One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

The air in the stone chamber seemed frozen solid, heavy and suffocating. On the surrounding rock walls, the once soft and bright luminous pearls now trembled slightly, as if even they sensed the impending cataclysmic change. Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo stood side by side, their gazes fixed on the smooth, mirror-like stone platform before them—or more precisely, the three divine objects floating above it.

The crimson Qilin marrow floats on the left, with countless tiny golden runes flowing within it, each pulse radiating an ancient and sacred pressure; the icy blue phoenix blood resides on the right, its surface shrouded in a layer of misty cold air, within which the phantom of a phoenix can be vaguely seen spreading its wings and soaring; the golden dragon essence, flowing with golden light, is located in the center, the most vast and magnificent, its golden halo spreading out in layers like ripples, and with each circle it spreads, a deep hum resounds from the four walls of the stone chamber.

The three form a perfect triangle, their energies mutually attracting and balancing each other, maintaining a delicate and unsettling equilibrium. Beneath this balance, the evil aura suppressed for countless years deep within the stone platform, like a slumbering beast, occasionally stirs in a dream, releasing a chilling shiver that sends shivers down one's spine.

Nie Lingfeng took a deep breath, the cold air in the stone chamber filling his lungs and making his mind clearer. He knew perfectly well that once he triggered the mechanism on the stone platform and retrieved the inheritance inside, the balance that had been maintained for thousands of years would inevitably be broken. At that time, the fire qilin remains below, corrupted and transformed by external demons—that "fire demon"—would immediately awaken and unleash its most ferocious counterattack.

"Chen Duo, step back a bit and protect me." Nie Lingfeng spoke in a deep voice, not loud, but containing an undeniable firmness. He stepped forward and stood three feet in front of the stone platform, his feet neither too far apart nor too far apart, which was the foundation of the starting stance of the Six Arts of Aohan.

Chen Duo took five steps back as instructed, but not too far. Her hands were already formed into the Phoenix Seal, her left palm raised upwards, her right index and middle fingers joined like a sword, touching her left palm. Her emerald eyes were fixed on the stone platform and Nie Lingfeng's back. A faint blue phoenix flame flickered across her body, its edges almost transparent, clearly indicating she was ready to unleash her full power at any moment.

Nie Lingfeng slowly closed his eyes, his mind sinking as if into a deep well, all the way down to his dantian. There, the hazy, three-part returning-to-origin vortex was slowly accelerating its rotation, each rotation drawing his blood and qi through his meridians. The Qilin tattoo on his chest now emitted a warm, golden-red light, beating like a heart. With each beat, a wisp of pure Qilin power surged into his meridians, merging seamlessly with the internal energy of the Xuanwu True Scripture.

He slowly raised his hands, his palms aimed at the three orbs of light on the stone platform. His movements were gentle and slow, as if afraid of disturbing something. The pure internal energy of the Xuanwu True Scripture, mixed with the power of the Qilin, surged out along the meridians of his arms, but under his extremely precise control, it transformed into two soft yet resilient invisible threads—these two threads did not arbitrarily wrap around, but rather carried a powerful binding and control force, like the embroidery thread in the hands of the most skilled weaver, respectively winding around the Qilin marrow and the Dragon Essence.

The Qilin marrow sensed the shared aura and trembled slightly, followed by a faint, joyful feeling, like a long-awaited reunion. It was like long-lost relatives finally recognizing each other. The Dragon Essence, on the other hand, was much calmer. It only paused for a moment before allowing the Xuanwu internal force, which simulated vast righteous energy, to envelop it without any repulsion.

At the same time, Nie Lingfeng diverted a wisp of his mind to carefully manipulate the blood bodhi's gentle life energy that he had just absorbed and refined. That energy was emerald green and full of vitality. Under his guidance, it transformed into a third stream of emerald green energy, like a tender bud in early spring, carrying the gentleness and inclusiveness of life, and slowly reaching towards the ball of icy blue phoenix blood.

Using the life energy of the Blood Bodhi as a medium to communicate with the Phoenix Blood; using the Qilin power of their own origin to draw upon the Qilin Marrow; and using the majestic and righteous Xuanwu internal force to temporarily simulate the vast energy of the Dragon Essence—this was the safest method Nie Lingfeng could think of in an instant to maintain the balance of the three. If any link went wrong, the three energies would immediately go out of control, either annihilating each other and causing a massive explosion, or being contaminated by the aura of the thing below, with unimaginable consequences.

The moment the emerald green energy touched the phoenix blood, the icy blue light trembled violently! A chilling yet boundless life force surged back into Nie Lingfeng's mind along the energy flow—the will of the phoenix's rebirth from the ashes, its coldness concealing the most fervent vitality. The life energy of the Blood Bodhi, upon contact with it, was like spring rain falling on parched earth, quickly absorbed and integrated. The phoenix blood rippled a few times, then quickly calmed down, not resisting this gentle pull.

"Buzz..."

