After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 90

The anonymous death challenge, like a poisonous thorn, pierced Ye Li’s heart. The clue to the annihilation of the Zhao family in Blackwater City was a temptation she couldn’t ignore, but the appointment at Soul-Severing Cliff was nine-tenths a meticulously planned killing trap.

Should she go, or not?

Ye Li barely hesitated. Fragments of the truth might be right before her eyes; even with only a sliver of hope, she had to seize it. Moreover, her strength had recently increased significantly, and she needed a real life-or-death battle to sharpen her edge and validate her learning. If she didn’t even dare to accept such a challenge, where would her Dao heart stand?

But she was never a reckless person. Before heading to the appointment, she made thorough preparations.

First, using the most discreet remaining channels of the Hidden Pavilion, she sent instructions to Lin Feng, who was recuperating far away, to use every possible means to investigate whether any suspicious individuals had recently contacted Zhao family survivors (perhaps some distant relatives were spared) or any rumour-mongers related to the Blackwater City incident, attempting to verify the authenticity of the challenge letter’s information from the side.

Second, she used Xia Zhihe’s secret channels to exchange most of her spirit stones and resources for several life-saving talismans and one-time use attack magical treasures, and she re-tempered her Minor Constellation Array Plate, further enhancing its power.

Finally, she visited Resident Mu Yun’s cave dwelling. She didn’t explicitly mention the challenge but only said that she had gained some insights during her recent cultivation and needed to find a secluded place to verify them, with an undetermined return date. Resident Mu Yun looked at her deeply, seemingly sensing something, but did not stop her. He only gave her another life-preserving jade talisman and cautioned her to be careful in all things.

The three-day period passed in a flash.

At midnight, Soul-Severing Cliff. The cold wind howled, strange rocks jutted out, and the abyss below the cliff was bottomless, permeated with a heart-pounding deathly silence.

Ye Li arrived alone, the Profound Ice Sword in hand, her spiritual sense sweeping around with the vigilance of flowing mercury. The moon was obscured by thick clouds, with only sparse starlight visible, making the environment extremely harsh.

“I’m here,” Ye Li’s clear, cold voice echoed across the cliff top.

As soon as her voice faded, four black shadows emerged silently like ghosts from behind rocks and shadows, surrounding her. All four wore night clothes, were masked, and possessed chillingly sharp aura. Their cultivation was clearly at the early stage of the Spiritual Palace Realm! Moreover, their spiritual power attributes varied—one Fire, one Earth, one Wind, and one Dark—a clearly deliberate combination intended to cooperate and counter her extreme cold cultivation methods.

Without superfluous words, the four attacked simultaneously! Fireballs, earth spikes, wind blades, and a silent dark shadow curse rushed towards Ye Li from four directions!

The assault was vicious and tricky, with tacit coordination, instantly blocking all her retreat paths!

“What an impressive formation!” A cold glint flashed in Ye Li’s eyes, and the spiritual power she had long accumulated erupted! The Boundless Trackless Steps technique was pushed to the extreme, her figure flickering like a phantom in the confined space, narrowly dodging most of the attacks. At the same time, the Profound Ice Sword traced a cold arc, slashing towards the Wind attribute cultivator—the fastest and most threatening of the four!

However, the four were clearly prepared for her movement technique. The Wind attribute cultivator retreated rapidly, and the Earth attribute cultivator immediately stepped forward, a thick earth wall instantly rising to block the sword light. The attacks of the Fire and Dark attribute cultivators followed closely like shadows!

Ye Li was plunged into a desperate fight. Individually, these four might not be stronger than Gao Sheng, but their combined efforts magnified their power. Their strategy was clear: to exhaust her and slowly wear her down! They gave her no opportunity for close combat, constantly maintaining distance, using long-range attacks and curses to harass her.

For a time, the sound of colliding spiritual energy was incessant on the cliff top, with exploding firelight interweaving with freezing sword qi. Ye Li employed the Star Silence sword technique to its limit, her sword light pouring down like a river of stars, yet it was repeatedly blocked by their joint effort. Her spiritual power was rapidly depleting, and she had sustained several non-fatal injuries that nevertheless affected her mobility.

“I can’t let this continue!” Ye Li’s mind raced. She realized she had to break their combined formation!

She deliberately exposed a flaw, taking a fireball from the Fire attribute cultivator head-on, her figure staggering back, appearing to be in disarray. Seeing this, the Dark attribute cultivator thought the opportunity had arrived and immediately unleashed a stronger “Soul-Corroding Dark Shadow” towards Ye Li’s back!

Just as the dark shadow was about to strike, a cold light of successful deception flashed in Ye Li’s eyes! She spun around sharply, and the Minor Constellation Array Plate, held tightly in her left palm, instantly activated!

Buzz!

A dazzling starlight burst forth, centered on her! A powerful stellar force field instantly enveloped an area of about ten feet! The four assassins immediately felt their bodies sink, their spiritual power circulation sluggish, and their movements slowed! Especially the Dark attribute cultivator, whose curse power was greatly diminished under the stellar force!

“Now! Star Silence — Big Dipper Evil Slayer!”

Ye Li forcibly summoned her remaining spiritual power. The Profound Ice Sword, drawing on the power of the Array Plate, transformed into seven sharp sword lights arranged like the Big Dipper, shooting towards the four assassins! This single sword strike contained not only extreme cold power but also a hint of the stellar demon-suppressing concept!

