Chapter 13: Shadow of the Bitter Cold

Su Ziye said that there was a lake in this forest.

This time, Xing Xi fell silent for a moment before answering almost at once. “How do you know?”

“So you do know,” Su Ziye said with a sigh.

“Every overlord knows of it. It is also the most impassable forbidden zone in this forest,” Xing Xi replied.

“That is why I want to go and take a look at the lake,” Su Ziye said matter-of-factly.

“You will not come back alive. Only overlords at the pinnacle of the Taiwei Realm are qualified to approach that lake, yet none of them has ever returned from it.” Xing Xi spoke slowly. “Whether they were sublimated by what they found upon the lake or slain by its master, the fact remains that no living creature which has gone there has ever left alive.”

“You are mistaken,” Su Ziye said calmly. “At least, I know of one.”

“Who?” Xing Xi asked.

“Xiao,” Su Ziye answered quietly.

The answer came as something of a surprise to Xing Xi.

Of course, she knew the name Xiao.

Not only did she know it—she knew a great deal more.

Although her primary function was as a weapon, that did not mean she lacked a cultural education. In fact, she not only had her own lessons, but her teacher was none other than Xing He.

The girl had displayed an almost unprecedented talent in the martial arts, and in every other field of knowledge, she was likewise the foremost among the twenty-seven children.

It was precisely because she knew so much that she found this surprising.

“How do you know?” Xing Xi asked again despite herself.

Her curiosity was usually faint to the point of indifference, yet she chose to ask now.

To Dark Star, Xiao was an exceptionally unique existence. Therefore, any knowledge concerning her that Dark Star had not yet acquired was extraordinarily precious.

“Take a guess,” Su Ziye said with a smile.

Only after the other fell silent did Su Ziye calmly give her the answer. “My two years at Ye Ye Academy were not spent in vain. It was all recorded in Yue Yi’s notes.”

“Xiao once lived at the academy for nearly a hundred years. The records concerning her in Yue Yi’s notes should be the most complete.”

“According to those records, when Xiao went to that lake, she was already gravely wounded and on the verge of death. Yet when she left, she had become a Saint.”

“I believe that lake was the key to her becoming a Saint. That is why I want to see it.”

Xing Xi did not reply.

“Will you stop me?” Su Ziye asked with interest.

“No.” The girl answered at once.

“Then will you come with me?” Su Ziye continued.

Xing Xi seemed to consider it for the briefest moment.

“Yes.”

But once again, her answer came very quickly.

And so, the matter was decided just that simply.

…

…

Xing Xi’s orders were to supervise Su Ziye’s life for the month.

She had no authority to interfere.

Even when Xing Xi reported their entire conversation to the elder in charge of her that day, as was customary, she heard no order forbidding them from going.

After all, even the elders of Dark Star were deeply interested in what might be hidden in the depths of the Forest of Dying Radiance.

That place was practically a true forbidden land of life. Not only humans—even the most formidable demonic beasts of the Taiwei Heavenly Realm within the Forest of Dying Radiance were unable to set foot there.

It had to be understood that, now that Saints no longer walked the world, the Taiwei Realm represented the pinnacle of power in the entire human world. There were likely fewer than ten humans in the Taiwei Realm alive in the present age.

Thus, barring unforeseen circumstances, even Xing Xi would never venture there of her own accord.

Unless she received an order to do so.

Su Ziye, however, had made his decision, and he was already advancing toward that place.

The closer they drew to the heart of the Forest of Dying Radiance, the colder the air became. The change first revealed itself in the surrounding vegetation.

The towering trees gradually disappeared, replaced by low shrubs and moss. As they approached the heartland, even the moss vanished entirely.

All that remained was a boundless expanse of white snow.

“It must snow here all year round,” Su Ziye remarked when they reached the edge of the snowfield.

“I do not know,” Xing Xi replied.

From the moment he left the forest, Su Ziye could no longer sense the auras of those powerful heavenly-realm demonic beasts.

Or perhaps there was another way to put it.

The endless ice plain before them, along with the low shrubs and moss around its outskirts beneath the falling snow—all of this land belonged to the master of the lake.

That being was the most powerful overlord in the forest.

“Let’s go.” Su Ziye smiled and continued forward.

Xing Xi did not answer.

The farther they went, the colder the climate became. The wind grew more frequent and more violent. If Su Ziye had not been a descendant of that clan, possessing the secret art known as the Flowing Gold Flame, it would have been nearly impossible for him to maintain his body heat in such an environment.

Soon, Su Ziye saw the enemies upon the ice plain.

If they could even be called enemies.

In Yue Yi’s notes, these creatures were called the Shadows of Extreme Cold.

To Su Ziye, they looked more like auroras.

They were vast, formless shadows, like spirits wandering across the heavens; elongated clouds of icy-blue mist, turbid auroras twisting through his vision. They danced wildly across the immense pale-gray sky in the midst of the raging cold wind, as though performing some utterly frenzied dance.

These were the souls of the overlords who had gone to the lake and been slain.

They were imprisoned here for all eternity, condemned to endless pain and torment. At the same time, they served as guardians of the ice plain, slaughtering every enemy that drew near.

Su Ziye could not tell how many such souls wandered across the ice plain, but within the range of his sight alone, there were at least ten.

That meant the frozen lake had already claimed at least ten terrifying demonic beasts of the Taiwei Realm.

“Do not try to challenge them.” Beside Su Ziye, Xing Xi spoke in a deliberately lowered voice.

Even Xing Xi displayed profound reverence in the presence of these dead souls.

“I have no interest in challenging death.” Su Ziye merely stood amid the wind and snow, quietly gazing at the dancing auroras. Golden flames enveloped his body, burning across his skin and driving away the bone-chilling cold.

“Can they sense your presence?” the young man asked with some concern.

“I can conceal my aura,” Xing Xi explained simply.

“My only goal is the lake,” Su Ziye said indifferently.

After all, the souls drifted high above the sky. Perhaps if another overlord intruded upon this place, they would unleash a world-shaking battle. But Su Ziye was still far, far from being an overlord.

A black ant crawling along the ground would naturally never attract the interest of an eagle soaring through the heavens.

After crossing a hundred miles of snowfield, a small flower field finally appeared in the distance.

White.

A brilliant field of flowers.