Chapter 360

Three days passed in an instant.

During these three days, Wang Ping did not leave the Condensed Frost Pavilion even a single step. He sat in silent meditation within the quiet chamber carved from ice-crystal jade marrow, using the Taiyin Stillness Abyssal Chill Origin as a guide, carefully perceiving the omnipresent law of extreme cold between heaven and earth in the Northern Realm, while simultaneously circulating his Chaotic Immortal Essence to its most rounded and harmonious state, making final preparations for the impending descent into the abyss.

The Condensed Frost Pavilion stands upon a protruding ice cliff on the eastern side of the Holding Heaven Ice Peak; outside the window lies an abyss of ten thousand zhang and eternal wind and snow. The pavilion's furnishings are extremely simple—a couch, a table, and a futon—all carved from single blocks of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, emitting a faint chill and a tranquil Dao resonance. Embedded in the walls are several fist-sized "Nightlight Cold Pearls," radiating a cool, moon-like glow that bathes the entire quiet chamber in a serene icy-blue hue.

Each morning, disciples of the Profound Ice Palace deliver jade boxes containing spiritual food and pills. These spiritual foods are specialties of the Northern Realm—prepared primarily from snow lotus, ice ginseng, and cold marrow, they enter the mouth icy cold yet contain pure cold-attribute spiritual energy, utterly unlike ordinary fire-attribute spiritual fare. Wang Ping accepts them without refusal, receiving them calmly.

He knows this is the Profound Ice Palace's way of receiving guests, and also a test—if one cannot even bear and digest these entry-level cold-attribute spiritual substances, then talk of venturing into the Profound Soul Abyss is nothing but a joke.

Over the three days, he twice sensed minute fluctuations in the Fusang Tree seed. The tiny green sprout rooted in the palm of his Chaotic Nascent Infant, in this extreme cold of the Northern Realm, did not wither but rather seemed stimulated by something—its leaf veins' chaotic nebula imagery circulated noticeably faster, and the frequency of the lotus-seed Dao patterns flashing at its tip was also more active than before.

"Indeed so." Wang Ping's heart stirred slightly. Chaos embraces all things and evolves all things; extreme environments are catastrophic for ordinary spiritual plants, but for innate spiritual roots like the Fusang Tree, they are excellent opportunities for tempering and stimulating growth. The Taiyin Extreme Cold and the Way of Chaos appear opposed, yet in truth they are one yin and one yang, one movement and one stillness—on a higher level, they are mutually complementary and interdependent aspects of the Dao.

As the three days drew to a close, his condition had been adjusted to its peak.

On the morning of the fourth day, before dawn.

Wang Ping rose on time, tidied his attire—inner lining of Profound Yin Ward-Armor, outer robe of ink-green Daoist garb—stowed the Heaven-Overturning Seal, Chaotic Tribulation Sword, and Star-Fixing Instrument into his dantian for nurturing, and hid several Soul-Cleansing Talismans and Nine-Revolutions Returning Spirit Pills in a concealed pouch in his sleeve. With all preparations complete, he pushed open the ice door of the Condensed Frost Pavilion, faced the biting cold wind rushing at him, and shot toward the agreed-upon direction at the summit of the Holding Heaven Ice Peak.

The mouth of the Profound Soul Abyss lies approximately three hundred li due north of the Holding Heaven Ice Peak. Gazing from the peak's summit, the azure-blue rift piercing heaven and earth stands out especially in the dawn light, like a river of ancient cold flowing silently across the endless ice plains to their end.

As the Chen hour approached, Wang Ping's figure appeared on the western side of the abyss mouth.

This is a relatively flat ice platform, its ground formed by layer upon layer of profound ice accumulated over countless hundreds of thousands of years, presenting a deep, semi-transparent indigo blue. At the edge of the ice platform stands an octagonal pavilion entirely carved from a single block of ice-crystal jade marrow—exactly the "Ice Soul Pavilion" mentioned by Ling Qingxue the day before.

The pavilion is three zhang high, with octagonal flying eaves; at each corner perches a small ice phoenix sculpture holding in its beak a "Stabilizing Wind Pearl" emitting a soft halo, quietly dissolving the surrounding violent gales. Inside the pavilion are ice tables and ice benches; the tabletop bears an engraved formation-map of the detailed terrain surrounding the Profound Soul Abyss, marking layered restrictions and safe routes.

