The Fire Demon let out a disdainful sneer, but it caught a whiff of conspiracy in the air and no longer looked down on them.
Its attacks grew even fiercer, not wanting to be entangled with Mu Chenxi.
But Su Qiuyue’s mastery over the fusion of the Sword of Surprising Flight and Soul Thread grew more refined.
She wound the Soul Thread around the wooden sword; when the Fire Demon snapped it, the thread transformed into a sharp, needle-like form and shot towards the demon on its own.
It continued to harass, disrupting the Fire Demon’s attack rhythm, making it feel as if it were stuck in a mire, its movements growing sluggish.
This time, the delay lasted twice as long as before.
But in the end, the Fire Demon still saw through their intentions.
It was clear they were stalling, waiting for reinforcements.
No longer wasting time, it erupted with power and unleashed a Soul Dao Killing Move once more.
This was the critical moment—if they couldn’t withstand it, there would be no more to follow.
The two had long since prepared.
Mu Chenxi unleashed the Sword Domain of Ice Sealing, while Su Qiuyue activated the perfected Soul Dao Secret Art, Thousand Threads of Ten Thousand Thoughts.
The two defenses overlapped, forcefully blocking the Fire Demon’s Soul Dao Killing Move.
But this blow also left them utterly drained, unable to fight any longer.
Casting aside the Recoil from forcibly raising its cultivation, the Fire Demon was still at full strength.
There was still a long time before Yan Hua would awaken—once again, they had failed.
The Fire Demon said nothing more, already aware of their tenacity, and once again unleashed a killing move.
Under the barrage of attacks, the two, drained and exhausted, could resist no longer.
Mu Chenxi and Bai Yue were instantly reduced to ashes.
Though they lost this time, the fact that they had withstood the Fire Demon’s full-strength attack was already the start of success.
Mu Chenxi did not lose heart, only wanting to continue perfecting herself and growing stronger.
She fought off the dizziness brought by the backlash to her Soul and immediately sent the vision of the future to Su Qiuyue through divine sense.
After receiving it, Su Qiuyue spoke in a low voice, “It seems we still need to delay even longer. The secret art must be further refined. We have to push harder.”
“Yes, we definitely can.”
Mu Chenxi nodded in agreement.
Bai Yue held Mu Chenxi’s hand, also seeing the vision of the future.
“Chenxi, quickly enter my Sea of Consciousness, I’ll help you recover.”
Though fatigue lingered on Bai Yue’s face, she still urged her on.
Mu Chenxi didn’t hesitate, gripping Bai Yue’s hand tightly, sinking into her Sea of Consciousness once more.
There were only five opportunities left to descend her consciousness into the future—she had to strengthen herself as quickly as possible.
Her consciousness descended again.
She returned to that world of ice and snow.
Bai Yue, clad in white, stood in the snow.
“Chenxi, you’re here.”
Bai Yue’s voice was still cool, but Mu Chenxi could sense a trace of warmth in it.
“Yes, Master.”
Mu Chenxi walked toward Bai Yue.
“Your Soul is quite damaged.”
Bai Yue reached out and pulled her into a gentle embrace, holding her tightly from behind.
Mu Chenxi, cradled in her arms, could clearly feel the softness behind her, her heartbeat quickening.
“Chenxi, your heart beats so fast. If you can’t calm it, it’s not the path of ice.”
Bai Yue’s jade hand pressed softly to her chest, as if feeling her heartbeat.
“Master, with you holding me like this, I really can’t calm down.”
Mu Chenxi confessed truthfully.
“It doesn’t matter. Just feel Master’s Dao well.”
Mu Chenxi’s breath hitched as she looked at Bai Yue in confusion, like a little white rabbit caught in her arms, unable to resist, her moist eyes gazing at her.
The next second, icy Spiritual Energy seeped from Bai Yue’s palm, filled with the profound meaning of the path of ice.
