Paving the Way

Mo Lin lowered his head, looking at Xiao Yi Xian in his arms. She still had tears on her face, her small mouth slightly open, looking utterly shaken.

Her clear eyes were now veiled with a layer of mist, and tiny teardrops still clung to her long eyelashes. Her pitiful appearance was a stark contrast to her usual feigned coldness and strength, possessing a unique, moving charm.

The arrogant and domineering expression he had worn when facing Mu Li instantly melted away like ice and snow, replaced by a mischievous, playful smirk.

Instead of releasing her immediately, he maintained his hold around her waist, his arm tightening slightly. He spun her backward half a step, gently but irresistibly pressing her against the newly formed Ice Wall, which still emanated a biting chill.

With a soft "thump," Xiao Yi Xian's back hit the cold, hard ice. The bone-chilling cold seeped through her thin clothes, causing her to shiver involuntarily. It also helped her slightly regain consciousness from her extreme shock and fear.

"You... what are you doing?!" she exclaimed, instinctively pushing against Mo Lin's solid chest with her hands, trying to shove him away. But her strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

The cold of the Ice Wall contrasted sharply with the warmth radiating from the man in front of her. This feeling of ice and fire warring within her made her heart race and her mind whirl.

Mo Lin leaned down, his face close, their noses almost touching.

He could clearly see his reflection in her eyes, and the way her thick eyelashes trembled uncontrollably with nervousness.

Mo Lin deliberately lowered his voice, his breath caressing her sensitive ear. In a magnetic tone only they could hear, he whispered softly:

"Alright, the annoying flies are temporarily shut out. Next..." He deliberately drew out his words, his gaze sweeping over her chest, which rose and fell with her rapid breaths, before finally settling on her eyes, which were filled with panic and shame. The smirk on his lips deepened. "...it's time to do some 'real business,' my dear Xiao Yi Xian."

He emphasized the words "real business" with a particularly ambiguous tone.

Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face instantly flushed crimson, like an overripe cherry, the blush extending all the way to her ears and neck.

Her mind went blank, with only words like "wall slam" and "real business," laden with insinuation, echoing wildly.

Did he... did he just drive away the wolf, only to become a tiger himself? Here? Now?

A wave of immense shame, coupled with a strange flutter in her heart that she was unwilling to admit even to herself, made her limbs go weak. The hands pushing against his chest lost their strength.

She closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling violently like butterfly wings. She could almost hear her own heart pounding like a drum.

Should she resist? Or... was it a mixture of near-desperate resignation and an indescribable sense of being conquered by immense power? She remained frozen, unable to move.

However, the anticipated further advances did not come.

Mo Lin looked at her, her eyes tightly shut, her pitiable and adorable posture like a lamb awaiting slaughter. He finally couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.

His laughter was clear and bright, filled with the joy of a successful prank.

He released the hand he had been using to prop himself against the Ice Wall, and also let go of the arm around her waist. He took a step back, creating a deliberately ambiguous distance between them.

"Haha... look how scared you are." His tone was light, filled with obvious teasing. "The 'real business' I was talking about is digging a new escape route. What did you think I meant?"

The sudden release of tension and the increased distance made Xiao Yi Xian snap her eyes open.

Seeing the undisguised amusement on Mo Lin's face, she instantly realized she had been tricked by that detestable guy again!

An inexpressible surge of shame and anger overwhelmed her previous fear and that strange flutter.

"You... you shameless scoundrel! Bastard!" She trembled with rage and picked up a small stone from the ground, hurling it at Mo Lin.

Mo Lin easily dodged to the side, his smile widening.

He enjoyed seeing her like this – flustered and angry, vibrant and lively. It was far more pleasing to his eyes than her desperate helplessness just moments ago.

However, enough teasing. The sounds of impact against the Ice Wall behind them were growing more frequent, and the cracks were spreading.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." Mo Lin's smile faded, and his gaze shifted to the solid rock face on the side of the cave, his eyes sharpening. "If we don't act soon, that guy Mu Li will really break in to chat with us."

Xiao Yi Xian also realized the gravity of the situation. Suppressing the shame and anger in her heart, she followed his gaze to the seemingly hopeless cliff face.

A sense of despair washed over her again. "What time is it, and you're still joking! We're completely trapped!" Her voice was laced with suppressed sobs and trembling.

"Trapped?" Mo Lin raised an eyebrow, surveying the seemingly inescapable cave. The confident curve of his lips widened again. "Who said that?"