Outside the pavilion, two figures already stood waiting.

One of them Wang Ping recognized—Xue Yin, still in her moon-white palace attire, her brows and eyes cold and clear, holding a volume of ice-blue jade slips, quietly reporting something to the two beside her.

The other is a pair of elders wearing the robes of Profound Ice Palace elders. Both have white hair and beard, gaunt faces, their breath deeply restrained like ten-thousand-zhang ice abysses; they are clearly both at the Great Completion of Nascent Soul cultivation, merely half a step from Divine Transformation. Their gazes fell upon Wang Ping, flickered slightly, then returned to calm, showing no extra expression.

"Daoist Wang Ping, you are punctual." Xue Yin gave a slight nod as a greeting. "These two are elders of the Law Enforcement Hall of my Profound Ice Palace, Bing Xuan and Bing Po (note: this Bing Po is not the palace master, but an elder sharing the same name). By order of the palace master, they will escort you two into the Profound Soul Abyss, all the way to the 'Cold Slaughter Boundary Layer' at five hundred li."

The two elders gave Wang Ping a slight nod as a greeting. The elder called "Bing Xuan" spoke, his voice hoarse yet calm, as if stored away in ten-thousand-year-old ice: "Daoist Wang Ping, the Profound Soul Abyss is perilous, far exceeding any secret realm you have previously encountered. Within five hundred li, we still escort; beyond five hundred li, you two proceed alone. Remember, if you encounter irresistible danger, retreat swiftly—do not linger in battle."

Wang Ping clasped his hands: "Many thanks for your guidance, Elders."

As his words fell, a stream of icy-blue light tore through the eastern horizon and instantly landed before the Ice Soul Pavilion.

The light dispersed, and Ling Qingxue's figure silently appeared.

Today she differs from when they first met three days ago in the Cold Soul Hall.

She still wears the snow-white Liu Xian dress, overlaid with that gauze seemingly woven from countless fine ice crystals, but at the hem and cuffs, several faint silver cloud patterns have appeared—signs that the Profound Ice Palace's secret body-protecting formation has been activated. Around her waist is a sash woven from ice silkworm silk, adorned with several small cold jades; on her left side hangs a palm-sized mirror, entirely ice-blue, its edge engraved with complex snowflake patterns—the Ice Soul Cold Light Mirror, her natal magic treasure.

Her hair bun is simpler than three days ago, bound only by a wholly crystalline jade pin topped with a grain-sized cold star. A few loose strands of hair before her forehead are lifted by the wind, drifting before her jade-clear, cold face, adding an indescribable… vitality.

In her hand she holds an octagonal palace lantern; its body is likewise ice-crystal, yet inside burns a pale blue flame that seems able to freeze one's gaze. This is the "Profound Soul Guide Lantern," refined from the extreme cold aura emanating from the Profound Soul Core, capable of guiding direction and sensing changes in cold concentration—an essential guide for entering the Profound Soul Abyss.

After she stood firm, her gaze first swept over the two elders and Xue Yin, gave a slight nod as greeting, then settled upon Wang Ping.

Those shallow ice-blue eyes, still as clear as an early spring lake, now hold a hint hard to grasp—not hostility, not contempt, but a more complex feeling, as if she is re-evaluating him.

She spoke no words, merely gazing silently at Wang Ping, as if waiting for him to speak first.

Wang Ping's expression remained normal; he likewise gazed back at her in silence.

After three breaths, Ling Qingxue's eyes flickered slightly; she gently shifted her gaze to the two elders, her voice cold and calm: "Elder Bing Xuan, Elder Bing Po, you have laboured hard. The time has come—may we depart?"

Elder Bing Xuan nodded: "We may."

He raised his hand, took from his sleeve a fist-sized orb, entirely deep blue, its surface densely carved with seal runes, lifted it with both hands—the orb slowly rose, hovering three zhang above the Ice Soul Pavilion.

"This is the 'Profound Soul Forbidden Key,' capable of temporarily opening the first-layer seal great formation at the abyss mouth. Follow me."

He leapt, transforming into a stream of icy-blue light, shooting first toward the azure-blue abyss rift several hundred zhang away. Elder Bing Po followed closely; Xue Yin gave Wang Ping and Ling Qingxue a slight nod, signaling them to follow.

