Chapter 219: The Power of Ice – A True Man Can Bend Yet Remain Strong

The moonlight seemed even brighter at this moment. Above the lake’s surface, not even the gray clouds could approach it. The white light reflected by the ice fragments on the lake made the surroundings resemble a fairyland. And within this fairyland lay a divine dragon that Liu Yi intended to subdue. With a clang, his equally icy black sword was sheathed. At the same time, a red sword glow, moving at the speed and force of tearing through space, created a splash of water before disappearing into the center of the lake.

Driven by the sword’s force, the lake surface was forcibly torn open, revealing a patch of sand at the bottom. Yet in the blink of an eye, the water reassembled itself. Clearly, Liu Yi hadn’t used much of his spiritual energy for this. But in that brief moment, he saw clearly that there was nothing beneath the lake—only some white ice fragments floating there, with no other objects, just like in the space of the Weak Water before.

Puzzled, Liu Yi muttered to himself, “Could it be… really nothing?” But another thought immediately dismissed his doubt—there must be something here. He had clearly seen it with his spiritual sense earlier, and the lake itself was also very strange. But did the dragon really exist? Where was it? These were questions impossible to guess.

Liu Yi looked up at the white moonlight and thought, “No, this is just a waste of time. Since it won’t come out, I should focus on rescuing Tearsless City first. I can return later if there’s a chance; otherwise, I won’t be able to get back in three days.” With this thought, his mood calmed down, and he stopped thinking about subduing the divine dragon, as more important matters awaited him.

Yet, the moment Liu Yi turned around, he felt the white light behind him growing brighter, as if it were condensing into a single point. At that instant, a cold aura rushed into his body through his pores and straight into his meridians. His entire body trembled involuntarily. A badpremonition struck him, and instinctively, he moved aside.

Such a feeling didn’t arise out of nowhere. With Liu Yi’s high level of cultivation—able to fly on his sword even atop Tian Shan in the human world—and his immunity to the cold in the Iceheart Cave of Tearsless City in the netherworld—this cold aura had already invaded his entire body. An unprecedented chill made his body tremble uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Liu Yi turned around. The sight before him shocked him. Countless white ice fragments on the lake surface were slowly gathering at one point in the air, and the cold aura originated from that center. His entire body seemed to stiffen, and his blood flow slowed down. For the first time, he experienced the terrifying coldness.

The white moonlight shone on those ice fragments. In the center of the lake’s sky, countless fragments had now formed into a shape. The creature before him was dozens of feet long, with ice-carved horns, red eyes, and white whiskers. Its entire body coiled and writhed in the air, with countless ice fragments turning into white scales covering its body.

Liu Yi was shocked. That was—a Ice Dragon, a silver-long dragon made of ice, reflecting the moonlight. Its blood-red eyes resembled two fist-sized crystals, staring at him. Liu Yi could clearly feel the icy breath emanating from the dragon’s body. At the same time, he saw the trees around him instantly turn into ice sculptures. He realized clearly that this Ice Dragon’s attributes were completely the opposite of those of the Fire Dragon he had tamed earlier. The reason he hadn’t frozen solid was solely due to the support of his powerful vital energy.

Yet, the Ice Dragon’s strength was truly immense. Even though Liu Yi’s vital energy protected his meridians, he was still affected by the cold. Without hesitation, he used his vital energy to summon the dragon flame from the “Sorrowful Dream” sword. As a purplish-red light emitted from the sword, a warm aura spread throughout his body, instantly dispelling the cold sensation.

Strangely, the trees around Liu Yi that had already turned to ice did not burn in this high temperature, showing no signs of melting. Although Liu Yi couldn’t feel the scorching heat from the Fire Dragon, he was well aware of its domineering aura—so powerful that it could even crack the earth. This made him reevaluate the Ice Dragon.

At that moment, the Ice Dragon let out a loud roar that shook the heavens and earth, plunging the birds and beasts in the primeval forest into chaos. Its target wasn’t them but the tiny human before it. Following its roar, its right claw struck out violently, and three white streaks transformed into three pieces of ice, shooting toward Liu Yi at lightning speed.

Liu Yi certainly wouldn’t underestimate the Ice Dragon’s power. Seeing the ice shards approaching, he swiftly moved and dodged, causing them to hit the ground beside him. He thought to himself, “This dragon’s strength is extraordinary, and its supernatural abilities are incredibly powerful. It’s a pity its movements are slow. Even if they doubled, I could easily dodge them. As long as I find its weakness, it won’t be hard to tame it.”

As Liu Yi predicted, the Ice Dragon’s speed was indeed slow compared to him. After he dodged, the three ice shards failed to even hit his afterimage… But soon, he regretted his thinking. It seemed he had overestimated himself and underestimated the Ice Dragon’s special abilities.

