The wind and snow of the Northern Peaks suddenly intensified, as if the entire wasteland had awakened at once, releasing millennia of pent-up fury. The runes of the Cold-Bone Altar began to tremble violently, their flickering light surging like blood through veins, casting twisted reflections over the frozen ground and scattered bones, making each stone and skeletal fragment appear alive. Ye Chenyu felt his chest crushed under an invisible weight, his breathing constricted, and amid the howling wind, he seemed to hear low murmurs mingling with the gale, as if countless spirits were screaming: "Leave… leave…"
The three stood atop the altar as the ice and snow beneath their feet suddenly cracked. Bones tumbled with the sound of shattering, whipping snow into mini-whirlwinds. The space before Ye Chenyu appeared to warp; a thin rift tore across the sky, casting strange light through the opening—like an invisible eye watching them. A bone-chilling cold crept up his spine, and it felt as if the entire Northern Peaks were scrutinizing them, ready to judge.
Xuan Ye's incantations roared to life. The light of the rune array glimmered on the snow, but amid the storm it barely held back the altar's collapsing energy. Frowning, he muttered in a low voice: "The Northern Peaks… do not belong to our world. The power here is far deeper than we imagine."
Liyue Ying stood at the altar's edge, her figure statuesque, her gaze cold and precise, surveying the apocalypse of the Northern Peaks. The wind and snow battered her, yet she remained unmoved. She reached out to touch the rune shard, and the ice-blue light immediately intertwined with the altar's blood-red runes, attempting to stabilize the collapsing rhythm. Each flicker of the inscriptions seemed to respond to her will, while simultaneously testing the limits of her nerves.
Ye Chenyu instinctively shielded his ears, trying to steady his mind, but the surrounding sounds grew ever clearer: echoes of cracking bones in the distance, mingling with the groaning ice beneath their feet, each sound striking directly at his chest. Fractured stones spun through the air as if magically suspended, while the raging wind whipped snow around them, threatening to engulf the three completely.
Suddenly, the remnants of the six-headed aberration flickered at the altar's center. Its phantom overlapped with the cold light, as if warning with its lingering will. Ye Chenyu could feel the bloodlust and greed emanating from its gaze, yet in the next instant, Xuan Ye and Liyue Ying's rune arrays suppressed it, and it vanished into the wind and snow.
The rift continued to widen, as if the entire ridgeline of the Northern Peaks were slowly tearing apart. The three were forced to form a line: Xuan Ye guided the rune array, Liyue Ying stabilized the light veins of the rune shards, and Ye Chenyu searched along the altar's edge for traversable frozen ground. Every step required them to endure violent tremors beneath their feet, and the icy gusts that shot from the fissures.
The air was thick with the mingled scent of snow and blood, carrying the shadows of ancient sacrificial rites. Ye Chenyu seemed to hear the souls trapped in the Cold-Bone Altar wailing, their voices pleading and warning: "Do not tread deeper… or… you will never return…"
The light streaming from the rift above gradually formed a translucent eye, its gaze piercing directly onto the three. Ye Chenyu felt a wave of helplessness sweep through him; the eye's scrutiny penetrated his soul, making every nerve tremble. Xuan Ye clenched his jaw, whispering, "The Northern Peaks… are merely the edge of the illusion. The true core of the Spirit Domain lies in the Eastern Peaks."
Liyue Ying nodded coldly, her gaze sweeping over Ye Chenyu, as if reminding him: all the life-or-death struggles, illusions, and deities of the Spirit Domain encountered so far were only the beginning. The true danger still lay ahead. Amid the blizzard, their figures formed a solid frontline, like three blades facing the unknown.
As the altar quaked violently, the rift spread rapidly into the depths of the Northern Peaks. Snow and rune light intertwined into a massive vortex, threatening to swallow the entire region. The three knew that lingering would mean complete annihilation. They exchanged determined glances and moved decisively along the fissure. Snow and ice collided in the wind with sharp, warning sounds, as if cautioning any who dared challenge the Northern Peaks to their limit.
Finally, the three stepped into the deep fissure. The cold wind and swirling light roared behind them, while the ridgeline of the Northern Peaks collapsed with a thunderous crash, echoing like the roar of an ancient beast. Debris, snow, and residual rune light were swallowed by the storm, while the three were drawn into the abyssal rift leading to the Eastern Peaks.
Ye Chenyu looked up. A column of faint blue light glimmered in the distance within the rift. An indescribable sense of urgency rose in his heart: the true core of the Spirit Domain lay at that unknown end, and the secrets of the Eastern Peaks might be even more unfathomable than the Northern Peaks.
Liyue Ying whispered, "Forward. No turning back."
Xuan Ye gripped the rune shard tightly, his gaze resolute: "The mysteries of the Spirit Domain must be uncovered by someone."
Amid the howling blizzard, the three advanced side by side into the fissure. Behind them, the Northern Peaks became a shattered wasteland, the runes' light fading like blood coursing through veins. The final chapter of the Northern Peaks had closed, but the depths of the Spirit Domain were only just beginning.