After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 97

The corpses of the three black-clad cultivators were quickly frozen solid by the extreme cold, turning them into three twisted ice sculptures that added an eerie touch to the dead silence of the ice plain. The wind and snow still howled, as if the brief but fierce battle for survival had never happened.

Ye Li and Qin Yixuan stood opposite each other, slightly breathless. As the sharp intensity of their joint fight subsided, a deeper worry surfaced. They were in an unknown deadly place, surrounded by hidden dangers (though one wave had been dealt with, there could be others), the environment was harsh, their spiritual energy was greatly depleted, and they were completely lost.

“It is not wise to linger here,” Ye Li said first, her voice sounding faint in the wind and snow. She walked over to the three ice sculptures and quickly searched them. Other than some ordinary spirit stones, pills, and the few high-quality venomous weapons, she found nothing to prove their identity. She only found a black token, neither metal nor wood, carved with a bizarre eye pattern. It was cold to the touch and emitted a faint, ominous aura. She pocketed the token, hoping to find clues later.

Qin Yixuan also took a pill and meditated for a moment, her pale complexion recovering a little color. She watched Ye Li’s decisive actions, and a hint of admiration flashed in her clear, cold eyes. This woman was not only powerful but also extremely meticulous.

“This ice plain seems to be a natural maze, or perhaps a trial on the outskirts of the Mysterious Palace,” Qin Yixuan said, gazing at the almost identical, desolate white landscape around them, her elegant brows slightly furrowed. “I’ve tried several orientation spells, all to no avail. The spatial rules here seem to have been twisted.”

Ye Li nodded, having sensed the same. She tried circulating the Nether Sovereign Emperor Sutra and found that although the cold here was intense, the extreme cold spiritual energy it contained was unusually violent. Directly absorbing and refining it was highly inefficient and would burden the meridians. This undoubtedly made their situation even worse.

“We can’t just wait,” Ye Li’s gaze was firm. “We must find a way out, or find the other missing people.” She believed that Master Muyun and the other sect members would never easily give up searching for them.

After a brief discussion, the two decided to travel together. They chose a direction with relatively stable wind and cautiously ventured forward into the unknown. This time, they were no longer fighting alone, but had naturally formed an offensive and defensive alliance.

Ye Li took a slightly forward position, her Mysterious Ice Sword unsheathed. Her spiritual sense was spread out to the maximum extent, wary of potential dangers from all directions. Her Universal Shadowless Steps gave her a distinct advantage in this environment, always allowing her to avoid hidden ice fissures and unstable ice patches in advance.

Qin Yixuan followed closely. The Ocean Moon Pearl emitted a soft glow, not only dispelling the biting cold but also forming a faint but continuous spiritual defense against the bizarre, soul-corroding chill in the air. Her senses seemed particularly sensitive to water vapor and life fluctuations, and she had on several occasions pre-warned of dangers lurking beneath the ice.

After traveling for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a massive ice fissure valley appeared ahead. The valley floor was bottomless, shrouded in dense blue cold mist, and countless inverted ice prisms were vaguely visible within, like the sharp teeth of a giant beast. The only path across the gorge was a narrow, slick, natural ice bridge that trembled slightly in the gale, looking as if it could break at any moment.

“Be careful, this bridge is strange,” Qin Yixuan focused her senses and warned. “There seems to be something in the cold mist.”

No sooner had she spoken than several sharp cracking sounds were heard, and several black shadows shot out fiercely from the cold mist beneath the ice bridge! They were a few ice-blue, lizard-like demonic beasts that had grown wings! They were extremely fast, spitting out blue ice breath from their mouths. Where the breath passed, even the air seemed to be frozen!

“They’re Ice-Winged Lizards! Watch out for their breath; it can freeze spiritual energy!” Qin Yixuan recognized the demonic beasts and immediately alerted Ye Li.

Ye Li’s eyes narrowed, and instead of retreating, she advanced! Activating the Universal Shadowless Steps, her figure left trails of afterimages on the narrow ice bridge. The Mysterious Ice Sword traced a cold arc, precisely striking the two Ice-Winged Lizards charging at the front!

However, these Ice-Winged Lizards were not only fast but also extremely tough defensively. The Mysterious Ice Sword only left shallow marks on their ice-armored bodies! Instead, the beasts avoided critical points with their flexible wings.

More Ice-Winged Lizards surged out of the cold mist, numbering over a dozen! They let out sharp screams and attacked from different directions. The blue ice breath they spat out wove into a large net, aiming to freeze the two women on the bridge!

“Mysterious Water Transformation Barrier!” Qin Yixuan cried out softly, forming a seal with her hands. A huge, blue water light barrier appeared out of nowhere, blocking the front of the ice bridge. The blue ice breath collided with the barrier, making a “hissing” sound. The barrier violently fluctuated but successfully blocked the first wave of attacks.

“I can’t hold out for long! Their breath is corrosive!” Qin Yixuan’s face was pale, clearly indicating the massive consumption required to maintain the barrier.

Seeing this, Ye Li knew they had to finish the fight quickly. She took a deep breath. The core in her body spun wildly, and the extreme cold spiritual energy surged out! She no longer held back, integrating some techniques she had just grasped from the Mysterious Water Ice Transformation Art with her own Star Silence sword move!

She twitched the tip of her sword, not directly attacking the Ice-Winged Lizards, but drawing in the dense cold surrounding her! Water molecules and ice chips in the air rapidly converged toward the tip of her sword, condensing into countless tiny, star-glittering ice crystal particles!

“Star Silence — Ice Dust Burst!”

