Chapter 122: Success!
A miniature soul of the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor was drawn into Han Ming’s body by his magical energy.
The Water God’s Scripture contained detailed instructions on how to absorb an extreme cold core. Han Ming followed the method meticulously, circulating his magical energy.
Gradually, his body became encased in a thick layer of frost, eventually turning him into an ice statue.
"Damn it! Where did that kid go?"
A group of pursuers had been searching the Desolate Ice Plains for two days but had found no trace of Han Ming.
"He must still be here. Our scouts outside haven’t reported anyone with a glowing blood mark leaving."
"Keep searching! We have to find him!!"
Two weeks later.
Another group approached Han Ming’s location.
"Hey, what’s that over there?"
One of them pointed at a massive pale blue glacier in the distance.
"Let’s check it out," said a stronger member of the group, his face grim. He was frustrated. They had been searching this godforsaken place for over two weeks with no sign of the kid. Could he have grown wings and flown away?
"Boss, look! This glacier is pale blue. How strange."
One reckless man reached out to touch the glacier.
"Don’t!" the leader shouted, sensing something was wrong.
"Ah!"
The man’s fingers touched the glacier, and he tried to pull back, but his hand was stuck. A pale blue hue began spreading up his arm, and he felt nothing, as if his arm had been disconnected from his body.
The others watched in horror as the man turned into a blue ice statue.
"This thing is too strange. Don’t touch it! Let’s get out of here!" the leader ordered, and the group fled.
Half a month later.
A large group of several hundred people gathered near the blue glacier.
Among them were two city lords from the Desolate Storm, Mo Tianqi, and three War Soul experts. The rest were all War Maniacs. Such a force was rarely seen in the outside world. Even a single War Maniac could rival a city’s military commander, let alone War Soul experts, who were seldom seen.
These individuals, proud and unruly, preferred freedom over serving in the empire’s army.
"Second City Lord, this is the strange place," a War Maniac reported.
The Second City Lord nodded and turned to another man.
"Sixth City Lord, do you sense anything unusual?"
The Sixth City Lord shook his head.
Mo Tianqi waved his hand impatiently. "Enough talk. There’s a cave behind this glacier. We’ve searched the entire Desolate Ice Plains for a month and found nothing. This is the only suspicious spot. Let’s just charge in."
He stepped forward and punched the glacier with all his might.
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The force of a fourth-tier War Soul expert shook the glacier and the ground, but the ice remained intact.
"How is this possible!?" Mo Tianqi stared in disbelief.
A fourth-tier War Soul expert couldn’t even crack a glacier? No one would believe it.
"Sir Mo, we can’t enter the cave without breaking this glacier," someone pointed out.
Mo Tianqi nodded. "Second City Lord, Sixth City Lord, let’s combine our strength."
The two city lords agreed.
"Everyone, step back!"
The War Maniacs quickly retreated, fearing the aftermath of the three War Souls’ combined attack.
The three unleashed their battle energy, scattering the snow and ice around them. Large chunks of ice broke off and rolled away, while the falling snow was blown into nothingness.
"Now!"
The three stepped forward simultaneously, their fists wrapped in fierce battle energy, and struck the glacier.
*BOOM!!*
The ground cracked under the immense force, and the cave entrance began to crumble.
*Crack… crack…*
The pale blue glacier finally showed signs of breaking.
Unnoticed by the crowd, a figure sat cross-legged inside the glacier.
The figure slowly opened its eyes, revealing silver-white pupils.
*Crash…*
The massive glacier shattered.
"It’s done!!"
The crowd cheered as the glacier broke apart.
The three War Souls, however, narrowed their eyes and stepped back, staring intently at the figure emerging from the ice.
A man with silver-white hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and even silver-white pupils walked out.
The three War Souls clenched their fists, their hearts racing.
Who was this? How could someone survive inside such extreme cold and impenetrable ice? The man’s presence was terrifying.
The silver-haired man raised his right hand, examining his unblemished palm, and said indifferently, "I’m out."
This was Han Ming.
His aura had completely changed. A chilling, bone-piercing energy radiated from him. As his gaze swept over the crowd, everyone who met his eyes felt a shiver, as if his stare could freeze their souls.
"Sir, we apologize for the disturbance. Please forgive us," the Second City Lord said cautiously, sensing the man’s power.
Han Ming was puzzled. Did they not recognize him?
He examined himself and realized his appearance had changed. The extreme cold from absorbing the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor’s core had destroyed his disguise, revealing his true face. The blood mark above his head had also been erased by the ice.
These people had never seen his true face, and without the blood mark, they didn’t recognize him as Han Er.
"Fifth-tier! I’ve reached the second stage, fifth tier!" Han Ming was amazed. Absorbing the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor’s core had propelled him from the first tier to the fifth tier in one leap.
"The core of a sixth-tier beast is truly formidable," Han Ming thought, exhilarated.
Inside him, the demon soul stared at his core with a complex expression. After a moment of hesitation, she extended silver threads toward Han Ming’s core.
Beside Han Ming’s original core, a deep blue core now orbited, spinning faster than before.
The silver threads approached, but the blue core released a mist that froze the threads in place.
The demon soul panicked, trying to retract the threads, but they were stuck.
Han Ming smiled faintly. "Demon soul, you can no longer control my core."
The demon soul glared at Han Ming’s core but said nothing. Han Ming was right.
"Don’t worry. You’ve saved me countless times, even if your motives weren’t pure. I’m not ungrateful. I initially planned to absorb you as a demon soul, but since you’ve gained consciousness, I won’t force you. As long as you don’t betray me, I’ll consider you a friend."
Han Ming’s words were sincere. He retracted the blue mist, freeing the silver threads.
The demon soul hesitated, then reduced the number of threads and cautiously approached Han Ming’s core again. This time, the blue core didn’t resist.
A stream of magical energy flowed into the demon soul.
Han Ming chuckled.
"Don’t think I’ll thank you! Without me, you’d be dead long ago," the demon soul retorted, though she couldn’t deny her reliance on Han Ming’s energy.
With the demon soul settled, Han Ming turned his attention to the crowd.
"Gentlemen, may I leave now?" he asked with a smile.
The three War Souls, wary of Han Ming’s mysterious power and realizing he wasn’t their target, nodded and stepped aside.
Han Ming walked past them.
"Wait! Who are you? Have you seen a kid with a glowing blood mark on his head?" a burly man demanded, reaching out to grab Han Ming’s arm.
Han Ming’s eyes glinted. He raised his right hand and pointed a finger at the man.
A stream of pale blue mist, as thick as a baby’s arm, shot out and struck the man’s chest.
The man stumbled back, trying to brush off the thin layer of ice forming on his chest, but his hand froze mid-air. In the blink of an eye, the ice spread, encasing him completely.
"Crystallized!" Mo Tianqi gasped, staring at the ice statue.
"Brother!" another man cried, unleashing his fire-attributed battle energy to melt the ice.
The intense heat burned fiercely, but after a while, only a small portion of the ice had melted.
"This can’t be! How can ice resist fire!?" the man shouted in disbelief.
He shook the frozen man’s body.
"Don’t!" Mo Tianqi warned, sensing the danger.
*Crash…*
The frozen man shattered into a pile of glittering ice crystals.