No matter who had acted with such lethal precision earlier, the person standing before her now was Ling Chuan. He was the celebrated Northern Ice Palace prodigy who possessed the complete Star Core Origin Essence, his presence radiating a coldness that seemed to push back the very fog of the swamp. And right now, he was alone, at least on the surface of things.
Granny Hua was severely injured, her breathing shallow and ragged. Her strength was barely one tenth of its peak, and her Yuányīng origin was almost dried up from the forced feedback of the curse. Even so, she was still a mid stage Nascent Soul cultivator, a being who had transcended the mortal coil. A starved camel was still bigger than a horse. She was confident she could deal with a late stage Golden Core junior, no matter his reputation.
No matter how monstrous his talent was, no matter how powerful his treasures were, the gap in cultivation was a chasm that couldn't be crossed by mere potential. If she could seize this chance to take him down and steal the complete Star Core Origin Essence from his grasp…
Then every loss in this secret realm, even the Xue Shouren's treacherous betrayal, wouldn't matter anymore.
The complete Star Core Origin Essence was enough to cause an earth shattering change in her cultivation, and even in her status within the Hehuan Sect. It would elevate her above her peers, perhaps even putting her in the running for a higher seat of power.
Late stage Nascent Soul, or even touching the threshold of Divine Transformation, wouldn't be a distant dream anymore. The possibility thrummed in her mind, a frantic pulse of ambition.
That overwhelming temptation made her almost forget the agony and weakness ravaging her body, the fire in her meridians momentarily suppressed by the cold heat of desire. Still, she was an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years, clawing her way through the cutthroat hierarchy of a major sect like the Hehuan Sect. She was never someone simple or easily fooled.
Alongside her greed, a powerful sense of danger and suspicion surged up in her heart, prickling at her skin like needles. Something was wrong. It was extremely wrong.
Ling Chuan was only a late stage Golden Core, yet when facing a Nascent Soul cultivator like her, he wasn't afraid at all. He had shown himself openly, stepping out from the shadows as if he were certain he had her cornered like a wounded animal.
That wasn't a normal reaction for a Golden Core cultivator, who should have been trembling in the presence of her remaining aura. On top of that, how had he appeared here without making a sound, bypassing her divine sense entirely?
And that vicious, poisonous black baleful qi that had instantly wiped out the Xue Shouren's remaining soul earlier, what was that?
Its nature was completely incompatible with the pure, ice-based techniques of the Northern Ice Palace. It felt like something pulled from a deeper, darker well of power.
Could it be that someone else had acted just now? Someone lurking nearby in the impenetrable gray? Was it his protector, or was he colluding with some mysterious, sinister force?
The thought sent a chill crawling up her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
"Hehuan Sect Elder Hua, I have long heard of you," Ling Chuan said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the dried, shriveled corpse of the Xue Shouren on the ground before settling on her. She looked unsteady and on the verge of collapse, her weight shifting on her heels. His voice was cold and emotionless, matching the frost on his blade.
"I didn't expect to meet two elders of the Hehuan Sect here… killing each other in such a wretched place."
"You little brat from the Northern Ice Palace, what do you want?" She forced herself to stand upright, her spine popping as she secretly circulated her remaining qi. She questioned him sharply while scanning her surroundings out of the corner of her eye, trying to find the one who had attacked earlier, or any sign of his companions.
"That baleful qi just now… was that you?"
"Does it matter whether it was or wasn't?" He neither confirmed nor denied it, his expression remaining a frozen mask. His gaze shifted toward the ground near her feet.
There, a fingernail-sized fragment of Star Core Origin Essence lay quietly in the mud, its light flickering. It had fallen from the Xue Shouren's grasp when he died.
"What matters is that Elder Hua's current condition doesn't look very good."
His tone was calm, but the meaning was obvious. He was assessing her remaining threat with the detached eye of a predator, and also judging the risks and gains of making a move against a weakened elder.
"Don't think you can bully me just because I'm heavily injured," she narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharpening into a lethal glare. "Even if I'm down to my last breath, I'm not someone a mere Golden Core can shake. Besides, your Northern Ice Palace can barely protect itself right now. You still dare provoke my Hehuan Sect?"
