Chapter 30: The Power Fantasy Protagonist (29)

Using the "Azure Sea Tide" to condense water into a sword requires a vast amount of spiritual sense and energy. That time Su Bai crossed swords with the Holy Venerable, the sword intent manifested by the Azure Sea Tide and the Heavenly Derivation Sword Arts was merely a fleeting moment. But now, without a sword in hand, she must use water as a medium to combine sword qi with sword intent, consuming exponentially more spiritual energy and mental focus to maintain the sword's form for an extended period.

Even as a peerless genius, even with a flawless Golden Core, and no matter how steadfast her Dao heart, Su Bai is still but a cultivator at the Golden Core stage. Spiritual energy will eventually run dry. Mental focus will eventually be exhausted. One cannot make a meal without rice, and so the fake Su Bai is gambling—gambling that Su Bai will eventually reach the point of exhaustion.

However, because every droplet of that water sword carries her Dao heart, the girl’s sword movements become increasingly sharp and decisive. With the slightest shift of her intent, the water sword—so simple that it lacked any inscribed arrays or embedded minerals—moves entirely according to her will.

The sword qi is scorching hot, yet the wind and snow grow increasingly frigid. The fake Su Bai is struck heavily in the chest by Su Bai, feeling as though her bones are about to shatter. Her body plummets through the air, crashing down heavily.

But unfortunately, within this illusion, she is immortal. Another Dragon Chant Sword in her hand shatters. The fake Su Bai, enraged, spits out a mouthful of blood. With a flash of light, Su Bai lunges at her again with her sword. The fake Su Bai scrambles away, crawling and rolling. Su Bai slashes dozens of times in succession; from above, it looks as if layers of waterfalls of snow are erupting across the snowy ground.

A madwoman! No, this is simply a monster! The fake Su Bai rolls dozens of meters across the snow, and Su Bai pursues her, hacking for those same dozens of meters!

This cannot go on. The fake Su Bai grinds her teeth. She can only capture the memories of cultivators before they enter the illusion and manipulate the environment accordingly, but in this girl’s mind, there was never a concept of forging a sword from one’s Dao heart or matching sword intent against sword intent. Even more terrifyingly, even if she had, since water is the medium and the Dao heart is the sword intent, her sword moves solely by her will, following no conventional patterns whatsoever.

The fake Su Bai condenses another Dragon Chant Sword. "To severely wound the Holy Venerable’s soul with a Golden Core cultivation base—I truly underestimated you."

Su Bai’s onslaught is too dense; the fake Su Bai cannot dodge in time and invokes the Heavenly Dragon sword intent to parry. Yet the light of the water sword is piercingly cold. While ordinary cultivators must focus their minds to manifest a single trace of sword intent, the sword in her hand is formed entirely from her understanding of the Dao she cultivates!

Su Bai’s gaze intensifies. Her fingers tighten around the hilt, and in an instant, the water sword freezes into solid ice, its power doubling. The fake Su Bai’s eyes widen as she watches another crack appear on the Dragon Chant Sword!

The fake Su Bai refuses to continue this war of attrition. Spiritual energy erupts from her body, creating a violent hurricane. The wind is fierce and forceful, carrying a bone-chilling cold that pushes Su Bai away like invisible hands.

The fake Su Bai stands up, sneering, "Very good, very good! You win!"

In this illusion, she has been almost invincible, deceiving countless cultivators and beasts. Yet, no matter how many times she tried to condense the Dao heart from the day Su Bai crossed swords with the Holy Venerable in her memories, the moment she clashed with Su Bai’s sword, she realized clearly that she was merely mimicking, remaining nothing more than an eyesore of a defective product.

Right. Only then did the fake Su Bai understand. This cultivator’s memories were fundamentally chaotic. The memories of her first half of life and her current self were like two different people. But even if the fake Su Bai used only the memories of the last few months as a reference, and no matter how she used her talents to decipher the emotions within those memories, she could never predict what this girl would do next.

