Chasing Light · Beyond Daybreak

Atiya didn't fall. She gritted her teeth and plowed two furrows in the ground with her legs to stop her from falling.

Yexiya made a move to give chase, but before she could take a step, she suddenly turned around and transformed into a white streak of light, swiftly rushing towards Leoni.

This little trick didn't work at all.

Leoni had anticipated this, and he raised his hand, firing more than a dozen arrows. These arrows carried a white, frost-like aura, blocking Yexiya's path.

Boom boom boom!

The arrows landed in a straight line, and the white frost exploded.

Due to the effects of the "Eternal Frost Deposition" field, the surrounding ice-elemental power became so concentrated that it was almost out of control.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Leoni easily condensed a thick wall of ice. The crystal surfaces overlapped layer by layer, and the patterns of exploding arrows remained inside.

Yexiya swung her twin swords, slashing down in a crisscross pattern, cutting the ice wall into dozens of pieces before it collapsed with a deafening roar.

She continued to approach Leoni.

"Using frost in my domain?" Yexiya sneered. "You've got guts, and you've got some ideas!"

Before she finished speaking, she was already close to Leoni and slashed down with her sword. Leoni drew her weapon to parry, and her blade clashed with Frostblade.

Suddenly, a silver-white figure lunged out from the side.

It was a majestic and ferocious silver wolf. Its shoulders were high and its fangs were exposed. When it pounced, it created a low whistling sound as it bit at Yexiya's arm from the side.

This is Leoni's battle pet.

Yexiya's eyes turned cold, and she unleashed a burst of power with both swords simultaneously.

With one sword strike, he deflected Leoni's short blade; with the other, he slashed at the ferocious silver wolf.

Bang! Bang!

The hunter and his battle pet were both slashed and sent flying.

Leoni flew backwards and landed on the ground, rolling several times before crashing into a frozen rock and coming to a stop.

Silver Wolf also fell to the other side, leaving a long gash. He barely managed to steady himself, and now he had a huge wound on his body.

Leoni rolled to his feet, also injured, but the ice Magic Power attached to his attack was shattered and fell away by his shockwave.

As a hunter from the Northern Lands, the nickname "Icefield Nightmare" wasn't given lightly! "Indeed," Yexiya said, "But that's all!"

She was about to step forward and deliver the final blow.

Behind him, a golden light suddenly surged forth—it was a burning sword intent.

Atiya's left rib wound was still bleeding, and icicles were still stuck in her shoulder blade and side. Gripping the Unyielding Blade, she forcibly tore a rift in the frozen battlefield and charged toward Yexiya.

The ice beneath her feet kept cracking, the shards of ice being blown away by the blast waves, leaving a broken golden trail behind her.

The momentum was as if they were willing to do anything to unleash another sword strike!

****

Yexiya rolled her eyes.

It's already embarrassing that she's been fighting those mere two flies from a low-magic plane for so long.

She raised her hand and used her sword to block Atiya, then slid back a few meters to absorb the impact.

On the other side, Leoni also jumped up, his bowstring twanged, and arrows shot out at close range.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! At such a distance, the arrow had barely left the bowstring before it was already close to Yexiya's cheek, throat, and ribs.

Yexiya's eyes suddenly sharpened, and she finally gave up suppressing her power.

On one hand, she was trying to conserve her irreplaceable Destiny Level power. On the other hand, using High Rank combat techniques would only deepen her repulsion from this world.

But now Yexiya has lost patience.

The chill in the area suddenly collapsed into her twin swords.

"Eternal Frost - Shattered Jade!"

In the next instant, Yexiya crossed her two swords, and a jade-like, frost-white sword light swept out.

Before Atiya could regain her footing, she was sent flying.

Leoni's arrow froze in mid-air, turning into a cloud of crystalline dust.

The hunter instinctively retreated, while Yexiya rose up on the frost, her figure leaving a trail of afterimages in mid-air as her sword flashed past.

A thin line of ice swept down from the sky.

The melee weapon Leoni had just drawn, its inscription not even having a chance to light up, snapped in two in the middle. The sword light continued its advance, slicing through his chest and abdomen. Boom!

Leoni's leather armor tore open, spurting blood that froze into large patches of dark red ice. He crashed onto the frozen ground some distance away, bouncing half an inch before falling heavily to the ground.

The silver wolf howled and pounced.

Yexiya swung her sword backhand, and the wind from the blade swept across, cleaving it in two.

****

When the two people and the animal fell to the ground, the permafrost cracked.

The flying Crushed Stone seemed frozen in place by some force, falling extremely slowly.

That's the effect of the "Eternal Frost Deposition" slowing down.

Yexiya landed back on the ground, her twin swords hanging at her sides.

