The Netherfrost Soul Crystal pulsed with a deep, dormant cold in her hand. "This ice soul is quite special," Su Min murmured to herself, her breath misting in the already frigid air. "To absorb it, I need an environment of absolute cold. Only that kind of place can crack its outer shell and let me take it in gradually."
After leaving the relative safety of the Frostveil Pavilion's territory, she lifted her gaze to the immense white wall looming on the horizon. Beyond it lay the true barrier of the Tianhan Snow Field, a place where ordinary humans would freeze solid in minutes. Even Golden Core cultivators had to tread with extreme caution, never daring to venture too deep. But for Su Min, who had already reached the Divine Transformation stage, the cold itself was nothing. The real problem was the snow mist. It churned with violent, chaotic spiritual energy that scrambled divine sense and muted spiritual perception the moment you entered.
This only handicapped humans, of course. The demonic beasts that had evolved there over countless generations were perfectly adapted. Their eyes, their senses, their innate abilities all let them thrive in the extreme cold. Still, their cultivation had limits. While they were a genuine threat to Golden Core and Nascent Soul experts, they weren't anything Su Min needed to worry about.
"Then I'll head in," she decided, her resolve hardening. "I need to reach the late Divine Transformation stage as soon as possible. That's the only way I'll have enough power to deal with those half-step Dao Comprehension Fallen Ones." A memory flashed in her mind: the Dragon Princess's breathtaking combat prowess, how she had forced Liao Jie to his death and battled the Black Serpent to a standstill. "If I can reach late-stage, I won't be any weaker than she was back then." And now the Dragon Princess had ascended to the Dao Comprehension stage, her strength so formidable that not a single Fallen One dared approach her ancestral lands. The same was true for the Little Golden Crow's home in Eastern Mulberry State. That was the level of security she needed.
But just as Su Min stepped beyond the official boundary of Ice Peak City, she stopped dead. The city itself had been too crowded, its spiritual background noise too cluttered with weak cultivators for her to pick out specific threats. But out here, in the open space beyond the gates, she felt them immediately: several piercing gazes locked onto her back, their intent as sharp as ice shards.
"One late-stage Divine Transformation, two mid-stage," she catalogued silently, a cold smirk forming in her heart. "You're really going all out for a mere 'Golden Core' cultivator. But since you've come, you might as well stay here forever. It's not like I haven't wiped out sects before."
A trace of killing intent flickered in her eyes. This lineup was almost laughable to her. The fact they were deploying such force for one person meant only one thing: they were determined to get what they wanted, and if she didn't have it, they wouldn't let her go anyway. In that case, there was nothing more to say.
Pretending not to notice, she immediately dashed toward the distant entrance of the Tianhan Snow Field, her speed carefully calibrated to that of a fleeing Nascent Soul cultivator.
Meanwhile, in a secluded pavilion overlooking the city's edge, three figures watched her go.
"Early-stage Nascent Soul, no mistake," the leader, the Xiumu Elder, said with a grave expression. "But I don't know what kind of physique she has or what she's obtained. We must capture her now."
The others wore equally solemn looks. It seemed this woman had already gained some benefit, perhaps even absorbed a fraction of the ice soul's spiritual energy. Only that could explain her sudden jump to the Nascent Soul stage. Whatever the case, they couldn't let her get away.
An early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might be a local overlord in some backwater state, but in their eyes, she was nothing. They could crush her with a flick of their fingers. Not everyone was a monster like Su Min, capable of fighting Nascent Soul cultivators while still at Golden Core. For ordinary cultivators, the gap between Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation was an unbridgeable chasm. And with a late-stage Divine Transformation expert among them, they had nothing to fear.
"To be safe, let's attack together," the Elder decided. "If she dares to swagger out like this, she must have some trump card."
Soon, the three transformed into streaks of light and shot after her.
Now surrounded by three cultivators hunting what they thought was a mere Nascent Soul, they didn't even bother to hide their presence. Su Min didn't need to sense them; she could feel the weight of their auras pressing down on her from behind.
Of course, to maintain her disguise, she deliberately let her own aura flutter at the early Nascent Soul level, a perfect picture of panicked flight.
Soon—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three figures descended from the sky like falling stars, landing in a semicircle that blocked her path completely. The snow settled around them in a sudden, tense silence.
"What do you think you're doing?" Su Min asked, her voice flat and indifferent. With her true cultivation, this lineup was more of an annoyance than a threat. Besides, Yue Ningzi had already spilled everything about the Xiumu Sect. It wasn't a betrayal; they were never allies. And given who she was, Yue Ningzi wouldn't dare object to her handling this her own way.
"Hand over the ice soul," the Xiumu Elder said, his voice as cold as the surrounding landscape. "Or we'll have to invite you back for a chat."
"What if I refuse?" Su Min smiled, a faint, dangerous curve of her lips.
But in the next moment, one of the mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivators lost patience. "Enough talk!" he snarled, and a sinister gust of wind coalesced into a massive, shadowy palm that swiped at her, intending to crush her into submission.
The Xiumu Elder opened his mouth to caution restraint, but it was too late.
In the next instant—
"AHHH!"
A blood-curdling scream ripped across the desolate snow plains, cut short almost as soon as it began. The cultivator who had attacked was thrown backward like a ragdoll, his chest a ruined mess, half his body practically pulverized. The spiritual light in his eyes guttered and died; even his primordial spirit had been shattered in that single, brutal counterblow. This was a true, devastating death.
"!!!"
The other two were stunned into absolute silence. They turned to stare at Su Min, their faces masks of pure horror.
An early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator had just one-shotted a mid-stage Divine Transformation expert. That was impossible. It defied all known logic. Not even the legendary Yao Xian'er could have done such a thing at that stage. This went beyond the definition of "monster."
"Who are you?!" the Xiumu Elder stammered, his face pale as he stared at the faint, lingering green glow that flickered around Su Min's form. Even he, at late-stage Divine Transformation, couldn't have delivered such a purely physical, overwhelming strike. Was this slender girl actually some ancient fiend in disguise?
"Just a passing Kamen Rider," Su Min said, her voice dripping with casual menace. "Since you've chosen death, none of you will leave alive today."
In the next moment, a transformation swept over her. Her hair flowed and shifted, turning the color of fresh snow. Flickering tongues of flame ignited in the depths of her pupils.
The Xiumu Elder's blood ran cold. He had attended the last sect assembly as his sect's representative. He had witnessed her brilliance from a distance. "You're Su Min?!" he gasped, his voice trembling with dawning terror. He hadn't been qualified to participate in the final battles, but he had seen enough. Though he was a late-stage Divine Transformation cultivator himself, he knew the gap between them was as wide as an ocean. He had just provoked someone he was never meant to offend.
"If you've made a move, then stay here forever," Su Min said, her tone conversational. She casually tossed aside the severed, mangled arm she had just ripped from her first attacker. "As for your sect—it doesn't need to exist anymore."
Her physical body was often considered her "weaker" aspect, but that was only in comparison to her own monstrous spellcasting. Enhanced by the raw vitality of the Eastern Azure Wood and the boundless, fluid power of the Northern Water's Profound Origin, crushing these three was no harder than swatting flies.