Chapter Thirty-Three: The Frost Dragon and the Ice Phoenix

The sky grew ever darker, as if the sun could no longer bear the grim silence of this land and had retreated early, or perhaps the dim heavens themselves had veiled its radiance. Standing atop the city walls, Ye Bai watched as a dense tide of mutated beasts surged toward Snow City, driving the remaining examinees before them. The sun had not yet set, but already the city was crowded with candidates.

Some, like Ye Bai, stood upon the ramparts, anxious about how they would pass the trial; others lingered below, listening to the warriors recount tales of ice and snow. Yet whether upon the wall or gathered in the city listening to the stories of Snow City's defenders, every pair of eyes held the same unspoken worry for the coming war.

Even before the first battle cry, the sky itself seemed to cower, surrendering its terrors to the night. Far beyond, hundreds or perhaps thousands of kilometers away, countless mutated beasts advanced in chaotic herds. The largest of them, creatures like mammoths, crushed the smaller beasts beneath their feet with every ponderous step, while the swiftest darted ahead, racing toward Snow City.

Tonight was peaceful—perhaps the last night of peace. Soon after nightfall, a white dome enveloped the whole city, and word spread that from this moment Snow City was sealed off entirely.

Atop the northern wall, a woman in a white dress stood gazing into the darkness, where countless red eyes glowed in the gloom. Sorrow flickered in her black eyes, and from her radiated a white aura, pure and attribute-less, yet it carried the unmistakable presence of an initiate’s power. Below, the candidates gazed up in awe; many among them owed their lives to this woman in white.

"O Holy Maiden in white, save this wretched world," whispered a man below, hands pressed together in silent prayer. He was one whom the white-robed woman had rescued—he’d been mortally wounded by a mutated saber-toothed tiger and was on the verge of elimination when she appeared, her hands aglow with white light. In moments, his strength had been restored.

On the southern side of the city, a woman with a braid coiled at her waist and her hair carelessly tied exuded a wild, untamed aura.

"Do you know who that is?" a scholarly-looking man asked a city guard.

"Forget it, you clearly don't. That’s the Ice Princess, you know," he replied with a self-satisfied arch of his brow.

The guards along the ramparts maintained their polite smiles throughout.

Elsewhere in the south, a man stood at the center of a small plaza, eyes closed. Soon, blood pooled at his feet, staining his once-yellow robe a deep crimson.

Meanwhile, in a northern inn, a man in pajamas was sound asleep atop a bed, with an iron-furred giant bear sitting beside him, muttering to itself.

"Where’s Yezi gone, I wonder? Could he have been eliminated already?" The chubby bear shuddered at the thought, unwilling to contemplate it further.

Li Fei rubbed his aching head with a broad palm, glancing down at the man in cute, girlish pajamas sleeping soundly on the bed, and could only smile wryly.

It wasn’t long ago that the beasts had begun their rampage, and Li Fei, far from the world’s edge, was hurrying toward Snow City when a pack of ice wolves appeared from nowhere. These wolves were unlike any he’d seen before on the plains—their fangs were several centimeters longer and their aggression had reached a fever pitch. Gone was the cunning of old; now they lunged blindly, even attacking their own kind in their frenzy.

He’d heard snarls and howls behind him, and as he turned, a wolf lunged at him, jaws agape. Li Fei instinctively raised his arm to shield himself.

The wolf bit deep into his arm, and others immediately followed, some attacking the first wolf itself. The remainder came at Li Fei from every side. The sudden assault of the wolves pried the first beast from his arm, and he stared at the deep bite marks, realizing he would be torn to pieces if he didn’t flee.

He had reached the peak of Body Tempering when he came to this trial, his physical strength already at Entry-level. Yet now these ice wolves could injure him; for most examinees, such beasts would be fatal.

Without hesitation, he fled toward Snow City, praying to encounter someone who might save him.

It wasn’t long before he came upon a field strewn with wolf and human corpses, their bodies still fresh. He tried to flee elsewhere, but the wolves behind gave him no choice, and he could only grit his teeth and run forward.

Perhaps fate was not ready to claim him, or perhaps fortune smiled upon him, for in his desperate flight he stumbled upon the group led by the man in the sleeping cap, who had just finished off a wolf pack—and thus, he was saved.

That night, the city endured the howling of countless mutated beasts. No one slept soundly, save for the man in pajamas.

At dawn, the city guards brought word from the king.

“All warriors who have broken through to Entry-level are to assemble at the palace to discuss how we will resist the mutated beasts’ assault.”

