Amid the howling blizzard, the three figures jolted in surprise. Their perception was even worse than Su Min's in the storm, so they only registered her presence when she was practically on top of them.
A deafening crack split the air. One of the men was swatted aside as if by an invisible giant's hand, his body hurtling through the snow like a meteor before vanishing into the distant white. The remaining two barely had time to process what had happened.
"So fast!" The thought flashed through their minds, a cold dread settling in. Su Min's speed was simply impossible. It was so quick they couldn't react at all. One moment there were three of them, the next, a flash of movement and their companion was gone.
"Who are you? How is this possible at the Divine Transformation stage? This speed rivals even those who have comprehended the Law of Speed. You—?!"
The reason for her incredible speed was simple: the Law of Time. Her mastery was still fledgling, granting her only two basic effects: acceleration and deceleration. But even this was terrifying. It was like gaining a permanent speed multiplier. She had accelerated herself, moving in a blur that defied their senses.
"Guess who's inside," she said, her voice cool and cutting through the wind. "And guess who I am." Almost before the words finished leaving her lips, her hands were already moving, forming a series of complex seals. A shrill, piercing cry echoed across the frozen basin as a massive firebird, wreathed in radiant vermilion flame, materialized above her. It tore through the snowstorm like a falling star, its wake of heat melting frost into great plumes of steam.
She didn't spare the stunned ambushers another glance. Instead, she plunged downward—straight toward the ancient tomb buried beneath the ice and snow.
"No!!" one of them roared.
"You're courting death!!" the other screamed.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted right before the tomb's entrance. The complex, layered formation they had spent decades preparing—the one they hadn't even activated yet—was instantly obliterated by Su Min's fiery descent. Now, if the holder of the Lunar Sovereign Physique emerged, there would be nothing to trap or weaken her. They would be truly exposed.
This was a disaster. The Lunar Sovereign Physique came with its own innate Primordial Force. While the breakthrough conditions for the core cultivation stages were universal, once one surpassed Divine Transformation, the gap between a special physique and an ordinary cultivator became a chasm. Without the formation, facing a late-stage Divine Transformation Lunar Sovereign expert was a massive risk. Moreover, the formation could have trapped Su Min too, but she had reacted with blistering speed and destroyed it completely.
"Fine, very well!" The one Su Min had initially sent flying returned, his face a bloody, twisted mask of rage. "The Five Elements Holy Body, huh? Though not yet fully matured and inferior to the Lunar Sovereign girl, since you're seeking death, we'll oblige you!!"
Their meticulous preparations were in ruins. But since Su Min had come, they would make sure she never left. They weren't like the large, established sects; their own sects had perished long ago in the river of time. As fallen ones, they had hoarded all the resources for themselves, especially the vast quantities of sealing crystals they needed to sustain their twisted existence. They had no ties to this world left. They were enemies of all living beings.
Facing Su Min, they felt no hesitation. In the next moment, radiance swirled around one of the elders as a massive, ox-like monster materialized in the sky. Its enormous, muscular body blotted out the snow as it charged toward Su Min with overwhelming, brute force.
"Thunder, manifest upon me."
Seeing the giant beast, Su Min's hands moved in a blur. A colossal, majestic Thunder God emerged from the void, its ethereal hands gripping the monster's horns, holding it back.
"Mastery of the Five Thunders—Prison of Lightning!!!"
With a single, sharp gesture from Su Min, the Thunder God vanished, transforming into countless, sizzling bolts of lightning that wrapped around the hundreds-of-meters-long beast, binding it tightly. The creature was thick-skinned and incredibly tough; a direct confrontation would be wasteful. At the same instant, the two remaining fallen ones flickered through the air, attempting to ambush her from both sides.
But Su Min was already gone, reappearing a safe distance away.
"What just happened?"
"Did you sense something off?"
In that instant, the two men's expressions turned grim. Their coordinated attack had found only empty air. Worse, in that split second, they had both felt a strange, unnatural sluggishness weigh down their movements. It lasted only a fraction of a second, but at their level, that was an eternity. It was like a critical lag spike in a high-stakes duel. And in their perception, Su Min's movements seemed to be in fast-forward.
"Her law is unusual," one of them muttered, realization dawning. "To be touching upon laws at the Divine Transformation middle stage... Even if the Five Elements Holy Body isn't fully matured, reaching Dao Comprehension is only a matter of time for her."
