The snow continued to rage, with a small silhouette in the middle of it, braving the storm. The heavy snow fall limited the visibility and the icy winds were like countless, tiny blades slicing into the skin.

Hardly anyone, including demonic beasts, would be foolish enough to stroll around outside during such a storm, but Yasha had already made his decision. There was no going back today. He only had to reach his small hideout, where he could seek protection from the storm. Then, he was save.

Yasha marched forward, his hands held protectively in front of his face to shelter it from the storm. Time passed slowly, but the young boy stubbornly pressed on, even though he had trouble navigating, as his eye sight and hearing were extremely limited.

The bad feeling from before intensified many times. Maybe I shouldn’t have ventured outside today after all... No! No regrets! I made my decision. Ha, it’s only a pesky snow storm, nothing to worry about! With this, he continuously comforted himself and tried to smile his worries off. In front of the bone chilling coldness, the little boy gritted his teeth and pressed forward, all while wearing a strained smile on his face.

An unknown amount of time passed, until finally, the heavy storm slowly but surely lost its fierceness. Yasha breathed a sigh of relief. Just one moment more and I would have turned into an ice sculpture.

It really had been a close call. He couldn’t feel his hands or toes anymore and it felt like his face was completely frozen. His outer robes were also completely covered with snow and ice and thus lost their flexibility and warmth—they could now be better used as a club to hit someone.

Now that Yasha could finally see his surroundings clearly, he was immediately greeted by an unfamiliar sight. This is definitely not my hideout! Shit, I must have strayed too far from the usual path because of the snow storm…

The Fallen Snow Mountain Range was his home turf, but strictly speaking, he had no idea where he went the last few hours. He only knew the rough direction he had to go to.

Yasha took a deep breath. Panicking would lead to nothing, it would only make the situation even worse. He already knew this in his many years of roaming the Fallen Snow Mountain Range. I need to quickly find out where exactly I am. There must be some clues or indications. And I must hurry, I need to make a fire as quickly as possible, otherwise I will freeze to death in no time.

In his mind, he already formulated a plan and swiftly sprang into action. His movements, however, were not as agile as usual, as his half-frozen body made it difficult to move properly. Even though, he was in hurry, he didn’t forget to be careful.

Not far away, Yasha soon noticed the first and only clue he needed. A mesmerizingly beautiful, ice blue sea was situated right ahead of him. That… that must be the Ice Spirit Sea!

The moment he saw the sea with crystal clear, blue water, surrounded by towering trees that glowed in a similar azure light, he immediately knew where he was, and his heart nearly skipped a beat.

He had entered one of the most prominent forbidden zones in the entire Fallen Snow Mountain Range. If the situation wouldn’t be so serious right now, he would have laughed, because his luck really was the worst.

The name “Ice Spirit Sea” originated from a commonly told legend in the settlements of the Fallen Snow Mountain Range. The legend told the tragic story of a Sword Immortal who was betrayed by his closest comrades for his beloved sword.

In the story, after the Sword Immortal was betrayed, he went on a rampage to vent his rage and disappointment before his death, after which he was banished from the heavens as a punishment. During his fall to the mundane world, he succumbed to his wounds, dying with regret and eternal resentment.

Until his last breath, he was accompanied by his Heavenly Sword, the only friend that mourned his demise at his deathbed. In the end, he left nothing behind, his body and soul vanishing completely, never to return to the cycle of reincarnation—aside of his treasured Heavenly Sword, his closest companion.

The Heavenly Sword continued to fall all the way down to the mundane world, directly into one of the many seas of the Fallen Snow Mountain Range and sank to the bottom it.

Over the countless years and eons, the common sea gradually transformed into what it was today: A dangerous and forbidden zone, harboring the resentment and ice cold sharpness of the perished immortal.

At some point, the rumor spread that if you dove to the bottom of the sea, you could receive the inheritance of the fallen Sword Immortal and his Heavenly Sword. In the end, this was only a legend, a legend told by the common folks, but it wasn’t a forbidden zone without reason.

