The Nine Cold Labyrinth isn’t a place for the ordinary; the frost here gnaws like a hungry beast. The Ice Wolf King is merely the Snow Maiden’s underling on the first floor, yet it’s at Holy Peak of the Sacred Realm. Then the Snow Maiden herself must be Divine Realm. And there are guardians on floors two, three, all the way to nine. They’ll only get stronger; I might meet a monster at the peak of the Divine Realm.

The thought chills me deeper than the wind; helplessness pools in my chest. Can I really reach the ninth floor? I’m already a mess on floor one, before I even see the guardian. I don’t even know if I can push the Ice Wolf King back in one piece. It might be weaker than Nareinya with her artifact, but not by much.

Without opening the Sword Domain, I probably can’t win.

A bitter sigh slips out; I didn’t think I’d burn the Domain this soon. From another angle, it only proves how small I still am.

“Human, what are you staring at? Don’t tell me you plan to surrender?”

Seeing me motionless, the Ice Wolf King grows impatient; its jaws part, and cold light hisses forth as it shoots several ice arrows.

No helping it. Sword Domain—open.

If I want this done fast and save strength, there’s no other way. I have to unfold the Domain and raise my power. My foundation’s still thin; my swordplay and Sword Aura sit at the second tier, but only just.

The moment the Sword Domain blooms, the world flips like a page in a storm. Sword Aura floods everything—ground and sky—and blades born of aura hang like a forest of steel. Night’s darkness peels back; a sunset wash rolls in, painting the Domain in amber. Only the air stays frigid, and the mood heavy as stone.

“Human, is this all your power?”

Even inside my Domain, the Ice Wolf King shows no fear; instead, its eyes gleam with interest. “With this field, you’ve earned the right to challenge Lady Snow Maiden. But before that, let this king test you.”

A wind whispers where it stands; then it’s gone like a shadow. In a blink it appears before me, raising its massive claw.

A threat blooms right in my face; I stay steady. I condense a ten-meter giant blade of Sword Aura and cleave toward the Ice Wolf King.

Boom!

We each take a step back. Then the pack surges again, pale bodies streaking like snow squalls; I’m forced to split my focus dealing with them. While I fend off the wolves, the king launches its old technique again—“Dance of Ice.”

Horde fighting throws me off; my rhythm stutters. I pull blades from the Domain and fuse them into a hundred-meter wall, a steel glacier that blocks the ceaseless ice spikes, so I can focus on the pack.

One minute later…

Half the ice wolves lie scattered; about thirty remain. The Ice Wolf King carries light wounds, snowy fur marred with streaks of frost-burn.

“Hah… hah—”

My breath rasps like bellows; maintaining the Sword Domain eats me hollow. I can hold for another minute or two at most. My body’s fine; I fought like a man clinging to a cliff edge.

“Human, you’re capable.”

The Ice Wolf King speaks; there’s a glint of approval in its gaze. “To fight this far against me and the pack under my lead—among recent years, you’re the finest human I’ve seen.”

“Heh, thanks,” I say, but joy doesn’t come; praise from an enemy is a cold flower.

“So, to honor you, I’ll decide this with my strongest move. You want this pointless war of attrition over too, right? If you block the king’s ultimate, I’ll concede.”

“Deal.”

If I drag this out, defeat’s certain; I don’t hesitate. “One strike decides it.”

“Ha! Straightforward. I like you, human!”

The king laughs and leaps skyward; its maw murmurs, syllables weaving like frost-script, as if chanting a spell.

Half a minute passes; the chanting stops. Beneath it, an enormous ice-blue array unfurls, covering the whole void like a frozen sea.

“Eternal Lock: Ice Chains.”

From the array, countless ice chains surge up—thick as mountain spines, gleaming like glaciers. They wheel once in the air, then drop toward me at a speed that rips the wind.

“What?!”

A Holy Peak area spell. My face tightens; sweat beads on both hands clutching the Shattered Light Sword. Even with the Domain, stopping all those chains will be brutal. So I leave the end to heaven’s roll. If the strike stays within my read, I have a chance. If it’s beyond, we’ll both bleed and break.

No choice—gamble.

I drag every last shred of energy and every blade in the Domain into the Shattered Light Sword. Then I whirl and swing; a tornado big enough to pierce sky and earth roars free.

It’s the sword art I used before—“Sword Qi Storm.” Under the Domain’s blessing, its bite, spin, and breadth swell severalfold.

The ice chains collide with the funnel—

Kaboom!

The blast rings like thunder; the ground heaves in waves. Chains shatter into ice blocks that rain down like broken stalactites. The tornado starts to tear, holes opening like wounds.

I can’t let the funnel unravel now. I rip more Sword Aura from the thinning Domain and stitch up the gouges, patching the storm like a tailor in a gale.

After several exchanges, I’m sure: the enemy’s strike is within my expectation. If nothing goes wrong, victory is mine.

So break—now!

I shout, elation surging like fire through frost; power flares hotter than before. The tornado spears through the array beneath the Ice Wolf King, ripping it end to end.

“Human, you’re strong. This king loses…”

With that, the Ice Wolf King is torn to glittering shards, falling as countless fine pieces of ice—hail drifting from a broken crown.

“Awoo…”

Seeing their king fall, the pack keens in sorrow; heads droop, spirits dimmed. They turn, tails low, and melt back into the snow-fields.

Whatever else, this battle—I won.