Chapter 458

The moon was dark, the wind high, the Cangjiang surging.

Upon the great river, a treasure-ship stood like a fortress drifting downstream, its silvery moonlight shattered and scattered by the waves.

On deck, that cold, quiet whisper shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bow, slicing through the air and drawing every eye.

“What did you say?”

Hu Sanniang turned, her gaze fixed on Zhang Fan with keen interest.

Tonight, she had come for Lin Jianyue—she had not noticed this “insignificant” man.

Xu Jiuzhi’s eyes narrowed slightly as she too looked at Zhang Fan with surprise.

“To enter the mortal world in beast form—you’re no ordinary cultivator, and your audacity is greater still,” Zhang Fan said coolly. “Yet after reaching this realm, you still don’t understand that words invite disaster.”

“You’re nothing but beasts in fur and horns.”

At these words, Xu Jiuzhi’s face darkened instantly, her eyes darting to Lin Jianyue.

“Beasts in fur and horns” meant creatures still clad in hair and crowned with antlers—beasts who had not yet taken human form.

To cultivators, four simple words meant little. But to demons and spirits, they were a brutal insult.

Long ago, before Chu Chaoran had mastered his divine arts, he had pointed at the white crane in Baihe Temple and called it: “Beast in fur and horns, bone stuck through the heart!”—so enraged the crane that it hunted him for three days and three nights.

To a demon or spirit, uttering such words was to strip them bare, to expose their shame.

Hu Sanniang paused, her smile still on her face—but now laced with three degrees of coldness.

“Interesting. Since I perfected my demonic arts, no one has dared speak to me thus.”

“Perfected your demonic arts?” Zhang Fan laughed.

“The Dao has no end—how can there be perfection?”

“How dare you speak such nonsense with your meager cultivation?”

Boom—

The moment he spoke, a piercing aura surged skyward, shattering the moonlight and sending the Cangjiang’s waves reeling.

At that instant, Hu Sanniang’s smile vanished entirely; her beautiful face now bore a chilling fury.

“Bold little brat—I’ll teach you myself what ‘words invite disaster’ truly means.”

Hum—

Hu Sanniang let out a sharp cry; her piercing aura surged like a tidal wave, layer upon layer crashing forth, flooding the mortal world with deluge.

Lin Jianyue paled, as if plunged into an endless ocean of rage, swallowed whole by the crushing aura.

Her body trembled uncontrollably; every inch of flesh bore unbearable pressure, as if ready to tear apart.

Her Nascent Soul quaked, unable to resist—amidst terror, she saw only one unextinguished light.

That light was the eye of the endless “ocean,” a place of life and death, terrifying beyond measure.

“Fengshou Realm!?” A voice screamed inside Lin Jianyue’s heart.

Only an extraordinary being could inherit the title “Hu Santai Nai” within the Hu Clan.

Since ancient times, any demon or spirit who reached the Fengshou Realm was a miracle among ten thousand—rare beyond reckoning.

Especially now, in the Age of Decline, when life-cultivation has reached completion, all taboos vanish.

“San Niang!”

Xu Jiuzhi’s face trembled in alarm, wanting to stop her—but her voice failed.

At this moment, she was a tiny boat adrift in the ocean, powerless, at the mercy of the tide.

Before a Fengshou master, even a disciple of the pure Yang Xu Clan, if her realm was insufficient, could only tremble in terror.

“Little ghost, what did you just say? Say it again.”

Hu Sanniang’s voice echoed in their ears, cold and laced with mockery.

“I said—who’s the one who won’t be able to leave this ship tonight.”

Suddenly, Zhang Fan’s voice rang out.

Hu Sanniang’s pupils flinched violently.

Boom—

Instantly, everyone’s skin twitched as the oceanic aura trembled violently; at its center, the eye revealed Hu Sanniang’s Nascent Soul.

It was a fox, entirely silver-white, as if bathed in the Yin moonlight.

It rested at the heart of the “ocean,” radiating a supreme, noble aura.

Suddenly, the entire raging sea overturned—massive waves crashed, the heavens cracked.

The vast heavens, enclosing the raging sea, instantly turned into black and white.

Those two colors—black and white—were the true foundation of this world.

“This… this is…”

Boom—

Suddenly, the black and white spun wildly, grinding against each other, erasing the oceanic aura entirely—then, like a giant hand, they plunged into the central “eye” and seized the silver fox’s Nascent Soul.

“You’re…”

Hu Sanniang screamed in disbelief.

Her Nascent Soul had been an endless ocean, swallowing all others—yet now, in an instant, she had fallen into a far vaster realm, and her own soul was already in another’s grasp.

“Fengshou Realm? Life-cultivation perfected? This man is a Fengshou master!?”

Xu Jiuzhi’s heart erupted in a storm; her beautiful eyes shone with profound shock.

She could not believe this man who had come with Lin Jianyue was a Fengshou master.

At such a young age, he had forged his Golden Core, perfected his life-cultivation!?

“He…”

At this moment, Lin Jianyue’s eyes too held uncontainable shock.

Since their parting in Chang’an, only months had passed—who could have imagined Zhang Fan had entered a whole new realm.

“You… who are you?”

Hu Sanniang’s Nascent Soul writhed and roared within the black and white.

She had fallen into an endless abyss—only eternal solitude answered her.

“Now you know what ‘words invite disaster’ means. And what ‘beyond the heavens lie higher heavens’ means.”

Zhang Fan’s voice echoed through this desolate, boundless abyss.

Hu Sanniang’s Nascent Soul trembled; she saw Zhang Fan’s figure standing between black and white—towering, majestic, the sole sovereign of this realm.

That aura filled her with utter despair.

In this moment, she was dazed.

Long ago, she had once seen a man like this—this same aura.

Heart higher than heaven, arts that could reach the gods.

“Zhang Tiansheng…”

Hu Sanniang whispered softly, as if the figure before her slowly merged with a memory etched deep within her soul.

Boom—

The black and white swirled, like day and night, a single spark of spiritual light slowly seeping into her Nascent Soul.

Endless light and shadow reversed the flow of time, coalescing like ink in water.

That winter, snow fell endlessly.

The rivers of Jinmen froze thick; boats were trapped at the docks, feathers of snow drifted down, ten thousand miles of ice.

Amidst the vast snow, upon the frozen river, a small pavilion rose from nowhere—within, sounds of grand feasting echoed.

“Brother Jiang, the Dao Alliance is just founded—how did you make it here?”

“Brother Er’s wedding—I had to come.”

“Too bad heaven didn’t cooperate. Brother Ba, this northern scenery looks just like your Zhangbai Mountain.”

“The ice won’t melt, the snow blocks the roads… Brother Er, it seems heaven doesn’t want you to bring Little Liu’s sister back south.”

“Brother Si, if you can’t talk properly, stay on Zhongnan Mountain.”

Within the dimly lit pavilion, shadows moved like lanterns, cups clinking endlessly.

“If heaven won’t cooperate, then let us change heaven and earth!”

Suddenly, a bold, roaring cry rang out from the pavilion on the ice—its voice carried north and south, forcing even the northern gales to bow.

Next, a window on the pavilion flew open; a gale of snow-laced blades rushed in.

In the next instant, a figure leapt from the pavilion, stepping forward to land upon the frozen river.

On the shore, a small silver fox darted out, watching the sudden figure on the ice, its eyes filled with deep curiosity.

That lone, slender figure stood small against the vast heavens, as if about to vanish into the blizzard.

Suddenly, the wind on the river ceased; the snowflakes froze midair.

The lone figure lowered his left hand, slowly raised his right—forming a seal, a chaotic aura seeped from his body.