“Break. Break. Break.”

  Ling Xuzi’s expression was icy. With a single downward press of his hand, the heaven-supporting ice mountain slammed down again and again, thunderous booms rippling across thousands of li.

  Across the Northern Domain wastelands, countless mortal villages and towns fell into panic. Ordinary people hid indoors, not daring to step outside. Those brave enough to peer through cracks in their windows saw a sky-shrouding ice mountain suspended above the heavens, crashing downward repeatedly—each impact making the earth shudder violently.

  Crack—!

  Another Ice Soul Pillar, already riddled with fractures, finally shattered completely!

  The black-robed Elder Han, seated atop it, vomited blood violently. The light of his Natal Golden Core extinguished entirely, and his body collapsed limply, his aura barely clinging to life.

  A cold glint flashed in Ling Xuzi’s eyes. From his sleeve flew a purple-red ice-jade gourd. He muttered incantations as his hand seals shifted rapidly. The gourd trembled, and from its mouth poured a dark crimson, magma-like viscous liquid.

  The moment the liquid appeared, the surrounding temperature surged upward, forming an eerie fusion of ice and fire alongside the extreme cold of the ice mountain. It swiftly enveloped the entire mountain, coating the ice-blue mass with burning crimson patterns.

  “Fall,” Ling Xuzi said coldly.

  The flaming ice mountain crashed down!

  BOOOOM—!!!

  Spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly across the protective barrier, covering the entire sky in the blink of an eye. Wherever the fractures passed, ice crystals flaked away, and the formation’s spiritual light dimmed rapidly.

  “Pff!”

  “Pff!”

  Two dull sounds followed in succession as two more Ice Soul Pillars shattered! The two Core Formation elders seated upon them spat blood simultaneously. One’s Golden Core cracked further, spiritual energy leaking out; the other fainted outright.

  Six of the eight pillars—destroyed!

  Only two remained.

  One held Han Jing; the other bore an elderly woman with a face full of deep wrinkles—another Core Formation ancestor of the Profound Frost Sect, True Person Ice Soul.

  Both were deathly pale, drenched in cold sweat, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. The light of their Natal Golden Cores flickered unstably; they were clearly at the end of their strength.

  At this moment, True Person Huang Long had already led all remaining inner disciples to the foot of Ice Soul Peak. The disciples stared up at the world-destroying scene above, every face drained of color, terror written plainly across their features.

  Yun Han, Sun Li, and others were among them.

  Yun Han clenched his fists tightly, fingernails digging deep into his palms. Fear filled his eyes—but also unwillingness. Sun Li trembled from head to toe, barely able to stand.

  Wang Hao had somehow squeezed into the crowd as well. His face was pale as paper, his aura weak—clearly the aftermath of severe internal injuries from his clash with Lü Yunjie. His gaze searched anxiously through the crowd. When he noticed a certain direction, a complicated look flashed in his eyes before he lowered his head and silently edged toward the outskirts.

  High in the sky, Ling Xuzi frowned slightly.

  The resilience of the Ice Soul Void-Transforming Grand Formation exceeded his expectations. He knew well that if this formation were at full strength and presided over by Nascent Soul cultivators, it could not only defend but counterattack. It would never have been reduced to such passive endurance.

  “Senior Ling Xuzi!” Han Jing roared hoarsely, his voice raspy from excessive spiritual expenditure. “The Snow Region Alliance and my Profound Frost Sect have stood together as righteous forces of the Northern Domain for centuries! Must you truly commit such annihilation, without fear of chilling the hearts of all sects?!”

  Ling Xuzi snorted coldly.

  “Han Jing, junior. Five hundred years have passed. You rose from a mere Foundation Establishment disciple to a Core Formation cultivator, barely holding up this crumbling mountain gate. For old acquaintance’s sake, if you dismantle the remnant formation yourself and open the sect, I may spare you all.”

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  Han Jing’s face twisted with struggle.

  At his side, True Person Ice Soul glared furiously and shouted, “Never! The Profound Frost Sect has stood for eight hundred years—never once has it surrendered without a fight! How could we hand over our founder’s legacy?!”

  Killing intent flashed in Ling Xuzi’s eyes.

  “Hopelessly stubborn.”

  He said no more, raising his right hand upward.

  The flaming ice mountain slowly ascended into the clouds. Ling Xuzi took a deep breath; an unnatural flush rose to his face as he opened his mouth and expelled a vast mass of Nascent Soul essence infused with Dao resonance!

  The essence merged into the ice mountain. The entire mass shuddered violently and expanded once more! Crimson flames surged wildly across its surface as ice and fire were forcibly fused, releasing a heart-stopping aura of destruction.

  “Suppress.”

  Ling Xuzi pressed down with one hand.

  The ice mountain let out a low hum and sank by one inch.

  Craaaack—!

  The remaining barrier emitted a teeth-grating sound of fracture. Cracks deepened and widened instantly! The final two Ice Soul Pillars shook violently, fragments of ice exploding from their surfaces.

