Under the dark blue sky, the clouds rose and fell like mountains.
The sun sank in the west, and the moon rose up in the east, resulting in another exchange between the celestial bodies.
Li QIngshan slowed down and stopped all of his abilities, borrowing the night wind that blew into his face to soar freely over the sea of clouds.
“So high! Big Blacko, you can already fly so high.” Xuanyue extended her hand in an attempt to touch the moon.
“It’s still nowhere near enough!” Li Qingshan smiled. With a flap of his wings, he abruptly pulled higher, leaving the sea of clouds far behind.
The world fell quiet. Even the sounds of wind gradually faded away.
“Stop climbing. If you climb any higher, there’ll be atmospheric winds,” Xuanyue said in a hurry.
“It’s still nowhere near enough!” Li Qingshan gazed at the sky, but he gradually descended, piercing the sea of clouds. The mountains down below were the Boundless Mountains. In the past, they had once crossed these mountains together to travel to the Dragon province only to stop at the boundary.
Suddenly, he pointed at a long, blue line on the horizon. “Look at what that is.”
“That’s… the Ice Sword cliff!” Xuanyue widened her eyes, only to see the blue line rapidly grow larger and taller. In the end, it turned into a towering mountain of ice that pierced and split mountains. There was a long line of dark clouds amassed on top, drifting with huge snowflakes. The sounds of wind and snow rang out in their ears again, growing louder and louder.
Finally, Li Qingshan arrived beneath the Ice Sword cliff one more time. The mountain of ice was just as towering and magnificent as before, but it no longer seemed so unscalable.
The fierce wind swept up his long, scarlet hair, and the snow melted away from the heat given off by the phoenix wings before they could even touch his body, turning into white steam.
“You want to climb it again?” Xuanyue asked in wonder.
“No. Once is enough for something like that.” Li Qingshan took a step forward and pressed his hand against the mountain of ice gently.
“Big Blacko, come to the Dragon province with me! I won’t treat you as my pet anymeowre,” Xuanyue was embarrassed by what she said for once.
“Now is still not the time.”
However, Li Qingshan understood that perhaps there would never be a time. Originally, he wanted to keep her by his side, but he discovered the distance between them was even greater than when she had been taken back to South Hub city. The current him was already capable of visiting South Hub city with ease. He could even roam through the Dragon province and steal a glimpse of the Nine-tailed Fox Empress’ appearance, but he could not shorten this distance. Since asking her to stay was pointless, then he might as well make her wish come true.
This was the time for them to part.
“Forget about it! I’ll just go by meowself!” Xuanyue said viciously, but her large eyes were somewhat lost, gazing at his back in a daze.
Abruptly, the Ice Sword cliff began to tremble gently like a giant of ice shaking its body. The accumulated snow was thrown into the air, which seemed extremely beautiful under the moonlight.
Li Qingshan shut his eyes as if he was listening for something. He released pulses of the power of tremors from the centre of his hand, fluctuating in intensity. He adjusted it delicately.
The ice that formed the Ice Sword cliff was even tougher than steel. It contained a strange spiritual qi that definitely had not been formed naturally. Legend had it that the Ice Sword cliff had been formed by the fallen sword of a deity, but over all these years, not a single cultivator had come to smash through the ice in search of the sword, which left him rather puzzled. However, he did not think too much about it either.
Right now, it was exactly because the ice mountain blocked his path. Brother ox had departed here too, leaving behind the entrustment beyond the Nine Heavens, which involved far too many emotions and promises.
Since this was the starting point of everything, then he would restart here!
“Resonance!”
Li Qingshan opened his eyes, and a wave of power of tremors rippled out from the palm of his hand, shaking off the layer of white frost and revealing the half-transparent blue ice. Then it passed through the ice and spread across the entire cliff. The power of tremors was not particularly powerful, but it made the entire cliff shake violently. Boulders of ice tumbled down.
Crack! From the centre of Li Qingshan’s hand, fractures spread out like a spider’s web, penetrating the Ice Sword cliff deeply.
The cracks spread further and grew wider, extending freely like black bolts of lightning.
Li Qingshan pulled his hand back and turned around, pulling Xuanyue into his arms and kissing her on her soft lips.
“Meow?” Xuanyue widened her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck firmly and kissing him deeply.
In the blink of an eye, the Ice Sword cliff collapsed loudly. With an earth-shaking rumble, mountainous pieces of ice rained down. The ice powder in the air basically dispersed the dark clouds that hung around all year round, swallowing their embracing figures.
The dark clouds dispersed, the ice powder settled, and the moonlight shone.
The Ice Sword cliff turned into glaciers, assuming various beautiful shapes. They shone coldly and magnificently under the refraction of the moonlight.
Nothing stood in their way to the Dragon province anymore. The cold winds came and went, pleasant and refreshing.
“It’s time to set off.” Li Qingshan rubbed her head. Her cat ears trembled, reluctant to leave. She seemed so small and delicate in his arms, such that he could not help but develop a protective urge over her and worry about her unknown future. He tried to persuade her. “Why don’t you go to the Mist province instead? The Great Banyan Tree King is a good friend of mine. He can take care of you.”
“Like I need you to care!” Xuanyue turned Li Qingshan down bluntly and pushed him away, wiping her mouth forcefully and fuming away in anger. She was not as adorable and likeable as she seemed. She had always possessed a stubborn side to her, but within the path of cultivation, who didn’t possess a stubborn side?
Li Qingshan shrugged and embedded an imprint in a jade talisman, shoving it into her hands. “No matter what danger you face, no matter where I am!”
“I get it! Hmm? What’s that?” Xuanyue accepted the jade talisman and suddenly pointed at the depths of the glaciers.
Li Qingshan followed her finger and looked over. There was a particularly large piece of ice there, standing in the centre of the glaciers like a miniature mountain. In the centre was a white, oval object. It did not give off any special aura, so he had failed to notice it.
“Don’t tell me that that’s the legendary fallen sword?”
Li Qingshan became rather curious too. He arrived before the ice and discovered it was particularly clear and transparent, as well as abnormally tough. There seemed to be a huge cocoon in the centre of the ice, constantly radiating with coldness. He bent his finger and knocked it against the ice gently. The ice shattered, exposing the white cocoon. It was only a few meters tall, but the threads that wove the cocoon were fine and white like snow. They were crystalline like ice and did not resemble silk. He was unable to send his soul sense inside, nor could he sense any aura of life.
“Don’t be so curious, or you might freeze to death!” Li Qingshan grabbed Xuanyue’s hand, which was about to touch the cocoon. He pressed his own hand against the cocoon instead. It was so cold that even he felt it chill his bones. So this was the source of the Ice Sword cliff?
“I’ll never die. Quick, take a look what’s inside! If it’s a treasure, I want half! I saw it first!” Xuanyue said.
“Alright, alright!” Li Qingshan said as he unleashed the power of tremors, but he discovered that the cocoon was abnormally tough, and unlike the ice, he could not destroy it through resonance.
“Be a little more careful. Don’t break it,” Xuanyue said nervously.
Li Qingshan unfurled his phoenix wings, which burned with roaring fire. They spread over thirty meters across before enveloping the entire cocoon.
The silk melted away, turning into gurgling streams. Gradually, a figure in the cocoon was exposed.
Xuanyue murmured, “How do we split it?”
