"Brothers," Guang murmured quietly enough that only the three of them could hear.
Shixian and Ran Lui immediately looked toward her as she briefly glanced back at them.
Listening intently.
"Please check the surroundings for anyone else hiding nearby."
She raised two fingers in front of herself, causing the spiritual blades around her to shift positions while the woman ahead merely continued smiling.
"I'll handle her."
Without another word, Shixian and Ran Lui nodded.
Their figures blurred before vanishing completely, leaving behind only faint dust scattering across the ground.
As Guang refocused on the woman—
A melodic laugh suddenly rippled through the air.
Guang immediately shifted her stance, body coiled and ready to strike at any moment while the woman's laughter slowly faded into a quiet snicker.
"You're completely different from what I expected, salmon head."
"Stop calling me that," Guang immediately shot back, a vein twitching against her forehead.
Another blade materialized within her grasp.
A black sword forged from darkened metal, its surface burning with faint fiery hues. No scriptures. No inscriptions.
Only a gothic gold-like guard and handle crafted into the weapon itself.
The woman's eyes widened briefly.
Then amusement slowly settled across her face.
In the next instant—
She flickered forward.
Reappearing directly in front of Guang.
Close enough that her breath nearly brushed against Guang's face.
"So it really is you."
For a split second, Guang's body completely stiffened.
Then instinct took over.
Her blade instantly tore across her line of sight, cleaving through both the air and several nearby trees in one motion.
What the hell?!
The spiritual blades surrounding Guang immediately sprang into motion, tracking the woman's movements before launching toward her.
Yet they were too slow.
The woman merely tilted her head aside to avoid one blade before stepping around another as it shot past her.
She lightly hopped backward, leaving behind a trail of spiritual swords embedded throughout the trees and ground between them.
"Still far too inexperienced," the woman remarked calmly while tilting her head once more.
Cold sweat slowly formed across Guang's skin.
Who the hell is she…?
I didn't even sense her approach.
What even was that?
A flash step?
No… flash steps still disturb the surroundings.
Her eyes remained locked onto the woman.
The stranger now held her blade more like a dagger than a sword while Guang's spiritual weapons returned to orbit around her once more.
Is she even a cultivator?
I can't sense anything from her at all…
And Yamato people normally don't cultivate either. I already read about that…
Guang swallowed hard.
Sweat slowly trickled down her forehead and back while her grip around her sword tightened hard enough for her fingers to pale.
So what exactly is she?
"Don't look so stressed, Sister," the woman chirped.
She flickered again before casually reappearing atop a thick tree branch to Guang's right.
One cheek rested lazily against her palm while her sheathed sword hung at her waist once more.
"I would never be able to kill you no matter how hard I tried."
Guang raised a brow.
"…What?"
"That concept simply falls short against someone like your kind."
Guang's eyes narrowed immediately.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
One of her spiritual blades instantly shot toward the woman—
But instead of dodging—
The blade passed straight through her body.
Like mist.
The hole left behind swirled back into place moments later.
Guang's eyes widened.
Her spiritual blade quickly returned to her side while she stared at the woman sitting atop the branch with an amused smirk.
…What?
"Surprised, Chi Rong Guang?"
The moment the woman spoke her name, Guang's body stiffened further.
She knows my name…?
Even though she's from the other side of the world?
The woman's smile widened.
She lightly dropped from the branch before landing soundlessly against the grass.
Her crimson eyes locked directly onto Guang's fiery golden ones while she slowly approached.
"Of course someone like you would be surprised."
"Someone who only treats missions and monster exterminations as minor inconveniences…"
"…someone who values comfort and convenience over everything else…"
Her voice softened slightly.
"…would naturally be shocked to discover that there are others."
She stopped several meters away from Guang.
One hand rested casually against her hip.
Then the woman's smile widened slightly further.
"Far more capable individuals than yourself."
The air surrounding Guang suddenly felt colder despite the sun hanging high overhead. Clear blue skies still stretched endlessly above them—
Yet an inexplicable chill slowly crept across her skin.
For the first time in over twenty years—
Guang felt dread.
Not fear from battle.
Not nervousness.
Something deeper.
Something instinctive.
As she looked closer at the woman standing before her, the smile lingering on the stranger's lips still hadn't changed.
As though she were merely observing a child.
…I don't like this.
"Thus," the woman suddenly continued.
"Allow me to give you a reason to reach beyond the heavens."
The moment those words left her mouth—
Frost rapidly spread from beneath her feet.
The ground instantly froze over while cold air exploded outward into the surrounding forest.
Clouds slowly gathered overhead.
