The Entrance of the Skeletal Shepherd's True Form

The extreme cold descended, freezing all things in existence.

The entire battlefield seemed to have been paused, even the air crystallizing into ice.

All cultivators, abominations, and members of the Heavenly Path stood frozen in place.

Their pupils trembled as they stared at the figure tearing through the space of the Nether River—

Su Muwan!

She hovered in the air, her crystalline hair flowing without wind, the tips shimmering with a dazzling aurora of frigid light like a river of stars.

Twelve clones encircled her, each seated upon a throne of ice, their eyes like cold stars, their oppressive aura akin to a prison.

Domain of Absolute Zero—Time, stand still!

Such a profound manipulation of the laws, unleashed so effortlessly?!

"You…"

Su Muwan's voice was piercingly cold, each word carved into their souls like ice from the depths of eternity:

"Stay… away… from Qin Luo!"

Crack—!

The Nether River’s space shattered completely, scattering into a blizzard of ice shards!

"What?!"

The Lord of the Nether River stood upon his ferry, his aged face twisting in disbelief for the first time.

His Nether River space—torn apart by a mere human woman?

Impossible!

Even if Su Muwan was among the most exceptional of the Chosen Ones, his focus had always been on Qin Luo.

After all, a mere Chosen One was still bound beneath the Heavenly Path.

How could she possibly alter fate?

But now… he had to reconsider Su Muwan, this Chosen One with the destiny of a villain.

Most importantly… her body carried a faint, flickering trace of… the Heavenly Path’s aura.

Why?

Had the Heavenly Path prepared a contingency plan?

Elsewhere.

"This can’t be…"

A golden phantom rose abruptly from the trunk of the Tree of Fate, its voice trembling. "How does she possess the aura of the Heavenly Path?! Has she stepped into the Heavenly Path realm? No… that’s impossible!"

Su Muwan’s cultivation clearly hadn’t reached that level.

Yet her aura unmistakably bore the mark of the Heavenly Path.

How?

By what means had she obtained this power?

Doctor Ya sighed, shaking her head. "I told you… these two are different."

From the moment they first met, she had sensed that these two would stir up something unprecedented.

And now, here it was—a scene never written in the Heavenly Path’s script: the beauty saving the hero.

At the heart of the battlefield,

members of the Heavenly Path squad remained frozen mid-charge, unable to move even a finger.

Celestial Pivot and the others were, at their core, still human, relying on equipment granted by the Heavenly Path’s space to fight.

Now, facing Su Muwan’s primordial frost, resistance was nothing short of delusional.

What could they do?

Fear gripped their hearts.

Their mission was incomplete, and retreating to the Heavenly Path’s space seemed an impossible dream.

No choice… they had to… flee!

The moment this thought crossed their minds—

"Heavenly Path’s space?"

Their eyes widened as Su Muwan’s gaze swept over them.

With a cold smirk, she clenched her fist—

Boom! Boom! Boom—!!

The frigid surge enveloped them, encasing every member of the Heavenly Path squad in ice before they exploded into glittering shards.

Annihilated in an instant!

"Roar—!"

The Spider Empress, controlled by the Bone Shepherd, let out a furious shriek, her obsidian limbs thrashing wildly against the frost’s suppression.

Her crimson eyes locked onto Su Muwan—clearly, she recognized this power.

And that was precisely why she was utterly shaken.

Her voice grated like twisted metal: "You… stole the Heavenly Path’s authority?!"

Su Muwan didn’t bother with words. In a flash, she appeared before the Spider Empress and drove her fist forward—

Crash—!

The Spider Empress’s chest caved in as she was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing through dozens of mountain peaks before finally skidding to a halt.

"Stole?"

Su Muwan flicked her wrist, her gaze imperious. "This power was always mine!"

She had devoured the essence of countless powerhouses from the Immortal-Demon Era and refined an inexplicable force.

In terms of raw cultivation, she hadn’t yet reached the pinnacle.

But in terms of primordial power? She had long surpassed most, touching the realm "beyond the laws."

"Father… save me!"

The Spider Empress clawed her way up, the Bone Shepherd’s consciousness abandoning her vessel.

It returned to its true form—the colossal Bone Spider in the distance.

Finally breaking free from the time freeze, the mountain-sized abomination split open its six-jawed head and unleashed a deafening roar:

"Su Muwan! You seek death!!"

Boom—!

Eight skeletal limbs, each like a pillar of the heavens, came crashing down, tearing through the void with ravenous force, seeking to devour Su Muwan whole.

"Bring it on!"

Su Muwan didn’t dodge. Instead, she condensed her frost into a crystalline spear and met the assault head-on!

Clang! Clang! Clang—!!

Sparks erupted as spear and bone clashed, shockwaves rippling for miles.

"Laws? Hah…"

Su Muwan only grew fiercer. With a sudden shift, her spear swept horizontally—

Snap! Snap! Snap—!

Three skeletal limbs were severed clean off.

"Before me, your laws… mean nothing!"

Having devoured countless techniques, she was immune to most law-based suppression.

The Bone Shepherd’s Gluttony Law was nothing but a joke to her!

Not to mention…

Thanks to her system, she still had three "Law Nullifications" left!

This abomination was only formidable because of its tricky laws—nothing more!

"Impossible!!"

The Bone Spider howled madly, dark mist surging from its wounds in a futile attempt to regenerate.

But the frost clung like a curse, freezing even the mist solid.

"Time to end this."

Su Muwan’s eyes flashed coldly as all twelve clones raised their hands—

[Absolute Zero: Eternal Ice Seal]

Hummm—!

Twelve azure pillars of light erupted across the sky, weaving into a net that ensnared the Bone Spider completely.

"No—!!!"

The Bone Shepherd’s consciousness wailed in despair as its colossal form turned to ice, inch by inch, until it stood as nothing more than a frozen monument.

Su Muwan landed gracefully, tapping the ice with a single finger.

Crack—!

The sculpture began to crumble.

"No!!! NO!!!"

The Bone Shepherd sensed its consciousness being dragged back to its sealed true form—the accursed Bronze Throne.

Its hollow eye sockets burned with hatred, fixed on Su Muwan.

Trapped in its prison, it couldn’t resist the Heavenly Path’s power—not when it shared the same origin.

Damn it, damn it all!

The King was right there… yet it couldn’t bring him home!

That woman—it was all her fault!

Its laws were useless against her, its consciousness no match.

Was this… truly the end?

The Bone Shepherd’s gaze shifted to Qin Luo in the distance.

No… absolutely not!

After coming this far—

Suddenly.

A voice slithered into the Bone Shepherd’s mind.

[Come… let us make a deal…]

That voice—!

The Bone Shepherd’s consciousness quivered.

But… it saw a second path.

If it refused, the King would never return.

But if it accepted… there was still a chance.

Yes!

Heavenly Path… you scheming bastard!!

Was all of this part of your script from the very beginning?!

Damn it.

I accept your deal!

Back to the present.

Su Muwan frowned as she watched the skeletal spider's body continue to crumble apart.

What's going on?

Why do I have this terrible feeling?

His condition... it's exactly like the prelude to those protagonists' power surges in the previous life.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when—

Suddenly—

The skeletal spider possessed by the Bone Shepherd, in its final moments before complete disintegration,

roared:

"MY TRUE SELF!!!!!"