She guessed she loved the sword, but she never guessed she would dare to shatter it.

This girl sometimes seems too calm—calm like a sea surface bathed in moonlight at dusk. The tides rise and fall quietly, and the summer night breeze is warm and restless, but two thousand miles beneath the sea, mad undercurrents surge, silently invading and expanding. It is as if her calm is but a disguise, and she is the abyss itself.

Just as Su Bai attempts to gather spiritual energy, she suddenly finds that the elements in the air are blocked, as if by some obstacle, and can no longer be used by her. The fake Su Bai stands not far away. When Su Bai looks up again, she appears like a dull, wooden puppet; the light in her eyes fades, as if the soul within that body has finally departed.

With a gentle push of the wind, the fake Su Bai’s entire body dissolves into a heavy snowfall. Goose-feather-sized snowflakes drift across the land. Then, the snow that had been falling endlessly upon the plains finally stops. The wind ceases, the snow settles, and the water droplets floating in the air become motionless.

The water sword dissipates in Su Bai’s hand. She presses her lips together, attempting once more to control the water elements in the air. The elements of heaven and earth are naturally masterless, but now they seem to have found a new owner, and one by one, they cease to be under Su Bai’s control. Su Bai stares at an eight-pointed snowflake suspended in mid-air.

So, this is no illusion. This is clearly a Domain!

It is difficult for cultivators to manifest a domain because a domain represents rules—it represents that within this small patch of heaven and earth, "I am the monarch." Within this domain, the domain master is eternal, immortal, and all rules are set by them. Yet, how could the Heavenly Dao allow someone else to carve out a country within its territory? Thus, even the peak combat power of the cultivation world, the Carefree Sword Venerable, cannot manifest a domain. That is a qualification possessed only by gods. Who else, besides transcending the tribulation to become a god, could cultivate a domain?

Su Bai’s eyes deepen. The Candle Dragon’s combat power is no less than a god’s; therefore, in the original book’s plot, besides the Heavenly Derivation Sword Arts used by the Holy Venerable to slay the dragon, the Samadhi True Fire was another crucial point.

Heaven bestows blessings, creating the world with the power of opening the heavens and earth. Through countless eons, things will always emerge that, blessed by the rules set by the Heavenly Dao, gradually give birth to their own consciousness. That is the Alien Fire. However, Alien Fire is not the Heavenly Dao itself, but the most primitive power birthed by the rules the Heavenly Dao established for the world's operation. It is vigorous, ignorant, but immensely powerful, possessing the strength to destroy the world.

There are hundreds of Alien Fires in the Guiyuan Continent. Not all can manifest a domain; most merely touch upon a trace of the Heavenly Dao’s causality. Yet, even catching a glimpse of the heavenly secrets is enough to possess extremely powerful strength. And the Samadhi True Fire that Qin Yang subdued is an Alien Fire that truly approaches the origin of the world.

In this cultivation world, the reason the Candle Dragon could destroy the world was ultimately because, possessing power equal to a god, it could manifest a domain. Such a dimension-level strike was something even a Holy Venerable who had one foot in the divine realm could only barely seal by exhausting his entire mental focus and life force.

If the Holy Venerable could not do it, why could Qin Yang? This question relates to the Vermilion Bird. The divine beast Vermilion Bird is the guardian beast sent by the divine realm to the lower realms. Therefore, for Qin Yang to subdue the Alien Fire, he either had to display power equal to a god or prove he possessed the bloodline and will of the divine realm, sharing the same origin as the Alien Fire, thus qualifying as its master. But if Qin Yang could display power equal to a god, he would have long since attained the Dao and ascended, no longer existing in this small world. Thus, he could only rely on divine communion to share mental focus with the Vermilion Bird, thereby gaining the recognition of the Samadhi True Fire.

But unexpectedly, besides the Samadhi True Fire Qin Yang subdued, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame in the Far North—a flame no one had ever noticed—actually possessed the same power.

