After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 99

The brief rest and heart-to-heart conversation were like a faint bonfire on a cold winter night, warming each other and accumulating the strength to continue forward. When the faint light of dawn (although what was called dawn on this eerie ice field was merely a slightly brighter shade of greyish-white) spilled through the wind and snow, Ye Li and Qin Yixuan had adjusted to their optimal state.

Looking toward the outline of the distant, towering palace, their gaze grew firmer. That place held the hope of leaving this desperate land, and it might also conceal greater opportunities and dangers.

The road ahead was still fraught with peril. But with a clear goal, the duo’s coordination became even more seamless. Ye Li’s ultimate offense and Qin Yixuan’s dense control complemented each other. Along the way, they slew several waves of powerful ice-element demonic beasts and broke through several dangerous natural restrictions, finally arriving at the edge of the palace complex before the sky darkened once more.

Observed up close, it was even more breathtaking. The palace was entirely constructed of a deep-blue, ten-thousand-year-old Profound Ice. It stood towering and majestic, with sweeping eaves. Although mostly covered by thick ice and snow, appearing dilapidated and weathered, one could still imagine its past glory. An aura of extreme cold, far older and purer than that of the ice field, permeated from the depths of the palace, seemingly mixed with a subtle sense of authority.

The palace entrance had long since collapsed, leaving only a huge breach. At the opening, intense battle marks remained, with ice chips scattering, and several frozen corpses of cultivators, whose clothing indicated they belonged to different factions—clearly, people had arrived ahead of them and clashed.

“Be careful, there might already be people inside,” Ye Li whispered, clutching her Profound Ice Sword tightly.

Qin Yixuan nodded, the Azure Sea Bright Moon Pearl hovering in her palm, emitting a faint blue glow as she vigilantly sensed the surrounding energy fluctuations.

The two cautiously stepped into the palace ruins. The interior space was vast, with thick pillars and faint traces of intricate carvings, though most were severely damaged. Broken weapons and fragments of artifacts were scattered on the ground, and the air was filled with a faint smell of blood and residual energy ripples.

They followed the direction of the most intense battle traces, penetrating through several halls. The corpses along the path grew more numerous, indicating the ferocity of the fighting. Occasionally, they could hear faint roars and shouts from the depths of the palace.

“It seems the struggle for the core area has already begun,” Qin Yixuan said with a solemn expression.

Ye Li sensed a subtle but familiar fluctuation in the air that caused the Reincarnation Mirror fragment within her to slightly pulse. Her heart grew more certain: the fragment of the Reincarnation Mirror must be in the deepest part of the palace!

After traversing a long corridor riddled with ice spike traps, the area ahead suddenly opened up to reveal an incomparably enormous main hall! This main hall was relatively well-preserved, with a towering dome supported by countless massive ice pillars. In the center of the hall, there was a huge altar, and above the altar, a soft but dazzling blue halo was suspended!

Within the halo, a palm-sized, irregularly shaped, wholly crystalline fragment, within which a galaxy seemed to flow, was slowly rotating! A supremely pure fluctuation, seemingly containing the fundamental laws of space and time, was emanating from this fragment!

The Reincarnation Mirror fragment! Moreover, it was larger and had a stronger energy fluctuation than any fragment Ye Li had previously obtained!

The instant she saw the fragment, the Reincarnation Mirror fragment in Ye Li’s Sea of Consciousness emitted an unprecedentedly strong resonance, and a sense of craving and kinship flooded her heart.

At the same time, the scene inside the grand hall came into view. A fierce melee was underway around the altar! About twenty to thirty surviving disciples from various forces—Profound Cloud Sect, Azure Water Pavilion, Sky Blade Gate, Western Region Buddhist Cultivators, Southern Wilderness Barbarians…—were clashing with dozens of relic guardians, which were entirely composed of blue ice crystals, whose movements were stiff but possessed immense strength and radiated fluctuations at the Spirit Mansion Realm. More corpses already lay on the ground, their blood dyeing the ice surface a strange dark red.

Resident Mu Yun was locked in fierce combat with a giant ice crystal guardian leader whose aura rivaled the Core Condensation Realm. Sword energy streaked, and ice chips flew, making it hard to determine a winner momentarily. Leng Ning, Su Qing, Huo Rong, Xuan Tianzi, and others were each entangled by powerful guardians or hostile cultivators, unable to approach the altar.

The leading elder of the Azure Water Pavilion was also maneuvering against another guardian leader, while Qin Yixuan’s fellow senior sisters formed a defensive array, struggling in a difficult situation.

What caused Ye Li’s pupils to contract the most was the sight of Shi Long on the fringe of the fighting crowd! He was not participating in the frontal battle but was sneaking toward the altar with a few disciples from War Maniac Peak, his eyes greedily fixed on the blue halo, while holding a talisman emitting an ominous black aura!

“A trap, just as expected!” Ye Li coldly snorted in her heart. However, her gaze swept across the entire scene, but she did not find Gu Sheng. This made her subtly feel that something was amiss.

