Chapter 130: Azure Water Tide Moon

The air in the cavern seemed about to freeze from the extreme cold; each breath brought the pain of ice shards scraping the lungs. The massive Ice Soul Li Jiao lay coiled in the cold pool, its silver‑white vertical pupils coldly surveying the intruders, as if a deity inspecting ants.

"Form the array!" Ling Xiao shouted, suppressing his surging qi and blood with a stern voice.

Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu dared not delay, enduring the piercing pain of their meridians being corroded by the cold as they flung out the prepared formation flags. Streams of light shot toward the Li Jiao's surroundings; a Scarlet Yang Lock Spirit Formation, with fire‑attribute spirit jade as its core and binding power as support, flared up instantly, its scorching airflow briefly pushing back the surrounding chill, while crimson light bands coiled around the Li Jiao's body.

However, a being of Demon Sovereign level is not easily dealt with; the Li Jiao merely let out a dissatisfied low roar, its dark‑blue scales flashing, and the crimson light bands capable of binding a Void‑Refining cultivator shattered one after another. The whole formation shook violently, flickering erratically.

"Roar!" The Li Jiao, clearly enraged, swung its massive tail with the force of ten thousand jun and a freezing chill that could freeze everything, sweeping fiercely toward Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu.

"Watch out!" Ling Xiao flashed forward, appearing before the two. His longsword burst with blinding radiance; he and sword became one, turning into a startling swan that tore through the dim cavern, boldly meeting the terrifying tail.

At the instant the sword and tail collided, a deafening clang of metal exploded; the cavern seemed about to collapse as countless ice‑shard boulders crashed down. Ling Xiao grunted, his tiger's mouth burst, blood freezing into crystals before it could flow, and he was flung backward, slamming heavily into the ice wall, his breath thrown into disorder. On the Li Jiao's tail, several scales were sheared off, oozing dark‑blue blood, but it was merely a flesh wound.

"Master!" Shi Ran cried out, seeing the Li Jiao's attention drawn to Ling Xiao; the black‑gold light in her eyes flared as the suppressed abyssal demonic power erupted fully.

"Devouring Bind—Thousand Entanglements!" She formed seals with both hands; the surrounding black‑gold mist instantly turned into countless unyielding tendrils, like chains from the Nine Nether, not a brute assault but a cunning twining toward the Li Jiao's head, horn, and especially its silver‑white pupils.

The tendrils' aura of devouring and corrosion caused the Li Jiao's movement to falter for a moment; it emitted a hiss tinged with confusion and loathing, as if it greatly disliked this non‑pure‑ice energy.

Now!

Ling Xiao's eyes flashed with sharp light; ignoring the turmoil of his sword essence, he forced his qi upward again. He knew this was the only chance!

"Changfeng, Yuzhu, aid me!"

Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu understood without words, simultaneously pouring all their remaining spiritual power into Ling Xiao without reservation. Luo's pure Dao essence, Wei's demonic power tinged with a phoenix's fire breath, combined with Ling Xiao's peerless sharp sword intent, were forcibly blended by the residual potency of the Myriad Demon Blood Soul Pill and temporarily gathered at the tip of Ling Xiao's sword.

The Dragon Chant Sword buzzed under the strain, its blade flaring with an extremely unstable light that seemed about to explode; the three forces clashed yet were forcibly unified, emanating a heart‑pounding aura of destruction.

The Ice Soul Li Jiao also sensed the threat, violently breaking free of Shi Ran's demonic tendrils; its silver‑white pupils locked onto Ling Xiao as it opened its maw, spewing an even more concentrated icy breath—its core even tinged with a hint of destructive black light—that sprayed forth, freezing and shattering space in its path.

Ling Xiao showed no fear, pouring all his will and all his power into this sword.

"Slash!"

With a violent shout, the blade of light that fused the three forces—extremely unstable and dazzling—shot forth from the sword, not a straight thrust but a rotating slash along a mysterious trajectory, like a spiral drill tearing through darkness, and it slammed head‑on into the Li Jiao's icy breath.

Boom—!!!

The terrifying energy explosion swept out from the cavern's center, instantly evaporating more than half of the cold pool's water; the cavern shook violently, and vast amounts of ice and rock collapsed and fell.

Pfft—!

Ling Xiao, Luo Changfeng, and Wei Yuzhu each spat a mouthful of blood, hurled backward by the tremendous recoil, their breath reduced to utter weakness. Shi Ran was also caught by the energy ripple, slammed into the ice wall, and her demonic power waned.

When the light faded, the crystal‑white horn on the Ice Soul Li Jiao's head was seen cleanly severed at the base; a deep sword gash tore from its forehead to its jaw, dark‑blue blood pouring out. It emitted a wail of extreme pain and fury, its massive body thrashing wildly, each impact worsening the cavern's collapse.

