C975 The Heaven and Earth in the Frost Well
Canli, a young girl from the Dawnbringers who hailed from the extraterrestrial Star River, wore a faint smile on her lips. The light emanated from within her chest, from her innate Altar of Rebirth. This altar absorbed myriad sources of light from the cosmos, serving as a nexus for all luminance.
"Since this is the Frost Well of the Dark Realm, it shall be illuminated by none other than myself." With a confident air, Canli stood at the well's center, radiating brightness. The light she cast made the interior of the Frost Well, sealed by the power of Ruan Fu, clearly visible.
The Soulforge Pool had not been dragged into the well with him. The Frost Queen, now reduced in size, hovered before him. Her once sharp and translucent scorpion tail morphed into an ice-blue hand, pressing against his chest. Layers of ice had already formed over his heart and the Profound Gate acupoints.
The Frost Queen's delicate hand, transformed from her scorpion tail, seemed intent on shattering the ice to prevent his heart and the vitality within his little world from being encased by the Frost Well's chilling force.
Looking down, he noticed his ankle submerged in the well's water, yet devoid of any sensation of cold. More precisely, his ankle had long lost feeling, as the frigid waters had numbed his flesh, blood, and muscles.
His left hand, including the palm, had been engulfed by the maw of a snow-white frost wyrm—a Mutant from beyond the stars. The slender flood dragon bore intricate, natural patterns that whispered of icy enigmas.
The frost wyrm possessed three white vertical pupils. Yu Yuan glanced at them and sensed that within these pupils lay three realms of intense, snowy cold.
Beyond the frost wyrm, various extraterrestrial Frostreaver Mutants clung to his shoulders, waist, and neck—each one a dire beast of the starry void. Some resembled silvery insects with dense fangs, voraciously consuming his flesh. Others, akin to spiders and ice-armored crocodiles, or even unfamiliar avian creatures, were enveloped in ice energy as they descended upon him, feasting.
He no longer felt any pain when bitten by the Mutants, as if the flesh being torn was not his own.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed two dark green serpents wrapped around his ankles, submerged in the well water, desperately pulling him deeper.
It seemed that if his body were fully submerged, he would be completely frozen.
Crack!
The Frost Queen's delicate hand, transformed from her scorpion tail, struck his icy chest, sending shards flying.
"Often, sheer darkness is enough to drive one to despair, even to the point of suicide," Canli said, her smile radiant in the eerie Frost Well, seemingly unafraid. "Many beings captured by the Shura and banished to the Dark Realm didn't even need to be in the coldest depths before they were found dead shortly after."
"Most creatures can't bear a darkness devoid of sound, sensation, or the faintest glimmer of light."
"In such darkness, even the passage of time is unknowable. It doesn't take long for those cast into the Dark Realm to go mad and end their own lives," Canli explained gently.
"I understand," Yu Yuan nodded, fully grasping the concept. As the Frost Queen prepared to shatter the ice on his chest again, he shook his head, "No need."
The sword light within his arm bones surged like a river of crimson.
He gently closed his eyes.
In the vitality-filled microcosm, the blood-red Altar of Rebirth spun silently.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
His limbs, encased in ice, shattered one after another.
The frost wyrm, with its trio of white vertical pupils, became a blur of blood and flesh. As it tried to flee into a crevice, Yu Yuan, now fully aware, firmly grasped its fanged maw.
"Isn't it a bit late to think of escaping?" Yu Yuan asked, a chilling smile on his lips. His hand, still lodged in the wyrm's mouth, thrust forward, piercing the creature's belly.
The frost wyrm's head was abruptly at Yu Yuan's shoulder, colliding with another entwined Mutant.
Whimpering sounds filled the air.
The Mutant frost wyrm appeared to be shrieking, yet the sound was bizarrely distorted due to Yu Yuan's entire arm being lodged in its mouth and body. Subsequently, a scarlet sword light burst forth within the frost wyrm, propelling it like a streak of crimson lightning.
The same fate befell the other Frostreavers from the extraterrestrial realm. Once Canli unleashed a source of light, Yu Yuan, having clearly assessed the situation, swiftly dispatched them one after the other.
"Protect me," Canli requested, her silhouette shifting swiftly to hover above Yu Yuan's head.
At that moment, Ruan Fu, the Chief Elder of Winter's Bite, emerged in the well's realm, his visage seething with rage. He rose gradually from the icy waters, which solidified around him, encasing him in an ice-like body reminiscent of the Frost Queen's.
"Saintess of the Dawnbringers!" Ruan Fu exclaimed upon revealing himself. He first glanced at the Frost Queen, then fixed his gaze on Canli, while completely disregarding Yu Yuan.
"Yu Yuan, this man has merged with a Frost Well from the Dark Realm. If I'm not mistaken, this Frost Well is associated with the Blood King's youngest son, who has recently returned from the Dark Realm," Canli murmured with a soft chuckle. "Having refined the Frost Well, he only needs to break free from the Everlands to access the Dark Realm using its power."
"If fortune favors him in the Dark Realm, and he avoids the formidable Shura there, he could amass the ice force and the unique dark energy of that realm. The practitioners of dark energy within the Devil Palace would likely seek his favor, eager to acquire the dark energy he possesses."
Canli, hailing from the extraterrestrial realm, belonged to the Dawnbringers, who abhorred and dreaded the dark energy above all else. The current master of the Devil Palace had secured his exalted position by grievously wounding the contemporary leader of the Dawnbringers.
Unlike the current leader of the Dawnbringers, who lacked the innate Altar of Rebirth, Canli possessed this unique feature. The Dawnbringers saw her as the pivotal force in the eventual confrontation with the Demon Lord Tan Xiaotian.
Indeed, she had dedicated herself from a young age to studying the enigmatic places, sects, and beings associated with darkness and dark energy, which led to her deep understanding of the Dark Realm's peculiarities.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Blood-red beams burst forth from Yu Yuan's chest, instantly impaling the Frostreavers that Ruan Fu had been cultivating and that were feasting on his flesh.
The crimson light voraciously consumed the blood and flesh of the Frostreavers.
Ruan Fu had gone to great lengths to capture and collect these Mutant dire beasts from various extraterrestrial domains. In a matter of moments, they lay dead.
"Yu Yuan!"
Ruan Fu's attention finally shifted from Canli and the Frost Queen to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan hovered in the air for a few seconds, looking down at the two spiritual snakes hanging lifelessly from his ankles, their vital energy drained by the Altar of Rebirth. "It appears you truly don't know me at all."
He possessed the Altar of Rebirth, a fact well known to the Colddeath Sect. Cao Yi was also fully aware when he masqueraded as Ann Jieshan.
Cao Yi kept this secret to himself.
At the very least, Ruan Fu was completely in the dark.
Did he really think these Mutant dire beasts could devour him, tear him apart?
As long as he was lucid and the Altar of Rebirth wasn't frozen, still capable of unleashing its power, these Frost Beasts, mere equivalents to a seventh-level archdemon, were nothing but a feast of Gluttony.
"You've been nurturing them, slowly enhancing their strength and rank, to use them in the future to bolster your own power," Yu Yuan said with a smile. "Sadly, they haven't had the chance to mature, to reach a level where they could pose a threat to me."
With a vigorous shake, the desiccated carcasses of the Frost Beasts were expelled from his body, plummeting into the water below.
"In the Unbound Stage, we merge. I stand in your Frost Well, and you certainly have the fortitude to be defiant. But have you considered that your Frost Well, and you yourself, are also within the Moonfall Sanctuary?"
Yu Yuan's laughter boomed.
