188: Ice-forged Blade, the embryonic form of Return to the Void

Seeing the caravan ahead, the fleeing mercenaries rushed forward desperately, screaming as if they had grasped a lifeline. Behind them, the few Icefield Driller Dragons, their crimson eyes filled only with the desire for blood and slaughter, galloped across the ice sheet with dull roars. The leading Sixth-Tier Peak Dragon Beast let out a deafening bellow, its sound waves carrying ice shards that shot out like arrows!

"Form up! Defend against the sound waves!" Steward Wu roared. The caravan guards channeled their Battle Qi with all their might, and the defensive barrier they formed shook violently under the impact of the sound waves.

It was amidst this Chaos that Li Ao moved.

He did not choose passive defense; instead, his figure flickered, and like a phantom, he charged proactively toward the group of raging Driller Dragons! His speed was so great that he left a faint afterimage where he stood.

"He... what is he doing?" someone among the fleeing mercenaries cried out in astonishment, watching the lone figure charging into the beast horde with disbelief.

Seeing someone dare to challenge it proactively, the leading Sixth-Tier Driller Dragon was enraged. Its massive drill-like head, accompanied by a harsh tearing sound through the air, slammed toward Li Ao like a battering ram! The force of this collision was enough to level a small hill!

However, facing this unparalleled ferocious impact, Li Ao did not dodge or evade. He simply raised his right hand, his fingers held together like a saber. Gray-gold light instantly condensed on his fingertip, compressed to the extreme.

Just as the drill head was about to strike him—

"Stream Severance."

His fingertip lightly sliced.

A gray-gold thread, even more refined and subtle than before, almost merging with the air, flashed past.

"Pfft!"

There was no earth-shattering collision, only a faint sound, like a hot knife slicing through grease.

The Sixth-Tier Driller Dragon, aggressive in its Aura, suddenly froze in its forward momentum! Its incredibly hard, drill-like head—capable of withstanding the full strike of a Dou Emperor—developed a smooth, mirror-like cut surface starting from the tip! The cut rapidly extended backward, passing through its massive body!

The next moment, this fearsome Sixth-Tier Demonic Beast was neatly split into two halves! Before blood and organs could splatter, they were instantly annihilated into nothingness by the Nirvana Power attached to the cut. The two massive halves of the corpse crashed to the ground, kicking up snow dust everywhere.

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Whether it was the fleeing mercenaries, the fully prepared caravan guards, or even the remaining Driller Dragons, all were frozen in place.

Instantly killing a Sixth-Tier Peak Demonic Beast? What terrifying strength was this?!

The few Driller Dragons, originally ferocious, were now filled with the instinctive fear of animals. They let out uneasy growls and subconsciously retreated backward.

But Li Ao did not stop. His target was, in fact, the violent "Ice Evil Qi" within their bodies!

His figure moved again, plunging into the remaining Driller Dragons like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. He held no saber, but used his hand as one—be it a finger or a palm—each strike bringing forth a deadly gray-gold light.

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The sound of sharp blades cutting through flesh rang out continuously. These Fifth-Tier Driller Dragons, with their strong defenses, were like paper in front of Li Ao; they died instantly upon contact. Their attacks couldn't even touch the hem of Li Ao's clothes before being shredded by the invisible Saber Intent and Nirvana barrier he emitted.

Even more alarming was that all the Driller Dragons slain by Li Ao had no blood flowing from their wounds. Instead, they instantly turned gray and shriveled, finally dissolving into dust! It was as if all their vitality and energy had been completely "erased" the moment they came into contact with the gray-gold light!

This was precisely Li Ao's intention. While slaying these Demonic Beasts, he activated his nirvana star core, actively drawing in and refining the violent Ice Evil Qi within their bodies!

Unlike the pure and cold Evil Qi found in nine nether cold iron, the Ice Evil Qi inside the Driller Dragons was more chaotic and violent, filled with the lingering resentment and unwillingness of lives being plundered. If this violent energy surged into an ordinary Cultivator, he would likely have his mind instantly corrupted or even explode and die.

However, Li Ao's nirvana star core was the Incarnation of the Universe's Nirvana Origin, encompassing the end of all things. The moment this violent Ice Evil Qi came into contact with the Nirvana Power, it was like meeting a sovereign. The violence and resentment within it were easily stripped away and crushed, leaving only the purest essence of "icy cold" and "dead silence," which the nirvana star core greedily absorbed.

Li Ao could clearly feel his understanding of the aspect of "Nirvana" related to plundering and ending life rapidly deepening! The third form of the Three Forms of Nirvana—Gui Xu—which was originally only a prototype, had its vague Concept become slightly clearer at this moment!

Gui Xu was not a simple act of slaying, but rather the activation of Nirvana Power to form a Domain, stripping all life force within the area, turning all things into nothingness, and returning them to Chaos!

"Roar!"

The last mournful howl, filled with terror, abruptly ceased. The final Driller Dragon dissolved into dust and vanished.

Li Ao stood silently in the center of the field, the gray-gold Qi swirling around him slowly receding into his body. He closed his eyes, feeling the surging power within him and the increasingly clear Gui Xu Concept in his mind, a satisfied curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The gains from this battle far exceeded his expectations. Not only did he clear the obstacles on the road, but he also allowed his Way of Blade Silence to take a solid step forward.

He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the stunned mercenaries and caravan guards before finally resting on Medusa and Jin Ling, giving a slight nod of acknowledgment.

Only then did everyone seem to wake up from a dream. The surviving mercenaries collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, their eyes filled with endless reverence and gratitude toward Li Ao. The caravan guards were even more excited; having such a powerful expert traveling with them gave them an overwhelming sense of security.

Steward Wu took several deep breaths to suppress the shock in his heart, then quickly instructed his men to comfort the mercenaries and clean up the battlefield—though there was nothing left to clean.

Jin Ling stood beside Medusa, her small hand tightly gripping her sleeve. Her light blue eyes gazed at the tall figure in the field, filled with an indescribable shock and admiration. Possessing the Ice Spirit Clan Bloodline, her perception of ice energy far surpassed that of ordinary people. She could sense that during the recent battle, Li Ao had not just slain the Demonic Beasts, but had seemingly... "eaten" their most fundamental icy cold and deathly silent power? This completely exceeded her understanding.

Medusa looked at Li Ao, a hint of hard-to-detect brilliance flashing in her purple eyes. She could feel that Li Ao’s Aura was deeper and more reserved than before; the latent sharpness and dead silence made even her heart tremble slightly.

"Your path is becoming clearer," she thought to herself.

After a brief rest, the caravan accepted the surviving mercenaries, and they continued their journey together. With this encounter, no short-sighted Demonic Beasts or forces dared to disturb them on the road ahead.

Several days later, according to the map, they finally approached their destination—the Permafrost Domain, the ancestral home of the Ice Spirit Clan, eternally shrouded by endless wind and snow.

From afar, they could already see the outline of the majestic mountain range connecting heaven and earth, seemingly composed of countless gigantic ice crystals, as well as the never-dissipating, ice-blue energy vortex flowing like an aurora above the mountains.

The Ice Spirit Clan resided within that mysterious and ancient frozen kingdom.