The entire tavern instantly began to shake violently, and its once-sturdy beams and pillars started to groan under the immense strain.

Under the immense force, the tavern’s exquisite, carved railings shattered and plummeted from above.

Like a toy block struck by a heavy blow, the entire tavern collapsed with a thunderous crash.

A tremendous roar echoed through the area, kicking up a cloud of dust that filled the sky.

In an instant, the tavern was reduced to a pile of rubble, a chaotic mess of broken walls and debris.

Screams and cries of shock filled the air.

The onlookers stared in horror, dumbfounded by the sudden catastrophe.

"Hmph! Who’s there?"

The moment the tavern collapsed, the figures of Shi Xiao and Li Xianyu had already appeared on a rooftop across the street, as if they had teleported.

Their faces were a mixture of shock and fury.

However, when they got a clear look at their attackers, their expressions filled with shock and disbelief.

"A Food Master!? Damn it, how is this possible!"

Shi Xiao’s pupils contracted as he stared at the two black-robed figures hovering in the air. The Stone Sword that had been on his back was now in his hand.

The powerful aura emanating from the two black-robed figures was unmistakably that of a Food Master.

It was clear they had come for them.

He couldn’t understand how their location had been discovered.

A Refining God Venerable, after all, used the Power of the Heart to conceal their presence.

Normally, it was nearly impossible to be detected unless they ran straight into a Food Master.

Furthermore, the city they had chosen as their rendezvous point wasn’t even a major city in the Cold Ring Realm.

Logically, there shouldn’t have been any Food Masters here.

"We split up!"

Li Xianyu barked.

The moment she spoke, her figure shot off to the side.

Shi Xiao did likewise, transforming into a streak of sword light and soaring into the sky in the opposite direction.

"Hahaha, I just love the thrill of the hunt! Sha Kong, let’s see who can catch their target first today!"

A vicious smile spread across Leng Ji’s face as he watched the two flee in separate directions. With a single step, he transformed into a streak of white light and shot off in pursuit of Li Xianyu.

Hu Qi glanced after them, then his figure also shot off, heading in the direction Shi Xiao had fled.

...

The streak of sword light tore through the sky, the ground below blurring into a streak.

Within the light, Shi Xiao’s mood was abysmal.

He couldn’t understand how the Food Masters here could have possibly known their location.

But he knew that, regardless, this trip was now a failure. He could no longer remain in the Inner Earth World.

Just then, however, a sudden sense of danger washed over him, giving him no time to think.

Shi Xiao’s gaze hardened, and he swung the Stone Sword to his side.

Sharp Sword Energy surged forth, transforming into a silver bolt of light that seemed to tear through space itself.

At the same time, a colossal palm formed of black Primordial Energy slapped down toward him.

The very Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy in the air seemed to freeze under the force of the blow.

The terrifying Sword Energy, powerful enough to cleave a mountain, popped like a bubble the instant it touched the giant black hand, completely disintegrating.

BAM!

The next moment, the palm continued onward, its momentum unchecked.

When palm and sword collided, they produced a deafening clang, like the striking of metal on metal.

A terrifying, overwhelming force crashed down upon him in an instant.

Shi Xiao’s bones, organs, and flesh trembled violently, as if they were about to give way.

He stumbled backward through the air, each step on the void sending ripples outward as he coughed up blood!

Hu Qi stood his ground. He raised his hand, revealing a small, bloody scratch on his fair, jade-like palm.

The wound was incredibly shallow, barely breaking the skin, and it healed completely in the blink of an eye.

"Not bad, not bad. You actually managed to wound me!"

Hu Qi nodded.

Even he himself didn’t know the full extent of his current physical strength.

The fact that his opponent could wound him at all was truly praiseworthy.

’It seems this man isn’t a complete waste of space after all. He has some skill.’

However, when these words reached Shi Xiao’s ears, his face paled and flushed with rage.

Alongside his anger, Shi Xiao was also utterly horrified. His opponent had severely wounded him with just a single move.

There was only one explanation for this: his opponent’s power was far greater than his own.

Seeing his opponent about to strike again,

Shi Xiao’s expression turned grim.

"Damn you! You’re asking for death, so don’t blame me for what happens next!"

The next moment, he spat a mouthful of blood onto the Stone Sword in his hand.

Cracks glowing with white light immediately spread across the surface of the heavy, archaic Stone Sword.

Once the stone exterior flaked away completely, it revealed a Longsword that radiated a blinding white light.

"Burial Immortal!"

His eyes snapped open.

They blazed with a brilliant, terrifying silver light!

A sword shadow, condensed to its absolute limit, shot out from between his eyebrows and merged with the white Longsword in his hand.

VMMMM!

A clear, sonorous hum from the sword rang throughout the heavens and the earth, as if threatening to tear everything asunder. A vast, boundless sword intent erupted into the sky.

The low-hanging, lead-gray clouds were instantly sliced apart, parting to either side.

For a moment, even the falling snow seemed to hang suspended in the air.

"Go!"

The next second,

The Longsword shot from his hand, transforming into a terrifying streak of white light that carried an endless killing intent as it flew toward Hu Qi.

Watching this,

a vicious glint appeared in Shi Xiao’s eyes.