The four assassins were utterly shocked and hastily defended themselves. However, under the Array Plate’s interference and this sudden ultimate move, the Wind attribute cultivator and the Dark attribute cultivator bore the brunt, their defenses ripped apart by the sword light, instantly sustaining heavy injuries and collapsing! The Fire attribute cultivator and the Earth attribute cultivator also suffered significant wounds!

The combined formation was instantly broken!

Ye Li pressed her advantage, her figure moving like lightning, directly lunging at the most severely injured Fire attribute cultivator! Fear flashed across the cultivator’s face, and he crushed a teleportation talisman, intending to flee!

“Stay!” How could Ye Li allow him to succeed? A life-saving talisman she had not yet used—a “Profound Ice Shackles Talisman”—instantly activated! A cold ice chain arrived later but ahead of him, firmly binding him!

At the same time, she executed a backhand slash, ending the life of the struggling Dark attribute cultivator.

In an instant, two of the four were dead, one captured, and one injured!

The remaining Earth attribute cultivator, seeing that the tide had turned, turned and fled without hesitation!

Ye Li did not pursue; she, too, was at her limit. She quickly subdued the bound Fire attribute cultivator and tore off his mask to reveal an unfamiliar middle-aged man with venomous eyes.

“Speak! Who sent you? What is the truth behind the Zhao family massacre?” Ye Li pressed her sword tip against his throat, demanding coldly.

The cultivator sneered: “Dream on! Ugh…” Before he could finish his sentence, blood suddenly streamed from his seven orifices, and his body convulsed violently, dying instantly! He had already consumed deadly poison!

Ye Li’s face darkened. She examined the other two corpses, which were the same. Death soldiers! The opponent was extremely cautious, leaving no living witnesses.

She searched the bodies but found nothing to prove their identity besides ordinary weapons and spirit stones.

At Soul-Severing Cliff, she had narrowly won an ambush by relying on the Array Plate and cunning, but she had gained no truly valuable clues beyond killing a few death soldiers. Instead, she was greatly depleted and sustained internal injuries.

“What a cunning opponent…” Ye Li took a pill, regulated her breathing for a moment, disposed of the corpses and traces, and swiftly left Soul-Severing Cliff.

Upon returning to the sect, she immediately received an urgent secret message from Lin Feng: After multiple inquiries, it was confirmed that several mysterious individuals had indeed paid high prices to acquire ancient maps related to the Feng Shui layout of the Zhao family ancestral home after the Blackwater City incident, and their behaviour was suspicious. However, the clue stopped there and could not be traced further.

Combined with the death soldiers at Soul-Severing Cliff, Ye Li was essentially certain that this was a trap set against her, exploiting her desire to investigate the truth of her parents’ disappearance. The mastermind was very likely the “Shadow Demon” faction that was colluding with Situ Kuang!

This experience made her realize even more clearly the opponent’s insidious nature and power. Pure martial confrontation, even if she won temporarily, would be difficult to reach the core. She needed greater strength, and even more so, wisdom and patience.

Secluded Cultivation! She must immediately enter secluded cultivation!

Ye Li reported to Resident Mu Yun that she had “verified” her insights and returned, needing to enter seclusion to digest her gains. She then completely sealed off her small courtyard on Cloud Elixir Peak, activating the strictest defensive array formation.

The purpose of this seclusion was clear:

• • Healing and Consolidation. The battle at Soul-Severing Cliff had drained her spiritual power and shaken her internal organs, requiring swift recovery. At the same time, she needed to digest and absorb the insights from her recent series of battles, thoroughly stabilizing her cultivation at the Peak of the Vein Condensation Realm to lay the most solid foundation for breaking through to the Spiritual Palace Realm.

• • Cultivating Newly Acquired Secret Arts. The jade slip she obtained from the ancient tomb, besides recording the Soul-Settling Pearl, contained a fundamental secret art of the Ice Soul Profound Palace in its latter half—the Profound Ice Shield. This art was not merely defensive; it condensed extreme cold spiritual power into an ice shield that could change shape at will, possessing both physical and magical resistance. Practiced to great success, it could even reflect some attacks. This was precisely what she needed to compensate for her defensive shortcomings.

• • Deep Refinement of the Void Divine Crystal. This was the most crucial task. She took out the Void Divine Crystal, which emitted a hazy silver light, and began to slowly nourish and communicate with it using the primordial cold qi of the Netherworld Emperor Sutra. This process was extremely slow and taxing on her mind, but with every moment of refinement, her connection with the Divine Crystal grew closer, increasing her certainty for future refinement into her Life-Bound Magical Treasure. She even attempted to integrate a trace of stellar power into the refinement process to see if it would produce a miraculous change.

• • Deduction and Planning. While meditating, she repeatedly deduced the Blackwater City incident, the Soul-Severing Cliff ambush, the internal struggles within the sect, and the impending exploration of the Ice Soul Profound Palace ruins. She pieced together all the fragments of clues, trying to find the mastermind’s pattern of action and ultimate goal. She realized that the next confrontation would very likely be within the ruins! She had to be fully prepared.

Outside the courtyard, the winds and clouds were changing. Li Juetian’s challenge was still circulating, and the undercurrents targeting her within the sect had not ceased; new challengers might still be brewing. But inside the small courtyard, Ye Li was focused, like a dormant potential dragon, accumulating the power to overturn everything in the silence.

She knew that the day she emerged from seclusion would be the day the winds and clouds rose again. And by then, she would face all challenges and conspiracies with a much stronger posture! This period of secluded cultivation was her final and most important sedimentation before the storm.