Chapter 1 Tundra

Tundra, shrouded in heavy snow.

A slender, black-cloaked figure walked through the snow.

"滴."

"滴."

In the icy and snowy wilderness, with the cold wind howling, a faint, rhythmic electronic sound echoed across the snowfield.

The black-cloaked figure moved forward in silence, but after walking for a while, she chose to answer.

"Did you see the message from [Yun Jing]?"

A man's deep, helpless voice sounded from the communicator.

"..."

A strong wind blew, lifting the cloak and revealing a pale, almost sickly, young girl's face.

The girl remained silent in the face of the question.

"The Source Tower is urgently summoning the Four Envoys. The higher-ups have issued a new mission. It's very important, and you're the only one missing."

Red Dragon sighed softly, "I should have told you that this training experience away from Central Continent is only for one month. When the time is up, you should consciously return... Your identity is so sensitive, you should be aware of your safety. You must understand that the outside world is not safe."

"All—"

Before Red Dragon could say more, the girl hung up the communicator.

She completely pulled off the cloak and took a deep breath of the cold air.

Five years.

Five years had passed since the sinking of the Sang Continent Grotto.

In these five years, many changes had taken place in the Five Continents... but the tundra hadn't changed much. For hundreds of years, this place had been a cold, bone-chilling snowfield, vast and boundless in all directions.

Gu Xiaoman looked at the pale white icy tundra, recalling Red Dragon's words in the communicator. After a few seconds of contemplation, she made a decision.

Instead of choosing to turn back, she continued to move forward.

Every step she took was firm...

Because she had a destination she wanted to reach.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, the frozen lake cracked!

The black-clad, cloaked girl reacted instantly.

The moment the first crack appeared on the lake surface beneath her feet, the slender figure realized the danger. Her first reaction was not to retreat, but to strike first!

Gu Xiaoman suddenly drew her knife.

The knife she carried daily was not a famous weapon, but a simple and unadorned purple-silver folding knife.

A snow-white light burst out from the lake!

Gu Xiaoman's eyes were calm as she gripped the folding knife tightly and slammed it down hard at the blade of light erupting from the lake!

A head-on collision!

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a harsh metallic sound, this needle-to-needle impact exploded into thousands of sparks!

The black-cloaked girl's single-handed, reverse-grip strike with the folding knife against the surface of the frozen lake didn't look like a swordsman at all, but rather like a reckless brute wielding a sledgehammer.

But alas.

The "assassin" beneath the frozen lake was even stronger!

A huge force surged.

Gu Xiaoman grunted, her entire arm feeling sore and numb. Her body was bombarded by the tremendous force. To dissipate the power, she abandoned the continued force of the knife tip against the knife tip. The wind and snow in the frozen lake dissipated, and the slender black figure was sent flying, her feet leaving the ground, sliding in a graceful arc.

The girl frowned, watching her purple-silver folding knife crack after just one impact.

Who on earth was this person?

Hiding beneath the frozen lake, striking upwards, and possessing such brute strength!

Was this a power-attack type Transcendent with a higher realm than hers?

But... no one knew she had left the Source Tower, and it was even more unlikely that anyone would guess she'd come to the tundra. How could someone be lying in ambush in this kind of place? Were they here to assassinate her?

There was no time to think.

A few seconds later, she landed back on the frozen lake. The moment she touched down, the same sound of ice cracking rang out. The ghostly figure hidden beneath the frozen lake had already calculated her landing point and the subsequent attack.

Gu Xiaoman quickly stepped back, not hesitating to use her strength.

Each step was heavy, creating a huge spider web on the thick ice surface—

What she needed to do was not only avoid the assassin's continuous strikes from beneath the ice lake but also completely drag the sneaky, mysterious assailant out from under the lake!

Snow flew, a hundred miles of frozen lake, a figure in black.

The scene was beautiful.

The corners of her black clothes danced like ink splashes amidst the cracking ice lake, like a butterfly above a cliff.

But the assassin beneath the lake was even more skilled. Snow and mist swirled around the lake surface, and Gu Xiaoman couldn't even see what material the extremely sharp stiletto was made of. In her memory of the impact, she only saw extreme paleness, as if it were a non-material blade formed by countless rays of light.

