The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Senior Sister, I don’t want to kill you,” Arya said calmly.

“Senior Sister, don't say that,” Xiaomei whispered, anxiously trying to dissuade Arya.

In Xiaomei's eyes, Arya was as blindly optimistic and outspoken as ever, unable to see the situation clearly, a fearless and reckless person who often suffered losses but never learned her lesson.

The long-faced senior sister's voice was as cold as the chill in the water house: “Arya, can you kill me?”

“Easily,” Arya said, her tone indifferent but her arrogance soaring.

“Then come out, we'll go to the Thousand-Faced God Temple.”

“Okay!”

Xiaomei's hand grabbed Arya's, and Arya noticed it was shaking violently.

“Arya, you can't forget your secular identity and status. I have the right to punish you. You disobey my orders and dare to provoke me. I also have the right to kill you and eliminate the rebellious disciple of the Black and White Courtyard.” The long-faced senior sister's voice was like ice pellets hitting Arya. By the time she said the last word, the long-faced senior sister had already left, her voice carrying from afar.

Xiaomei was extremely worried and nervous. She knew Arya was no match for the senior sister. Except for the senior brother who could return in time, no one in the Black and White Courtyard could be the senior sister's opponent.

“Arya, you can leave through the side door, escape through the alleys of the Black and White Courtyard,” Xiaomei said, her voice trembling.

“Don't worry, Xiaomei, I'll be fine.” Arya still possessed confidence from who-knows-where. “The Black and White Courtyard has suffered a major change. We must face it, we must find out the truth. Xiaomei, let's go.”

Although Xiaomei was terribly afraid, she always listened to Arya, and this time was no exception.

*

Thousand-Faced God Temple.

The once ink-black Thousand-Faced God Temple was now filled with light.

Small dragon crystal candles emitted light, dispelling the darkness.

The statue of the Thousand-Faced God also appeared more majestic and mysterious under the illumination of the dragon crystal candles.

In front of the circular wall in the Thousand-Faced God Temple stood almost everyone in the Black and White Courtyard.

Monks in yellow robes, faithful servants, the Faceless Men, they had all come.

Beside the central black water pool stood the long-faced senior sister.

The senior sister's face was longer than ordinary people's, her expression cold, her eyes never having any warmth, as if she had never felt what it meant to be happy or joyful.

Arya stood in front of the long-faced senior sister.

Next to the two of them was a long black table, on which lay the seven elders. The seven elders were all very peaceful, their eyes closed as if in a peaceful sleep, their complexions as full of life as they had been before their deaths. In the eyes of the Faceless Men, who were used to seeing the complexions of the dead and the vitality of the living, the seven elders did not have the complexion of the dead who had stopped breathing.

But all the monks, Faceless Men, and faithful servants knew that the seven elders had passed away.

Their complexions were as usual, perhaps because of the Thousand-Faced God's blessing, perhaps because of the magic power of the dragon crystal candles, or perhaps because of their own secret techniques. The secrets of the seven elders were not something the disciples could fully know.

“Arya, can you forget your secular identity, status, and family?” the long-faced senior sister said coldly.

“Names are just symbols. It's not a sin to remember one's secular name,” Arya's unconventional words made the old monks look at each other in dismay. Some monks put their hands together and silently recited prayers to the Thousand-Faced God in front of the dragon crystal candle altar, begging the deity to forgive the ignorant child.

“Undoubtedly a rebellious disciple. Today, in the name of the Red God, I will severely punish you in public.”

“Senior Sister, in the name of the Red God, you are powerless to stop me from investigating the oddity of the seven elders' sudden simultaneous deaths,” Arya stated the reason why she would not accept the senior sister's punishment. She said this for her other fellow disciples to hear. Arya's words made the Faceless Men's hearts shudder.

In this world, who could possibly murder the seven elders all at the same time?

Unless it was a god!

Even a god shouldn't be able to enter a place like the Black and White Courtyard. The Black and White Courtyard was the sanctuary of the God of Death and the Thousand-Faced God.