“Is it a sect’s inheritance item?” Qin Yixuan also sensed the fragment’s extraordinary nature, but she did not recognize the Reincarnation Mirror and merely thought it was a core inheritance treasure of the Profound Ice Palace.

“This item is extremely important to me!” Ye Li had no time for detailed explanation, her tone urgent and resolute. “I must get it!”

Qin Yixuan glanced at Ye Li, seeing an unprecedented seriousness and determination in her eyes. Although she didn’t know the exact reason, she chose to trust Ye Li’s judgment. “Alright! I’ll help you!”

The two exchanged a look, reaching a consensus instantly. Target—seize the fragment on the altar!

However, just as they were about to charge into the battle, a sudden change occurred!

In a shadow at the side of the altar, space suddenly twisted, and three figures appeared out of thin air like ghosts! The leader was completely shrouded in a black robe, revealing only a pair of emotionless eyes, like deep abysses, with a chilling and strange aura, having astonishingly reached the peak of the Spirit Mansion Realm! The two behind him were also covered in black robes, their auras at the middle stage of the Spirit Mansion Realm!

The moment these three appeared, they immediately drew the attention of both sides in the melee!

“Shadow Demon Emissaries!” Resident Mu Yun’s face changed, and he shouted sternly, “You’ve come after all!”

The black-robed leader let out a hoarse laugh: “Old man Mu Yun, realizing it now is too late!” His gaze skipped over everyone, locking onto the Reincarnation Mirror fragment on the altar, filled with greed. “This item, we Shadow Purgatory claim it!”

Before he finished speaking, his figure flickered, turning into a plume of black smoke, heading straight for the altar! His speed was far beyond ordinary!

“Stop him!” Resident Mu Yun was both shocked and enraged, wanting to shake off the entanglement of the ice crystal guardian leader, but was firmly pinned down.

The elders and disciples of the other factions were also thrown into disarray by the sudden appearance of the Shadow Demon Emissaries.

Seeing that the black-robed figure was about to succeed, Shi Long, who had been lurking nearby, flashed a look of viciousness and madness in his eyes. Instead of stopping the Shadow Demon Emissary, he slammed the black-aura talisman in his hand violently onto the base of the altar! At the same time, he shouted hoarsely, “Senior Brother Gu! If not now, when?!”

Boom!

The talisman exploded, and a chaotic, defiling energy instantly eroded the altar’s protective barrier! The barrier fluctuated intensely, becoming extremely unstable!

And almost simultaneously with the talisman’s explosion, the void directly above the altar rippled like water, and a figure wrapped in black and red malevolent aura, with blood-red eyes and an incredibly ferocious aura, suddenly appeared—it was none other than Gu Sheng!

He had actually been hiding in the void, waiting for his moment!

Gu Sheng’s condition at this moment was extremely bizarre. His cultivation seemed to have been forcibly raised to the late Spirit Mansion Realm, but his aura was mixed and unstable, filled with tyrannical and destructive intent. Clearly, his mind was controlled by some evil technique, or perhaps… he had deeply merged with the Shadow Demon power!

“Ye Li! Die! The fragment is mine!” Gu Sheng let out an inhuman roar, carrying immense hatred and malevolence, descending like a meteor. With one hand, he grabbed at the Reincarnation Mirror fragment within the unstable barrier, and with the other, he condensed terrifying dark energy and slammed it fiercely towards Ye Li and Qin Yixuan, who were charging toward the altar!

With the Shadow Demon Emissary ahead, the out-of-control Gu Sheng above, and the disruptive Shi Long on the side! And the altar’s defense was weakened! The situation instantly became critically perilous!

“Be careful!” Qin Yixuan cried out, and the Azure Sea Bright Moon Pearl’s light surged, transforming into a thick water curtain that shielded them both. Simultaneously, her long sword channeled Profound Water, meeting the massive dark palm Gu Sheng slammed down!

Ye Li’s eyes were frigid to the extreme. The appearance of Gu Sheng and the Shadow Demon forces confirmed her worst suspicions! At this moment, there was no retreat!

“Senior Sister Qin, hold him for a moment! I’ll get the fragment!” Ye Li spoke rapidly, her figure not pausing in the slightest. She pushed the Universal Traceless Steps to its limit, as if merging into the void, avoiding the direct impact of Gu Sheng’s palm and heading straight for the Reincarnation Mirror fragment that was almost within reach!

“Seeking death!” The black smoke of the Shadow Demon Emissary also arrived, and an incredibly venomous black chain wrapped around Ye Li’s ankle like a poisonous snake!

A wolf ahead, a tiger behind! Ye Li was plunged into a desperate situation, caught between two sides!

Inside the Core Grand Hall, the melee paused for a moment due to this sudden turn of events. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the decisive clash at the altar, which would determine the fragment’s ownership!

Could Ye Li successfully seize the Reincarnation Mirror fragment under the pincer attack of the Shadow Demon Emissary and the out-of-control Gu Sheng? And could Qin Yixuan single-handedly withstand Gu Sheng’s maniacal attack? The internal conspiracy of the Profound Cloud Sect, combined with the collusion of the external Shadow Demon forces, erupted completely at this very moment!