The underground ridge was quiet—eerily so. Frost lined the obsidian walls, shimmering in jagged patterns where ancient formations once pulsed with spirit energy. Jalen, Jaya, and Walford stepped lightly across uneven ground, every sound swallowed by the damp hush of chilled stone. Their breath misted in the air.
Spirit beasts lurked in the shadows—some feline, some insectoid, others unclassifiable—but they recoiled when Jalen passed. Even the fearless sensed something wrong about him. He wasn't emanating killing intent. Instead, the quiet pulse of his energy—or lack of it—disoriented them. They gave way not out of fear, but instinct.
Beyond their trio, dozens of cultivators scoured the tunnels. Some were as young as Walford; others were seasoned fighters hardened by sect wars and relic hunts. There were even a few rare figures from the Spirit Fusion realm—early stage but already with a commanding presence that made the walls themselves feel brittle. Everyone had come for one thing: treasure.
Jaya's eyes sparkled as she spotted rare herbs etched into the cavern wall—Threadmint Leaves, Glowvine Root, and even a Crystallized Bloom that pulsed gently with dormant qi. Jalen gave them a glance. Useless to him. But he pocketed a few into his storage realm regardless. They will be useful to the Flare and Hewitt family.
They found more as they moved—scraps of old armor, tokens, broken formation rings—but Jaya frowned. None of it would help her break into round two of the royal competition. She didn't say it, but Jalen noticed. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
As they passed a mist-laced corridor, Jalen paused. His senses spiked.
A cold presence pulled him toward a small cavern—colder than the rest, more still.
The temperature ahead surged with dangerous spiritual pressure. The cold could freeze even an Imperial Realm cultivator alive. Walford and Jaya remained behind, unable to continue into the chamber. Only Jalen could withstand the environment, and he proceeded forward alone.
Inside, a single bloom rested on a pedestal. Ice spiraled out from its stem like frozen lightning. Its petals shimmered blue and silver. The temperature dropped so quickly, breath misted into fog, and the walls sang with spiritual resistance.
Jalen narrowed his eyes.
The Ice Jade Sunflower.
A rare treasure with properties severe enough to freeze even an Imperial Realm cultivator if they weren't careful. In the right hands, it could preserve life—or halt it. Perfect cultivation for his younger brother, Jared who had an ice physique and spirit core. Jalen stepped forward to retrieve it.
"Stop right there," a sharp voice echoed.
From the far ledge, a cloaked figure appeared—young but decked in expensive robes, radiating power at the peak of the Imperial Realm. His gaze locked onto the flower.
"That Ice Jade Sunflower is mine."
Jalen didn't answer.
He reached out and plucked the flower calmly, then tossed it into his pocket realm with a flick of his fingers.
"You brat. You dare steal my treasure before me?"
Still, Jalen ignored him. His silence was sharper than any insult.
The cloaked man growled, hand reaching for his weapon—but before steel clashed with intent, the lake below them churned.
A roar echoed.
Not human. Not sane.
From beneath the frozen depths, a peak Spirit Fusion Realm Ice Dragon emerged—its colossal frame gleaming with layers of crystal hide, eyes burning with dormant wrath. The tremor that shook the ridge was more than physical. It was spiritual. Ancient. Territorial.
This was her nest, and someone not only dared to intrude but also stole her treasure, which she had been awaiting hundreds of years to mature.
The cloaked cultivator didn't hesitate. He fled faster than he'd arrived.
But Jalen remained.
The dragon's head tilted. Its gaze found him. Rage intensified.
Then came the attack—a ferocious ice beam, wide as a corridor, pure cryogenic death.
Jalen lifted his right hand.
Luminal Edge shimmered into reality—a radiant saber made from concentrated light. The beam met his slash mid-air, and for a moment, the cavern went silent.
Then came the explosion.
Ice split. Stone shattered. The blast rebounded into distant walls, sending tremors so vast that cultivators elsewhere paused, felt it, and either ran or prepared for what they believed would be history.
