The violent squall howling across the bottomless mountain chasm seemed to freeze in mid-air, suffocated by the incandescent brilliance of the golden dragon light.
The golden sphere hummed with dense, ancient runes, casting long, wavering shadows across the fractured ground.
Inside the shimmering protective barrier, Xun Xie'er was breathing heavily, her chest heaving in rapid, ragged gasps as she clutched her bruised neck with trembling fingers.
Her crystalline silver eyes were wide—stretched to their limits in pure, unadulterated terror and dizzying shock.
The cold, piercing sensation of that sword intent hovering barely a millimeter from her heart still lingered in her soul like the icy touch of death itself.
If not for the dormant life-saving seal her husband had secretly carved into her heart's blood many years ago, her soul would have already been extinguished, severed, and scattered into the void.
