Inside the main hall of the Ziwei Sect, the lights were bright. Zhang Tianxing carefully placed the Chaos Pearl in the center of a pre-prepared magic array. Nine golden rune chains rose from the edge of the array, firmly binding the gray pearl. The pearl trembled slightly twice, as if in some kind of unwilling struggle, but finally quieted down.
Standing beside the magic array, Snow Empress watched this scene, and her tense nerves finally relaxed a little. She felt a wave of fatigue wash over her. She hadn't slept for three days, and the battle with the Demon Venerable had consumed a lot of her Spiritual Power. Her body was already protesting.
"We're safe for now." Zhang Tianxing straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "This sealing formation was left behind by my grandmaster, Xuanjizi. Although it's not as good as the original seal, it should be able to suppress the Chaos Pearl for three to five years without any problem. As for completely destroying it... I still need time to consult my grandmaster's notes to see if there are any specific methods recorded."
Snow Empress nodded. "Thank you for your trouble, Alliance Leader."
Zhang Tianxing turned around and looked at Snow Empress, his gaze filled with a complex expression. He was silent for a moment before speaking, "Miss Snow Empress, you did very well tonight. If it weren't for your last words that made the Demon Venerable give up the Chaos Pearl, the consequences would have been unimaginable. But I have one question—when you sheathed your sword, were you really sure the Demon Venerable would choose to give up? If he was unwilling to part with the Chaos Pearl, what did you plan to do?"
The Snow Empress paused for a moment, then said, "I'm not sure. But the future version of myself I saw within the seal tells me that she still retains a sliver of reason deep within her. Although the Demon Venerable is different from her, he has only recently obtained the Chaos Pearl, and his corruption is still relatively minor. I think that if he understands the truth before that sliver of reason completely disappears, he might choose to save himself. Fortunately, I guessed right."
Zhang Tianxing sighed, "You made the right bet, but your luck can't always be this good. Next time, you might not be so lucky."
"I know." Snow Empress lowered her gaze, "That's why I need to become stronger. Strong enough that I don't need luck to control the situation."
Zhang Tianxing nodded and said nothing more. He instructed someone to arrange accommodations for Snow Empress and told her to go and rest first. Snow Empress followed a maid through several corridors and arrived at a quiet side room. The room was simply furnished, but the bedding was clean and tidy, and there was a pot of emerald green asparagus fern on the windowsill.
Snow Empress didn't lie down immediately. She walked to the window, opened it, and let the night breeze in. The Ziwei Sect was built against the mountain, and from her window, she could see the outline of the distant, continuous mountain range, shrouded in a faint silvery-white hue under the starlight. The mountain breeze carried the scent of grass and trees; it was cool and very comfortable.
She looked down at her palms. The palms of her hands, which had been gripping the sword, were still slightly red, and there was a thin crack at the base of her thumb, caused by the shockwave from her fight with the Demon Venerable. She slowly clenched her fist, then relaxed it.
Three months. From the moment she awoke from the iceberg seal to tonight when the Demon Venerable broke free and the Chaos Pearl was sealed, only six days had actually passed. But enough had happened in those six days. She saw her future self transformed into Primordial Demon God, learned the truth about the Chaos Pearl, and stopped the Demon Venerable from seizing Chaos Pearl. It all happened so fast that even now, looking back, she still feels a sense of unreality.
She stood by the window for a long time, until the night deepened and the starlight on the distant mountains began to blur, before turning back to lie down on the bed. When she closed her eyes, what appeared in her mind were those blood-red eyes sealed within—the eyes of her future self. The madness and destruction in those eyes were so intense that even with her eyes closed, she felt those eyes hovering in front of her, silently staring at her.
She turned over and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. The wind howled outside the window, like someone crying. She slowly relaxed her breathing and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Snow Empress was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. She opened her eyes and saw that it was already bright outside the window, with sunlight streaming through the paper window and casting a warm golden glow into the room. She got up to open the door, where a young disciple of the Ziwei Sect stood, looking flustered.
"Miss Snow Empress, the Alliance Leader requests your immediate presence in the main hall. Something has happened."
Snow Empress's heart tightened. Without even washing up, she quickly tidied her clothes and followed her disciples outside. Along the way, she saw the disciples of the Ziwei Sect gathered in twos and threes, their expressions varied. Some looked panicked, while others whispered among themselves. She quickened her pace and soon arrived at the main hall.
A number of people were already standing in the main hall. Zhang Tianxing sat in the main seat, his face solemn. To his right stood several white-haired elders, and to his left stood several young disciples, each with a grim expression. When Snow Empress entered the hall, all eyes fell on her.
"What's wrong?" Snow Empress asked.
Zhang Tianxing gestured for her to sit down first, then said, "Early this morning, our disciples patrolling the outskirts of the Ziwei Sect discovered something. Within a hundred miles of the Ziwei Sect, numerous cracks appeared overnight. These cracks varied in size, some no wider than a finger, others several meters long. Black mist seeped from the cracks, causing vegetation to wither instantly and birds and beasts to flee in terror."
Snow Empress frowned. "Where did the crack come from?"
Zhang Tianxing's expression grew increasingly grave. "I've sent elders to investigate. Those cracks are fissures in the boundary between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm. After the boundary broke, Demonic Qi from the Demon Realm seeped into the Human Realm, causing those strange phenomena."
"Why did the boundary wall crack?" Snow Empress asked.
Zhang Tianxing was silent for a moment, then said, "It must be because the Demon Venerable forcibly broke the seal last night. He expended two hundred years of his primordial power, and that power was too strong, impacting the weak points of the boundary wall. In addition, when he later separated the Chaos Pearl, the power of the Chaos Pearl was released again. The two forces combined and cracked the already fragile boundary wall."
An elder with completely white hair and beard stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Alliance Leader, I believe this matter is of utmost importance. Once the boundary wall cracks, the demonic Demonic Qi of the Demon Realm will continuously seep into the mortal realm. Over time, all living beings within a thousand miles will be corrupted by the Demonic Qi, at best suffering from demonic possession, and at worst transforming into demonic creatures. Moreover, if those cracks continue to widen, they may eventually form passages, at which point demonic creatures from the Demon Realm could directly pass through the cracks into the mortal realm, with unimaginable consequences."
Zhang Tianxing nodded and looked at Snow Empress: "I called you here to ask for your opinion. You've dealt with the demon forces in the Southern Wasteland before, so you know more about the Demon Realm realm than any of us."
Snow Empress stood up and walked to a table in the center of the hall.