The dragon launched another strike, more precise, more lethal. Jalen met it again. The beam cracked.
Of course, Jalen wasn't unscathed; though he managed to break through these attacks, he was still injured, suffering from frostbite, and he had to be constantly circulating his qi to not freeze on the spot.
The dragon expanded its Ice Domain.
Everything within a mile froze. Literally.
Cultivators near the edge of the expansion turned to brittle statues. Some shattered instantly. Spirit beasts froze mid-pounce, their movements halted by a single sweep of the dragon's aura.
Walford shielded Jaya instantly and moved her far out of the domain radius into a corridor of soft light.
Meanwhile, ice attacks flurried around Jalen like a blizzard in reverse.
He activated his rapid movement art: the third technique of his light cultivation—Luminous Veil Step. Jalen shimmered—then fractured into radiant echoes. Five versions of him danced across the battlefield, trailing luminous ribbons that curved through the terrain like calligraphy written in motion.
The dragon struck the third. It passed through. Jalen had already moved.
One of the dragon's spiral ice lances caught Jalen mid-flash just below the ribs. He grunted, staggered, and the light around him faltered. Frost crawled over the wound like venom, slowing his movement and spirit vein. Another beam clipped his thigh. His robes were ruined, his face bloodied, and his energy strained.
He dropped to one knee.
The dragon surged, sensing weakness.
Then came the final strike—a concentrated pulse of Ice Domain energy, meant to erase him completely.
Jalen didn't dodge. He let the energy come.
His core pulsed—Refraction Field Bloom activated. The hostile energy twisted, fractured, and spiraled inward.
But the dragon was a sub realm above him. The energy was too much.
His meridians screamed. His dantian compressed. Blood burst from his mouth.
Frost surged through his veins like venom. His primary spirit core fused with the origin shard flickered. His body trembled.
I can't contain this, he thought. Not like this.
So he made a decision.
Thread Fusion.
Jalen forced the chaotic frost energy into Luminal Edge, binding it with radiant light. The saber flared—unstable, volatile, burning with fused intent.
His veins lit up like molten glass. His vision blurred. His soul felt split.
He roared—not out of rage, but survival.
He struck.
The blade didn't cut the domain. It rewrote it.
A radiant explosion ripped through the cavern, reforming the domain itself. Stone, frost, and even the very light bent away from the blast.
The domain collapsed.
Ice turned to steam.
The lake shattered.
Steam hissed through the cavern. For a breathless moment, nothing moved. Then the dragon groaned—its body too fractured to rise.
A final roar tore from its throat—not of fury, but of mourning. Of loss.
Then it collapsed.
Its body slammed into the ice below with a final thud.
Jalen staggered forward.
He was covered in cuts, breath ragged. But he walked.
His thoughts were a blur—pain, exhaustion, and the echo of the dragon's fury still coiled in his veins.
He was about to finish the beast when he heard soft cries.
Two baby ice dragons emerged, crawling from behind frozen spires. They cried out and curled against their fallen parent. One bared its fangs. The other tried an ice attack that barely disrupted Jalen's tattered robe.
He didn't retaliate.
He placed two healing pills nearby.
"Take these. It will help you recover. I'll take the Ice Jade Sunflower as repayment."
He turned and walked away.
Regret simmered. He'd left behind a rare Spirit Beast Core—one that could've helped Jared in the future with his cultivatio.
He called himself a fool.
Before he could retreat fully, another cultivator entered—his aura unmistakably early Spirit Fusion Realm. Jalen sensed him too late.
The cultivator struck.
A crushing blow. The Ice Dragon died instantly. One baby with it.
The other was barely alive.
The man took the adult dragon corpse into his pocket domain, smiling.
And tried to leave.
But how could Jalen let him?
He had spared life. The man had stolen it.
Jalen's blade shimmered again—not with light, but judgment.