Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 231 Where is she? I remember her!

puff--!
Dong'er's body was like a kite with a broken string, blasted away by the invisible sound waves and crashed heavily into a withered giant tree.

The tree trunk split open with a snap.

She slid to the ground, coughing up blood, her breath instantly becoming extremely weak, and her eyes began to glaze over.

"Capture her! Search her soul!" The leading Soul Hunter commanded coldly to his subordinate who had been injured by the foxfire, before transforming into a streak of pale green light and chasing after Chu Ning and the others in the direction they had fled.

The speed was far greater than before.

The wounded Soul Hunter, enduring the excruciating pain of his soul being burned, his eyes flashing with cruelty, walked step by step toward Dong'er, who lay paralyzed on the ground, barely breathing.

Through her blurred vision, Dong'er watched the pale green light disappear into the depths of the dense forest, her heart turning cold.

Chu Ning... Qing Li... she did her best...

Just as the Soul Hunter's withered claws were about to press against Dong'er's skull—

"Roar--!!!"

A deafening roar, filled with primal wildness and fury, exploded from the depths of the cold forest like a thunderclap.

Accompanied by a roar, a terrifying pressure, wild, scorching, and filled with overwhelming ferocity, swept across the entire battlefield like an invisible tsunami.

The earth is shaking.

The snow on the bare trees fell in a soft rustling sound.

The soul hunter, who was about to search the soul, suddenly froze, as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed his throat. His eyes, hidden behind the mask, were instantly filled with horror and fear.

This oppressive force... far surpasses that of the True Soul Realm.

Is it...is it that ferocious beast slumbering deep within this cold forest?!

Rumble!
The heavy footsteps approached rapidly, like muffled thunder.

A massive shadow, so large it obscured the view, emerged slowly from the depths of the dense forest, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.

The Soul Hunter dared not linger any longer, and paid no heed to Dong'er. With a strange cry, he turned around without hesitation, bursting forth at his maximum speed, and fled desperately in the opposite direction from his leader.

They vanished instantly into the snowstorm.

Dong'er clung to her last shred of consciousness. Through her blurred vision, she saw only a huge, crimson pelt that looked like a burning flame, and a pair of enormous eyes, like a lava lake, filled with violence and impatience, sweeping over her.

Immediately, the terrifying giant shadow took heavy steps and followed at a leisurely pace in the direction the leading Soul Hunter had gone.

The heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance, leaving only a ravaged snowfield and a deathly silence after the disaster.

Dong'er could no longer hold on, and her vision was completely plunged into darkness.

The biting wind, sharp as a knife, whipped ice particles against my face, bringing piercing pain and numbness.

Chu Ning was being carried by two fox clan guards as they fled for their lives through the rugged, slippery snow forest.

Every jolt caused him excruciating pain throughout his body, and the tearing sensation from his brow core was like a leech, making him lose consciousness and feel dizzy.

Although the terrifying killing intent behind him, like a leech, had been temporarily distanced, it remained locked onto him like a sword hanging overhead.

“She… Dong’er…” Chu Ning’s throat uttered broken syllables, chaotic fragments of memory churning in the excruciating pain: a figure in a plain blue fox fur robe blocking her way, the shattered blue light wall, blood… and that desperate cry of “Go!”

"Lord Dong'er... will be alright!" The guard supporting his left arm spoke in a hoarse voice, smeared with blood, clearly also suffering from internal injuries, but his tone was resolute. "Young Master! Hold on! The North Wind Pass is just ahead! Once we cross the pass, there will be our fox clan's support point!"

The name "North Wind Pass" was like a faint ray of light, piercing through the fog of Chu Ning's chaotic consciousness. He struggled to focus his unfocused gaze, looking ahead.

Two steep, rugged snow-capped peaks, as if cleaved by a giant axe, stand like silent giants at the edge of the horizon.

Between the two peaks lies a narrow, deep ravine filled with relentless, raging snow and wind—this is the North Wind Pass.

The howling wind, like the wails of thousands of vengeful ghosts, surged out of the pass, whipping up the snow on the ground and forming a vast, white, and extremely low-visibility death storm zone.

"Charge!" another guard roared, his eyes filled with determination.

The pursuers were closing in rapidly; there was no way to retreat.

Like moths drawn to a flame, the three plunged headlong into the raging snowstorm barrier.

In an instant, the world was engulfed by a violent white storm.

The line of sight was compressed to less than three feet.