Before his words had even fallen, his body moved like a coiled leopard, darting towards the rock face.

The next moment, a chilling aura, far more intense and domineering than when he dealt with the Mo Beasts, erupted without reservation, an aura that made the very soul tremble!

His arms, from the elbows down, were instantly encased in a crystal-clear, solid ice, as if carved from the finest jade!

The ice was not a simple covering; it formed two enormous, ferocious, intricately patterned ice crystal claw blades, radiating extreme cold and terrifying power—the "Ice Emperor's Claw," a full simulation of the Ice Emperor's innate skill!

"Open up!"

Mo Lin roared, and his ice-clad arms no longer simply struck. They moved as if alive, imbued with a will to tear through everything, and plunged fiercely into the hard rock face!

"CRACKLE--!!!"

A deafening sound of shattering rock exploded!

It was like a primordial ice beast savagely gnawing at the mountain! Under the Ice Emperor's power, which combined absolute low-temperature freezing of material structures with the physics of brute force destruction, the hard rock face was easily torn apart and breached!

Massive chunks of rock were frozen, then pulverized by terrifying force into dust, mixed with dense ice shards, shooting outwards like an explosion!

Xiao Yi Xian instinctively raised her hands to shield her face. Through her fingers, she saw a cave extending rapidly outwards into the mountain!

Mo Lin's arms transformed into tireless excavators. Each swing carried destructive power. The symphony of ice and stone vibrated in her eardrums, and the entire cave trembled slightly!

"This... this is beyond human capability..." Her red lips formed a cute circle, and the shock in her beautiful eyes had turned into utter horror.

The strength Mo Lin had displayed before already made her feel he was unfathomable, but this scene completely overturned her understanding of "power"!

Breaking open a mountain with bare hands? What kind of terrifying Combat Skill was this? What was the bottom line of this Mo Lin's strength?

"Hmph, it's good that you're smart, kid. You know my skills are the real trump card!" In the spiritual sea, the Ice Emperor saw Mo Lin using her ability and arrogantly lifted her chin, a rare hint of satisfaction in her tone.

The Snow Emperor's cool voice carried a hint of praise. "A fitting response. Bing'er's abilities are perfectly suited for carving out a path to survival."

In just over ten breaths, a deep, frost-covered passage, wide enough for two to walk side-by-side and with inner walls so smooth they reflected a faint blue light, had completely taken shape!

At the end of the passage, another clear patch of moonlight came into view, carrying the scent of freedom!

"Let's go!"

Mo Lin, barely managing to calm his slightly rapid breathing, grabbed Xiao Yi Xian's cold wrist. She was still in a state of extreme shock, her delicate body feeling weak, her skin slick to the touch.

He didn't hesitate any longer. Almost half-supporting, half-carrying her, he led her towards the hopeful, newly formed passage.

"Wait! The entrance behind us..." Xiao Yi Xian, stumbling along as she was pulled, finally reacted and quickly called out.

Mo Lin didn't look back. The moment he stepped into the new passage, his free left hand swung back sharply behind him!

"Ice Wall, seal!"

Another surge of immense cold air erupted, not directed at the rock walls, but precisely covering the entrance they had just created. Instantly, a thick, translucent wall of solid ice reformed, once again isolating the enraged shouts and banging sounds coming from the cave.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Muffled impacts sounded again from behind the ice wall, but it was clear they wouldn't break through anytime soon.

Inside the new passage, it suddenly became much quieter. Only their slightly hurried breaths echoed in the confined space.

The air was filled with the earthy scent of freshly broken rock and a strong, icy chill.

Xiao Yi Xian leaned against the bone-chillingly cold ice wall, her delicate body still trembling slightly. She looked at Mo Lin's figure ahead, which seemed exceptionally tall in the ice wall's reflection, her eyes filled with an extreme complexity.

Relief at surviving, awe at absolute power, shame at being repeatedly toyed with, and an ineffable sense of bewilderment, as if her fate was firmly held in this man's hands... All these emotions intertwined, leaving her mind in turmoil.

Mo Lin patted the ice shards and stone dust from his robes, turned around, and flashed a smile at her.

Against the faint blue glow of the ice wall, his white teeth and brilliant smile possessed an indescribable charm, both dazzling and... still incredibly irritating.

He pointed to the path behind them, sealed by the ice wall, then pointed to the exit ahead where light was filtering through. His tone was as relaxed as if he had just done something trivial:

"See? The path, it's open now, isn't it?"