Consciousness did not completely succumb or dissipate as expected, but instead fell into an extremely strange state of absolute confinement.
Su Nian felt like a speck of dust frozen in amber, or a flame encased in the depths of ancient ice. She lost all perception of the outside world—sight, hearing, touch… all her senses were stripped away, leaving only a pure, boundless, extreme cold that seemed to freeze her mind, and a heavy, omnipresent sense of oppression.
This is her prison—the soul ice crystal that was casually sealed by the dark gold consciousness and thrown into the sea of consciousness of Immortal Lord Qingxu.
There was no concept of the passage of time, no reference to spatial location. Only the biting cold constantly eroded her sealed soul's essence, attempting to extinguish the faint flame of life. At the same time, she also had to devote some of her energy to resisting the chaotic and complex wisps of demonic thoughts seeping in from outside the ice crystals, from the environment belonging to the Qingxu Immortal Lord's sea of consciousness.
Despair, like the pervasive chill, spreads silently.
Is she really going to be trapped here to die? As that dark gold consciousness said, she either proves her "value" or is assimilated and reduced to nothingness?
However, Su Nian's inherent resilience, which makes her an "outlier," and her refusal to give up easily, which transcends the world and originates from the depths of her soul, prevented her from giving up.
Unable to perceive the outside world, she turned inward, focusing all her attention on her sealed soul essence and... the layer of icy power that enveloped her, laid down by the Dark Gold Consciousness.
This freezing power was both a cage imprisoning her and, strangely... isolated her from the direct impact of most of her inner demons, preserving for her a relatively "pure" (albeit extremely cold and oppressive) space.
She began to try to "understand" this freezing power.
Unlike the extreme cold emanating from the Ice Soul Jade Bed, which leans towards the material level, this ice seal cast by the Dark Gold Consciousness is closer to a kind of... law-level "stillness" and "isolation." It is not simply low temperature, but a terrifying force that forcibly fixes things (including energy, consciousness, and the flow of time) in a certain state.
Given her current state of mind and limited understanding, she is utterly incapable of comprehending even a fraction of it, let alone deciphering it.
However, she discovered that when she fully activated the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique," the unique "Ice Soul" essence originating from this technique could resonate with the external freezing power in a very faint, almost "same-origin" way!
Although the resonance was so weak as to be almost negligible and could not shake the seal in the slightest, it was like a tiny ray of light shining into an absolutely dark prison cell—allowing her to see another possibility!
She couldn't break free from this cage, but perhaps... she could try to "adapt" to it, or even... use it for help?
A bold idea began to take root in her mind.
She no longer used the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique" merely to stabilize her own soul and resist the cold. Instead, she began to try to guide the external, higher-level freezing power, in an extremely careful and almost humble way, to seep into the very essence of her soul—not to destroy, but to... carry out a more cruel, yet more thorough... tempering!
This is tantamount to dancing on a knife's edge or snatching chestnuts from a fire! If she is not careful, her soul will be completely assimilated and frozen by this terrifying power of law, and she will be doomed forever!
However, this is the only way she can think of right now that might improve herself and find "value"!
The pain instantly escalated several orders of magnitude! The feeling was no longer like being torn apart by a thousand cuts, but rather as if her very soul was being subjected to the most fundamental analysis and reshaping under absolute zero!
She felt as if she were being dismantled and shattered bit by bit, and then, under the influence of the freezing power, slowly and laboriously reformed. Each cycle was accompanied by extreme pain that brought her consciousness to the brink of collapse.
Just as Su Nian was immersed in this almost self-torturing and extremely dangerous tempering process, an unknown amount of time passed (perhaps a moment, perhaps eternity), when a violent external shock suddenly struck the soul ice crystal!
"Buzz—!"
The ice crystals trembled violently, and even the external freezing power rippled slightly!
Su Nian was jolted awake from her deep training by this sudden turn of events. She focused her mind, trying to sense the source of the vibration through the ice crystals and the seal.
She couldn't "see" the specific scene, but she could vaguely "feel" that outside, Qingxu Immortal Lord's sea of consciousness was experiencing a storm that was even more violent and chaotic than before!