  Another inch!

  “Pff!”

  Han Jing could no longer endure it. Blood sprayed from his mouth as the light of his Golden Core dimmed by nearly half. Beneath him, the Ice Soul Pillar split open from top to bottom with a penetrating裂痕.

  “Break.” Ling Xuzi barked.

  The ice mountain slammed down three more inches!

  RUMBLE—!!!

  Ice Soul Peak shook violently! Vast swathes of frozen rock collapsed from the summit, avalanches surging sky-high. The crystal ice bridge connecting the main peak to Ice Soul Peak shattered in the middle and plunged into the abyss below!

  At the same time, the Profound Frost Sect’s grand defensive formation—the Ice Soul Void-Transforming Formation—finally reached its limit.

  A crisp sound, like glass shattering, echoed across the land.

  The deep-blue barrier that had protected the sect for centuries shattered inch by inch, dissolving into countless motes of light that drifted away with the wind.

  The final two Ice Soul Pillars exploded simultaneously!

  Han Jing and True Person Ice Soul vomited blood and were blasted backward, crashing heavily onto the shattered ice platform. Their auras were feeble; their faces ashen.

  Ling Xuzi descended gracefully, landing before them. The towering ice mountain still hovered above, radiating a terrifying pressure that suppressed heaven and earth alike.

  His gaze was cold as he looked down at the two gravely injured Core Formation cultivators.

  “Your Profound Frost Sect’s three Nascent Soul ancestors have all fallen on the extraterritorial battlefield known as the Northern Abyss of Cold Oblivion. This is confirmed by the cultivation alliance’s war reports.”

  “You cannot hold this mountain gate.”

  “Rather than letting it fall into the hands of demonic cultivators or rogue practitioners, it is better that it returns to my Snow Region Alliance—so the spiritual veins remain intact and the inheritance preserved.”

  Han Jing struggled to sit up, exchanging a bitter glance with True Person Ice Soul.

  “Senior… could you, for the sake of our centuries of mutual defense, allow us—”

  “Enough.” Ling Xuzi cut him off coldly. “Take your people and leave. You may not take a single item belonging to the sect. Speak further—and I will erase the Profound Frost Sect’s name entirely.”

  True Person Ice Soul trembled with rage, about to speak, but Han Jing pressed down on her arm and slowly shook his head. Drawing a deep breath, swallowing humiliation, he bowed deeply.

  “This junior… obeys. Only—the Cold Abyss Secret Realm is the foundation of our sect. Might we borrow it temporarily, and in the future—”

  “Borrow?” Ling Xuzi sneered. “Very well. I will lend it to my Snow Region Alliance—for one hundred thousand years.”

  “You—!”

  True Person Ice Soul’s blood surged; she spat another mouthful of blood.

  Below, the disciples burned with grief and fury, yet none dared speak. Some already had flickering eyes, secretly planning their escape. More stood ashen-faced, eyes filled with despair.

  Ling Xuzi’s gaze swept the crowd like lightning, finally settling on True Person Huang Long.

  “You,” he said indifferently. “Leave behind the Ice Soul Coagulating Dragon Sword. My nephew Ouyang has taken a liking to it.”

  Huang Long shuddered violently, fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. He glanced at Han Jing and Ice Soul, both of whom had closed their eyes in silence. He gave a bitter smile and tremblingly took out a three-foot-long sword—ice-blue throughout, dragon patterns flowing faintly along its blade.

  The Profound Frost Sect’s sect master token.

  A mid-grade spirit treasure—Ice Soul Coagulating Dragon Sword.

  Gritting his teeth, he threw it to the ground.

  Ling Xuzi reached out casually. The sword flew into his hand.

  Hum—!

  The blade vibrated violently as an ice-blue dragon aura shot skyward, transforming into a massive crystalline dragon with clear scales and claws. It circled the sky, letting out a resonant roar, dragon might awe-inspiring!

  Ling Xuzi nodded slightly and flipped his hand, storing the sword. The ice dragon dissipated.

  He did not spare the Profound Frost Sect another glance. Turning toward the Cold Abyss Secret Realm, his voice echoed across the land:

  “After one incense stick’s time—

  any Profound Frost disciple still within the mountain gate…

  kill without mercy.”

  With that, his figure slowly rose, once more standing before the towering ice mountain, eyes closed, unmoving like an ancient ice statue.

  Cold wind howled, sweeping broken ice crystals and fresh blood across the ruins.

  The Profound Frost Sect—

  eight hundred years of legacy—

  was now nothing but a name.

  Thousands of li away, Yun Che—rushing northward—suddenly felt something and turned his head.

  The Heaven-Defying Pearl against his chest grew faintly warm.

  ?? Is Ling Xuzi truly a villain?

  He annihilates a sect, seizes its land and treasures—yet his logic is calm and consistent.

  Is this cruelty… or order?