?!
She's affecting nature itself…?
The surrounding trees immediately began to wither.
Leaves drifted downward as their color rapidly faded into yellow and dry crimson.
Some plants shriveled entirely.
The woman calmly rested one hand against her sword before drawing it with a sharp—
SHING.
The cold instantly intensified.
Guang instinctively reacted by igniting her spiritual blades in roaring flames.
But—
"That will not work."
The woman's voice came out almost amused.
The instant Guang finished coating her final blade in fire—
The flames vanished.
Extinguished immediately.
Frost rapidly crawled across the spiritual weapons before spreading toward Guang's sandals.
A violent chill instantly shot down her spine.
Then—
Massive ice spikes erupted from the frozen ground around the woman.
Towering structures of frost rose high enough to dwarf the surrounding trees.
—
Far from the battlefield—
Shixian and Ran Lui abruptly froze.
Both instantly turned toward the direction where the sudden wave of cold had erupted.
Their eyes widened the moment gigantic ice formations pierced through the forest canopy in the distance.
Their throats immediately ran dry.
"Senior Sister…"
"Shi-shi!" Ran Lui called out in panic while turning toward Shixian.
Fear flickered visibly across his face.
"Senior Sister Guang is in danger!"
"Aren't we going to help her?!"
Shixian visibly tensed.
For a brief second, it looked like he would move.
Then—
His shoulders slowly dropped.
His jaw tightened while he avoided Ran Lui's gaze entirely.
His hands clenched tightly into fists.
"We would only become a burden to Senior Sister," he admitted quietly.
His voice came out strained.
Helpless.
Ran Lui stared at him.
Then slowly looked back toward the distant ice formations piercing into the sky.
The freezing air continued brushing against their skin, carrying the overwhelming pressure of whatever force had abruptly altered the climate itself.
He swallowed hard before lifting his gaze once more.
Watching the frozen spikes towering above the forest where Guang and the mysterious woman continued fighting.
Then—
Ran Lui stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
Until he suddenly broke into a sprint directly toward the source of the unnatural winter itself.
"Ran Lui!" Shixian shouted while instinctively reaching one hand toward him.
"You idiot!"
—
Back within the meadow.
Now completely buried beneath frost.
Guang raised her left arm over her face while keeping her sword tightly gripped in her right hand.
The blizzard forming around the woman continued growing stronger by the second.
I can't feel any Qi…
No Dao either…
The freezing wind howled violently around her.
Then—
Eh…?
A sudden force slammed directly into Guang.
The impact instantly tore through the wilted forest behind her before continuing far across the mountains themselves.
Massive ice formations erupted in its wake.
Shards large enough to tower beyond the mountains rose toward the heavens while the storm clouds above slowly scattered apart.
…Cold…
Guang found herself staring blankly upward toward the sky.
Her thoughts felt distant.
Hollow.
Barely conscious.
A soft click echoed nearby.
The sound of heels crunching against snow.
The woman slowly approached through the frozen aftermath Guang had left behind.
"Still too young," she murmured softly.
"She will need to wait a few more years."
Guang barely managed to register the words.
Her vision gradually darkened.
Then,
Her consciousness finally slipped away.
Her body remained collapsed within the snow, frozen to the brink of death.
Yet somehow—
Still alive despite everything.
By the time Ran Lui arrived—
The woman was already gone.
Only Chi Rong Guang remained, sprawled unconscious across the snow while frost slowly crept along her body.
"Senior Sister!"
Ran Lui immediately rushed toward her without hesitation before dropping to his knees beside her.
One hand quickly reached for her pulse while the other hovered near her nose.
"…She's still breathing…"
Shixian arrived moments later.
His eyes swept silently across the ruined landscape surrounding them.
Wilted forests.
Frozen earth.
And colossal ice formations towering beyond the mountains themselves like ancient glaciers left behind by some unimaginable catastrophe.
"By the heavens…"
His voice came out almost hollow.
"What kind of monster did Senior Sister fight…?"
Then his gaze settled onto Ran Lui, who was desperately trying to warm Guang's body using his fire root.
Shixian slowly descended toward them.
His expression darkened while his hands quietly clenched into fists.
A realization gradually settled into his mind.
…If Ran Lui had arrived any sooner…
His eyes drifted once more toward the distant slash carved across the mountains.
Toward the towering frozen remnants left behind by the woman's attack.
Ice so unnatural that not even the faintest trace of Dao lingered within it.
And suddenly—
The truth became painfully obvious to him.
Ran Lui would have died long before Senior Sister was ever knocked unconscious.