Yu Diexin sits on the edge of the bed, her gaze drifting through the open window where sunlight spills gently across the trees outside.
After Si Yao left, she fell asleep almost immediately.
Meditation could restore her, but true recovery comes from sleep.
In deep sleep, both mind and body mend without resistance.
Now awake, her thoughts return to what she cannot ignore.
Biyun.
She wonders where he is.
And where Chu Feng has taken him.
Chu Feng's goal is clear: to rebuild his family's fallen empire.
Such a path leaves no room for burdens.
He will not keep Biyun by his side while walking that road.
Five years.
He disappeared for five years without contact with his own organisation.
Before he returns to them, he must settle the child.
A quiet thought forms.
"Then… Biyun is most likely in the Duan Family."
A breath escapes her.
Relief, faint but real.
Duan Merin may not care for his son.
But Yueqing will.
Yueqing will not abandon Biyun.
With that thought, her restless heart begins to calm.
She does not know if it is true.
But she needs it to be.
Only then can she cultivate without distraction.
For a spiritual refiner, the Sublimation Realm is the most dangerous stage.
At that point, the natal object begins to fight for control of the body.
A single lapse in focus leads to destruction.
Her thoughts settle.
Her breathing slows.
She closes her eyes and enters meditation.
Her awareness sinks inward.
She perceives her spirit space.
An iceland stretches endlessly, silent and pale.
Above it, the Nine-Eyed Butterfly drifts alone, its wings carrying an ancient rhythm.
She can feel it.
The iceland is no longer lifeless.
A faint consciousness grows within it.
It is awakening.
"I need to return to the Cangzhou Mountains."
"To obtain the Insect Control Sutra."
In the Cangzhou Mountains, most spiritual refiners choose Gu as their natal object.
Because of the Holy Gu Cave.
Only by passing its trial and reaching the final level can one comprehend the Insect Control Sutra.
Only then can she completely refine her Gu.
Only then can she step into the Soul Awakening Stage.
But not now.
She is not ready.
She continues cultivating, preparing for the final moult of her Gu.
It has already undergone eight moults.
The ninth will decide everything.
In this final transformation, she intends to merge her previous powers, Poison and Wood, with Ice.
A vision forms in her mind.
A towering poisonous tree rises within the iceland.
She guides it downward.
Its roots touch the frozen ground.
In an instant, ice surges upward.
It devours the tree.
Frost spreads through every branch.
The cold travels back along the connection, toward her spirit.
Her eyes snap open within the spirit space.
She cuts the connection immediately.
The tree shatters into fragments of ice and snow.
Silence returns.
She begins to nourish her spirit, feeding it with her energy.
Slowly, stability returns.
Her mind continues working.
To merge Poison and Wood with Ice…
There is only one way.
If Poison and Wood grow stronger, they can suppress the Ice.
But that is impossible.
Since she began cultivating the Winter's Cry Technique, the power of Ice within her has only grown.
And it no longer needs her guidance.
It runs on its own.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
The cold deepens day by day.
One day, even she may lose control over it.
That is why she must change it.
Do not remove it.
But transform it.
Blend it.
Let it become something new.
A mixture, not a singular force.
Her spirit stabilises completely.
She looks again at her Iceland.
This time, she does not rush.
She observes.
She thinks.
Then a new idea forms.
"Why not… start with a seed?"
"A seed can fully contain Poison and Wood."
Her gaze sharpens.
"In that form, I can control everything from the beginning."
Within her spirit space, Yu Diexin gathers the power of Poison and Wood, compressing them into a tiny point.
The energies twist together, unstable and resisting.
Slowly, a seed begins to take shape.
It is small.
Fragile.
Barely formed.
The moment it stabilises, cracks spread across its surface.
It collapses.
Disintegrates into scattered strands of energy.
Diexin does not stop.
She gathers the energy again.
Compresses it.
Shapes it.
Another seed forms.
This time, it lasts slightly longer.
A breath.
Two breaths.
Then it shatters.
Again.
And again.
Each attempt fails.
Yet with every failure, her control deepens.
The seed forms faster.
Holds longer.
The structure grows clearer in her mind.
The balance between Poison and Wood becomes more precise.
Time passes unnoticed.
Attempt after attempt.
Failure after failure.
But each failure leaves behind understanding.
Gradually, the seed no longer collapses instantly.
It endures.
Flickering.
Struggling.
But existing.
At the same time, Song Xingli returns to the residence after meeting the Sect Master.
The Sect Master had entrusted her with a treasure.
A Quasi–Soul Enlightenment Stage treasure.
The Sky Serpent Banner.
It was refined by the founder of the Si Family before the sect itself was established.
Its history carries weight.
Its power, even more so.
She received it for one purpose.
To protect Si Ying during her Spiritual Tribulation.
Xingli steps into the house and walks toward Diexin's room.
She knocks once.
No response.
She knocks again.
Silence.
A third time.
Still nothing.
She pauses.
"Busy cultivating…"
Without disturbing her further, Xingli turns and walks into her own room.
