Chapter 1409: It's All Fate!
Half of the beast tide attacking the city possessed the power of the Divine Path, while the other half were below that level. Among the Divine Path profound beasts, most were at the Divine Origin Realm and Divine Soul Realm. As for those at the Divine Tribulation Realm—Yun Che casually swept his gaze over them and estimated there were less than a hundred.
Mu Feixue had come in person, bringing along a thousand Ice Phoenix disciples, plus the original profound practitioners defending the city—the crisis at this ice city had already been resolved.
Yun Che relaxed, neither revealing himself nor leaving. Once Mu Feixue and the others finished dealing with the profound beasts here, he could directly follow them back to the sect.
He had returned this time for a major matter and was being extremely cautious, unwilling to meddle in any external affairs.
Unless absolutely necessary, he also didn't want anyone to know he was still alive... Before heading to the Minghan Heavenly Lake, the only person he was certain he would meet was Mu Xuanyin.
Because she would never harm him.
The arrival of Mu Feixue and the Ice Phoenix disciples instantly exploded countless icy blue rays of light across the disaster-stricken snowfields. The pitch-black beast tide was pushed back layer by layer. In less than a quarter of an hour, the defensive line had advanced several miles.
Within Huanyan City, cheers shook the heavens. Everyone was certain that the crisis had been completely resolved.
But at that moment, Yun Che, who had been quietly observing, suddenly lifted his gaze and muttered softly, "Damn it!"
The rampaging profound beasts were being slaughtered piece by piece, and the beast tide was retreating at an ever-increasing speed. The Ice Phoenix cold light flickering on Mu Feixue's body remained as dense as ever. She had even flashed with azure light, plunging deep into the middle and rear of the beast tide. With every swing of her sword, countless profound beasts were frozen and shattered... And the shattered beasts, whether body or entrails, were thoroughly frozen, not a single drop of blood spilling even when broken into pieces.
Bang!!
Dozens of thousand-zhang ice trees simultaneously erupted from the snowfield, their blossoming icy branches and leaves sealing tens of thousands of profound beasts within... The moment they exploded, shattered ice flew everywhere, leaving a terrifyingly large vacuum in the center of the massive beast tide.
It was at this moment that Mu Feixue's movements suddenly stalled, her gaze sharply fixed ahead.
At the rear of the beast tide, two enormous white shadows had somehow risen, accompanied by two auras so terrifying that her entire body turned cold in an instant.
Divine Spirit Beasts!
And two of them!
Moreover, the oppressive weight of their auras... the realms of these two Divine Spirit Beasts were clearly above Mu Feixue's!
"Roooar!!!"
A roar like a mountain collapse and a tsunami caused the entire snowfield to boil, and it forcefully suppressed the cheers that had been ringing through Huanyan City for so long.
At this terrifying roar and the accompanying icy pressure, all the defending profound practitioners turned pale with shock, their faces filled with horror and disbelief.
"C-could it be..."
"Impossible! No way!"
At that moment, a hundred-zhang giant shadow shot up from behind the beast tide, charging straight at Mu Feixue, who was at the very front and had killed the most profound beasts... As it pounced, even the direction of the snowy wind changed abruptly.
Seeing the enormous white shadow in the sky, all hope in everyone's hearts was mercilessly extinguished.
"I-Ice River Giant Beast!"
An Ice River Giant Beast was the lord profound beast of a vast snowfield, possessing the mighty power of the Divine Spirit Realm. It usually hid in the center of its territory and almost never ventured out. On average, it might be discovered once every few hundred years.
To profound practitioners of Huanyan City's level, it was practically a legendary profound beast.
Over the past year or so, beast disturbances had been breaking out all over the Yin Xue Realm, but never before had a high-level lord profound beast like an Ice River Giant Beast appeared anywhere!
Clearly, in the God Realm, the influence of the Crimson was also deepening, and the level of affected profound beasts kept rising.
Having their negative emotions amplified didn't mean losing their minds completely. The Ice River Giant Beast charged straight at Mu Feixue, who had the strongest aura, unleashing a rage so violent that it blasted the Ice Phoenix disciples and defending practitioners far behind.