With the intervention of Nie Lingfeng's internal energy, the three orbs of light simultaneously emitted a deep hum, the sound echoing like ancient bells and chimes in the stone chamber. The light flickered slightly, with crimson, ice blue, and golden hues intertwining and reflecting, illuminating the entire stone chamber in a dreamlike state. Under Nie Lingfeng's conscious guidance, they stabilized again, maintaining their triangular balance and hovering in mid-air. However, this time, the balance was no longer maintained by the formation on the stone platform, but by his internal energy.

"The situation has stabilized for now..."

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Nie Lingfeng's forehead, sliding down his temples and dripping onto the stone surface with a soft "tap." Maintaining the guidance and balance of three immense energies simultaneously was extremely taxing on his mind and internal strength—every breath, every moment, a vast amount of internal energy was flowing out like water from a burst dam. He could clearly feel the rotation speed of his dantian's qi sea slowly decreasing, and his meridians slightly throbbing—signs of excessive internal energy output.

But he dared not delay for even a moment. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging blood and qi, his gaze sharp as lightning, locking onto a seemingly ordinary, slightly raised lotus-shaped relief on the surface of the stone platform—the location vaguely mentioned in Bu Jingyun's message as the key to unlocking the platform. The relief was no bigger than the palm of his hand, with layers upon layers of lotus petals, each carved with lifelike detail, the veins on the petals clearly visible.

He extended his left index finger, and a wisp of extremely pure and incomparably sharp sword intent condensed at the fingertip. It was the true essence of the sword dao, originating from the Snow Drinking Blade and the Six Secrets of Arrogant Cold, formless and intangible, yet sharper than any divine weapon. The sword intent condensed into a point of cold star at his fingertip, the cold star shimmering, cutting through the surrounding air and creating subtle ripples.

My index finger gently touched the very center of the lotus relief, precisely at the stamen.

"Click—"

A soft, crisp sound, like the turning of a mechanism, was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent stone chamber. Though the sound was faint, it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples. Immediately afterward, the seemingly decorative, mysterious array patterns on the entire stone platform suddenly lit up with a dazzling white light! The light was so intense that it instantly illuminated every corner of the stone chamber, completely obscuring even the glow of the luminous pearls.

The white light, like mercury spilled onto the ground, instantly flowed across every inch of the stone platform. The array patterns seemed to come alive, like countless silver snakes swimming, intertwining, and coiling across the platform. Then, the smooth, mirror-like surface of the stone platform began to ripple, as if a deep pool had been plunged into a boulder. The ripples spread outwards from the lotus relief, growing larger and more intense.

At the center of the ripples, a crack silently appeared. The crack was as black as ink, bottomless, as if leading straight to the deepest hell. Then, the crack rapidly expanded and spread, like cracked ice or a dense spider web, covering the entire surface of the stone platform in the blink of an eye. The cracks crisscrossed, cutting the once intact stone platform into countless fragments.

"Splash—"

The next moment, the entire stone platform, along with the array of lights on its surface, shattered like broken glass! Countless tiny, translucent jade fragments, the size of fingernails, scattered and crashed to the ground, revealing a space within the stone platform that had been hidden for countless years. The sound of the fragments hitting the ground was crisp and melodious, but in this moment, it was like a death knell breaking a seal.

There was no dazzling light as expected, nor any sharp sword energy. Inside the stone platform was just a simple square stone box, about a foot on each side. The box was entirely grayish-white, without any decoration, and its material looked plain and unadorned, even rough and simple. But it was precisely this seemingly ordinary stone box that gave people an indescribable sense of weight—as if it carried the thousand-year-old heritage of the entire martial arts world.

Beside the stone box, a sword was stuck diagonally.

A sword, entirely black and with an ancient design. Its blade is broad and thick, nearly twice the width of an ordinary sword, and at least three fingers thick. The edge is blunt, appearing even somewhat dull, but it is precisely this dullness that exudes a silent pressure and majesty. The sword is devoid of any decoration—no guard, no tassel, not even a simple two-pronged hilt. The entire sword is like a piece of unpolished black iron, utterly unadorned.

Yet, this very sword, simply planted there silently, seemed to be the center of the entire stone chamber, even the very heaven and earth. It absorbed all the surrounding light, causing the light around its blade to distort slightly, as if even light could not escape its attraction. A profound, restrained sword intent, seemingly containing the power to create heaven and earth, was faintly emanating from the blade.

A peerless sword.

Nie Lingfeng's gaze was immediately drawn to the sword, unable to look away. He could clearly feel the Snow Drinking Blade at his waist emitting a deep, excited hum from its sheath, its blade trembling slightly, as if it had encountered a long-lost friend. The hum carried respect, joy, and the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent. At the same time, the Peerless Sword seemed to sense the Snow Drinking Blade's presence as well, its blade trembling slightly and emitting a faint sword cry in response.

Swords and blades, snow-drinking wine and peerless beauty, symbols of wind and clouds—the sword in the wind, the sword in the clouds—now, in this other world, deep within the Lingyun Cave, they "reunite" once again in such a fateful way.