On the endless ice plain, a blizzard obscured the view. Countless ice shards were caught in the frigid wind, colliding in mid-air. The cold was bone-chilling, as if it could freeze one's very soul.
This was the Luoxue Realm, one of the many worlds within the Divine Realm. Snow fell year-round in the Luoxue Realm, and the cold was so intense that a single drop of water would instantly turn to ice.
Above the desolate ice plain, dozens of tiny ice crystals suddenly began to spin as if drawn by some unseen force. They gathered together, then slowly spread into a vortex. In the center of the vortex, a Light Curtain shimmering like liquid mercury materialized from thin air. The next moment, a woman clad in sea-blue gossamer robes stepped out.
The woman had an exquisite figure and hair as black as a waterfall. She exuded a sacred aura, like a pure jade Ice Lotus blooming upon the snowy plains. However, her face was pale, and a trickle of blood stained the corner of her lips, marring her ethereal grace.
As the Light Curtain vanished, the woman spat out a mouthful of blood, her condition worsening.
"Sister!"
A clear, feminine voice rang out as a white orb of light flew out from the woman's body, coalescing into the form of a young girl. "Sister, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." The woman in sea-blue waved her hand dismissively. She was already severely injured, and forcibly tearing through space to cross the vast distance to another world in the Divine Realm had only aggravated her wounds.
"Where are we?" the woman in sea-blue asked.
The young girl took out a Jade Scroll and extended her Divine Sense into it. "Sister, we've arrived in the Luoxue Realm."
"The Luoxue Realm?" The woman in blue's heart skipped a beat, and she sighed. "The Divine Realm has three thousand worlds. I've crossed the void several times, only to end up fleeing to the Luoxue Realm in the end. My name is Muu Qianxue. Luoxue... Falling Snow... Perhaps this is the place where I am fated to fall…"
"Sister, that won't happen! We…" the young girl started to say, but at that very moment, a violent Energy Fluctuation pulsed through the void. In the next instant, space itself seemed to be brutally torn asunder by a pair of invisible hands, and a man in black robes stepped out, standing unsupported in the air.
The color drained from the young girl's face when she saw him, the words dying on her lips.
The man in black was handsome, but his blood-red pupils gave him a sinister air. He looked at Muu Qianxue and chuckled. "Saintess, we meet again."
Muu Qianxue's expression turned cold and resolute. 'I knew he would follow, but I didn't think he'd be this fast.'
The man said, "Saintess, I regret that things have come to this. I was forced to destroy the Qianyu Sacred Land. At our level of Cultivation, there is nothing in this world beyond our reach. We seek only the pinnacle of power and eternal existence. Why don't you give me the Divine Crystal Magic Cube? We can enter into dual cultivation, comprehend the Magic Cube's secrets together, and achieve immortality. What do you say?"
Muu Qianxue circulated the Divine Power within her. "Spare me your meaningless words, Tianming Zi," she said coldly. "You may have destroyed the Qianyu Sacred Land, but killing me will cost you dearly."
"Is that so? Then I'll just have to see for myself." The man, Tianming Zi, said dismissively. With a flick of his right hand, an ancient-looking Treasure Tower appeared in his palm. This was the God-Sealing Tower, a Desolate Flood Spiritual Treasure. It could seal gods and lock away demons, but it could also serve as a vessel to house tens of thousands of warriors. Half a month ago, it was precisely by using the Divine Descent Tower that the man had brought over ten thousand experts from various powers in the Divine Realm to suddenly appear in the Qianyu Sacred Land and destroy it.
Tianming Zi tossed the God-Sealing Tower into the air. Amid a great flare of golden light, ten thousand experts materialized in the Luoxue Realm. In an instant, the sky was blotted out by a dense sea of figures.
The more than ten thousand figures stood suspended in the air, their gazes falling upon the two isolated and helpless women on the ice plain below, their eyes filled with cold indifference.
A cold sneer touched Muu Qianxue's lips as she watched. 'This is the moment I've been waiting for,' she thought. 'Netherworld Sacred Land, Primordial Sacred Land, Ancient Wave Palace, Blood Evil Island... you all joined forces to destroy the Qianyu Sacred Land. So today, I will offer my own soul as the price to take every last one of you with me!'
Tianming Zi said, "Muu Qianxue, I respect you. I admire your strength and your heaven-defying talent. But right now, you are severely injured and facing ten thousand experts of the Divine Realm. You don't have a shred of hope for victory. Hand over the Divine Crystal Magic Cube, and I will spare your life, and the life of your sister."
Muu Qianxue turned a deaf ear to his words. With a mere thought, a gray cube, only an inch square and covered in black Inscriptions, slowly materialized above her palm. This was the very object that had thrown the entire Divine Realm into turmoil: the Divine Crystal Magic Cube.
Muu Qianxue poured all of her Divine Power into the Divine Crystal Magic Cube. Although it had been in her possession for less than a year, she had managed to comprehend a fraction of its secrets. It was perhaps a Soul Crystal left behind by a legendary True God after their demise. It possessed the terrifying power to shatter the souls of all living things. With Muu Qianxue's current strength, however, she was far from being able to control such power. In fact, her own soul would be devoured and sealed by the Divine Crystal Magic Cube.
"Yue'er, don't resist."
"Sister?" The young girl had no idea what Muu Qianxue intended. Just then, her body was enveloped by a curtain of light—the telltale glow of a portal tearing through the void.
Muu Qianxue had to send her sister away first. Once the Magic Cube's forbidden power was unleashed, the souls of all living beings in the vicinity would be sucked in and torn to shreds. This was also why she had been unable to use this forbidden power back at the Qianyu Sacred Land.
"Heh, trying to send your sister away? Did you think I would let you?" Tianming Zi's hands flew into a Sealing Technique, preparing to freeze the surrounding space. But in that instant, his expression shifted. From the Divine Crystal Magic Cube in Muu Qianxue's hand, he could feel a power gathering—a power that made his very soul tremble in terror.
'What is this…?' Tianming Zi's heart leaped into his throat. The movements of his Sealing Technique faltered as he sensed a mortal danger.
In that instant, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi went berserk, forming a churning Energy Vortex above the Divine Crystal Magic Cube.
"With soul as the guide, I borrow the Power of a True God… Soul Extinction!"
Muu Qianxue uttered the phrase, her voice clear and cold. Her body then dissolved into motes of starlight, her Soul and Divine Sense transforming into streams of light that flowed into the Divine Crystal Magic Cube. Seeing this, the color drained from Tianming Zi's face. He tore open space without a second's hesitation, desperate to escape. But just then, the terrifying Energy within the Divine Crystal Magic Cube erupted.
Like an exploding star, the surrounding space shattered like paper. Only then did the ten thousand experts of the Divine Realm realize the mortal peril they were in. The Great Abilities among them, who could traverse worlds at will, tried to flee into the void, but it was too late. The terrifying Energy instantly annihilated the surrounding space. A massive storm-like vortex sucked them in like scraps of paper. Their bodies turned to dust and vanished, their souls torn to shreds by the storm. These Soul Fragments were then funneled by the vortex, drawn into the Magic Cube.
The large-scale collapse of space turned this corner of the Luoxue Realm into a complete dead zone, roiling with a Space Storm that annihilated everything in its path. After Devouring all the Soul Fragments, the Divine Crystal Magic Cube was itself swept into this cataclysm, drifting away into the endless void…
…