Waning Moon Beheading

The ice wall had barely formed when the fire python's assault struck, slamming head-on into it.

Crash! The ice wall shattered on impact.

A gaping hole had been blasted straight through the center of the hard ice wall by the fire python's power.

But the ice wall had bought Feng An time to flee. He leaped up, narrowly escaping the fire python's frontal charge.

Yet the immense fiery aura still ignited half his body, burning his flesh into a bloody mess.

In the end, he crashed brutally into the snow.

With such severe injuries, Feng An's secret technique seemed to have reached its limit.

His originally robust, savage body, like that of a demonic beast, steadily shrank under Kong Jiao's gaze, transforming back into that hunched old man.

"Roar!" Feng An howled, repeatedly trying to rise from the snow, but the backlash of the secret technique left him powerless to turn the tide. In the end, he fell face-first into the snow.

"It's over!" A wretched smile crossed his face, as though he had already foreseen his fate.

On the other side, Jiang Xingtian leisurely recalled the fire python. Without even sparing Feng An a glance, his eyes regained their former composure as he sneered at Kong Jiao on the edge of the battlefield.

"How can an ant shake a tree? The distance between us is more than just that between an ant and a giant tree."

Hearing Jiang Xingtian's mocking words, Kong Jiao did not respond. Expressionless, he sealed the mouth of his wine gourd.

When he had helped Feng An block the fire python's attack earlier, he had poured out every last drop of water from the wine gourd.

Without a water source, he could no longer use his ice arrows.

That meant half of his abilities had been crippled.

Yet he did not panic. In the hand hidden inside his sleeve, he tightly gripped an object.

It was a crescent-shaped jade slip of cold, lustrous color. It trembled incessantly between his fingers, radiating intense light from its entire body, eager to strike.

It was the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture.

Earlier, when Kong Jiao had poured all his spiritual power into forming the ice wall,

the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture had suddenly reacted under the influence of his Frostfall spiritual power.

Now, held in his hand, it gave Kong Jiao the illusion that he could hurl it out at any moment.

Back in the Outer Sect Technique Pavilion, Elder Zhao Wei had said that the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture was an excellent artifact-refining material, one that an elder from the Artifact Refining Pavilion had coveted for a long time.

Perhaps Zhao Wei and that elder from the Artifact Refining Pavilion were both wrong, Kong Jiao thought.

It was not artifact-refining material at all.

Perhaps it was an artifact in itself.

An artifact that could only be activated with Frostfall spiritual power.

I only have one chance! Kong Jiao lightly licked his dry lips, parched by the violent surging of spiritual power.

He could feel the spiritual power raging within him beginning to show signs of exhaustion. The effects of the Burst Qi Pill were about to wear off.

He had the strength for only a single strike. If he failed, they would all be buried here.

"Why aren't you talking anymore? Scared?" Jiang Xingtian was now like an old cat toying with a mouse. Watching Kong Jiao feign calm, he wore a teasing expression.

Yet Kong Jiao gave a strange smile and said loudly, "Jiang Xingtian, aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid of you?" Jiang Xingtian raised the corner of his mouth mockingly.

Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, the mockery vanished from his face and a trace of panic surfaced.

"Damn it! He's going to reveal the Twin-Stem Ice Lingzhi!"

"Kill him!" Jiang Xingtian made a swift decision and delayed no longer. Under his control, the fire python shot toward Kong Jiao once again.

But Kong Jiao caught that fleeting flash of panic on Jiang Xingtian's face.

That single instant was enough.

Just as Jiang Xingtian unleashed the fire python,

a stream of pure water silently surged from beneath his feet.

That water had formed from the piled snow melted by his fire python's scorching heat.

Now, it became Kong Jiao's killing move.

It swept directly around Jiang Xingtian, completely enveloping him.

By the time he reacted, the pooled water had already formed into a sphere, fully submerging his lower body.

Then, in an instant, it turned into profound ice and locked down his movements.

"Not good!" Jiang Xingtian had witnessed Kong Jiao's methods of controlling ice and water, and his heart jolted.

But it was already too late.

A pure radiance, like moonlight, shot soundlessly from beneath Kong Jiao's sleeve.

Fast! Too fast!

Even Zheng Gang and the short, thin man watching the battle could not make out the path of that light.

In the next instant, the moonlight crossed the space between Kong Jiao and Jiang Xingtian, silently slicing through the latter's neck and leaving behind a streak of pale moon-white brilliance that had yet to disperse.

Jiang Xingtian's face still bore that faintly panicked expression, but the light in his eyes had already dimmed.

Gurgle!

Before everyone's horrified eyes, his head was silently severed from his neck.

It fell into the snow.

