“We already discussed this topic before, and my answer is still no,” the Snow Lady said, tilting her head slightly to look at him. “Are you humans all as overly sensitive as this?”

Zu An was speechless. He really couldn't say anything else at this point. In the earlier battle, even though the Snow Lady was injured, she hadn’t entirely been without any fighting strength left. Later, the Iron Fist Rock had been killed with her help. As such, he didn’t try to convince her further, and instead took out both the Skycloud Sword and Ninefoot Mirror. He didn’t know which of the two items would be used for the next mountain’s seal.

Fortunately, the mountain reacted soon after he took it out. The Ninefoot Mirror in his hands lit up. Then, it was brought away as if by a pair of invisible hands and taken straight to the mountain. A warm light poured out from the Ninefoot Mirror and surrounded the entire peak. Because the mountain had been continuously bombarded by the Iron Fist Rock’s attacks, there were already massive cracks and collapsed holes in its surface; but after the light shone on it, the cracks actually sealed at a visible rate. Streak after streak of light appeared between the cracks, and an invisible power repaired them. As the last crack began to close, the Ninefoot Mirror flew toward it and entered the mountain just like the Soul Capturing Jade.

The entire mountain shone with profound runes. Just like the previous mountain, the entire place seemed to carry a holy air. Zu An keenly sensed an invisible fluctuation spread out.

The Snow Lady said, “I’ve been rather restless recently, but now, I seem to feel much more at ease.”

Zu An gave her a look.

…

After finishing with the two mountains, Zu An didn’t tarry. He set out for the third mountain with the Snow Lady. Along the way, he asked tentatively, “Do you still remember when you came to these snowy mountains?”

The Snow Lady shook her head and said, “I only remember that it has been a long, long time, but I don’t remember exactly when it was anymore. Actually, for beings like me who have lived extremely long lives, time itself has already lost pretty much all meaning.”

Zu An was speechless.

“Then were you here before the Great Snowy Mountains existed, or did you only come into being after the Great Snowy Mountains were already here? Or did both of you appear at the same time?” Zu An asked, trying to figure out the Snow Lady’s origins.

The Snow Lady didn’t seem to pick up on that and instinctively replied, “It should be the Great Snowy Mountains that came first, and then me after…”

“Should be?” Zu An repeated, stunned.

“Didn’t I already tell you that I can’t remember many past events anymore?” The Snow Lady clutched her head as she spoke, as if she was in a bit of pain.

“Then don’t think about it anymore,” Zu An hurriedly said. When he saw her in pain, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.

However, he quickly laughed in self-mockery. He really only cherished people when they were pretty...

…

While they were talking, the two quickly arrived near the third mountain. Both of them narrowed their eyes, as it was just too blindingly bright. Their first thought was that a second sun had appeared in the sky, but then, they realized that there was a glowing being at the top of the snowy mountain. The light it released was even more dazzling than a real sun. After all, the position of the Great Snowy Mountains was special, so the sun wasn’t as bright here.

“The fact that the two of you are here means those fools have already been killed,” the glowing sphere said.

Zu An took the Snow Lady behind a hill and said, “Your distinguished self doesn’t seem to be surprised.”

Even though he didn’t know what would happen, it was definitely not a good thing. As such, he remained on guard so he wouldn’t be taken advantage of.

“Why would I be surprised? Even though those guys had some skill, they were quite lacking in the intellect department. Even though they all said that the bone dragon’s brain was the size of a walnut, I don’t think the other two’s were that much bigger,” the radiant being said. Its voice was extremely indifferent, as if the ones who died weren’t even its companions. When it saw Zu An hide behind the hill and not talk to it face to face, the radiant being’s voice seemed to convey a hint of interest as it continued, “It seems like you obtained a bit of information from them.”

“You don’t even care about their deaths, so why would they remain loyal to you? Of course they told me all of your secrets.” Zu An said deliberately to try to provoke it.“I doubt that.” The radiant being chuckled. “Setting aside the restriction I set in their bodies, even if you had some way of obtaining any intelligence from them, you should have pretended you didn’t know anything instead of speaking like this… Hmm, let me think for a moment… You likely know a bit, but not everything, so you're deliberately trying to feel out the situation. You’re trying to figure out some things from what I say, right?”

Zu An sighed, saying, “As expected, you're a bit smarter than those other guys.”

“Even though those guys were stupid, they were still pretty strong. Not even that Snow Lady should have been able to kill them. The only one who has such ability in this weak world…” The radiant being paused for a moment. “You're the one who killed the War Priest, Demonic Motherbug, and Manipulator of Death, right?”

Zu An was a bit surprised. He said, “Now even I have a bit of respect for you. You actually pieced together so much from just a bit of information.”

“You are indeed a talent, and I admire talents,” the radiant being said. It thought for a bit and offered, “How about this? I’ll give you a chance. If you come to my side, I can spare you your life and also the lives of your friends and family. You can also conquer worlds much more vast than this one with the rest of us. I just happen to be lacking a smart subordinate like you.”

“I was just praising you for being smart, and yet now you’re suddenly showing me how dumb you are. I’ve already refused all the previous offers, so why try the same thing again without much sincerity?” Zu An sneered. “You're clearly at a disadvantage right now, and I’ve already reinforced the other two seals. As long as I deal with this one, I’ll be able to completely seal all of you demons. I really don’t know where you get your confidence from, thinking you can actually make me bow down to you.”

The radiant being chuckled. “It seems the one who doesn’t fully understand the current situation is you. Previously, because of the world barrier, we decided to hide ourselves for a decade or two to slowly infiltrate your world’s powers and attack by coordinating attacks inside and outside. However, we never expected your world to have a Fiend race prince with such vigorous ambitions, someone who would actually take the initiative to collaborate with us, helping us loosen the seal and letting us invade this world. From that point on, all of you were doomed to lose.”

Zu An frowned.

The radiant being continued, “Do you know why I didn’t decide to help those idiots even though I could sense the changes that were happening to the sealing nails?”

“Why?” This time, it was the Snow Lady who spoke.

“That’s because, as long as I could occupy this sealing nail, the two of you would come sooner or later. After I dealt with you two, I could refine the other two sealing nails, so wouldn't it all be the same then? Meanwhile, if I left and you two just happened to rush here, wouldn’t I have been lured away like a fool?” the radiant being said matter-of-factly

Zu An was speechless. He replied, “Isn’t your distinguished self a bit too overconfident?”

The radiant being sighed, saying, “After conquering countless worlds and coming to such a low level world, it’s very difficult not to be confident.”

“The mountain can’t take much more,” the Snow Lady muttered with a frown. She could clearly sense the mountain’s groans. She couldn't hold herself back anymore. With a wave of her sleeves, a wild snowstorm swept forth from the bottom of the mountain up to the summit.

Suddenly, a streak of light appeared on the mountaintop. The roaring and surging blizzard seemed to become completely still.

The radiant being said, “I have experienced a myriad of worlds and encountered snow women in some worlds. However, you are different from them. You seem like a human, and yet you aren’t. You also resemble a monster, and yet you aren't. Just what kind of a being are you, really?”