After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 74

Three days flew by. Ye Li used this brief window to not only familiarize herself with the basic operations of Demon Suppressing City, replenish a large stock of talismans and elixirs, but also managed to obtain some fragmented information about Severed Blade Cliff and the possible existence of ancient ruins through the Youge (Shadow Pavilion) channels. Severed Blade Cliff is located about a thousand li northwest of Demon Suppressing City, a perilous region carved out by a massive glacier. Its terrain is complex, constantly plagued by the “Soul-Shredding Yin Wind” capable of tearing apart protective spiritual qi barriers, and it serves as the den for various ice-elemental demon beasts. Its danger level is second only to the Crying Ghost Ice Valley.

On the morning of the fourth day, before dawn, Ye Li arrived at the assembly point in the west of the city. A team of about twenty people had already gathered. The members were a motley crew: there were cold-faced scouts of the Demon Suppressing Army wearing standardized leather armor, fierce-looking and wary rogue cultivators, and a few disciples from various sects like Ye Li, with cultivation levels mostly ranging from Ningmai (Condensation Meridian) mid to late stages. The leader was a scarred, one-armed veteran of the Demon Suppressing Army named Tie Ying (Iron Eagle), whose cultivation was at the early stage of the Lingfu (Spirit Mansion) realm. He exuded an intense murderous aura, clearly a man who had climbed out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Tie Ying’s gaze swept over the crowd, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing: “I am Tie Ying, the captain for this patrol. There’s only one rule: obey! When I tell you to move, you move. When I tell you to stop, you stop. When I tell you to retreat, you goddamn retreat! Anyone who dares to act on their own and drags the team down, don’t blame me for enforcing military law without mercy! Understood?”

“Understood!” Everyone replied in unison, no one daring to underestimate this one-armed veteran.

Tie Ying nodded and waved his hand: “Set off!”

The team silently left Demon Suppressing City, advancing toward Severed Blade Cliff against the biting cold wind. The moment they were outside the city gates, the atmosphere instantly grew heavier. Everyone heightened their vigilance, their spiritual sense constantly sweeping the surrounding white, desolate world.

Ye Li blended into the middle of the team, discreetly observing everyone. She quickly noticed that there were indeed a few “dissonant” notes in the team. Two men, seemingly rogue cultivators, had shifty eyes and occasionally exchanged glances filled with subtle malice. Although their auras were deliberately suppressed, Ye Li keenly detected a hint of fiery, volatile qi similar to the cultivation method of the Scarlet Flame Sect. There was also a disciple from a small sect called “Cold Crow Fortress,” who seemed to pay extra attention to her.

“They really managed to infiltrate,” Ye Li sneered internally, keeping her guard up.

The team’s progress was not fast. Tie Ying was experienced and always managed to preemptively avoid potential danger zones, such as unstable ice sheets and areas frequently populated by demon beasts. But the danger of the Northern Border Ice Plains was ever-present.

In the afternoon of the first day, they encountered a pack of dozens of “Icy Plains Snow Wolves.” Individually, these demon beasts were only of the second-tier (equivalent to the Qiling (Enlightened Spirit) realm), but they moved in packs, fought ferociously without fear of death, and were extremely skilled at concealment and ambush in the snow. After a fierce battle, although the wolf pack was annihilated, one rogue cultivator in the team sustained a serious injury and a considerable amount of spiritual energy was expended.

Tie Ying decisively ordered them to set up camp early for rest and recuperation. The ice plains were even more dangerous at night, with temperatures plummeting and various dark-loving, strange creatures lurking about.

Ye Li chose a spot sheltered by an ice wall to sit down and regulate her breath. Deep in the night, when most of the team members were asleep and only sentries were on guard, the two suspicious “rogue cultivators” and the Cold Crow Fortress disciple quietly left the camp and gathered behind a distant snowdrift.

Ye Li’s spiritual sense had been faintly covering the surrounding area, and she immediately noticed their movements. A thought flashed through her mind. She silently activated the Heaven-Earth Traceless Step, and like a ghost in the dark night, she approached without a sound, overhearing their entire conversation.

“Are you sure? Is it really Ye Li of the Profound Cloud Sect?” a hoarse voice asked, belonging to one of the “rogue cultivators.”

“That’s right, it’s her! The portrait and the aura match! I didn’t expect her to actually come to the Northern Border, and even join our team. It’s a godsend opportunity!” This was the voice of the Cold Crow Fortress disciple, filled with suppressed excitement.

“The Scarlet Flame Sect has issued a death order: she must be captured, dead or alive. Especially the Star Core on her, we must get it! Elder Situ also sent a message, telling us to ‘take good care’ of her.” Another sinister voice said, belonging to the other “rogue cultivator.”

“We’ll make our move tomorrow when we pass through the ‘Illusory Ice Maze’ area! The terrain there is complicated, easy to create an ‘accident’! The three of us will join forces then, a quick and decisive fight!”

“Good!”

With the plan settled, the three returned to the camp as quietly as they had left.

