If Jiang Chen had known that Hu Shaomeng had possessed the Red Adornment Mirror for many years but had never dared to enter the mirror world with his divine soul, he might have been more cautious today.
But there were no "ifs."
The Red Adornment Mirror had been seized by killing, and no one had told him of its taboos.
So he could only face the tribulation!
Across the vast snowy plain, Jiang Chen trudged alone.
In the biting, knife-like wind, his spirit, will, and essence grew ever more focused and clear.
He had never lacked decisiveness. Since his divine soul was already trapped, he invested all his divine soul power without hesitation into the world within the Red Adornment Mirror.
If he was to face the tribulation, he could not be half-hearted.
He did not know what this so-called "Flying Snow Tribulation" was, but he figured that with incomplete divine soul power, he could never hope to overcome it.
And if his divine soul was damaged now, what future could there be? He had no one to turn to for help, and no place to seek refuge.
At his core, Jiang Chen was never short of ruthlessness—especially when facing danger.
Either his divine soul would be utterly annihilated, and his body and Dao would perish on the spot. Or... he would break through the tribulation!
The wind and snow grew colder.
In this boundless white world of snow, wave after wave of freezing cold pressed in on him.
Jiang Chen activated the Vermilion Bird Body Refining Art, simulating its body-refining effects within this snowy plain world where his divine soul resided.
Within the soul-formed body, a furnace seemed to ignite. Warmth spread, a comforting heat.
The biting cold was temporarily driven away.
It was as if the world drew a boundary at the edge of his soul-formed body—cold on one side, warmth on the other.
At that moment, Jiang Chen's mind, which had nearly been frozen stiff, came back to life.
He began to think about a way out of this snowy plain.
But in every direction, there was only an endless expanse. No matter which way he looked—forward, backward, left, right—he could see no end.
There was not a single tree, only mountains and snow, and thus no landmarks.
He looked up at the sky. It was a deep, clear blue, like an immense, flawless water mirror set into the firmament.
No clouds, no sun. The light came from nowhere visible.
But the real problem was this—without the sun, there was no direction.
Jiang Chen employed the Dao Art Retrospection, but the Retrospection Grass flickered for a long time without forming a shape.
This was trouble...
But he did not lose heart.
Judging from his experience, the Flying Snow Tribulation within the Red Adornment Mirror should be a trial. Its outcome likely corresponded to the degree of mastery one could claim over the Red Adornment Mirror.
Since it was a trial, it could not be a death tribulation. If the Red Adornment Mirror simply killed whoever obtained it, there would be no point in triggering a "tribulation" in this form.
Perhaps there was no direction to begin with, no way out.
Or rather, the "way out" was right here, not something to be sought, and impossible to seek.
A moment of clarity rose in Jiang Chen's heart.
He pressed a flame flower onto the ground. The snow melted, revealing dry, hard earth.
Jiang Chen stamped his foot. A resonant thud rang out.
The frozen earth was like a drum, its sound deep and heavy.
He stood still, planting himself in that spot, and began to carefully contemplate the secrets of the Vermilion Bird Body Refining Art.
The Vermilion Bird resided in the South, its Five Paths element being Fire.
He specialized in the Fire and Wood Paths, and had gained some insight into the Fire Dao.
Fire was scorching and violent, but it could also represent warmth and light. Its use depended entirely on the heart.
At this moment, he used the warmth of fire to counter the cold of the Flying Snow Tribulation.
He did not know how much time passed.
From the blue, mirror-bright sky, large flakes of snow began to fall, spaced somewhat apart, not overly dense.
Jiang Chen reached out and caught a snowflake. He gasped involuntarily—a bone-piercing chill.
The snowflakes now falling were far colder than the snow that had previously existed on this plain. It was as if they could freeze the divine soul directly!
The Flying Snow Tribulation—the Flying Snow Tribulation. The tribulation itself was the flying snow!
"Best not to let these snowflakes touch me," Jiang Chen thought.
He looked straight up at the sky, watching the blue mirror above seemingly reflect something, watching the great snow fall mercilessly.
