The silver ice plain stretched vast and boundless, as far as the eye could see — not a soul visible for ten thousand li.

The holy maiden of the Violet Mansion was like a violet snow lotus, serene and pure as ice. Though surrounded and trapped, not a trace of panic showed on her face — she remained composed and self-assured.

Boom!

Tu Fei was the first to strike. Forming a dragon claw seal, he thrust it forward. A great black dragon flew out, releasing a dragon’s cry that shook the ice plain. The great dragon rushed toward Fairy Zixia.

Crack!

The holy maiden of the Violet Mansion flicked her hair — three thousand black tresses cascading like a waterfall — disrupting the flow of time itself. Violet qi billowed, and that great black dragon dissolved in an instant.

Whoosh!

She raised a delicate hand, and the painting scroll unfurled. A true world materialized, drawing upon one’s mind and body, as though attempting to smelt this entire region of the world.

Tu Fei involuntarily lifted off the ground, drawn by an immense force, on the verge of being swallowed into the scroll.

Hum!

The ice plain trembled. Tu Fei held the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar and shook it powerfully. The unremarkable gray clay jar sent out a streak of dark light that struck the painting scroll.

“This immortal younger sister is truly formidable!” He let out a strange cry and flew backward — but managed to free himself from the scroll, just barely avoiding being drawn inside.

Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and the Great Black Dog all drew a sharp breath. In one exchange, Tu Fei had nearly come to grief — nearly been collected by the holy maiden of the Violet Mansion.

Fairy Zixia was placid — neither joyful nor distressed — carrying a kind of detachment beyond the world. It seemed less like she was facing a powerful enemy and more like she was quietly watching flowers bloom and clouds drift. She wasn’t being dismissive; it was her true nature. Having reached this state of being, she remained without ripple or wave, as though standing apart from everything — a supreme transcendence.

Pang Bo stepped forward. Black mist churned around him. He did not move particularly fast, but with each step he took, the ice plain shook — majestic and towering, like a demon god holding up the heavens.

Crack!

Pang Bo struck. His right hand formed a seal — like a dragon, like a roc — and with a single light strike, the void collapsed.

Dense black mist surged. Pang Bo’s great hand transformed into a true dragon, reaching Fairy Zixia’s proximity, the dragon’s head rearing high, the dragon’s body like a steel fortress wall, filled with overpowering force, crushing forward.

Boom!

Fairy Zixia faced it with composure. Her hands were white as jade, every finger slender and delicate, crystal clear as water chestnut shoots, and with a light touch she reached out to intercept the dragon.

It appeared as effortless as clouds and a gentle breeze — no surge of power, no raging divine force. Yet everyone present changed expression. Those ten jade fingers carried the breath of the Dao, pressing so heavily that the void grew blurred.

Crack!

Dragon met jade finger — and the true dragon was struck apart, sending out a dragon’s cry as it faded.

Hum!

The void shuddered. Pang Bo shifted his hand seal; the true dragon became a roc, golden light blazing, its cry moving heaven and earth. A great roc divine bird like molten gold poured and cast dove downward.

Fairy Zixia remained calm and unshaken. Slender jade fingers traced lightly — as though conducting the Great Dao, pressing down — and the great roc divine bird could not approach.

Boom!

Pang Bo strode forward. The earth shook with each step; with every step taken, his momentum rose. By the fourth step, the ice plain cracked and boulders flew.

Like a demon god, his jet-black hair flew in wild disarray, his eyes sharp as blades, his bronze skin radiating a precious luster.

“You have entered the realm of the Dao — I will break through it!”

Pang Bo unleashed the demon clan’s supreme arts, battling Fairy Zixia in a confrontation that drove both ice plain and sky into a frenzy.

Boom!

A true dragon coiled the heavens — a hundred-zhang dragon surged outward, sweeping toward Fairy Zixia, its cry piercing the clouds.

Fairy Zixia remained in that wondrous state, merged with heaven and earth. She commanded the Great Dao. Though her every move was without intensity, without the heat of fire, it was terrifying beyond measure.