Unease was growing in the hearts of the Faceless Men.

They were confident in their own strength. Every Faceless Man was a top assassin in the outside world, but in the highest headquarters of assassins, the seven elders were simultaneously assassinated by someone with some mysterious power?

This was truly unbelievable and inconceivable.

Especially during the sacred moment when the dragon crystal candles, which the Faceless Men regarded as sacred objects, were lit in the Thousand-Faced God Temple?!

Whoosh!

The long-faced senior sister threw Arya's 'Lady of Emptiness' over. Arya reached out and caught it. With a light clang, both narrow swords were simultaneously drawn, and both scabbards were thrown away at the same time. The senior sister used her narrow sword like a broadsword, slashing at Arya's neck. Arya did a forward roll, got up, and exchanged positions with the senior sister.

Faceless Men almost never used the technique of slashing with a narrow sword like a broadsword. Whether in training or in actual combat, no Faceless Man would use a narrow sword as a cleaver. But the senior sister insisted on using a thin narrow sword as a cleaver. Both of them moved very quickly, drawing their swords and throwing away the scabbards at the same time.

“Don't dodge,” the senior sister said in a deep voice.

“I respect you as my senior sister,” Arya said calmly. She pointed her narrow sword at the senior sister, hollowing her chest and arching her back, her left hand forming a palm and placed behind her. This was the starting stance of the 'Water Dance' taught to Arya by the dance teacher Syrio Forel. Syrio was the chief swordsman under the Sea King, and had been the chief swordsman for nine consecutive years. As long as Syrio was a swordsman in the Sea King's palace, no one could shake his position as chief. He later chose to travel the world, and then met Arya in Westeros and became Arya's Water Dance teacher.

The senior sister sneered, her narrow sword thrusting straight out, her feet sliding, fiercely stabbing at Arya's throat. Midway, the narrow sword circled around, and with a clang, blocked Arya's sideways attack. The two narrow swords touched and immediately withdrew, turning into two rays of light, one silver and one purple, both pointing towards each other's throats, as if one person was looking in a mirror. Both streams of light changed direction midway, one turning upwards and the other sinking downwards. With a crisp clang, the narrow swords intersected, sparks flying as the two closed in, both simultaneously extending their left hands, one forming a fist and the other a palm, attacking each other. With a bang, the fist and palm collided, slamming together with full force.

The senior sister used a fist, while Arya used a palm. The senior sister was as steady as a mountain, while Arya swayed. But in the blink of an eye, Arya used the force of the sway to retreat, and the Lady of Emptiness in her hand had already thrust out three swords, sealing off the senior sister's attack route. But suddenly, the senior sister disappeared. Xiaomei's voice rang out: “Arya, be careful!”

The senior sister's sword was faster than Xiaomei's reminder. Arya suddenly felt a chill on the left side of her neck. This was a premonition of a sword attacking her neck from the left. Arya instinctively lowered her head, leaned to the side, and fell to the ground, kicking out fiercely. While avoiding the senior sister's sword thrust, she kicked the senior sister's abdomen with a thud. The senior sister retreated several steps, stood firm, and Arya had already gotten up, reaching the long table with the seven elders' remains.

“Good!” Xiaomei couldn't help but cheer.

But in the huge Thousand-Faced God Temple, with hundreds of monks and Faceless Men, she was the only one who spoke.

The senior sister's face turned green. She had always regarded herself highly and had never lost a fight.

In a crisp shout, the senior sister's body swayed, and a shadow rushed straight towards Arya. This was the senior sister's true speed, almost twice as fast as before. Arya changed her tactics this time, standing still, the Lady of Emptiness only using half a move each time, adopting a completely defensive posture.

The senior sister attacked with wide, sweeping movements, putting her full strength into every move. Arya's speed couldn't keep up with the senior sister. If she followed the senior sister's sword movements to dodge, block, and maneuver, she would expose a flaw in the second move because her speed couldn't keep up.

