"Parents?" Bing Wushuang's eyelid twitched. He frowned slightly. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Of course I do. When a child gets bullied, naturally I, as the parent, must step forward and settle the matter. Wouldn't you agree?" Lin Dongfang spoke with the unmistakable air of a family elder.

"You are provoking the Xuejian Sect." Bing Wushuang gave a cold snort. His expressionless face suddenly acquired a touch of murderous intent as he pronounced judgment: "To provoke the Xuejian Sect is to court death. You may go and die now."

With that, the Merciless Ice Force pressing down upon every head in the hall abruptly vanished, and only then did the crowd get a chance to catch their breath. No movement of Bing Wushuang's was visible, yet at that very moment the sand beneath Lin Dongfang's feet suddenly sank, and his whole body plunged without the slightest warning, leaving only his head above the ground.

A closer look revealed a layer of frozen white frost covering Lin Dongfang's entire body, and the pit that had swallowed him had thoroughly transformed into an ice cavity radiating biting cold.

"Senior!" Lengleng, who stood nearest, hurriedly reached out to save him. Only now did she understand that Bing Wushuang had not withdrawn his Merciless Ice Force at all—he had gathered all of it, which had been oppressing everyone, into a single point, which was why it could erupt with such terrifying force in an instant.

But before Lengleng's hand could touch Lin Dongfang's, she too was suddenly driven down. Though she was not trapped immobile in an ice cavity as Lin Dongfang was, her whole body was nonetheless pinned firmly to the ground by the overwhelming Merciless Ice Force—and that was with Bing Wushuang sparing only a small fraction of his remaining strength. Even so, it was more than enough to give Lengleng a bitter draught to swallow.

"I overestimated you. You're nothing but this." Looking at Lin Dongfang frozen there, Bing Wushuang's lips curved into a faintly contemptuous arc. He had thought he had met a rare worthy opponent, but it turned out he had been overthinking it. The old man's ability to send Xue Jianming sprawling with a single slap evidently had not come from Golden Core cultivation—there must be some other explanation.

As he spoke, amid the cries of Qiu Lingshan and the others, Bing Wushuang suddenly stooped and reached for Lin Dongfang. The old man had dared to provoke the Xuejian Sect to his face; there was only one course—to twist his head off before the crowd as a warning to others.

"Stop! This is the territory of my North Island Cangwu Sect. If you dare act recklessly, you make an enemy of the entire North Island Cangwu Sect!" Seeing this, Xin Yi'an could no longer concern himself with anything else. He hastily formed a barrier of true qi between Lin Dongfang and Bing Wushuang—the very move that had earlier cost Xue Jianming so dearly. No matter what, he absolutely could not let Lin Dongfang die here, least of all before his own eyes.

Bing Wushuang paused slightly in his movement. Turning his head, he glanced at him and said, "My Xuejian Sect already has one Xue Jianming laid low. This old man must die as well. Fair and reasonable."

With that, utterly ignoring Xin Yi'an's extremely ugly expression, Bing Wushuang shaped one hand into a claw with utmost speed, shattering Xin Yi'an's true qi barrier almost in an instant, and went straight for Lin Dongfang's forehead.

So powerful! Xin Yi'an was greatly startled. They were both early Golden Core masters; it was hardly surprising that a true qi barrier should be broken by a peer—after all, it was no formidable defensive technique to begin with, and the opponent could exploit a single point to break the whole surface and seize the initiative. But to see it broken as cleanly and crisply as Bing Wushuang had just done—that was a first.

This one must rank among the very finest of his level! Xin Yi'an was deeply shaken. In his panic he had only meant to buy a little time with the true qi barrier; who could have thought the move could not even delay things for a moment, but was pierced through like so much window paper, catching him completely off guard instead.

The situation was desperate. Xin Yi'an's only option now was to throw caution to the wind and attack Bing Wushuang with everything he had—perhaps that way he could still save Lin Dongfang's life. But that would amount to tearing all pretense of civility with him, and there was every chance the entire North Island Cangwu Sect would be dragged into it. The consequences would be no small matter.

In the instant of Xin Yi'an's hesitation, Bing Wushuang's ice claw, thick with layer upon layer of frost qi, was a mere hand's breadth from Lin Dongfang's head—when suddenly someone kicked up from beneath him. It was Lengleng, pinned to the ground by his Merciless Ice Force.

She was, after all, a mid Foundation Establishment master. Though the Merciless Ice Force held her down so that she could not stand, even lying flat she could still launch an attack—and now that Bing Wushuang had obligingly bent down, it was the perfect opportunity. The kick went straight for his face.

"Hmph. A mantis trying to stop a chariot—laughable in the extreme!" Bing Wushuang snorted in disdain. Whatever flicker of appreciation for Lengleng had just arisen in his heart vanished in an instant. His ice claw did not pause in the slightest, while his other hand easily sealed off the line of her attack.

Bang! Without any suspense, Bing Wushuang caught Lengleng's kicking left leg in one hand, and the next moment was about to wrench it off at the joint. Words like "sparing the fair flower" had never applied to him. Since Lengleng had dared to attack him, she would have to pay the corresponding price.

At least in Bing Wushuang's view, merely twisting off one leg counted as a very light punishment. Had the Xuejian Sect's higher-ups not ordered him to bring Lengleng back alive, he might well have simply struck to kill—ruthless in his methods, as befitted his name.

But before Bing Wushuang could twist, a bone-piercing chill suddenly spread from the palm of his hand. Because he cultivated the Merciless Ice Force, his whole body was already like a man of ice—yet this bone-piercing chill was far more intense than even his own, enough to make him shiver involuntarily.

"The Ice-Shattering Constitution!" Bing Wushuang understood at once. He had never sparred with Lengleng; his knowledge of the Ice-Shattering Constitution had always been limited to rumor. He had assumed it was merely somewhat stronger than an ordinary constitution, but now that he had experienced it firsthand, he immediately knew how badly mistaken he had been. At a mere mid Foundation Establishment realm, she could actually make him—an early Golden Core master—feel cold all over. The Ice-Shattering Constitution truly defied the heavens!

No. This woman must be done away with. Otherwise, once she matures in days to come, she will be an endless scourge!

Bing Wushuang promptly changed his mind. Things having come to this pass, he and Lengleng now stood in complete opposition, and he had never been in the habit of leaving hidden dangers behind for himself. Pulling the weed up by the roots was what suited his nature. As for whether the Xuejian Sect's higher-ups would blame him afterward, he could not be bothered to care—compared with his own safety, what were a few grumblings from above?

In a single thought, icy killing intent poured out without reservation. Lengleng, whose assault had been blocked, sensed at once that something was wrong—but the Merciless Ice Force was still pressing down on her even then. She could not even stand for the moment, and there was nowhere to flee.

And Qiu Lingshan, Wu Chengtian, and the rest were too weak to be of any help at all! (To be continued.)