A god-level alchemist, starting by manually crafting forbidden pills.

It was a fist-sized stone, completely black, with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

The stone felt slightly cool to the touch, with a peculiar texture.

Luo Fan's penetrating spiritual eyes revealed an extremely complex spiritual energy structure within the stone.

"This is?"

A thought struck him, and he sent a wisp of his divine sense into the stone.

Om-!

Luo Fan's vision suddenly cleared.

He saw a void space, with countless blurry figures floating in the center.

Each figure exuded a unique aura, spiritual energy fluctuations, and fighting style.

Luo Fan's divine sense touched one of the figures, and that figure instantly solidified.

It was Mo Chen!

He is not the ferocious Mo Chen from the illusion.

Instead, it was Mo Chen, the ethereal and kind-faced figure in the spirit artifact space.

He stood there, smiled slightly at Luo Fan, and said, "Young friend, would you like to have a friendly spar with this old man?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Chen raised his hand, and a pitch-black, poisonous palm was already at Luo Fan's face!

Fast! Ruthless! Accurate!

That's an attack at the peak of Qi Refining!

Luo Fan's divine consciousness retreated rapidly, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"What is it?"

He was shocked and his consciousness hurriedly withdrew from the space inside the stone.

Luo Fan was horrified. Could it be that the stone could simulate anyone he had ever met?

And suppress his true cultivation to the limit he can bear, and fight him in the divine sense space.

After figuring it out, Luo Fan held the black stone, his eyes flashing with wild joy.

This is simply a divine artifact for cultivation!

With it, you can engage in risk-free, unlimited combat training with any opponent anytime, anywhere.

Accumulate combat experience, refine your own skills, and even steal your opponent's moves!

"In that case, I'll call you Battle Soul Stone."

Luo Fan looked at the black stone in his hand, "It will help me fight against all the heroes under heaven and hone my own skills."

He carefully put the Battle Soul Stone into his storage bag, then suddenly remembered something and looked up at the distance.

Bai Jie remained standing there with her eyes closed, but her condition was extremely poor.

The number of Illusionary Heart Butterflies gathered around me was several times greater than in other places!

The colorful scales almost wrapped her up like a giant, colorful cocoon.

Her face was as pale as paper, her brows were furrowed, and she seemed to be experiencing an extremely painful hallucination.

His aura became extremely unstable, and his spiritual energy fluctuations were sometimes strong and sometimes weak.

"Senior Sister!"

Luo Fan rushed to Bai Jie's side, "We must wake her up immediately!"

The cold flames of the Nether Spring rose in his palm as he prepared to freeze the Illusory Heart Butterflies.

Bai Jie, inside the giant colorful cocoon, suddenly opened her eyes; they were eyes he had never seen before.

Cold, empty, and lifeless.

It was as if all emotions had been lost, leaving only a pure, all-consuming murderous intent.

"Senior Sister?" Luo Fan tentatively called out softly.

Bai Jie did not respond; she simply raised her right hand, her fingers loosely clenched.

hum-

A longsword made entirely of ice crystals took shape in her palm.

The sword was transparent, radiating a chilling aura, and its tip pointed at Luo Fan.

"kill!"

A word so cold it was devoid of any warmth escaped her lips.

Before he finished speaking, the ice crystal longsword had already transformed into a streak of cold light, piercing straight for Luo Fan's throat!

Luo Fan's pupils contracted sharply, and he retreated rapidly.

scoff-

The tip of the sword grazed his neck, leaving a thin trail of blood.

"Senior sister! It's me! Luo Fan!"

He dodged while shouting urgently, but Bai Jie couldn't hear him at all.

Her eyes were unfocused; she was simply swinging her sword mechanically.

Each sword strike aimed directly at a vital point, each sword strike carried the terrifying power of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

What's even more deadly is that her sword moves are mixed with an extremely strange, icy sword energy.

That sword energy not only freezes flesh and blood, but can even erode the soul!

Luo Fan was forced to retreat repeatedly, and he already had several wounds on his body.

"If this continues, Senior Sister will completely lose her way!"

A resolute glint flashed in his eyes, and he stopped dodging and rushed forward.

The Cold Spring Flame ignited in his palms, transforming into two small, ice-blue shields that withstood Bai Jie's sword strike.

clang--!!!

The ice crystal longsword struck the ice shield, producing a piercing impact sound.

A terrifying chill spread along the ice shield, attempting to freeze his arms.