Ye Bai was roused early by Liu Xin and set out for the palace, with the man in pajamas trailing beside him. Ye Bai was astonished, but too embarrassed to ask questions.

Liu Xin explained that he was but a humble captain of the gate and could not escort Ye Bai into the palace, but assured him someone would come to receive him.

Ye Bai observed the man before him, clad in white robes, his pauldrons emblazoned with the ancient, ferocious visage of Taotie. Liu Xin’s own were adorned with lions. The man in front was utterly expressionless, leading the way in silence, and beside him was a veritable god of sleep. Ye Bai could only sigh, but with the palace now in sight, he was glad he would soon encounter normal people at last.

“Please, warriors, take your seats.”

Atop the dais, upon a throne carved in the shape of a dragon’s head, sat a young man, not much older than Ye Bai and his companions. Yet the throne, once brimming with spiritual vigor, seemed now devoid of life. The young man spread his hands, and beside each candidate a jade chair appeared.

All those who had reached Entry-level bowed slightly in respect before sitting upon the chairs behind them. Yet a man in yellow robes on the other side of the hall sat down directly without ceremony.

The man upon the throne merely smiled kindly.

"I do not know where you brave souls come from, but every time, on the eve of the 'Day of Purification,' you appear alongside us to resist the mutated beasts. Once more, I thank you, warriors."

Those seated watched the king and those around him closely, Ye Bai included.

The king was strikingly young, yet there was an unfathomable depth to him. His robust build radiated strength, and though he smiled gently, his face was suffused with fighting spirit. His white battle armor bore the image of the mythic Qilin upon its shoulders.

Most of those near Ye Bai were male candidates, but across from him sat a woman in white, exuding an aura of sanctity and transcendence, like a fairy descended to the mortal world. Beside her was another woman, dressed entirely in sky blue, her graceful figure delicate as flowing water—yet in her eyes shimmered a fierce, unyielding wildness, like a leopardess of the African plains.

"You are the strongest twenty-six of all our warriors," the king declared. "You and I have a more arduous task ahead."

With a wave of his right hand, two white-robed men entered, their pauldrons adorned with Taotie. Each carried a jade tray upon which lay white crystals.

"These are our clan’s Ice Crystals, harvested from the Ice Crystal Flower. The flower is born of earth and sky, spending a thousand years beneath the ice to gather its essence. When the millennium ends, it blooms, and in a single day produces the Ice Crystal Fruit, from which our warriors craft the Ice Crystal Stones."

The two men distributed the stones along both sides of the hall.

"In these thousand years, our warriors have forged twenty-six Ice Crystal Stones. Each stone contains immense power and must be used with care. On each are two buttons: when the white one lights up, I am summoning you to the final battle. Press the red button only in direst need, for doing so will release a cataclysmic force, leveling everything for kilometers around."

Ye Bai examined the stone in his hand—on one side, a white and a red button. As he was about to study it further, the king spoke again.

"When the white button on your Ice Crystal Stone lights up, pressing it will teleport you instantly to my side. The red button is for the gravest emergency—use it with utmost caution."

While Ye Bai and the others listened to the king’s strategy within the palace, at the northern and southern edges of the world, two immense caverns yawned. Inside, white lightning crackled, and from myriad smaller caves, mutated beasts poured forth. Stray bolts of lightning occasionally struck down swathes of the beasts at the entrances.

At the heart of each great cavern, a sphere of electricity pulsed, radiating arcs of power. Within the northern sphere fluttered the shadowy form of a white bird; within the southern, a winged serpent slithered restlessly.

After a night of relentless advance, the swiftest mutated beasts had reached the base of Snow City, glaring hungrily at the defenders atop the walls. In the distance, massive mammoths and hippos ambled forward, while winged saber-toothed tigers flashed across the sky.

The guards atop the walls, pale at the sight of the teeming horde, seemed to recall something that steeled their resolve—the flames of battle rekindled in their eyes as they surveyed the scene below.

"That is all I have to say," the king concluded, closing his eyes and quietly awaiting the coming war.

Whether cowed by the aura of kingship or convinced by the king’s words, all those below rose and filed out of the hall, proceeding to their assigned posts.

As Ye Bai and the others left the palace, the cries of the king beasts echoed from the northern and southern poles.

A deep, thunderous roar from the north; a clear, piercing call from the south.

The sound swept across the entire world, reaching the ears of every mutated beast. In an instant, all the beasts prostrated themselves, welcoming the birth of their sovereign.