Jiuyou Secret Realm.

Leng Hanshuang’s face was grim, tendrils of frigid energy spreading from her body and freezing the surrounding vegetation solid.

At her feet lay the bodies of more than a dozen recently slain disciples of the Shenxiao Sword Sect. Three of them were even Inner Sect Disciples.

Three days prior, Leng Hanshuang had come across the corpses of some Qingyun Sect disciples. After examining them, she determined they had been killed by the Black Robed Men.

After long consideration, she had decided to give chase and nip the danger in the bud. After a three-day pursuit, just as she was closing in, she was confronted with the sight of so many dead Shenxiao Sword Sect disciples. This sent Leng Hanshuang into a rage.

How dare those bastards kill people from the Shenxiao Sword Sect right under her nose? They were simply courting death.

Although her mission in the Jiuyou Secret Realm was to find the Red Spider Lily, as one of the Shenxiao Seven Swords and the master of Yunv Peak, Leng Hanshuang could not possibly stand by and watch her sect members be slaughtered.

The Red Spider Lily was important, but the lives of the several thousand sect members were far more so. Besides, her own True Disciple, Ye Qingxuan, was also among them.

It was no easy task for the Shenxiao Seven Swords to find a successor.

To this day, the seven of them had only found four successors; the other three had yet to find a suitable candidate.

Only after dealing with the majority of the Black Robed Men could Leng Hanshuang search for the Red Spider Lily in peace.

The deaths of over a dozen Shenxiao Sword Sect disciples only solidified her resolve to slaughter every last one of the Black Robed Men. Even if she couldn't kill them all, she would strike fear into their hearts, making them too terrified to show their faces again.

A moment later, Leng Hanshuang took a few deep breaths, slowly calming herself. She prepared to continue following the trail left by the Black Robed Men and deal with them as quickly as possible.

However, as she turned her head, an object in the dense forest caught her eye.

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It was a blood-stained white sash.

Leng Hanshuang, who had just calmed down, immediately grew tense.

This was because only True Disciples were permitted to wear a white sash.

Could a True Disciple have escaped and was now being hunted?

Who could it be?

It couldn't be Qingxuan, could it? Leng Hanshuang thought anxiously.

Ye Qingxuan was different from the other True Disciples. Not only was she a disciple Leng Hanshuang had personally and meticulously trained, but she was also the inheritor of the Ice Soul Sword. If anything happened to her, there was no telling how long it would take to find another suitable successor.

Even if it wasn't Ye Qingxuan, the death of any True Disciple was a considerable loss for the Shenxiao Sword Sect.

Every True Disciple was a future pillar of the Shenxiao Sword Sect.

With no time to think, Leng Hanshuang shot off in pursuit. Along the way, she found more fresh bloodstains, which made her even more certain of her guess, and she pushed her speed a notch higher.

Four hours later, Leng Hanshuang arrived at a valley. Without a second thought, she went straight in, unafraid of a potential ambush.

Perhaps in her eyes, her strength was sufficient to handle any unforeseen circumstances.

In the face of absolute power, all schemes and plots were futile.

Had she been in the outside world, Leng Hanshuang would not have been so reckless. After all, with no age restrictions, there were plenty of old monsters hiding in the shadows of Lizhou. But here in the Jiuyou Secret Realm, she had the confidence and the capital to be bold.

The valley was vast.

After entering, she advanced for more than ten minutes before she saw a figure lying motionless on the ground, their status unknown.

The figure was clad in the blue robes of a Shenxiao Sword Sect disciple.

It was a man.

Leng Hanshuang felt a sliver of relief.

That it wasn't Ye Qingxuan was a blessing in this dire situation.

She took a few steps forward, knelt, and turned the person over.

Zhu Jie!

The True Disciple of Pingyang Peak.

She held a hand to Zhu Jie’s nose and felt a faint breath.

Just as Leng Hanshuang was about to inspect Zhu Jie's injuries, all sound in the surroundings suddenly vanished.

At the same time, several Black Robed Men attacked from all directions, so fast that they were upon her in the blink of an eye.

But just as they thought they had succeeded, an icy, bone-chilling cold emanated from Leng Hanshuang’s body.

Any of the Black Robed Men who came into contact with the cold energy were frozen solid, unable to advance another inch.

In a single instant, the Black Robed Men near Leng Hanshuang were turned into human-shaped ice sculptures.

"A bunch of petty vermin dare to touch the people of my Shenxiao Sword Sect? You're truly courting death!" Leng Hanshuang sneered.

"As expected of the master of the Ice Soul Sword. Truly formidable. A pity you won't be leaving this valley today. The Shenxiao Seven Swords first lost the Haoran Sword, and now another sword will fall. Soon you will be the Shenxiao Five Swords."

A group of Black Robed Men walked out from the dense forest.