This was his signature killing move.

By using his Divine Technique, Intention Sword, to control the Longsword, he could unleash a burst of power three times his normal strength. If it landed, the Intention Sword hidden within the blade—an extension of his own Martial Arts Will—would instantly invade the target’s body and annihilate their Divine Soul.

However, executing this technique was not simple. It placed a significant burden on him and would damage his own Primordial Energy.

It required a long period of recovery, so he would never use it unless absolutely necessary.

Shi Xiao’s gaze was frigid. ’This Food Master’s death would be no great loss.’

But just as quickly, the cold smile on his face froze.

The white Longsword was unbelievably fast.

The instant it was unleashed, it seemed to traverse space itself, appearing directly before Hu Qi.

However, when the tip of the blade was half a meter from Hu Qi’s brow, it was stopped by a layer of red light, unable to advance another inch.

Looking closer, it wasn’t red light at all, but a layer of blood-red, translucent, illusory scales. The scales shifted.

CLANG!

The Longsword was flung away.

WHOOSH!

The surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy surged toward Hu Qi’s feet like a tidal wave.

Then,

a colossal, ten-thousand-meter-tall Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent Dharma Aspect formed beneath him.

"A little interesting! A shame you’re still too weak!"

Hu Qi looked down condescendingly at the stiff-faced Shi Xiao and shook his head, slightly disappointed.

HISSS!

The Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent Dharma Aspect let out a hiss and whipped its tail, which descended like a toppling Celestial Pillar, ready to crush everything in its path.

In an instant, a colossal shadow completely blotted out Shi Xiao’s vision.

BOOM!

The ground trembled.

A terrifying curtain of shockwaves expanded outward, sweeping away everything below—be it the accumulated snow, the trees, or the rocks.

Even the hard ground itself caved in, creating a crater nearly a hundred meters deep.

A few moments later, the swirling snow and debris settled.

At the bottom of the crater, a mangled, bloody figure was revealed, practically embedded in the now-vitrified ground.

It was Shi Xiao.

All trace of his former scholarly grace was gone. His hair was a mess, his face deathly pale, his body was covered in blood, and every bone in his body was shattered.

And yet, as a Refining God Venerable with a terrifyingly resilient physique, he was still alive.

THUD... THUD...

The sound of footsteps approached.

"That’s a Refining God Dharma Aspect... You’re not a Black Blood Species. Who are you!?"

Shi Xiao struggled to rise, his tone filled with confusion and suspicion as he stared at the slowly approaching Hu Qi.

In response, a long saber was driven directly through his chest.

"This saber... you... you’re..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shi Xiao caught sight of the blade of the Red Mirror Saber, its surface as uneven as shattered glass.

A look of stunned realization flashed in his eyes.

Then, as if he remembered something, he looked up and stared at the black-robed figure before him, his eyes wide with utter shock and disbelief.

But the gaze that met his was a pair of tranquil, yellow, beast-like eyes, as calm as an ancient well.

The next moment,

Shi Xiao’s body withered and shriveled, desiccating as if all moisture had been drained from it. It weathered away, turning to Ashes that scattered across the ground.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and the last handful of Ashes vanished completely.

Modification Points +271 (16%)

’It’s only this much?’

Hu Qi frowned. He didn’t immediately try to process the vast trove of Shi Xiao’s memories that now flooded his mind.

His Power of the Heart swept outward.

He sensed the fluctuations in the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, then turned and headed in a specific direction.

...

In the skies above,

two streaks of Flowing Light, one blue and one black, clashed repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, the city they had left behind vanished into the snowstorm.

BOOM!

The blizzard howled.

The two streaks of Flowing Light crashed down upon a vast, desolate ice plain.

With a deafening BOOM,

the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy rippled violently like the surface of a lake, sending shockwaves expanding in every direction.

The aftermath scoured away layers of snow, ice, and even the topsoil itself, revealing the blackened earth beneath.

A thousand-meter-tall female figure appeared. She wore a flowing blue gown, its hem dancing in the wind like ripples of blue water. Her features were an exact match for Li Xianyu’s.

Across from her,

a monster of equal size appeared.

It was a Cyclops.

Its massive body was covered in white fur.

It resembled a white mountain peak,

made even more starkly white against the backdrop of ice and snow.

Its single eye glowed with a deep, bottomless blue light, like the purest sapphire.

Just then, the blue-gowned woman that was Li Xianyu suddenly raised a hand and slapped it forward!

The Primordial Energy fluctuated violently, coalescing into a colossal, sky-blotting palm that pressed down on the Cyclops.

The Cyclops let out a furious roar.

A brilliant azure light ignited in the depths of its blue eye, spreading to fill the entire orb in an instant.

VMMMM!

Suddenly,

a thick beam of blue light shot out from its eye.

The air seemed to freeze wherever the beam passed, leaving a long trail of ice in its wake.

BOOM!!!

The instant the blue beam and the giant palm collided,

after a brief moment of silence,

a blinding light erupted, as if a miniature sun had just detonated over the ice plain.

The intense light instantly illuminated the entire ice plain as if it were day.

Even the cold light reflecting off the ice and snow was completely overwhelmed by the blast.