Countless fragmented memories, filled with pain and obsession, washed over this space of consciousness like a tsunami: the moment Yun Zhi was pierced by the demonic arrow while shielding him, the disappointed eyes of the sect elders, the wails of countless fallen disciples, the whispers of temptation from inner demons, the torment of self-doubt...
And in the eye of the storm, she once again "sense" the fierce clash between two powerful wills!
One force was the scarlet inner demon, filled with violence, destruction, and despair, which, like a maggot clinging to a bone, frantically eroded everything.
The other force... was no longer the aloof and indifferent dark gold consciousness of before, but... a more "human" force, full of pain and struggle, yet also carrying an indomitable obsession, trying to grasp something!
It was Immortal Lord Qingxu! His long-suppressed main consciousness, when his inner demons erupted violently again for some reason (perhaps external stimulation, or perhaps internal accumulation), struggled once more, trying to break free of the shackles, relying on that instinctive obsession with the name "Su Nian" and that special soul fluctuation!
“Su…Nian…”
That faint, familiar call was clearer than the last time, carrying a heart-wrenching pain and longing, piercing through layers of demonic barriers and ice, and once again reaching the depths of Su Nian's soul!
He's still here! He's still trying!
A mixture of indescribable bittersweet emotions welled up in Su Nian's heart! She was no longer struggling alone in this desperate situation!
She had to respond to him! She had to give him support!
No longer caring about the extreme pain brought by the tempering, she forcibly interrupted the process, and transformed all her mind, along with the soul power that seemed to have solidified under the tempering of ice during this time, as well as the meaning of "tranquility" and "protection" in the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique", into a more concentrated and clearer bridge of will, and stretched it out in the direction from which the call came!
"Xie Chen! I'm here!"
Her response was like a lighthouse shining amidst raging waves; though its light was faint, it steadfastly pointed him in the right direction!
The moment her bridge of will touched the struggling obsession of Immortal Lord Qingxu—
An anomaly has occurred!
This time, it was no longer a one-way call and response. A two-way, deeper connection was suddenly established between this frozen inner prison and the raging sea of consciousness!
Su Nian clearly "felt" his boundless pain, heavy guilt, and vulnerability—a vulnerability that, though mired in darkness, still yearned to grasp a glimmer of light.
And Qingxu Immortal Lord, through this link, also "sense" her presence with unparalleled clarity—not an illusory image, not the bewitching of inner demons, but a real soul, imprisoned in ice, yet still striving to burn! And within that soul, an aura that felt incredibly familiar and reassuring to him!
“It really is you…” His thoughts came through, carrying a tremendous shock and an almost choked confirmation.
At the same time, Su Nian was shocked to discover that through this deeper soul link, she seemed to be able to perceive, extremely faintly, fragments of the outside world that Immortal Lord Qingxu was currently experiencing?!
She "saw"—
He seems to be engaged in a magical duel? Who is his opponent? A demonic cultivator? Or...?
His use of power was extremely chaotic, with immortal energy and demonic energy intertwined, and his moves were full of flaws. Clearly, his mind was in disarray...
He seemed to be protecting something. Behind him was... a ruined sect formation base? Or several seriously injured disciples?
These fragmented and indistinct images instantly made Su Nian realize that Immortal Lord Qingxu was in grave danger! And this danger was likely to exacerbate his inner demons and trigger a struggle within his physical consciousness!
Just as she was trying to perceive more information—
"puff--!"
From the outside, a muffled thud seemed to come from something sharp, like a weapon piercing flesh! Immediately afterward, Immortal Lord Qingxu let out a suppressed groan, filled with pain and rage!
His thoughts, transmitted through the soul link, instantly became extremely chaotic and weak! The newly established, clear connection also fluctuated violently, as if it would break at any moment!
He's injured?! And seriously injured!
Su Nian's heart jumped into her throat!
"Xie Chen!" she called out anxiously, trying to stabilize the link that was about to break.
However, all that responded to her was an even denser darkness and chaos, and a... deathly stillness that seemed to originate from a life-or-death instinct, spreading along the broken link...
The suspense in the story suddenly intensifies—the male and female protagonists forge a deeper soul connection in dire straits, but the male protagonist is suddenly critically injured and on the verge of death! Is this sudden crisis a turning point or the end? How will the female protagonist, frozen in ice, cope? All awaits to be revealed in the next chapter.
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