The gale was like countless cold, giant hands, tearing at their bodies and trying to blow them away and rip them apart.

Dense ice pellets, like steel balls, pelted my face and body, causing a burning pain! The biting cold penetrated my thick fur coat, as if trying to freeze my blood and bone marrow.

The two guards unleashed their last bit of soul power, forming a thin protective shield around their bodies to desperately resist the onslaught of wind and snow, holding Chu Ning back with all their might.

In the snowstorm with almost zero visibility, relying on memory and a faint sense of direction, they desperately trudged towards the other side of the pass, one step at a time.

Every step was like wading through a swamp, consuming their remaining strength and life.

Chu Ning's consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse amidst the extreme cold, excruciating pain, and chaotic storm.

Countless fragmented images flashed, intertwined, and vanished wildly in my mind:
—The faint blue light of the coffin well, a floating blue crystal, within which a blurry figure sleeps… A sharp pain shot through my heart.

—At the end of the snowstorm, a blood-stained figure resolutely stood in front of him… Who was that?!
—A pair of clear eyes, brimming with tears, watched in despair as they faded away… “Don’t go! Who are you?!”

—And…and there’s that warm, throbbing pulse pressed against my heart…the Soul-Guiding Stone! It’s heating up! It’s pointing…pointing to where?!

"Ugh!" The intense headache made Chu Ning groan in pain.

He instinctively reached out and gripped the Soul-Guiding Stone pressed tightly against his chest! The instant his fingertips touched the stone—

hum!
A faint yet incredibly clear throbbing sensation, like a heartstring being plucked, instantly pierced through the excruciating physical pain and the chaos in his mind, clearly reaching the depths of his soul core.

It's not fear! It's not danger!
It was... a distant, faint echo, carrying the weariness of surviving a catastrophe, yet incredibly familiar... a response.

It's her! Qing Li!
She is still alive!

And...it doesn't seem to be too far from me?

The Soul-Guiding Stone is heating up, pulsating weakly, its direction... its direction lies beyond the storm at this narrow pass?

This realization was like a torch suddenly lit in the darkness, instantly igniting Chu Ning's consciousness, which was on the verge of being extinguished.

An indescribable force, squeezing out the last bit of potential from his shattered body, erupted from within him with a deafening roar.

"She...is over there!" Chu Ning suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot, empty eyes staring intently and with unwavering certainty into the depths of the snow-covered pass.

The confusion and bewilderment in his eyes were instantly dispelled by an almost instinctive persistence.

The two guards supporting him were startled by his sudden actions and words, but then they were overjoyed to feel the faint yet exceptionally firm power emanating from their young master.

"Young Master! You..."

"Go! Go quickly!" Chu Ning's voice was hoarse, but it carried an undeniable urgency and strength.

He was no longer being passively dragged, but instead, he took the initiative and staggered forward, striving to move towards the direction sensed by the Soul-Guiding Stone and into the depths of the snow barrier.

Every step was incredibly difficult, yet incredibly resolute. The two guards were greatly encouraged, disregarding their own injuries and exhaustion, and unleashed their last strength to protect Chu Ning closely. The three of them were like three arrows flying against the wind, struggling and tenaciously piercing through the raging snowstorm barrier.

The wind and snow intensified.

The murderous intent behind them, like a persistent, lingering ailment, pierced through the raging wind and coldly locked onto them once more.

The leading Faceless Soul Hunter actually forced his way into the storm zone at the pass.

The pale green figure appeared and disappeared in the white snowstorm, like a ghostly apparition, moving even faster than them.

"Stop him!" A guard's eyes flashed with a resolute determination to die, and he abruptly stopped and turned around.

He knew he couldn't fight that terrifying enemy, but he could at least buy himself a moment's time.

"No!" Chu Ning roared instinctively. In the chaotic fragments of memory, a similar scene seemed to flash by—someone took a knife for him and then fell down... A tearing pain shot through his heart.

He didn't want to see it again.

However, it's too late.

The guard unleashed his last bit of soul power, transforming into a resolute azure shadow, and fearlessly lunged towards the rapidly approaching pale green figure in the wind and snow.

boom--!
The violent collision of soul power exploded in the wind and snow, then was swallowed up by the howling wind.

All that could be seen was a figure being violently sent flying like a tattered sack, disappearing into the vast expanse of white snow, its fate unknown.

"Ah Qi—!" Another guard cried out in anguish, his eyes wide with fury.

Chu Ning's heart sank suddenly, and a huge sense of grief and helplessness instantly gripped him.

