Chapter 277 Unbound Frost, Unseen Terror
The black-crimson arc of Absolute Severance tore across the stage.
The strike was so powerful it seemed to slice not just through stone, but through the very world itself.
The protective barrier around the arena wailed like a beast in agony, threads of light trembling, spiderweb cracks spreading outward.
The audience collectively forgot to breathe.
The stage had been split apart, a jagged scar running its length. Dust and debris clouded the air, swallowing Bai Xueqing's figure entirely.
The silence stretched on.
"W-What? Did Bai Xueqing lose?"
"She seemed to have been swallowed by the attack. It would be almost impossible to dodge such an attack."
Then-
Step!
From within the storm of shattered stone and dissolving qi, a figure emerged.
Her robes were unruffled, her silver sword steady in her hand. Not a scratch touched her body.
Bai Xueqing walked forward, each step as serene as a moonlit tide.
The audience erupted in disbelief.
Against such a powerful attack, how did Bai Xueqing come out unscathed?
Did she have something they had yet to see?
Nie Fengzhuo's eyes widened.
His grip tightened on the sword, the veins along his arm bulging.
(No... I know she didn't dodge it. That attack... it definitely hit her.)
Absolute Severance enhanced by his Heaven-Rending Breakthrough was something that could even defeat those in the Spirit Severing Realm.
There was no way that it could be easily blocked, and he was certain that Bai Xueqing lacked the power to do so as well.
"Just how..."
Then, he felt it.
It wasn't her aura swelling. It wasn't her qi surging outward.
It was something sharper.
The experienced cultivator also recognized it at a first glance.
"Th-this... this is..."
"Impossible... at her age...!"
"She's grasped... Sword Intent!"
Above the stage, faint arcs of silver light shimmered in the air, thin as threads, yet carrying the sharpness to cut apart the void.
Indeed, Bai Xueqing had grasped Sword Intent-an incredible achievement for someone of her age.
No, it was an achievement that one could brag about if one obtained it at any age.
She had used Second Form: Phantom Light Strike! enhanced by her sword intent to cancel out the Absolute Severance.
"Sword Intent! I can't believe she was hiding something like this."
Nie Fengzhuo muttered.
Indeed, it was something that might just be stronger than the technique she used against Zhao Chen.
After all, with this, any strike from the sword was enhanced.
Even Du Changsheng, his master, was surprised.
(Sword Intent! Even Nie Fengzhuo has a long way before he can grasp it.)
He had seen many geniuses in his life-indeed, he had once been called one
himself.
But upon witnessing Bai Xueqing, he had to admit she was a genius above all others he had encountered.
Her Sword Intent especially was astonishing, a feat said to be attainable only by those who had trained for hundreds of years.
If not for her conflict with his disciple, he would have gladly taken her as his dsciple. Her potential was simply too vast to ignore.
The dust had barely settled when silver light burst forth once more.
Bai Xueqing raised her sword, its edge humming softly-no longer just steel, but
a vessel for her will.
"Nine Shadows Flowing Light Sword!"
With Sword Intent flowing through it, every casual swing carried a weight that could easily end Nie Fengzhuo.
Nie Fengzhuo gritted his teeth. His aura surged violently, black-crimson flames
licking at his body like a tyrant's crown.
"Sword Intent or not, you will lose today!"
"Nine Desolations Tyrant Sword!"
His strikes came crashing down once more, the sword cutting in arcs so heavy that the entire stage groaned with each impact.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Bai Xueqing met him head-on. Her silver blade moved like light across water,
graceful and precise.
Each clash rang with a clarity that sent shivers down the spines of every
spectator.
The faint threads of Sword Intent shimmered at each collision, dispersing his overwhelming force, neutralizing power that should have been impossible for her to withstand.
And yet-Nie Fengzhuo's strength remained terrifying.
Every time she deflected, her arms trembled slightly from the sheer weight behind his blows.
Every time she countered, his relentless pressure forced her back a step. To the audience, the battle once again looked evenly matched.
But the experienced ones knew.
"This balance won't last."
"Her Sword Intent... she can wield it endlessly, so long as her will holds steady."
"But his Heaven-Rending Breakthrough-its power consumes too much qi. He has to end it before it burns him out."
Nie Fengzhuo himself knew it better than anyone. His breathing grew heavier,
sweat glistening on his brow.
His eyes burned with cold determination, his strikes faster, sharper, more
desperate.
(If I drag this on, I'll lose. No... I must end it now!)
