Piercing the Heart

Snow and wind filled the air, creating a vast, desolate landscape.

The moment Lin Xin Tong collapsed, Lin Xin Tong Yi Yun was already beside her, holding Lin Xin Tong slender body in his arms.

Her body was very light, without any body temperature, and as cold as ice.

Life slowly drained from Lin Xin Tong's body. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her long eyelashes were covered with tiny ice crystals.

Blood and Ice Crystal congealed on Lin Xin Tong's body, making her look like a fragile ice flower about to shatter.

Yi Yun held Lin Xin Tong in his arms, standing quietly in the snow. He placed one hand on Lin Xin Tong's meridians. Meridians are the channels through which energy flows within a martial artist's body. With the help of the Purple Crystal's ability to sense energy, Yi Yun could see the condition of Lin Xin Tong's meridians.

Upon seeing this, Yi Yun's heart sank.

Lin Xin Tong's condition is terrible.

Her chances of survival were extremely slim. Even in the Lin family, with access to the best medical facilities and a wide variety of medicines available, and with various medications used to regulate her Lin Xin Tong, it might not be enough to fully restore her health.

Moreover, they are currently on this Extreme Cold Ice Plain, where the wind is biting cold. Even Yi Yun, with his Pure Yang Body who can withstand the cold wind, would find it difficult to heal his injuries here.

If it were Lin Xin Tong, who Innate Yin Meridian, it would be even worse. The cold poison has already spread throughout Lin Xin Tong's body, and her Life Fire could be extinguished at any moment.

Looking at Lin Xin Tong's pale, almost transparent, and tragically beautiful face, Yi Yun felt a pang of pain in his heart.

The Artifact Spirit the God Descending Tower is asleep and cannot help them; they can only rely on themselves.

Thinking of Lin Xin Tong's bewildered gaze at her last moments, Yi Yun felt a mix of emotions. If he couldn't find a solution, it would be the last time Lin Xin Tong saw this world...

Yi Yun gently grasped Lin Xin Tong's hand and carefully infused her body with Pure Yang Energy to protect her heart meridian.

This is the only thing Yi Yun can do.

However, Lin Xin Tong had burned away too much of her life force; this amount of Pure Yang Energy was simply not enough to wake her up...

He held Lin Xin Tong, standing silently amidst the ice and snow. He now had two choices: either move forward and trace the path once trodden by the Ancient Empress.

Either retreat, leave the Extreme Cold Ice Plain, and return to the God Descending Tower.

Choosing to move forward was destined to be fraught with difficulties. With Lin Xin Tong unconscious and her life hanging by a thread, Yi Yun had to continuously inject Pure Yang Energy into her body to maintain her vitality. Under these circumstances, the difficulty for Yi Yun to cross the Extreme Cold Ice Plain was unimaginable.

As for retreating...

Yi Yun knew how long the retreat was; he had walked for four days on his own, and if he carried Lin Xin Tong along the way, it would take at least six days.

Yi Yun didn't know if Lin Xin Tong could survive six days. Even if she did, what would happen if he took Lin Xin Tong back to the third level of the God Descending Tower after six days?

Her lost vitality could never be recovered.

Yi Yun took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the snow.

Whichever path he chooses, he must now recover his strength.

Just now, Yi Yun unleashed that sword strike, his most powerful attack, but this strike also greatly depleted Yi Yun stamina.

Yi Yun knew very well that the battle was not actually over...

At this moment, several dozen feet away from Yi Yun, high in the sky.

A pair of blood-red eyes stared at Yi Yun like a vulture.

The dark-skinned youth was hidden in the void, his face extremely pale. Behind him, the gates of hell he had summoned had shattered, and he himself was also suffering from the backlash of the Sword Qi!

Once Yin Sha loses its physical body, it becomes extremely vulnerable. Yi Yun's final sword strike was utterly devastating. Those Ice Field Snow Monster, which were connected to the dark-skinned boy's soul, were completely annihilated, leaving not even a trace. This dealt a heavy blow to the dark-skinned boy as well!

"How is this possible..."

The dark-skinned youth couldn't believe that Yi Yun's strength was so terrifying.

Even if Yi Yun possessed Pure Yang Body, giving him a significant advantage in fighting and killing the Ice Field Snow Monster on the snowfield, he shouldn't have killed more than twenty Ice Field Snow Monster with a single sword strike and still managed to injure himself.

This was completely beyond his comprehension.

"Hmm? This kid, his cultivation has reached... the peak of the Origin Foundation Realm!"

The dark-skinned youth then noticed Yi Yun's cultivation level: a peak Origin Foundation Realm cultivator at sixteen years old. This cultivation speed was too fast. Moreover, the dark-skinned youth thought back carefully. Although he had initially discovered Yi Yun's amazing potential, he didn't seem to have noticed that Yi Yun had such a perfect Pure Yang Body. This meant that Yi Yun probably had a fortuitous encounter in the God Descending Tower.

He was envious of this luck.

"I thought he was a delicious prey, but I didn't expect him to be so troublesome. I need to plan carefully. Right now, I'm just a Yin Sha, and my soul is too Yin in nature. I have no power to resist the pure Pure Yang Sword. Without the protection of a physical body, I will soon be scattered to the winds!"

The dark-skinned youth lurked like a venomous snake, waiting for his opportunity. He noticed that Yi Yun's aura had weakened considerably after unleashing that sword strike; this was his chance to make his move.

"That girl! She's that kid's weakness. If I attack and torment her, he'll definitely fight to protect her. That should throw him into disarray, and once he's badly injured, that'll be my chance to strike."

The dark-skinned youth had figured out his plan, and a wicked smile crept onto his lips. But before that, he needed to wear down Yi Yun's stamina.

This was not difficult for him; as a Yin spirit, he could summon evil spirits to help him fight.

These evil spirits are not very powerful, and killing them will not cause their true form to suffer a backlash.

However, if Yi Yun wants to kill these evil spirits, he has to use pure Yi Yun Pure Yang Energy each time, which is extremely taxing on him.

Once Yi Yun's stamina is reduced to below 40%, he can make his move.

With a thought, the dark-skinned youth felt a chilling wind blow, and one after another, unseen evil spirits appeared out of thin air around him, flying towards Yi Yun.

"Hmph, if it weren't for that wretched woman guarding the God Descending Tower, and if I were still alive, dealing with this brat would have been a piece of cake. Why would I have needed to go through all this trouble!"

The dark-skinned boy muttered through gritted teeth, his hatred for the White-robed woman running deep.

Just as the evil spirits rushed towards Yi Yun, the dark-skinned youth suddenly noticed that Yi Yun's figure had become slightly blurred.

Um!?

The dark-skinned youth was startled; this was...

While Yi Yun's figure was blurry, Lin Xin Tong was still lying in Yi Yun's arms. However, what was supporting Lin Xin Tong's body was not Yi Yun's hand, but seemed to be a Pure Yang Power!

Not good!!

The dark-skinned boy was shocked. His body was about to lunge forward when he heard a soft "plop" sound...

A broken sword, burning with Pure Yang Flame, pierced through his body, exiting through his chest...

The dark-skinned boy stared in disbelief at the rusty, broken sword before him; the scene felt utterly unreal to him...

How... is that possible?

...(To be continued~^~)