Demon Sword Sect's Undercover

A cultivator sat cross-legged in a glacier crevice, his entire body almost merging with the surrounding environment. He had been here for half a day, and although he deeply wished to leave this dangerous place, he could not depart yet.

The stone sword was what he had released, and it was also he who had concealed the Sword Tomb Grotto Heaven of the Sword Sect. Doing such a significant deed was just to exchange for a benefit.

To this day, he didn't know who he was trading with; the other party was very cautious, providing him with a set of stone swords, as well as the specific location of the Grotto Heaven in the Dushan Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion. He was merely a tool, an insignificant middleman, someone who could be discarded at any moment.

He understood this himself. To him, as long as he could achieve his goal, nothing else mattered.

He could not stray too far from Dushan; being too far would make it difficult to control the various changes of the stone sword within the Otherworldly Space. This set of stone swords was quite miraculous; even if he said nothing else, simply their spatial abilities were unheard of. It was very difficult for him to operate them, which was no solution; the real owner of the stone sword would avoid implicating themselves by not acting directly.

Here, he was several tens of miles from Dushan, the greatest distance he could leave while still maintaining control over the stone sword. The Sword Sect was ruthless, and he did not want anything unexpected to happen.

This was a good place, something he had observed long ago. Here he had to stay at least until the Dushan Festival concluded. If nothing unexpected happened, someone would come to replace him.

Complete the task, receive the other's promise, and do what you've always wanted to do.

There's no choice; with weak strength, one can only take chestnuts from the fire for others. Fortunately, this task wasn't a life-or-death situation. In his view, the Sword Sect had little chance of solving the Grotto Heaven mystery and finding him. Space capability was the most powerful test of a Daoist heritage; on the Jinxiu Continent, no Daoist lineage was competent.

What he had to do now was to hide himself well, using the stone fetus on him to monitor any possible changes in the Otherworldly Space, even if the likelihood of change was minimal, just awaiting the end.

In a sense, this task wasn't difficult.

While waiting, he suddenly sensed signs of movement on the ice layer; for maximum safety, he did not release his Divine Sense, afraid it might be the Sword Sect disciples searching, but just listened quietly.

Few people resided here. In such a harsh survival environment, no creatures were willing to linger, only the most tenacious humans. They would appear wherever there was water and sunlight.

Initially worried and nervous, gradually he calmed down. From the heavy footsteps, it could basically be judged that this was a mortal, likely those scattered mountain villagers near the Snow Mountain, who were the only natives here.

Through the mirrored reflection of the ice layer, he discovered that the walker was a young girl, dressed in heavy furs that concealed her nimble body. Yet she moved freely in the complex glacier terrain.

Xiao Man was carrying a basket, with a thick wooden staff in hand, constantly tapping the ice in front of her. This was the wisdom of the locals; in this land of ice and snow that could collapse at any moment, every step needed to be taken with extreme caution, even on paths she had traversed countless times before.

Her face, long subjected to the cold, was red, and although she wore thick animal skin gloves, her hands were still cracked. For survival, this was her daily task. Bit by bit, she combed over the glacier, just to harvest the precious snow moss beneath the ice, which she could sell to merchants to exchange for her family's daily necessities.

Her childhood dreams had long been crushed by reality. By now, she had almost completely forgotten her past aspirations, struggling alone under the heavy burden of life.

It was not that the Dushan Sword Lineage did not keep their promises; rather, cultivation was not something everyone could partake in. She had been taken in by the Sword Lineage at the foot of the mountain at the age of ten, where the children of the nearby mountain villagers studied. Yet over these years, fewer than ten out of a hundred could sense Qi, and none truly entered Foundation Establishment—such was the harsh reality.

The mountain school would not drive them away because they grew older. As long as they wished, they could continue learning indefinitely. But the inborn pride and stubbornness of the mountain folk made it impossible for them to do such a thing. They had families to support as adults; how could they be perpetual children?

Xiao Man had been at the school for six years, achieving nothing like most children. At sixteen, she left resolutely, knowing she wasn't suited for it; she needed to care for her aging parents and her younger siblings.

Over the past two years, she returned to the standard appearance of a mountain villager, forcing herself to forget her once-held dreams. A dream was just a dream, with a time to wake up.

The glacier was vast, with fissures crisscrossing it. Underneath lay the primary economic lifeline for the villagers, a precious herb: snow moss.

Each household collected snow moss, waiting for merchants to purchase it, trading it for essential commodities such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, iron, porcelain, tea, and sugar. Previously, the merchants were quite exploitative, but since the Sword Cultivators arrived, they had rectified the situation considerably. The current prices were fairer, making the villagers' lives much better.

Growing older and after six years of learning, she understood many things, knowing that there was only herself to blame for lacking opportunities—a fate decided by the heavens.

But precisely because she had learned a lot, she became increasingly dissatisfied with staying in this bitterly cold place. She wanted to leave, even if she couldn't cultivate; there were many ways to change her family's living conditions.

Now, she tirelessly searched for snow moss day and night, wanting to quickly save a little capital and persuade her parents, who were reluctant to leave their homeland.

There was another ice crevice ahead, fairly deep with a complex internal structure. Such terrain presented certain risks, but often also promised more snow moss. She was still young and unafraid of danger, having learned a lot of basic martial arts over six years, she was full of confidence.

Finding a sturdy ice surface, she planted a stake, efficiently tying the rope. She placed a secondary stake in another position. As a seasoned ice and snow villager, these were survival skills handed down through generations.

Then, along the rope, she slid down the ice crevice, controlling her descent with an ice axe until reaching the bottom. Looking up, she saw more than a dozen patches of snow moss, green as jade, emanating an enticing fragrance, and this was just a small segment of the ice crevice.

In great spirits, today was definitely a harvest day. She proceeded, harvesting snow moss from one place to another, carefully placing them into the basket on her back.

There was more snow moss than she imagined. Harvesting and walking, she gradually lost her awareness of her surroundings. There were no dangerous animals or fierce beasts here; insects and pigs simply couldn't survive at such low temperatures. The environment was the most hazardous element. As long as there wasn't a snowstorm, everything would be fine.

Turning a corner, a powerful force surged, propelling her forward uncontrollably.

What was it? Xiao Man was completely unprepared, both physically and mentally.