The wind and snow pressed lower still, and the golden grid in Chen Wuya's palm was still hot. He stared into the curtain of snow ahead, slowing his breathing. That last strike had cost him quite a bit of strength. The bead beneath his tongue trembled faintly, warning him that he did not have much true qi left.
The snow demon's corpse on the ground still radiated cold. Its fur had crusted over with a layer of ice. The other few, frozen by the backlash of cold currents, had not completely died either. Their limbs twitched, and low, muffled whimpers leaked from their throats. Their blue eyes glimmered amid the snow like stones buried beneath ice.
Chen Wuya did not move. He knew the real threat had yet to make its move.
Sure enough, a long howl ripped through the wind and snow. It did not sound like a wolf's cry, but more like a human voice torn apart and mixed with the scrape of metal. The ground began to tremble. The snowpack swelled into an arch and rapidly bore down on him.
He raised a hand, gathering Misaligned Force once more. This time, it was not for defense. He actively dispersed the force, forming a net before him. Golden light flashed through the snowstorm like ripples spreading over water.
Boom!
The snowbank exploded, and a snow demon larger than the others leaped out. It was nearly the size of an ordinary person, though its limbs remained bestial. When its claws struck the ground, they carved four deep trenches. Most striking of all was the half-foot-long ice horn on its forehead, its surface webbed with cracks and seeping pale-blue mist.
The moment that mist touched the air, the surrounding temperature dropped several degrees. The back of Chen Wuya's hand went