Xu Yi gazed at the Soul-Dissolving Bell, a growing sense of unease clouding her mind.
The Demon King's intervention this time had given her a very bad premonition.
The war between the righteous and demonic factions across the Nine Continents was inevitable. Would the Demon King intervene when it erupted?
And how would cultivators of the righteous path stand against the Demon King's might?
Xu Yi's brows furrowed unconsciously.
"There's no need to overthink. We simply need to do what we must," Ji Buwang's voice flowed into her heart like a clear spring, easing Xu Yi's anxiety.
Ji Buwang was right; they were not without a chance of victory. At least they still had the Dean. In Xu Yi's heart, the Dean was almost omniscient and omnipotent. Since he could guide them, he must have foreseen the current events. All she needed to do now was to improve her strength as much as possible and win over allies. She would absolutely not wait for death.
Xu Yi returned the Soul-Dissolving Bell to her storage ring. After checking on Long Haotian and the other two, she sat down to await the calming of the magma in Mount Huofen.
...
In a cave in Zhuzhou.
The Heavenly Demon knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed tightly to the earth, unmoving. After a long while, he slowly raised his head, revealing a face covered in sweat.
"Another crucial part of the plan has been disrupted. It's no wonder the Demon Lord is furious." He recalled the rage he had sensed from the Demon King just moments ago, causing his pupils to contract involuntarily. If he hadn't reacted quickly and admitted his mistake, he would have undoubtedly incurred the Demon King's wrath.
The Heavenly Demon calmed himself for a moment, his blood-red eyes once again filled with chilling killing intent. The unexpected failure of this plan had not only angered the Demon King but had also surprised him greatly. He had followed the Demon King to seal the Soul-Dissolving Bell within that strange skull, believing it to be foolproof, only for it to be discovered.
Discovery alone wouldn't have been a major issue, as the Demon Lord had anticipated such a scenario and left his mark on the skull. Once triggered, he would be alerted. With his power, he couldn't have prevented the other party from continuing to break the seal. But who would have expected that a wisp of the skull's original owner's will would remain within the seemingly inanimate object? Furthermore, that will could traverse time and space to injure the Demon Lord. Even the Heavenly Demon found it difficult to imagine what kind of invincible existence it was.
"The Soul-Dissolving Bell has been discovered. It's highly likely they know about our contingency in the Demon Realm as well. It seems we'll have to reveal a few pawns." The Heavenly Demon looked down at the dim demonic patterns beneath him and murmured to himself. His gloomy, peculiar voice echoed through the cave, lingering for a long time.
...
North of Shenzhou lies a lake called Lanhan Lake, named for its azure water and extreme cold. However, the demonic beasts living nearby were largely unaware that deep within Lanhan Lake lay an ice mountain, and within that mountain was the inheritance of the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly.
Bai Shan curled up on the ice mountain, his entire body covered in thick frost. From a distance, he resembled a lifeless ice sculpture.
...So cold.
Bai Shan tried to open his mouth, only to find his lips numb. He could only recite silently in his mind, fragmented images flashing through his thoughts. Today marked the forty-ninth day since he had come to Lanhan Lake to receive the inheritance. The day Xu Yi and Ji Buwang left, the Monkey King had kept him behind alone and revealed the location of the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly inheritance. That's right; even as a descendant of the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly, he didn't know the true inheritance ground of the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly clan. Because he was an abandoned existence.
Recalling his past, Bai Shan instinctively drew his body tighter. Centuries ago, the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly clan clashed with another butterfly clan, and countless Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterflies perished in that war, including Bai Shan's parents. At that time, Bai Shan was too weak to be anything but a burden, and his clan had reluctantly abandoned him, though he narrowly survived. Since then, Bai Shan had severed ties with the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly clan. Although the clan later found and invited him back, Bai Shan refused. Consequently, Bai Shan knew little about his clan's inheritance, not even the location of their ancestral land.
After receiving guidance from the Monkey King, he had rushed to Lanhan Lake and found the ice mountain hidden within. However, no one had told him how to activate the inheritance, nor how to receive it. He could only search aimlessly on the ice mountain until its frigidness surpassed his tolerance, forcing him to stop.
Go back? No. Bai Shan refused to return empty-handed. The gap between him and Xu Yi was widening. He didn't want to be left behind, to be the weakest. He was determined to obtain the inheritance.
Bai Shan gritted his teeth and forced his eyes open. But the cold surging from all directions made his thoughts increasingly sluggish, and his eyelids trembled uncontrollably. But why was it so cold...
Bai Shan couldn't understand. When he first arrived at the ice mountain, he had felt no discomfort; instead, he felt invigorated. But as time passed, the longer he stayed, the colder he became. Moreover, he couldn't use his spiritual energy to warm himself. The faster his spiritual energy circulated, the faster his body temperature dropped. Was this truly the ancestral land of the Ice Mountain Twin-Faced Butterfly? Was he deceived? But the Monkey King had no reason to lie to him. Or perhaps his kin had set a trap here, specifically to prevent him from obtaining the inheritance?
The plummeting body temperature sent Bai Shan into a frenzy of wild thoughts. Only by doing so could he try to stay conscious. But soon, this method became less effective, and Bai Shan's thoughts descended into chaos. He no longer knew what he was thinking. His limbs were ice-cold, and he could feel his blood gradually congealing.
Was he going to die?
The fleeting thought of death invigorated Bai Shan, and a moment of clarity returned to his eyes. He would die here. Bai Shan forced his lips into a slightly bitter smile. It was fine; if he couldn't become stronger, dying in an unobserved corner was a dignified way to go.
Bai Shan gave up resisting, closed his eyes, and allowed the surrounding cold to engulf him completely.
Bai Shan lost consciousness, unable to maintain his human form. His figure gradually faded and disappeared, replaced by a pale blue butterfly lying on the ice. The front of the butterfly's wings was a translucent ice blue, adorned with diamond-shaped patterns that shimmered with resplendent iridescence under the light. The reverse side of the wings was a peculiar blue-black, deep but not heavy. This was Bai Shan's true form. After transforming into his true form, his beautiful wings trembled slightly, and he began to descend at an extremely slow pace. The luminescence on his wings gradually dimmed. The beautiful butterfly was about to lose its wings, and anyone could see it was on the verge of death.