If so, the other party was very likely an elemental Transcendent.

Under Gu Xiaoman's changing formations, the game of striking from under the lake and retreating to the ground came to an end. Her inner strength was almost exhausted. The other party stubbornly played possum, and continuing to exhaust them would depend on whose aura was more resilient... Gu Xiaoman simply stopped moving, and finally stepped firmly on the lake surface, waiting for the breaking strike that was pointed at her!

"Boom!"

The moment the lake surface bloomed with light, the black-clad girl took out a knuckle duster from her sleeve and slammed it down heavily!

A storm swept across hundreds of meters.

Centered on Gu Xiaoman, the solid frozen lake within a hundred meters instantly shattered. The "Hundred-Blast Knuckle" slammed heavily on the snow-white light, successfully shattering the breaking strike. Gu Xiaoman also confirmed her guess that the blade that kept chasing her was not a sealed item, but a light blade!

This was the ability of an elemental Transcendent!

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

The fierce wind blew away the snow dust, and the solid ice of the frozen lake under Gu Xiaoman's feet had shattered. In the previous strike, the ice surface within a hundred meters had cracked into pieces.

She silently clenched the fist wearing the knuckle duster, her fingers almost losing sensation.

The other party was very strong and should not be underestimated.

Although the Hundred-Blast Knuckle strike had shattered the blade, she had also paid a certain price. Now, her entire forearm was sore and numb.

"Since you're here, Your Excellency... why not come out and meet me?"

After taking two deep breaths, Gu Xiaoman reached out and patted the snowflakes on her cloak. While speaking, her mental energy had quietly spread out, enveloping a hundred meters around her, but within her perception range, the frozen lake was silent, without a trace of life.

This was terrifying.

Top assassins were skilled in concealment, and could indeed perfectly hide from those of the same level.

But in the face of a mental-type's powerful search, continuing to hide... was no longer easy.

Gu Xiaoman's expression was extremely solemn. There were only two possibilities for this phenomenon.

Either the assassin had retreated after failing the attack!

Or the assassin's mental power was far stronger than hers!

She hoped it was the former, but the former possibility was very slim... because her heart lake was still tense.

The intuition of a top mental genius never erred!

This meant that the danger from the unknown still existed, and the assassin must be nearby, waiting for her to reveal a flaw, and then deliver a fatal blow.

The frozen lake was silent for a few seconds, when suddenly a hoarse voice rang out.

"I'm here to kill you, why meet?"

The voice came from nowhere.

And it used some kind of mental secret method to modify it, making it impossible to detect the information of the voice's owner. Whether the other party was male or female, specific age, was impossible to know.

"If I'm not mistaken, you should also be in the Third Order, right?"

Gu Xiaoman smiled faintly. For some reason, hearing the response made her feel more at ease.

So she said loudly, continuing the conversation, "Are you from the 'Cloud Tiger' sect?"

Real assassins who fought for their lives wouldn't waste words.

Since the other party spoke, she didn't mind chatting, because the deployment of the [Annihilation Dream] ability took time.

When traveling outside, she rarely used her abilities.

This power to pull dreams and reality together, once used, would expose her identity and cause great trouble... but now that she had been found by an "acquaintance", there was no need to hide her strength.

A wisp of black crack was born in her sleeve.

This crack was extremely small.

But it was really tearing the void, and quietly spreading, like a black snake, winding along the girl's cloak, just hiding under the frozen lake, constantly expanding—

"..."

Gu Xiaoman asked about the identity, but the voice no longer responded.

"If you're working for someone, then tell me what price your employer offered, I can pay double."

Gu Xiaoman said calmly, "I'm not interested in your identity, and I won't pursue your assassination."

The frozen lake was still silent.

"To show my sincerity, I can send you a sealed item first."

Gu Xiaoman raised her eyebrows, she raised one hand and took off a ring. The ring was engraved with three clouds: "This is an A-grade sealed item, the Cloud Ring. Each activation can immerse you in the 'Dream of the Sky God's Throne' for mental dream enlightenment. Until the user comprehends his own 'observer's mentality', it can be twice as effective... This is a cultivation treasure that countless people dream of."

The silence of the frozen lake was broken.

The hoarse voice laughed, obviously showing some interest in the Cloud Ring.

