The black cloak shielding her front—
Was now dusted with patches of frost-white under the storm.
Shui Bing'er's profound blue eyes, previously covered in a deathly grey, suddenly burst forth with light.
That single sword stroke from the youth before her stirred up all her memories.
"Li Zhexian!"
"It's really you!"
Thrown far into the air, Oscar, Shuiyue'er, and Xue Wu all stared blankly at the figure standing before Shui Bing'er, Qinglian Sword in hand.
"T-that sword… that sword…"
Oscar forgot even to tremble.
His eyes held nothing now but that lone youth in the storm-torn cloak.
In an instant, countless scenes flashed through his mind—
The white-robed young man who cut down all foes with a single stroke;
Who pinned the Pope beneath his blade;
Who stirred the whole continent into turmoil;
And the way Ning Rongrong once gazed at him—
Her eyes unable to conceal their affection.
When it came to Li Zhexian,
Oscar's feelings were always complicated.
He admired his courage—
his defiance of authority,
his boldness to raise his sword against the Pope,
his unmatched strength and charisma.
But he also…
He also harbored jealousy.
Jealousy that burned quietly, hidden beneath admiration.
Those tangled emotions surged within Oscar's chest—
until they were swept away by the bitter winds of the northern frontier,
replaced by newer memories:
That same black-cloaked figure saving him again and again,
scolding him for drinking too much—
but always, always pulling him back from the brink of death.
Oscar's vision blurred.
The dashing white-robed youth of his memories
and the cold, stoic man in black
merged into one.
"Li Zhexian?!"
"He's really Li Zhexian?!"
The realization hit Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, and the others like a bolt of lightning.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Tears streaked their faces as they screamed into the storm—
"Li Zhexian! Please—save my sister!"
They weren't the only ones shocked.
The surviving mercenaries were equally stunned.
Their "Vice Commander Ji," who had always relied on martial fists—
had just drawn a sword.
And then they heard that name.
Li Zhexian.
Faces turned pale with disbelief.
"Li Zhexian?! That name sounds familiar!"
"Wait—isn't he the one wanted by the Spirit Hall?!"
"Vice Commander Ji is actually him—the strongest prodigy in history?!"
"I heard he almost nailed the Pope with one sword strike!"
"He's holding the monster off—run!!"
…
Their shouts echoed through the howling storm.
But Li Zhexian heard none of them.
He lifted his head,
staring straight into the descending palm of the Ice Devil Titan King.
His cloak whipped wildly in the roaring gales.
Clang—!
A clear, piercing sword cry split the storm—
Like a sleeping dragon breaking free of its chains.
The sword light ripped open the blizzard,
carving a vacuum through the storm.
A master of the Sword Intent of Wind,
a man who had walked the Sword Dao—
how could Li Zhexian not understand the art of nurturing his sword?
This was the sword strike
he had been tempering for a year and a half!
He roared across the frozen plain—
"Qinglian Sword Song—Second Form: Sword of Frost!"
In that instant,
The raging blizzard itself answered his call—
All the snow and ice of heaven and earth surged toward the Qinglian Sword in his hand.
The eternal cold of the Extreme North
finally found a vent,
turning into torrents of faint blue frost energy
that poured into the sword's blade.
Shh—
Shh—
The sounds of freezing filled the air,
a symphony of cracking ice.
Snowflakes, vapor, even the very chill of the air itself—
were devoured by the Qinglian Sword.
The blade swelled in his grasp,
its icy-blue light deepening until it became a massive Sword of Frost,
tens of meters long.
Wherever the tip pointed,
the very air crystallized,
cracking with web-like fissures.
Li Zhexian's face flushed red; veins bulged along his arm.
And then—facing the sky-crushing palm—
he swung the sword with all his might.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Frost Sword collided with the descending giant palm.
Ripples of deep blue exploded outward in waves,
Sweeping across the icy plain.
Crack—
Crack—
The sound of freezing spread like glaciers splitting apart.
A dark, ink-blue ice layer surged up along the Ice Devil Titan King's palm—
Where it passed, wind and snow froze solid.
Even the beast's protective aura of icy Spirit Power was frozen and shattered.
That terrifying hand, capable of crushing mountains,
along with its arm as thick as a ridge,
was frozen in place before everyone's horrified eyes—
locked in ice by a single sword strike!
Yet—
before even a moment of relief could rise—
Crack… crack…
The sharp splintering of ice echoed like breaking glass.
The difference in strength was simply too great!
Li Zhexian's full-powered strike—
Had frozen the Ice Devil Titan King for only a single breath.
"ROOOOAR——!!!"
An earth-shattering roar exploded, turning into rolling sound waves that whipped the wind and snow into an even greater frenzy, as if intending to overturn the entire Extreme North.
Even so—
That single breath of time was enough.
Li Zhexian thrust out his palm, Spirit Power surging wildly, hurling Shui Bing'er a hundred meters away.
Then—
He looked up.
The Qinglian mark at his brow shifted from blue to black, radiating deathly stillness.
At the same time—
A purple Spirit Ring coiled around his blade!
The massitve Frost Sword shattered inch by inch—
Revealing within it a streak of black light, cold and lifeless as an abyss.
"Second Spirit Ability—Three Swords of Elegance!"
"Qinglian Sword Song—Fifth Form: Underworld's Far Shore!"
The moment the sword took shape—
Even the aurora overhead dimmed.
For an instant, the raging storm halted in midair.
The Ice Devil Titan King, utterly enraged,
ignored the deathly, black sword light—
its enormous palm lunged downward again with world-shattering power.
Pssh—!
The massive palm was pierced clean through.
Where the black sword light touched—
White fur withered and blackened, falling away like ash.
"ROAR—!"
The beast's pained roar shattered the snowfields.
It clenched its fist violently—
Ping!
A sharp, metallic crack—
The black sword light imbued with deathly sword intent—
Was crushed to nothing.
Li Zhexian staggered, his face turning deathly pale.
The shockwave of the Titan's roar hurled him through the air,
Slamming him into the snow dozens of meters away.
"In the Extreme North, under this environment's blessing, the Ice Devil Titan King is… terrifying beyond words!"
"Could it be…"
"Again…!"
Before the thought could finish—
The world turned upside down.
Violent motion struck him like an earthquake.
When his vision cleared—
Li Zhexian found himself face to face with two colossal, earthen-yellow eyes burning with violence.
The murderous glare felt as though it could pierce his skull.
Hot white vapor gushed from the monster's nostrils, blasting his hair wildly about.
He tried to struggle—
but the Ice Devil Titan King's stone-hard falm had already closed around him,
locking him in its unyielding grip.
The crushing force made his bones creak and his body scream in pain.
He couldn't move an inch.
"You…"
Panic surged through Li Zhexian's heart.
Boom… boom…
Boom… boom…
Each step was like an earthquake.
The Ice Devil Titan King clutched Li Zhexian tightly in its hand—
And with strides that shook the mountains,
Charged toward the unknown depths of the Extreme North—
Toward the land of absolute cold.
"Li Zhexian—!!!"
Shui Bing'er staggered to her feet from the snow.
Blood streaked the corner of her lips, yet she still chased after the retreating giant silhouette—
Only to stumble after a few steps, collapsing onto the frozen plain.