Chapter 957: Holy Envoy Pursuit

Yan Buji dragged his battered body across the icefield, stumbling forward, each step leaving a bright red footprint in the snow.

The Abni Sword had already broken, only half a blade still trembling lightly in its sheath at his waist. The north wind remained bitterly cold, yet it could not disperse the heaviness in his brows.

"Mutant Force... black ice crystal... Mysterious Dark Eye..." he muttered to himself, then abruptly halted, his pupils narrowing: "So that's it!"

He suddenly dropped to one knee, ignoring the gaping wound, and scratched lines into the ice with the broken sword:

"First, Han Shuang only cultivates void refinement, yet dares to touch the Mutant Force; unless someone shields him."

A tiny figure representing Han Shuang appeared on the ice, with an upward arrow drawn beside it.

"Second, those black ice monsters can regenerate infinitely, clearly because someone has separated and raised their own Mutant traits."

The broken sword traced a cluster of snarling monster shapes, linking them with lines to a vague, towering human silhouette.

"Third, the Mysterious Yin Seal can communicate with the Mysterious Dark Eye, and the Mysterious Dark Eye is..."

Yan Buji suddenly froze, the sword tip carving a complex rune into the ice, exactly the pattern found in the Mysterious Dark Eye's pupil. He had seen this rune before; when his left eye once housed a Mutant Dao Mark, the same symbol had appeared!

"Someone is using Heavenly Cold Palace cultivators as vessels to nurture their own Mutant traits!" Yan Buji sprang to his feet, a sharp gleam flashing from his eyes: "It's not about breaking through the Great Ascension... but about becoming a saint directly!"

The conclusion sent a massive shock through his own heart. Since ancient times, the cultivation world has whispered that a Tribulation Crossing Stage powerhouse must undergo a "beneficial Mutant transformation" to attain sainthood.

Yan Buji had long suspected: since the Mutant Force cannot be controlled, why must a cultivator travel to a Dao Realm to become a saint?

It is simply to harness the Mutant Force, master it, and thus elevate oneself to an unattainable height.

The source of this Mutant Force should be the Daoist he once saw in a vision, likely the Dao Ancestor beyond the heavens spoken of by the great ones.

"No wonder the Dawn-Dusk Hall sent me..." Yan Buji sneered: "Yu Xinghai, that old fox, must have sensed it early, knowing this place is perilous and strange, which is why he sent me here."

But it isn't entirely bad; if he can glimpse the steps to sainthood in advance, it is no less than...

Suddenly, hair on his back stood up! Almost instinctively he lunged forward, a blue flash skimming the back of his head, blasting a ten‑zhang‑diameter pit into the ice ahead.

"Dao friend indeed can run," a cool female voice echoed from the air: "It's a pity you know too much."

Yan Buji rolled to his feet, seeing three white‑robed figures hovering in the air.

Leading them was a beautiful female cultivator, an ice crystal mark at her brow, her aura unmistakably that of a Mid‑Stage Dao Harmonizer!

Behind her, two elders each possessed Early‑Stage Dao Harmonizer cultivation; the three formed a triangular barrier, sealing every retreat.

"Who are you?"

"We are Holy Envoys of the Heavenly Cold Palace!"

"Heavenly Cold Palace Holy Envoy?" Yan Buji squinted: "Seems I guessed correctly."

It is said the Heavenly Cold Palace has three Holy Envoys, all powerful figures cultivated from childhood by the palace, renowned throughout the northern ice domain.

If my guess is right, these three are them.

The female cultivator smiled lightly: "The Palace Lord summons you, hoping..."

Before she could finish, Yan Buji suddenly sprang up!

The broken sword flashed a streak of gray light, not toward the three but slashing the ice beneath his feet. With a booming crack, several‑zhang‑thick ice collapsed, and he seized the chance to plunge into the fissure.

"Pursue!" the female cultivator's face hardened, "The living must be seen, the dead must be seen as corpses!"

Bone‑chilling icy water instantly soaked his clothes; Yan Buji held his breath, letting the undercurrent carry him beneath the ice. The broken Abni Sword emitted a faint glow, barely lighting the way ahead.

It was an underground ice river, its channels tangled and complex, the perfect escape route.

"The Heavenly Cold Palace's Holy Envoy is acting personally..." he mused internally: "Seems that Palace Lord truly reached a critical moment."

Suddenly, the current ahead grew turbulent.

Yan Buji barely clutched a protruding ice ridge, discovering the river split here: the left flow was gentle but looping back, while the right led into a downward vortex!

Without hesitation, he released his grip and surged toward the vortex.

At the instant his body was drawn in, a blue flash shot into the water, freezing the left channel entirely, and the Holy Envoy caught up!

The tearing force of the vortex nearly ripped his body apart; Yan Buji gritted his teeth, channeling his remaining spiritual energy to shield his heart meridian.

After an indeterminate time, he was suddenly hurled into a spacious underground lake.

The lake surface floated with eerie blue algae, emitting a faint phosphorescence.

Yan Buji struggled to the shore, collapsing onto the cold rock to gasp. The place seemed to be a melt‑cave beneath the icefield, the air suffused with an ancient aura.

"This is..." he suddenly noticed a mural on the rock wall: twisted human figures worshipping a massive eye in the sky—the Mysterious Dark Eye!

And standing on the altar were three figures, each crowned with ice.

Yan Buji leaned in, spotting a line of small characters in the mural's corner: "Three Saints Return to One, Mysterious Dark descends to the world."

"So that's it!" he realized: "The Heavenly Cold Palace's hereditary 'Three Holy Envoys' are actually cultivating three distinct Mutant traits for someone!"

The discovery sent chills down his spine. If that Palace Lord gathers the three traits and then uses the Mysterious Dark Eye to complete the final Mutant transformation...

Suddenly, the melt‑cave shook violently, ice spikes from the ceiling raining down.

Yan Buji barely dodged, yet an ice spike still sliced his shoulder. Looking up, the three white‑robed figures had broken through the ice and were descending!

"Dao friend," the female cultivator hovered: "Why resist? The Palace Lord merely wishes to discuss the Dao with you."

Yan Buji sneered: "Discuss how to be forged into a walking corpse of the Dao?"

Speaking, he suddenly slammed both hands onto the ground, injecting Universal Dao Law energy into a groove in the earth—the very spot of the altar in the mural!

The entire melt‑cave instantly glowed with a dim blue light, the murals seeming to come alive.

The female cultivator's face changed dramatically: "How do you know the activation method?!"

"Did you think only you understand the Universal Dao Law?" Yan Buji grinned, watching the three Holy Envoys become ensnared by suddenly appearing black mist: "Seems your Palace Lord left a contingency."

The female cultivator screamed, trying to break free, but the black mist clung like a festering wound, instantly cocooning the three. Yan Buji seized the chance to rush deeper into the melt‑cave; the ice‑cave formation happened to lie near where he left the Dawn‑Dusk Hall, likely linking this place to the soon‑to‑be saintly Palace Lord.

Recalling the spatial rift in the Dawn‑Dusk Hall, Yan Buji had already calculated that this area's spatial fluctuations were odd, prompting his visit, yet he hadn't expected the Holy Envoys to arrive so swiftly.

"But that formation shouldn't stop them; we should run quickly."