Yikes! I’m freezing to death, like a fish yanked onto winter ice!

I step out of the space fissure, and the cold clamps down like iron chains; frost crawls up my side like white vines.

Good thing I snapped Shattered Light back into sword form, and flared Sword Aura like a warm sheath; otherwise I’d be a statue in a glass museum.

Even wrapped in Sword Aura, the chill gnaws like ants under bark; no wonder this is the coldest corner of the world.

This temperature is absurd, like knives hidden in the wind… whoa, but it’s beautiful like moonlight on a frozen lake.

Everything here is carved from ice, from the clear ground shining like crystal to the endless mountains rising like frozen waves.

Even the trees are ice; without the fruit on their branches like blue lanterns, I’d have sworn they were sculptures.

Wait, fruit? On an ice tree, like jewels on bare twigs? I kinda want a bite, like a fox eyeing winter persimmons.

The ice-blue fruit gleams like a crystal drop by the branch; hunger pops in my chest like a struck spark.

Alright. One bite it is, like stepping onto thin ice with a grin.

I flick a strand of Sword Aura at the branch, a whip of light slashing like a comet’s tail.

Snap! The branch and fruit fall like a pair of shooting stars; I dash in and catch the prize like a goalie in snow.

Okay, time to eat, like a soldier charging a hot stew. No hesitation; I lift it to my mouth and take a big bite.

Ow… it’s so hard, like granite under a glacier! My teeth ring like struck porcelain; I clutch my jaw and pitch the fruit into the snow.

Two women in down parkas stroll past, their laughter tinkling like bells on icicles. “Look, someone tried to eat an ice crystal fruit straight. That face is killing me.”

“Right? He didn’t melt the ice crust first, and he’s still biting it, like a squirrel on a pebble. But he’s a pretty boy; should we say hi?”

“Tempting, but we’ve got business, like hawks riding a storm. Let’s go.”

They chat as they walk, their footprints like twin ribbons; my cheeks burn crimson like sunset on snow.

“Aww, he’s blushing, like a ripe apple on frost! Little brother, if you want an ice crystal fruit, melt the outer ice with good hot fire.”

“See you later—if fate drifts us back like snowflakes.”

They vanish into the white, like swallows swallowed by cloud.

Ugh… that was mortifying, like slipping on ice in front of a crowd.

I crouch and pick up the fruit, my face still hot like embers under ash.

So I have to melt the crust first? What a hassle, like boiling tea at the peak.

I straighten, sighing a white plume like a small dragon, and gather fire-aspected Sword Aura, a scarlet veil swirling around the fruit.

Ten seconds pass like ten snowflakes landing on a sleeve.

The fruit shrinks a ring like a thawing icicle; water and bead-sized ice grains drip through my fingers like glass beads. Looks edible now.

I dismiss the Aura like snuffing a candle and raise the fruit again, teeth ready like a hunter’s trap.

…

Chew, chew, like crunching a cool cloud.

Gulp, like a pebble slipping into a stream.

So good! It’s cool as mountain shade and fragrant like a hidden orchard; the texture sings like silk torn clean.

I finish it in a few bites like a starving sparrow, then happily harvest a few more like a squirrel raiding a winter cache.

Ten minutes later, I’m content and full, rubbing my belly like a satisfied cat in a sunbeam.

Uh… wait! Something’s off, like a bell struck out of tune. Why did I come here?

Why have I been eating nonstop like a hamster? I’m supposed to challenge the Nine Cold Labyrinth and get the Ice Dream Lotus to heal Hill.

Ugh, I’m an idiot, like a goose forgetting its own wings; I put Hill out of mind!

No, no! To the Nine Cold Labyrinth, like an arrow to the target. Xinuo told me how not long ago…

“After you reach Extreme Cold Hell, Servant, turn Shattered Light back into a sword and shout, ‘FrostyLily Dream, you pervert, get out here for this lady!’ Someone will take you to the Nine Cold Labyrinth.”

…

This is so embarrassing, like dancing on a frozen stage. But I have to do it; the snowfield’s empty, so now’s the time.

I draw a deep breath, like filling a bellows, and yell, “FrostyLily Dream, you pervert, get out here for this—th-this lady!”

The moment the words leave my mouth, the air plunges like a cliff; even my Sword Aura crisps with frost like rime on glass.

A blizzard howls up like a white dragon, and the ground shudders like a drum under a giant’s fist.

“Which brat dared to call this lady by name! You even called this lady a pervert—and dared to call yourself ‘this lady’ in front of this lady? Tired of living?”

With a clear voice like a silver chime, a girl appears out of thin air before me… a loli, straight-up loli, as stunning as Xinuo in a winter fairy tale.

Ice-blue hair down to her waist streams like a waterfall; a light fragrance curls from it like cold plum blossoms.

Her pale little face shines, and her ice-blue eyes glitter brighter than gemstones, like stars trapped in midnight ice.

She wears an ice-blue oiran-style kimono, snowflake patterns on the wide sleeves like petals; the skirt stops at mid-thigh, revealing snow-pale legs and tempting bare feet.

For the record, she floats above the ground like a frost spirit; her toes don’t touch the ice.

Her cool aura rivals Xinuo’s, like twin moons in winter… and there’s this crushing pressure, heavy as a glacier on my chest.

It’s the same suffocating weight I felt when I first entered the Sword Domain and faced Shattered Light, like the sea sitting on my lungs.

In short, this loli’s power isn’t beneath Xinuo’s, like twin peaks under the same sky. No wonder Xinuo called her by name so bluntly.

Realizing that, I can only give a bitter smile like a cracked mask; this time, Xinuo really set me up to die.

“Hmph. So it was you, you reckless brat, calling out this lady like a crow on snow?”

FrostyLily Dream studies me with amused eyes, her cute mouth tilting like a crescent. “How d’you want to die? Freeze into a statue, or turn to ice bit by bit and shatter like glass? …Eh? Wait. The sword in your hand—is that… show this lady!”

Before I can answer, she snatches Shattered Light Sword in a blur, like lightning stealing a branch; I’m left blinking in shock.

“This sword… it’s Shattered Light, no doubt, like dawn in steel. Brat, answer this lady. Who is Yugou Sage, that idiot, to you?”

After a glance or two, she hands the Shattered Light Sword back, her gaze sharp as sleet.

“He’s my ancestor… uh, why are you calling my ancestor an idiot?!” The protest bursts out like steam from a kettle.

“Heh. If Yugou Sage wasn’t an idiot, who would be? He came to challenge this lady back then, all dope-eyed like a calf in snow. If not for my sister’s sake, I’d have iced him.”

She snorts at my reaction, lips curling with disdain like a frost edge.

“Alright, I take it back. Sorry for being rude,” I say, swallowing my pride like a hot coal.

Ancestor, forgive your useless descendant; I can’t defend you here, like a reed in a gale. Even I think you were a bit foolish.

FrostyLily Dream’s strength rivals Xinuo’s, like two blades from the same furnace. And my ancestor was raised by Xinuo’s hand.

Provoking FrostyLily Dream meant provoking Xinuo by proxy, like poking a tiger that guards your house. That’s just begging to die.