Guang drifted quietly through the Inner Sect several days after the gathering of sect masters within the Jade Palace.
The disciples around her watched her pass almost like a wandering spirit.
Meanwhile, the sect masters of the Flowing Vermilion Sect had already been dispatched across the outer regions surrounding the sect, keeping watch for any sign of the mysterious woman's appearance.
As Guang wandered aimlessly through the Inner Sect pathways, she accidentally bumped into another disciple staring toward the distance.
"Look at that…" one of them muttered quietly.
Guang lightly rubbed her forehead.
"Sorry, I—"
Then she noticed something strange.
None of them were looking at her.
Every disciple stood frozen while staring far beyond the mountain ranges.
Toward something that had brought the entire Inner Sect to a standstill.
Guang frowned slightly before slowly turning around—
—and immediately froze.
Massive frost structures pierced through the dimensional barrier separating the Mortal and Immortal Realms.
"What the hell…?"
Murmurs instantly erupted throughout the sect.
Meanwhile, Guang's thoughts immediately returned to the day the mysterious woman had defeated her so effortlessly.
Even now, the memory of that cold still lingered painfully against her skin.
"…That's her…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
There's no Dao.
Not even a trace of Qi…
"Wait, didn't Sect Master Zhou Shuxuan get assigned over there?" one disciple suddenly asked.
Guang's attention snapped toward them instantly.
"Yeah. Master Qing was assigned nearby too. Master Zhou specifically chose that direction so he could assist the other sects if they—"
"Assist…?"
A familiar voice suddenly interrupted them.
Ling Shixian.
The surrounding disciples turned toward him while he stared at the colossal frozen mountains tearing through the heavens themselves.
"Master Zhou Shuxuan is an ancient cultivator," Shixian said quietly.
"One of the very few survivors who witnessed the Conflagration Emperor three thousand years ago."
He swallowed hard.
"But that thing…"
"…doesn't use Qi."
"Let alone Dao."
Confusion spread across the surrounding disciples.
"What does Senior Brother Shixian mean?"
Shixian immediately stepped forward before pointing directly toward the towering frost structures stretching beyond the dimensional barriers.
"It means that woman who slaughtered the disciples of the other sects…"
"…and injured Senior Sister Guang…"
"…is not from our world."
Silence immediately fell.
"Most disciples within the Inner Sect—outside the Ten Pillars—cannot properly sense Dao or Qi," Shixian continued.
"They only perceive the life energy surrounding living things."
"People."
"Animals."
"Even plants possess traces of spiritual life."
His expression slowly darkened.
"But that ice…"
"…doesn't contain even a fraction of it."
The disciples immediately turned back toward the frozen mountains.
Several eyes widened in realization.
"…It's translucent…"
"It looks too perfect…"
"Too clean…"
"And far too massive for Dao manifestation…"
A cold realization gradually spread among them as they watched the impossible frost formations continue piercing upward through the heavens themselves.
"A monster…"
But before anyone could continue, Guang had already moved.
Her figure instantly shot out from the Inner Sect before descending directly toward the frozen catastrophe below.
Master Zhou…
Please don't die on me…!
The surrounding disciples immediately panicked.
"Senior Sister, wait!"
"Someone stop her!"
"She still hasn't fully recovered yet!"
But their voices never reached her.
Guang had already crossed the barrier separating the Mortal and Immortal Realms while rapidly descending toward the epicenter of the disaster.
Along the way—
She caught sight of multiple sect territories already buried beneath the massive frozen structures stretching endlessly across both sky and earth.
This is far worse than when I fought her…!
A sudden chill instantly crawled down Guang's spine. Her shoulders trembled violently.
And this time.
It had nothing to do with the cold.
Her thoughts immediately began spiraling.
Part of her wanted to turn back.
Part of her screamed that she should run.
Then—
Another wall of ice shattered apart in the distance before her eyes.
And standing near the destruction.
Was a woman with silver-white hair. A familiar man stood behind her. Someone Guang would recognize anywhere.
Zhou Shuxuan.
The moment Guang recognized him, her trembling hands instinctively manifested her weapon.
The same black dagger-like sword she had once used against the silver-haired woman during their first encounter.
I can't die.
I just need to buy enough time for Master Zhou to escape…
Without another thought, Guang launched herself toward the woman.
Her blade flashed forward—
CLANG.
Metal collided against metal with enough force to unleash a violent pressure wave that flattened the surrounding grasslands.
"Chi Rong Guang!" Zhou shouted.
But Guang had already twisted mid-motion before driving a powerful back kick directly against the woman's blade, sending the silver-haired figure skidding backward into the distance.
Only a faint cloud of dust scattered from the impact.
"Master Zhou!" Guang yelled urgently.
"Please, run!"
She immediately shifted into a battle stance, gripping her sword like a dagger while briefly glancing toward Zhou.
Only to realize—
He had not moved at all.
Guang's eyes widened slightly before narrowing once more as she refocused on the woman standing before her.
Completely unharmed.
"Master!"
Her voice tightened.
"Please… go!"
She exploded forward again.
Her blade carved through the air repeatedly as the sharp echoes of steel rang throughout the mountains.
Yet Zhou remained rooted in place.
A faint look of disbelief and awe flickered across his face.
Guang continued attacking relentlessly.
Every strike.
Every thrust.
Every slash.
Was effortlessly redirected by the woman with only the slightest movement of her blade.
No strain.
No pressure.
No emotion.
And with every exchange, the fear inside Guang only deepened further.