"There's such a treasure?"

"Since you came to kill me, then you must know my identity... There's no need for me to lie to you about this kind of thing."

Gu Xiaoman said calmly, "If you are willing to trade with me, I can throw this ring out now... and I will never take it back, how about it?"

"I don't want this ring."

The hoarse voice suddenly said, "I want the string of beads you're wearing on your hand."

Gu Xiaoman was silent. She looked at her wrist, where a simple and unadorned string of snow-white beads hung.

When that person gave it to her, there were seven.

Now... there were only five left.

"Sorry, I can't give you this string of beads."

Gu Xiaoman shook her head, she lowered her sleeves and said slowly, "This item is a one-time consumable, and I've already used two of them... Its value is not as high as the 'Cloud Ring'. I have many valuable treasures on me, you can choose whatever you want, but this string of beads is the only exception."

"Is that so?"

The hoarse voice laughed again, "Then I want the sealed item you're wearing on your hand, or the bell pendant you're wearing around your neck."

Gu Xiaoman frowned.

She could understand the other party wanting the Hundred-Blast Knuckle, after all, it was a very practical power-attack sealed item.

But what did they want the bell pendant for?

She touched the bell pendant inside her cloak with some confusion. The most worthless thing on her body was this thing. This was the first gift Chen Li gave her five years ago, saying that it contained the power to calm the mind and could protect the mental stability of Transcendent practitioners. For an S-level mental type, "mental stability" was very basic.

Over the years, the only sealed item she hadn't used was Chen Li's bell pendant.

But Gu Xiaoman didn't ignore it because of this, but hung it around her neck.

Looking at the object, remembering the person, looking at the object, remembering the person.

Perhaps this bell pendant really had an incredible power. After wearing it, she did feel a burst of warmth from the bottom of her heart.

"Why would you want this sealed item..."

"Wait, who are you?"

Gu Xiaoman asked suspiciously.

At this moment, she suddenly raised her head.

In the opposite direction, a "tall" figure slowly walked out of the snow-covered mist.

The reason it was tall was that the person was sitting on the shoulders of the [Thunder Realm Walker].

Bai Xiu looked at the black-cloaked girl on the frozen lake with a complicated expression, and smiled gratifiedly: "Xiaoman... Long time no see, you've grown taller and are much more powerful than I imagined."

噼里啪啦, the Thunder Realm Walker dissipated on the spot.

Bai Xiu landed, his white robes fluttered like snow.

"Master Bai Xiu..."

Gu Xiaoman stood there in a daze.

No wonder... no wonder...

She ran over stepping on the broken ice and bumped into Bai Xiu's arms.

Bai Xiu's eyes were first at a loss, then became gentle. He slowly reached out and gently patted Gu Xiaoman on the back, and said softly with a smile: "That string of beads is not a valuable thing, there is no need to be so precious. If you use it up, or lose it... I'll give you another one."

"How could I lose something you gave me..."

Gu Xiaoman's voice was a little choked up, and at the same time she raised her eyes, her eyes still a little aggrieved.

"In these five years in the Source Tower... you must have suffered a lot, right?"

The smile on Bai Xiu's face gradually disappeared. He asked in a low voice, "Yun Hu, Xuan Gui, and the newly appointed Vermillion Bird Envoy... are they hostile to you?"

"I've had a great time in these five years!"

The girl quickly denied it, with a hint of disdain in her voice: "What are they, who can bully me, who dares to bully me?!"

Looking at Gu Xiaoman's proud expression like a little lion, Bai Xiu couldn't bear to expose her.

He knew too well what kind of person this little girl was.

Even if she was injured, she would only silently lick her wounds in the corner... but there was one point, Gu Xiaoman was right.

She would not allow anyone to bully her for no reason.

At the origin point where the frozen lake shattered, that is, the position where Gu Xiaoman stood before, countless black snakes were swimming under the ice, surrounding and wrapping into a black sphere, which was the power released by [Annihilation Dream].

The previous negotiation was just her delaying tactic. If she waited a little longer and completed the accumulation of [Annihilation Dream], then the situation would be reversed!

The sealed items she mentioned earlier, she didn't want to give any of them, and she wouldn't give any of them!