With a swing of her sword, the countless ice crystal particles, like soldiers obeying a command, turned into a cold torrent that shot towards the group of Ice-Winged Lizards, covering the sky and the ground!

This was not a head-on attack, but the ultimate in area control and energy erosion!

Puff, puff, puff!

The ice crystal particles struck the Ice-Winged Lizards’ shells, not causing fatal wounds, but the extreme cold and the power of starlight vibration they contained instantly penetrated inside! The Ice-Winged Lizards’ movements visibly slowed down. Fine cracks appeared in their ice armor, and even the ice breath they spat out weakened considerably!

“A good chance!” Qin Yixuan’s beautiful eyes lit up. Grasping the moment the Ice-Winged Lizards were sluggish, the Ocean Moon Pearl shone brightly. “Mysterious Water Bind!”

Strands of profound water, like spirit snakes, detached from the light barrier and quickly wrapped around the slower Ice-Winged Lizards, binding them tightly!

How could Ye Li miss such an opportunity? Her figure flashed like lightning, and the Mysterious Ice Sword was like the Grim Reaper’s scythe. Every flash precisely stabbed into the vital points of a bound Ice-Winged Lizard—their relatively vulnerable eyes or the junction of their wings and body!

Sword light flashed, and ice chips flew!

In just a dozen breaths’ time, all the dozen fierce Ice-Winged Lizards were slain, their corpses plummeting into the bottomless ice fissure valley.

The crisis was averted.

Qin Yixuan withdrew the barrier, slightly out of breath, her eyes filled with awe as she looked at Ye Li. Ye Li’s technique of manipulating ice dust just now was incredibly skillful, and her grasp of the timing was peerless—it was certainly not something an ordinary early-stage Spirit Mansion Realm cultivator could achieve. This woman’s potential and combat talent were truly frightening.

“The way you mobilized the cold air just now…” Qin Yixuan couldn’t help but ask.

“I had a slight realization and combined it with the Mysterious Water Ice Transformation Art you gave me, Senior Sister,” Ye Li candidly replied, not hiding anything. After fighting side-by-side, her trust in Qin Yixuan had grown considerably.

Qin Yixuan suddenly understood, and her estimation of Ye Li’s comprehension increased once more. Although the Mysterious Water Ice Transformation Art was not a top-tier cultivation method, the fact that Ye Li could integrate it into her own system and unleash such power in such a short time showed her extraordinary talent.

The two adjusted their breath, took pills to restore their spiritual energy, and then cautiously stepped onto the trembling ice bridge. With their previous cooperation, their movements were even more synchronized when crossing the bridge—one walked ahead to scout, and the other guarded the rear, successfully passing this natural chasm.

After the ice fissure valley, the environment did not improve; instead, it became even harsher. There appeared “Ice Soul Phantoms,” energy bodies condensed from pure icy will that could actively attack. Physical attacks were largely ineffective against them, making them extremely difficult to deal with. There was also the bizarre “Illusionary Ice Mist,” which could create realistic illusions to confuse the mind.

During one encounter with the Illusionary Ice Mist, Ye Li, whose cultivation method was similarly aligned, was less affected. She saw through the illusion in time and acted to pull back Qin Yixuan, who had fallen into the illusion and was about to walk into a hidden ice cavern. Startled awake from the illusion, Qin Yixuan looked at the abyss close by, her heart pounding. Her gratitude and trust for Ye Li deepened.

In another place, when they encountered a siege by a large number of Ice Soul Phantoms, Qin Yixuan, relying on the Ocean Moon Pearl’s special counter-effect against energy bodies, constructed a sturdy defense, creating an opportunity for Ye Li to defeat them one by one.

They shared pills with each other, took turns standing guard while resting, and occasionally mentioned insights on cultivation during their conversations. Though they were only fragments of speech, they often brought enlightenment to the other person. Qin Yixuan was surprised to find that Ye Li’s understanding of the essence of power, especially the law of ice, far exceeded her cultivation realm, often hitting the nail on the head. Ye Li, in turn, learned many techniques from Qin Yixuan regarding the fine control of spiritual energy and the application of water element changes.

In this extreme environment, the two relied on and supported each other, jointly facing tests of life and death. The initial forced alliance gradually transformed into a natural tacit understanding and trust. Qin Yixuan’s delicate yet resilient heart beneath her cold exterior left a deep impression on Ye Li. And Ye Li’s decisiveness, calm reliability, and the occasional profoundness that did not match her age made Qin Yixuan feel that this “rival” was increasingly filled with a mysterious attraction.

Several days passed quietly in this endless trek and continuous battle. They did not know how far they had walked, nor whether the direction was correct, but the bond between them grew stronger with every test of ice and snow.

On this day, after they jointly killed a massive Ice Ape guard comparable to a late-stage Spirit Mansion Realm cultivator, the monotonous ice plain finally gave way to a vague outline of a magnificent palace covered in ice and snow in the distance.

Hope seemed to be right before their eyes.

The two stood on an ice hill, looking at the shadow of the distant palace. Though exhausted, a light ignited in their eyes.

“It seems we’re about to leave this deadly place,” Qin Yixuan murmured, a trace of almost imperceptible relief in her tone.

“Mm.” Ye Li nodded, looking at the strands of hair at Qin Yixuan’s temples, lightly dusted white by the frost, and suddenly said, “Thank you for these past few days.”

Qin Yixuan was slightly startled, then the corner of her mouth curved into an extremely faint but genuine arc: “The feeling is mutual.”

The wind and snow continued, but the atmosphere between the two felt much warmer.