127: Chapter 127 Fragments, the Edges of the Truth

The Ice Cave was found by Shen Xiao.

To be precise, he discovered it while scanning with his last bit of spiritual sense during his escape; it was a naturally formed Ice Cave deep within a rift created by glacial erosion, its entrance concealed by weathered rock layers, making it nearly impossible to detect unless one was intentionally searching for it.

The two slipped into the entrance one after the other. Inside, it was colder than outside, but at least there were no omnipresent wind blades, nor the suffocating pressure of the aura emitted by Lin Yun's Puppet.

Shen Xiao leaned against the icy wall and exhaled a long breath of white mist.

It felt as if a handful of crushed ice had been shoved into his lungs; every breath brought a stinging pain.

His body had reached its limit. Previously, to suppress the foreign energy within him and to cooperate with Xia Lengbai in disguising their aura to match the ice plains, he had nearly exhausted the pitiful reserves of spiritual power in his Dantian.

Xia Lengbai did not go far; she leaned against the opposite icy wall, three steps away from him, maintaining a delicate distance—close enough to provide mutual support, yet far enough to react at a moment's notice.

She did not speak, merely staring at him with those ice-blue eyes, as if scrutinizing a wounded prey, assessing whether it still posed a threat.

Shen Xiao ignored her gaze.

He was waiting.

Waiting for his breathing to steady, waiting for the foreign energy within him to stop being so restless, and waiting for his mind to recover its clarity from that life-or-death disguise he had just performed.

Then, he spoke.

"We need to piece together what we each saw."

His voice was hoarse, carrying repressed exhaustion, yet his tone was calm, as if stating the most ordinary of facts.

Xia Lengbai raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Piece together what?"

"Memory fragments."

Shen Xiao looked directly into her eyes.

"When I plundered Bai Lian and Nangong Li, I saw some images.

The same goes for you; when the Tomb Guardian Seal went berserk, some things that didn't belong to you must have flashed through your consciousness."

Xia Lengbai's expression remained unchanged, but Shen Xiao noticed her fingers curl slightly.

That was the reaction of someone whose secret had been exposed.

"You want to extract information from me."

Her voice remained cold.

"No, I want to trade information with you."

Shen Xiao corrected her.

"Those fragments are nothing on their own, but if we piece them together, perhaps we can see the full picture."

Silence.

In the Ice Cave, only the faint sound of cold air flowing and the indistinct breathing of the two remained.

"You go first."

Xia Lengbai finally spoke.

Shen Xiao did not refuse.

"When I plundered Bai Lian in the Kunlun Ruins, I saw an altar."

He spoke slowly, not rushing, as if weighing every word.

"It was a very ancient altar, with array patterns so complex they exceeded my understanding.

Bai Lian was kneeling in the center of the altar, her soul being drawn out, transforming into wisps of light that surged toward a mass... of something in the sky."

"What kind of thing?"

"A phantom."

Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes.

"It had no concrete form, just a mass of cold light.

Bai Lian's expression was not one of pain, but of relief. She had guarded it for too long, she was too tired. She wasn't being taken; she was being 'permitted' to give up."

Xia Lengbai's pupils constricted slightly.

"The array patterns around the altar,"

she suddenly spoke, her voice low,

"Are they similar to the Tomb Guardian Seal?"

Shen Xiao paused, then nodded.

"Older, more complex, but the underlying logic is very similar. They are both channels for some kind of 'extraction' and 'transmission'."

"Then that's it."

There was a hint of coldness in Xia Lengbai's voice.

"The essence of the Tomb Guardian Seal is a mobile altar.

It's carved onto me to make it convenient to harvest my power at any time..."

She paused, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"To give to Lin Yun."

Shen Xiao did not respond, merely watching her quietly.

Xia Lengbai took a deep breath and continued:

"When the Tomb Guardian Seal went berserk, I also saw some images.

Bai Lian—not the Bai Lian who was plundered, but an earlier, still-living Bai Lian—was kneeling before the altar, holding a Jade Slip in both hands. The Jade Slip recorded some kind of secret technique."

"What secret technique?"

"Sacrifice."

Xia Lengbai's tone was as cold as a blade.

"Sacrificing one's own soul, cultivation, talent, memories, and even emotions entirely to someone.

Not by force, but 'voluntarily'—at least, it appeared voluntary during the ritual."

Shen Xiao's brows furrowed tightly.

"Bai Lian sacrificed herself voluntarily?"

"She was designed to be 'voluntary'."

Xia Lengbai corrected him.

"The Heavenly Dao grants the chosen 'supporting characters' a certain instinct—the instinct to want to sacrifice.

Just like Nangong Li..."

She paused, her gaze becoming sharp.