They now understood the source of their disadvantage. Su Min had comprehended a law. This was what created such a qualitative difference, allowing a Divine Transformation cultivator to make former Dao Comprehension experts feel so outmatched.
"Can only trap it for about a minute," Su Min assessed, glancing at the temporarily restrained beast. "In that case, for safety's sake, I'll have to use it."
She knew time was short. Once the beast broke free, it would be three against one, a situation she didn't relish. These old monsters were all former Dao Comprehension experts. Who knew what hidden cards they still held? That Tianxiu Emperor had been unlucky, exposing his strongest trump card too early. These two wouldn't make the same mistake. She had to end this quickly.
So then—
"Yin-Yang Fusion."
In the next moment, Su Min absorbed the last drop of Lunar Sovereign essence blood. She hardly needed its power anymore, but it served as a perfect catalyst. Besides, once she rescued Xie Yingying, she could always get more.
The instant she did so, the entire space warped. The terrifying blizzard, the very heart of the snow plains where Golden Core cultivators would be shredded, simply vanished. The area was now overlaid with two profound, swirling colors—a deep, absorbing black and a stark, luminous white. It was as if the Heavenly Dao itself had been pushed back.
"What is this?!"
The two remaining foes exchanged a single, panicked glance. Then, without a word, they turned and fled in opposite directions. These people had no honor; their deepest instinct was survival. When faced with the unknown and incomprehensible, they ran.
"Trying to run? Too late!!"
Su Min had anticipated this. In the game, hunting these fallen ones was a nightmare without proper preparation and trapping formations. They always fled. But she had made her move, and she wouldn't let them escape. Moreover, to fully walk the Path of Slaughter and claim the White Tiger's power, she needed their heads.
Thus, she raised one hand for Taiyin and the other for Taiyang. The space around one of the fleeing men was engulfed in an inky glow, and then—
"Ahhh!!!"
A piercing scream tore through the silence as a Yin-Yang mark bloomed on his forehead. His soaring flight was cut short as he plummeted, his cultivation crumbling from half-step Dao Comprehension all the way down to Foundation Establishment in an instant. The blizzard, which had only seemed suppressed, was still lethally active. A storm capable of tearing apart Golden Core cultivators instantly consumed him as his power collapsed, ending him in seconds.
"!!!"
Seeing this, the last fleeing man skidded to a halt. He knew it was futile. He had seen her speed. There was no outrunning her. If he fled, he would only be turning his back on a guaranteed death blow. Running now would just make him an easy target.
For Su Min, one drop of essence blood could only accomplish so much. Still, instantly annihilating a half-step Dao Comprehension expert was an impressive result.
"You're at least somewhat intelligent," Su Min said, a cold smile playing on her lips as she faced the final foe. "Now, the real battle begins. Show me everything you've got."
Now that she had comprehended the Law of Time, even incompletely, her combat style had transformed. She had always lacked reliable pursuit techniques, forcing caution to prevent escapes. That was no longer an issue. The only regret was the distance and the storm's interference preventing her from summoning the Golden Crow Ancient Bell. Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to use this trump card so early. But a true trump card should turn the tide when revealed. Now that it was played, she would rely on her own solidified strength.
"In that case—" The remaining enemy's body began to expand, his muscles bulging and tearing through his robes. In moments, he transformed into a giant dozens of meters tall. He let out a ground-shaking roar and charged, his massive fist, the size of a small house, hurtling toward Su Min with enough force to pulverize a mountain.
"A power-type?" Su Min was inwardly surprised. Power-types were straightforward but troublesome. They closed the distance and relied entirely on overwhelming physical force to suppress opponents, preventing the use of complex techniques.
But for her, it wasn't an issue. In the next instant, two vastly disproportionate fists met.
THUD!
A dull, powerful impact echoed across the basin, followed by a shockwave that rippled outwards, temporarily pushing back the blizzard itself. It was a moment of terrifying, concentrated force.
And the most shocking thing was that the dozens-of-meters-tall giant was the one sent flying backward, crashing into the snow with a ground-shaking thud.
"You—?!" The man scrambled to his feet, his face darkening like a burnt pot. He was injured, his knuckles bleeding from the recoil. Su Min, meanwhile, stood firm, her fist unmarked. She hadn't even shifted her stance. The gap in their pure physical power was absurd.