down, sat cross-legged, took out his last bottle of Cold Marrow Spirit Liquid, drank it dry, and closed his eyes to recover.

  The icy winds howled through the Severed Blade Mountains.

  After a long time, Yun Che opened his eyes.

  “Kid, you were completely mad back there!” Li Han’s voice still carried lingering fear and anger. “If I were even a heartbeat slower, your head would’ve been chopped off!”

  Yun Che replied calmly, “That was the only chance to kill him. Letting him escape would mean endless trouble. Besides—his spiritual power was exhausted. The massive sword’s return speed had slowed. It couldn’t be faster than my blade.”

  Li Han fell silent.

  For the first time, he felt he was truly seeing this young man clearly.

  After a long pause, he said slowly, “You already possess the temperament needed to stand firm in the cultivation world. Such decisiveness and ruthlessness… even I, back in my prime, may not have matched it.”

  Yun Che didn’t respond. His gaze fell on Teng San’s ice statue, dark light flickering in his eyes.

  “With his late-stage Foundation Establishment body as a furnace, can the Foundation-Seizing Art succeed?”

  Li Han’s tone grew complex. “Not only will it succeed—it’s an excellent furnace. Using him, your post-Foundation cultivation speed will far exceed ordinary cultivators, and you may even seize part of his spiritual root aptitude. For someone his age to reach late Foundation Establishment, his talent must be exceptional…”

  “This gamble of yours,” Li Han said quietly, “was worth it.”

  He then explained every incantation, key point, and taboo of the Foundation-Seizing Art, until deep night fell.

  After pondering briefly, Yun Che summoned the Blood-Fiend Sword and carved out a man-sized ice cave in a nearby wall.

  He brought the ice statue inside, leaving the Blood-Fiend Sword guarding the entrance.

  The freezing cold inside went unnoticed by Yun Che. After cleaning the wound on his forehead with spirit liquid, he gathered his focus and began to meditate.

  A silent night passed.

  At dawn, Yun Che opened his eyes, sharp light blazing within.

  He exhaled a stream of pure ice-blue spiritual mist. His hands formed seals, imprinting one spell after another into the mist.

  The mist churned violently.

  With a flick of his right hand, Teng San’s ice statue floated before him. Blue light flashed at Yun Che’s chest, and the ice melted away.

  The mist moved like a living thing, drilling into Teng San’s seven orifices.

  Teng San’s body convulsed violently, eyes shut tight, face twisted in agony. Soon, the mist fully entered his body.

  Yun Che took a deep breath, expression solemn. He bit his finger and traced a complex, eerie blood rune in midair.

  With a push, the rune struck Teng San’s chest.

  “Ugh—AAAH!!”

  Teng San’s body jerked violently as blood poured from his mouth and nose—but instead of falling, it hovered and condensed.

  Crackling sounds erupted from his bones. His exposed skin flushed an unhealthy red.

  Countless blood droplets seeped from his pores, floating upward and gathering.

  Sweat beaded on Yun Che’s forehead. Without pause, he drew a second blood rune!

  “Pu—!”

  Teng San let out an unconscious scream. His blood vessels burst one after another, blood gushing forth and forming a head-sized blood sphere above him.

  His skin turned pale, his aura flickering like a dying candle.

  Yun Che’s clothes were soaked with sweat as he stared at the blood sphere, his hands moving in blinding patterns. Spiritual light and talismans alternated, compressing the sphere until it condensed into a fist-sized, dark-red mass.

  He exhaled slowly, adjusted his breathing, and expelled more spiritual mist into Teng San’s body.

  Teng San suddenly opened his eyes—bloodshot, pupils scattered, teeth clenched as his body trembled violently.

  Yun Che drew a third, even more complex blood rune. A drop of essence blood shot into it.

  The rune flared crimson and struck Teng San’s crown!

  “Hh… hh…”

  Strange choking sounds escaped Teng San’s throat as his muscles writhed and contracted toward his chest.

  Before the naked eye, his body withered rapidly. All flesh and vital essence gathered into a massive, pulsating meat sphere at his chest.

  Yun Che’s gaze sharpened. His hand seal changed.

  “Puchi!”

  The meat sphere detached, floating in midair. Teng San’s body was now nothing but skin and bones.

  Yun Che infused it with spiritual energy. The sphere shrank to fist size.

  Exhausted, he drank another Cold Marrow Spirit Liquid, rested briefly, then pointed at Teng San’s remains.

  “Bang! Bang! Bang!”

  Bones shattered inch by inch, turning into powder that seeped from the skin and condensed into a pale bone sphere.

  Blood sphere. Flesh sphere. Bone sphere.

  They floated in a triangular formation, radiating an eerie glow.

  “Draining blood, refining flesh, shattering bone—yet keeping a thread of life intact…” Yun Che sighed softly. “This method truly violates the harmony of heaven.”

  “This is nothing,” Li Han scoffed. “In my homeland’s demonic path, there’s even ‘Core-Seizing Soul-Refining’ techniques. The caster suffers heart-devouring agony, sacrifices lifespan, and still has less than a one-percent success rate. That is true cruelty.”

  Yun Che said nothing more and focused.

  Grey-white vapor slowly seeped from Teng San’s sludge-like remains, thickening over time.

  Eventually, it condensed into a vague humanoid shadow. Its facial outline clearly matched Teng San’s.

  The shadow trembled, dazed, on the verge of dispersing—then its gaze locked onto Yun Che, hatred solidifying in its eyes as it opened its mouth in a silent scream.

  Yun Che’s eyes were icy.

  Red light shot from his hand, forming chains that lashed toward the shadow!

  The shadow panicked and tried to flee, but within three feet of its body, an invisible cage held it fast.

  Seeing no escape, the shadow turned vicious and lunged at the chains!

  Expressionless, Yun Che tightened control, binding the shadow and slowly dragging it outward.

  The Soul Extraction step of the Foundation-Seizing Art was critical. The soul had to be completely pulled beyond the “Three-Foot Soul Prison” before the next step—Spiritual Root Extraction.

  If the soul was incomplete, the Foundation Seizing could still succeed, but the spiritual root aptitude could not be inherited.

  The shadow struggled in agony, already halfway out—

  At that moment—

  An unexpected change occurred.

  life-or-death gamble.

  Yun Che’s head-on clash, extreme timing, and ruthless decision-making mark a clear turning point—he is no longer a “novice cultivator.”

  ?? If the Blood-Fiend Sword had been even a moment slower, would this gamble have meant certain death?

  ?? With such a brutal Foundation-Seizing Art, has Yun Che truly stepped onto the path of demonic cultivation?