Grand Assembly Hall was locked in a state of suspended terror. Lin Feng had defeated the heir and claimed his love, but the Dynasty's main strength—the Emperor and numerous high-level Origin Kings—remained unfrozen, held back only by the shock and Su Wanying's paralyzing Ice Domain.
Lin Feng held Wanying's hand, his Void Qi acting as a warm barrier against the cold emanating from her, which was dangerously suppressing Xia Qingwu's Phoenix Fire.
"Wanying, your Ice Domain is phenomenal, but it's volatile," Lin Feng murmured, meeting her grateful silver eyes. "You're suppressing the air, not controlling the people. How long can you hold them?"
Wanying's breathing was shallow. "The sheer number of cultivators is draining my core rapidly. A few more minutes before the powerful ones break free. We must leave the city."
The Emperor, a formidable Fourth Level Origin King, was finally regaining control. He stared at Wanying, not with fatherly affection, but with cold, political fury.
"You insolent, ungrateful creature! You betray the Dynasty, the alliance, and your own life!" the Emperor bellowed, his voice echoing through the frozen hall. "Guards! Shatter the ice! Destroy the boy! Bring the Maiden back to the dungeons!"
Lin Feng turned to the Emperor, his expression settling into one of ruthless scorn. "You speak of gratitude, old man? You offered this goddess as a mere political pawn. You forfeit the right to command her."
He stepped forward, releasing his full Six-Law Domain. The sheer, balanced complexity of his six integrated Laws caused the air to ripple.
"Xia Qingwu, cover the retreat. Yin Xiu, lead the path," Lin Feng commanded, his voice carrying the absolute authority of a true leader.
Xia Qingwu immediately unleashed her final, most potent weapon: a High-Grade Conflagration Orb. She hurled the fist-sized orb into the center of the hall. It didn't explode with fire, but with a blinding, toxic smoke designed to cripple spiritual sight.
The hall was instantly plunged into a chaotic darkness, thick with acrid fumes.
"Now, Wanying, link your Ice Domain to my Void," Lin Feng instructed, grabbing her hand tighter. "Don't fight the ice, just guide it."
As the smoke engulfed the hall, Yin Xiu transformed. Her human form dissolved into a ripple of shadows, and she sped along the walls, her golden eyes piercing the smoke. She knew the city's underbelly better than anyone.
"East wall! Maintenance shaft! Follow my shadow!" Yin Xiu's voice was a soft whisper, audible only to her allies.
Lin Feng and Wanying, moving as one, blurred into the smoke. Lin Feng used his Void Water element to perfectly counter the heavy smoke, creating a path of clear air. Wanying stabilized his movements with a flash of her Ice Element, leaving a frictionless trail for their escape.
They ran, but the Dynasty's top commanders were not fools. Two Peak Origin Kings burst through the smoke, converging on their position.
"They are escaping through the Eastern tunnels! Stop them!" one commander roared.
Lin Feng stopped instantly. He couldn't risk the tunnel being sealed. He turned, facing the commanders with cold fury.
"My women are not to be touched!" Lin Feng roared, unleashing a perfectly executed Void-Metal Spike Array aimed at the commanders' legs, followed immediately by a destabilizing blast of Void Fire to shatter their Gold-based defenses.
The simultaneous, contradictory elemental attack forced the two commanders to halt and defend, buying the necessary minutes.
They made it to the maintenance shaft, descending rapidly. Xia Qingwu, having created a diversionary explosion near the center of the city to draw attention, swiftly joined them.
As they regrouped in the foul-smelling darkness of the tunnel, Wanying collapsed slightly against Lin Feng, the immense exertion leaving her trembling.
"Feng... the Dynasty knows my weakness now. The Ice Heart Palace has secrets they will exploit," Wanying confessed, her voice strained.
Lin Feng gently pulled her close. "We will face it together, Wanying. I need to understand your power. Where does the Ice Spirit Physique truly come from?"
Wanying hesitated, glancing at the others.
"Qingwu and Yin Xiu are our allies. We share everything," Lin Feng insisted.
Wanying took a deep breath, her silver eyes looking past the present plane. "My Ice Spirit Physique is not of the Mortal Star Field. My true clan... they were exiled from the Nine Heavens Realm centuries ago. We are a splinter branch of the ancient Ice Empress Clan."
A faint, crystalline mark appeared on her neck—a hidden symbol of power.
"I am destined to ascend and reclaim my clan's legacy in the Upper Realm. The Dynasty wanted me for my lineage, not my heart. My power is rooted in the Law of the Primordial Ice, a force too immense for this lower plane," Wanying revealed, a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders.
Lin Feng looked at her, his expression turning from love to fierce resolve. This was not a girl he was rescuing; this was a future Empress, whose destiny now perfectly aligned with his own Void Sovereign Mandate.
"An Empress," Lin Feng smiled, the familiar arrogant confidence returning. "Good. The Mortal Star Field is too small for us anyway. We will secure our power here, then we will ascend, and we will carve out our own Empire in the Nine Heavens. The Dynasty is only our first obstacle."
Their escape was successful, but the repercussions were immediate and vast. The Emperor, humiliated and enraged, placed an unprecedented bounty on Lin Feng, Wanying, Xia Qingwu, and Yin Xiu. They were now the most hunted fugitives in the entire Mortal Star Field.
They retreated to a highly secure, ancient ruin that Yin Xiu knew—a perfect place to stabilize their Origin Domains and prepare for the next stage of the confrontation, which would no longer be about rescue, but establishing a rival power.