The three ice shards disappeared quickly after hitting the ground. At the same time, an area of ten feet around him instantly froze over. Worse still, his feet were frozen to the ice surface, preventing him from moving. Shocked, he thought, “This is bad.” He then tried to use his powerful vital energy to leap up, but with both feet frozen and no point of support, he couldn’t escape despite his high cultivation level.

Just then, the Ice Dragon roared again. Along with the sound, its right claw shot out three more ice shards. Though their speed increased, Liu Yi could still easily dodge them. But now, his entire body was stuck in place. Even if he could bend to avoid them, the other shards would surely hit him.

It was now impossible to avoid the confrontation. Liu Yi flipped his right hand, his true energy surging once again as he entered the State of Killing Heart. As the black long sword was drawn, a purplish-red glow flashed briefly. Then Liu Yi gripped the sword hilt with both hands. With a clang, the ice shards collided with the sword, producing a sound of metal on metal, indicating just how powerful the force was.

The two ice shards behind him suddenly disappeared mid-air as they approached Liu Yi. He looked up at the ice dragon and suddenly realized he was in extreme danger. In his panic, he had raised his cultivation to the State of Killing Heart and unleashed two swords swiftly with his immense true energy to counter the two ice shards behind him. As for the ice shard in front, he could only defend against it with his sword. With his current level of cultivation, unless he turned to dark magic, it was absolutely impossible for him to draw three swords at once.

While dealing with that ice shard, Liu Yi encountered both good and bad news. The good news was that under the tremendous force, his feet had broken free from the ice surface. The bad news was that although his feet were now free, the cold aura seeped into his arms through the sword as it countered the ice shard, causing his arms to stiffen and go numb, rendering him unable to make any rapid movements.

Without wasting time, Liu Yi quickly mobilized his true energy to summon a fire dragon to drive away the cold aura. But soon he was disappointed—his true energy seemed to encounter an obstruction as it passed through his arms, unable to move forward even a bit. Liu Yi knew clearly that it was the cold aura that had frozen his veins.

His thoughts raced. Although he wasn’t sure of the ice dragon’s strength, given his current cultivation level, the chances of subduing it were virtually none, unless some miracle occurred. Even if he could summon a fire dragon, it was likely that neither he nor the fire dragon would be strong enough to deal with this ice dragon. Soon, an idea popped into his mind that made him want to laugh. He thought to himself, “I remember when I was young, those who couldn’t beat me in fights would just run away. It seems I have no choice but to run today.”

With his feet freed but his hands useless, how could Liu Yi dare to fight further? He used his true energy to activate “Hidden Spin Nine Shadows” and the “Swiftness” technique, then dashed away. Ten years ago, Liu Yi’s fleeing skills were already formidable, far surpassing those of figures like the Great Sword King or one of the Top Ten Heroes. With his current cultivation, escaping was a piece of cake.

The ice dragon’s blood-red eyes blinked once, seemingly unprepared for such a reaction from this tiny creature, let alone such speed. In the time it took to turn around, dust billowed across the ground, and not a trace of the man was left. The silent primeval forest was once again quiet. The ice dragon let out a long howl in the vastness before slowly descending and gradually disappearing above the shimmering lake surface. Everything returned to calm, and the ice shards around the trees slowly shrank back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, Liu Yi was not depressed for failing to recapture the Ice Dragon. On the contrary, as he ran at full speed, he felt extremely relieved. It had been a long time since he had run like this freely. Ever since he accepted his true identity, an invisible pressure had kept him from breathing easily. Running now felt like an outlet; the faster he ran, the more thoroughly he could release that pressure. Perhaps it was also due to his experiences with Ye Luobaihua in his dreams—one must face oneself, but living is still the best. Even if dying, one should not die at the hands of such mindless creatures.

He didn’t know how long or how far he had run. The faint shadow behind him gradually disappeared into the dust, while Liu Yi’s true form created a gust of wind before vanishing into the night.

Finally, he stopped on a flat piece of land. The area was relatively open, surrounded by ancient trees. Liu Yi scanned the surroundings; it seemed quite clean, with hardly any snakes or insects in this dry and flat land. In any case, it was much better than the forest. Looking behind him, Liu Yi thought to himself, “They probably haven’t followed me.”

Without further hesitation, he knew his immediate task was to use his vital energy to gradually restore the flow in his meridians and dispel the cold energy within his body. Otherwise, if the blockage persisted, his arms would be ruined. He slowly sat cross-legged, forcing his hands to touch each other so that his vital energy could interact. Once everything was ready, he used the 12th-level meditation technique “Lanerfina Qing” to generate a protective aura around his body to keep snakes and insects at bay. Then, he closed off his six senses and entered a state of self-forgetfulness, using his vital energy to slowly push the cold energy out of his arms while continuously replacing it with new vital energy.

On this flat ground, with no many ancient trees to block the view, the morning stars still shone brightly above, and the light of the moon illuminated this eerie primeval forest. In the distance, the strange cries of wild beasts could be heard, but compared to the Ice Dragon, they seemed almost pleasant. Yet, Liu Yi didn’t have time to listen to these sounds now; having entered a state of self-forgetfulness, he was already isolated from the world.

