When Jiang Yuan entered the secret cave, Ling Qixuan was also taking Elder Yinfeng and his group to visit his “Little City Ruins.”

Lu Xingzhou blended into the crowd to observe. The city was still a city of ice, but its scale was much smaller than the Royal City he had visited, more like a small, dilapidated town.

From every angle, it seemed to have only one main street and sparse houses. However, the architectural style was basically consistent with the Royal City, indicating they belonged to the same kingdom.

The small town was also hidden deep underground. After it was discovered by the Bingyu Sect, they constructed a teleportation array through its spatial rift, which is how many secret realms designated by major sects and factions came to be. This meant that while it seemed like they were walking from the back mountain of the Bingyu Sect, their actual location was now unknown.

The town had been tidied up by the Bingyu Sect. All usable resources had undoubtedly been taken away, leaving a field of ice sculpture corpses neatly arranged on an empty ground. Lu Xingzhou scanned them; these ice sculptures had no residual soul fire left, they were completely dead.

Ling Qixuan said, “There’s nothing else in this secret realm, just these things… If Your Excellency Ghost Emperor likes them, please take them.”

Elder Yinfeng seemed quite pleased: “Indeed, a fresh batch of ancient corpses. I shall accept them.”

Ling Qixuan continued, “So, we truly haven’t found any clues related to the Ice Demon. Please report back to the King of Hell.”

If this was truly just the King of Hell sending someone to inquire about the Ice Demon, or merely testing whether the ambushers were theirs for Lu Xingzhou, then it would essentially end here.

Unfortunately, Lu Xingzhou wasn’t here for any of that.

He had been holding a small wooden figurine given to him by Jiang Yuan, synchronously perceiving Jiang Yuan’s experiences, just to ascertain if there were any unexpected forces present.

When Jiang Yuan met the Xuan Nü, Lu Xingzhou also knew.

So this was the hidden power of the Bingyu Sect… Well, that settles it.

Lu Xingzhou directly sent a signal to Si Han. Simultaneously, Si Han led several elites to break into the secret cave to rendezvous with Jiang Yuan, while another allied force, composed of high-ranking members of Si Han’s Yingyue Sect and the Tianyao Holy Land stationed in Yingyue City, directly attacked the Bingyu Sect’s main gate.

Here, Ling Qixuan was still in the secret realm, making pleasantries with Elder Yinfeng, while his home above was already under attack.

Most of the sect’s high-ranking members were “entertaining guests” in the secret realm, leaving few strong individuals in the sect. The allied forces, like wolves and tigers, stormed the main gate, and the grand protective array shattered in a few breaths.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” The Bingyu Sect disciples were bewildered, sending frantic alerts to Ling Qixuan.

Before Ling Qixuan could react, Elder Yinfeng, who had been smilingly collecting corpses, and his Yinyin Sect disciples suddenly launched an attack. Several iron corpse puppets rushed head-on at the Bingyu Sect elders who were accompanying them.

Lu Xingzhou flashed behind Ling Qixuan, fire on his left, water on his right, his fists fiercely striking his back.

Du Gu Qingli’s sword sealed off Ling Qixuan’s vital points in front.

To block the Ice Demon’s channels, capturing everyone would reveal all; what couldn’t be interrogated under the Soul Banner? With overwhelming power in hand, there was no need for pretense or elaborate schemes.

The Bingyu Sect elders, caught off guard by the sneak attack, didn’t react in time. Several were ambushed by Elder Yinfeng, and the situation instantly turned into the Yinyin Sect overpowering the Bingyu Sect.

A crystalline ice artifact appeared in Ling Qixuan’s hand, rapidly expanding to encapsulate him like an ice egg. Lu Xingzhou and Du Gu Qingli’s attacks simultaneously struck it.

Amidst the shattering ice crystals, Ling Qixuan roared, “What is the meaning of this, Marquis Lu! Is this how the Yanluo Palace attacks its allies?”

The shattered ice crystals turned into sharp blades, spinning in all directions, as Ling Qixuan fled.

His chosen direction instinctively avoided Du Gu Qingli, only darting towards Lu Xingzhou.

“Who attacked whom first, Sect Master Ling knows best,” Lu Xingzhou said, meeting him with a punch.

Blazing purple flames spread throughout the secret realm with that punch, and the residual sun above turned purple, making heaven and earth like a furnace.

The Yan Yu Can Yang now truly had the imagery of a fiery purgatory.

Ling Qixuan thrust his sword, breaking into the sea of fire.

“Clang!” Fist and sword clashed head-on, energy surged wildly, and the secret realm violently shook.

Du Gu Qingli’s second sword had already reached Ling Qixuan’s back, but watching Lu Xingzhou’s frontal confrontation, her heart was still in her throat. This was perhaps the first time in her life she felt nervous about someone else’s battle; she had never before… not for her master, not for her “friend” Shen Tang, and not for Lu Xingzhou previously.

But now she did.

She finally understood what it felt like when Lu Xingzhou desperately shielded her. At this moment, she felt the same, wishing she could be the one facing the direct confrontation.

So this is what it means to be human…

As her thoughts flickered, Lu Xingzhou took a slight step back, still firmly blocking Ling Qixuan’s path. Du Gu Qingli’s sword pierced Ling Qixuan’s back at this moment.

If it were a weaker opponent, this sword strike would have been fatal.

But Ling Qixuan only groaned, and the sword wound did not bleed.

“Ice transformed demonic body…” Du Gu Qingli whispered, seeing Ling Qixuan’s flesh begin to recede, his entire body becoming like ice.