"Did you see clearly, you ants?"

"That's the real difference!"

Leoni reached for his quiver, his fingers twitching, but only leaving a few weak, bloody scratches in the snow.

Yexiya glanced at him indifferently.

This top archer from the Taya World had his source of power shattered by her sword strike.

He no longer had the ability to resist the cold, and his extraordinary power quickly dissipated.

Ripples appeared on the edge of the battlefield.

Beyond the ripples on the water, Leoni's eyes flickered as he observed the illusion.

He glanced at the tragically dead silver wolf, shook his head, and shook off his emotions.

"We were truly miserable back then," Leoni couldn't help but sigh.

He raised his hand, and the same power as the shattered hunter in the illusion gathered in his palm.

After two years of struggle following his injury, he finally made a difficult comeback.

But his comrades and battle pets have all passed away.

"When the power of an extraordinary person reaches a certain level, they can rewrite reality; this is what we call a 'domain'," Leoni suddenly said.

"The Saint Rank is only temporarily covered."

" At the Destiny Level, they've already begun to inscribe their path into the laws."

That's why these enemies are so difficult to defeat.

Revealing these things was one of his purposes in initiating this illusion.

Leoni said, turning to the Zijin.

Your mother and I have also discussed your issue.

Zijin slightly raised her eyes.

Leoni continued:

"You're so smart."

"So after discovering that the path to understanding the concept of life was incredibly difficult, you switched to the Dark element."

"You surpassed the cultivation that others needed decades to achieve in just five years, becoming a Dark Grand Magus Mentor." "You also created the unprecedented ' White Bone Fortress,' a gathering of the undead, in an attempt to break through to the Saint Rank."

Zijin remained silent for a moment.

"I was too eager for quick success," she admitted.

She had already reflected on this matter.

"After your failure, you turned to ' Natural Rhythm,'" Leoni continued, "And now you're abandoning ' Natural Rhythm ' and returning to the path of life."

His tone carried a hint of complexity.

"Your intelligence and comprehension are simply divinely inspired."

"I can learn anything very quickly."

"Others may have to suffer greatly, but for you, it's often just a matter of choice."

Zijin had no choice but to speak up in defense.

"Natural Rhythm are no longer keeping up with the demands of combat intensity."

"It was somewhat useful against Abigai, but it was almost useless against Death Knell."

"It's completely ineffective against beings at the Destiny Level who are transforming into laws."

Leoni nodded.

"That's right."

"But you also just saw the reflection of that Archlich."

"I guess that's what you'll look like after you've mastered the power of darkness."

Upon hearing this, Zijin's body trembled slightly.

"Me, who wields the power of death?"

"Actually, you can take any path," Leoni said. "What you need to do is keep going."

"For example, the power of life."

He paused for a moment.

"Will you persevere to the end?" Upon hearing this, Zijin hesitated and did not answer.

There are no weak elements among Concept Element.

But to say that she had made up her mind to bet everything on this path—she really hadn't.

Leoni did indeed point out her problem very sharply: having too many choices doesn't necessarily mean you'll go further.

"The path of those Boundary Crosser, once taken a wrong turn, leads to utter ruin." Su Ming spoke up in defense of Zijin, "It's only right that Zijin be cautious and do more verification."

"Under normal circumstances, you did nothing wrong by seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune," Leoni said.

"I don't believe that pursuing power is worth sacrificing everything for."

As he finished speaking, his gaze returned to Yexiya in the illusion.

The white-haired half-werewolf stood in the center of the frost domain, like an insurmountable mountain.

"But what if we were to fight an enemy like that?"

Leoni pointed at Yexiya, then looked up at the blue sky in the illusion, his voice lowering.

"Or perhaps—" "to be an enemy of the god behind them!"

****

The illusionary world continues.

Yexiya looked to the other side, where Atiya lay on the broken ice.

The wounds on her shoulder blade and side abdomen were reopened, and fresh blood kept seeping out. The cold air penetrated her lungs, and breathing felt like swallowing knives.

But the next moment, Atiya stubbornly got up.

She gripped the hilt of the Unyielding Blade, braced herself against the sword, and rose from the ice, the dark golden light rekindling.

"Unyielding to the Critical Point!"

The domain that belonged exclusively to Atiya was now ablaze.

She looked up at Yexiya.

When she was struck by that sword, she keenly noticed a slight sense of "incongruity" or misalignment in Yexiya's position behind Frostlight.

But what exactly happened— Atiya stomped her foot, shattering the ice, and charged towards Yexiya. The Unyielding Blade rose high during the charge, and the greatsword, glowing with dark gold, slashed down heavily.

Yexiya's eyes flickered slightly; this speed was even faster than before!

