Spiritual power against spiritual power!
Zzz—
Zzz—
The spiritual blades condensed from sword intent clashed violently with that crimson torrent of spiritual energy.
There was no earth-shattering explosion—only a piercing screech that set one's teeth on edge, as though crystal glass were being scraped by steel. The very rocks beneath them shattered inch by inch, disintegrating into dust.
The sound drilled straight into the ears—
chilling the soul itself.
Transparent ripples distorted the space around them, spreading outward with violent force.
When the wave struck Li Zhexian, he groaned, his mind spinning, body staggering as if to fall—
—but in the same instant, he bit the tip of his tongue, the pain clearing his thoughts.
"Little Yazi, retreat!"
Blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
Yet even as he gave the order, a pained shriek echoed from deeper within the forest.
The Evil-Eyed Tyrant had clearly taken damage as well.
But—
Li Zhexian looked up.
The sky was split in two—
half filled with snow and frost, half with blood-red clouds.
In that tangled mist of blue and crimson energy,
the Snow Empress and Ice Empress staggered backward, struggling to hold their ground.
"This isn't the Extreme North… Without home-field advantage, even together the Snow Empress and Ice Empress can't rival the Evil-Eyed Tyrant!"
"This one here is only a ten-thousand-year Evil-Eyed Tyrant—not the hundred-thousand-year heir of the Evil Emperor."
"Killing it would be a waste of time."
The thought flashed through his mind.
Little Yazi, carrying Li Zhexian, bolted forward like lightning—
racing to escape the perilous forest.
However…
Li Zhexian underestimated the Evil-Eyed Clan's ferocity and bloodlust.
Boom—
Boom—
A gigantic one-eyed beast, over twenty meters tall, bellowed and gave chase.
Dozens of gray, twisting tentacles plowed through the snow like monstrous serpents,
sending up waves of slush and bloodied frost.
Crimson torrents of spiritual power
continued to rain down upon Li Zhexian without pause.
"Damn it!"
Leaping from Yazi's back, Li Zhexian turned midair,
merging his spiritual power with the essence of sword intent,
launching counterattacks that clashed with the beast's mental barrage.
Explosions rippled one after another—
smoke, shattered snow, and soul-light filled the air.
"Little Yazi! Can you hold on?!"
He slashed apart one psychic wave,
then spun his sword, cleaving through an oncoming tentacle.
Li Zhexian himself could endure—
but Yazi was still young.
Even as a Slaughter Auspicious Beast, it was newly born.
If it were seriously injured here,
the Snow and Ice Empresses would likely raze the entire Evildemon Forest in vengeance.
"ROAR—!"
Yazhi let out a thunderous cry—
not of fear, but of excitement, its battle instinct fully ignited
"So, they really did feed you the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow of the Extreme North…"
"A year of your growth equals a thousand years of training."
"No wonder—even as a newborn Auspicious Beast, your strength rivals an ancient's."
As the two fled and fought, man and beast suddenly leapt across a broad chasm, spanning several meters.
But then—
Li Zhexian's expression changed.
Across the chasm, the Evil-Eyed Tyrant that had been relentlessly chasing them suddenly stopped.
It bellowed in rage,
thrashing its tentacles wildly,
but refused to take another step forward.
Just a few meters of distance—
surely no obstacle to a ten-thousand-year beast.
"Something's wrong…"
"For a beast like that to stop here—there must be something in that forest ahead it fears."
Li Zhexian's heart tightened.
"An existence powerful enough to terrify even the Evil-Eyed Clan…"
He shouted sharply:
"Little Yazi! Turn back!"
But before he could act—
Thud—
Thud—
The ground trembled.
Behind that Tyrant, a wall of intertwining gray tentacles rose, ten meters high, weaving a living barricade.
Waves of crimson spiritual power surged, coalescing into a roaring sea of blood.
Li Zhexian's expression darkened.
"Dozens of Evil-Eyed Tyrants at once!"
"Two over ten thousand years, more than ten of a thousand years each…"
"If they all unleash their spiritual assaults simultaneously—"
Across the chasm, the horde of Evil-Eyed Beasts trembled—
their gazes filled with both rage and fear,
as if something on the far side terrified them more than Li Zhexian himself.
Even so, he knew he had no other choice.