Even his aura was different from before. Previously, he was a demonic cultivator around the first-grade intermediate level, but at this moment, it was impossible to determine his cultivation.

It was like the level of someone who had just broken through to the Huiyang stage, yet also unfathomable, like a bottomless, immeasurable sea, an incomprehensible level. But it fluctuated repeatedly between high and low, undefinable.

“Ho… ho…” Ling Qixuan seemed to be laughing, yet also in pain, slowly saying, “I misjudged… I always thought you, Lu Xingzhou, were a strategist, always thinking things through, at least wanting to understand all the circumstances before acting… I never expected you to be so direct, coming straight to destroy my sect without a word… Why do you think the person who ambushed you must be me?”

Outside the secret realm, the sounds of battle from the Bingyu Sect were growing fainter. All the sect’s high-ranking members were attacked inside the secret realm, leaving the outside without leadership. The few reclusive elders who emerged still couldn’t withstand the combined forces of Tiancang Kingdom’s strongest sect, the Yingyue Sect, and the Tianyao Holy Land, which swept through them like a destructive force, offering no resistance.

Inside the secret realm, caught off guard, the high-ranking elders retreated steadily under the attacks of Elder Yinfeng and the Yinyin Sect disciples.

Only Ling Qixuan remained, his body demonized, as if possessed by the Ice Demon.

But he alone made Lu Xingzhou and the others feel a great sense of alarm. Lu Xingzhou took a slight step back, saying calmly, “It seems unnecessary to explain to you.”

Ling Qixuan nodded, laughing hoarsely, “When the power gap reaches a certain level, direct overwhelming force is indeed the most efficient strategy… But Lu Xingzhou, you are so confident, have you not considered that I can already draw the power of the Ice Demon into my body?”

His current condition indeed seemed like he was drawing on the Ice Demon’s power, but he couldn’t sustain it, hence the unpredictable fluctuations. It could be said that this surprise attack was an extremely correct choice; if Ling Qixuan had been given more time to develop, he might have stably mastered the Ice Demon’s power, but now there were still some issues.

Lu Xingzhou worried that Du Gu Qingli might be affected. He glanced at her carefully, and seeing her expression normal, he felt slightly relieved: “If you truly possessed the ability to use the Ice Demon’s power at will, you wouldn’t have let us escape during the ambush. It’s clear that achieving this step must come at a great cost, for example… using it this one time will completely destroy your body?”

Ling Qixuan sneered, “What if it does… At least you all will die here… For instance… your little lover who is currently entangled with the Xuan Nü?”

As he spoke, Ling Qixuan pointed his hand at a certain spot in the void.

Jiang Yuan, separated by the realms, felt the power of being frozen at that moment, unable to struggle free.

Lu Xingzhou calmly said, “The reason you dealt with Jiang Yuan first is that you hoped the Xuan Nü could quickly resolve her and come here to help you… This indicates that you are not confident in dealing with us. Such powerful force, capable of freezing people across realms, yet you are not confident in dealing with us. There’s only one explanation—your ice chill is ineffective against Qingli.”

As he spoke, Du Gu Qingli’s figure flashed, striking a sword into the void.

Touching Ling Qixuan’s ice chill, Du Gu Qingli’s heart also stirred slightly.

This feeling was strange; it wasn’t about severing but about contending.

It was as if she was competing with Ling Qixuan for control over the frost… or rather, competing with the Ice Demon.

The Ice Demon was sealed and could not participate in the battle itself. Ling Qixuan was borrowing the Ice Demon’s power through some secret method, not his own power, so there was a layer of separation. When it came to who was the master of the frost here, it wasn’t him.

But Ling Qixuan’s power was ultimately stronger… so a very peculiar stalemate formed. The frost was more willing to obey Du Gu Qingli, but was pulled back due to Ling Qixuan’s stronger power, like a tug-of-war.

In any case, for Jiang Yuan, this slight tug-of-war, with the freezing power slightly weakened, was enough for her to unleash her ancient bloodline suppression and directly escape.

Unsure of the battle situation on Jiang Yuan’s side, Lu Xingzhou also moved simultaneously with Du Gu Qingli.

While Du Gu Qingli pulled at the frost control, Lu Xingzhou’s Taiyin True Fire ignited at Ling Qixuan’s feet.

Ling Qixuan’s frozen demonic body clearly couldn’t withstand the Taiyin True Fire. He retreated from the flames with some pain, but Lu Xingzhou had already anticipated his direction of retreat, sweeping a whip kick directly at him.

Ling Qixuan raised his frozen arm to block, and the ice hand clashed with the immortal bone on Lu Xingzhou’s leg, emitting a dull thud. Lu Xingzhou was spun around, and Du Gu Qingli’s sword was already at Ling Qixuan’s back of the neck.

This battle resembled the fight with the Ice City King, even Ling Qixuan’s current power level was very close to the King’s.

But both of them already had rich experience.

Du Gu Qingli’s sword was not for injury, but to control the frost on the opponent’s body; the real output came from Lu Xingzhou.

When Ling Qixuan turned his hand to try and shake off Du Gu Qingli’s sword, he found that the sword had no power, but his ice-transformed body felt a bit “numb.” That wasn’t numbness, but Du Gu Qingli contending with him for control over the frost on his body.

With that one moment of numbness, Lu Xingzhou delivered a punch to his face.

With a “bang,” a front tooth was knocked out, and a drop of something, whether blood or water, instinctively slid down his not-yet-completely-frozen esophagus into his abdomen.