The echo of the envoy's departure faded like a choking shadow swallowed by moonlight.
The world did not calm.
It only grew still—the kind of stillness that made animals flee and ancient ruins tremble.
Qi Shan Wei exhaled slowly, steadying Drakonix on his shoulder.The little dragon's scales flickered in uneasy pulses—each burst of color an early sign of a coming evolution.
Yue Lian rose shakily, brushing dust from her knees.
The Empress stood above the shattered battlefield, robes rippling like a silver storm around her, staring into the sky where the envoy vanished.
Shan Wei looked from one to the other.
"We move now.No more waiting.We find the others."
Yue Lian stepped forward.
"Which zone first?"
"Xueya."
The answer came instantly.
Yue Lian blinked.
"But she is in the Frozen Chasm. That is the least dangerous of the zones."
"That's not why," Shan Wei said.
His voice was calm.Focused.Unshakeable.
"She understands my combat style best.We regroup strength first — not emotions.When we move for the others… we move with skill, not desperation."
Yue Lian's eyes widened.
"You… you're thinking like—"
She caught herself.
The Empress finished for her.
"—like the man he will become."
Shan Wei ignored the comment.
"Drakonix, can you track her?"
The little dragon lifted his head, pupils dilating.He sniffed the air—and a faint blue shimmer converged on his horns.
"Fwee… fwee!"
He pointed left.
"Good. That direction is stable."
Jin Wei stood, metal plating shifting to cover damaged sections.
"MASTER.I AM 47% FUNCTIONAL.SUITABLE FOR DEFENSE.OFFENSE… LIMITED."
Shan Wei rested a hand on Jin Wei's arm.
"It's enough. Stay close."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The Five Zones Begin to Shift
Yue Lian stepped beside him.
"The Outer Conclave Territory is divided by old spatial fractures.Each zone is alive.Each zone shifts.Each zone hunts."
Shan Wei's eyes sharpened.
"Hunts?"
"Yes," she whispered."The Conclave built them that way.To test geniuses.To kill the unworthy.To isolate threats."
The Empress lifted her hand.
The air between them shimmered, forming a glowing map of the region:
FROZEN CHASM — XUEYASTORM LABYRINTH — LAN QINGYUECRIMSON FIREFLORA GARDENS — FENG QINGYUEUNSUNG RUINS — QI LONGYEIRON-BOUND ARCHIVE — JIN WEI (now escaped)
One section glowed darker than the others —the section the envoy had emerged from.
A sigil pulsed coldly beneath it.
Shan Wei frowned.
"What's that one?"
Yue Lian stiffened.
"That… is not a zone."
The Empress's voice hardened.
"It is the Calamity Zone.A place that shouldn't exist."
Shan Wei's blood chilled.
"Was anyone thrown in there?"
"…No," Yue Lian said.
The Empress added softly:
"But that will change.Soon."
Shan Wei's fists tightened.
"We move before that happens."
Drakonix nodded fiercely.
"Fwee!!"
Travel Into the Frozen Chasm
The group sprinted across floating ruins, guided by Yue Lian's moonlight threads and Drakonix's flame senses.
Jin Wei traveled behind Shan Wei like a golden fortress.
But the world did not let them pass quietly.
The sky crackled.The ground pulsed.Rifts opened and closed like jaws.
Every step felt like treading across the body of an ancient beast waiting to shift.
Yue Lian raised a hand.
"Careful. We're entering the Chasm's influence."
A cold wind cut across their path—sharp enough to slice cloth from Shan Wei's robe.
Drakonix hissed, flames rising instinctively.
"Fwee—!"
Shan Wei soothingly scratched his head.
"I know. Stay close."
The air grew colder.Harder.Heavier.
The Empress whispered:
"Her frost aura is leaking out of control.She's fighting something."
Shan Wei's pace quickened.
Ling Xueya's Battle
They reached the edge of the Frozen Chasm—
And the world turned white.
A valley of ice stretched below them, jagged spires piercing the sky like glass fangs.
The wind screamed.
Frost curled in spirals across the horizon.
And at the very center—
Two figures clashed.
