Inside the cultivation chamber, Azure cold flames wrapped around the pitch-black sword sheath, burning uninterrupted for three full days.

  Yun Che’s face was pale, yet his eyes shone with startling brightness. As the final incantation was driven in, the Five-Point Nether Formation on the sheath’s surface suddenly contracted, collapsing into a single dark-red blood mark that branded itself onto the inner side of the sheath.

  It was done.

  Though the refinement was not yet complete, his control over the sheath had advanced from three-fifths to four-fifths.

  With a mere thought, the Bloodfiend Sword returned to its sheath, sinking to its new limit. The blade’s color shifted from dark red to an almost unreal Nether-black, its ferocious sword intent fully restrained—yet all the more terrifying for it.

  At that moment, a disturbance of spiritual power rippled from outside the chamber.

  “Martial Uncle Yun, Ancestor Han Mingzi urgently summons all Foundation Establishment disciples to assemble at the Ice Soul Hall. This junior, Han Jue, has come to guide you.”

  Cold light flashed through Yun Che’s eyes. With a wave of his hand, he withdrew the restrictions.

  When he stepped out, his expression had already returned to normal—only his aura was slightly weakened from the prolonged refinement.

  Han Jue swept his gaze over Yun Che and smiled.

  “Martial Uncle has been in seclusion these past days. It seems your harvest was not small.”

  Yun Che did not respond. He merely took out an Azure jade slip.

  “Please trouble Elder Han Jue to lead the way.”

  The two moved through the ice corridors. The deeper they went, the heavier the cold became. Ancient blood-colored runes gradually appeared on the ice walls, faintly radiating a suppressive aura against Nether forces.

  By the time they reached the Ice Soul Hall, more than twenty people had already gathered inside.

  Yun Che’s gaze swept across them, and his heart sank.

  More than half had vacant eyes and dull expressions, like puppets on invisible strings. Only three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators possessed solid auras—but within their eyes lurked an icy, inhuman indifference.

  Even more bizarre—

  Behind every person floated an ice coffin.

  The lids were half-open, and within, one could vaguely see curled blue-skinned figures—

  Unawakened Ice Puppet Bodies.

  “Human puppets…” Yun Che’s heart tightened.

  So the rumors of the Nine Nether Sect refining living people into puppets were true.

  At that moment, the sixteen Nether Soul Lamps within the hall dimmed simultaneously.

  Han Mingzi stepped out from the void.

  His complexion was even grayer than three days prior, his aura unstable. Yet when his deep eyes swept across the crowd, the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator still descended heavily.

  “The Profound Nether Passage has opened. The Nether Battlefield will soon follow,” Han Mingzi said coldly.

  “By the rules of the Northern Nether Alliance, Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators may not directly participate in the contest for the Abyssal Cold Edicts.”

  “All of you will immediately head to Frost Severing Valley, where you will join the Foundation Establishment elites of the other five Northern sects.”

  His gaze fell upon the foremost of the three late-stage cultivators.

  “Du Ling.”

  A black-clad middle-aged man stepped forward and knelt on one knee.

  “Disciple is here.”

  “You will lead this operation.”

  Han Mingzi tossed out a pitch-black token etched with flowing blood-red Nether inscriptions.

  “The Abyssal Cold Edict is here. Remember—your primary objective is to seize the tokens of other sects. Secondarily… beware even your ‘allies.’”

  He paused, his tone turning sinister.

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  “Any who slay five enemies may have their Soul Seal lifted and regain their freedom.”

  Du Ling accepted the token with both hands, fanatic fervor flashing through his eyes.

  Han Mingzi then produced three Azure soul tablets, veins of blood faintly visible within, and slowly turned his gaze toward Yun Che.

  “Everyone present has their soul threads stored within these tablets,” he said calmly.

  “Except you.”

  Dead silence filled the hall.

  Yun Che’s expression remained unchanged, but thoughts raced.

  Hand over his soul thread, and his life and death would rest in another’s hands.

  Refuse—and this place would become his grave.

  Suddenly, he raised his hand and bit through his tongue. A strand of essence blood mixed with his life-bound soul power sprayed forth, condensing into a golden-red blood bead in midair.

  His right hand pressed to his brow. A nearly imperceptible soul thread was forcibly drawn out and merged into the blood bead.

  “Go.”

  The bead transformed into a golden-red streak of light and precisely entered one of Han Mingzi’s jade slips.

  The entire sequence flowed flawlessly—the exact Soul Extraction Seal recorded within the jade slips.

  A flicker of surprise passed through Han Mingzi’s eyes. He gave Yun Che a long look but said nothing more.

  With a sweep of his sleeve—

  The void at the center of the Ice Soul Hall tore open.

  A Nether Gate, its edges burning with Azure flames, slowly opened. Wailing winds howled from within, as though it led straight into purgatory.

  Han Mingzi tossed the three soul tablets to Du Ling and the other two late-stage cultivators.

  Yun Che’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  The tablet sealing his soul thread landed in the hands of the leftmost cultivator—his face ashen, eyes utterly lifeless.

