"Ice Empress, let me in…"
Skydream Ice Worm's voice echoed outside the hall.
The Ice Empress flicked her slender finger lightly. A surge of frigid current sealed the palace doors shut, and silence immediately returned to her ears.
She tilted her head, gazing toward the left arm Spirit Bone formed of condensed snowflakes upon the throne. A worry that could not be dispelled lingered between her brows.
"Sister Xue..."
As if understanding what the Ice Empress was about to say—
From within the Spirit Bone—
The Snow Empress's cool, clear voice drifted out.
"There's no need to say things like 'if only we had known earlier.'"
"On that day beneath the lightning tribulation, it was Li Zhexian who protected me with his life."
"Since I chose to become his Spirit Soul, I harbor no regrets."
"But you can't even manifest a physical form anymore!" The Ice Empress clenched her silver teeth.
"Residing within a Spirit Bone is not a long-term solution!"
"If this continues, you will completely dissipate!"
Snow Empress remained calm.
"Such is fate."
"Had it not been for Li Zhexian, I would have already fallen beneath the heavenly tribulation brought by the Evil Emperor."
"If I can accompany him to the final stretch of his path, that is fulfillment enough."
"Besides… he said he would return."
"Sister Xue!" The Ice Empress suddenly rose to her feet.
"Have you lost your clarity?!"
"From what you described, the blood petals drifting across ten thousand miles were clearly the sign of an absolute fall!"
"Even the little Yazi who shared deep karmic ties with Li Zhexian was listless for a long time, only recovering slightly in recent days!"
"Li Zhexian…"
"He has already fallen!"
"Sister Xue, you are well-traveled—have you ever seen anyone return from utter annihilation?!"
The hall fell silent.
Only the snowflakes circling the Spirit Bone began to swirl faster.
"Who says Brother Zhexian has fallen?!"
Skydream Ice Worm's raised voice suddenly rang out from beyond the hall.
"Tian Meng has never admired anyone in his entire life!"
"Except for Brother Zhexian!"
"How could he possibly fall so easily?!"
"Ice Empress, open the door—let your bro explain things properly!"
Crack—crack!
Boom!
The ice sealing the doors shattered.
The palace doors swung open.
Wind and snow surged inside.
The Ice Empress raised her hand slightly.
Whoosh!
The sword scabbard turned into a streak of light and embedded halfway into the ice wall, trembling violently.
"Explain yourself."
Her deep-blue eyes narrowed as she spoke coldly:
"If you're talking nonsense, I'll use you as a snack."
A ripple of Spirit Power flowed from the sword scabbard, sweeping up the snow within the hall and condensing into the form of a gigantic silkworm.
Its antennae teased the little Yazi curled up in the corner.
"Since your bro dares speak, he's got his reasons."
"Snow Empress and I—one is his wisdom Spirit Ring, the other his Spirit Soul. Our existence is bound to his."
"Now that we're both perfectly fine, doesn't that prove Brother Zhexian is also safe and sound?"
Seeing the Ice Empress still hesitant, Skydream continued:
"That day, little Yazi became listless because it sensed Brother Zhexian undergoing self-dissolution."
"But didn't it recover later?"
The reasoning carried weight.
The taut string in the Ice Empress's heart loosened slightly.
Though her words remained cold—
whether for Snow Empress or little Yazi—
deep down, she too hoped that the young man would return safely.
"You say Li Zhexian dissolved himself—then wouldn't all his cultivation be ruined?"
"And if he's not dead, why hasn't he come to the Extreme North to seek Sister Xue?"
Skydream Ice Worm swayed casually.
"No need to panic."
"Brother Zhexian has plenty of fortunes on him—some even I can't fully comprehend."
His manner toward the Ice Empress had grown far more relaxed.
Gone was the earlier timidity.
That, too, he had learned from Li Zhexian.
"If Brother Zhexian hasn't come to the Extreme North, he must have his reasons."
"The one-year promise is almost up—maybe he's already on his way…"
"Hey—!"
"Yiya!"
"This aura!"
Skydream, Snow Empress, and little Yazii cried out in unison.
Even the Ice Empress's bewitchingly beautiful face was swept by shock.