One was Ling Xueya:
Hair whipping like white silk
Sword blazing with crystalline frost
Eyes narrowed with terrifying focus
The other—
A monstrous ice spirit three stories tall, with a face of cracked glass and claws capable of tearing space.
Yue Lian gasped.
"That… that is a Frost Warden Spirit.A guardian of the Chasm."
Shan Wei's fist tightened.
"She's fighting it alone."
The Empress nodded.
"And she is winning."
Shan Wei felt warmth bloom in his chest.
"Of course she is."
Xueya spun mid-air, blade carving a crescent arc of pale blue light—freezing the Warden's left arm solid.
The beast roared—a sound like glaciers collapsing.
Shan Wei stepped forward.
"We help—"
"No," the Empress said.
"She has reached her Awakening threshold.This is her moment."
Shan Wei froze.
"Awakening…?"
Yue Lian swallowed.
"Her Core Awakening is close. The Lunar Frost Domain."
Drakonix shook violently—sensing the rising power.
Shan Wei stared at Xueya's figure.
Her sword aura grew sharper.Her frost formed constellations.The air froze around her movements.
She wasn't fighting like a disciple.
She was fighting like a queen of winter.
The Frost Warden Awakens
The beast roared.
Shards of ice blasted outward—
The wind became a storm—A blizzard formed instantly—The sky dimmed—
Even Jin Wei's runes flickered.
"WARNING:TEMPERATURE DROP BEYOND STRUCTURAL TOLERANCE."
Shan Wei clenched his jaw.
"Xueya… what are you forcing yourself through?"
Xueya's blade glowed—
Cracks formed along her sword's surface—Her fingers bled—Breath heavy, misting the air—
But her eyes—
Cold.Determined.Beautiful.
"You… will not stop me."
Her voice carried over the storm—
And the world answered.
The Lunar Frost Domain — FIRST AWAKENING
A soft chime.
A breath of silence.
Then—
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The sky exploded into white.
A massive, glowing moon of pure frost manifested above Xueya.
The blizzard froze mid-air.The Warden's movements halted.The ice cracked in intricate patterns like frozen galaxies.
Yue Lian whispered in awe:
"…She awakened."
The Empress nodded slowly.
"The Lunar Frost Domain."
Shan Wei's heart trembled.
She stood beneath the moon—
hair drifting like snow,gown swirling in cold radiance,sword trailing moonlit frost.
She moved.
Just once.
A single step.
The Warden shattered.
Not sliced.Not pierced.Not burned.
It froze so completely that reality itself seemed to pause—then collapsed into powder.
Drakonix squeaked, trembling in admiration.
"Fw… fwee…"
Yue Lian held her mouth.
"She… she's incredible…"
Shan Wei didn't speak.
He simply breathed out a soft exhale of awe.
"Xueya…"
Reunion
The frost moon dissolved.
Xueya staggered—just slightly—catching herself on her sword.
She looked around.
Saw Shan Wei.
Their eyes met.
The ice around her melted instantly.
She didn't run.She didn't cry.She didn't scream his name.
She simply walked toward him—
Step by controlled step—as frost retracted around her like obedient servants.
She stopped in front of him.
"...You came."
A small smile touched her lips.
Shan Wei stepped closer.
"Of course."
Her gaze flicked to Drakonix.
"And you… you nearly evolved again?"
"Fwee!"
Then she noticed the Empress.
Her eyes narrowed.
"…Why is she here?"
Yue Lian coughed nervously.
"It's… complicated."
Xueya's gaze sharpened.
"Explain her presence.Now."
Before anyone could reply—
The ground trembled.
Shan Wei instantly stepped in front of Xueya.
"Enemy?"
The Empress shook her head.
"No…"
Her eyes widened.
"…This is not an enemy."
The ice under them cracked.
A sigil formed.
And a figure stepped out—
A figure Shan Wei knew.
A figure he had seen die.
A figure who should not exist.
Yue Lian gasped.
Xueya froze.
Drakonix shrieked.
Jin Wei's runes spiked.
And Shan Wei felt his entire world tilt.
Because the figure walking out of the glowing ice—
was someone he had buried with his own hands.
Someone from his past life in the mortal realm.
Soft voice.Warm eyes.Blood on her robes.
She whispered the name only she ever called him:
"…Wei'er?"
To be Continued
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