Four streaks of escape light entered, one after another, into the rift piercing heaven and earth.

At the moment of piercing the abyss mouth's seal, Wang Ping clearly felt an intangible, substanceless yet overwhelming force of law sweep over him. This force carried extreme cold and powerful repulsion, as if screening and selecting each entrant's "qualifications." Deep in his dantian, the Taiyin Stillness Abyssal Chill Origin trembled slightly, releasing a thread of the same origin; upon sensing it, the force of law became like meeting an old friend—it yielded gently, offering no further obstruction.

Ling Qingxue clearly perceived this beside him. Her eyes flickered; a trace of extreme complexity passed through her depths—this is the affinity she cultivated from childhood through the Profound Ice Heavenly Heart Technique, having expended countless efforts to attune to the Profound Soul Abyss's law, whereas Wang Ping merely relied on that thread of Stillness Origin to easily obtain equal passage rights.

She pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

After entering the abyss mouth, heaven and earth suddenly changed.

Before them was no longer the vast ice plain and clear starry sky, but a boundless vertical rift enveloped in azure-blue light. The ice walls on either side were not ordinary ice layers, but formed by countless strata of profound ice varying in color, texture, and density, layered and condensed like a heavy chronicle recording the Northern Realm's geological changes over hundreds of millions of years.

Beneath their feet was not solid ground, but endless void—or rather, not entirely void—for in the azure-blue light's illumination, one could faintly see that every several dozen zhang, a block of profound ice, large or small, irregular in shape, floated within the rift like an ice island, extending toward the dark depths beyond sight.

Most heart-pounding is not the endless vertical abyss nor the strange floating ice blocks, but—

Profound Ice Cold Slaughter.

This is a strange existence between gaseous and liquid states. It has no form or substance, yet is real and substantial; it is bone-chillingly cold, yet not ordinary "cold." When it sweeps over the skin, it causes no frostbite or stiffness, but acts directly upon spiritual power and soul—

Spiritual power circulation will suddenly become sluggish, as if cold water were dropped into a boiling oil pot—boiling, turbulent, hard to control.

Soul perception will become dull and blurred, as if wrapped in an invisible film, greatly weakening connection with the outside world.

This is the true peril of the Profound Soul Abyss. Not mere low-temperature harshness, but this "Profound Ice Cold Slaughter" that specifically targets cultivators' foundations.

"Everyone, be careful." Elder Bing Xuan's voice sounded ahead, carrying a hint of gravity: "This place is still the outermost edge of the abyss mouth; the cold slaughter concentration is about one-thousandth of the inner layers. Continue inward, and concentration will increase exponentially. A mid-Nascent Soul cultivator without special protection would struggle to endure three hundred li; five hundred li is the limit of our escort; beyond that, you must rely on your own fortune."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and cast a spell. The spell transformed into a faint icy-blue halo, enveloping the five of them, blocking most direct erosion of the cold slaughter.

The five followed the trajectory of the floating ice blocks, continually descending.

The deeper they went, the more intense the azure-blue light around them became, and the ice walls on either side increasingly showed a strange "flowing sensation"—those strata of profound ice accumulated over hundreds of millions of years, as if under some force's influence, slowly and irresistibly crept toward the deeper abyss.

Temperature could no longer be described in words. Even with Wang Ping's current cultivation, ordinary extreme cold could not harm him in the slightest if he did not deliberately circulate his spiritual power; but here, he must constantly maintain the circulation of his Chaotic Immortal Essence to resist that all-pervasive erosion targeting spiritual power and soul.

And upon those floating ice blocks, occasionally one could see some indescribable things—

A fragment of some unknown creature's skeleton, long turned into an ice carving, lying silently on the ice surface, preserving its posture from myriad ages past;

Clumps of twisted ice crystals, as if forcibly "squeezed" out from the ice walls by some power, taking strange forms and emitting a faint chill different from the cold slaughter;

Also, some extremely vague, dream-like phantoms that flickered in the azure-blue light and vanished instantly, too fast even for divine sense to catch.

"Those are illusions reflected by the cold slaughter." Elder Bing Po's voice rang out, calm yet carrying a hint of warning: "Do not pay them heed. If you try to chase or fight them, you will only accelerate your soul's consumption."