Clenching his teeth, Li Zhexian spurred Yazi forward,
diving into the forest on this side of the chasm—
the side that even the Evil-Eyed Clan dared not enter.
A single stick of incense later—
The air grew deathly still.
Snow drifted quietly through the forest. Li Zhexian's nerves were taut as bowstrings, yet he sensed nothing obviously abnormal.
Amid the vast, pale wilderness,
a few Spirit Beasts occasionally darted past.
It didn't seem like a place of great danger.
Suddenly—
"ROAR!!!"
Little Yazi bared its fangs, growling toward a wall of towering ancient trees ahead.
All the fur along its white body stood on end—its reaction fierce and primal,
as if it had encountered an enemy far beyond its league.
Even that ten-thousand-year Evil-Eyed Tyrant earlier
hadn't provoked such fear in Yazi.
Li Zhexian's heart tightened.
Without hesitation, he turned, intending to retreat.
But before he could move—
The forest erupted.
A howling blizzard swept through,
snapping whole rows of ancient trees like brittle twigs.
And in that instant—
the view ahead became clear.
Before him stretched a vast frozen lake, silent and glassy, spanning acres.
Above its surface floated a crimson, translucent being,
half mist, half illusion—its form constantly shifting.
At times it resembled an Evil-Eyed Tyrant,
then morphed into a Sword Demon Vine,
or a Evil Lotus Swordheart Beast…
Its shape changed endlessly—
like a mirage, like a dream.
With each breath it took,
waves of icy mist spread outward in all directions.
The entire forest groaned beneath the force of the wind.
Li Zhexian and Yazi were pushed backward, struggling to stand.
The Ice Scroll in his hand slipped to the ground.
The blizzard flipped through its pages wildly—
until it stopped, almost at the very end.Li Zhexian and Little Yazi staggered backward under its aura.
Lines of glowing text lifted from the page,
reflected in Li Zhexian's eyes:
Ten-Thousand Mirage Beast —
A being born from the ancient sea mirages—
condensed over countless ages from heaven and earth's spiritual power
and the dreams of Spirit Beasts.
It has no fixed form and may live up to one hundred thousand years.
But its 'hundred thousand years' is not its lifespan—
it is the cycle of its stable existence.
Every hundred millennia,
its core essence grows unstable from excessive power.
It must release ninety-nine percent of its energy,
reverting to a small cluster of mirage mist to be reborn anew.
Warning:
Its temperament depends on its habitat—
in blessed lands it is benevolent, in cursed lands, demonic.
If encountered within the Evildemon Forest—
FLEE IMMEDIATELY!"
Li Zhexian's face turned pale.
"Little Yazi—run!!!"
This time, even Yazi understood the danger.
It wheeled around and bolted at full speed.
"A Spirit Beast born of an ancient mirage?!"
"Reborn every hundred thousand years?!"
"What in the heavens—!"
"No wonder the Evil-Eyed Tyrants wouldn't come near!"
Li Zhexian's heart pounded like thunder.
Yet, contrary to expectation—
no attack came.
"What's going on…"
Hummm—!!!
A mysterious, unfathomable energy brushed past them.
In that instant—
Yazi suddenly froze.
Even Li Zhexian's eyes flickered with a momentary daze.
No… something's wrong…
Why was I running?
BOOM—!!!
Behind him, waves of multicolored, chaotic Spirit Power surged forward.
Li Zhexian spun around, swordlight flashing in his eyes.
He didn't understand why he had stopped—
but since escape was impossible…
Then he would fight to the death!
"Sword Wine Boils—Sword Cries!"
"Second Spirit Ability—Three Swords of Elegance!"
"Qinglian Sword Song, Sixth Form—"
Hummmm—!!!
Another wave of that enigmatic energy swept through.
And in that moment—
Li Zhexian forgot his own technique.
"The sword art I've trained my whole life for—"
"The sword I mastered through slaughtering three thousand foes—"
"Why… why can't I recall how to use it?!"
The surging, chaotic Spirit power was about to crush him—
When suddenly,
a beautiful, dreamlike Ice Scorpion Empress appeared before him.
BOOM—!
The Mirage Beast's attack was shattered instantly.
And from the Empress's crystalline lips came a cold, teasing voice:
"Li Zhexian… you're bold indeed—
to covet a Mirage Beast."
"Don't worry.
You'll remember your sword techniques… in a moment."