"Not good—I can sense the aura of the family's grand array."
"Heaven-damned Li Clan, you will die a miserable death!"
"How long are these bastards going to keep following us?!!"
On the road back to the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain, pressing forward through the blizzard, the Qiu clansmen—who had originally been heading toward the Northern Border City to carve a bloody path to the Azure Cloud Prefecture—were now anxiously retreating.
The resonance within their bloodlines allowed them to realize that the Li Clan had launched a surprise attack on their rear.
Every one of them burned with rage, their eyes wide with fury.
As they retraced their path, they discovered that all of their branch lineages had indeed been wiped out by the Li Clan.
Cultivators in the major cities all said the same thing: the Li clansmen had stormed in without a word, slaughtering anyone bearing the surname Qiu without mercy.
It wasn't that those cities lacked experts.
Some were even under the control of factions with Body Integration realm cultivators.
Yet those same factions—which had once cooperated with the Qiu Clan and loudly proclaimed they would share life and death together—had merely watched coldly from the sidelines.
Especially in the void behind them.
Qiu Xundao twisted his head back, teeth grinding.
"Such colossal audacity!"
From the moment they turned back to rescue their clan, Void Refining auras had appeared behind them, pursuing them relentlessly through the void.
Because of this, their own Void Refining experts dared not rush ahead toward the family, even by a single step.
Qiu Xundao could vaguely sense that the Li Clan had anticipated his every move.
They were playing with him—mocking his arrogance.
Everything happening to the family now was the price he had to pay.
"Clan Elder!"
A heart-wrenching roar rang out, so furious it seemed to shake heaven and earth, leaving every Qiu clansman pale and chilled to the bone.
Before them lay the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain.
The land where their family had lived and flourished for tens of thousands of years was now sealed beneath a thick layer of ice.
Their Immortal Mountain had become a flawless work of art in a crystalline world—an ice sculpture carved after a massacre, preserving the Qiu clansmen's final will of desperate resistance, along with their flesh and blood.
At the mountain peak, the hundred-meter-tall Snow God giant knelt, its hands pressed to the ground.
Bloody tears dripped one by one from its lowered head.
Aside from him, there was not a single trace of life anywhere on the Immortal Mountain.
........
The blizzard came to a halt over the Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain.
The returning clansmen frantically unleashed their Spiritual Power, trying to break open the iceberg.
Clinging to the last shred of hope in their hearts, they attempted to rescue their kin—even though they knew, deep down, that everyone inside was already dead.
"How could this happen? Xundao… you lied to me."
The icy wind whipped through Qiu Naihe's dry white hair, deepening the lines etched across his face.
Qiu Naihe and the other three Clan Elders flew before the Snow Spirit giant formed by Qiu Anran.
They remained silent.
Hatred toward the Li Clan and despair over their family's ruin intertwined in their hearts, leaving them at a loss.
The instigator, Qiu Xunfa, stood pale-faced, his gaze flickering as his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Qiu Chuhui covered her face, struggling to hold back her tears, unable to accept what had happened.
Qiu Xundao's eyes brimmed with endless hatred, veins bulging across his body.
Qiu Naihe trembled all over.
He could not tell whether it was from anger or regret—until the Snow God giant slowly raised its head.
Those bloodshot eyes, weeping tears of blood, fixed themselves upon the four Clan Elders.
Once, they had seemed like gods in Qiu Anran's eyes.
Now, only hatred remained.
"Anran!"
Qiu Chuhui choked out a sob and stepped forward, but Qiu Xundao stopped her.
She turned sharply, shouting, "Qiu Xundao, look at the disaster you and Qiu Xunfa have brought upon our clan!"
"..."
Qiu Xundao fell silent.
He shook his head, not daring to respond, and instead pointed at the Snow God giant.
"The Spiritual Power within him is abnormal. Do not let it touch you."
Cracks riddled Qiu Anran's massive form—no fewer than a thousand.
Around them were dark, bruise-like marks, profound and ominous, exuding an extreme malice.
That malice had already seeped into his bones, corroding both body and soul.
Dark energy circulated through his icy body—it was thoroughly rotten.
Behind him stood hundreds of ice sculptures.
Without exception, each bore a blank, terrified expression.
Even frozen, their incomprehension seemed to pierce through the cold, as though they had died while trying to flee.
And the Spiritual Power that killed them… came from Qiu Anran.
"He said because it amused him."
Qiu Anran's trembling voice echoed.
Those blood-weeping eyes made the four elders unable to meet his gaze.
"He is a lunatic. I have never seen such an existence. Even after using the family's foundation, I was no match for him."
"Anyone who touches him becomes enslaved by his resentment.
I watched as he tortured our clansmen, bit by bit.
My Spiritual Power far exceeded his, yet I was utterly powerless against him.
The moment I saw him, I had already lost."
"A rational lunatic."
"His torture was a trap. He was using my anger.
Every time he seized a clansman, he clouded my judgment.
Every time he touched me, he left something behind—until my body and soul were corrupted."
"He was tormenting me as well. In the end… I saw everyone as him. I…"
"I killed all our clansmen."
"..."
A mournful wind swept past.
No one could comprehend the despair Qiu Anran felt—killing his own people, only to realize the truth afterward.
Qiu Xundao's eyes burned with killing intent.
"Who?"
But no answer came.
The ice and snow trembled.
"Bang!"
Qiu Anran smashed the iceberg with fury, causing the clansmen below to look up in shock.
They saw him glaring, Spiritual Power surging.
Using the same technique as before, countless ice pillars formed in the sky, aimed at the four elders.
He roared hoarsely:
"You! It was you who killed my clansmen!"
"Anran, have you gone mad?!!"
Qiu Naihe shouted in alarm.
But only another furious roar answered him.
The sky filled with ice pillars—it was as though a god's wrath had descended.
"Do you truly not understand why things turned out this way?"
Whether influenced by Li Tianming's technique or driven by his own fury, Qiu Anran's voice trembled with rage.
He glared angrily at the four Ancestors, whose eyes were filled with fear.
Fear. What a laughable fear.