Absolute darkness, extreme cold, even thoughts themselves seem frozen and solidified.
This is the state under the "Deep Sleep Freeze Program." Su Nian's consciousness is like a speck of dust sealed within the core of millennia-old profound ice, losing all perception of time and space, and even the concept of "self" becomes blurred and thin. Only the faint, unbreakable connection between her and the laws of ice, originating from the symbiotic instinct of her soul, serves as proof, like cosmic background radiation, that she has not yet completely returned to nothingness.
The Dark Gold Consciousness's emergency life-sustaining protocol, in the most domineering way, forcibly halted the process of her soul's collapse, but at the cost of her complete annihilation of consciousness. That cluster of soul ice flames that had once burned with difficulty is now reduced to a nearly extinguished, absolutely frozen spark of primordial energy, awaiting a moment of revival that is so faint as to be almost nonexistent.
Meanwhile, on the outside, the life-or-death battle continues.
A searing pain, almost tearing his entire body apart, surged from below his shoulder blades, mixed with the chilling numbness of a sinister power eroding his soul, crashing against Qingxu Immortal Lord's nerves like a tidal wave. Blood soaked through his moon-white Daoist robe, spreading out in large patches of glaring dark red behind him.
However, in stark contrast to his severe injuries was the look in his eyes at that moment.
The crimson that was originally filled with inner demons and madness has faded by more than half, replaced by an extreme coldness tempered on the edge of life and death, and... an indescribable clarity, as if something had been shattered and reassembled deep within the soul.
Su Nian's final, desperate protective intent, along with the profound insights into the meaning of "stillness" that he forcibly shared, acted like a final, heavy blow, shattering some of the shackles that had bound him to himself for a century.
She disappeared.
In the instant he dodged the fatal blow, he could clearly "feel" that the bond connecting their souls, the faint light that flickered like a candle in the wind, suddenly dimmed, and then... was forcibly enveloped and isolated by a larger and colder will, and finally fell into complete silence.
An unprecedented, hollow, stinging sensation, not originating from the physical body, but from the depths of his soul, a void as if a piece had been forcibly ripped out, instantly engulfed him.
It was to save him...
This realization was like a red-hot dagger piercing his heart, causing him even more suffocating pain than the wound that pierced his shoulder blade.
Guilt, anger, and a kind of panic and violence that he himself could not understand, seemingly originating from ancient times, roared and crashed wildly in his heart like a volcano that had been suppressed for millions of years!
But this time, these surging emotions did not drag him back into the abyss of inner demons.
Instead, it acted like the most potent catalyst, mixing with the profound meaning of "stillness" left behind by Su Nian, forcibly giving birth to some kind of... mutation in his Dao heart on the verge of collapse and his chaotic power system!
"Buzz—!"
Within his body, the fiercely conflicting immortal essence, demonic energy, and sinister power that had almost destroyed him first, along with the uncontrollable dark golden light, seemed to be forcibly unified by an even colder and more transcendent will. In a way that defied common sense, they began to swirl, compress, and condense wildly around the trace of the "stillness" and "isolation" laws he had just comprehended!
It's not about fusion, but rather... using that icy, trace-like law-like meaning as the core, forcibly hammering, binding, and refining these chaotic and violent forces, just like forging an unparalleled weapon!
His foundation was groaning, his meridians were breaking inch by inch, but his eyes were getting brighter and colder!
Like two pieces of eternal ice colliding, they unleashed a chilling light powerful enough to freeze the soul!
"You... all deserve to die!"
He raised his head and looked at the enemies in front of him who were slightly surprised and uncertain because of his sudden change in aura (including the blood-red shadow whose sneak attack had failed). His voice was hoarse like the friction of broken ice, but it carried a kind of calm that made people's scalp tingle and... killing intent!
There was no roaring, no frantic screaming.
Immortal Lord Qingxu made a move.
His movements seemed a fraction slower than before he was injured, but with each step he took, a thin layer of frost, radiating a chilling aura, would instantly cover the ravaged ground beneath his feet! The moisture in the air was instantly sucked away and frozen, and even the light passing by him seemed to become sluggish and distorted!
The natal immortal sword in his hand, whose blade was originally as clear as autumn water, was now covered with a strange dark blue light. The space around the sword blade collapsed slightly, as if even "existence" itself was being "frozen" and "isolated" by it!
"Playing tricks! You're at your last gasp, yet you dare to be so presumptuous!" The man in black robes was the first to lose his temper. He roared, and his demonic energy surged, transforming into a giant ghost claw that brought down with a mournful howl!
Several other enemies also attacked simultaneously, unleashing sword energy, spells, and mysterious cursed light from all directions, sealing off all his escape routes!
Faced with this siege that would have been troublesome even for him in his prime, Immortal Lord Qingxu simply raised the sword in his hand slowly.