But she responded to all changes with constancy, not moving, which saved all the time for dodging and maneuvering, and then not counterattacking, not attacking, only defending, and the range of defense was only within half a sword's distance around her body. Using half a sword move naturally saved half the time compared to using a full move, which made Arya's speed seem to have doubled.

In a dense flurry of narrow swords clashing like jade rain, all that could be seen was the sword light, coming and going like lightning, and the senior sister's figure appearing in three directions around Arya at the same time, as if there were three senior sisters attacking Arya at the same time—behind Arya was the long table with the seven elders' remains. This was the position Arya had chosen after careful consideration. She didn't have to worry about the senior sister suddenly appearing behind her, and only needed to deal with the attacks from the three directions. Arya perfectly blocked the senior sister's dense attacks.

In a situation where her speed and strength were inferior to the senior sister, Arya's terrain advantage helped her block the senior sister's storm-like attacks. The senior sister, who could have been fast enough to appear in all four directions at the same time, had to suppress her strength and couldn't perfectly exert it to the extreme. Attacking from behind was also the easiest way to succeed and distract the opponent.

An ordinary wooden table couldn't have stopped the senior sister. With a casual punch, kick, or sword strike, she could have knocked down, blown away, or swept away the long table, but the long table had the remains of the seven elders on it, and the senior sister didn't even dare to brush the seven elders' clothes with her sword wind. The sword wind was sharp, and if she were to cut off a small piece of the elders' clothes, it would be a great disrespect.

In the dazzling, dense sword light, the senior sister's voice rang out, containing anger: “Arya, come out, come to the pool, don't desecrate the elders.”

Arya's calm voice, filled with sarcasm amidst the dense clash of double swords, said: “Senior Sister, you're losing your composure. I know you'll soon reveal a flaw. Being impatient and impetuous is a sure way to lose.”

“Ha, based on you?” The senior sister sneered, her inner resentment growing stronger. Suddenly, the three senior sisters merged into one, the narrow sword spinning, the silver light like lightning, cutting towards Arya's abdomen. This change was too fast, bizarre to the extreme. A narrow sword's thrust was superb, but using it as a two-handed sword to dive down and chop at the opponent's waist was an absolutely unheard-of sword style.

The senior sister disappeared, and Arya only saw the spinning silver light cutting through the air.

Arya leaned to the side, retreated, her back against the edge of the long table, the Lady of Emptiness stood up, sealing!

The spinning silver light was about to hit Arya's narrow sword, but suddenly split into three, three swords flying to stab Arya's shoulders and face.

This change was too fast, and the distance to Arya was too close. A low exclamation sounded in the hall. Just as the three silver stars were about to shoot into Arya's body, suddenly there was a crisp clang, and the Lady of Emptiness blocked the silver star in the center. The other two silver stars were blocked by two sparks that appeared out of nowhere, as if flames had met with residual snow. The silver stars disappeared, but the flames did not extinguish, and fell to the ground, actually being two real sparks. They continued to burn.

Of the three swords that the senior sister thrust at Arya, only one was real, and the other two were illusions.

A sword could only be one sword, it couldn't turn into three swords at the same time.

If one sword turned into three swords, then two of the swords must be illusory.

This was knowledge that all Faceless Men had learned.

When Arya first learned illusion, she was by this pool. The Grand Elder handed her half a bowl of water from the pool. She reached out to take it, but found that she was holding a white snake. The white snake's head was triangular, venomous, and it was spitting out its tongue, hissing as it licked her face. Arya was so frightened that she only wanted to turn around, abandon the snake, and flee, but she knew that as long as she abandoned the snake and turned to flee, she would no longer be able to stay in the Black and White Courtyard to learn her craft, and she would no longer have the opportunity to become a Faceless Man.

