The True Ice Plains

Bai Ye's divine soul looked at the scene before him. Every inch of this place felt so familiar.

He slowly walked forward. Since entering the barrier that time, none of the Cold Qi Eruptions within his body had brought him back to this mysterious Snowy Plains.

"I wonder if I need to keep going forward."

Bai Ye gauged the distance, then continued onward.

But he soon stopped. There was no other reason—he had seen the barrier.

He turned around and looked at the footprints being covered behind him. Beyond them stretched an endless expanse of snow, exactly as it had looked the first time he saw it.

It seemed that forcibly using the Ancestral Vein last time had directly teleported him here from the Snowy Plains, skipping much of the journey he should have taken.

Bai Ye reached out and touched the barrier before him.

It was a thin white membrane connected to the vast Snowy Plains, seemingly endless.

He applied a little force, only to meet intense resistance.

It was as though he was not yet qualified to enter this place.

Then all he could do was... retreat?

"Don't joke with me."

The corners of Bai Ye's lips curled upward, and a trace of madness flashed through his eyes. He had already come this far—how could he possibly return empty-handed?

The next moment, his divine soul rapidly shrank, while his body gradually became solid. Since he could not enter through conventional means, he could only force his way through with violence.

He refined his divine soul, dispersing all the excess power within it before condensing his body.

If he could not pass through the entire barrier, then striking at one tiny point would surely give him a sliver of a chance.

Having just broken through to the Heaven Merging Realm, the power of his divine soul had further increased.

The refinement process was long, but it was also agonizing.

It was like using a knife to carve words into one's brain bit by bit. Bai Ye wore a smile the entire time, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the barrier before him.

His gaze gradually turned feverish.

He was fascinated by great power, but he did not crave it. The only reason he was doing this was his curiosity toward the unknown.

He wanted to see that boundless wilderness again, that breathtaking scenery.

"Faster. I need to be faster."

Bai Ye muttered to himself. He could feel that his time in this world was running out. Who knew how long he would have to wait before he could return next time?

He had to speed up.

By then, his legs had already vanished. His upper body floated in midair without the slightest sense of incongruity. Having refined himself to this extent, he formed hand seals, and his hands collapsed, turning into golden motes of light that disappeared from this world.

Then came his body, his head, his neck, and his heart.

The divine soul that had once possessed a human form scattered, transforming into a tiny ice-blue speck of light.

In reality, Bai Ye's face twitched violently. This pain bypassed the flesh entirely and struck directly at his soul, making it even more acute than physical pain.

Enduring the excruciating agony, he once again fixed his gaze on the barrier ahead.

Without another word, he turned into a streak of Flowing Light. The tiny ice-blue speck slammed straight into the barrier.

The powerful resistance did not weaken in the slightest just because his body had become smaller. Instead, it grew even more rejecting. The divine soul speck gritted its teeth, withstood the impact, and used all its strength to inch toward the other side of the barrier.

That thin white membrane now seemed like an insurmountable chasm in Bai Ye's eyes.

Faster, faster. I'm almost there.

Sensing that unusual power, Bai Ye accelerated. His divine soul, already shrunk to the size of a particle, burned once more. Its charge suddenly intensified as it shot directly toward the inside of the barrier.

Just a little more. Just a little more.

But at that moment, Bai Ye felt a force enveloping his divine soul.

He knew that time was up.

But he was so close. There was only a little left.

In an instant, a mad divine light flashed in Bai Ye's eyes. The next moment, his ever-shrinking divine soul directly ignited. The burning of his divine soul gave it immense power, but it would only last for one second.

Then...

"I'm back."

Whoosh!

The last trace of his divine soul scattered from this world.

"Pfft!"

In the real world, Bai Ye suddenly opened his eyes, and a jet of blood sprayed from his mouth. Blood splattered everywhere, covering the floor before him.

His aura was feeble, as if he were on his last breath.

In truth, in a sense, his condition was not far from being at death's door.

But...

His eyes shone brightly, and the smile on his pale face would not fade.

He had seen it. In that final second, he had seen it again. He had entered that space.

"Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha..."

