Awoo~

The Snow Wolf's speed was ghost-like. It turned into a blur to evade the talisman attacks and once again blocked Yun Hanshuang's path, letting out an excited howl to the sky.

Facing the Snow Wolf blocking his way, Yun Hanshuang took a deep breath and drew Rot Spirit. "Come on! White Blade Slash." A black flash streaked by, and Yun Hanshuang's figure appeared above the Snow Wolf. The Rot Spirit in his hand fell upon the Snow Wolf's neck.

"Damn."

There was none of the expected sensation of striking solid flesh. Yun Hanshuang's heart cried out in alarm.

Thud~

Yun Hanshuang only felt a sharp pain in his back, his entire body flying forward uncontrollably before slamming heavily into the snow. "Come forth." Yun Hanshuang didn't have time to think further. The moment he landed, he summoned the three spirit beasts.

Crack~

The three spirit beasts had only just emerged when the Snow Wolf pounced over and smashed them to pieces, but they still managed to buy Yun Hanshuang a brief moment.

"Spiritual Power Threads, entangle it."

Because the distance between the two was too close, making talisman attacks inconvenient, and Yun Hanshuang was lying prone on the snow, he decided to use the spiritual power threads to bind the Snow Wolf, just to buy enough time to widen the gap between himself and it. Over a dozen spiritual power threads swiftly wrapped around the Snow Wolf's four limbs. Yun Hanshuang pushed off with both hands and feet simultaneously, his body shooting into the air like a cannonball. In mid-air, he flipped and landed lightly ten meters away.

Before Yun Hanshuang could retreat any further, the Snow Wolf had already broken free of the spiritual power threads and pounced toward him. Yun Hanshuang had no time to think; he raised Rot Spirit in hand and blocked.

Thud~

Yun Hanshuang only felt both arms go numb, his body sliding over ten meters across the snow.

"White Blade Slash." Seeing the Snow Wolf pounce again, Yun Hanshuang swapped Rot Spirit for White Frost and slashed at the Snow Wolf while it was still in mid-air.

Squelch~ Awoo~

The sound of blade cutting flesh and the Snow Wolf's howl of pain rang out simultaneously. Looking at the Snow Wolf, which he had wounded on its left leg, Yun Hanshuang showed no sign of joy; instead, his expression was extremely grave. Because his full-strength strike had only left a superficial wound on the Snow Wolf's left leg. Moreover, the spiritual power within Yun Hanshuang was nearly depleted.

‘I can only risk it all.’

Seeing the Snow Wolf now thoroughly enraged from its wound, Yun Hanshuang put away White Frost and took out an Explosive Flame Bomb. Because the Snow Wolf's speed was too great, Yun Hanshuang feared it could dodge, so he planned to wait until the Snow Wolf pounced right up to him before detonating the bomb. He entrusted his own safety entirely to the defensive power of his mage robe.

Awoo~~

Seeing Yun Hanshuang put away White Frost, though it had no idea what this human was planning now, the Snow Wolf still howled at the sky and pounced at him.

Boom~

A searing flame shot into the sky, vaporizing the surrounding ice and snow into white mist. Once the mist dispersed, Yun Hanshuang knelt on the ground, his body in tatters, gasping heavily. Though he looked utterly wretched, aside from his spiritual power being completely drained, he was uninjured. The Snow Wolf, who had been at the very center of the blast alongside Yun Hanshuang, had not been so fortunate. Though still alive at that moment, it was barely clinging on.

Ignoring the Snow Wolf, which was already on the verge of death, Yun Hanshuang sat cross-legged on the ground and began recovering his spiritual power.

Squeak~

Suddenly, a large golden mouse appeared not far away, squeaking at Yun Hanshuang. Several hundred meters behind it, a flying boat was rapidly approaching.

‘Treasure-Seeking Mouse? Han Hao?’

The moment he saw that flying boat, Yun Hanshuang could no longer be bothered with recovering his spiritual power. He stood up and flung dozens of Ice Arrows at the golden mouse, riddling it full of holes.

"You dare?! Damn you. I, Han Hao, will grind your bones to dust today." Seeing his precious spirit beast slain, Han Hao's eyes turned bloodshot as he flew toward Yun Hanshuang to kill him.