Some people still couldn’t resist their greed and tried to look for the so called Heavenly Sword and the Sword Immortal’s ultimate inheritance at the bottom of the sea, but no one ever returned—not even high level cultivators!

Unbeknownst to Yasha, he was already standing on the shore, eyes glued at the azure water, captivated by the icy beauty of the Ice Spirit Sea. Inside the crystal clear water, countless tiny ice crystals could be seen floating around, reminding Yasha of the glistering night sky.

Before he could step forward once again, he was interrupted by a sense of danger, stemming from the depths of his soul. He immediately backed off and increased the distance between him and the the Ice Spirit Sea and quickly left its close periphery.

I was nearly mesmerized by the Ice Spirit Sea to enter its waters, even though I kept my distance and only stood at the outer edges of the shore area. It’s even scarier than the rumors say…, Yasha thought.

I already wasted enough time, I really should be on my way now, the forbidden zones aren’t the only dangerous things around here. There should be even more demonic beasts around here that can kill me as easily as killing chickens.

With that in mind, he turned around and continued his path to his hideout, paying extra close attention to his surroundings to not get lost again or enter the domain of one of the countless demonic beasts that inhabited the Fallen Snow Mountain Range.

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But it was already too late. Even though Yasha payed extra attention to his surroundings the moment he realized where he was, the moment he entered the forbidden zone around the Ice Spirit Sea, he was noticed by a shadow that sneakily followed his every footsteps and silently waited for the opportune moment to strike at his prey.

Yasha continued on his way to his usual training spot, but was completely oblivious to the paramount danger that lurked in the darkness. He still thought that he was really lucky to not get any more dangerous encounters just like the snow storm and the Ice Spirit Sea that could have easily killed him.

The shadow, though, stalked his prey and patiently for its moment to attack.

In the far distance Yasha finally spotted the glade he so eagerly wanted to reach. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt like a huge stone fell of his heart. The experiences from today made him constantly feel like a drawn bow. He was under permanent pressure with every step he took. Now, he could finally relax and defrost his limp body.

Fate, however, once again had different plans for him. Before Yasha could make another step he suddenly felt his heart tense and a shiver ran down his spine. Without thinking, he immediately jumped to the side, but was still one moment too late.

In the exact same moment he jumped, he saw gruesome claws rip apart his shoulders. Blood sprayed from the open wound and painted the snow blood-red.

Would he have reacted just one second later, than this claw wouldn’t have simply teared apart his shoulders, it would have directly slashed apart his throat. Purely running on instinct, Yasha immediately grabbed his sword and thrust forward, aiming for the shadow. The shadow did not expect his prey to react this quickly and instinctively dodged the incoming sword attack. Now that the shadow was two meters away from Yasha, he finally caught a glimpse of his attacker.

The shadow looked like a common panther, but it was a lot larger and bigger with even more dangerous claws that could easily rip apart even bones. Its fur, however, was completely white and lusterless, allowing the beast to perfectly integrate itself with the environment.

Shit, it’s a White Shadow Panther, a grade one demonic beast. I really have a feeling that fate wants me to die today…, Yasha cursed inside. He immediately recognized the demonic beast in front of him and if the situation wasn’t so serious right now he would have laughed again. How could a persons day be possibly more unlucky than this?

First he nearly froze to death, only to end up in the Ice Spirit Sea, where he nearly drowned to death, was attacked by evil spirits or whatever fate would have waited for him should he have entered the Ice Spirit Sea and now a demonic beast attacked him.

The situation did not look good, but the fire in his eyes did not diminish because of the perilous situation. Earlier today, he swore to himself that he would not back down again.

His conviction and determination did not allow for any more self pity. Thus, Yasha intensely glared at the White Shadow Panther and tried to come up with a plan to deal with it.

As if responding to his determination, his blood suddenly began to accelerate and rushed through his veins like fierce rivers, granting Yasha a strange feeling of safety and power he had never felt before.

He did not notice any of this though, as his full attention was on the danger in front of him.