He didn't look at the attacks; his gaze seemed to pierce through layers of obstacles, landing on a certain place in the void, on the soul ice crystal deep within his sea of consciousness, which was absolutely frozen and silent.
Then, he gently stepped forward and swung his sword.
This sword strike had a simple trajectory, even appearing somewhat...clumsy.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.
There was only one… a straight, cold, dark blue line that seemed to freeze sight and perception.
Where the thin thread passes, time seems to be stretched and space seems to be torn apart.
The massive demonic claw that struck first, upon touching the thin dark blue line, had its wildly churning demonic energy core instantly frozen as if plunged into absolute zero! Then, starting from its tip, it silently and imperceptibly disintegrated and annihilated, as if it had never existed!
Immediately following was the attack from the flank by the vicious blood-red shadow. When it got close to the dark blue line, its speed suddenly dropped, its trajectory became distorted, and it was as if it had sunk into an invisible swamp, greatly reducing its power. It was then casually deflected by Qingxu Immortal Lord's sword!
Attacks from other directions were also affected to varying degrees by the pervasive "static" and "isolated" force field, resulting in varying degrees of delay and weakening!
One sword strike! Just one sword strike!
Not only did it defuse the deadly siege, but it also demonstrated a kind of... almost law-level suppressive power!
"What...what kind of power is this?!" The man in black robes retreated in terror, his voice trembling with disbelief. He felt that the connection between himself and the ghostly claw had been forcibly "severed" by some force! And the way the ghostly claw was annihilated was beyond his comprehension!
Immortal Lord Qingxu did not answer. He stood with his sword in hand, dark blue light flowing slowly around him. The wound on his shoulder blade was still gruesome, and blood was still flowing, but his aura seemed to be temporarily connected with some cold "rule" in this world, exuding a chilling majesty and...deathly stillness.
He slowly turned his gaze, his cold eyes finally locking onto the blood-red figure who had ambushed him.
Stared at by that gaze, the blood-red shadow felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and a chill from the depths of his soul made him almost unable to move!
"You... go first."
Immortal Lord Qingxu's voice remained calm, yet carried a chilling indifference akin to a death sentence.
He raised his sword again.
The ensuing battle turned into a one-sided... reaping.
Faced with that eerie power imbued with the concepts of "stillness" and "isolation," the enemy's numbers, techniques, and even their level of cultivation seemed to lose all meaning. Their power flow was disrupted, their speed was slowed, and their defenses were easily "severed"!
Immortal Lord Qingxu is like a grim reaper walking among mortals. With each swing of his sword, he inevitably brings forth a splash of tragically beautiful blood, or directly causes an enemy and his attack to return to complete "stillness" and "nothingness"!
He was severely injured and his strength was rapidly depleting, but the chilling killing intent and a certain obsession that sustained him made him like a tireless killing machine.
Finally, when the last enemy (the man in black robes) was cleaved in two by a thin, dark blue line amidst his unwilling roar, his soul frozen and shattered along with him, the devastated battlefield finally returned to a temporary state of deathly silence.
Immortal Lord Qingxu, leaning on his sword, knelt on one knee, panting heavily. Each breath was accompanied by excruciating, tearing pain throughout his body. The dark blue light on his body flickered erratically, seemingly extremely unstable.
He won, but it was a Pyrrhic victory.
But there was no joy on his face, only a deep, unyielding weariness and...emptiness.
He slowly raised his head, gazing at the sky atop Qingyun Peak, still faintly shrouded in demonic energy, as if looking through layers of space into the depths of his own consciousness.
There, all was deathly silent.
He could not sense any fluctuation from her; only that absolutely frozen soul ice crystal, like a tomb, emanated an eternal chill under the monitoring of the dark gold consciousness.
He reached out as if trying to grasp something, but only grasped a patch of cold air.
A drop of water, mixed with blood and some kind of crystalline liquid, dripped down his blood-stained chin and onto the frozen ground beneath his feet, instantly freezing into a small, red ice bead.
He closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing his surging emotions, and when he opened them again, only an icy resolve remained.
No matter the cost, no matter how desperate the situation ahead.
He must become stronger, he must find... a way to bring her back.
Deep within his unnoticed sea of consciousness, at the very core of that absolutely frozen soul crystal, the nearly extinguished spark of primordial energy flickered extremely, extremely subtly, at the very moment his tear (thought), mixed with complex emotions, fell and resonated with him across the seal.
It was like responding to a call from a distant shore in the endless darkness.
The suspense of the story intertwines at this moment—the male protagonist comprehends the Dao Seal of Ice Mark in the face of death, undergoing a transformation in strength but losing all senses; the female protagonist's consciousness is in absolute slumber, yet a sliver of life resurfaces due to the male protagonist's obsession. The road ahead remains shrouded in mist, but does this glimmer of light born in the face of death foreshadow the eventual melting of the ice and snow? Everything awaits a certain moment in the future.
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