"Crack... crack! CRACK!!!"
On the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain, the rules of ice and snow, gathered by the power of the Qiu Clan's 'Snow Spirit' bloodline, no longer retained the mildness of winter snow and ice, instead wildly raging through the air.
So much so that piercing sounds of ice structures colliding and tearing echoed throughout the Immortal Mountain, which had already been reduced to an enormous iceberg.
Everything was frozen over; even the air itself bore cracks formed by condensed ice crystals.
Above the cloudy sky swirling with the iceberg's frigid air, Qiu clansmen filled with vindictive pleasure stood atop the Snow God giant transformed by Qiu Anran.
In front of them were countless giant ice pillars.
After Qiu Anran unleashed the Spiritual power he couldn't fully control, the giant slowly reached out its hand.
These ice pillars, commanded as easily as moving one's own arms, were manipulated to pierce toward where Li Tianming was located, until his figure could no longer be seen.
As ice debris and ice crystals fell like starlight amidst the dust and resounding collisions, these colliding ice pillars gradually formed a massive sphere, completely submerging Li Tianming.
The rules of ice and snow could freeze all things.
It wasn't until the Snow God giant that Qiu Anran had transformed into appeared small beneath the massive ice sphere in the sky that this terrifying scene of ice pillar piercing and impact finally brought a chilling tranquility to this world of ice and snow.
The last remaining hundred or so Qiu Clan experts on the shoulders of the Snow God giant broke the silence.
Looking at Qiu Anran's handiwork, their expressions gradually turned to vindictive pleasure before they finally let out cheers.
"Clan Elder, under our Qiu Immortal Clan's trump card, this person is definitely dead!"
"There are still the Li Clan members. Let's go kill them, avenge our clansmen, and kill everyone surnamed Li!"
However, the Snow God giant remained motionless.
The bloodshot eyes on Qiu Anran's massive head continued staring intently at the cloudy sky.
Within the blue ice sphere—which had been pierced, struck, and buried like a meteor by the ice pillars—that aura had not disappeared.
Ultimate evil!
Qiu Anran felt the power within his body, waiting grimly for Li Tianming's reappearance.
Inside the Snow God giant, the bloodlines of the Qiu clansmen surged and flowed.
This Spiritual power had already reached the Void Refining realm.
He felt the rules of ice and snow; he could now completely utilize this Spiritual power, as if everything in the world lay under his manipulation.
With sharply defined fists clenched tightly, Qiu Anran stood ready, fully prepared for battle.
"No matter what you are, I will beat you back to your original form!
Whether you're a lunatic or whatever thing you are, I want to keep you alive so you can watch your clansmen die one by one in front of me!"
Qiu Anran had spent his entire life cultivating within the family.
As a genius of the world, the family had always hoped he would go further, and he himself wholeheartedly wished to lead his clansmen to resist the endless blizzards and the Demon Race of the Northern Border.
But the appearance of the Li Clan shattered all his fantasies.
All the Spiritual power in his body right now came from the most naked blood of his clansmen.
This sudden extermination of his clan made him feel the deep anger and resentment embedded within his bloodline, and it also made him firmly believe that the flow of his clansmen's bloodline granted him enough strength to exact revenge from the flesh and blood of the Li Clan.
Definitely!
...
"Ancestor Tianming!"
Looking at the ice sphere in the cloudy sky—now even more massive than the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain—Li Zhijing, who was fleeing with her clansmen, turned pale.
Even though she had fled the battlefield's range at the fastest speed possible, Li Zhijing could still feel the biting chill in the air.
This was the rule-based Spiritual power formed by Qiu Anran's uncontrollable surge of power.
Flowers, plants, trees, and even a mouse that drilled out from the ice layer had all been completely frozen over.
"Rest assured, the Old Ancestor has the utmost trust in Ancestor Tianming."
Li Yuanshang offered a word of comfort, exhaling a breath of cold air as his face turned pale from the strain of battle.
He immediately grabbed a handful of pills from his spatial ring and stuffed them into his mouth, while simultaneously using Spiritual power to send pills to the surrounding clansmen.
However, he still couldn't conceal the worry in his eyes.
Seeing the worried expressions of the clansmen and elders, he spoke in a deep voice:
"I served my Great-Grandfather in the Imperial Capital. My Great-Grandfather once warned me never to show any disrespect to Ancestor Tianyi or the Old Ancestor."
Li Yuanshang's words caused everyone's expressions to ease slightly.
Li Xinri, having become increasingly interested in family affairs after this battle, asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with Ancestor Tianyi and the Old Ancestor?"
"Because it would awaken an unscrupulous demon."
Li Yuanshang furrowed his brows.
He himself harbored doubts about Li Chang'an's words.
In his impression, Li Tianming had always been gentle, shy, and somewhat... slow-witted.
Li Zhijing brightened, "Is Ancestor Tianming like the few undying ancestors in family legends, all practicing demonic arts?"
If that were the case, then there truly was nothing to worry about.
However, Li Yuanshang shook his head, his expression turning grave.
"No, Great-Grandfather said that the Seven Ancestors of the Seven Ironclads are true demons; they can already control their demonic thoughts.
But Ancestor Tianming... he was born a bad seed, an existence whose life even the Heavenly Dao would demand.
He should have died prematurely; it was the legendary Ancestor Yaowen of the family who used the destiny of the Wu Tribe to save his life."
Everyone felt their hearts skip a beat as they looked in horror toward the ice sphere.
They were both terrified by the family's hidden past and deeply curious about Li Tianming's existence.
As time slowly ticked by, it seemed that Qiu Anran was even more capable of sensing Li Tianming's terror than they were.
"It broke!"
Li Xinjue whispered softly.
Everyone's eyes widened, their bodies tensing as they prepared to charge back toward the Immortal Mountain at any moment.
In this region where the air had nearly frozen solid, a clear sound—like a hundred claws scratching at one's heart—suddenly rang out in the cloudy sky.
"Crack... crack... crack!!!"
The ice sphere began fracturing, ice debris breaking apart and falling.
From the widening fissures, a dark, profound black gas unexpectedly seeped out, spreading in all directions along with the freezing white mist of ice and snow.