She's completely unbothered…
A slash toward the woman's side—
Blocked before Guang could even process it.
A thrust toward her chest—
Deflected instantly.
A downward strike aimed directly at her head—
Redirected aside with effortless precision, leaving Guang briefly vulnerable.
But the woman still did not retaliate.
Instead—
The moment Guang leaped backward to create distance, the silver-haired woman calmly sheathed her sword once more.
…What?
Guang stared at her intently.
Cold sweat trickled slowly down her temple while her thoughts spiraled.
Why isn't she attacking back…?
Her eyes briefly flickered toward Zhou.
No injuries…
Not even signs of a struggle…
Then she looked back toward the woman again.
The silver-haired figure quietly exhaled.
Not from exhaustion.
But almost from exasperation.
"Far too many lives have already been claimed," the woman said calmly.
"This no longer aligns with The Source's will."
Guang's gaze sharpened instantly.
The Source…?
Will…?
"Yukihime will now withdraw," the woman said calmly as she stepped back.
Her form slowly began dissolving into drifting mist. Something tightened inside Guang's chest.
She instinctively reached out toward her, fingers hovering midair.
"Wait!"
"Don't just leave, damn it!"
Dozens of spiritual blades instantly manifested around Guang before launching toward the fading woman.
Yet every blade simply phased through her dissolving body before embedding themselves into the ground behind.
"Don't just disappear after killing hundreds of people, you monster!" Guang shouted.
Even so—
A growing sense of relief had already begun spreading through her chest.
*Master Zhou's safe…*
"Good work, Yukihime."
A voice suddenly echoed behind the fading frost.
Feminine.
Gentle.
Yet impossibly vast.
Guang's eyes widened slightly.
"…What?"
She turned instinctively.
Standing there was a woman dressed in unfamiliar red-and-black robes.
Long white hair flowed far past her waist while crimson eyes quietly gazed toward Guang with an impossible calm that seemed to pierce straight through her soul.
"Who…?"
The world suddenly groaned.
Guang immediately turned in alarm.
The colossal mountain of frost surrounding the heavens had begun to crack apart.
Massive sheets of jagged crystal shattered and collapsed like breaking glass across the sky itself. The fractured dimensional barrier between realms slowly stitched itself back together before her eyes.
As though reality itself was repairing the damage.
Then—
The impossible frost vanished entirely.
The fog disappeared.
The frozen peaks dissolved.
Even the cultivators and sects reduced to water moments ago began returning once more.
Alive.
Whole.
As if the catastrophes of the past two weeks had never occurred at all.
Guang slowly turned back toward the white-haired woman standing before her.
The woman was slightly shorter than herself by only a few centimeters. But Guang could not bring herself to move closer.
Because behind the woman.
Something existed.
An endless.
Formless.
Shapeless presence stretched impossibly beyond the heavens themselves. It loomed over reality like an infinite shroud draped across existence itself.
A thing without beginning or end.
And yet—
All of it converged toward the white-haired woman standing quietly before her.
As though she alone served as its center.
The woman smiled softly.
"Nice to meet you," she said gently.
"Chi Rong Guang."
Guang's eyes wandered instinctively across the surroundings.
Toward the cultivators who should have been dead. Toward the restored mountain ranges. Toward the dimensional barrier that had once been torn apart.
Yet now—
Nothing remained.
No signs of destruction.
No traces of catastrophe.
Only the white-haired woman standing quietly before her with a calm smile.
"There is no need to worry," the woman spoke softly.
"They were never truly gone."
She gestured lightly toward the cultivators murmuring in the distance behind her.
Some stared blankly at their own hands.
Others looked around in confusion, unable to understand why the world suddenly felt strange.
"Yukihime did indeed kill them," the woman continued calmly.
"As an act of self-defense, naturally."
Her tone remained disturbingly casual.
"Their souls had nowhere to go afterward, so I temporarily stored them inside a small pocket reality I happened to possess."
She smiled faintly.
"Then once Yukihime completed the test and withdrew…"
"…I simply reconstructed their physical bodies."
Guang's expression instantly hardened.
"Test?"
Her grip around her sword tightened.
"You treat lives like they're objects to manipulate."
"As if they didn't live entire lives of their own."
Her eyes locked onto the woman before her.
"Who are you… really?"
"And why…"
"…do you treat everything like it belongs to you?"
"Like you can simply take things apart and put them back together however you want?"
The question caused the woman to pause.
A faint contemplative look crossed her face.
Seconds stretched strangely.
Almost becoming minutes.
Guang watched as the woman lightly tapped her cheek with one finger before tilting her head slightly.
Then a quiet breath escaped her lips.
"Who am I…?" the woman repeated softly.
"And why do I treat lives as manipulable objects…?"
She slowly folded her arms across her chest. The movement alone made Guang's entire body tense instinctively. Every muscle coiled tightly. Ready to strike at any moment.
I already know…
Guang's gaze shifted briefly toward the woman's surroundings.
And once again—
She saw everything.
And nothing.
An impossible contradiction that made cold sweat trail down her temple and spine.
There's absolutely no way I can touch her.
That white-haired swordswoman was already beyond monsters…
Her breathing slowly changed. Long steady breaths became short, uneven ones.
But this woman…
Combat itself feels meaningless against her.
Guang's eyes slowly drifted toward the woman's empty hands.
She isn't even carrying a weapon…
Then—
The woman spoke again.
"Anathasia Veridielle Augthoria."
Her cheek rested lightly against one finger while her crimson eyes remained fixed on Guang.
"That is my name."