Yet this sword seemed to have grievously wounded it as well; its aura turned violent yet unstable, and its terrifying chill could no longer condense.

"Hurry! Take the Azure Water Tide Moon!" Ling Xiao strained to rise, urging urgently.

At this moment the cavern was about to collapse completely, the cold pool nearly dried from the battle, and the glow of the Azure Water Tide Moon had dimmed somewhat.

Shi Ran, being the nearest, endured the pain, turned into a black shadow and darted to the cold pool's center, carefully plucking the crystal‑clear Azure Water Tide Moon, which held immense icy life energy, together with a small piece of ten‑thousand‑year cold jade marrow at its root, and sealing it in the prepared jade box.

"Go!"

Ling Xiao again swung a blade of qi, barely cleaving the falling boulders; the four supported each other, staggering out of the cavern that was about to bury everything.

As they burst from the cavern, a earth‑shaking roar and the Li Jiao's unwilling, frenzied howl came from behind; the cliff face collapsed over a wide area, completely burying the cavern and the wounded Ice Soul Li Jiao beneath ten thousand feet of cold abyss.

The four collapsed on a narrow protrusion of the ice cliff, gazing down at the rolling cold mist and the incessantly sliding ice‑rock boulders behind them, hearts still pounding, each wounded, their spiritual power nearly exhausted.

Ling Xiao looked at the jade box in his hand, emitting a soft halo and a refreshing chill, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"At last… we got it."

Not only to repay the debt and save Yun Tingliao, but also for Ranran's slender hope of survival.

But now, their first concern is how, with wounded bodies, to return safely from this peril‑filled Nine Nether Cold Abyss.

The icy wind cut like a bone‑scraping steel blade, slicing the four's exhausted bodies. The collapse sounds behind them gradually faded, leaving only the eternal silence of the depths and the howling wind. They were temporarily safe, but their situation remained extremely perilous.

Shi Ran staggered to help Ling Xiao up; despite her own myriad wounds, she seized his wrist and began feeding him spiritual power without hesitation. Ling Xiao struggled a bit but couldn't break free, so he simply let her lead him.

"Master, your wound…" Luo Changfeng struggled to sit up, seeing Ling Xiao's face as pale as paper, his breath weaker than before; that sword which forcibly fused the three of them's power had undoubtedly worsened his injury greatly.

"It's fine… I can still hold on." Ling Xiao waved his hand, then coughed up a mouthful of bruised blood mixed with ice shards. He quickly took out several healing pills and distributed them, saying, "Regulate your breath swiftly, recover a hint of spiritual power; we must leave this place at once."

The commotion just now was too great; the Li Jiao's final frenzied howl and that earth‑shaking collapse likely alerted even more terrifying entities in the cold abyss. Staying here would be tantamount to waiting for death.

Wei Yuzhu and Luo Changfeng hastily swallowed the pills, sat cross‑legged, and exerted their cultivation methods to absorb the pills' faint spiritual power while resisting the all‑pervading extreme chill. The bone talisman, already cracked from the earlier battle, glowed dimly, offering scarcely any protection.

Shi Ran's condition was relatively better; although her abyssal demonic power was also heavily depleted, its nature gave her stronger resistance to the cold and a somewhat faster recovery.

While continuously feeding Ling Xiao spiritual power, she also vigilantly watched the rolling cold mist around them; the black‑gold light in her heterochromatic eyes flickered, serving as a temporary sentry.

"Senior Sister Wei, you recover first; I'll stand guard." Seeing Wei Yuzhu struggle to rise, she said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Wei Yuzhu glanced at her, nodded, forwent stubbornness, and immediately closed her eyes to focus entirely on healing.

Time drifted slowly in the silence and cold; each second felt extraordinarily long. The warm current from the dissolved pills barely shielded the meridians, dispersing the invading cold toxin, but the rate of spiritual power recovery in this extreme cold was agonizingly slow.

Suddenly, Shi Ran's pupils contracted, and she whispered, "Something's approaching! Many… and very fast!"

Ling Xiao snapped his eyes open, his divine sense straining to reach out; his face instantly grew grimmer. In his perception, countless cold, hungry auras surged like a tide from the mist below, drawn by the earlier battle and the scent of blood.

"They're Ice Abyss Corpse Lice! They feed on the corpses and spiritual energy of beings frozen to death in the cold abyss; individually weak, but their numbers are endless!" Ling Xiao quickly looked up the information on his jade slip, "We can't match them in force—we must leave at once!"