Wang Ping nodded, withdrew his gaze, and focused on descending.

One hundred li, two hundred li, three hundred li…

When they descended to around three hundred fifty li, the concentration of the frigid slaughter had increased by more than a hundredfold. Even with the Ice Profound Elder's protective light barrier, the invasive sensation remained like maggots in the bone, seeping in everywhere. Wang Ping's chaotic immortal essence operated nearly thirty percent faster than usual, just enough to maintain balance against the consumption.

Ling Qingxue's condition was far better than he had imagined. A thin layer of yin cold energy, stirred by the Profound Ice Heavenly Heart Technique, surrounded her. Rather than repelling the surrounding frigid slaughter, it harmonized with it in a subtle resonance. When the frigid slaughter brushed past her, it would actively veer away, as if yielding to a sovereign of the same origin.

She glanced sideways at Wang Ping.

That look carried a hint of curiosity she herself had not even noticed.

She was a Yin Profound Body, having cultivated the Profound Ice Heavenly Heart Technique since childhood, spending three hundred years of painstaking effort to establish this affinity with the frigid slaughter of the Profound Soul Abyss. She wanted to know how long this outsider, relying only on a thread of extinction origin, could endure in such a concentration of frigid slaughter.

Yet what she saw was Wang Ping's calm, unchanged visage, his breath steady as at the start, and the light in his eyes still serene and profound.

She frowned slightly.

Just then——

Wang Ping suddenly raised his right hand, fingers loosely spread, and a wisp of grayish chaotic immortal essence quietly seeped from his fingertips.

This wisp of immortal essence did not resist or reject, but instead, in an extremely gentle and inclusive manner, slowly seeped into the surrounding surging frigid slaughter.

Instantly, an anomaly arose!

The originally violent and disorderly Profound Ice Frigid Slaughter, which seemed intent on tearing everything apart, suddenly stalled upon the intrusion of Wang Ping's chaotic immortal essence.

Then, like tamed beasts or wanderers finally finding home, they all reversed direction and surged toward Wang Ping's vicinity.

Not an attack, but——

intimacy.

They encircled Wang Ping, flowing slowly, like a flock of docile sheep surrounding a shepherd. The power that had once frenziedly eroded spiritual essence and soul now became extraordinarily tranquil, even faintly carrying a hint of……docility.

Wang Ping closed his eyes, silently feeling it.

His Yin Extinction Abyssal Tide origin was now, with unprecedented vitality, resonating wondrously with the surrounding Profound Ice Frigid Slaughter. This was a response of the same origin, the submission of subjects to their king, and the countless years of frigid air wandering in the abyss, bereft of belonging, finally finding a "root" to rely upon.

He opened his eyes; a flash of deep ice-blue flickered in his pupils before vanishing, immediately returning to a serene grayish haze.

The surrounding frigid slaughter still encircled him, docile as before.

The Ice Profound Elder and the Ice Soul Elder exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief. Having guarded the Profound Soul Abyss for thousands of years, they had never seen anyone able to "tame" the frigid slaughter in this manner. Even past masters of the Profound Ice Palace had only established "harmonious coexistence" with the frigid slaughter through Yin principles, not this near-"control" state.

Ling Qingxue stood frozen in place.

Her shallow ice-blue eyes now brimmed with shock that could not be concealed……and complexity.

Since childhood, she had been hailed as a once-in-a-million-years genius of their sect, a Yin Profound Body cultivator of the Profound Ice Heavenly Heart Technique, having cultivated for three hundred years to reach late Nascent Soul. She had believed her affinity with the frigid slaughter was already the utmost.

Yet now, an outsider, one relying only on a thread of extinction origin and having never cultivated a single day in the Northern Lands, before her eyes, effortlessly achieved what she could not.

She stared blankly at the frigid slaughter around Wang Ping, docile as lambs, and for the first time rose an ineffable emotion in her heart——

That was not jealousy, not resentment, but……bewilderment.

The conviction she had held since childhood, the pride she took in her talent, her three hundred years of arduous cultivation……at this moment, seemed to be silently questioned.

Wang Ping seemed to sense her gaze. He turned his head, met her complex eyes, his expression still calm, and spoke lightly: "The frigid slaughter has spirit; it recognizes only the origin, not the person. Fellow Daoist Ling needs not concern herself."

