Lin Feng pushed open the Ice Cave's heavy ice door, and light from outside surged in with the biting cold wind.
Bing Yun was waiting anxiously outside, frost on her lovely face and lingering shock and anger in her eyes.
"Brother Lin, the situation has changed!" she said at a rapid pace.
"Frost Scar Barrier on the eastern side of the secret realm has been attacked by an unknown force. Space was forcibly torn apart, and the elder commander has been gravely wounded! The enemy is extremely powerful, and... their methods are bizarre, unlike those of ordinary martial artists!"
Frost Scar Barrier?!
It was one of the Snow Clan Secret Realm's few weak points connecting to the outside world. It was protected by powerful formations and guarded by Martial King-level elders, yet it had been breached in an instant?
Lin Feng's gaze sharpened. "Do we know who they are?"
"No."
Bing Yun shook her head, her expression grave.
"They are shrouded in distorted black mist. Their attacks are not simply origin power or Laws, but carry a... corrosive, decaying aura. It resembles the Netherworld Demonic Qi described in the records, yet it is also different."
Netherworld?
Lin Feng's heart tightened. Could the Demon Shadow's companions have come knocking?
No. If they were Netherworld Demonic Beasts, the Mystic Ice Ancient Beast could not possibly have remained completely unresponsive.
And from the description, there seemed to be something else at work.
"Where is the clan chief?"
"Master has personally gone to the barrier to stabilize the situation. She ordered me to bring you to the council hall. The formation core is there, allowing us to observe the entire battlefield—and it is safer as well."
Safer?
Lin Feng sneered inwardly.
If a powerful enemy had truly come invading, nowhere would be safe.
Moreover, he had a faint feeling that this sudden assault might... have something to do with him.
"Lead the way." He did not hesitate in the slightest.
The two became streaks of light, crossing layer after layer of icy palaces and towers in an instant before arriving at the council hall in the center of the secret realm.
The atmosphere inside was already tense. Several elders who had remained behind were casting spells before a massive ice mirror, which reflected the brutal scene at Frost Scar Barrier—
The once crystal-clear, unbreakable ice-crystal barrier had been blasted open with a massive hole. At its edges lingered black energy that writhed like a living thing, corroding the ice.
Snow Clan guards, injured or dead, lay scattered across the ground. Ice-blue blood mingled with black qi that had yet to dissipate, making for a horrifying sight.
At the center of the image, the clan chief's white figure was locked in fierce battle with three figures shrouded in dense black mist!
Those three figures were not physical entities, but more like clusters of energy. Their forms shifted constantly, at times humanoid, at times twisted shadows.
Their methods of attack were extraordinarily bizarre. With a wave of the hand, they could unleash vast torrents of corrosive black rain or shrieks that eroded the soul. They could even twist the surrounding space, causing the clan chief's Ice Law attacks to miss again and again.
"This is... the Corrupt Spirit Race?"
A well-informed Snow Clan elder cried out in alarm, his face filled with horror. "Weren't they exterminated by the joint forces of every race at the end of the previous epoch? How could they possibly appear here?!"
The Corrupt Spirit Race?
Lin Feng stared sharply at the ice mirror.
He had never heard of this race, but their attacks did indeed bear some resemblance to Netherworld Demonic Qi. Both favored corrosion and soul attacks, yet this power seemed purer. It had less of the Netherworld's chaos and savagery, and more of a cold, sinister sense of order.
Bing Yun quickly explained, "According to ancient records, the Corrupt Spirit Race is not native to this universe. They come from the Shadow Crevice and survive by devouring the souls of living beings and the traces of civilizations. They are destroyers in the purest sense!"
"At the end of the Primordial Civilization, they appeared as the vanguard of the Cleaners!"
The Cleaners' vanguard?
Lin Feng's pupils contracted sharply!
So it really is connected to the Calamity of the Epoch!
Why had they suddenly attacked the Snow Clan Secret Realm?
Was it because the ice corpse had awakened?
Or because... he had devoured the ice corpse, and the aura of Primordial Dao Source on him had drawn these "Scavengers" here?
"Not good! The clan chief is being suppressed!" another elder cried out.
In the ice mirror, the three Corrupt Spirit Race experts coordinated flawlessly. Their black mist churned and transformed into countless twisted chains, completely sealing the space around the clan chief. Streams of corrosive energy, like venomous snakes, battered ceaselessly against her protective divine radiance!
Though the clan chief was immensely powerful, she seemed deeply wary of this force. Restricted at every turn, she had already fallen into a disadvantage!
"Activate the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Great Array! Support the clan chief!" an elder ordered sharply.
"Too late! The array needs time to activate, and the secret realm has only just undergone the ancient beast's awakening. Its energy is unstable!" another said anxiously.