An ethereal female voice drifted from the void.

"My illusions have always been invincible. There are even precedents of Great Tribulation-stage experts falling into this Far North and becoming trapped for life."

"But very good, you are the first cultivator to force me to manifest my domain."

As the voice fell, a giant hand seemed to reach out from the sky. Energy surged and gathered in the palm, and in an instant, it pressed down on Su Bai’s head with the weight of a thousand jun, forcing her toward the ground.

"A Golden-Core stage cultivator... to be able to force me to this point, you are truly impressive." Because she could use her power without restraint, the female voice was filled with boundless pleasure. "So, before you die, as a reward, I will be merciful and tell you my name."

"My name is the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame."

That irresistible pressure weighed heavily on Su Bai’s head and shoulders, not allowing her to move a fraction. This force was fierce and domineering, pressing from Su Bai’s spine into her internal organs. Her veins bulged throughout her body, her limbs contorted, yet she exerted every ounce of her strength to resist this power tainted with the other half of the small world’s causality.

Qin Yang is the Yang. The Samadhi True Fire is the Fire. The two poles of Yin and Yang—thus, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame in the Far North is devouring the other half of the world’s origin!

Su Bai gritted her teeth. Blood seeped from the corners of her eyes, her ears, and the corners of her mouth. Her legs trembled, and her entire body was practically bleeding. The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was unsatisfied with her stubborn resistance and doubled the force.

Now, all the elements in the domain obeyed the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame’s command. Su Bai could not mobilize spiritual energy, had no objects to rely on, and not even a protruding rock could serve as a foothold to give her the strength to fight against the Heavenly Dao’s causality. With a loss of balance, one knee hit the ground.

Just moments ago, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame had been driven into a wretched, fleeing state within the illusion, scurrying about in a panic. She had hesitated to pull the illusion into her domain because of a lingering, bitter grudge. The grudge was that she could not understand how a Golden-Core cultivator could force her to use her full strength. She was an overlord equal to the Samadhi True Fire—how could she willingly submit to a Golden-Core cultivator?

So, seeing Su Bai in this state now, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was in high spirits. She viewed her like an ant struggling desperately on the ground. The ant’s vibrant will to live gave the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame a sense of interest, so she doubled the force again, wanting to see how this ant would struggle in its final moments of unwillingness.

Just as Su Bai’s legs gave way and she knelt, a water droplet suddenly condensed in her hand, forming the shape of a sword. It was that water sword!

The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was startled. Something is wrong! Every element in this domain should obey her command; why could this water element still establish a connection with this cultivator?

Su Bai plunged the water sword heavily into the snowy ground. Her back arched, the veins on her forehead bulging. The water sword vibrated violently in her hand, but the girl gritted her teeth, ignoring the blood covering half her face. With one hand supporting her knee, she climbed up inch by inch. Under the immense pressure, she could only attempt to stand in this contorted posture.

The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was still immersed in deep shock. Thousands of chaotic thoughts flew through her mind, trying to grasp the most reasonable point to fill the broken logic behind this completely irrational phenomenon. In that moment, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame suddenly felt a trace of fear toward the girl kneeling on one knee.

Her kneeling knee had left the ground; she was like a fully drawn crossbow, every inch of her muscles stretched to the limit. People fear ghosts because they cannot comprehend the power of ghosts through their common sense. Now, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame felt that same fear toward Su Bai. She had to find a reasonable explanation within her own dimension—only by finding that explanation could she prove that Su Bai’s realm remained below hers. She could not possibly be superior to her.

The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame’s mind raced at high speed. This water sword was formed from the water elements she used to cross swords with herself earlier. Every droplet had been imbued with her Dao heart. So, could water elements imbued with her Dao heart actually break free from the control of the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame’s domain so easily!?

In the moment the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame pondered, the girl on the ground had already slowly stood up. Blood pooled on the ground, dazzlingly red.

