Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The heavy, icy gate isolated all life and energy. Outside, the extreme northern winds and snow, no longer restrained by the array, poured down relentlessly onto the ruins.

Gu Xiang and Bai Yin stood back to back against the solid ice. Without the protection of their righteous energy and the malevolent energy of Geng metal, the extreme cold instantly pierced their broken bodies. The weakness of their mortal forms was fully revealed.

Bai Yin gritted his teeth and tried to wrap the remaining blood-stained strips of cloth tightly around his body.

The moment it was pulled, it aggravated the deep, bone-revealing knife wound on his back.

"Hiss—" Bai Yin gasped, his breath coming in icy gas. His blood-stained face contorted in pain, and his tall frame shivered uncontrollably.

Gu Xiang, standing to the side, looked even worse. His thin blue robe made him look even more frail, and his emaciated body huddled together in the wind.

The upper and lower jaws collided uncontrollably, their teeth chattering, a sound that was particularly jarring beneath the ice wall.

The two once peerless powerhouses, who once instilled fear in the world, were now in a sorry state. For the sake of their pride, they both gritted their teeth and refused to utter a single word of complaint in front of their rival.

Bai Yin glanced sideways, his scarlet tiger eyes catching sight of Gu Xiang's miserable state. He let out a heavy sigh, a cruel sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You poor, pedantic scholar, your bones are trembling so much they're cracking." Bai Yin's voice was hoarse and rough. "With your near-death state, you certainly won't live to see Xiao Jiu emerge from seclusion."

Gu Xiang's purple lips trembled violently as he forced himself to maintain the dignity of the Grand Chancellor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, glaring back coldly.

"You beast with fur and horns." Gu Xiang's voice was broken, revealing arrogance. "What do you know about integrity? I am the pillar of the Great Zhou Dynasty. How could I possibly bother with an uncultured animal like you?"

The word "beast" struck a nerve with Bai Yin. He couldn't understand those pedantic classical Chinese phrases, but he clearly heard those two words.

A fierce glint flashed in Bai Yin's eyes. He grabbed a clump of snow, squeezed it tightly, and hurled it at Gu Xiang, who was headfirst.

boom!

Having lost all his cultivation, Gu Xiang was slow to react and couldn't dodge in time, getting hit squarely on the forehead. Snow water mixed with ice shards slid down his withered cheeks.

"This is an insult to scholarship!" Gu Xiang was furious. He grabbed a broken pen from the ground and stabbed it at Bai Yin without any strategy.

Bai Yin turned his head to dodge.

click!

The broken pen slammed into the hard ice wall. The force of the impact cracked Gu Xiang's hand, and a trickle of blood slid down his withered fingers.

Unable to land a blow, Gu Xiang gasped in pain. He threw away the broken pen, a plan forming in his mind: to use words to confuse the great demon.

"What do you, a country bumpkin, know about love?" Gu Xiang leaned against the ice wall, his eyes filled with reminiscence and smugness. "Back in the capital, Qing'er cooked and cleaned for me every day. In the study, she added fragrance to my life, and we played the zither and played chess in perfect harmony. How could someone like you, a mere brute, possibly understand that tenderness?"

Gu Xiang's tone was full of boasting, trying to suppress the other party with the status of a formal marriage and the pleasures of a young lady.

Bai Yin rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Wash your hands and cook soup? Play the zither and sing in harmony?" He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "Back in Yunmengze, Xiao Jiu made me go down to the river to catch fish every day! She even personally used a bone comb to stroke my hair and rub my ears!"

Bai Yin deliberately puffed out his chest; despite being covered in scars, his muscular physique still exuded a wildness.

"Look at your skin and bones." Bai Yin looked you up and down, his eyes full of disdain. "You're all skin and bones, don't you find it uncomfortable to hold? Do you think Xiao Jiu would want a piece of dry firewood like you?"

Gu Xiang was struck where it hurt. He was already as withered as a dead tree due to the depletion of his lifespan, and at this moment he was burning with rage.

"That was illicit lovemaking! Shameless!" Gu Xiang cursed, his withered chest heaving violently. "Qing'er and I were bound by proper marriage rites, with a grand wedding procession! The fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty witnessed our union; it was a lawful marriage, and I am the rightful heir!"

"Orthodox my foot!" Bai Yin retorted, pointing to the dark red fox mark on his chest, his voice booming through the wind and snow, "Look closely! This is a demon clan's death pact! It's a mark she left herself! A promise of eternal love and devotion!"

