Kiaria stepped forward.

One step became ten. Ten became fifty. When he reached one hundred and twenty, he realized he had barely crossed a quarter of the stairway. The frost beneath his feet remained silent, unmoving–yet something vast and oppressive pressed down upon him, as if the mountain itself were measuring whether he deserved to breathe within its presence.

He had not entered.

He had not even reached the threshold.

Yet the power of transformed beings sealed deep within the Winter Soul Mount already pulsed against his consciousness, each throb striking like a distant drumbeat meant for gods, not mortals.

Pain bloomed.

It did not remain with him alone.

Through the red silk thread bound to their hearts, the pressure bled outward–reaching Diala, echoing inside her chest. The pain they shared did not weaken him. Instead, it thinned the suffocation, as if their care for one another was being consumed and refined into something just strong enough to keep him standing.

He moved again.

Step by step, half the staircase fell behind him. The red thread burned brighter, fully active now, shielding both hearts from collapse. When Kiaria finally reached the entrance, frost clung to his lashes, and his breath came slow and controlled, each inhale deliberate.

The two Azure Frost Flame Phoenixes bowed.

Their long necks lowered in silent welcome.

Kiaria stood before the water portal.

He was not an Immortal Infant.

He stood in the Immortal Ascension Realm–a pseudo-immortal stage, suspended between mortal flesh and true immortality, balanced on a threshold that could not yet bear his weight.

He reached out and touched the portal.

The water surged.

A wave struck him head-on and hurled him backward, tossing his body away from the entrance as if he were nothing more than drifting frost.

Rejected.

Kiaria clenched his fist.

"Again," he said.

He stepped forward and placed his hand against the water once more.

Another wave exploded outward.

This time, he resisted.

Midway through the force, he planted his feet and forced himself to hold. The water pressed against him relentlessly, its weight crushing down like an invisible mountain stacked atop his spine. The wave did not recede.

Not for one breath.

Monochrome, milky-white mist wrapped around his body.

It healed him.

It strengthened him.

Spiritual energy and physical vitality were replenished endlessly as he endured, muscles screaming, bones grinding beneath pressure meant not to test–but to erase.

Ten minutes passed.

He survived.

He stepped forward again and touched the portal a third time.

The mountain answered.

A massive tsunami erupted–its height swallowing the Frost Wooden Mountain itself. This was no longer rejection.

This was annihilation.

His Immortal Dragon Body shattered.

The sound echoed.

His Divine Patron Robe tore open, ripped apart by pressure alone. The fiery phoenix wristband flared violently, barely shielding him from freezing solid as water crushed him from every direction.

Then–

A phantom tsunami passed through him.

Invisible.

Lethal.

It struck his sea of consciousness directly.

Dragon Emperors were torn out of him.

Heart Demon was forced out as well.

They were expelled violently, flung from the mountain's peak and cast down toward the ground where Diala stood frozen in place.

She saw it.

She felt it.

"You are at your limit," a voice said calmly.

Heart Demon appeared behind Kiaria and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I will handle the rest."

Kiaria's consciousness trembled.

"Alright," he said hoarsely. "But don't destroy this platform."

"Tch."

Heart Demon sneered inside the sea of consciousness.

"You're not in a position to order me."

"A failure like you–if it weren't for the weirdo sleeping inside you, do you think I'd have let your soul exist this long?"

Kiaria had no rebuttal.

He knew it was true.

His strength was not enough–not for those he cared about, not for the burden he carried, not for the responsibility he had chosen to bear.

His fist tightened.

Heart Demon smiled.

He took one step forward.

The tsunami answered.

Its pressure multiplied.

Fourfold.

Then eightfold.

"Boy," Heart Demon said without looking back, "learn this."

"I will only show it once."

Kiaria watched from within his sea of consciousness.

Heart Demon raised a single finger.

A transparent red circular barrier formed around him.

From his fingertip, a droplet of blood condensed.

Frozen volcanic blood.

The droplet shot forward and vanished into the tsunami.

The wave swallowed it whole.

Heart Demon's smile deepened.

The droplet did not dissolve.

