The shard of cold light faded, and the cavern glazed over with thin ice, winter glass crawling across stone—everywhere but the patch beneath Snow Orchid.

No wonder Qingsheng Tangxue—she once hunted across a thousand miles just to take a head. Even in a rampage, she kept her blade leashed to a thread, never nicking a teammate. Peak power was a storm tucked inside a fist.

“T-T-Tangxue… p-please calm down…” Snow Orchid trembled like a quail in wind, arms wrapped tight, shrinking into the corner’s shadow.

“Ah… gone… So it ran… heh-heh… ran, ran…” How dare it run? After something that vile… kill it, I have to… kill that Goblin… hee-hee…” Tangxue’s voice thinned to silk, soft and terrifying, head bowed as she laughed in little waves. Snow Orchid clutched her head and squatted, cornered like a rabbit under frost.

Suddenly, Tangxue turned. Her blue eyes had lost their focus, ocean glass gone dull. “Ah~ Lan’er, why’re you so far from me? Fine. I’ll take out the trash first. Wait here for me, okay♡~”

She flashed a sickly-sweet smile and surged toward the cave’s depths, a winter gust cutting through stone.

“T-T-Tangxue, w-wait for me… N-no, whatever—just follow her first…” Snow Orchid hugged herself and chased the breadcrumb trail of thin ice Tangxue left behind.

Tangxue moved too fast for mortal eyes, like moonlight skipping water. That angelic smile sat on her face while she sprinted. The Goblins she passed saw her—some lost control right there, then froze into statues, terror locked in crystal; they’d be limp for life.

“Ah~ not this one, not that one. Ugh, why do Goblins all have the same face? So annoying~ Forget it—freeze them all. Turn them into ice statues.”

“Where are you, where are you~ If I don’t fix you, I’ll feel awful all day, you know♪ Hee-hee…”

So where was the Goblin who had accidentally seen the cute bunny-print panties? Obviously, scrambling for dear life like a dog in rain.

A monster behind it could crush it into paste a dozen times over. It didn’t dare posture. If it couldn’t swim through soil by birth, it would’ve died ten thousand times already.

Run. It had to run.

Tangxue suddenly noticed something, tilting her head toward a patch of ground far ahead.

“Ah-la~ Hiding in the mud, are we? Hehe… you. can’t. get. away.”

“Throwing Technique: Pierce!”

Her right hand lifted, and a massive ice spear condensed like winter’s fang. An instant later, the spear punched down with a sonic boom, drilling open a gaping hole. Wherever it passed, soil flash-froze into blue-white permafrost.

“No escape… heh-heh~”

“Martial Art: Ever-shifting!”

One heartbeat she was here, the next she stood atop the spear, lips curved. She raised the lance and slammed forward, force like an avalanche.

The entire gorge shuddered, earth rolling like a quake under black clouds.

“That should be dust to dust… heh-heh…” Her voice faded. Tangxue blacked out and fell into the hole she’d carved.

…

“What in the world happened here?” Xuewei had arrived, but the sudden tremor left her momentarily blank, like a map rewritten by storm. Nothing in her intel said quakes hit this sector. That surge of mana had been ninth-tier beast level. If students stumbled into it, disaster would rip through them.

Qianya emerged from a tunnel and ran into Xuewei. “Teacher Xuewei!”

“What is it? What happened inside?”

“We found villagers the Goblins had taken. We freed them. They’re resting over there…”

“I’m not talking about that. Forget it—take this. Academy staff will be here soon to escort the villagers somewhere safe. Give this to them and explain the situation. And if you meet any incoming students, tell them to stay away from this gorge, immediately. I’m going in.”

“Is there danger in this gorge, Teacher Xuewei…” That chill earlier must’ve been Qingsheng Tangxue exploding, right? Should I… No. Stall the woman first.

“Yes. The mana wave hit ninth-tier mage levels. Extremely dangerous.”

“But… tons of students already went in. On my way out I met so many classmates heading down.”

“…” Xuewei hesitated, lips parting, then tightened. “I’ll handle it. They won’t be in danger.”

“Teacher, are you going to…?”

“The exam is suspended. We resume after I resolve this anomaly.” She strode for the mouth of the cave, letting her aura unfurl like a winter squall. The pressure of a peak expert blanketed the gorge—yet she kept one hand on the reins, not showing her full strength.