Yun Hanshuang seemed frozen in terror, standing there and allowing Han Hao's palm strike to shatter him.

"Substitute Talisman? Seal off the area within a thousand meters!" Seeing how easily Yun Hanshuang had been shattered, Han Hao immediately recognized that he had used a Substitute Talisman, and he deduced that the other party had not yet escaped beyond a thousand-meter radius.

Boom~

"Young Master, he escaped to the east! He has Explosive Flame Bombs on him!" Han Hao's face darkened upon hearing this. "Pursue him! Also, send a message back to mobilize a group from the guild. Seal off the Ten Thousand Mile Snow Forest for me."

"But Young Master, won't this offend the other powers?" Han Hao's attendant expressed concern over the consequences.

"There's no harm in telling you now: I no longer need the Flying Cloud Token. Two days ago, my father sent me a fine item. With it, I can head to the Heavenly Abyss Continent at any time. So go ahead and act without worry. No need to fear offending anyone."

"Yes." The attendant respectfully withdrew to arrange the encirclement of Yun Hanshuang.

"Han Yunshuang, thoroughly experience the consequences of offending me." Han Hao cradled the Treasure-Seeking Mouse in his arms and glared fiercely toward the east.

* * *

After killing the Treasure-Seeking Mouse, Yun Hanshuang immediately activated the lifesaving trump card his parents had given him: the Substitute Talisman. The Substitute Talisman could not only leave behind a fake clone that was indistinguishable from the real thing, but after using it, the true body would also be teleported randomly up to a hundred meters away. Once teleported out, Yun Hanshuang immediately used Butterfly Shadow Layers to flee, but unexpectedly, he encountered the cultivators responsible for the blockade midway.

Without any hesitation, the moment he saw that Foundation Establishment cultivator, Yun Hanshuang took out an Explosive Flame Bomb and hurled it at him. Amidst the boom, Yun Hanshuang broke through the encirclement and dashed toward the middle zone.

‘This time, I've completely fallen out with Han Hao. Given the influence of the Heaven Alliance Merchant Guild, I'm afraid the Ten Thousand Mile Snow Forest can no longer hold me.’

Inside a snow cave, after restoring his depleted spiritual power, Yun Hanshuang analyzed and speculated about his current predicament. Yun Hanshuang knew that the only way he could safely leave the Ten Thousand Mile Snow Forest now was to transform into his female body.

‘There are still two days until the full-moon night. As long as I can evade the Heaven Alliance Merchant Guild's searches for these two days, once I transform into my female body, I can openly leave.’

Awoo~

Suddenly, a wolf's howl reached Yun Hanshuang's ears. He extended his divine sense and discovered a two-meter-tall wolf already within ten meters.

‘Wind-Chasing Wolf?’

The moment his divine sense saw that wolf, Yun Hanshuang immediately recognized it as a spirit beast specifically used for tracking. From within the snow cave, he quietly cast a Fear Curse on it, preventing it from approaching.

After being struck by the Fear Curse, the Wind-Chasing Wolf indeed no longer dared to approach the snow cave. However, it didn't leave either; instead, it circled around the cave, which drew the attention of its master.

"Fellow Daoist Han, come on out. My Young Master said that as long as you hand over the method to conceal spiritual power fluctuations, he can let bygones be bygones regarding everything you've done before."

"Really?" Yun Hanshuang walked out of the snow cave, looking at the cultivator before him with an expression of disbelief.

The cultivator, seeing Yun Hanshuang emerge from the snow cave, said nothing and simply raised his hand to strike him.

Thud~

A blue light barrier blocked the cultivator's attack.

"Formation?" Before walking out of the snow cave, Yun Hanshuang had already activated several defensive formation plates. Otherwise, facing a Foundation Establishment expert, how would he dare come out so easily?

"As expected, it was a lie. So you can go die!" Having said this, Yun Hanshuang hurled the Explosive Flame Bomb in his hand. Amidst the boom, the cultivator was blasted into serious injury. Paying no further attention to the cultivator on the ground, Yun Hanshuang quickly retrieved his formation plates, then flung several Ice Arrows at the Wind-Chasing Wolf and turned to leave.