  “Remember,” Han Mingzi’s voice echoed,

  “I will be waiting here—for your triumphant return.”

  Du Ling stepped into the Nether Gate first. The remaining disciples followed. The puppet-like figures moved with eerie uniformity, as though responding to an unseen command.

  Yun Che entered calmly with the crowd.

  The instant he crossed the threshold, his vision spun.

  When he opened his eyes again, he stood within a desolate valley shrouded in icy mist. Twisted dead trees clawed at the sky like skeletal hands.

  Behind him, the Nether Gate slowly closed and vanished.

  And in the very instant it disappeared—

  The three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators exchanged glances and simultaneously formed hand seals, about to crush their soul tablets!

  ……

  Inside the Ice Soul Hall, the Nether Gate fully dissipated.

  Han Mingzi staggered, barely steadying himself against an ice pillar. A trace of dark-golden blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.

  “Why struggle so?”

  A hoarse voice echoed from within him as the phantom of You Hai’s remnant soul slowly emerged.

  “Your Nascent Soul is on the verge of collapse. At most, you have one month left. Why not let me devour it now and spare yourself the agony?”

  Han Mingzi wiped away the blood, his gaze icy.

  “One month… is enough.”

  He looked toward the corner of the hall.

  There, A-Mei lay sealed within a transparent ice coffin. The nine yellowed talismans fluttered without wind, faintly resonating with something far away.

  “With Yun Che’s pure Nine Nether cold power as the catalyst, supplemented by twenty Nether human puppets…” You Hai cackled.

  “Han Mingzi, you are truly ruthless. If that brat knew he was heading out as a blood-sacrifice furnace, he’d die with unclosed eyes.”

  Han Mingzi remained expressionless.

  “The secrets on his body are no longer worth pursuing. Since I won’t choose him as my vessel, he may as well be fully utilized.”

  “Using his flesh and soul to stimulate the puppets’ ferocity, forcing them to erupt with False Core combat strength… This Abyssal Cold Edict contest—”

  “The Nine Nether Mausoleum will win.”

  “And what about what you promised me?” You Hai’s voice sank.

  “Once the contest ends, I will personally enter the Ancient Ice Ruins and help the Nether Lord devour Wu Ming’s Nascent Soul,” Han Mingzi said slowly.

  “In exchange—you must raise A-Mei to the Core Formation Realm within one month. She will be my final vessel.”

  You Hai’s phantom twisted with manic laughter.

  “Good! Good! Once I consume Wu Ming’s Nascent Soul origin, I’ll help you refine this Nether puppet body into a perfect vessel.”

  “As for your Nascent Soul…”

  “Relax. I’ll leave you a sliver of true soul—enough for you to attempt possession and rebirth.”

  Han Mingzi closed his eyes.

  The Ice Soul Hall fell into silence, broken only by You Hai’s faint, feral laughter.

  ……

  Frost Severing Valley.

  The three late-stage cultivators’ hand seals reached their final stage. Blood threads on the soul tablets writhed wildly!

  Just as the tablets were about to shatter—

  Yun Che moved.

  He did not charge toward them. Instead, his figure retreated sharply as his right hand closed in the air. The pitch-black sword sheath flew out from his storage pouch!

  “Bloodfiend—unsheathe!”

  Clang—!

  The Nether-black blade slid three inches from its sheath!

  An overwhelmingly terrifying fiendish sword intent exploded outward, centered on Yun Che! The icy mist reversed, dead trees shattered, and the valley itself trembled!

  The three cultivators froze simultaneously!

  The soul tablets in their hands were forcibly suppressed by the sword intent—the blood threads locking solid!

  At the same time, the puppet-like disciples abruptly turned their heads, hollow eye sockets locking onto Yun Che—

  More precisely, onto the pure Nine Nether cold power on his body, now driven to its peak by the sword intent!

  “ROAR—!!!”

  More than twenty human puppets unleashed inhuman howls. Azure soul flames ignited within their eyes as their auras surged wildly!

  Mid Foundation.

  Late Foundation.

  False Core…

  In the blink of an eye, every puppet broke through to False Core Realm!

  They abandoned their original targets, lunging toward Yun Che like starving beasts drawn to blood!

  Du Ling’s face changed drastically.

  “This is bad! The blood lure is out of control—the puppets have gone berserk!”

  At the heart of the storm, Yun Che’s expression remained calm.

  He had long sensed something was wrong with these “fellow disciples.” And when he handed over his soul thread, he had secretly planted a seed of Extreme Cold power within that blood bead.

  Now, that seed awakened alongside the sword intent.

  “Want my life?”

  Yun Che slowly tightened his grip on the sword hilt. The blade slid out another two inches.

  “Then let’s see…”

  “Who becomes whose nourishment first.”

  Deep within the sword sheath, the ancient will that had only just awakened seemed to sense something—and released a delighted hum.

  un Che handed over his soul thread—but planted a hidden countermeasure.

  Was this reckless, or the only viable path?

  Do you think the ancient will within the Bloodfiend Sword and sheath will backlash against Yun Che—or coexist with him?

  Blessing or ticking bomb?