Luckily, it’s only a grade one demonic beast, any other beast of a higher grade could have easily killed me. First grade demonic beasts should only be similar to Energy Gathering Stage cultivators. Even though I have no cultivation, I may have a chance to wound it enough so that it feels threatened and flees. That is my only chance.

Yasha immediately gripped his sword tightly and rushed forward, not delaying any more and not allowing his opponent to make the first move.

The White Shadow Panther seemed to sneer in response to this puny human’s attack. In its eyes, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree. Not bothering to dodge this time, the demonic beast gathered its energy and met the sword head on.

The expected metallic clang did not happen, as the claws directly cut through the iron sword, like they were cutting paper. The common iron sword, that was not empowered by any spiritual energy, did not pose any resistance.

Yasha seemed to have anticipated this result and strangely twisted his body to slide below the claws and raised his broken sword to cut the abdomen of the demonic beast.

The moment his sword touched the panther’s body, a sliver of despair finally appeared inside his heart. The sword could not even leave behind a scratch, the White Shadow Panther was completely unharmed!

What now? What can I do now!? My sword can’t even scratch him. Maybe I need to try another weak spot like the eyes… Eyes filled with determination, the despair was soon nowhere to be found. Yasha immediately formulated another plan in his mind, but this time, the White Shadow Panther did not leave him any more room, lunging its body straight at Yasha again.

With its massive body, it directly crashed into Yasha and smashed him into ground. The ground split open and Yasha threw up buckets of blood, groaning from pain. Many of his ribs and other bones were now broken. Pain he never felt before coursed through his body, his vision blurry.

Barely breathing, Yasha had to muster up all his mental strength to stop his consciousness from fading. Forcing his eyes open, Yasha could make out the grotesque visage of the White Shadow Panther directly in front of his face. Its ivory teeth shimmered in the fading daylight, with drool running down its mouth.

From this reaction, it was clear that the White Shadow Panther was severely starved, not able to hunt any other weaker demonic beasts or common animals in the last few days. How else would it drool so much facing a tiny little human kid with not much flesh on it?

The White Shadow Panther stood on Yasha’s chest and stared intensely at Yasha, relieved that it finally managed to successfully hunt its prey.

Ignoring the impending doom and the demonic beast on his chest that continuously squeezed out every last bit of air out of his chest, Yasha was overcome with rage. Rage towards himself, towards his weakness and his inability to change his fate.

He hated his fate, he hated this cruel world that seemingly could not get enough of torturing him. Always, when Yasha crawled out of a dark hole filled with despair and hopelessness, fate seemed to push him back into the abyss, falling deeper every time.

Even though Yasha knew he was about to die, for the first time ever in his life, he didn’t fall into despair. He tightly clung to his resolve, not giving up. With burning eyes, he roared from the top of his lungs, venting all his dissatisfaction and hatred for the world, “I am unwilling to die! Why does everyone and everything really seem to detest me?!”

“I hate this world, I hate the heavens, I hate fate, I hate the Heavenly Dao, I hate my incompetence, but I will not give up. Come on, just kill me, if you really can’t wait to end me!”

These crazy words not only contained his rage, they were also filled with endless sarcasm towards the supposed fairness of the Heavenly Dao. His whole life, it seemed to throw stones at him and the path in front of him, obstructing Yasha from seeing a bright future.

He couldn’t remember anything about his childhood, he didn’t know who his real parents were, he couldn’t cultivate, he was ignored and mocked by his “clan members”, he lived completely alone, he lost his foster mother nearly immediately after he was adopted and he barely came by, often on the brink of starving to death in his earlier years. There was no one or nothing that lit up the darkness inside of him.

Despite all that, Yasha always crawled back up and found new ways of bringing a feeble light to the darkness.

Thus, it was no wonder that Yasha was boiling with rage. Who else wouldn’t feel this kind of hate towards life and fate, if they were in Yasha’s shoes?

Those thoughts all passed in an instant and the White Shadow Panther wasn’t influenced by Yasha’s sudden shout at all. It lifted its head and opened its mouth, revealing the sharp teeth once again and bit down.