Bai Yin stared at the faint light on Gu Xiang's chest and mocked mercilessly, "That demon core on your chest is nothing more than a life-saving item that Xiao Jiu pitied and gave away because you were about to die! You really think you're something special?"

The two exchanged barbs, each sentence revolving around jealousy and rivalry. Their words grew increasingly heated, the tension rising amidst the snow and ice.

"Qing'er has a gentle and refined nature, prefers white jade hibiscus cake, and enjoys reading and listening to music. She is a proper young lady from a respectable family," Gu Xiang retorted loudly.

"Bullshit!" Bai Yin retorted. "Xiao Jiu can't live without meat! She craves my grilled fat fish the most! She loves to sleep in late and likes to pull my tail and play pranks on me! Quiet as hell!"

Gu Xiang was stunned.

Bai Yin was also stunned.

The wind and snow howled past, but the two people's voices unconsciously grew weaker.

As they stared at each other in bewilderment, an eerie, deathly silence filled the air.

A refined lady and a wild mountain king; simple elegance and a carnivore's love for meat.

They suddenly realized that Su Chang'an presented two completely different faces to the two of them.

Gu Xiang and Bai Yin looked at each other.

A chilling look of astonishment flashed across the eyes of both peerless experts.

A sense of shared misery and frustration arose in their hearts.

Gu Xiang stiffly looked away, clenched his fist and coughed twice, trying to salvage the dignity of a great Confucian scholar.

"Cough... A nine-tailed celestial fox is inherently multifaceted." Gu Xiang's voice was weak, but he still stubbornly insisted, "The side that Qing'er showed me was naturally the most gentle and genuine. Those mischievous acts were nothing more than a performance to appease you, you beast."

Bai Yin gritted his teeth, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes, but his aura remained unyielding.

"Nonsense!" he glared, arguing defiantly. "Xiao Jiu is only truly relaxed when she's with me! She doesn't need to pretend to be a refined lady; what you see is just an act!"

The two gritted their teeth, resolutely refusing to admit they were merely playthings in a fling. They were both deceiving themselves, clinging to the last shred of their pitiful dignity.

"Achoo!"

"Achoo!"

A sudden gust of wind, carrying shards of ice, swept past. Both of them simultaneously let out a loud, awkward sneeze.

Gu Xiang's body shrank violently, his face turned from bluish-purple to ashen, his breath came in gasps, and he was about to pass out in the extreme cold.

Bai Yin sniffed, turning his head to look at Gu Xiang's pitiful state, as if she were about to breathe her last. The warning Su Chang'an gave him before entering the Xuanbing Sect suddenly echoed in his mind.

Whoever dares to die, I will forget them forever.

Annoyance flashed in Bai Yin's eyes. He stared at Gu Xiang for a long time, finally gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath:

"What a damn bad luck."

Bai Yin cursed and swore as he dragged his massive body slowly toward Guxiang through the snow.

He moved to the left side of Guxiang, blocking the wind with his broad back, shielding Guxiang from the biting wind blowing directly towards it.

"I'm warning you, you're not allowed to die." Bai Yin glared fiercely at Gu Xiang, his tone rough. "I just don't want Xiao Jiu to come out and see you, this poor wretch, freezing to death, and then she'll shed tears. I can't stand seeing her cry."

Gu Xiang frowned as she looked at Bai Yin, who had moved to block the wind, and shrank away to the side with a look of disgust.

But in the extreme cold, the will to survive ultimately overcame the Confucian scholar's pride. Bai Yin, as a great demon, even though he had lost his cultivation, still possessed a body and blood that were hotter than Gu Xiang's withered bones. Gu Xiang's body honestly stopped retreating, and with the help of that faint warmth, he slowly stretched his stiff joints.

"Hmph." Gu Xiang snorted coldly, turning his head away. "I don't bother with barbarians. I only let you near because I was afraid you, this beast, would freeze to death, and Qing'er would blame me for being petty after she came out."

Two peerless powerhouses, whose mere stomp could shake the world, now stood shoulder to shoulder against the Xuanbing Stone Wall, huddled together in the extreme northern snowstorm.

The wind and snow continued to rage.

The two were shivering from the cold, but still managed to utter harsh words in their weakest voices.

"Once I recover my cultivation..." Bai Yin's teeth chattered, "the first thing I'll do... is break that broken pen of yours."

"Dream on..." Gu Xiang shrank into the shadows shielded by Bai Yin, his voice weak but full of disdain, "Once I regain my righteous spirit... I will definitely draft an imperial edict... and banish you, you beast, to the city gates to grind grain..."