It decompressed.

Expanded.

From a single drop into a mass large enough to fill a bowl–boiling without dispersing, devouring water instead of being consumed by it.

Heart Demon's raised finger relaxed.

His palm tilted upward.

His fingers loosened and snapped fingers.

The blood inside the tsunami began to boil like molten lava.

Water screamed as it was consumed.

The wave vanished.

Heart Demon walked forward.

He did not touch the portal gently.

He rose halfway into the air.

He pressed his middle finger behind his forefinger, then snapped it forward with full exertion.

The middle finger struck the center of the water portal.

A ripple formed.

It spread across the entire massive portal.

The ripple returned.

When it reached the point of impact, it pulled him inward.

The Winter Soul Mount opened.

And Heart Demon entered.

Heart Demon emerged beneath Fushan Mount.

The mountain loomed unseen. Snow and mist swallowed everything, pressing close until even distance lost meaning. The air was still, heavy, carrying neither scent nor sound. No life stirred–not because it was dead, but because it was hidden.

Heart Demon looked ahead.

It felt desolate.

He stepped forward.

The ground beneath his feet was not uneven, not steep. It felt wrong–too flat, too endless. He was not walking along a mountain slope, but across a vast snow-covered plateau that refused to reveal its boundaries.

He continued calmly.

Minutes passed.

Then an hour.

Nothing changed.

The mist remained. The land did not shift. The mountain did not appear.

Heart Demon stopped.

Time.

He narrowed his eyes.

There were only a few hours left.

Irritation surfaced.

Then rage followed.

He raised his hand and summoned the Sky Crystal Shadow Severer Sword. The blade emerged silently, its edge swallowing light. For a brief moment, he hesitated.

He had not intended to use it here.

But the mountain had forced his hand.

"Don't blame me for this," Heart Demon said coldly.

"Demon Radiance Form – I."

A colossal Blood Demon manifested behind him, its presence warping the snow-laden mist. The land trembled as if recoiling from something it recognized.

Heart Demon released the sword.

It fell.

Before it touched the ground, a pitch-black portal opened beneath it and swallowed the blade whole.

"Abyssal Eclipse."

The sky ruptured.

A massive black portal opened above the Blood Demon and descended like a collapsing firmament. Just before the sword's tip struck the snow, the Blood Demon seized the hilt and swung.

A full circle.

The world screamed.

A black eclipse formed and rose into the sky, blotting out mist, snow, and illusion alike.

"Silent Distortion."

The eclipse folded inward.

Then detonated.

A black hole bloomed.

The illusion shattered–not temporarily, not damaged, but erased. The false plateau collapsed into nothingness, devoured completely. The illusion would never reform here again.

Snow dispersed.

Mist vanished.

The true Fushan Mount revealed itself.

Heart Demon stood surrounded.

Tree Immortals emerged–Transformation Realm vanguards, bark-patterned skin gleaming faintly with spiritual light. Their eyes burned with vigilance. Each carried a trident shaped like branching roots.

Second-tier.

Third-tier.

"Intruder!"

A vanguard shouted, sounding the charion call of defense.

"Interesting," Heart Demon murmured.

The sound rippled across the mountain.

More transformed beings arrived, encircling him.

"Who are you?" the leading vanguard demanded. "How did you breach the barrier?"

Heart Demon tilted his head slightly.

"Me?" he asked lightly. "Do you really want to know?"

The words echoed.

Not outward.

Inward.

The vanguard stiffened.

"Answer properly," he said, irritation rising. "This place is forbidden to outsiders. You broke our barrier. Do not force–"

"Shut up."

The interruption did not come from Heart Demon.

It came from behind.

The vanguard turned.

"Fu Min?" the charion user asked, confused. "What are you saying?"

Fu Min's expression twisted.

He did not hear the charion user.

He heard only Heart Demon's voice–repeating, circling.

Do you really want to know?

Do you really want to know?

Fu Min's gaze locked onto the charion user.

"You–shut up, lowly intruder!"

His hand shot forward, clamping around the charion user's neck.

"What are you doing?" the charion user gasped.

