128: Chapter 128 The Next Target

Shen Xiao did not answer immediately.

He merely lowered his eyelids, his right hand's five fingers slightly splayed, as if fiddling with something invisible in the Void Realm.

Xia Lengbai could not see it, but he could see it clearly: the System panel was surging rapidly within his consciousness, and the plot nodes of the original story were flipping by like an ancient book being ruffled by the wind, rustling past.

The North Sea Ice Abyss, broken.

The Nangong Family, broken.

The Kunlun Ruins... the Gravekeeper Bailian, broken.

But there was still something in the fragmented memories.

Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes, his consciousness focusing on the incomplete scene extracted from Bailian's memories: the altar, the array patterns, and that ball of cold light in the sky.

That was not the end.

That was merely an "interface."

An interface for the Heavenly Dao's power to pour into this continent, a transit station that transported the souls and Qi of countless "supporting characters" to the "Child of Destiny."

Beneath the Kunlun Ruins, there was still something.

Shen Xiao's pupils constricted slightly. A blurry coordinate emerged in his consciousness; it was the deepest part of the Tomb Guardian Seal, the secret that Bailian had guarded for ten thousand years, hidden somewhere beneath the altar.

It was not a Legacy.

It was an "anchor point."

The anchor point of the heavenly dao chessboard.

If he could destroy it, it wouldn't be as simple as just plundering destiny value; it would be equivalent to tearing a hole in the great net of the Heavenly Dao, causing the fates of all the supporting characters "anchored" there to loosen.

"The Kunlun Ruins."

Shen Xiao withdrew his hand, and the System panel slowly dissipated from his consciousness.

He raised his head and met Xia Lengbai's gaze, his tone as calm as if he were asking "what's for dinner today": "I am going back."

Xia Lengbai raised an eyebrow.

"Back to the Kunlun Ruins?"

Her voice carried a trace of imperceptible chill. "The altar of the Tomb Guardian Seal, Bailian's remnant soul, and also Lin Yun; he just left there, and the will of the Heavenly Dao might still be lingering in that area."

She paused, her ice-blue pupils glowing faintly in the darkness. "That is a trap."

"I know."

Shen Xiao braced himself against the ice wall and stood up. The wound tore open again due to the movement, and warm blood flowed down his ribs, coagulating into tiny ice beads in the cold air.

But he didn't care at all, merely glancing down at the wound as if looking at something on someone else's body.

"But a trap is also a path."

His voice was very soft, but every word felt like it had been carved with a knife.

"In the original story, the Kunlun Ruins is where Lin Yun obtained the Heavenly Dao's Legacy. After he came out of there, his strength soared by three major Realms, directly placing him among the top ranks of the Nine Heavens Continent."

Shen Xiao raised his head, his gaze cold. "I currently have 87 points of destiny value, and I'm still 13 points short. If I can find the Heavenly Dao's 'anchor point' there, one time will be enough."

Xia Lengbai did not speak, just watched him quietly.

Shen Xiao continued: "Moreover, the scenes pieced together from those fragmented memories—the altar, the array patterns, the sacrificial ritual—all the clues point to the same place. It is not just an Opportunity; it is the truth. It is the… root of this chessboard."

He extended his right hand, palm up.

In the Void Realm, the outline of that sword, which existed only in legends, seemed to flicker in and out of existence in his palm—the Anti-Fate Sword, a divine weapon that could sever Karma and tear apart fate.

"I want to get it there."

Xia Lengbai's gaze fell on his open palm, her eyes flickering slightly.

She could not see the System panel, nor could she see that illusory sword, but she could feel the aura on Shen Xiao—cold, sharp, and carrying a kind of near-mad determination.

That was the aura of a "gambler."

Betting everything, either returning with a full haul or being smashed to pieces.

"Knowing it's a trap, you still want to jump in?"

She spoke, her voice still cold, but her tone had shifted from questioning to something more complex.

Shen Xiao glanced at her, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.

The smile was faint, carrying a trace of self-mockery, but it held more of an indescribable meaning, as if to say, "Isn't it a bit redundant to ask such a question?"

"If you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?"

He turned and walked toward the cave entrance. "Besides, what is hidden in that tiger's den is not just the cub, but the blueprints of the den itself."

Moonlight spilled in from the cave entrance, casting a lean shadow over him.

Shen Xiao took two steps and suddenly stopped.

He did not turn back, only slightly turning his face. The moonlight illuminated half of his profile—pale, exhausted, and covered in wounds—but the light in his eyes was startlingly bright.

"And you?"

His voice came from ahead, carrying a faint trace of a smile. "Continue being your 'Ice Soul Fairy,' obediently waiting for the Heavenly Dao to harvest you? Or come with me to..."

He paused. "...completely overturn this chessboard?"

The ice cave was deathly silent.

Only the sound of the wind came from the depths of the rift, wailing and sobbing, as if this ancient ice plain were sighing.

Xia Lengbai did not answer immediately.

She leaned against the ice wall, head lowered. The moonlight cast alternating light and shadow across her face, making her expression unclear.

Shen Xiao did not rush her either.

He simply stood there, back to her, like a patient hunter waiting for the prey to make a choice.

Time passed bit by bit.

Then, a slight sound of footsteps came from behind.

It was not hesitation, not probing, but a crisp, decisive rhythm, like the crisp sound of ice cracking.

Xia Lengbai walked to his side.

Not supporting, not following, but side by side.

The distance between the two was exactly an arm's length—close enough to support each other, far enough to react at a moment's notice.

Shen Xiao turned his head and glanced at her.

Xia Lengbai's complexion remained pale, and a dangerous light burned within her ice-blue pupils. It was a morbid flame, the hatred suppressed for too long, a mixture of madness and reason born from being toyed with by fate.

"I want to watch with my own eyes."

Her voice was very soft, as light as an ice blade cutting through silk, carrying a trace of almost imperceptible trembling.

"Watch those who arranged my fate..."

She raised her head, the moonlight turning into cold, fragmented light in her eyes. "...and how they are shattered."

Shen Xiao did not speak.

He simply nodded slightly, then turned and took the lead, walking toward the cave entrance.

Xia Lengbai followed.

Their figures stretched long in the moonlight, one after the other, silently passing through that narrow rift.

The wind and snow were still raging.

But compared to the ice cave hiding secrets behind them, and compared to the firmament above controlled by the Heavenly Dao, what was a little wind and snow?

Shen Xiao walked out of the rift and looked up at the night sky.

The moon hung on the horizon, its cold light spilling over the boundless ice plain, dyeing everything a ghastly white.

In the corner of his vision, the System panel was glowing slightly.

[ 87 / 100 ]

The cold numbers flickered quietly, like some kind of silent countdown.

Shen Xiao withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath, his lungs filling with the ice-cold air.

Then, he did not walk in the direction he had come from; instead, he turned his steps, using a giant ice-eroded rock as cover, and circled toward another path.

Xia Lengbai did not ask.

She simply followed, her footsteps stepping silently on the accumulated snow, leaving a trail of prints that gradually melted.

The figures of the two soon disappeared into the wind and snow.

Under the moonlight, the ice plain returned to silence, leaving only the whistling wind and those two lines of footprints being covered bit by bit by the falling snow.