Wandering Swordsman |

Hua Tianyou's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He had encountered two avalanches on the outskirts of the snowfield during his return journey from the far west to the Heavenly Demon Sect. Back then, the snow waves were only ten feet high, and although their force was terrifying, he could still use his lightness skill to leap onto the ice cliffs to avoid danger. But this sound now... deep, resonant, and carrying the oppressive power to crush everything, made his bones chill, his eardrums ring, and even his heartbeat almost stop.

"This is nothing like the avalanches on the outskirts..." His voice trembled, his eyes filled with despair, "...My lord, this time...I'm afraid..."

Before he could finish speaking, the wind had already arrived.

Although their vision was obscured by the blizzard, the two could still sense the overwhelming pressure from afar—snow was surging down from the towering peaks, initially like a silver line slicing through the sky, but in an instant it transformed into a monstrous snow wave, hundreds of feet high and more than ten miles wide! Wherever it passed, millennia-old ice cliffs shattered like glass, massive boulders were torn apart like falling leaves, and even the air was compressed into a vacuum, emitting sharp explosions.

The wind pressure was like a million blades striking at once. Before it even reached them, it had already torn their robes to shreds. Hua Tianyou almost lost his footing, his legs sinking deep into the snow.

His face was ashen, and only one thought remained in his mind:

Such power of heaven and earth would be difficult for even a martial arts master to escape unscathed... No matter how strong the lord is, he is still only made of flesh and blood!

however--

Shen Mo remained calm, his eyes showing no fear or surprise, only a hint of solemnity.

He didn't draw his sword, but instead reached out with his right hand, his five fingers gripping Hua Tianyou's collar like iron clamps.

The next instant, his toes lightly touched the ice surface, and his figure rose from the ground like a wisp of smoke!

Walking on air!

It's not about using light-footed skills to gain momentum, nor is it about gliding with the wind; it's about truly stepping on the air!

With each step, a dark ripple spread through the air, as if an invisible staircase was supporting him. The first step lifted him three zhang off the ground; the second step pierced through the blizzard; the third step placed him above the clouds, overlooking the entire snowfield!

Hua Tianyou felt a sudden lightness in his body, and the raging blizzard vanished abruptly. A crack appeared in the dark clouds above his head, and the cool moonlight shone down on his shoulders. He looked down—below was still a chaotic expanse, while ahead, the world-destroying snow waves swept across the mountains like a giant wielding a whip!

Shen Mo stood in mid-air, his black robe fluttering like a battle flag in the high-altitude gale, his black hair flying, his gaze piercing through the wind and snow, staring directly at the surging white torrent.

At that moment, he finally saw the full extent of the avalanche—it wasn't snow, but the fury of heaven and earth pouring down.

The leading edge of the snow waves carried icicles, broken wood, rubble, and even the stark white bones exposed after the collapse of ancient ice layers; the crests of the waves surged like a dragon's head, opening its giant mouth to devour everything; behind them, snow mist swirled, obscuring the sky and the sun, as if even time itself was frozen in this white hell.

Shen Mo frowned slightly, a rare ripple of emotion stirring within him:

"So... this is the true power of nature. It cannot be resisted by human power, blocked by martial arts, or swayed by will. It is unreasonable, indifferent to good and evil, proclaiming the insignificance of mortals through pure destruction. Even with my current high level of cultivation, facing this scene, I feel like a mayfly gazing at a mountain."

An hour later, the aftershocks of the avalanche finally subsided.

The world returned to deathly silence, as if the world-destroying rage had never happened.

However, looking around, the landscape has been completely transformed—the ice peaks that were originally continuous like a dragon's spine have been cut in half, the deep valleys have been filled in, the glaciers have changed course, and the entire snowfield looks as if it has been reshaped by the hand of a giant god, so unfamiliar that it makes one's heart tremble.