His tone was flat, devoid of any boast or comfort, merely stating a fact.

Yet precisely this flatness made the ripples in Ling Qingxue's heart even harder to quell.

She pressed her lips together, gave no response, merely averted her gaze, and continued downward.

At five hundred li.

This was a relatively open ice platform, larger than the floating ice they had encountered before by more than tenfold, like a small plaza suspended in the azure void. The platform's surface was not flat, but covered with countless strangely shaped ice crystal clusters and ice pillars, the tallest reaching tens of zhang, the shortest up to a person's knee, casting crisscrossing eerie shadows in the azure light.

The Ice Profound Elder halted his escape light and landed at the edge of the ice platform.

"This is the limit of our escort." He turned to Wang Ping and Ling Qingxue, his expression solemn, "Five hundred li further down, to the outer rim of the Abyss Eye, is where you proceed alone. Remember, do not be greedy for merit, do not advance recklessly; if you encounter irresistible danger, retreat swiftly. Within the Abyss there is no sun or moon; take the guide lamp as your standard—when its flame turns red, it is a warning that the frigid slaughter concentration has exceeded your limit, and you must immediately turn back."

The Ice Soul Elder also stepped forward, took from his sleeve two thumb-sized jade talismans, entirely crystalline, within which seemed to be stored a thread of flowing cold air, and handed them respectively to Wang Ping and Ling Qingxue:

"These are 'Profound Soul Transit Talismans,' activatable after refining with essence blood. Once activated, they can instantly transport the bearer within a hundred li of the Abyss mouth. Each person gets only one; use with caution."

Wang Ping received the jade talisman and solemnly stored it in his sleeve's hidden pocket.

"Thank you, two Elders, for your escort all the way."

The Ice Profound Elder gave a slight nod, said no more, exchanged a glance with the Ice Soul Elder, and simultaneously transformed into two streaks of light, shooting back along their path, vanishing instantly into the azure light.

On the ice platform, only Wang Ping and Ling Qingxue remained.

Around them reigned deathly silence. Only the frigid slaughter's movement produced an extremely faint "hissing" sound, like countless snakes slithering in the dark.

Ling Qingxue stood in place, motionless. She lowered her eyelids, unknown what she was thinking.

Wang Ping did not urge her. He simply stood still, his gaze sweeping over the strangely shaped ice crystal clusters around him, his chaotic divine sense silently spreading, perceiving every blade of grass and tree.

After a long while, Ling Qingxue finally spoke.

Her voice remained cold, yet carried a hint of……hoarseness not present before.

"Wang Ping."

This was the first time she had directly addressed him by name.

Wang Ping looked at her.

Ling Qingxue raised her head; her shallow ice-blue eyes were no longer complex or bewildered, but a more refined, more steadfast……calm.

"I admit, I underestimated you." Her voice remained cold, yet candid to a surprising degree, "What you just did, I cannot do. For three hundred years, I have taken pride in everything I have, but before you, it seems……not so worthy of pride."

She paused, a flash of self-mockery crossing her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a more steadfast light:

"But I will not therefore grow disheartened. My master once said, on the path of cultivation, the stronger the opponent, the more clearly one sees one's own shortcomings. You are strong, I acknowledge that. But precisely because you are strong, I must exert my utmost effort, so as not to let you look down on me."

She drew a deep breath; icy blue light flowed around her body, the silver cloud patterns on her gauze outer robe suddenly brightening somewhat:

"Therefore, on the road ahead, I will give my all. And I hope you, because of what just happened, will not think I am a burdensome encumbrance needing protection."

She extended her hand, suspended in midair, her gaze locked onto Wang Ping:

"We travel together, looking out for each other. Agreed?"

Wang Ping silently regarded her.

Before him stood the Holy Maiden of the Profound Ice Palace, proud as ever, yet no longer the prideful sort that carried scrutiny and discontent. Instead, it was a more mature, more penetrating pride——she acknowledged the gap, yet refused to fall behind; she faced the strong, yet neither servile nor arrogant.

Wang Ping's lips twitched slightly, whether in a smile or a sigh, unknown. He also raised his hand, clasping hers in the air for a moment, then withdrew it:

"Deal."