[According to the agreement signed with System 888, would you like to spend 1,000,000 Tip Points to unlock 100% of your attack panel for 15 minutes? Yes/No]

A system prompt popped up before Su Bai’s eyes.

[Unlocking an attack panel for fifteen minutes costs one million points??? I’m really going to die; so in the system's assessment, Xiao Bai's original attack power is already comparable to the top-tier cheats?]

[The benefit of this cheat is that it isn't restricted by the system's level.]

[It’s fine, don't be anxious, let's just lie down, Big Sister will dump money! Damn, I just saw her dump two million on Xiao Bai!!!]

[My worldview is truly shattered. I remember that for a prospective god in the divine realm, unlocking their own peak attack panel only costs 500,000 per hour.]

The girl had become a person of blood. From the perspective of the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame, she leaned on her sword, standing there quietly. Despite the fact that her hand holding the sword was shaking, her arms were shaking, and her legs were shaking. With her last ounce of strength, she tapped [Yes].

The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame suddenly felt a vast power spreading through this space. That power seemed to come from the deepest part of the soul, just as a domain relies on the soul to manifest. Amidst the unease of losing control, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame doubled her power once again.

At this moment, the girl who had been motionless on the snow finally made a move. This one movement made the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame tremble within her own mental space. If this square of heaven and earth were a container, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was its master, and she had been constantly pouring pressure from top to bottom, squeezing the space within.

This power had the all-encompassing nature of water and the thick, stubborn resilience of a mountain, refusing to yield a single bit. But the cultivator stood up using the water sword that carried her Dao heart, forcing the power released by the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame to retreat, eventually forming a strange balance within the domain.

So, she could stand. But standing was not the terrifying part. When people are pushed to their limit, muscles tense, entering a defensive state, they often choose to remain motionless to maintain that balance. But now, she moved. Moving meant she no longer wanted to maintain this balance. She chose to break it!

Break it? The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was shaken by the thought. She recalled the reason this cultivator had come to the Far North: to subdue the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame to temper her sword. The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame could temper "Frost-Condensing Ice," and in her eyes, that ice-attribute treasure was nothing more than a piece of greasy meat, a carrot dangling before a donkey.

Since she understood the principles of the sword and had made so many preparations for forging, she could not have been unaware that the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame would come looking for her, drawn by the aura of the Frost-Condensing Ice. As an ice-attribute Alien Fire, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame had unimaginable sensitivity to ice elements, but this cultivator had not chosen to set up arrays in her storage bag to seal the aura of the Frost-Condensing Ice.

Perhaps she knew her true identity long ago, and every step of her retreat was meant to force the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame to manifest her domain. To subdue an Alien Fire—especially one that could manifest a domain—one had to attempt to seize control of the entire domain from the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame from within. Entering the illusion was not enough. Entering the domain of the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame was a life-or-death gamble, but it was the only chance to achieve her goal.

At this moment, the snowflakes that had stopped moving within the domain began to drift. Water is the predecessor of ice, and it is the element to which the body of this world is most naturally attuned from the start. Within this domain, ice elements are the most abundant. The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame disliked this feeling of losing control, so she attempted to reclaim control of the snowflakes.

But immediately, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame discovered with horror that these strands of mental focus attached to the snow were so powerful and terrifying—a thousand times more terrifying than the sword intent she had felt when she and Su Bai crossed blades earlier. She could not shake this mental focus at all, and could only watch as everything, centered on the girl, from a radius of one yard to one kilometer, all snowflakes were instantly brought under Su Bai’s control.

That was—power no less than that of a god.

[!!!! She clicked Yes! Did you see that? She clicked Yes!]

[The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame can manifest a domain; such a powerful Alien Fire, even a Great Ascension expert might fall to it, right?]

[Exactly, this kind of Alien Fire is the power origin left behind by the Heavenly Dao’s creation. Back then, Qin Yang could only fight the Candle Dragon head-on because he had subdued the Samadhi True Fire.]