She sits on the bed and steadies her breathing.
Then she reaches into her spirit space.
The banner emerges into her hand.
Its form is tangible, yet faintly ethereal.
As a third-tier treasure, it can shift between material and spirit form once marked.
The Sky Serpent Banner rests quietly in her grasp.
Yet within it, a vast power sleeps.
Xingli closes her fingers around it.
She begins to comprehend.
She is willing to stand before Si Ying's tribulation.
Because she needs this power.
To evolve her natal object.
The Cold-Fire Snake.
A mortal-stage beast with almost no extraordinary traits.
It does not hibernate in winter.
Its poison freezes blood.
That is all.
Yet through effort, she has pushed it further.
First into an Alien Cold-Fire Snake.
Then into a two-headed serpent.
Now it stands at stage two.
But that is its limit.
It cannot evolve further on its own.
Her Star energy is not enough.
Not yet.
To elevate it further would take decades.
She does not have that time.
So she must introduce a new power.
But it cannot be foreign.
Foreign power risks destroying her natal object.
Even her spirit space.
The power must resonate.
It must belong.
And nothing fits better than the Sky Serpent.
The ancestor of all serpentine creatures.
A being born in the Soul Awakening Stage.
Some even grow into Soul Transformation Stage existences.
If she can grasp even a fragment of its power…
It will be enough.
She channels her energy into the banner.
The surface trembles slightly.
Then, something stirs within.
A presence awakens.
Ancient.
Vast.
The soul of the Sky Serpent reveals itself.
A pressure fills the room, silent yet overwhelming.
Xingli closes her eyes.
Her mind sinks inward.
She begins to comprehend its power.
Days pass in relentless rhythm.
Song Xingli and Yu Diexin throw themselves into battle whenever sea demon beasts surge toward the island, and when they are not fighting, they cultivate in isolation, their paths crossing less and less until they no longer meet at all.
Each lives within her own struggle.
Each walks her own edge.
One day, amidst a violent clash on the shoreline, a thunder shark bursts from the sea and lunges toward Diexin.
Its cultivation matches hers.
Its body crackles with lightning as it cuts through the waves.
They collide instantly.
Ice meets thunder.
Poison clashes with brute force.
Their strengths are equal.
Blow for blow, neither yields.
But Diexin's situation is far worse.
Around them, countless sea beasts surge forward.
The defenders of the island are too few.
Every cultivator is locked in their own battle.
And she…
She belongs to none of them.
Not a disciple of the Giant Serpent Sect.
Not a member of any clan here.
If another demon beast targets her, no one will come.
No one will save her.
A thought forms, sharp and urgent.
"I need to get away."
But escape is not simple.
The thunder shark presses her relentlessly.
She cannot disengage without opening herself to death.
There is only one path left.
The power she has been trying to create.
A magic power born from her comprehension.
Magic power is proof.
Proof that one's path is correct.
When cast, it resonates with heaven and earth.
If the path aligns, it grows stronger.
If not, it weakens.
Or worse, becomes rejected.
She has not yet succeeded in merging Poison, Wood, and Ice.
But she has come close.
Close enough to attempt.
Close enough to test.
She gathers her energy.
Her body rises into the air.
Three forces surge outward.
Poison.
Wood.
Ice.
They swirl around her, unstable yet bound by her will.
Her voice cuts through the battlefield.
"Heaven's Grief."
In an instant, the Wood element transforms.
Roots burst forth, plunging into the sea.
They spread rapidly beneath the surface, absorbing the blood-stained water.
The fallen become nourishment.
The living become prey.
At the same time, poisonous mist expands outward.
It devours weaker sea demons instantly.
Their bodies collapse without resistance.
The thunder shark pauses for a fraction of a moment.
Too late.
The roots absorb enough life energy.
The Ice awakens.
It merges with poison.
Then erupts.
A wave of freezing death spreads in all directions.
The shark roars and releases a barrier of demon energy.
For a moment, it holds.
Then the ice poison begins to gnaw.
Alive.
Hungry.
It eats through the barrier like decay through flesh.
Within moments, the sea for kilometres turns silent.
Still.
Frozen.
Everything within range dies or begins dying.
Those who survive carry the poison.
A cold that devours vitality and grows stronger with each passing breath.
But Diexin does not stay.
The moment the magic power completes, she withdraws.
Her figure vanishes from the battlefield.
She does not return to fight again.
She claims injury.
No one questions it.
They saw her leave covered in blood.
Even if it was not all her own.
Days pass.
Then, one day, the Sect Master's residence closes.
A heavy silence settles over the sect.
Tension builds.
Every disciple feels it.
Something is about to happen.
Then it comes.
Pressure rises from within the residence.
Vast.
Ascending.
The air trembles.
Spiritual energy surges toward a single point.
The disciples look toward the residence.
Joy spreads across their faces.
Hope ignites.
Their Sect Master is breaking through.
Advancing to the Soul Awakening Stage.
At that exact moment,
The sky darkens.
A massive hand formed from demonic energy descends from above.
It falls directly toward the Sect Master's residence.