Arya closed her eyes, her hair tingling, her whole body trembling. Her heart was screaming madly. With the fear of death, she brought the snake to her mouth as if it were a bowl of water. When her lips touched the snake's head, the snake disappeared, the water bowl was still a water bowl, and the water in the water bowl was still water. The snake disappeared, she drank half a bowl of water, and passed the test.

That was an illusion!

The senior sister's one sword turning into three swords was also an illusion.

The difficulty lay in which of the three swords was real! Arya's naked eyes didn't know which sword was real, but she also had another ability given by the Red God: the ability of fire.

Any illusory image would reveal its true form as soon as the fire appeared.

Magical power possessed a wonder that mortals could not understand.

But as long as you understood the secret, the magical appearance would become extremely simple.

Too short of a distance, too fast of a speed, too sudden of a change, completely unexpected.

But no speed could be faster than Arya's thoughts.

In the blink of an eye, Arya blocked the senior sister's three swords, which were three sure-kill swords.

The senior sister was stunned! She couldn't believe it!

“Evil magic, Arya, what evil arts have you learned outside, that you can actually emit flames.”

In the midst of her words, a spark shot towards the senior sister's face like starlight.

The senior sister leaned to the side to avoid it.

Suddenly, two sparks appeared out of thin air, one shooting towards the senior sister's chest, and the other slowly following. The senior sister used her narrow sword to flick away the spark. The second spark shot out from mid-air with a whoosh, hitting the senior sister's left leg. The senior sister jumped away, and suddenly, three sparks appeared out of thin air, drawing three fiery trails, rushing straight at the senior sister like arrows.

The senior sister rolled on the ground to avoid them. As soon as she got up, four sparks came whistling, and in a flurry, a total of ten sparks appeared, pulling out ten fiery tails, attacking the senior sister like starlight and lightning. The senior sister's narrow sword turned into silver light, circling and knocking away several sparks, and then she heard three soft popping sounds. Three sparks hit the senior sister, and with a bang, the sparks exploded, igniting three large fires, instantly engulfing the senior sister.

The senior sister screamed.

With a whoosh, suddenly all the flames on the senior sister disappeared, but the heat of the flames was still there, scorching the senior sister's skin.

The senior sister jumped away in a mess, came to the pool. There were wooden buckets and bowls by the pool, and the water in the pool was cold, which could help her resist the burning pain left on her body by the flames. As she bent down to fetch water, she suddenly felt a pain in her throat. Arya appeared from the side, and the tip of the Lady of Emptiness pierced the skin of her throat.

“Evil arts, desecrating the Thousand-Faced God, Arya, you should go to hell.”

"Senior sister, my fire abilities come from the Red God. The Red God is the god of fire and shadow. The God of Death and the Many-Faced God we serve are merely two aspects of the Red God." As he spoke, a shadow several times taller than Arya appeared behind her, its outline mirroring Arya's perfectly. The shadow sword in the shadow's hand cast a projection on the wall, several times larger still...

Bang!

The flames of the dragon crystal candle in front of the Many-Faced God suddenly soared several feet, emitting a dazzling white light, like a miniature sun... The dozens of torches inserted into the circular wall of the Many-Faced God's temple ignited one by one with a 'poomph' sound.

More than a dozen old monks knelt together before the Many-Faced God, chanting prayers in High Valyrian... Then, all the monks knelt before the statue of the Many-Faced God, chanting ancient prayers that sounded beautiful but whose meaning was difficult to understand.

Amidst the monks' chanting, the Faceless Men suddenly knelt on one knee, one by one, their faces devout...

The senior sister's expression faltered for a moment, then she slowly lowered the narrow sword in her hand and knelt slowly on one knee before Arya, her eyes filled with awe... The light of the dragon crystal candle suddenly surged, a miraculous omen that a divinely appointed elder had been born in the House of Black and White... After the sacred dragon crystal candle was officially lit in the Thousand-God Temple, the Faceless Men already knew about the various miracles that the sacred object could foretell...

"Divinely appointed Elder!" the senior sister said to Arya respectfully, pressing her palms together over her heart in a gesture of respect.