The throbbing of the Soul-Guiding Stone was still clear; Qing Li was right in front of him.

But death was already close at hand behind him.

"Young Master! Go!" The last remaining guard, his eyes bloodshot, tears mixed with blood frozen on his face, shoved Chu Ning violently, then turned around again like a moth drawn to a flame, facing the now clearly visible ghastly green blade light.

"Survive! Find Qingli!"

The pale bone knife tore through the wind and snow, slashing down with a deathly shriek.

Chu Ning staggered forward a few steps from the force of the push. He turned around sharply, his gaze piercing through the raging snow, and saw only a resolute green figure, which was instantly swallowed up by the ghastly green light of the blade.

puff!

The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was masked by the wind and snow, but the sudden extinguishing of that life force struck Chu Ning's heart like a heavy hammer.

"No—!!!" A shrill, inhuman scream burst from Chu Ning's throat.

Boundless grief, anger, and despair surged forth like a volcano, instantly shattering the limits that his nascent soul core could withstand.

The milky white light that had just healed between his brows suddenly exploded.

Countless fine, pitch-black soul rifts reappeared and spread.

It was even more ferocious than before.

The excruciating pain felt like a million steel needles piercing through his soul in an instant.

My vision was completely swallowed up by crimson and darkness.

He could no longer hold on; his body felt as if all his bones had been removed, and he collapsed heavily forward, his consciousness instantly sinking into an endless abyss of darkness.

In the last second before he completely lost consciousness, he seemed to feel himself rolling down a steep, snow-covered slope, his body tumbling and falling uncontrollably...

The wind and snow continued to howl wildly at the pass, concealing the bloodshed and the falling figures.

The biting cold, like countless fine ice needles, repeatedly pierced every inch of skin, struggling to pull the sinking consciousness back from the abyss of darkness.

Cold... a cold that seeps into your bones...

And... pain... excruciating pain, as if all my bones were falling apart...

Chu Ning's consciousness struggled amidst extreme cold and pain, slowly coalescing.

He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, and his vision remained blurred for a while before gradually clearing.

What came into view was neither the fierce wind and snow of the pass that I had expected, nor the withered trees of the cold forest.

Instead, it was a relatively gentle snow slope.

Thick, soft snow covered everything, gleaming with a cool, pale light in the dim sky.

Below the snow slope lies a vast valley, surrounded by mountains, as tranquil as a paradise.

The valley wasn't covered in ice and snow; instead, a thin, milky-white mist rose from it. Deep within the mist, a turquoise lake, steaming with heat, could be vaguely seen—it was a hot spring.

Further away, nestled against the mountainside, are some low, rustic stone houses, their roofs covered with thick snow, and wisps of smoke rising gently, merging into the mist.

Where...is this place? On the other side of the North Wind Pass? A rendezvous point for the Fox Clan?

He struggled to sit up, but his body felt as heavy as lead. With the slightest movement, excruciating pain throughout his body and the tearing pain in his soul core between his eyebrows surged like a tide, making his vision go black and causing him to groan involuntarily.

"Don't move." An old, hoarse voice, yet carrying a strange, gentle power, rang out beside me.

Chu Ning suddenly turned his head.

A figure sat silently on the snow not far from him.

That was an old woman.

She wore a faded, patched gray coarse cloth coat, and a similarly worn indigo headscarf. Her face was covered with deep, chiseled wrinkles, like parched, cracked earth.

She was hunched over and so thin that a gust of wind could blow her over. She was looking down, intently whittling a piece of unknown dead wood with a small, gleaming bone knife.

She looked so ordinary, like a poor old woman who had lived in the mountains for many years.

But Chu Ning's heart suddenly tightened.

Because he couldn't sense the old woman's presence at all.

He wouldn't have noticed someone was beside him if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

She blended perfectly into her surroundings, just like the snow and the cold wind.

What alarmed him even more was that when the old woman occasionally raised her lowered eyes, the pupils she revealed were not human color, but an extremely deep, dark gold that seemed to have been accumulated over countless years.

Like an ancient pool or deep well, it remains calm and undisturbed, yet seems to penetrate the soul.

“You…” Chu Ning opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and dry, filled with wariness and confusion.

The old woman didn't look up, continuing to intently whittle the withered wood in her hands, wood shavings falling in a soft rustling sound.

"You fell into a snowdrift and were half dead. It was I who dragged you out." Her voice was flat and calm, as if she were talking about a trivial matter.

(End of this chapter)