He roared, his sword glowing with terrifying intensity.
His qi raged higher, the black-crimson light condensing into a monstrous blade
projection that seemed to swallow the entire sky.
Bai Xueqing's silver sword flickered desperately, her afterimages scattering across the stage, weaving a dance of moonlit shadows.
Yet each time, Nie Fengzhuo's tyrannical blade shattered through them, tearing
away her defenses piece by piece.
BOOM!
Her body jolted back, her arms numb, her lips pressed into a thin line. Blood
welled at the corner of her mouth.
Nie Fengzhuo's sword fell once more, black-crimson arcs splitting apart even
her Sword Intent.
Her blade quivered under the weight. Her breathing turned sharp. Sweat beaded across her temple as she was driven down to one knee.
Her teeth clenched, eyes flashing with icy determination.
"No... not yet."
Her qi surged-cold, sharp, unyielding.
The air itself froze.
A suffocating chill spread across the arena, frost crawling from the cracked
jade tiles, sealing them in crystalline ice.
Each breath of the spectators misted white. Even Nie Fengzhuo's black-crimson flames hissed as thin ice webs crept toward him.
Her voice rang clear, steady, and resolute:
"Glacial Heaven Seal-Absolute Frost Domain!"
CRACK-SHHHH!
The stage transformed into a frozen world.
A domain of silver-blue light descended, the temperature plummeting until cultivators in the stands shivered despite their protective qi.
Every swing of her sword now carried the weight of winter itself, freezing Nie Fengzhuo's arcs midair, shattering their momentum.
For the first time, he staggered back, frost creeping up his legs, his tyrant flames dimming under the overwhelming cold.
His eyes widened, caught completely off guard.
He could only watch as his body began to freeze-its power far greater than he
had ever imagined.
For a fleeting moment, it seemed victory was Bai Xueqing.
But then-
CRACK! BOOM!
A thunderous roar erupted. Black-crimson qi burst outward, flames so violent
they shattered the frost binding his body.
Nie Fengzhuo's veins bulged, his aura skyrocketing to a level even higher than before. His sword shook violently, then roared alive like a beast unleashed. The audience gasped in horror as the frost shattered around him, snow and ice
scattering like dust before a storm.
"What? How is this possible?!"
"Wasn't his qi already depleted? How can it be even greater than before?!"
"Don't tell me... was he acting this whole time?!"
Everyone had thought that with Bai Xueqing powerful technique, the fight would have ended but Nie Fengzhuo comes out with even more power.
His qi was darker, heavier, more oppressive than before-like a tyrant breaking
through his shackles.
Bai Xueqing's eyes widened as her Absolute Frost Domain cracked under the weight of his power.
(He... broke through even this...?!)
Nie Fengzhuo's blade rose once more, its edge drenched in world-splitting
might.
The hope of her victory-shattered in an instant.
Just then-
CRACK!
A terrible sound echoed from within Bai Xueqing's body. Not bone, not steel-
something deeper.
Her body jolted violently, and a surge of silver-blue qi burst outward in jagged
spikes of frost. "Wha-what's happening?!"
Gasps filled the arena as the Absolute Frost Domain, once a controlled mantle
of power, warped and twisted.
Instead of flowing in harmony, the ice qi now spiraled chaotically, lashing out
like wild beasts.
Her veins glowed faintly beneath her skin, streaks of pale light crawling upward like frostbite spreading through glass.
Bai Xueqing's hand trembled. Her grip on her sword faltered.
Her face went pale.
Horror flickered in her eyes as the frost began to claw free from her core, as
though her own body had become a prison it refused to remain inside.
"No... no...!"
Her voice cracked, low and desperate, as her knees buckled under the violent
surging qi.
Once again she was reminded of the mirage-
Her power shallowing her loved one.
"I... can't...!"
She muttered through clenched teeth, her voice quivering.
The panic tightened her chest, and the more she tried to resist, the more
viciously the ice qi raged.
The Absolute Frost Domain collapsed inward, imploding toward her dantian.
Her meridians screamed in protest, frost erupting in sharp cracks across her
skin, blood mixing with icy mist.
The cold deepened, sharper and sharper, threatening to consume not just Bai Xueqing but everything around her.
She clutched her chest, her sword arm trembling, her voice cracking like
shattering ice:
"No... no, not this... I won't... I can't...!"
But the more she struggled-the more the frost devoured her.
Just then, a familiar voiced appeared in her head.
"Calm down!"