As for the fire python Jiang Xingtian had unleashed before his death,

it was far slower than the moonlight.

Having flown halfway through the air, it lost the power sustaining it with Jiang Xingtian's death and eventually scattered into sparks.

Whoosh! The wind and snow, which had halted during the battle, descended upon this land once more.

Within the storm of snow, Kong Jiao stood tall, allowing the fierce wind to sweep over him without moving in the slightest.

The countless hidden eyes watching him were thrown into tumultuous shock.

"This youth actually killed Jiang Xingtian!"

"What did he use? A Dao technique or an artifact? It was too fast."

"Why don't I remember such a baleful star among the cultivators who came to Frostmoon Altar this time? What is his name?"

No one could believe that Kong Jiao had killed Jiang Xingtian.

Even Zheng Gang and the short, thin man were stunned speechless by the sight.

But the facts lay before them. Jiang Xingtian's head was still resting in the snow.

The cultivators who had not thought much of Kong Jiao before now silently etched the appearance of the youth standing amid the snowstorm into their minds.

One thing was certain.

No one dared step out at this moment and court the wrath of that baleful star.

After this battle, Kong Jiao had gained some deterrent force at Frostmoon Altar. With the achievement of killing Jiang Xingtian alone, none of the cultivators present dared provoke him.

Kong Jiao stood amid the wind and snow, looking in all directions.

He knew many people around him were watching. He also knew that he could not show even the slightest sign of weakness.

Even though the spiritual power within him was now completely depleted, his meridians throbbed with piercing pain, and his limbs were as heavy as if filled with lead.

Don't panic!

He silently repeated it to himself.

Kong Jiao flipped the hand hidden within his sleeve and put away the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture, which had automatically returned to his palm after beheading Jiang Xingtian.

Then he slowly walked down from where he stood.

Though every step sent needle-like pain through his muscles and bones,

his expression did not change.

He first walked over to Jiang Xingtian's headless corpse and took the medicine pouch containing the Moon Condensing Ice Lingzhi. Then he took an exquisite black pouch resembling a brocade sachet.

It was a storage pouch, an extremely expensive storage pouch, so costly that even Kong Jiao had been reluctant to spend money on one.

Nearly all of Jiang Xingtian's possessions were inside.

After finishing this, Kong Jiao walked over to Feng An.

Feng An had used a secret technique and withstood Jiang Xingtian's attacks for a long time. Though Kong Jiao had helped block part of the fire python's final attack, Feng An had still been badly injured and was now barely clinging to life.

His aged body lay sprawled on the ground. If not for his chest heaving rapidly to prove he was still breathing, Kong Jiao would have nearly thought him dead.

Though Feng An was in a miserable state, he remained conscious.

His weary eyes watched Kong Jiao approach step by step with wariness, and a concealed terror appeared on his face.

Could he be planning to silence me? Feng An had personally witnessed Kong Jiao instantly kill Jiang Xingtian with a single strike.

Now, fear outweighed everything else when he looked at Kong Jiao.

Even an expert of the sixth realm of Wheel Nurturing had been slain by one blow.

It would only be natural for this baleful star to silence him over the Twin-Stem Ice Lingzhi.

However, Kong Jiao's next words put him at ease.

"Can you still move?"

Feng An froze briefly, then gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"

"Then get up and come with me!" Kong Jiao forced down the spasms wracking his body and slowly turned around.

He no longer had the strength to support Feng An. He did not even know whether he himself could make it into the shadows and escape the eyes watching him from all around.

*I can't fall! * Kong Jiao's vision had begun to darken, and he did not know how much longer he could endure.

Fortunately, a graceful figure emerged from the wind and snow just then.

Zhou Tingyu rushed over. After experiencing so much, the girl had finally matured a little.

She did not say much. Instead, she smiled brightly and said, "Senior Brother Kong, let me carry it for you."

As she spoke, she casually took the medicine pouch containing Jiang Xingtian's Moon Condensing Ice Lingzhi, which Kong Jiao had been gripping tightly.

Her small hand brushed against Kong Jiao's palm by accident.

Kong Jiao could feel the softness and warmth of Zhou Tingyu's fingers.

Then a current of spiritual power brimming with vibrant life surged from Zhou Tingyu's palm and flowed into every part of Kong Jiao's body.

His painfully throbbing meridians were like a parched riverbed suddenly filled with a clear spring.

The pain subsided.

His depleted spiritual power also showed signs of gradually recovering.

This was the wondrous aspect of the Spring Renewal Formula cultivated by Zhou Tingyu. Though it could not help much in battle, in a situation like this, she was a lifeline.

Kong Jiao and Zhou Tingyu met each other's eyes. Neither said anything more.

Amid the wind and snow, the three of them slowly departed.