"You saw it too, right? Nangong Li's fear."

Shen Xiao nodded.

"When I plundered her Alchemy talent, I felt the fear deep within her heart. She wasn't afraid of failing at Alchemy; she was afraid of 'giving.' Instinctively, she wanted to sacrifice it to Lin Yun, but her reason was resisting this sacrifice.

That contradiction almost tore her apart."

"That's it exactly."

Xia Lengbai sneered.

"The Heavenly Dao doesn't need force; it only needs to plant a seed in your heart.

Then, the seed will take root and sprout on its own, growing into a great tree named 'Sacrifice.' You think it's your own choice, but in reality, it was designed from the very beginning."

The temperature in the Ice Cave seemed to drop a few degrees further.

Shen Xiao remained silent for a moment, then retrieved from the depths of his memory those information fragments obtained when he plundered Xia Lengbai.

"There are some keywords in the System logs."

He spoke slowly, " 'Heavenly Mandate Correction,' 'Luck Nourishment,' 'Karma Anchor.' I hadn't understood the specific meanings of these terms before, but now..."

He looked up, his eyes deep.

"Heavenly Mandate Correction is the Heavenly Dao's forced correction of supporting characters who 'deviate from the script.'

Luck Nourishment is allowing the supporting character's Luck to ultimately flow to the protagonist.

Karma Anchor..."

He looked into Xia Lengbai's eyes.

"Is binding the fate of the supporting character to the protagonist, ensuring that the supporting character's meaning of existence is to pave the way for the protagonist."

Xia Lengbai's face turned completely pale.

Not from fear, but from a more intense emotion that threatened to tear her apart: anger, sorrow, absurdity, and a twisted sense of relief.

"It was designed from the very beginning."

She murmured, her voice sounding as if it were squeezed from the depths of her throat.

"The so-called 'destined marriage,' the so-called 'Ice Soul Fairy,' the so-called..."

She suddenly laughed.

The laughter was cold and frantic, echoing in the Ice Cave, startling the frost on the ceiling and causing it to fall in a rustle.

"We are all just nourishment, right?"

She stared at Shen Xiao, twisted flames burning in her ice-blue pupils.

"Those Geniuses, those Opportunities, those legendary stories in the cultivation world—they were all designed.

From beginning to end, it was all just to pave the way for him!"

Shen Xiao did not speak.

He simply watched her quietly, watching this woman who was once known as the "Ice Soul Fairy" crumble bit by bit before the truth, and then reshape herself bit by bit.

Xia Lengbai's laughter gradually ceased.

Her chest heaved violently, her eyes rimmed with red, but the madness in those eyes was fading, replaced by something even more dangerous.

Calmness.

A cold, extreme calmness that seemed capable of freezing everything to shards.

"And what about you?"

She stared at Shen Xiao, her voice hoarse.

"Are you 'nourishment' too?"

Shen Xiao was silent for a moment.

"I am a Transmigration entity; I do not belong to this world, yet I possess a System capable of changing the plot."

Xia Lengbai narrowed her eyes slightly.

"So, you are a 'variable' on the heavenly dao chessboard."

"Or, the only chess piece it failed to calculate."

The two stared at each other.

In the Ice Cave, only the whistling wind remained, coming from the depths of the rift, sounding like this ancient ice plain sighing in a low voice.

Shen Xiao suddenly spread his right hand.

A faint light appeared in his palm; it was the projection of the System interface, visible only to him.

In the light, a cold number flickered quietly:

[ 87 / 100 ]

It was still 13 points away from summoning the Heaven-Defying Sword.

Every point represented a plunder.

Every plunder was a provocation against the Heavenly Dao.

Xia Lengbai could not see the System interface, but she could feel something contained within the light in Shen Xiao's palm—cold, sharp, and carrying a Heaven-Defying determination.

"What is that?"

Shen Xiao withdrew his hand, and the light dissipated.

"The thing that will overturn this chessboard."

His voice was soft, but every word was clear, like an oath carved into the icy wall.

Xia Lengbai stared at him for a long time, then suddenly a curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

The smile was faint and cold, but it was no longer the frantic, twisted laughter from before; it was something even more dangerous.

Like an enraged beast that had finally found the direction to strike back.

"You are right."

She spoke slowly,

"The nourishment wants to bite back."

Shen Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly, not speaking.

Xia Lengbai stood up and walked to the entrance; the moonlight shone on her, stretching her silhouette long.

"Those people who have been arranged by the Heavenly Dao,"

she said with her back to Shen Xiao, her voice cold,

"Those 'supporting characters' who are being harvested—they possess things you need, right?"

"Yes."

"Then..."

She turned around, her ice-blue pupils glowing faintly in the darkness.

"Tell me, who is next?"