A cold glint flashed in Ye Li’s eyes: “Scarlet Flame Sect… Battle Maniac Peak… truly persistent. Illusory Ice Maze? Perfect, that’s also a good place to murder someone and silence witnesses.”

She returned to her spot without a change in expression, as if nothing had happened.

The next day, the team continued their journey, gradually approaching the Severed Blade Cliff area. The surrounding landscape became more desolate and eerie. Giant ice pillars stood tall, the ground was covered with bottomless ice crevices, and the air was filled with a faint blue mist that could interfere with spiritual sense detection—they had entered the outskirts of the Illusory Ice Maze.

Tie Ying’s expression grew more serious, constantly reminding everyone to stick close and not fall behind.

Around noon, the team entered an area composed of countless huge, twisted blue ice crystals. These crystals reflected the light, forming countless illusions that made people dizzy and disoriented, this was the Illusory Ice Maze!

“Be careful, everyone! Stick close to me! The illusions here can confuse the mind!” Tie Ying warned loudly.

It was at this moment that a sudden change occurred!

The two “rogue cultivators” suddenly launched their attack! One hurled several explosive talismans, blasting towards Tie Ying and several Demon Suppressing Army scouts at the front of the team! The other released a scorching fire net, covering the center of the team to create chaos!

And the Cold Crow Fortress disciple, like a ghost, lunged at Ye Li, his poisoned short sword stabbing straight at her back!

“What are you doing!” Tie Ying was both shocked and enraged. He slashed his saber, scattering the explosive talismans, but was momentarily hindered.

The team instantly fell into chaos!

“You seek death!” Ye Li was already fully prepared! Facing the poisoned sword attacking her from behind, she neither dodged nor retreated. The Heaven-Earth Traceless Step was activated, and her body twisted strangely, as if boneless, narrowly avoiding the poisoned sword. At the same time, she counter-attacked with a reverse slash. The Profound Ice Sword, carrying bone-chilling coldness, struck before the opponent’s sword, aiming straight for the Cold Crow Fortress disciple’s throat!

The disciple hadn’t expected Ye Li’s reaction to be so fast, nor her sword technique so vicious. In a hasty move, he could only bring his sword back to parry!

“Clang!”

The two swords clashed. The disciple only felt an indescribable massive force and chilling energy surge through his sword. His entire arm instantly went numb, and the short sword almost slipped from his grasp! He was inwardly terrified; Ye Li’s strength was far more formidable than what the intelligence reports had described!

Just as he was still in shock, Ye Li’s left hand pointed like a sword, activating the Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger—Ice Trace! Silently, she aimed for his dantian (core energy center)!

“Pfft!”

The finger wind was sharp, instantly piercing his protective spiritual light! The extremely cold finger energy invaded his body, instantly freezing his meridians and golden core!

The disciple’s eyes bulged, his face filled with incredulous horror. His body stiffly fell to the ground, his life force completely extinguished!

In one move, a Ningmai mid-stage cultivator was instantly killed!

All this happened in a flash of lightning! The other two “rogue cultivators” had just finished creating chaos and were about to jointly attack Ye Li when they saw their companion dead. They were instantly shocked and enraged!

“You little bitch! Die!” The two roared, pouncing on Ye Li from the left and right, fire-elemental spells raining down!

However, in this extremely cold environment, the power of their fire-elemental spells was greatly reduced! Ye Li, on the other hand, was in her element!

“Star Flash!”

Ye Li’s figure instantly disappeared, reappearing a moment later behind the “rogue cultivator” on the left. The Profound Ice Sword darted out like a poisonous snake!

The “rogue cultivator” sensed the danger and frantically turned to defend, only to see Ye Li’s sword tip tremor. A condensed, icy sword qi detached from the sword, bypassing his guard and precisely shooting into his glabella (the spot between the eyebrows)!

The second one!

The “rogue cultivator” on the right was scared out of his wits and turned to flee!

“Trying to leave now? Too late!”

Ye Li’s figure flashed again, blocking his path. She pointed the Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger from a distance! The power of the seal caused the “rogue cultivator’s” body to momentarily stiffen!

It was this moment of hesitation that allowed the Profound Ice Sword to pierce his heart!

The third one!

From the start to the end of the assassination attempt, only a brief ten breaths of time had passed! Three meticulously planning assassins were all killed! Ye Li’s moves were ruthless and decisive, without any wasted effort!

At this point, Tie Ying had just stabilized the team and dispersed the fire net. Seeing the three corpses on the ground and Ye Li standing with her sword, her aura calm, his eyes were filled with shock! He had initially worried that Ye Li would be at a disadvantage, but he never expected this seemingly cold and delicate young woman to possess such terrifying strength!

The rest of the team also stared at Ye Li dumbfounded, as if looking at a monster.

Ye Li calmly put away the Profound Ice Sword and said to Tie Ying: “Captain Tie, these three were assassins sent by the Scarlet Flame Sect and Battle Maniac Peak, intending to harm me. I have killed them in self-defense. I apologize for the disruption to the team.”