The one who spoke was the man at the very front. The others were a step behind him, a clear sign of his superior status among all the Black Robed Men.

"Detain me? With just the likes of you?" Leng Hanshuang was utterly unimpressed.

She truly did not believe anyone could keep her trapped within the Jiuyou Secret Realm.

This was not arrogance, but confidence.

"Leng Hanshuang, we went to great pains to deal with you, making ample preparations. Today, you will not leave here alive."

"Is that so? Then let's see you try! If you fail to keep me here, then when the Jiuyou Secret Realm opens again, all of Lizhou will know that your Seven Kill Sect is once again practicing the forbidden Killing God Technique. Then, the Seven Kill Sect will become the public enemy of Lizhou, just as it did a thousand years ago. I'd like to see how you explain yourselves to all the powers of Lizhou then," Leng Hanshuang said faintly.

She had already guessed the identity of the Black Robed Men.

A thousand years ago, the Seven Kill Sect had cultivated a terrifyingly powerful force that grew stronger with every battle, nearly pushing the sect to the position of overlord of Lizhou.

However, as this force grew stronger, it gradually slipped from the Seven Kill Sect's control, no longer heeding its commands. Wherever it went, it annihilated all life, leaving no survivors.

This was because they had all cultivated a forbidden art known as the Killing God Technique, which, in its final stages, turned its practitioners into emotionless killing machines.

The situation escalated until all the powers of Lizhou united to stop this force. After completely wiping them out, they collectively went to the Seven Kill Sect to demand an explanation.

Seeing the major powers approaching with such fury, and knowing they were in the wrong, the Seven Kill Sect faced annihilation. As a last resort, they offered up their ten thousand years of accumulated resources to appease the crowd's anger and promised to never again practice the Killing God Technique. Only then were they allowed to survive.

Since then, the Seven Kill Sect had been severely weakened and had never recovered.

To think that a thousand years later, they would secretly begin practicing the Killing God Technique again.

"So we couldn't hide it after all! But Leng Hanshuang, you won't have the chance to leave."

"I'm curious! Aren't you afraid of being controlled by the slaughter, of becoming emotionless machines? Wouldn't such an existence be a fate worse than death?" Leng Hanshuang asked, genuinely curious.

"You don't need to worry about that! After a thousand years of research, my Seven Kill Sect has improved the Killing God Technique. It no longer has side effects. For now, you should be thinking about how to escape my inescapable net! As long as you die here, no one will know our identity for the time being. As for the future? Once my Seven Kill Sect unifies Lizhou, who will dare to defy us?" the Black Robed Man declared maniacally.

Leng Hanshuang offered no reply.

A longsword, silver-white and emitting wisps of cold, had appeared in her hand at some unknown point, causing the surrounding temperature to drop noticeably.

The Ice Soul Sword!

One of the Shenxiao Seven Swords.

It was forged from the heart of a ten-thousand-year-old unmelting ice soul and required extreme cold true qi to unleash its full power. An ordinary person couldn't even use it; those with insufficient strength would be instantly frozen into an ice sculpture upon contact.

Leng Hanshuang's extreme cold true qi had reached an exceptionally high level, and when combined with the Ice Soul Sword, its power was immense.

The battle was about to erupt.

"Leng Hanshuang! Let me see what's so special about the Ice Soul Sword, one of the Shenxiao Seven Swords."

"As you wish!"

"Boom!"

Two auras, one white and one red, clashed in the valley.

The fierce battle began.

The white was Leng Hanshuang's extreme cold qi, while the red was the slaughter qi collectively released by the Black Robed Men.

The two forces were evenly matched.

"Hahaha… Leng Hanshuang, the Ice Soul Sword is nothing special after all! If this is all you've got, then you can just stay here today! Activate the formation!"

The Black Robed Man laughed.

Several pillars of red light rose from within the valley.

They dared not be careless when dealing with Leng Hanshuang. They had prepared a full three-layered grand formation.

Each layer of the formation was meticulously arranged at a great cost.

No one dared to underestimate a Sword Cultivator from the Shenxiao Sword Sect, let alone one of the Shenxiao Seven Swords.

Under the formation's amplification, the slaughter qi gradually suppressed and devoured the extreme cold qi, until only a blood-red slaughter qi filled the valley.

Just then, a single point of white light appeared.

Then, Leng Hanshuang's voice rang out.

"Chilling Sword-Glance, freezing ten thousand li!"

White Sword Qi tore through the sky, ripping an opening in the slaughter qi.

Leng Hanshuang burst through the gap and fled swiftly toward the valley's exit. Everything in her path was frozen solid.

She was no fool. The enemy had come prepared. Under the effects of the formation, she couldn't unleash her full strength. If she continued to fight, she might truly fall here.

"Chase!"

Dozens of black figures pursued in the direction Leng Hanshuang had fled.