Between heaven and earth, he was alone.
He moved.
With his right hand, fingers together as a sword, he rose and danced with blade in hand.
He drifted and turned through the falling snow, and not a single flake touched his body.
The snow fell faster and faster, thicker and thicker.
Jiang Chen spun more swiftly, his movements more urgent.
For a time, the entire snowy plain world was filled with the shadow of Jiang Chen wielding his sword.
And the snow fell.
The snow fell thick and dense, in a ceaseless, heavy curtain.
The sword light flickered left and right, locked in fierce battle.
His sword style was like lightning flashing through frost—this man fought the snow as his enemy!
He did not know how long it lasted before the snow finally grew so dense there was no space left to evade.
A flame flower bloomed above his head, melting the snowflakes.
A single snowflake melted into a glob of water that splashed down upon him.
Jiang Chen knew this water must not touch him. He hurriedly dodged aside.
His hands formed seals without cease. Vine Serpents drilled up from the ground and intertwined above his head.
Could the Vine Serpent Coil Wall serve as a roof to shelter him from wind and snow?
The answer came swiftly.
Almost at the instant the snowflakes touched it, the Vine Serpent Coil Wall dissolved into Wood Path elemental energy.
This Flying Snow Tribulation seemed to suppress Dao Arts. Of course, the defensive Dao Arts Jiang Chen had mastered were not particularly strong—perhaps that was also a reason.
With all methods failing, Jiang Chen simply sat down cross-legged.
Azure Dragon Body Refining—Wood Path, brimming with life force.
Vermilion Bird Body Refining—Fire Path, the origin of life.
White Tiger Body Refining—Metal Path, decisive in killing.
Black Tortoise Body Refining—Water Path, all-encompassing.
Life and death cycled; the Four Spirits converged.
And the Flying Snow Tribulation seemed to go on without end.
The flow of time and the shifting of space required points of reference to be perceived.
In this silent, eternally unchanging snowy plain, time and space seemed to lose all meaning.
At first, he could still hear the wind, could still feel even the softest snowflake.
Gradually, he could no longer hear anything or feel anything at all.
Jiang Chen became a snowman.
The snow piled deeper and thicker, slowly burying him.
He merged with the snowy plain, becoming one with it.
Perhaps those divine souls who had been lost within the mirror's snowy plain world were themselves part of the Flying Snow Tribulation. And now Jiang Chen would become one of them.
The first to notice something was wrong was Xiaoxiao.
She had come to report on town affairs. Most of them she could handle herself; only those involving Jia City and the Four Seas Trade Alliance required Jiang Chen's decision.
But Jiang Chen had entered his room ten days ago and had not come out since.
It was not unusual for cultivators to enter seclusion and lose track of time. But Jiang Chen had not informed anyone beforehand, and with the plague in Green Goat Town not yet fully over, this was not the time for peaceful seclusion.
On the eleventh day, Xiaoxiao could not help but push open the door and enter the room—as Jiang Chen's personal maid, she was the only person in Green Goat Town who could enter his room without permission and not be misunderstood.
After all, she had tidied his room many times.
Seeing Jiang Chen sitting stiffly on the bed, clutching a mirror, she nearly jumped out of her skin—until she checked and found his heartbeat was still faintly there.
The heartbeat was weak and slow, but it was there.
She realized Jiang Chen might have encountered trouble in his cultivation, but she knew nothing about such matters and had no idea what to do.
After much thought, she quietly went to find Zhu Biqiong.
Among the other Transcendent cultivators in Green Goat Town, the two medical cultivators sent by the Chongxuan family would have been the most useful in this situation.
But Xiaoxiao was not familiar with them, nor could she trust them. She even harbored distrust toward the Chongxuan family as a whole.
Previously, an elder from the Chongxuan family had clashed with Jiang Chen, only to be sent flying with a slap. She remembered that clearly.
If those two medical cultivators had ill intentions...
Among the remaining three Transcendent cultivators on Jiang Chen's side, Zhang Hai had been so consumed by alchemy that he was nearly obsessed. He did have some knowledge of medicine, but in Xiaoxiao's eyes, his heart was set only on that unreachable divine elixir, and he lacked true loyalty to Jiang Chen. At such a critical moment, he could not be trusted.
