Terrifying Memories

The news of the impending battle spread quickly throughout the city.

As the Void Heaven Realm’s consciousness had announced it to all, trial-takers who had witnessed the clashes of Bai Lan and Xue Feng, as well as Long Lingyu and Song Que, rushed towards the martial arena.

This promised to be a highly intriguing clash.

Two trial-takers who had recently succeeded in challenging the Heavenly Ranking were about to face off, and everyone was eager to discover who among them possessed greater strength.

Time slowly elapsed.

Meanwhile, Bai Lan and Long Lingyu had taken their positions, confronting each other from dozens of meters apart.

Bai Lan did not immediately make a move, as she had yet to fully grasp Long Lingyu’s abilities.

A rash attack, she knew, might lead to a similar outcome as Song Que’s.

“I’m curious,” Bai Lan stated, “what exactly are your abilities?”

“Wouldn’t you know if you tried?” Long Lingyu replied, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Bai Lan prepared.

After nearly half a minute of gathering her strength, she suddenly moved.

It was still her most proficient sword art, but this time she wielded the Immortal’s Abode Sword Art, not the Luoshen Sword Art.

“Shimmering Radiance!” Bai Lan gathered her power.

From a distance of about twenty meters from Long Lingyu, she unleashed her sword technique.

Three distinct beams of sword light, each a different color, shot forth, piercing towards Long Lingyu from three directions.

Bai Lan initiated her attack from twenty meters away for a specific reason.

Song Que had always been immobilized by some force whenever he drew close to Long Lingyu.

Bai Lan theorized that maintaining a greater distance might prevent her from falling victim to the same trap.

However, it was not so simple.

As Bai Lan’s three sword lights streaked forward, Long Lingyu suddenly produced a jade flute and began to play.

Instantly, a peculiar power ripple emanated, forming an isolating barrier around him.

Bai Lan’s three sword lights struck this invisible force, only to be repelled.

It appeared Long Lingyu was also a musical cultivator.

Yet, his abilities extended beyond mere defense.

The very next moment, the flute’s melody shifted, and a phantom bird, conjured from pure power, soared forth from his music.

With a piercing, mournful cry, it flew directly towards Bai Lan.

These phantom birds assailed Bai Lan from multiple directions as if endowed with life.

Bai Lan’s brow furrowed, and she swiftly swung her Hanpo, shattering the incoming birds.

Yet, the birds seemed endless, impossible to eliminate entirely.

Bai Lan found herself trapped.

Crucially, these phantom birds continuously drained her energy.

If she failed to find a way to break this technique, she would be in serious trouble.

Musical cultivators were always the most troublesome opponents.

Outside the arena, many trial-takers who had previously witnessed Bai Lan and Long Lingyu’s battles had gathered in the spectator stands.

However, the current scene seemed to defy their expectations.

“Strange,” one person mused, “Isn’t Long Lingyu a musical cultivator? Why isn’t he defeating Bai Lan the same way he defeated Song Que?”

“It’s probably a matter of distance,” another suggested. “Song Que always fell right in front of Long Lingyu, but Bai Lan is nearly twenty meters away. Perhaps he can’t reach her from that far.”

There was indeed logic to this observation.

Upon closer inspection, Bai Lan was indeed quite far from Long Lingyu, implying that Long Lingyu’s ability required a certain proximity to activate.

Long Lingyu’s current attack, it seemed, was designed to force Bai Lan into close quarters.

Bai Lan herself sensed this.

‘Is he trying to force me closer? Hmph! I refuse to believe there’s an ability that can defeat me outright at close range!’ Bai Lan deliberated, ultimately deciding that she had to close the distance.

These damned phantom birds could only harass and deplete her strength, but they lacked any significant destructive power.

Was this not a blatant attempt to draw her in?

Indeed, Bai Lan suddenly broke through the encirclement of phantom birds and thrust her sword towards Long Lingyu with incredible speed.

However, just as Bai Lan was merely ten meters from Long Lingyu, he suddenly revealed a mischievous smirk.

He slowly opened his eyes, glancing at Bai Lan, who was charging straight towards him.

His gaze appeared ordinary, yet the moment it met Bai Lan’s, her heart pounded violently.

The surrounding environment began to shift.

An unseen force halted her body, and all sound vanished, replaced by an eerie silence.

The familiar battlefield transformed into a gloomy palace.

Within this dark palace, she witnessed a scene she most dreaded recalling: a young Xue Yue, bound by an unknown power to a block of ice, struggling desperately.

“Let go of me! What do you want?” Bai Lan cried out, her voice trembling with fear as she looked at the Snow Clan elders surrounding the child.

This was the Snow Clan’s underground palace, where Xue Yue had been stripped of his divine bone and divine blood.

Standing beside the child were seven figures: six elders, the most powerful individuals in the Snow Clan besides the clan leader, and one handsome young man, Xue Yue’s second uncle, Xue Zhongyu, who seemed to bear a look of reluctance.

“Second Uncle, why are you doing this? I never intended to contend with you for family power!” The young Xue Yue, unable to break free, cried out to Xue Zhongyu.

“I…” Xue Zhongyu began, but the word caught in his throat, and he ultimately said nothing.

“Zhongyu, a true leader does not concern themselves with minor details,” one of the elders interjected, his voice cold.

“The deed is done. Why dwell on it? The Snow Clan cannot be without a king for a single day. You are also of the Snow Clan’s direct lineage. Now that Zhong Tian is absent and the clan leader is in secluded cultivation, with no guarantee of returning alive, Xue Yue is too young to bear the weight of the clan. Since you have already decided to seize power, this boy is merely an obstacle. What we must do now is make it a fait accompli, settle everything. By then, even if the clan leader emerges from seclusion or Zhong Tian returns, it will be an irreversible decision that no one can change.”

Upon hearing these words, Xue Zhongyu, whose resolve had momentarily wavered, found his gaze hardening once more.

He looked at his nephew, then spoke with an apologetic tone.

“Xue Yue, I’m sorry. Second Uncle must do this. It is for the sake of the Snow Clan, for the stability of the Snow Domain. Rest assured, though you will lose your divine bone, Second Uncle will ensure your future well-being,” Xue Zhongyu declared.

Xue Yue’s heart sank upon hearing this, realizing that his fate was about to be irrevocably altered.

Shortly after, the six elders simultaneously performed a forbidden Snow Clan art.

This technique, specifically designed to extract the Snow Divine Bone, required stringent conditions: the combined power of six Integration realm experts.

As the forbidden art activated, a torrent of power surged into Xue Yue’s body.

This force coiled around the divine bone, then began to pull.

With each agonizing tug, piercing screams of agony erupted from Xue Yue’s lips.

“Ah… it hurts, it hurts! Stop it! I’m in so much pain! Father, Mother, Grandfather, save me… I hate you, I hate you all!”

The screams were utterly heart-wrenching, twisting Xue Yue’s small face in torment.

Bai Lan, witnessing this scene again, turned deathly pale.

Her body trembled uncontrollably.

This was the lingering terror within Xue Yue’s soul.

It was clear how horrifying the extraction of a divine bone was—a fate worse than death itself.

The six elders, however, remained impassive, completely unmoved by Xue Yue’s agonizing cries.

They regarded the child as if they were merely butchering an animal, their eyes devoid of pity or remorse.

Yet, Bai Lan was not Xue Yue.

This horrific vision, while perhaps the most terrifying memory in her mind, was something Xue Yue had experienced in the past, not something the current Bai Lan was enduring.