"The Hehuan Sect…" His lips seemed to curl slightly, forming a cold arc that didn't reach his eyes. "It's troublesome, I admit. But this fragment…" His gaze returned to the Star Core Origin Essence shard. "It shares the same origin as the Star Core I possess. It's very important to me. I wonder if Elder Hua would be willing to part with it."
"Dream on." She rejected him without hesitation, her voice cracking with the effort.
She and the Xue Shouren had fought with their lives for that thing. She had nearly died to keep it from the Flame Sun Sect. There was no way she would hand it over to a junior from a rival sect.
"This belongs to the Hehuan Sect. What, is your Northern Ice Palace planning to rob us by force?"
"Rob you?" Ling Chuan shook his head, the movement slow and deliberate. "Elder Hua misunderstands. I was just… asking." He stepped forward slowly, his boots crunching on the frost-covered grass. "Since Elder Hua isn't willing…"
As he took that step, a bone-chilling cold instantly spread outward from his body. Even the poisonous mist around them seemed to freeze in mid-air, condensing into layers of fine frost that coated the nearby trees.
"You're courting death!" A vicious glint flashed through her eyes.
Though she was heavily injured and weak, the dignity and instincts of a Nascent Soul cultivator still burned within her like a dying star.
Her reaction was lightning fast. The instant he stepped forward, she forcibly drew out a breath of true essence that tasted like copper. Instead of retreating, she lunged forward. The jade hairpin flew from her hand with a sharp clang—!
It struck the side of the ice-blue sword qi he had unleashed and knocked its trajectory slightly off course.
Rip—!
The ice-blue sword qi brushed past her shoulder, carving a trail of frost across her already tattered robes. Cold qi invaded her body, making her shiver violently as it bit into her flesh, but she had avoided the vital point.
"Your reactions aren't slow," he said, a flicker of surprise flashing through his eyes. His movements didn't pause for even an instant.
"It's a shame you're too weak."
His figure blurred as he closed the distance again. The Frost Mark Sword exploded into a sky full of ice-blue sword shadows, completely engulfing her in a web of lethal light.
Each shadow was solid and real, carrying bone-piercing cold and razor-sharp sword intent. Their power had reached the extreme limit of the Golden Core realm, and faintly carried traces of fluctuations that only belonged to the Nascent Soul stage.
"He really did hide his strength," she thought in horror, her heart hammering against her ribs. At this point, she had no retreat and no time to hesitate.
Ignoring the turbulent qi and searing pain inside her body, she once again forced the remaining Nascent Soul origin into motion, burning what little remained of her foundation. Several streaks of azure spiritual light surged upward to meet the incoming ice-blue sword shadows, the two powers clashing with a sound like shattering glass.
She had made up her mind to kill him with thunderous force, seize the complete Star Core Origin Essence, and flee immediately.
As for the possible attacker hiding in the shadows, as long as she acted fast enough, they mightn't even have time to react to the change in the situation. After all, that black baleful qi attack that erased Xue Shouren's remnant soul earlier had been strange, but she was certain its energy level hadn't reached the Nascent Soul realm.
At most, it was late stage Golden Core, or perhaps empowered by some special treasure. As long as it wasn't a true Nascent Soul strike, she still had a chance to prevail.
Boom—!
The azure spiritual light and ice-blue sword shadows collided violently, erupting into a terrifying energy storm that blasted away the surrounding poisonous mist once more.
This time, she had gone all out, her face contorting with the effort. Ling Chuan's body swayed as well, and he spat out a mouthful of blood that froze before it hit the ground.
"This is it." She seized that fleeting opening, charging through the aftermath of the explosion without hesitation. Her withered hand shot straight for his throat, her fingers hooked into claws.
She was going in close.
With the physical body and combat experience of a Nascent Soul cultivator, she would end the fight in the shortest possible time.
"Die for me!"
"Heh…" A cold glint flashed through his eyes. He didn't seem surprised by her desperate, final strike.
He didn't retreat. Instead, his left hand formed a seal, and an ice-blue talisman ignited in his palm with a brilliant flash.
"Mystic Ice Talisman. Seal."
A powerful freezing force erupted instantly, trying to lock her body in place and turn her blood to ice.
"Break!" she roared, her spiritual power surging again as she forcibly shattered the encroaching ice. Her clawed strike didn't slow at all.
She could already feel the warmth of the skin beneath Ling Chuan's throat.