The Cold Fire of the Nether Spring is a spiritual fire of heaven and earth, far surpassing ordinary ice-type spiritual power in quality.

The moment the chill touched the ice shield, it was devoured and purified by the Netherworld Cold Fire!

"Now!"

Luo Fan's left-hand ice shield exploded, turning into countless thin, icy blue threads that wrapped around Bai Jie's right hand, which was holding a sword.

He held his right hand together like a sword, and the cold fire from the spring at his fingertips condensed into a single point, which he then pointed at Bai Jie's brow!

"Senior sister, wake up!"

His fingertips touched Bai Jie's brow, and his consciousness was pulled out of his body and thrown into a frozen world.

A pristine, dreamlike world!

This is a boundless snowfield.

The sky was leaden gray; there was no sun, no moon, only endless falling snowflakes.

In the distance, a palace stands entirely made of ice crystals.

The palace gates were tightly shut, and intricate ice patterns were carved on them.

In the middle of the snowfield, Bai Jie, dressed in a thin, moon-white dress, stood barefoot in the snow.

She hugged her knees, curled up in a ball, head down, her long hair covering her face, and snowflakes accumulated on her body in a thick layer.

Opposite her stood a person who looked exactly like her, but whose entire body was made of ice crystals.

Ice Crystal White looked down at the curled-up real person, her voice cold and hollow.

"Feelings only bring pain."

"Warmth will eventually turn into cold."

"Trust will eventually turn into betrayal."

"Just like your father, mother, and those other people back then, they all left, they all abandoned you."

So, freeze yourself.

"Freeze your heart completely, and it won't hurt anymore."

"To become a true ice fairy."

Bai Jie, curled up, trembled slightly, but she neither looked up nor responded.

She simply tightened her grip on her knees a little.

"Senior Sister!"

Luo Fan's voice echoed across the desolate snowfield, causing the curled-up, fair-skinned body to tremble slightly.

She looked up and saw Luo Fan; for the first time, there was a flicker of emotion in his empty eyes.

That was terror.

"No! Don't come any closer!"

Her voice trembled slightly, "You'll die!"

Bingjing Baijie turned to look at Luo Fan, a cold killing intent flashing in her eyes.

"Intruders, die!"

She raised her hand and waved it out, and the snowflakes in the sky turned into countless ice needles, shooting towards Luo Fan like a torrential rain!

Luo Fan ignored her, only looking at the curled-up Bai Jie, and walked forward step by step.

The ice needles shot into his body, piercing through his illusory soul and bringing excruciating pain.

But he kept moving.

With each step Luo Fan took, he left a faint trail of light, which was particularly clear on the snow.

"Senior sister, don't be bewitched by her!"

As he walked, he said, "You said you would protect me."

"You said that with my senior sister around, it wouldn't be my turn to risk my life."

"You also said you would take me away safely."

He walked up to Bai Jie, squatted down, and reached out to touch her.

"Don't touch me!"

Bai Jie screamed and shrank back, her eyes filled with terror, "I'll kill you!"

"Just like back then, I killed my parents, I killed everyone."

"I am a cursed person; everyone who comes near me will die."

Pearls welled up in her eyes, freezing into ice crystals that rolled to the ground.

Luo Fan's heart clenched painfully.

He realized that Bai Jie's inner demon was not hatred or desire, but the fear of loss.

Fear of hurting loved ones, fear of bringing misfortune to others.

That's why she uses a cold exterior to wrap herself up in layers.

"Senior sister."

Luo Fan looked at her, his voice as gentle as the wind, "Do you know what I'm most afraid of?"

Bai Jie stared at him blankly.

"What I fear most is not death, not being hunted down, not being unable to break through in cultivation."

"What I fear most is waking up one day and finding you gone."

"It's the day when you stop smiling at me, stop glaring at me, and stop calling me 'little rascal'."

"You can continue to freeze yourself, continue to push everyone away."

"Then you'll really be all alone."

He stretched out his hand, and a cluster of eerie blue flames ignited in his palm.

The flames weren't hot, even a little cool, yet they exuded a warmth that touched the soul.

"My fire is called the Cold Fire of the Nether Spring."

"It's cold, but to me, it's the warmest thing."

"Because it is my way, my path, my hope."

"Your ice doesn't have to be just cold."

"It can protect those you want to protect, and it can freeze all harm."

"To provide a peaceful haven for those we care about."

The flames slowly approached Bai Jie.