Bai Ye covered his face with one hand, utterly unconcerned with the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth as he laughed uncontrollably.

It had truly been too long. At last, he had seen that scenery once more.

He wanted to understand it. He wanted to explore it. He wanted to continue onward across that Ice Plains filled with ice sculptures.

That day would come. It absolutely would.

It was his. This was his world alone.

It was within his body, within his heart.

Bai Ye covered his face and leaned against the wall behind him.

His smile was radiant.

The Hunting Tournament was a grand event held in Ying Longcheng at this time every year for the younger generation aged sixteen and under.

Hunting, as the name implied, meant fighting and killing within a designated time and area.

However, the prey was not Spiritual Beasts, but the other young participants.

Everyone carried a spirit token representing their identity. Having one's spirit token taken meant being eliminated from the tournament.

The various factions of Ying Longcheng would each send their outstanding younger members to lead teams into a special space, where every scene would be virtually generated.

Those who lost their spirit tokens would be teleported out of that space, until the final victor emerged.

The top ten would receive corresponding rewards, and the tournament also served to rank Ying Longcheng's younger generation.

Those rankings carried considerable weight.

At least in the previous tournament, first place had gone to Ying Madman of the City Lord's Mansion.

And in the one before that, it had gone to a man named Zhao Mingya.

Those two had suppressed the entire younger generation of Ying Longcheng so thoroughly that no one even had the will to resist.

Half a month later, the Ancient Spirit Realm of Ying Longcheng was where the Hunting Tournament would begin.

"Has Brother not come out yet?"

Dressed in light armor, Ying Xue'er stood at the very front of the City Lord's Mansion's group and asked the Fox Girl beside her.

"Young Master's door has remained shut. He only told me midway through to accompany Miss to the Hunting Tournament. Other than that, there has been no movement."

Yan Meng answered. What seemed like Flowing Light swirled within her purple eyes, making them exceptionally captivating.

After more than ten days, she had finally broken through to the early Divine Soul Realm. Only then did she understand why Bai Ye had made that demand.

Although there were no explicit rules in the Hunting Tournament, all the younger generation shared an unspoken rule.

Every participant had to reach the Divine Soul Realm.

Those above or below the Divine Soul Realm were not qualified to participate. For those in the Spiritual Wheel Realm, the Divine Soul Realm was a dividing line. Once the Qi Sea and divine soul were formed, and the essence souls of myriad beasts were refined, the Spiritual Wheel Realm could not compare in the slightest.

Likewise, compared to the Divine Soul Realm, the Three Heavens Realm was another chasm that was difficult to cross.

Thus, the Divine Soul Realm was the mainstream level among the younger generation.

Excluding the other realms was also for the sake of relative fairness.

It was for this reason that, after learning he did not need to compete, Bai Ye had directly pushed through the realm he had been suppressing for half a year in one go.

"Without him here, I don't feel confident at all."

Ying Xue'er looked upward. That familiar figure had not appeared beside her father. At this time last year, she had only needed to cheer Bai Ye on from the stage, but now it was her turn to bear the City Lord's Mansion's glory.

If, as children of Ying Longcheng, they could not raise the surname "Ying" to the top of Ying Longcheng's younger generation rankings,

then it would be deeply humiliating for both her and Bai Ye.

Bai Ye had done very well last year, but now it was her turn.

"It'll go smoothly. Everything will go without a hitch."

Yan Meng comforted her.

This young girl also possessed mid-stage Divine Soul Realm strength. Along with her various methods, she should be able to stand out in the tournament.

"You don't understand. It's a sense of security. As long as Brother is here, I dare to do anything."

He was her brother, her solid support.

At that moment, a scholar stepped onto the highest platform.

Qiu Zidao swept his refined and elegant gaze across the young men and women below who were about to enter the Ancient Spirit Realm. He took out an ancient Bamboo Slip and released spiritual energy into the sky.

Then, he casually threw the Bamboo Slip into the air. It hovered there without falling, casting light down below.

At that moment, Qiu Zidao also looked toward the audience beneath the stage.

He smiled faintly and spoke softly.

"Begin."

Boom! That vast world instantly took shape.