He forced himself to stand, a flash of sword light lifting them all: "Upward, charge!"

The four turned into a staggering stream of light, flying upward with all their might along the steep ice wall; however, their speed was greatly reduced by their injuries and depleted spiritual power.

The next moment, the cold mist below was parted, revealing a gray‑white "torrent" surging forth! It was a flood of countless fist‑sized, louse‑like demonic insects whose carapaces were coated in frost; they emitted a grating, teeth‑on‑edge rustle, their compound eyes gleaming with greedy hunger for living beings' qi and blood, and wherever they passed, even the ice was gnawed away a layer.

The insect tide's speed was extreme; in the blink of an eye it caught up to just below them, and some of the exceptionally springy corpse lice even launched themselves upward, striking the feeble protective spiritual light the four strained to maintain, producing crisp crackling sounds as they frenziedly gnawed at their spiritual power.

"Damn it!" Luo Changfeng kept throwing low‑grade fireball talismans; the Scarlet Yang talismans were already exhausted, so these fireballs could only burn a small patch—truly a drop in the bucket against the massive insect swarm. Wei Yuzhu waved her sword light, a flash of fire appearing, but her sword qi was also feeble and ineffective.

Shi Ran continuously released abyssal demonic power; black mist entwined with flowing fire, wherever it passed, swaths of corpse lice were drained dry and turned to ash, but her demonic power was also being depleted at breakneck speed, the blood‑red in her eyes deepening, even tinged with a craving for the insects' vitality.

Faintly, a red thread still twined around her wrist, but the four were occupied with killing the insects, and none noticed it.

This can't go on! Sooner or later they'll be drained to death!

Ling Xiao's eyes hardened, as if he had made a certain resolve. He bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of essence blood onto the bone talisman in his hand that was about to shatter!

"With blood as guide, demon spirits protect—open!"

Hum!

The bone talisman covered in cracks absorbed Ling Xiao's essence blood, then suddenly burst forth with a final intense beam of light; a shield of light, several times more solid than before, instantly unfolded, enveloping the four of them. The ice abyss corpse lice that rushed up struck the shield and were immediately bounced off, even shattered.

But Ling Xiao's complexion grew even paler, his body swayed slightly, and his breath plummeted. This was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst, overdraining his fundamental essence.

"Master!" "Elder!"

The three exclaimed.

"It's fine… hurry up!" Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, activating this final protection; his speed suddenly increased a bit as he shot upward.

With this solid temporary barrier, the corpse lice tide was temporarily held outside. The four exerted themselves to fly upward; after an unknown period, the grayish-white cold mist above gradually thinned, to the point where a faint glimmer of sky light could be seen.

Finally, they burst out of the range of the Nine Nether Cold Abyss!

The outside world was still cold and desolate, but compared to the depths below, it was worlds apart. The endless corpse lice tide, upon reaching the edge of the cold abyss, seemed blocked by an invisible boundary, unwillingly letting out a series of hisses before receding like a tide back into the depths.

The four crashed heavily onto the frozen ground; that bone talisman fulfilled its final function, shattering with a crisp "crack".

There was no time for the joy of survival to arise; only endless fatigue and lingering fear remained.

Ling Xiao coughed up another mouthful of blood, his vision darkened, and he nearly fainted. Shi Ran rushed forward to support him, feeding the last trickle of her spiritual power into his body to protect his meridians.

"We must… return as soon as possible," Ling Xiao said weakly, his gaze turning to Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu.

Wei Yuzhu understood, and, gritting her teeth, took out the bone order given to her by Chief Steward Ji when they left the Holy City, injecting her demonic power into it. The bone order glowed faintly, and a weak stream of information flowed out.

"Nearby… there is a small monster tribe outpost, a wolf tribe watch station… we can go there for help," Wei Yuzhu said, panting.

At this moment they could not afford to be picky; supporting each other, they trudged forward in the direction indicated by the bone order.

Fortunately, they had not gone far when a patrol riding snow plains wolf demons and wearing wolf tribe armor spotted them. Seeing the bone order in Wei Yuzhu's hand and the four's battered, wounded state, and especially sensing the faint residual aura of annihilation sword qi on Ling Xiao, which shared the same origin as that of the Third Prince Yun Tingliao, the patrol captain's expression changed; he immediately respectfully escorted them to the outpost.

Shi Ran remained silent all the way, watching Ling Xiao, whose serious wounds had not healed and who had been injured again, a wave of pain surged in her heart—as if to save her, to untie that bewildering red silk entanglement, her master had been struggling all along…

She didn't deserve him treating her like this; she wasn't a person of this world, and she even found it laughable, laughing at herself, a proper modern young adult, yet believing in such a paper-thin world…