Yusuf, however, was far from finished.

  The mission might have been canceled, but his humiliation still burned. He was Spirit Severing—and a little Foundation Establishment brat had scarred his hands, humiliated him, and sughtered three of his disciples.

  He couldn’t swallow that. Not even Drake could make him let it go.

  Drake is the head of a righteous sect. He has to act with reason. And reason is on my side.

  Lauren’s life was his to take. That was justice.

  For days, he scoured the city with his spiritual sense, convinced she was hiding among mortals. And finally, his patience paid off.

  Movement.

  A fre of aura, faint but undeniable.

  “Hmph. Found you. Let’s see where you can run this time.”

  Lauren and Tarot had barely cleared the city when Yusuf descended. His strike split the ground, shaking mountains and earth alike. If Tarot hadn’t reacted instantly, the blow would have swallowed them whole.

  Tarot’s face hardened. “Junior Sister, hold on tight.”

  Lauren clutched at him without a word.

  A heartbeat ter, their figures melted into the darkness and vanished.

  Yusuf’s expression twisted. “A dark spiritual root? A demonic cultivator?”

  Then, instead of arm, delight spread across his face. “Excellent. An ‘upright’ Thunder Sect disciple colluding with a demonic cultivator? Once I capture you both, I’ll send you home to your sect in pieces.”

  He fred his spiritual power, a wave of force rippling out to bnket ten miles in every direction. Grass, trees, even insects—nothing escaped his overwhelming spiritual sense.

  The gulf between their realms left Tarot nowhere to hide, even under cover of night. He gave a short, humorless ugh. “Junior Sister, looks like we don’t have a choice. We fight.”

  Lauren nodded once. “Then fight him.”

  Her voice was calm, almost careless—like a newborn calf unaware of the tiger before it.

  Tarot smiled faintly, flicked her forehead, and shoved her back.

  “Go.”

  She was thrown a full ten miles away, the world spinning around her.

  “You think you can run?” Yusuf’s eyes gleamed. “Die!”

  For mortals, ten miles was a long escape. For Yusuf, it was the distance of a breath. His massive palm strike was already falling toward her when—

  It stopped, caught mid-swing.

  Tarot had returned, armor shattering under the blow before it instantly re-formed around him.

  Yusuf’s eyes narrowed. So many treasures on this brat…

  “Why are you still here?!” Tarot snapped at her.

  Lauren clenched her teeth. She wasn’t leaving. She couldn’t.

  She had a Thousand Miles Talisman tucked away, but what good would it do? To Yusuf, a thousand miles was nothing—he’d be on her again in less than two hours.

  And more importantly…

  Little Four Legs’ voice rang out, cold and certain: “Your senior brother can’t win alone. Fight with him. Kill this bastard.”

  Lauren agreed. That shameless old dog had already made it clear he wanted her dead. If she didn’t finish him here, sooner or ter she’d cross paths with him again—and she wouldn’t be so lucky next time.

  She tossed out the formation disk, the one that had drained four top-grade spirit stones before.

  The night sky split open. Snow and ice surged outward, and the entire world seemed to turn white.

  Yusuf staggered, face bnching as he felt his cultivation sink—Spirit Severing mid-stage crumbling down to early stage.

  “Impossible… a Domain? Ice Domain?” His voice shook with disbelief.

  How could a mere Foundation Establishment girl possibly command a Domain? And yet the crushing truth pressed down on him all the same.

  Lauren pced a hand on Tarot’s shoulder, and his suppressed aura surged back—not just restored, but elevated.

  From te Nascent Soul straight into early Spirit Severing.

  His eyes lit with fire. He didn’t bother asking questions, just charged at Yusuf with his weapon, bdes ringing as they cshed.

  Behind them, Little Four Legs chimed in, almost zily: “Four top-grade spirit stones will only hold for half an incense stick of time. Remember to repce them.”

  Lauren nearly choked. The hell? This thing eats money like a beast.

  She was wealthy compared to most cultivators, but even so, she had only five top-grade spirit stones left. And these couldn’t just be swapped out for mids—meaning she and Tarot had maybe one stick of incense to bring Yusuf down.

  The Ice Domain’s power had elevated her cultivation to Core Formation, but against Yusuf it was still barely enough.

  Sweat ran cold down her spine as she held the Domain steady, frost crystallizing in her veins.

  She grit her teeth and sent a telepathic message to her brother: “Senior Brother, I can’t hold this for long.”

  Tarot didn’t need her to expin. There was no way a cultivator at her level could sustain a Domain like this.

  No—this wasn’t her Domain.

  Domains were limited by the strength of the cultivator themselves. At her stage, Lauren’s domain could only suppress Core Formation at best. A Nascent Soul expert should’ve been able to tear through it like paper.

  And yet here they were, facing a Spirit Severing cultivator being dragged down into the snow and ice.

  Normally, a true Domain couldn’t even appear before the Spirit Severing stage. That was why neither he nor Yusuf had taken her seriously when the frost first fell.

  Lauren’s voice pressed into his mind, tight with strain: “Brother, I can only st half a cup of tea at most. If you can’t hold him, give me your high-grade spirit stones. Four for half a cup of tea.”

  Tarot’s chest tightened. She must have some insane treasure fueling this. Four high-grade stones, burned in minutes… even the Sect Master would cough blood at that expense.

  Dark-rooted cultivators like him specialized in assassinations, in short, violent bursts. Sustained combat was always the price.

  He hesitated only a moment before swallowing an Explosive Spirit Pill.

  Power roared through him, shredding his veins as his cultivation surged upward. His bck dagger pulsed in his grip, wrapped in crackling shadows. Bck qi boiled off his body, and when his eyes snapped open, they glowed blood red.

  In that instant, Tarot didn’t look like a righteous cultivator at all. He looked like something torn straight out of the Demonic Path.

  Yusuf froze, then barked a ugh. “Ha! I knew it. You wretched creature—you really are a demonic cultivator!”

  Lauren’s heart lurched. No… Senior Brother isn’t demonic. It’s just the way his roots and techniques manifest. Right?

  But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. The csh was already deafening.

  The earth shook with every strike, explosions rattling the night sky.

  In the mortal city, people woke screaming, peering out at the suburbs where it sounded as if heaven itself was splitting open. None of them dared investigate.

  Tarot pressed Yusuf hard, his movements swift, sharp, and vicious—almost unnatural. Blow after blow carved through earthen walls, smashed through defenses, until one vicious thrust punched straight through Yusuf’s armor.

  The Spirit Severing cultivator was hurled backward like a rag doll, crashing through trees before embedding into a stone cliff, the rock splitting around him in a human-shaped crater.

  Lauren followed close, clutching the formation disk, straining to keep the Domain stable. She had already burned through five Divine Travel Talismans just to keep pace with their speed.

  Yusuf staggered up, horror pin in his eyes. His qi surged desperately, but it wasn’t enough—the armor on his chest shattered.

  “You… you…” he stammered, blood dribbling from his lips. “Dark roots… wielding righteous techniques… this shouldn’t—”

  The bck dagger pierced his core with a sickening crack.

  Tarot bared his teeth in a savage grin. “You’re finished.”