Boom!!
Mu Feixue's figure flickered with ice shadows as she fled far away. The Ice River Giant Beast's attack missed, shattering the snowfield and burying a large number of profound beasts in a chasm of death.
"Sister Feixue... run!" cried a male Ice Phoenix disciple.
"Fairy Feixue, flee!" the city lord of Huanyan shouted with all his might, even as blood sprayed from his mouth. "That's an Ice River Giant Beast!"
But Mu Feixue paid them no heed. Her fleeing figure swooped back down even faster, her sword condensing blue light. The sound of air being pierced was mixed with the cry of an Ice Phoenix, straight at the Ice River Giant Beast.
She was a personal disciple of the Yin Xue Realm King. She had come here on her master's orders to resolve the beast calamity... She would fight to the death, not flee!
Tear!!
Blood and foam splattered as her ice sword pierced the back of the Ice River Giant Beast. But the Ice Phoenix divine power condensed on the blade was instantly locked and suppressed by an immensely powerful force. The beast's body twisted, and a sky-upholding force smashed directly at Mu Feixue.
Before the hundred-zhang body of the Ice River Giant Beast, Mu Feixue's slender figure could only be described as minuscule. The beast's immense strength was terrifying; that single swing almost sealed the entire space, leaving Mu Feixue no room to escape.
Her face showed no panic. She withdrew her ice sword, instantly switching from offense to defense. Layers of ice formed, and her figure briefly retreated through the air, gradually dissipating the force... But before she could catch her breath, another roar erupted. The second Ice River Giant Beast rolled a storm of shattered ice, charging straight at her.
This sight caused the already horrified crowd to feel as if their eyes were about to burst.
"A-another one!?"
"Ah... h-how... how is this possible..."
One Ice River Giant Beast was a once-in-a-century encounter, yet their little Huanyan City was seeing two at the same time!
"Run... run!"
"Sister Feixue, flee... waah!!"
Before the second Ice River Giant Beast even drew near, the terrifying pressure it radiated from afar sent large numbers of Ice Phoenix disciples crashing heavily from the sky.
Mu Feixue had just directly withstood the power of the first Ice River Giant Beast and was in a state where she couldn't muster any follow-up force. With the second beast suddenly pouncing, she could barely resist. On her raised sword, a faint deep blue light flickered with difficulty.
Puff! Boom!!
The snowfield exploded once more. Mu Feixue's celestial figure slid back several miles through the air but didn't fall. She came to a stop in midair, her body swaying slightly, a trace of paleness flashing across her snowy face. But the next instant, the phantom of an Ice Phoenix reappeared on her body, and amid everyone's cries of alarm, she charged straight at the two Ice River Giant Beasts.
"Tch, another stubborn woman," Yun Che shook his head.
Given Mu Feixue's abilities, she couldn't defeat even one Ice River Giant Beast, let alone two. But while the two beasts had immense size and strength, their speed was clearly a weakness. If Mu Feixue wanted to escape alone, it would be easy.
But obviously, she wouldn't make that choice.
"Sister Feixue!"
"Fairy Feixue!!"
Their shouts were heart-wrenching. Mu Feixue's status wasn't just an ordinary Ice Phoenix disciple; she was a personal disciple of a great realm king—a status so exalted that even a nation's emperor would have to bow to her. Even if all the Ice Phoenix disciples and all the citizens of Huanyan City were to die here, she absolutely could not fall.
But she showed no such self-awareness. Regardless of life or death, she single-handedly forced the two Ice River Giant Beasts to retreat.
The beast tide surged forward violently. The Ice Phoenix disciples and Huanyan profound practitioners could barely fend for themselves, powerless to help Mu Feixue.
Rumble!
Rumble!!
Under the power of the two Ice River Giant Beasts, Mu Feixue's figure was like a leaf tossed in a vast oceanic wave. Her trajectory became increasingly chaotic and erratic, but she stubbornly swept her ice sword with still-deep icy light, gradually drawing the two beasts away from Huanyan City.