Whoosh!
The Ice Empress grabbed Snow Empress's Spirit Bone and, together with little Yazi, shot outward at full speed.
The sword scabbard embedded in the ice wall trembled violently.
Skydream Ice Worm shouted anxiously,
"Hey—hey! You could at least take your bro with you!"
...
The Titan Snow Demon King threw back its head and roared.
A gigantic palm, wrapped in biting cold wind and overwhelming force, slammed furiously down toward Li Zhexian.
Boom—!
The snow mountain collapsed.
Avalanches surged like raging waves.
The entire ice plain shook violently, as if it were about to sink into ruin.
Li Zhexian calmly raised his eyes.
At the very instant the massive palm reached him—
the space-time around his body rippled faintly.
A hazy ripple of time emerged.
His figure became blurred and illusory, as though detached from this plane of space-time altogether—an unreal reflection standing apart from reality.
The giant palm passed straight through him without resistance.
The attack missed entirely.
A trace of almost human astonishment flashed through the Snow Demon King's blood-red eyes.
It swung its palm again and again.
Each strike sent blizzards reversing direction.
Yet Li Zhexian remained standing calmly where he was, unmoved by thousands of attacks—aloof and untouched.
The power of time and space flowed quietly around him.
Completely isolating him from the world.
"You're being completely unreasonable," Li Zhexian frowned and asked.
"I didn't provoke you—why are you attacking me?"
At present, he possessed no configured Spirit Rings.
His Spirit Power was stalled at innate level twenty.
Yet after tempering his heart in the mortal world—
and reclaiming the many sword intents of his past—
his swordsmanship had now reached a godlike level.
As for space-time sword intent—
Spring and autumn turned in an instant around his body; flowers bloomed and withered with a single thought.
Even if the Snow Demon King possessed two hundred thousand years of cultivation—
He felt no fear whatsoever.
"You are… Li Zhexian?!"
The Snow Demon King asked in a deep, rumbling voice.
"You recognize me?!"
Li Zhexian's tone carried surprise and delight.
The surrounding space-time power paused slightly.
"Heh…"
The Snow Demon King seized the moment, suddenly reaching out and grabbing him in its palm before turning and running.
"I've got to tell Snow Empress and Ice Empress—Li Zhexian has returned!"
As he was jostled about—
fragmented images flashed through Li Zhexian's mind.
The scene felt inexplicably familiar.
As if…
he had been grabbed like this by the Snow Demon King before.
"Reverse."
Li Zhexian parted his lips and softly uttered a single syllable.
In an instant, heaven and earth fell into disorder.
The raging blizzard froze abruptly, then visibly reversed, rolling back into the sky.
The collapsing snow on the ground rebuilt itself atop the mountains; the cracked ice plains rapidly sealed and returned to their original state.
The flow of time in this region—
was being stirred by the sword at Li Zhexian's waist, rewinding toward a point eight months in the past.
The Snow Demon King's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
It sensed with disbelief—
that the aura of the youth in its grasp was undergoing earth-shaking change.
"Roar—!"
The Snow Demon King howled in terror.
It tried to loosen its grip—
but found space and time already frozen.
The youth held in its palm was gradually reverting—
back to the Li Zhexian of eight months ago, who had defied the gods with a mortal body.
He was returning.
Returning to the moment of his absolute peak—
and also his most tragic hour.
The celestial phenomena of the Extreme North changed abruptly.
The hazy heavens were torn apart.
One half reflected a surging sea of blood and brutal carnage.
The other half revealed ten thousand miles of crimson petals drifting in sorrowful beauty.
Li Zhexian's body was collapsing.
His former state of mind returned; fragments of memory surged through his consciousness, yet remained shrouded by a layer of mirage-like fog.
A sword light that transcended time suddenly appeared.
Merely a trace of its aura forced the Snow Demon King to crash to its knees upon the ice plain.
"Snow Demon King."
Li Zhexian's voice echoed from the past, the present, and the future alike—
carrying the cold arrogance of a peerless powerhouse from bygone days,
and the pure clarity of an untainted heart in the present moment.
"Tell me of my past."