Where her delicate hands passed, the void contorted, saturated with the breath of the Dao. Whatever she touched would shatter to nothing, form and soul annihilated.

This was a contest of opposing extremes — one heavy and forceful, sweeping and vast, with massive open strikes; the other light as clouds, untouched by the world below — two completely different styles, evenly matched.

Pang Bo had not yet used the Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor. He saw no certainty in a decisive blow, and the Mountains and Rivers Map still hovered above — he had to guard against it at all times.

“The Eight Arts of the Heavenly Demon — the heroic pride of the demon clan,” Fairy Zixia finally spoke, calmly stating these eight words.

The secret technique Pang Bo had displayed was indeed a demon clan supreme art — not an exclusive technique but one known by every great expert of the demon clan.

The Eight Arts of the Heavenly Demon were an unsurpassed secret technique passed down from the ancient era, no weaker than the divine arts in the Demon Emperor’s ancient scripture. Their might was unmatched — bringing the word “force” to the extreme.

The Eight Arts of the Heavenly Demon stirred heaven and moved earth. He was like a demon god reborn, like a Great Emperor descending, breaking through the Dao with force!

His fists nearly pierced through the void, his yang energy soaring to the heavens. With each stride forward, all four directions trembled.

Crack!

Pang Bo, unstoppable, drove his right fist through the violet mist, reaching close range. His left hand formed a seal, blocking the surging violet radiance.

Clang!

Fairy Zixia, like flowing water and drifting clouds, evaded the fist that could pierce through mountain peaks and lightly traced along the way, marking out the Dao’s trajectory — sealing toward Pang Bo’s two hands.

Crack!

Pang Bo jolted, while she condensed a Dao diagram in the void that swept outward — supple yet containing steel, with awe-inspiring attacking force.

Boom!

Pang Bo formed a seal and struck the Dao diagram. The void instantly went wild — a fierce collision, and both of them flew back.

Yet in the next breath, they were battling each other again.

Pang Bo was like a great forge that could smelt heaven and earth — supremely yang, vast in sweep, blood qi soaring skyward, divine and valiant, breaking through the Dao with force.

Fairy Zixia carried an immortal bearing beyond the mortal world. Merged with the ice plain, merged with the sky — she had transformed into nature itself, growing ever more hazy and elusive.

The two were of completely opposite natures. Their contest grew increasingly fierce, impossible to determine a victor.

“I have heard that the holy maiden of the Violet Mansion was born with an affinity for the Dao — she is supremely gifted and has rarely shown her hand. Of her few known battle records, the most notable is that the holy son of the Violet Mansion was defeated by her. The holy son is inferior to the holy maiden.”

Tu Fei said this with repeated sighs, increasingly astonished by Pang Bo’s strength.

The Great Black Dog muttered: “This woman is truly exceptional — she is a born cultivation prodigy. The further she advances, the more terrifying she will become. Reach a certain realm, and when body and Dao become one, no matter how great your power, it will be suppressed.”

Pang Bo let out a long cry. Both hands formed seals, pressing down over the ice plain, shaking the sky. True dragons, divine phoenixes, and great rocs appeared in succession, driven between his two hands.

In that moment, heaven and earth were set into motion. Pang Bo was like a demon emperor of the ancient times reborn — his figure towering and magnificent, making this entire region of the world tremble.

Boom!

Collision after collision, the two fought to the white heat, growing ever more fierce. The surging Dao power triggered an avalanche on the ice plain.

Snow like a tidal wave thundered and crashed — as though ten thousand horses were galloping — and the earth cracked open into endless great fissures, a scene of devastation in all directions.

“Brothers, take up your weapons — capture the holy maiden alive and make her our wife!” Suddenly Tu Fei let out a wild cry and charged forward first.

“Whoever gets her keeps her!” the Great Black Dog howled as well.

This was a psychological attack — they wanted to prevent Fairy Zixia from maintaining her ethereal state of mind, wanting to shatter her Dao realm of oneness with heaven and earth.

Boom!

In the world of ice and snow, an incomparably terrifying presence manifested. Tu Fei’s demonic jar hung in the air like a black hole — the mouth of the jar deep and unfathomable, with no visible bottom.