Tie Ying took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and said in a deep voice: “It’s fine. Since they were assassins, killing them is right. I didn’t expect their reach to be this long! This place is not safe to linger. We must leave the Illusory Ice Maze as quickly as possible!”

After this incident, the surviving members of the team looked at Ye Li with deep reverence. No one dared to underestimate her because of her youth anymore.

The team quickly passed through the Illusory Ice Maze, reaching their destination—Severed Blade Cliff—without further incident. It was a massive glacier (cut surface) that looked as if it had been cleaved by a giant axe. The cliff face was steep as a mirror, its depth unfathomable. The powerful Soul-Shredding Yin Wind roared up from the bottom of the cliff, causing spiritual energy to become unstable and the soul to ache.

Just as the team was preparing to patrol along the cliff face according to plan, dense, grating roars suddenly erupted from the depths of the cliff bottom! Immediately afterward, densely packed black shadows climbed up the cliff face like a tide!

They were Black Fiend Demons! Their numbers far exceeded the intelligence reports, reaching several hundred! Among them were even a few larger, elite demonic creatures whose auras were comparable to the Ningmai late stage!

“Demon Tide! It’s a Demon Tide! Quickly send the signal! Retreat!” Tie Ying’s face changed drastically, and he roared frantically!

However, they had already ventured deep into Severed Blade Cliff, and their retreat route was instantly cut off by the surging demonic creatures!

A fierce and tragic encounter battle instantly erupted!

Blood stained the icy cliff, and roars, screams, and the hissing of the demonic creatures intertwined. The team was surrounded, and everyone was fighting for their lives!

Ye Li was in the center of the demon tide. Her Profound Ice Sword danced into a curtain of light. Wherever it passed, the low-level Black Fiend Demons fell like cut grass. But there were too many demonic creatures, countless to slay! The few elite demonic creatures were especially cunning, constantly launching sneak attacks from the flanks!

She pushed the Heaven-Earth Traceless Step to its limit, weaving through the demon tide. Every strike resulted in the death of a demonic creature. The Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger became a lethal weapon for puncturing the elite demonic creatures! However, her spiritual energy was rapidly being depleted!

One Demon Suppressing Army scout was torn apart by demonic creatures! One rogue cultivator was ambushed by an elite demonic creature and fell heavily wounded!

The team was on the brink of collapse!

A look of determination flashed in Ye Li’s eyes! She quickly swallowed a few spiritual energy recovery elixirs and communicated with the Star Core in her Sea of Consciousness!

A trace of pure Star Source Power was drawn out and integrated into her sword technique!

“Ice Soul Sealing Heaven—Star-Cold Rift!”

She let out a clear cry. The Profound Ice Sword erupted with brilliant, star-blue light. A circular sword qi radiated out from her as the center! The sword qi contained the essence of extreme cold and the silence of the stars!

Chi chi chi—!

Wherever the sword qi passed, dozens of Black Fiend Demons were instantly frozen, then shattered like ice crystals! Even the few elite demonic creatures were heavily wounded by the sword qi, emitting horrifying screeches!

This single strike almost completely drained her spiritual energy, but it instantly cleared a large area!

Seizing this opportunity, Tie Ying led the remaining team members, desperately fighting a bloody path, breaking through in the direction they came from!

Ye Li followed closely, fighting as she retreated. During the retreat, she inadvertently glimpsed a weak, ancient rune flickering in a crack in the cliff face, but the situation was too perilous for her to investigate further.

After fighting for an unknown amount of time, when the group finally broke out of the demon tide’s encirclement and escaped to a relatively safe area, the original team of twenty was reduced to less than ten, and every one of them was injured and battered.

Tie Ying took roll call, his face ashen as he looked at the heavily injured team. He walked up to Ye Li, who was pale-faced and leaning on her sword, panting, and bowed solemnly: “Fellow Daoist Ye, if not for your heroic efforts today, we would all have perished in the demon’s belly! This debt, Tie Ying and the brothers will remember!”

The surviving team members also cast grateful looks toward Ye Li.

Ye Li waved her hand, swallowing an elixir to regulate her breath. Although it had been extremely perilous, this battle allowed her to fully integrate into this border army team and gain valuable experience fighting demonic creatures. More importantly, she seemed to have discovered something unusual about Severed Blade Cliff.

“Captain Tie, I found that there might be something strange beneath Severed Blade Cliff…” Ye Li mentioned the runes she had seen.

Tie Ying’s expression grew even more serious upon hearing this: “This is no small matter. We must report to the General immediately! This patrol mission is concluded early. We return to Demon Suppressing City at once!”

The group, carrying their casualties and an important discovery, began their journey back. Ye Li’s first battle in the Northern Border was a near-death experience, but her nickname “Ice Phantom,” and her astonishingly brilliant sword strike, began to circulate within this small border army team. And the secret beneath Severed Blade Cliff remained like a fog, awaiting her to unveil it.