[A clash of domains is basically a dimensional crushing. That’s why the greatest sword cultivator of ancient times, the Holy Venerable, could only seal the Candle Dragon.]

[Wait, wait, those of you saying these things haven't researched this streamer's identity properly, have you?]

[What identity?]

[She is one of the few prospective gods in the divine realm who was granted status directly because her power was too great. In other words, her original power was already no less than that of a god!]

[You could say she is another "Candle Dragon."]

The Azure Sea Tide rose again! Su Bai felt every inch of her body filled with power once more. Her skin melted and was constantly recast. Her meridians shattered and regrew. But a Golden-Core stage body could not, of course, withstand the power of the Great Ascension Perfection stage.

[Warning: Your body has been detected to have loaded too much energy. To prevent your body from exploding, would you like to spend 2,000,000 Tip Points to purchase a Body-Tempering Pill to increase your physical strength in a short time? Yes/No]

Another system prompt popped up.

[Although this operation really looks like a scam by an unscrupulous merchant, thinking about it carefully, it really makes sense.]

[I'm so angry! Just unlocking my original data panel for fifteen minutes costs three million total???]

[But without the Body-Tempering Pill, this body hasn't been tempered by the lightning tribulation; how could it possibly withstand it?]

But Su Bai did not choose "Yes." Great Ascension Perfection—since she had already reached Great Ascension Perfection, why be restricted by whether the soul must exist within that specific body? Compared to this frail body, shouldn't this domain manifested by the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame be the best container?

Thus, overwhelming mental focus suddenly spread from the girl in all directions. Using the Azure Sea Tide as a medium, her mental focus explored all the boundaries of the domain set by the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame without any obstruction.

Cowed by the power that almost absolutely crushed her, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame huddled in her mental space, trembling. My goodness! This is too terrifying! This cultivator is simply not human!

No wonder. The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame had a flash of intuition. She suddenly remembered that before she pulled Su Bai into the illusion, parts of the memories in her sea of consciousness seemed to be blocked by some terrifying power, to the point where the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame could not peer into them at all. Yet, this girl appeared on the surface to be just an ordinary Golden-Core cultivator. At the time, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame just thought she had offended someone formidable, or that this was a barrier set by some great expert to protect her.

But the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame had never considered another possibility. What if her true self was that very power?

The girl unleashed waves of sword qi within the domain, causing the air to ripple with countless fine lines. But the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame knew clearly that within that shell was only the tip of the iceberg of her massive mental focus.

It was just because—the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame knew better than anyone that she was gradually losing control of this domain.

At this moment, a cold voice sounded from behind the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame.

"Found you."

The Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame’s non-existent hair stood on end. Monster! From the moment she decided to abandon her body, the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame knew she was a monster!

In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, the shell is crucial because it is the only medium that links mental focus to the real world. But within a domain, the shell is a burden!

Su Bai reached out and grabbed the ball of ice-blue, leaping flame. As an ice-attribute Alien Fire, even if a Venerable at the peak of tribulation-transcendence touched the flame with their bare hands, they would surely be injured by the temperature that infinitely approached death. But she had discarded her useless shell, and thus no longer feared the flame that could burn the soul.

And the moment she grabbed the Heaven-Swallowing Ice Flame, this domain, which had carved out its own territory, suddenly began to vibrate violently, collapsing rapidly as if experiencing a giant earthquake that shook heaven and earth.

The world was shattering. The wind and snow stopped. The scene fractured. This heaven and earth plunged back into darkness.

In the boundless night, the girl stood at the center of the world, like a drifting black ghost. Her soul emitted a faint blue light. The girl blinked. In the moment her intent shifted, this world, which had fallen into gray decay after losing its master, began to reorganize rapidly.

Ice and snow condensed, mountains rose again. Within this domain, she was the monarch. She was also the rules themselves.