Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

"What did you say?! In all these years, no one has ever dared to speak to me like this. It seems you really do want to die!" The woman stared intently at Xia Jin, who was only a few steps away from her, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

As soon as she finished speaking, an ice crystal mark lit up between her eyebrows, and an extreme chill instantly erupted from her center!

Visible white frost spread rapidly from her feet.

The clouds drifting in the sky froze instantly upon touching the white frost, transforming into hailstones that fell from the sky. The entire mountain beneath her feet was rapidly covered by a thick layer of ice from its summit downwards, turning into an iceberg in mere moments!

The grey-robed swordsman and Venerable Miaodi, who were already nearby, had a vague sense of foreboding almost the instant Xia Jin spoke. After exchanging a tacit glance, they retreated simultaneously, instantly moving ten miles away from the mountain's perimeter, silently watching the two clashing from the void.

After the woman with her face covered by a white veil made her move, turning the entire mountain into an iceberg.

"What a terrifying extreme cold law..." The gray-clad swordsman unconsciously swallowed, pressing his hand on the trembling longsword in his arms, and said in a deep voice.

Venerable Miaodi glanced at the prayer beads in his hand, which were beginning to turn frost, and a hint of apprehension flashed in his eyes as well: "Amitabha. Although this benefactor is powerful, I'm afraid this time will not end well. In all these years, I have never seen anyone dare to speak so disrespectfully to the temple's envoy."

"What the Venerable One said is correct." The gray-robed swordsman nodded solemnly. "His anger has offended that divine envoy, and he's likely to suffer for it."

As the two were talking, Xia Jin, who was on the mountaintop, was completely encased in a thick layer of ice, resembling an ice sculpture.

The woman with her face veiled in white slowly withdrew her hand that had just struck Xia Jin, a mocking smile playing on her lips: "In all these years, you are the first person who has dared to speak to me like this."

She raised her hand, and many icicles of different sizes appeared above her, all pointing at Xia Jin, who had been turned into an ice sculpture: "However, to die by my hand is also your..."

Before she could finish speaking, her smile froze.

"Click...click..."

The sound of ice cracking rang out.

Suddenly, countless cracks appeared on the surface of the ice layer that sealed Xia Jin, and then countless white mists spewed out from those cracks!

The ice is melting rapidly!

"How is this possible?! This guy can actually melt my ice..." The woman was shocked. The ice crystal mark between her eyebrows shone brightly under her activation, and a bone-chilling coldness erupted from her body once again.

However, things didn't go according to the script she wanted at all.

"Bang!!"

Even after her ice sculpture thickened again, it couldn't stop the destruction inside, and it exploded! The flying ice shards were evaporated by an even more terrifying heat, turning into thick white mist that enveloped the entire mountaintop.

Just as the woman was stunned, a hand suddenly reached out from the white mist, grabbed her slender neck, and pulled her violently into the swirling fog!

The mountain wind kept blowing, dispersing some of the white mist.

The scene before the woman's eyes gradually became clearer.

Xia Jin gripped her neck with one hand, pulling her close until his face was almost touching her veiled features. A slight smile played on his lips as his eyes scanned her face from head to toe. "Woman," he said, "you really don't think... I'll be fooled by your little tricks, do you?"

"By the way, you must be the so-called temple envoy, right? Do all the people in your temple like to cover their faces like you? Are you afraid of being laughed at for being too plain-looking?" Xia Jin smiled mischievously.

"Why don't you let me see what your face looks like behind this white veil? If you're pretty, I might reluctantly take you in as a maid!" he said, making a move to remove the white veil from her face.

However, to Xia Jin's surprise, the woman seemed not to have heard a thing despite all she had said.

Her gaze was fixed on Xia Jin's brow, or more precisely, on the sun mark on Xia Jin's brow!

"This aura, could it be..." The woman's eyes trembled as if she had seen something unbelievable, and her cold expression wavered for the first time. "Impossible... The Demon Emperor has been missing for a long time, it's impossible for him to have the aura of an emperor? Yes, I must be mistaken."

She unconsciously raised her hand, wanting to touch Xia Jin's face to confirm the authenticity of the mark.

"Holy shit!!" Xia Jin didn't expect that she would try to tear off the other person's veil, but in the blink of an eye, the other person actually tried to touch her face instead.

He was startled by the woman's sudden action, his body jolting. He immediately released his grip on her neck, took a few steps back to create distance, and looked at the woman with a strange expression: "Hey, woman! What do you think you're doing?"

After being released, the woman did not get angry; she just stood there blankly, staring at Xia Jin's face.

Beneath the white veil, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, unnoticed even by herself.

"Cough cough cough cough!! Just pretend you didn't know anything about what just happened! Do you understand?" The woman took a deep breath and subconsciously raised her cold hand to touch her slightly burning cheek.

A few breaths later, the icy mark between her eyebrows disappeared.

When she spoke again, the woman's tone had returned to its previous calmness, and if you listened carefully, it seemed to have lost some of its condescension.

"All three of you, come with me."

After saying that, she gave Xia Jin a deep look and walked towards the stone gate first. Soon, her figure disappeared inside.

"What is this woman doing?!" Xia Jin's mind was still filled with the actions of the woman with the white veil, and she felt that something was wrong.

"Who exactly is this Demon Emperor she just mentioned?! Could he possibly resemble me?"

Not far away, the gray-robed swordsman and Venerable Miaodi exchanged a glance, both frowning. What was going on? Shouldn't their conflict have escalated into a full-blown fight? How come it's as if nothing happened at all?

If the mountain hadn't been covered by a thick layer of ice, probably no one would know what had happened there.

"Let's go, Venerable One!" The gray-robed swordsman nodded to Venerable Mystic.

The two figures flashed and landed beside Xia Jin.

After examining Xia Jin and confirming that she was indeed unharmed, Venerable Miaodi's expression turned somewhat strange.

"Hey old monk, what kind of look is that? Let's go, I don't like men! And instead of looking at me, you should think about what else is going to happen!" Xia Jin felt goosebumps rise all over her body as she looked at the gaze that Venerable Miaodi was giving her.

After saying that, he quickly walked into the stone gate.