Shen Mo stood in mid-air, gazing at this wasteland reshaped by the power of nature, a rare, profound emotion flashing across his eyes:

No matter how strong human strength is, it is but a piece in the game of heaven and earth. I can traverse the air to avoid calamity, but I cannot stop mountains from collapsing and the earth from splitting; I can cleave sandstorms, but I cannot reverse the flow of snow waves.

This world... ultimately has laws that cannot be defied.

He exhaled a breath of white air, which instantly condensed into ice crystals high in the sky and drifted down. His previous aerial walk, seemingly effortless, had actually consumed a great deal of his internal energy. Especially after maintaining that position in mid-air for an hour, even he felt more than half of his internal strength had been lost.

"Find a place to stay," he said in a low voice, slightly hoarse.

After landing, the two trekked through the fresh snow for several days, crossing three ice peaks reshaped by avalanches.

The cold wind was still biting, but Hua Tianyou was no longer afraid—as long as his lord was by his side, even in dire straits there was a way out.

Finally, on the evening of the fourth day, they reached the summit of a solitary, snow-capped mountain that seemed to pierce the clouds.

On the leeward side of the summit, a deep ice cave suddenly appears. The entrance is mostly sealed by millennia-old ice, leaving only a narrow gap for one person to pass through. Yet, it faintly exudes a warm and gentle aura, completely out of place with the extreme cold outside.

"Something's amiss here." Shen Mo's eyes narrowed slightly. With a gentle push of his palm, the Xuanbing shattered silently, revealing a pristine ice cave inside.

The cave was dry and warm, the ice walls were smooth as a mirror, and the ground was covered with a layer of fine ice crystals, without a trace of snow. The two sat cross-legged and regulated their breathing.

Shen Mo closed his eyes and concentrated, his body surrounded by alternating black and golden light, like a yin-yang fish slowly rotating; Hua Tianyou, on the other hand, circulated his remaining internal energy to repair his frostbitten meridians, still deeply shocked by Shen Mo's ability to maintain his levitation for an hour.

About two hours later, Shen Mo opened his eyes, his gaze bright and clear, his inner strength having recovered to ninety percent. Just as he was about to get up and explore the depths of the cave, he suddenly heard Hua Tianyou exclaim, "My lord, look!"

Shen Mo looked in the direction of the sound—

Deep inside the ice cave, an ice wall was covered with countless ancient runes!

The runes were not carved with knives or axes, but were directly imprinted into the ice with some kind of supreme internal force. The strokes were like dragons and snakes coiling around each other, or like the trajectory of stars. Each stroke contained an indescribable rhythm and pressure.

Shen Mo's pupils contracted sharply, as if struck by lightning.

The runes on the ice wall flowed silently in the eerie light, like a galaxy that had slumbered for millennia. He recognized them at a glance—they were no ordinary carvings, but were identical to the mysterious inscriptions on the stone walls of the Wudang Forbidden Land, and belonged to the same era as the hidden patterns on the base of the totem poles of the Demon Refining Mountain!

Hua Tianyou pondered for a long time, then suddenly realized, his voice trembling: "My lord... these characters are exactly the same as those in the Demon Refining Mountain!"

Shen Mo did not answer, but simply stepped forward slowly, his black robe brushing against the ice surface silently.

He stretched out his right hand, his fingertips gently touching the cold runes—in an instant, an ancient and vast will surged from the depths of the ice, like the tolling of an ancient bell, striking straight to his soul.

He immediately took out a parchment scroll from his robes—a scroll that Shen Mo had ordered Su Ming to translate and organize the runes he had collected before his departure, just in case. At this moment, Shen Mo looked at the yellowed pages and the slightly blurred ink, yet every word was as precious as gold.

Shen Mo held his breath and focused intently, translating the runes word by word.

Although due to the passage of time, some runes only had their general meanings noted, Su Ming was still able to decipher eight or nine out of ten of them based on his familiarity with the Heavenly Demon God Sect's scriptures and the book.