Ling Qingxue gave a slight nod, withdrew her hand, and her gaze fell upon the deep indigo void at the edge of the ice platform leading further inward:

"Let's go."

She raised her hand, and the faint blue flame of the Xuanpo Guidance Lamp flickered slightly, making the guiding direction clearer. She was about to leap down—

"Wait."

Wang Ping suddenly spoke.

Ling Qingxue's steps halted, and she looked at him doubtfully.

Wang Ping's gaze fell upon a cluster of ice crystals at the edge of the ice platform. His chaotic divine sense had just caught a trace of an extremely subtle yet extraordinary fluctuation—

It was not the flow of killing cold, nor a spatial fold, but...

"The breath of life." He spoke in a deep voice.

As his words fell—

At the edge of the ice platform, that seemingly ordinary cluster of ice crystals suddenly exploded!

Countless ice crystal shards scattered like arrows, each carrying a terrifying chill capable of piercing the protective spiritual light of a Nascent Soul cultivator!

At the same time, one twisted figure after another emerged from the shadows beneath the ice crystal cluster, from cracks on the ice platform's surface, and from the floating ice blocks around, like a disturbed swarm of bees, wildly lunging out!

They were—

Ice Soul Evil Spirits!

They had no fixed form. Some resembled a constantly writhing mass of indigo mist, within which distorted human faces could faintly be seen; some resembled beasts assembled from countless ice crystal shards, limbs on the ground, baring teeth; others were even more bizarre, like elongated humanoids, limbs disproportionate, skulls enlarged, with two clusters of cold ghostfire burning in their eye sockets.

Their aura varied in strength— the weak were no more than late Golden Core, the strong had astonishingly reached mid-Nascent Soul! A rough sweep revealed their number was no less than twenty!

"They are naturally bred cold-killing lifeforms from the abyss!" Ling Qingxue's expression changed slightly. The Ice Soul Cold Light Mirror instantly left her hand, hovering before her, its surface light flowing, "They usually lie dormant, but upon encountering intruders, they swarm and attack! Be careful, they have extreme resistance to spiritual power attacks—"

Her words had not finished when three early Nascent Soul evil spirits, roaring, lunged at her!

Ling Qingxue let out a cold snort, her pale hand lightly raised, and the Ice Soul Cold Light Mirror suddenly shot out a condensed, substance-like ice-blue beam, striking the evil spirit charging at the forefront!

"Hiss—!"

The evil spirit let out a piercing shriek, its body pierced by the beam, leaving a bowl-sized hole in its chest. However, within a single breath, that hole was filled by the surging killing cold, and the evil spirit's body recovered visibly at a speed discernible to the naked eye!

"The killing cold does not disperse, the evil spirits do not perish!" Ling Qingxue's voice carried a hint of solemnity, "One must shatter their core, the 'Cold Soul Crystal Core,' in a single blow!"

Her mirror light flashed repeatedly, coordinating with mysterious footwork, as she engaged the three evil spirits, seeking an opportunity for a killing strike.

Meanwhile, on the other side, more evil spirits— at least fifteen— like sharks smelling blood, frenziedly surged toward Wang Ping!

Wang Ping stood still in place, motionless.

Deep in his eyes, chaotic colors flowed, rapidly analyzing these evil spirits' attack patterns, energy flow rhythms, and... weaknesses.

They indeed had strong resistance to spiritual power attacks. But their composition, essentially, remained highly concentrated killing cold.

And killing cold...

Wang Ping's lips twitched slightly.

He did not unleash the Heaven-Overturning Seal, nor did he use the Chaos Tribulation Sword.

He merely lifted his left hand lightly, five fingers spread, and pressed emptily toward the fifteen surging evil spirits.

"Hum—!"

An intangible, formless, yet vast as the sea chaotic domain suddenly expanded from him as center! This domain was not repelling or suppressing, but—

Simulation.

He was simulating, with chaotic immortal essence, energy fluctuations and law frequencies completely consistent with the surrounding killing cold, even... primordial breath!

In an instant, the fifteen frantic evil spirits lunging forward froze in unison!

What they perceived was no longer an intruder, but... a fellow-origin, even more "authentic" killing cold condensation than themselves!

They were bewildered.

Their offensive stalled.

It was precisely this moment of stagnation!

