South of Mount Lan lay Still Water Sword Hall.
Outside, heavy snow whirled through the air, covering all of Mount Lan in ice and snow. It looked like white jade, like glazed crystal, like an immortal's realm.
Hundreds of white-robed disciples knelt prostrate in the snow, stretching from the entrance of the Sword God Hall all the way to Divine Sword Plaza.
Their robes were as white as snow, yet the snow was whiter still.
The atmosphere inside the Sword God Hall was even more oppressive. The wind and snow could not enter, yet the stone pillars and the people within seemed as though they were about to freeze solid.
In the center of the hall sat a white-jade ice coffin.
The coffin was filled with blue spirit water steaming with heat.
Xifeng Sword God, the master of Still Water Sword Hall, Mu Yubai, was immersed in the blue water with his eyes tightly shut. There was not the slightest sign of life from him.
More than a dozen white-robed men stood around the ice coffin. Their expressions were grim, and their eyes concealed a ferocity they could barely suppress.
"That brat must have used some sort of sinister trick. Otherwise, with less than a year of experience at Starry Sky Academy, how could he have grievously wounded our master? It's simply unbelievable!" Li Xiuwei, one of the Still Water Three Mad Guests, shouted angrily. Slapping the long sword in his hand, he continued furiously, "Forget everything else. Let me go chop off that brat's head first. Otherwise, I'll never be able to swallow this grievance."
"That brat's head is mine. No one is to fight me for it. Otherwise, ask the Qi Breaking Sword in my hand whether it agrees first," Wang Li, one of the Three Mad Guests,