It was an unparalleled devouring force. A beam of black light reached toward Fairy Zixia, attempting to collect her into the clay jar.

Whoosh!

The painting scroll hovering above Fairy Zixia’s head trembled. A great peak charged out, crashing toward the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar, radiating a primordial aura.

“This truly is a primordial demonic mountain — it could crush ten thousand mountains!” the Great Black Dog cried out in alarm, giving itself a great fright. It backed up directly and pushed Tu Fei forward instead.

“You wretched dog!”

Hum!

The Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar shook. Its devouring force grew stronger, swallowing the magnificent black great peak, making this region of the world shake violently.

“Damn it, another one!”

From within the painting scroll, another silver great mountain burst out — its radiance flashing, the pressure it carried extraordinary. Before it had even fallen, the earth below had already begun to crumble.

The two mountains collided. Silver brilliance and dark light shot out together. The black hole formed by the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar was disturbed, unable to collect them immediately.

Whoosh!

The painting scroll stirred. The boundless world contained within it surged outward in a great wave, taking solid form — pushing back against the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar and beginning to reversely suppress Tu Fei.

And through all of this, Fairy Zixia continued battling Pang Bo without interruption, her robes flowing, her movements like water and clouds — no ripple in her heart, her Dao realm unaffected and unbroken.

Hum!

At that moment Ye Fan made his move. The silver Diamond Seal — ancient and imposing — rapidly expanded. The Dao patterns on its surface merged into heaven and earth.

It did not grow enormously large; its diameter was barely a meter. Yet it was heavy as a mountain, causing all four directions to shift beneath it.

Boom!

A fierce collision — the Diamond Seal drove into that real world materialized from the scroll, silver light blazing, breaking apart mountains and shattering the earth, unstoppable.

At the same time, Tu Fei fought back fiercely. The Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar became a black hole, swallowing and expelling heaven and earth, contending against the world the scroll had manifested.

And the Great Black Dog, slipping along unnoticed, closed in on Fairy Zixia — a great golden bell over its head — and launched a sneak attack from behind.

“Brothers, the time for counterattack has come! And I’ll say it again: whoever catches her, she’s yours!” Tu Fei shouted, and he too rushed forward with the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar in hand.

Swoosh!

A flash of light — Ye Fan drew back the Diamond Seal and also pressed close, swinging a golden fist forward.

Boom!

It was a heaven-and-earth-shattering punch. Blood qi surged to the heavens. Ye Fan’s physical power had long since surpassed what could be guessed — like a savage dragon emperor reborn!

Boom!

Fairy Zixia was in fierce battle with Pang Bo. In the moment she glanced back, she swept the Great Dao forward, pressing outward. She seemed to embody the will of heaven and earth itself, and the Dao force she swept out collided with Ye Fan’s golden fist.

Boom!

Light flooded every direction — like the Silver River of the Nine Heavens cascading downward. This was a terrifying collision, energy overwhelming!

Ye Fan was sent flying back, though unharmed. This was his first direct head-on confrontation with cultivators at the holy son and holy maiden level — and moreover he had clashed with the opponent’s pure Dao force directly.

At that very moment, Pang Bo finally revealed his supreme art. The Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes — Form Obliteration!

His two eyes shot out silver light, obliterating everything, piercing through heaven and earth, rushing toward Fairy Zixia — a vast expanse of white light, heaven and earth trembling.

Hiss!

Fairy Zixia, shrouded in violet mist — her peerless features hazy — at the center of her brow, radiance bloomed, releasing violet luminance: the mark of the Dao imprint!

In that moment, two blazing beams of violet light burst out, meeting the Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes head on.

Boom!

The two divine lights met. A devastating presence erupted outward. Tu Fei quickly used the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar to shield himself, and the Great Black Dog covered itself with the great golden bell.

Ye Fan’s physical body was robust — equal to a dragon or roc. His entire body blazed with blazing golden light, like a Great Emperor of ancient times reborn. He alone transformed into a streak of golden light and charged forward, seizing this moment to capture Fairy Zixia.