"Fellow Daoist Ling, straight ahead three zhang, that quadruped beast-form evil spirit, three cun below the ribs, has crystal core fluctuation!" Wang Ping's voice rang like thunder, exploding in Ling Qingxue's sea of consciousness!

Ling Qingxue's pupils flashed, without the slightest hesitation! Her body shot like lightning, the mirror light condensing into a hair-thin yet peerlessly sharp ice-blue filament, precisely piercing the spot three cun below the ribs of the beast-form evil spirit Wang Ping indicated!

"Crack—!"

A clear shattering sound! The evil spirit's body shuddered violently, the ghostfire in its eyes instantly extinguished! Its body, starting from below the ribs, rapidly disintegrated, turning into countless fine ice crystal powder, scattering across the ground!

One strike, fatal!

Ling Qingxue had no time to be shocked by how Wang Ping could instantly discern the crystal core's position, when a second command already echoed in her sea of consciousness:

"Rear left, that mist-form evil spirit, core in the central thread of its darkest mist at the brow!"

The mirror light flashed again! Another evil spirit shattered!

"Front right, that humanoid evil spirit, crystal core at heart position, but tightly wrapped by killing cold, needs thirty percent more force!"

"Boom!"

Third one!

Wang Ping was like the most precise detection instrument, each command precisely and accurately pointing to the core vital point of every evil spirit. And Ling Qingxue, with her exquisite and peerless ice divine arts and mysterious footwork, fulfilled these commands one by one.

Between the two, there was no unnecessary communication, not even needing to exchange glances.

One responsible for locking on, interfering, commanding;

One responsible for executing, killing, supporting.

Their coordination was as smooth as flowing clouds and seamless as heavenly robes.

In the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, the three evil spirits besieging Ling Qingxue, together with the fifteen evil spirits that had charged Wang Ping and been trapped one by one by the chaotic domain and then slain by Ling Qingxue, all turned into ice crystal powder covering the ground!

The last humanoid yao spirit, in the moment its core was pierced through by Ling Qingxue's mirror light, let out a final unwilling hiss; just before it shattered, its pair of gloomy ghost-fire eyes stared fixedly at Wang Ping, and in them flashed a trace of... fear.

On the ice platform, deathly silence returned.

Only the fine ice crystal powder scattered across the ground flickered faintly in the azure light, proving that the fierce battle just now was no illusion.

Ling Qingxue breathed lightly, fine beads of sweat seeping from her forehead, instantly congealing into frost in the surrounding chill; the light of her Ice Soul Cold Light Mirror dimmed slightly, continuous high-intensity output draining her spiritual power greatly.

But her eyes were brighter than at any time before.

She looked toward Wang Ping.

Wang Ping still stood where he was, his expression calm as before, as if he had merely done something insignificant; the chaotic domain around him gradually retracted, and the yao spirits he had trapped, after death, saw their killing qi resume their original flow paths.

Ling Qingxue drew a deep breath, put away her Ice Soul Cold Light Mirror, and walked to Wang Ping's front.

She looked at Wang Ping; in her pale ice-blue eyes, there was now no complexity or resentment, only a clear, sincere... acknowledgment.

"Just now... thank you." Her voice remained cool, yet carried a bit more warmth than before, "Had you not discerned the yao spirits' core positions and given precise commands, I could not have resolved them so quickly. I take back my previous words—you are not superfluous, but... the best companion."

Wang Ping shook his head slightly: "We travel together, look out for each other—that is simply our agreement. No thanks needed."

He paused, his gaze falling to the edge of the ice platform, the azure void leading deeper in:

"Let's continue. Five hundred li—we've only just begun."

Ling Qingxue followed his gaze, nodded slightly.

She lifted the Mystic Soul Guide Lamp once more; its flame burned steadily, pointing toward the deeper unknown.

The two exchanged a glance, said no more, and simultaneously leapt up, becoming two streaks of light that plunged into that abyss where even starlight could not penetrate, an ancient, silent depth.

Behind them, the ice crystal powder scattered across the ground was swept by the killing qi, gradually merging into the surrounding azure light and vanishing without trace.

Only that brief battle, and the trust and tacit understanding quietly forged within it, like two meteors streaking through the abyss, left in this eternally silent darkness a faint yet real trace.