If the Ice River Giant Beasts ever set foot in Huanyan City, the city would be annihilated. Mu Feixue was clearly blocking them with her life... but it could only be an increasingly futile resistance.
Bang!!
A spray of blood mist scattered. Mu Feixue's figure, like a shot white sparrow, slammed heavily into the snowfield below.
But immediately, she soared back up... her snow-white robes stained with blood, her long hair disheveled, her icy jade face pale, but her frozen eyes remained chillingly resolute. The ice sword in her hand let out a desolate cold sword hum mixed with a phoenix cry.
"..." Watching Mu Feixue's figure weaving between the two Ice River Giant Beasts, Yun Che's gaze flickered with a momentary daze.
He remembered back then, when Chu Yuechan faced two flood dragons alone... They had similar faces, similar figures, similar temperaments, both used ice profound energy, and faced a similar situation...
Bang!!
Mu Feixue was slammed down heavily once more. This time, she rose half a breath slower. When she stood up, the back of her snow-white robe was stained a deep crimson, and even her sword slowly dripped beads of blood.
"..." Yun Che's brow furrowed, his hand clenching slightly, but he still forced himself not to act... With her remaining strength, if she fled now, it was still completely possible.
But Mu Feixue still didn't.
"Roar!!"
The Ice River Giant Beast's angry roar still held an unquenchable fury. Under the power of their rage, this time Mu Feixue's figure flickered and dodged far away. She raised her ice sword horizontally, then... suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood mist, spraying it onto the ice sword in her hand.
Yun Che's Ice Phoenix bloodline stirred slightly. In an instant, he recognized what that was...
Mu Feixue's essence blood and Ice Phoenix source blood!
In that moment, the world grew quiet. Mu Feixue's pupils gradually lost their color. An icy cold far exceeding the limits of Mu Feixue's power descended from the sky, causing the massive beast tide to halt abruptly. Even the two Ice River Giant Beasts trembled violently and stopped in place.
Her fading pupils grew more and more vacant. Mu Feixue slowly raised her sword. At the tip of the blade, a deep blue profound array slowly rotated and shimmered... At the same time, the color of the world changed, from pale white to light blue, then gradually deepening to an icy blue...
In the distance, both beasts and humans clearly felt an coldness that pierced straight to the soul... and fear. All gazes uncontrollably locked onto that blue light, watching as the world turned an increasingly deep cerulean.
Yun Che's pupils also reflected the blue. Everything happening to Mu Feixue felt strangely familiar... But the next instant, his pupils suddenly contracted.
Because he suddenly remembered where he had seen a similar scene!
Six years ago... the Yan Shen Realm... Burial God Fire Prison... Mu Xuanyin facing two ancient flood dragons simultaneously...
That desperate Moon-Breaking Devastation!
With Mu Xuanyin's cultivation, unleashing Moon-Breaking Devastation came at the cost of severely damaging her vitality and essence blood. Mu Feixue, at the Divine Spirit Realm... that would be throwing away her life!
He could no longer remain silent. His figure flickered and shot down like lightning.
He thought back to when he first entered the God Realm, repeating to himself countless times to stay low-key and not meddle in others' affairs... Yet on the very first day, he caused a huge mess at the Ice Phoenix God Sect.
And now, he had just returned to the Yin Xue Realm less than an hour ago... also less than an hour ago, he had promised Xiao Yaohou and the others that this time he would be careful, go straight to his goal, and absolutely not interfere in any external matters...
Yun Che slapped his forehead hard... This damn it all, it's all fate!
Crack!!
A bolt of thunder fell from the sky, instantly forcing back the two Ice River Giant Beasts that had seemed so hopelessly powerful. Yun Che's figure appeared before Mu Feixue. He tapped her sword with a finger, forcibly suppressing the power she had been driving with her life force.
He turned to look at Mu Feixue, who stood there stunned. The corner of his mouth curled up as he spoke in a changed, deliberately frivolous and rude tone: "Hey there, fairy, what's the point of risking your life for mere two beasts? Wouldn't it be a huge loss for us men if a pretty little beauty like you were gone?"