She parried with her two swords, the blades clashing, and cold mist and golden light exploded simultaneously.

Yexiya's wrist sank under the pressure, and the ice beneath her feet cracked inch by inch. Just as she was about to release the force, Atiya's sword tip deflected half an inch during the collision, sliding in along the gap between the two swords.

Puff!

Yexiya was left with another wound on her shoulder.

This guy has gotten even stronger!

"Since we couldn't seriously injure you just now..." Yexiya's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"Eternal Frost - Shattered Jade!"

Frosty white ice patterns exploded from beneath her feet, and frost crystals like Shattered Jade jade condensed into a sword curtain in mid-air.

The next instant, sword lights clashed and slashed down, like a storm after a piece of cold jade shattered, completely engulfing Atiya.

Atiya parried with her sword. The first and second sword beams shattered the Unyielding Blade, while the third cleaved her shoulder, then swept diagonally across her waist and abdomen, leaving a trail of blood.

Boom!

Atiya was sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ice again.

A deep, long wound almost sliced half of his body open. Blood dripped down the broken armor plates, freezing into dark red crystals.

But she gripped the sword hilt again and struggled to get up from the ground.

****

This time, Yexiya was certain that her "Shattered Jade" had indeed struck her opponent.

Atiya's Saint Rank power is rapidly declining.

"Your domain is quite unique," Yexiya said. "The source of your power didn't collapse immediately; it's managed to linger on."

She walked over.

Frost paved the way beneath Yexiya's feet, and fine dust clung to her long, silvery hair. The residual power from her recent high-powered domain sword techniques was dissipating.

Atiya glanced down at the wounds on her body. She raised her hand and ran it over the sword wound that had almost pierced through her body, feeling the foundation of power that Yexiya had severed.

"Severing ties with the origin."

She said softly.

"That's a very powerful move, and the understanding behind it is profound."

Yexiya's expression was indifferent.

"Now that you've witnessed all of this, you can die in peace!"

She swung her sword.

Atiya, who should have been powerless to resist, once again raised her Unyielding Blade and blocked the sword.

Not a single step was retreated.

"How could this be?" Yexiya's eyes finally showed obvious surprise.

How did she manage to block it when her opponent's Dou Qi was clearly dissipating?

"Unyielding, to put it bluntly, is sacrifice and burning." Atiya brandished her sword and clashed with Yexiya once more.

Their swords clashed, and frost and golden light exploded continuously.

"Use an indomitable will to gain temporary strength."

Atiya's sword grew heavier and heavier.

"I originally thought it would be, at worst, a sacrifice of my own life."

"I never imagined that even the very essence of ' Unyielding ' could be used as a bargaining chip!"

Atiya's sword is clearly changing.

At the start of the battle, she was chasing Yexiya.

Pursue the enemy's speed, pursue their understanding of the laws of Destiny Level.

But now, Atiya is blocking Yexiya's path with her sword.

It can even strike the key point before Yexiya's Magic Power flow is fully formed.

A flicker of shock finally appeared in Yexiya's eyes. "You're... practicing swordsmanship?"

"I'm learning your swordsmanship," Atiya readily admitted.

Yexiya thought she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Sever the source?"

Do you know how long it took me to master the "Shattered Jade" technique?

Atiya smiled smugly, blood staining the corners of her mouth.

"I don't have time to spend that much time."

"Of course I want to learn faster."

She continued to strike with her sword, each strike getting closer to the essence of the matter than the last.

Yexiya knew she couldn't delay any longer.

She held the frost sword upright in front of her.

"Eternal Frost Deposition" suddenly contracted, and fine frost patterns emerged in the surrounding space, turning into a gathering of coldness. Atiya stood still.

She didn't adopt a defensive stance; the "Unyielding" domain had already burned to its limit.

My body is breaking down.

Even from the depths of one's soul, a subtle yet clear rustling sound could be heard.

But then she suddenly laughed.

"Miss Yexiya, you are a visitor from Eden."

There is a gap between you and this world.

Yexiya's expression changed.

The fact that they could see this means the other party is genuine.

Yexiya did not stop; she unleashed a heavy sword strike, and the white frost transformed into a stream of light, instantly piercing through the distance between the two.

But in Atiya's eyes, she saw a faint, colorful shadow trailing behind Yexiya the moment she moved quickly.

It resembled a poorly crafted double image or illusion. But it wasn't; it was a gap between the outsider and this world that had not yet been truly bridged.

"Thank you for showing me the origin."

Atiya swung his sword.

"Chasing Light, Dawn Breaks!"

True Chasing Light is not about waiting for dawn in the darkness.

Instead, it tears open the Dawn before darkness completely descends!