So, she’s blown her cover.

“Martial Art: Godspeed.”

Xuewei shot toward the point she’d marked, thunder under ice. Qianya, left at the entrance, frowned. Her left hand lifted, then fell.

“So there really is an idiot lying in ambush. How did I miss that earlier? Whatever. Let’s see what Kerlinveil Xuewei does.”

…

“Mm, Tangxue ran too fast…” Snow Orchid followed the trail of ‘ice statues’ Tangxue had left, a breadcrumb path of crystal. “So Tangxue’s really this strong… so many Goblins turned to blocks. Honestly, Tangxue or Qianya could finish this mission alone. I’m just… dead weight… Eh? Eek!!!”

She didn’t watch her feet and stepped into a sudden, yawning hole.

The shaft was smooth and clean. As she dropped, it felt like the slippery slide from childhood—only colder, winter breath clinging to skin.

“Waaah! Stop, stop—too fast! Blazing Flame!” A flicker of fire sputtered like a candle in snow; useless. The ice tunnel carried her downward at breakneck speed. If she got out, she’d definitely catch a cold.

“Finally—what’s going on—ah! Another… hole!”

Thud!

“Ow! My butt—ow, ow… Where am I…” Snow Orchid dabbed tears from her lashes, then fished out her magic lamp, a small sun cupped in her hands.

“Eh, eh, eh—Tangxue, I finally found you. I’m so tired—I nearly died chasing you. You run too fast… Tangxue, you… what’s wrong? Are you okay? Don’t scare me… sob…”

“Stop shaking me, stop—if you keep shaking, I’ll really pass out…”

“Ah! Tangxue, that’s cruel, scaring me again…”

“Did you think I was faking it, the way I looked just now?”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that…” Snow Orchid’s eyes shimmered, on the verge of tears again.

“Actually, I was faking~”

“Tangxue! Fine. As long as you’re okay.”

“How could I be okay… I feel hollowed out, like someone scooped me clean. I’m dead tired…”

“Right, Tangxue—what happened to you? Why did you suddenly go berserk?”

“No idea… I just remember getting really mad, and then… that happened. Nngh, cake first. And a hot jasmine tea. I’m starving…”

“Seriously, Tangxue, you get hungry too fast… Where even are we? Why did a hole this big just appear?”

I can’t tell you I smashed it in a fit. That’s harder to explain than freezing a horde of Goblins.

“Probably natural? It was here when I fell in. This place… feels familiar somehow.”

Snow Orchid wandered, lamp light painting pale circles. Then she stiffened, hand pointing. “Tangxue, there’s something here!”

“Hm? What—this, this is…!”

…

To Ling Xuewei, these dirt layers were plastic walls—one push, and they toppled. She didn’t care what depth the target hid at; she bulldozed straight through like a glacier.

Soon she reached the point she’d sensed. A vast cavern opened, Goblins lining the flanks, eyes like knives aimed at an intruder. Xuewei didn’t spare them a breath; they weren’t her goal.

Her aura spread as she walked deeper. The further in, the more decadent the filth: torn clothes glued to the floor, bottles rolling like bones, and women’s corpses from different races, faces turned to stone.

It didn’t touch her heart. Scenes like this were old snow to her.

A Goblin “palace,” a thing of rot, self-styled as a “king.” So filthy it turned the stomach.

Two giant Goblins, greatswords on their shoulders, guarded a throne. The Goblin king sat there with a predator’s smirk, eyeing the woman who’d delivered herself. In its mind, it sat equal to the crown of a race. Human women should strip like slaves greeting their master and serve him. After all, it bore divine blood, a god’s descendant.

“Woman, you’ve got some—”

Shnk! Xuewei’s Iceflame Spear pierced everything—guards and king—like lightning through dry timber.

“This… can’t… be! I—I am… of the divine line… a god’s scion—ah!” For one instant, its eyes flashed gold, then the body crumpled, gold winking out like a dying star.

“A Goblin with god-blood? What a disgusting hobby… Even so, at the end of the day, it’s still just a Goblin.” Xuewei shook her head, voice cold as midnight. She faced the shadows pooled in the palace’s corners. “Come out. I don’t believe a mere Goblin could capture royal blood to breed heirs.”

“If you don’t come out, I won’t mind turning this whole place into ice shards.”