Chapter 726 - 393: Divergent Paths

Snow blankets the earth and sky, icy winds howl, everything cloaked in silver, merging heaven and earth into a sea of clouds and snow.

Huangfu Yi gazed absent-mindedly at the Great Snow Mountain, momentarily lost, unsure of his surroundings.

"Mother, Mother, it stepped on a trap, its leg hurt..."

Huangfu Yi’s heart skipped a beat, his expression changed abruptly, and he turned his head sharply.

In the snow behind him, a chubby child bundled up in a fur coat stumbled forward, holding a snow fox that whimpered softly and ran toward a woman digging in the snow for black radishes.

Huangfu Yi’s eyes turned fierce, revealing an unprecedented savagery as he rushed forward, shielding the woman behind him, without a word, he swung his fist directly at the fox’s head.

However, his fist swept through the scene like a fleeting shadow, as if breaking through a veil of water...

Illusion technique... no, it’s a memory...

"Oh? Three tails! Yi’er, quickly throw it away! It’s a monster!"

"But it’s injured, it seems to be in pain, mother, let me keep it?"

"Don’t be foolish, monsters can’t be tamed."

"But it’s still small, doesn’t uncle have a method for training dogs? I want to keep a dog, let me keep it mother..."

"This is no dog, it’s a three-tailed fox..."

"Mother, I beg you, no one in the village plays with me..."

"...Sigh, I’ll wrap it up, when it heals it’ll be let go. Otherwise, wait till your father comes back, see if he doesn’t scold you."

"Okay okay, don’t worry! I promise not to let it pee inside! Its fur is so white, how about calling you White Snow?"

Huangfu Yi clenched his teeth, fists tightly balled, staring intensely at the three-tailed fox with wide eyes, pretending to be pitifully adorable.

"Oh, so your parents, were killed by the monsters you took in yourself, no wonder you’re so extreme."

Huangfu Yi snapped his head around, glaring angrily at the woodcutter behind him,

"You’ve looked enough!"

The woodcutter sneered coldly,

"What’s wrong, can’t stand this? I’ve watched as you devoured my thousand-year-old spiritual pet whole! What the hell have I said?"

Huangfu Yi gritted his teeth,

"Monsters all deserve to die..."

The woodcutter waved his hand impatiently,

"Enough already, what I can’t stand about your Sword Sect is just that, everything deserves to be killed or dead, fighting and killing all day, wiping out entire families at the drop of a hat, brains are sick...

Enough talk, where’s that Sword Immortal who sent you? Sending you all the way from Yin Mountain to the Central Plains, breaking my array, ruining my plans, quite the calculation!

I want to see the great figure!"

Huangfu Yi knew all too well, aware of the other’s profound methods, using the Primordial Spirit Method for soul searching, he simply sat cross-legged, clenched his teeth, staring unwaveringly at the fox, seemingly hating it enough to eat its flesh, yet afraid that if his gaze shifted even slightly, he couldn’t look away...

"Hehe, don’t tell me, I’ll find it myself."

The woodcutter swung his axe and smashed it, splitting Huangfu Yi open from the head!

Boom!

In that moment, the film of memories flashed back like a kaleidoscope carousel.

Finally, the snowy scene before him shook, frosty Snow Ridge turned into a sky full of Fire Sea, the white snow became blazing flames.

Then Huangfu Yi saw his home, pushed open the door, and saw the woman who just caressed her child’s cheek, showing a warm smile even in the winter, at this moment fell in a pool of blood and flesh, evidently gutted, brain split, facial skin scraped away.

That creature resembling neither human nor beast, covered in white fur, with green eyes, tails waving, mouth full of fresh blood, still holding a tender heart and sucking the warm blood from it. It smiled at the frozen and despairing little chubby child at the doorway, and at the eye-popping Huangfu Yi.

As if thanking him, thanking his life-saving grace, thanking his meticulous care, thanking him for foolishly bringing monsters inside, unleashing demons and chaos, thanking him for hand-delivering such tender Blood Food, for giving her such a warm heart.

"Mother—! Mother—!!"

The chubby child screamed and wailed, wielding a hatchet ready to fight desperately, yet a hand grabbed him from behind, lifting the collar, tossing him out of the yard.

"The barrier is breached! I’ll cover the retreat! Everyone withdraw to Sword Spring!"

A man’s tall silhouette flashed by, unfortunately, even his appearance was barely visible, after three steps, he burned like a torch, radiating light like a falling star, warm like the winter Sun.

Huangfu Yi bit his lip, staring hollowly at the last scene he saw of his parents, his palms bleeding from clenched fists.

The woodcutter furrowed his brow, said no more, waving his hand, turned the page.

The next scene was Sword Spring.

Sword Spring was actually a hot spring flowing from the mountains, used by Jiuquan Village for brewing in harsh winters, there, the Sword Immortal utilized the Spirit Vein as a node, setting the Sword Array at the spring’s Array Eye to protect the villagers.

The chubby child had grown into a half-grown lad, but his chubby face visibly thinned, and the innocence in his eyes had vanished, staring dead at the cold, sword light piercing sky, blade-sharp spring water, like a dead person.

"Yi’er, you really want to go challenge the Sword Immortal’s legacy, it’s deadly..."

"Big brother, don’t! If we just conserve, the grain can last, wait till spring the demons will retreat and it’ll be fine!"

"Yi’er, you’re still young, let me go instead, these old bones of mine, if I die, we can last a few more days..."

Men and women, old and young, gathered around the youth, trying to persuade him.