Ice and snow congealed, sealing the entire mountain range in frost.

The Abyss of Extreme Ice was deep and long. The mountain peak was like a crystalline sword piercing the heavens, while the abyss at the mountain’s base was bottomless—no one knew where it ended, for those who entered the Abyss of Extreme Ice never came out alive. It was also known by another name: Hell Mountain.

In the silent cavern, a faint beast cry suddenly emerged.

At first, it was thin and weak, barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz. After some time, it gradually became clearer. This sound persisted tirelessly, one cry after another, unrelenting, until the fingers of the person on the ground moved slightly.

The first thing Zanxing saw when she opened her eyes was Mimi’s charred head pressed close to her face, shrieking. She was so startled she nearly slapped the fat cat away.

“I… I’m still alive?” Zanxing rubbed her eyes and struggled to sit up from the ground. Mimi cried out and jumped into her arms, affectionately nuzzling Zanxing’s face with her head, smearing charcoal ash all over her.

Zanxing still remembered Gui Yansheng attacking her with that Ashura Umbrella. It was the first time she had tasted death so intimately. It felt as if her soul no longer belonged to her, her life force being stripped away bit by bit from her body, while her original body gradually became an empty shell. That Ashura Umbrella was truly formidable… but why was she still alive?

As if suddenly remembering something, Zanxing reached into her chest and pulled out a yellow talisman paper. This was the substitute talisman that Mu Cengxiao had given her. Originally, it had a small figure drawn on it, but now the talisman was blank—the little figure was gone. The moment Zanxing took it out, the talisman burst into flames and turned to ash in an instant, disappearing completely.

“Substitute talisman…” Zanxing suddenly understood. It must have been this substitute talisman from Mu Cengxiao that blocked the Ashura Umbrella’s attack, allowing her to survive under such circumstances.

Everything from Mu Cengxiao’s collection was indeed useful. As Zanxing was thinking this, she suddenly sneezed.

“Achoo—why is it so cold here?” She looked around.

This was an ice cave.

The ice cave wasn’t large, but it was very tall. Looking up, she couldn’t see the top—only darkness above. Throughout the cavern, flowers that emitted azure light were blooming, illuminating the entire cave. With thousands of feet of white snow and ten thousand inches of ice, this place was even colder than the Snow Country in the treasure realm, as if staying even a moment longer would freeze her into an ice sculpture.

“What exactly is this place?” Zanxing thought for a moment, then tentatively called out a few times. Apart from the hollow echo, no one answered her. This seemed to be a dead place.

Why had Gui Yansheng brought her to this place?

Zanxing couldn’t figure it out. Mimi seemed to find it too cold and burrowed deeper into her arms.

Her eyesight was clearer than before. This fat cat, Mimi, had originally been raised plump and white by Hong Su at the Taiyan Sect, with glossy, smooth fur that made everyone say what a handsome pig it was. Now its fur was singed in patches by divine fire, its body had thinned considerably, and its face looked rather pitiful. If Hong Su saw this, she would surely be heartbroken.

Thinking of Hong Su, Zanxing sighed again. Now that she had become a criminal in the cultivation world, she had escaped, leaving Hong Su and Gu Baiying to face the criticism of the world. She didn’t know what would happen to them.

Mimi stretched out a paw and scratched at her. Zanxing looked down, and the cat opened its mouth, coughing up an azure pouch—it was Zanxing’s Qiankun Bag.

“Thank goodness, this is still here.” Zanxing was overjoyed and immediately grabbed the bottom of the bag, dumping out a large pile of things.

“Yuanli Pills, these will do.” Zanxing took out a handful and fed them to Mimi, then stuffed several into her mouth to chew. Mimi was a spirit beast whose spiritual power was undamaged—eating Yuanli Pills could restore her strength. Zanxing was now no different from an ordinary person, so eating Yuanli Pills wouldn’t benefit her cultivation at all, but she couldn’t resist her hungry stomach, so taking a few to fill her belly was fine.

“Flower Fox Fur.” Zanxing picked up a snow-white fox fur from the ground and immediately threw it over her shoulders without thinking. Instantly, a warm, comfortable feeling spread through her body. She scooped up Mimi, who was eating Yuanli Pills, and held her close. Now both the person and the cat were much warmer. This fox fur was what Meng Ying had given her on her birthday night. Concerned that Zanxing was wearing cotton pants under her gauze robes in winter was unseemly, so she specially gifted this fox fur. Although Meng Ying had spoken of it casually at the time, now that it was worn, Zanxing realized this fox fur was an extraordinary treasure—in times like these, it could save her life.

There were also the shoes Liu Yunxin had given her. They were waterproof, and though the soles were thick, they were soft. Zanxing quickly changed into them, and now stepping on the ice wasn’t as freezing as before. What else was there? There was also a copy of the “Peerless Heart Manual” and the Heavenly Fire Basket that Tian Fangfang had given her.

Zanxing held the Heavenly Fire Basket, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Tian Fangfang had said there were three fire crystals in this basket, which could conservatively burn for three years, though she didn’t know how large this fire would be. This place was full of ice and snow, with nothing else—perhaps when necessary, this could be used for warmth.

Thinking of this, Zanxing put away the Heavenly Fire Basket and had Mimi swallow the Qiankun Bag again.

“Collecting more birthday gifts has its benefits,” Zanxing muttered to herself. “Who knows when they might come in handy? In the future, I should make up a few more festivals each year to collect gifts.” At this point, Zanxing suddenly froze, her eyes dimming again. Days like her birthday, when companions gathered together to joke and laugh—she didn’t know if such days would ever come again, and she might not even be able to leave this cursed place.

Her chest still ached with residual pain. Gui Yansheng had forcibly extracted the Xiaoyuan Pearl from her body. Although the substitute talisman could block the fatal strike, the physical pain couldn’t disappear. Her dantian, which had originally been full with Yuanli constantly flowing through her Golden Core, was now empty like a dried riverbed with only withered traces remaining.

She was no longer a cultivator, and she had lost her golden finger that she relied on for survival. Now she was no different from an ordinary person, even weaker.

Mimi seemed to sense Zanxing’s dejected mood and extended her tongue to lick her palm.

Zanxing stroked her head, but her gaze suddenly stopped. Only now did she realize something, staring intently at her palm.

The intertwined begonia flower in her palm had disappeared at some point.

“This is…” She was somewhat shocked.

The red mark had appeared not long after she entered the Taiyan Sect. Afterward, Zanxing discovered that whenever she violated the “Heavenly Way” and changed the plot that should have happened, this red mark would deepen slightly. By the end, the begonia flower in her palm had become quite complete, looking at first glance as if it wanted to grow out of her palm. She had always suspected that when this begonia flower completely separated from her palm, it would be the time when the Heavenly Way demanded her death.