Yet, on this flat land, Liu Yi’s life was teetering on the edge of death. But none of this mattered, because he couldn’t see, hear, or know anything that was happening here.

It was a gray dragon—no, it wasn’t a dragon. It was a snake, a giant snake over ten zhang long. Even three Liu Yis put together wouldn’t match the thickness of its body. Its body was grayish-white, without a single stripe, shining like polished metal. Even stranger, the upper half of its body had a pair of grayish-white wings—wings without feathers, made entirely of bones and flesh. When spread out, those flesh wings were six zhang wide, and when closed, they matched perfectly in color. If it weren’t for the snake spreading its wings, no one would have known it had wings at all.

The gray snake’s eyes were a dark green in the darkness, and its enormous maw contained sharp teeth—teeth capable of crushing any iron or stone. The teeth were so long that the snake’s mouth couldn’t close. Within those stark white teeth, its red serpent core pulsed, emitting a foul smell. After folding its wings, the gray giant snake moved freely toward Liu Yi, its dark green eyes growing brighter as it spotted its prey.

By now, Liu Yi had completely shut down his six senses and entered a state of selflessness, relying solely on his body’s natural reactions to break through his frozen meridians. This was the fastest and safest method. Yet he ignored the dangers around him. If he could open his eyes now, he would surely realize that the ice dragon from earlier was countless times more magnificent than this gray snake. But at that moment, he had no chance to resist, as he hadn’t yet awakened.

The gray giant snake approached slowly, its stark white teeth seemingly heralding the arrival of death. Seeing Liu Yi sitting calmly, thick fluid flowed from the snake’s mouth. Once it found the perfect position to attack, the snake stopped. Its green eyes flickered, and its red serpent core continued to pulse…

What was about to happen was so simple yet hard to believe. After going through so much, would he die at the hands of a beast? But sometimes, we have no choice.

Just then, the gray giant snake lunged at Liu Yi. As it opened its bloody maw, releasing a foul smell, it bit down on Liu Yi’s body…

At arm’s length, a black shadow flashed and appeared over the snake’s mouth. At the same time, the snake let out a scream. Then, it frantically shook its head and writhed its body. The black shadow was flung dozens of feet away, disappearing into the forest.

Liu Yi couldn’t see clearly what the black shadow was, but half of the gray snake’s face was now stained with its green blood, looking terrifying. It turned out that as the black shadow leaped onto the snake’s mouth, it used some unknown object to blind one of the snake’s eyes. The intense pain made the snake roll around on the ground, its thick tail smashing trees and branches.

But in no time, the snake recovered. Though one eye was blind, its fierce animal instincts allowed it to stand up quickly and spread its fleshy wings. It stared at the spot where the black shadow had disappeared, seemingly searching for something…

…

Time passed slowly. As sunlight shone on Liu Yi’s body, driven by his vital energy, his hands regained sensation. The coldness in his body had vanished entirely. A night’s rest had allowed him to recover. He slowly opened his eyes. Suddenly, the ground shook slightly. Unconsciously, he shook his head and said, “That dragon was truly terrifying. It even gave me hallucinations.”

Just as Liu Yi was talking to himself, the ground shook again. Only then did Liu Yi realize something was wrong—this wasn’t an illusion; the ground was indeed vibrating. As soon as Liu Yi stood up, the ground shook even more violently. He stabilized himself and saw birds in front of him scattering as if frightened by something. Various beasts in the forest were also running around, including some large and seemingly fierce monsters. Liu Yi was puzzled and thought to himself, “Could it be that ice dragon? If so, it wouldn’t be strange.” While he was lost in thought, a loud roar echoed through the entire forest, immediately dispelling his idea. That roar wasn’t that of a dragon at all. Even if the ice dragon had grown or aged overnight, it couldn’t produce such an unpleasant sound. Liu Yi had never heard such a noise before, so he quickly realized it wasn’t a dragon. Then, another shrill screech came from somewhere. Liu Yi immediately thought, “It must be two monsters I’ve never seen before. If I’m guessing correctly, judging from the situation, they’re fighting.” Liu Yi wasn’t careless. From the panicked flight of the birds and beasts earlier, he could tell these two fighting monsters were extremely fierce. By the standards of the Netherworld, they should be at the level of spiritual beasts or even divine beasts… But what exactly were they? Everyone has curiosity, but at this moment, Liu Yi understood even more clearly what he needed to do. It was already the second day, and he must return to Wulue City by tomorrow. He needed to find his “Scorpion Bird” right away and then figure out a way to lure those monsters back to deal with Ye Luoxiong. With this in mind, Liu Yi made up his mind and turned toward the direction he had come from the night before. Just as he moved, with a whoosh, a huge grayish-white shadow appeared in front of him…
Part 5, Volume 15: Humans Have Feelings, but the Moon Is Heartless