The Second Heaven, the Arctic Land, the Edge of the World.
This was a boundless world of ice and snow, where blizzards howled year-round, and few living beings had ever set foot here.
"Senior, the residual soul of the First Star Pillar is in this very place."
The Shadow Pillar brought Ye Ling here and pointed to an iceberg ahead.
Ye Ling clasped his hands behind his back and scanned the iceberg with his divine soul, but found no trace of any soul.
A hint of gloom flashed in Ye Ling's eyes. He immediately grabbed the Shadow Pillar by the neck, and dark power surged from his palm, coiling around the Shadow Pillar's entire body.
"This godforsaken place doesn't even have a sliver of soul fragment. Are you playing games with me?"
The Shadow Pillar quickly defended himself, "Senior, please calm your anger! I truly found the residual soul of the First Star Pillar here! I swear I am not deceiving you!"
Ye Ling said coldly, "If that's the case, then where is the residual soul of the First Star Pillar? Do you think I'm blind?"
The Shadow Pillar hurriedly replied, "The First Star Pillar must have hidden itself. Please allow me to search."
Ye Ling withdrew his dark power and told the Shadow Pillar, "I'll give you five minutes. If you don't find the residual soul of the First Star Pillar, even if you are also a Shadow Pillar like me, I will not spare your life!"
The Shadow Pillar nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes! I will find it!"
With that, the Shadow Pillar wasted no more time, transforming into a beam of light and darting towards the iceberg to meticulously search for the First Star Pillar.
Seeing the Shadow Pillar depart, the World-Ending Spirit Fire said to Ye Ling, "Kid, are we just going to wait here for five minutes? What if that Shadow Pillar realizes something is amiss and suspects us of being impostors?"
Ye Ling said solemnly, "He already suspects us. He's testing us right now."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the World-Ending Spirit Fire was startled, "He suspects us? Then shouldn't we slip away quickly?"
Ye Ling replied, "If we run now, it would be a clear admission of guilt. I bet he'll destroy the spatial rift before we can even enter it."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire anxiously asked, "Then what should we do? We can't just sit here and wait for death, can we?"
Ye Ling said, "Stay calm. This Shadow Pillar likely hasn't found the residual soul of the First Star Pillar, and he can't possibly discover our true identities. As long as we don't reveal any flaws within these five minutes, we'll have a legitimate reason to confront the Shadow Pillar. Then, we can try to deal with him."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire asked, "What if we can't defeat him?"
Ye Ling responded, "Then we'll force him back. I'm confident I can do that. We're not necessarily aiming for a fight to the death right now. A little delay is all we need to get ourselves teleported away through the spatial rift."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire said, "Alright… calm down, take a deep breath, stay calm. Calmness is victory!"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire began to mutter to himself. During this time, Ye Ling was not idle. He secretly contacted Chu, asking her to isolate this Arctic Land of the Second Heaven from other areas to prevent more dark creatures from intruding and disrupting his plans.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Pillar was also pretending to search for the residual soul of the First Star Pillar. However, most of his attention was focused on Ye Ling, secretly observing Ye Ling's every move, trying to find any slight flaw.
Although he was initially fooled when he first met Ye Ling, after leaving his isolated space and calming down in the Second Heaven, he felt something was subtly wrong.
While Ye Ling's aura and the dark power swirling around him were identical to the Shadow Pillar's characteristics, this time the Lord of the Upper Realm had only sent him, and he was unaware that a second Shadow Pillar had descended upon the Nine Heavens Realm.
Although Shadow Pillars often acted independently and never followed large groups, Ye Ling's timing and location were simply too coincidental.
As the World-Ending Spirit Fire muttered, he also observed the Shadow Pillar on the iceberg. When he noticed the Shadow Pillar constantly staring in their direction, he couldn't help but curse, "Damn it! What's wrong with that guy? Why is he staring at us like that? Am I that handsome?"
Ye Ling chuckled, "That Shadow Pillar can't see you."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire retorted, "Kid, in this situation, you still have the mood to tease me? If that Shadow Pillar sees through us, it won't just be me who suffers!"
Ye Ling said, "The time hasn't come yet. Fretting here won't help. You might as well use this opportunity to recuperate, as there might be a major battle ahead."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire replied, "Even though you say that, I still can't calm down. The thought of a Shadow Pillar targeting us makes me feel uneasy and restless."
Ye Ling shook his head and smiled, "Then keep cursing. It might help you vent your emotions and prepare for the upcoming fight."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire sighed, "Forget it. No matter how much I curse here, that guy can't hear me. It's a waste of effort."
Amidst the exchange between Ye Ling and the World-Ending Spirit Fire, five minutes quickly passed, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Killing intent began to emanate from Ye Ling's eyes, and the surrounding winds howled, the blizzards almost completely obscuring the view.
Dense dark power diffused from Ye Ling's body, encroaching upon the entire Arctic Land.
This dark power was specifically modified by Ye Ling using runes based on the Shadow Pillar's data. After all, Ye Ling himself was merely the Eighth Star Pillar, and there were still differences from the Shadow Pillar. If he had used his original dark power, the Shadow Pillar would likely have seen through him at a glance.
However, precisely because Ye Ling's dark power had been tampered with by runes, while it appeared fine in the short term, over time, it would reveal its flaws.
Ye Ling was taking a gamble by releasing his aura now!
The Shadow Pillar, searching for the First Star Pillar within the iceberg, shivered upon sensing Ye Ling's aura. He turned to look at Ye Ling and said with a smile, "Senior, please give me a little more time. I will definitely help you find the First Star Pillar!"
Boom!!!
Ye Ling's terrifying aura erupted violently, crushing towards the Shadow Pillar.
The Shadow Pillar's expression changed slightly upon feeling Ye Ling's terrifying aura. He quickly retreated and said to Ye Ling, "Se-Senior, this is all a misunderstanding! Please give me a little more time, and I will surely help you find the First Star Pillar!"
"Enough!"
Ye Ling let out a cold snort, instantly appearing before the Shadow Pillar, and punched him directly in the face!
Bang!!!
The Shadow Pillar was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing violently into the iceberg, causing the heavens and earth to shake!
The ground cracked for a thousand miles, and countless icebergs collapsed!
"Senior, this is truly a misunderstanding! Please let me search a bit longer!"
The unharmed Shadow Pillar flew out from the ice and stone, explaining to Ye Ling, his demeanor utterly subservient.
However, when Ye Ling saw that the Shadow Pillar had taken his punch head-on and emerged completely unscathed, his pupils contracted sharply, and he inwardly cursed his misfortune.
His punch had been delivered with full force. Even a Seven Star Pillar would have been severely injured, if not killed, by such a blow, yet this Shadow Pillar was completely unharmed…
It could be said that the strength of this Shadow Pillar far surpassed that of a Seven Star Pillar!
"To act so subservient in front of me, yet display such strength… is this a provocation?"
Ye Ling muttered, his gaze growing colder. He immediately removed the seals within his body, and his aura began to climb.
The World-Ending Spirit Fire felt the loosening of Ye Ling's seals and exclaimed, "Holy hell, kid, why did you release your seals? Aren't you afraid of alerting the Lord of the Upper Realm?"
Ye Ling replied, "They've already stepped on my face. If I don't retaliate, it would be quite impolite…"
"Don't worry, I'll only unleash my full power for three seconds… that should be enough!"