At the same time Ling Yun destroyed the Black Stone Altar in Misty Rift Valley on the border of the Star Luo Empire, another contest concerning the continent's fate quietly unfolded upon the harsh stage of ice and snow in the Extreme North, tens of thousands of miles away.
The Permafrost Abyss lay in the core region of the Extreme North, an absolute dead zone where even ten-thousand-year black ice could crack from the cold. Frigid gale winds blew here year-round, strong enough to tear apart a Soul Sage's protective Soul Power, while the air carried a chill capable of freezing even souls. The abyss itself was a bottomless, enormous rift that seemed to lead into the Nine Netherworlds, its depths roiling not with cold, but with black evil energy saturated with deathly stillness and destruction.
At that moment, several powerful figures silently arrived at the abyss's edge.
At their head stood Tang Chen, the ancestor of the Clear Sky Sect and a Level Ninety-Nine Peak Douluo! Though advanced in years, he remained mountain-like in stature, with an ancient, weathered face and eyes that flashed with brilliance whenever they opened or closed. Holding the Clear Sky Hammer that had once shaken the continent, he needed only stand there for the weighty aura around him to seem capable of suppressing heaven and earth. After this period of recuperation, though he had not fully returned to his peak, his strength was already terrifying beyond measure.
Besides several elders of the Clear Sky Sect, two breathtaking figures who nearly blended into their surroundings stood beside him.
One wore an immaculate white gown, her peerless features cold and serene, her aura as ethereal as snow. She was the foremost of the Extreme North's Three Heavenly Kings, the Snow Empress, whose cultivation neared seven hundred