He took out a stack of talismans from his pocket and pasted them one by one along the edge of the crack. With each talisman he pasted, it lit up with golden light, forming a thin film of light above the crack, blocking the surging Demonic Qi from below.
Snow Empress then said to Zhao Wan'er and Zhou Ziheng, "You two split up and inspect the surrounding area to see if there are any other cracks, and pay special attention to whether there are any people or animals corrupted by Demonic Qi. If you find any, come back and tell me immediately."
The two responded and flew away. Snow Empress remained where she was, continuing to observe the enormous crack. The soil at the edge of the crack was completely carbonized, crumbling into powder at the slightest touch. She poured her Spiritual Power into her eyes, trying to see deeper into the crack, but the Demonic Qi permeating it was too dense; her vision could only penetrate about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) before she could see nothing further.
She crouched beside the crack, quietly watching the dark red dot of light. The dot pulsed with a regular rhythm, neither too fast nor too slow, like a heartbeat. As she watched, she unconsciously became somewhat dazed, her fingers reaching out towards the crack.
When her fingertips were still half an inch from the crack, a series of hurried footsteps pulled her back. She abruptly withdrew her hand and turned to see Zhao Wan'er rushing back, her face even more pale than before.
"Miss Snow Empress, something terrible has happened!" Zhao Wan'er landed on the ground, panting, "I found a village three miles to the east, and everyone in the village... everyone has changed."
"Changed? Changed in what way?"
"They've turned into monsters." Zhao Wan'er's voice trembled noticeably. "Their eyes have turned red, and black scales have grown on their bodies. They bite anyone they see and pounce on any living thing. I killed a few at the village entrance, but there are still dozens inside. I can't handle them all by myself."
Without a word, Snow Empress stood up and flew eastward. Zhao Wan'er followed behind, and Li Qingyun and Zhou Ziheng also rushed over after receiving the message. When the four of them arrived at the village, it was already getting dark. The outline of the village appeared eerie in the twilight, and a faint black mist swirled around the rooftops of the houses, as if the entire village was shrouded in something.
Snow Emperor's Fall the dirt road at the village entrance. Some farm tools and clothing were scattered on the road, indicating that the villagers' accident had happened very suddenly. An old locust tree at the village entrance had withered and died, its trunk covered with black lines and large pieces of bark peeling off.
As soon as they entered the village, they heard a low growl. From behind a few houses, a dozen or so figures staggered out. These figures were dressed in coarse cloth, some wearing straw hats and aprons, clearly ordinary villagers. But their faces no longer held any normal human expression; their eyes were bloodshot, their skin covered in black scales, and sharp fangs protruded from their open mouths, saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths, emitting a foul stench.
"They've been completely corrupted by Demonic Qi," Snow Empress's voice tightened. "They can't be saved."
Zhao Wan'er gripped her sword tightly, her eyes reddening slightly. "Then... what should we do?"
Snow Empress paused for a moment, then said, "Make your move. Give them a quick death."
All four attacked simultaneously. Snow Empress's sword was the fastest, its light as white as snow, instantly felling three demonized villagers. When the sword pierced their bodies, no red blood flowed, only black pus spurted out, sizzling as it hit the ground. Zhao Wan'er's sword followed closely behind; her movements were even more ruthless and faster than Snow Empress's, each strike aimed straight for vital points. Li Qingyun's talisman exploded in the air, flames engulfing the demonized villagers at the forefront, burning them to a crisp. Zhou Ziheng's short sword weaved through the crowd, targeting the leg joints, incapacitating the demonized villagers before finishing them off one by one.
The battle didn't last long. Although the demonized villagers had gained strength, they had lost their minds and were completely disorganized, charging around recklessly. In less than fifteen minutes, the demonized villagers were all wiped out.
Snow Empress stood in the center of the village, looking at the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. The scales on the corpses were slowly peeling away, revealing the shriveled human faces beneath. On the faces of some of the corpses, a look of relief appeared at the last moment, as if they had briefly regained consciousness as death approached.
She sheathed her sword and lowered her eyes.
"How many people are in this village?" she asked in a low voice.
Zhao Wan'er had already inspected the area and returned, saying, "There are about sixty or seventy households, more than two hundred people. We just killed about seventy or eighty of them, and the rest... should be dead already. I saw corpses in several houses; they looked like they were bitten to death by their own kind."
Snow Empress nodded and said nothing more. She turned and walked out of the village, standing under the old locust tree at the village entrance, gazing at the setting sun gradually sinking into the distance. The setting sun dyed the horizon a dark red, like a huge, unhealed wound stretching across the horizon.
She stood there for a long time. The three people behind her stood not far away, and none of them made a sound to disturb her.
Finally, Snow Empress turned around and said to the three people, "Return to the Ziwei Sect. I need to discuss repairing the boundary wall with the Alliance Leader. Find a place to burn the corpses in the village; don't let the Demonic Qi continue to spread."
The three responded and went about their business. Snow Empress rode her sword and flew towards the Ziwei Sect. The wind whistled past her ears, but her mind was very quiet, so quiet that she could hear the sound of her own pulse beating.
When she returned to the Ziwei Sect, it was already completely dark. The main hall was brightly lit, and Zhang Tianxing and several elders were still waiting for her. She recounted in detail what she had seen, including the distribution of the cracks, the concentration of Demonic Qi, the demonized villagers, and the dark red light deep within the huge crack.
After listening, Zhang Tianxing remained silent for a long time. He walked to the center of the main hall, paced back and forth a few times with his hands behind his back, and finally spoke, "The damage to the boundary wall is more serious than I imagined. At the current rate of spread, the cracks will reach the foot of the Ziwei Sect in less than a month. At that time, not only the Ziwei Sect, but the entire area within a thousand miles will become Demon Domain."
An elder said, "Alliance Leader, repairing the boundary wall requires an extremely large amount of Spiritual Power. Although our Ziwei Sect has a profound foundation, we are afraid we are not capable of undertaking this task alone."
"Therefore, we need to unite with other forces," Zhang Tianxing said. " The Heavenly Dao Alliance comprises twelve sects, including our Ziwei Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Lingxiao Pavilion, the Qingyun Temple, and others. Tonight, I will send someone to summon the sect leaders of the twelve sects to the Ziwei Sect for a meeting to discuss ways to repair the boundary wall."
"Is there enough time?" Snow Empress asked.