As for Xiang Qian, she would not even consider him. Not long ago, he had publicly questioned Jiang Chen's efforts for Green Goat Town.
Xiaoxiao was a cautious person by nature, lacking trust in this world.
She chose to seek Zhu Biqiong's help for two reasons. First, she had been learning martial arts from Zhu Biqiong and was somewhat more familiar with her, understanding her innocent and naive personality.
Second, she knew that Zhu Biqiong had no significant conflict of interest with Jiang Chen, and Zhu Biqiong herself was not lacking in resources. The possibility of danger was relatively the lowest.
After weighing everything, she believed this was the safest choice.
When Zhu Biqiong saw Jiang Chen's current state, she was also at a loss.
She tried feeding him Dao Essence, gave him pills from the Fishing Sea Tower designed to strengthen the foundation, but nothing helped.
Jiang Chen simply sat there, as if carved from wood or clay.
Zhu Biqiong, being a cultivator at the Heavenly Ascension realm, knew not to touch the mirror in his hand, but beyond that, she had no idea what to do.
Seeing that she too was helpless, Xiaoxiao grew even more anxious. "Should we call for the medical cultivators?" she could not help but ask.
With Zhu Biqiong standing guard beside him, Jiang Chen's safety could at least be assured.
"This is not something medical cultivators can solve," Zhu Biqiong said, shaking her head and pointing at the small mirror in Jiang Chen's hand. "He is trapped inside this mirror. I am unfamiliar with the situation and dare not rush in, for fear of making things worse. As things stand, he can only find his own way out."
"Can he find his own way out?" Xiaoxiao asked urgently.
But she quickly added: "Of course he can. The Master will surely be fine!"
"Yes," Zhu Biqiong said. "Among cultivators at the Heavenly Ascension realm, Jiang Chen is the strongest I have ever seen."
She did not know how much this could help with his escape from the mirror, but it was at least a comfort—for Xiaoxiao, and for herself.
"Staying here serves no purpose. Let's go outside and think of another way."
Since this involved the Transcendent realm, Zhu Biqiong was the more experienced one, so she was the one who appeared composed at this moment—Dugu Xiao was already beside herself with worry.
When they pushed open the door, both of them froze.
Xiang Qian was standing outside.
Clearly, Dugu Xiao had quietly brought Zhu Biqiong to check on Jiang Chen and had not wanted anyone to notice anything amiss, but she had failed to keep it from him.
"What happened to Jiang Chen?" Xiang Qian asked directly.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Xiaoxiao bit her lip and said nothing. Zhu Biqiong also prepared her illusion arts in secret.
Seeing their guarded expressions, Xiang Qian understood.
He took a step back, showing he meant no harm. Then he turned around entirely, his back to the door, and regardless of whether the ground was dirty, sat down right there.
"Miss Dugu," he said with his back to Xiaoxiao and Zhu Biqiong. "Here, you are the person Jiang Chen trusts the most. From today on, I will guard this spot. Who may enter this room, and who may not—you decide."
Xiang Qian was not a man skilled with words. Excluding the times he urged people to die or give up...
When the steward of the Four Seas Trade Alliance had come to demand answers, he had spoken only a single sentence—he truly felt that explaining was meaningless. He did not think Jiang Chen would believe him, or rather, that he would choose to believe him under the pressure of the Four Seas Trade Alliance.
The reason he had explained that one sentence at all was probably because of the child who had eaten the egg, and because of the child's smile.
He truly had not expected Jiang Chen to shoulder the matter without hesitation, and to not even blame him. Even Zhang Hai, who had been completely uninvolved, had half-heartedly complained about him.
Those two hundred Dao Essence Stones had been offered as compensation, but were they not also a sign of trust?
At that time, Xiang Qian had not even said thank you, and now he would make no grand declarations.
By sitting here, he was already declaring his intent.
Xiaoxiao stared blankly for a long moment before finally saying: "Oh."