To Yunxi, "Wuwang Ruins" was a new place name, but the name alone sounded ominous, and being tied to evil cultivators made it worse. She would not agree to the realm spirit's request because of a few words. Her personal space was her greatest secret, and it housed a cross-server chat group. It was her trump card. She would not expose it lightly.
Li Li poked her head out of the spirit beast pouch, glanced at the snow fox before them, and let out two soft growls toward Yunxi.
Yunxi understood Li Li at once. Her almond eyes flickered as she spoke slowly.
"Why do I feel like I am being morally blackmailed? If I refuse, will the blame for the Weiyu Realm being overrun by evil cultivators fall on me?
You realm spirit are amusing. You want to survive without paying any price. You want us to kill the evil cultivators who broke into the secret realm, and you want me to sacrifice my personal space on top of that, yet you will not even show your true body. With so little sincerity, I will not agree."
The snow fox, which had been lying on the ground, seemed surprised that Yunxi noticed this was not its true body. It raised its head and explained, "It is not that I refuse to meet you with my true body. We have not reached an agreement, and the evil cultivators have targeted my true body. I am dealing with them, so I sent the avatar closest to you."
Yunxi nodded, barely accepting the explanation.
The snow fox continued, "Please consider my proposal carefully. This concerns every cultivator in the Weiyu Realm. If you refuse—"
Yunxi lifted a hand and cut it off. "Realm spirit, I do not know your true aim, but there is one thing you said that is right. If the Misty Snow Domain is contracted by evil cultivators and becomes a bridge between Wuwang Ruins and the Weiyu Realm, even if I am not chiefly responsible, I will still be implicated. So."
"So you agree?" The snow fox jumped in, delighted.
Yunxi shook her head, a wicked smile curving her lips. "So I have decided to use the hands of the evil cultivators to punch a hole through the entire Misty Snow Domain. Before, in the sealed land inside the Shanhe Scroll, there were archaic divine scripts. My companions and I spent ten full years and still could not destroy the seal. Even the evil artifact Long Ya only broke a small opening to escape.
I do not think the Misty Snow Domain is as sturdy as that sealed land. What do you say, realm spirit?"
The snow fox dropped the pretense of frailty and stood upright. "Are you mad? Once the Misty Snow Domain shatters, you, your companions, and every cultivator inside will be torn apart by spatial rifts. No one will live."
Yunxi smiled faintly. With a stir of divine sense, golden armor rose to the surface of her body. Twirling the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff, she said with a laugh, "As long as I survive, that is enough. The entire Weiyu Realm will regard me as a benefactor. For the greater good, some sacrifices must be made, and no one will be able to object. Fewer than a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators, compared to the whole Weiyu Realm, anyone would choose the latter."
This time the snow fox was truly stunned. It had thought to threaten her with her own life, but it recognized the immortal armor on her body. Even if the secret realm shattered, she could survive by relying on that armor.
Yunxi's lips curled higher. She felt she had real potential to play the vicious supporting female role. No need to overthink it. Just push back bluntly so no one could force her with moral righteousness.
She swept a glance over the snow fox, who was scratching its ears in distress, snorted, hid the golden armor, and slipped into the white mist. She had not forgotten her task. A war of words was one thing. The Divine Transformation evil cultivators still needed killing.
"Do not go."
Now the snow fox was in a panic. It darted after Yunxi, about to speak, when a blood-red ribbon shot out of the mist, coiling toward Yunxi's neck.
Yunxi ran Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind to evade the ribbon, then let it wrap around the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in place of her neck. She gripped the staff hard and yanked, dragging the cultivator at the other end straight to her.
A female cultivator in a dark red robe locked eyes with Yunxi. Murder flashed in her gaze. Then she saw the snow fox at Yunxi's side, and the killing intent only grew stronger.
Yunxi read the look instantly. The woman thought she meant to sign a contract with the realm spirit first. Yunxi's lips quirked. Under the disbelieving stares of both the evil cultivator and the snow fox, she punched the snow fox and scattered it, then blew on her knuckles.
"I do not covet what is not mine. I advise you to do the same. You have chased all this time and have not even touched the edge of the realm spirit's true body. You really are stupid."
The female evil cultivator's face changed color. She said coldly, "How can you be sure that was not the realm spirit's true body?"
Yunxi glanced at the blood-red ribbon coiled around her staff and smiled with malice. "Because the realm spirit thinks following you will lead nowhere and wants to contract with me. Unfortunately, I do not like anything that is too forward. Who knows what tricks it is hiding."
With that, she heaved again, shortening the distance between them.
The woman had not expected that answer, but she adapted quickly, rolling her wrist to retract the ribbon.
In the next instant, Yunxi's Soul-Shattering Staff struck again. The woman had no choice but to meet it. One weapon was hard and one was soft. They tangled in a blur. Both moved so fast they left afterimages, and the green light point hiding in the mist swayed back and forth in the gusts their clash created.
The rejected realm spirit was now at a loss. Ever since it gained awareness, this was the first time it had been refused. Any other cultivator would be overjoyed to contract with it and gain a nascent minor world. Only this woman refused so cleanly, and even wanted to smash the secret realm to end it all. Watching Yunxi fight, the realm spirit had no doubt. This woman would do exactly as she said.
Just as the realm spirit decided to eject Yunxi from the secret realm first, the battle below shifted. Yunxi was actually commanding wind blades to attack, catching the woman off guard as sharp edges sliced open her waist and abdomen.
The female cultivator's face turned ashen. "H, how can you use spiritual power here?"
Yunxi shook her head. "I did not."
She looked down at the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in her hands. The Tianquan Star on the staff's body was fully lit, and it shone with the green of the wind attribute.
Yunxi almost wanted to cover her face. During her fight with the evil cultivator, the Wind Spirit Pearl that had fled from her in the Polar Extreme Wind Zone had embedded itself into the Tianquan Star. For a moment, she did not know how to feel.
She could not tell whether the staff had drawn the pearl in or the pearl had taken the initiative to attach itself. That could be dealt with later. Right now, she needed to kill the woman in front of her.
Borrowing the power of the Wind Spirit Pearl on the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff, Yunxi unleashed "Heavenly Gale Rift." In an instant, countless wind blades coiled around the female evil cultivator. In less than five breaths, they shredded her into pieces.