The hall descended into chaos.
Lin Feng's eyes flickered as his mind raced.
The Corrupt Spirit Race's appearance had thrown his plans into disarray.
If the Snow Clan were breached, he would not be able to remain untouched either.
Moreover, he keenly noticed that these three Corrupt Spirit Race experts had an exceptionally clear target—the direction of the secret realm core behind the clan chief!
As for the other Snow Clan members, they had merely injured them rather than delivering killing blows.
Their purpose was to destroy the secret realm core?
Or... were they looking for something?
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning striking flint—Primordial Dao Source!
Or an item closely connected to the Primordial Civilization!
For example... the Thunder Emperor Seal Fragment within his body!
The ice corpse's memories had mentioned that the Cleaners would erase every "variable" capable of continuing the Civilization Spark!
He was a variable. This Snow Clan Secret Realm had likely also been marked as a target requiring "cleanup" because of the ice corpse's existence and the appearance of the Thunder Emperor Token!
They could not wait any longer!
"I'll go."
Lin Feng suddenly spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it instantly overwhelmed the clamor in the hall.
Every elder's stunned gaze focused on him.
"Little Friend Lin, you must not! The Corrupt Spirit Race is unfathomably strange. Unless one is a Martial King, it is difficult to contend with them! Though your strength has greatly increased, you..." an elder hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
"Staying here is also waiting to die."
Lin Feng's tone was calm, but it carried a resolution that brooked no doubt.
"Their target may be related to me. If I go, I may be able to draw away part of their attention."
Without waiting for anyone to react, his figure flashed. He had already turned into a streak of dark-purple lightning and shot directly out of the council hall, racing toward Frost Scar Barrier!
"Brother Lin!"
Bing Yun cried out. Gritting her teeth, she too became a streak of light and followed close behind.
"This... sigh!" The elders looked at one another, then finally stomped their feet. "Quick! At any cost, accelerate the activation of the great array!"
At Frost Scar Barrier, the battle grew ever more intense.
A trace of blood had appeared at the corner of the clan chief's lips. The protective divine radiance around her dimmed continuously beneath the corrosion of the black mist.
The three Corrupt Spirit Race experts released soundless shrieks. Black mist condensed into three enormous scythes burning with black flames, each carrying the deathly aura of souls being harvested as they slashed toward the clan chief at once!
At that critical moment—
"BOOM!!!"
A terrifying bolt of divine lightning—its core dark purple and its edges entwined with silver radiance—tore through the sky like a spear of heavenly judgment descending from the ninth heavens. Carrying the tyrannical force to annihilate all things, it crashed fiercely into the point where the three black scythes met!
The violent explosion sent the black mist churning and scattering. The phantoms of all three scythes shattered instantly!
The tremendous shockwave even forced the three Corrupt Spirit Race experts back several steps!
"Who is it?" A spiritual ripple filled with icy rage emerged from the black mist.
As the lightning faded, Lin Feng appeared before the clan chief. Dark-purple lightning serpents slithered around his body, while his eyes were as cold as ten thousand years of ice. He no longer concealed that trace of Primordial Dao Source aura. Like a beacon in the night, it was unmistakably clear!
"I am the one you seek."
Lin Feng slowly raised his hand. Chaos Thunder Origin gathered in his palm, forming a dark-purple lightning sword that twisted and leaped without cease, its point aimed directly at the three Corrupt Spirit Race experts.
"If you want what is on me, then see whether you... have the life to take it!"
He deliberately released the auras of the Thunder Emperor Seal Fragment and the Primordial Dao Source!
Sure enough, the three Corrupt Spirit Race experts immediately fixed their attention firmly upon Lin Feng!
The black mist rolled violently, transmitting waves of incomparable greed and excitement!
"Source blood... token... supreme variable... eliminate!!"
They directly abandoned the clan chief. Three torrents of terrifying black energy, like the Nether River bursting through its banks, surged toward Lin Feng in an overwhelming flood, carrying the dreadful might to corrode all things and devour souls!
The clan chief finally had a chance to catch her breath. Looking at the young figure shielding her, her eyes were filled with indescribably complicated emotions.
Facing an attack that could make even a Martial King Peak expert turn pale, Lin Feng's eyes instead blazed with mad fighting spirit!
Not only did he not retreat, he took a step forward. Raising the dark-purple lightning sword high, he recalled the mad idea concerning the Counter-Imprint that he had just acquired from the Library Pavilion!
"Excellent! I can use you... to test the 'new move' I just came up with!"
He intended to use himself as bait, deliberately stirring the Netherworld imprint deep within his soul, then combining the Chaos Thunder Prison and Primordial Dao Source to perform that dangerous method of turning the backlash against them—and snatching victory from peril!
Before you continue