But to Fu Min, it felt like Heart Demon advancing, whispering, provoking.

He summoned his Fu Lingcha Trident and raised it.

The charion user barely dodged.

Steel clashed.

The two Transformation Realm cultivators collided, tridents flashing as they fought with lethal intent.

Panic spread.

Other battalions raised their weapons.

Then–

They began to hear it too.

"Shut up."

"I'll kill you."

"Die, intruder."

The words echoed differently in every mind.

The formation collapsed.

They attacked each other.

Heart Demon stood at the center, unmoving, watching silently as the mountain's vanguards tore themselves apart.

Then–

A step echoed.

From the palace atop Fushan Mount, a figure emerged.

A Fairy God.

She descended not by flight, but by walking through space itself. One step carried her beyond the palace threshold. The next placed her midair, directly before the battalions.

She landed.

The moment her foot touched the ground, a gentle green wave spread outward.

Vitality surged.

The land breathed.

Illusions snapped.

Every transformed being froze.

Clarity returned.

They fell to their knees.

"Elder!"

They bowed deeply.

"Stand," the Fairy God said softly.

Her voice carried no authority–yet none dared disobey.

She raised her hand.

She wore flowing green robes over white, crowned with blooming hibiscus. A hibiscus staff rested in her palm. Pale green hair shimmered softly, framing calm eyes of deep emerald.

As she walked forward, hibiscus flowers bloomed where she stepped, vitality saturating the land.

"Greetings," she said gently. "Dear Guest."

Heart Demon did not answer.

"All of you," she said without turning, "return."

The battalions obeyed instantly, retreating without hesitation.

She turned back to Heart Demon and inclined her head.

"Forgive my family's discourtesy," she said. "Our hospitality was… unrefined."

"No problem," Heart Demon replied calmly.

"You destroyed our protective illusion," she continued. "That is why they lost restraint."

Heart Demon studied her.

"What should I call you?" he asked.

"Fuxing," she replied. "May I know your purpose here?"

She met his gaze without fear.

"You are not malicious to Fushan Mount," she said. "If you were–someone of the Fourth Tier like myself–my companions would not have survived long enough for me to arrive."

Heart Demon's lips curved faintly.

"Smart," he said. "You're the first person I've complimented in my life. And you deserve it."

They walked together toward the mountain.

"I am here," Heart Demon said, "to take the Body Truth Chrysanthemum."

Fuxing stopped.

She turned slowly.

"I'm afraid that is impossible," she said gently.

"Body Truth Chrysanthemum is no mere herb. She is a fairy–Fu Cai. The beloved disciple of Lord Fushan, the Anatomy Chrysanthemum God."

Her voice softened.

"She is his dearest."

"I'm afraid," Fuxing concluded, "you will be disappointed."

"May I see your Lord Fushan?" Heart Demon asked.

His voice was calm, stripped of mockery and force. "If I explain the purpose behind this matter to him directly, I am confident he will choose generosity."

Fuxing regarded him for a moment.

Then she nodded.

"You may," she said softly. "But I must ask for your understanding."

She gestured lightly toward the land around them.

"This mountain is prohibited from prying eyes. I cannot allow you to witness the full beauty of Fushan Mount." Her gaze remained steady, neither apologetic nor defensive. "I hope you will not take offense."

"No problem," Heart Demon replied at once.

"I do not have the leisure to admire landscapes." His eyes darkened slightly. "This matter concerns countless lives. Time is not something I can afford."

Fuxing inclined her head.

"Then we are aligned," she said. "I will take you to the palace."

She raised her hand.

From the earth beneath them, a massive hibiscus flower unfurled, its petals layered and luminous, carrying a gentle green glow. The flower rose smoothly into the air, its stem dissolving into light as it lifted free of the ground.

"Please," Fuxing said, stepping aside, "step on."

Heart Demon did so without hesitation.

Fuxing followed.

The hibiscus flower turned, drifting forward, and began its ascent toward Fushan Palace, cutting through mist and thinning clouds as it climbed.

Below them, the mountain fell silent once more.

Ahead, the palace awaited.

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