The Dao rhythm circled with her heartbeat, allowing her to more deeply perceive the wonders of the path of ice.
Mu Chenxi calmed her mind, cast aside distractions, and leaned into Bai Yue’s embrace, comprehending the path of ice.
At the same time, she drew upon her own Infatuated Sword Dao, attempting to merge the two.
Master and disciple stood silently in the snow.
Snowflakes fell, gradually covering them in a thin layer.
Suddenly, Mu Chenxi realized her wavering cultivation was rising rapidly.
The Spiritual Energy of this world was converging into her Dantian.
She was shocked and delighted; never before, when entering the Sea of Consciousness, had she felt this.
But now, she could clearly sense her cultivation increasing.
Unknowingly, she had broken through the shackles of the Transformation God Stage without undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation.
While comprehending the Dao in Bai Yue’s Sea of Consciousness, she had directly advanced to the Transformation God Stage.
Her strength doubled, giving her more confidence against the Fire Demon.
Bai Yue, too, seemed exhausted from helping her ascend, slowly drifting into sleep.
Her head rested softly on Mu Chenxi’s shoulder, cool cheeks pressed against hers.
Seeing the fatigue on her Master’s face, Mu Chenxi felt a ripple in her heart, gently hugging her back.
Though Bai Yue’s body was cool, Mu Chenxi felt warmth inside as she held her.
Though reluctant to part from her ice-and-snow Master, a cold wind blew, and Mu Chenxi’s figure slowly faded.
Her divine sense returned to her body.
Back in reality, she looked down at Bai Yue in her arms.
Bai Yue’s expression was even more fatigued, her face a shade paler.
Mu Chenxi’s heart ached.
She couldn’t help but want to touch her delicate face, but her fingers paused and withdrew.
She was afraid to disturb her sleeping Master.
“Chenxi, your cultivation actually broke through to the Transformation God Stage? How is this possible?”
Su Qiuyue’s voice rang out, full of shock.
“It’s all thanks to Master. In her Sea of Consciousness, with her help, I managed to break through.”
Mu Chenxi explained.
“Breaking through in the Sea of Consciousness doesn’t trigger a Heavenly Tribulation? That’s truly miraculous.”
Though Su Qiuyue had long since witnessed Bai Yue’s uniqueness, she still couldn’t help her astonishment.
“Now we have more power to fight the Fire Demon. When I control your body, I can draw even more strength.”
Mu Chenxi felt more encouraged—this was undoubtedly good news in their predicament.
“Let’s continue our journey and cultivate.”
Su Qiuyue reminded, then turned into a stream of light, returning to Mu Chenxi’s body.
Mu Chenxi nodded, picked up Bai Yue, summoned her flying sword, and continued to flee into the distance.
She traveled by sword, seizing every moment to cultivate, not daring to waste a single breath.
With so few chances left to send her consciousness into the future, her sense of urgency grew ever stronger.
This time, Bai Yue didn’t awaken until midday.
Integrating her memories from this period, she realized Mu Chenxi had already advanced to the Transformation God Stage, a smile of joy appearing on her face.
“That’s wonderful! If you enter my Sea of Consciousness a few more times and strengthen your power further, it will be easier to fight the Fire Demon.”
“Chenxi, come quickly—enter my Sea of Consciousness.”
Bai Yue urged eagerly.
But Mu Chenxi, seeing the pallor on her face, hesitated.
She was truly worried her Master’s body couldn’t endure much more.
But remembering how little time remained, and how each increment of power increased their chances against the Fire Demon, she said no more.
Tightly embracing Bai Yue, Mu Chenxi’s consciousness sank into Bai Yue’s Sea of Consciousness once again.
Unfortunately, this time she did not return to that snowy world, but instead arrived at a completely new scene.
Before Mu Chenxi stretched a vast, earth-yellow mountain.
She stood at its foot—and soon discovered a tiny Bai Yue.