Breakthrough to a Minor Realm

Boom!

Thick smoke instantly spread everywhere. Taking the chance, the assassin tried to flee again, but Jialan would not let him pull the same trick twice. His spiritual power had long since sealed off the entire icy ground, and a Mental Pierce viciously stabbed into the assassin's sea of consciousness through the smoke. The assassin let out a muffled groan and stumbled into view.

Seeing that the opportunity could not be missed, John swung his longsword. The assassin's head flew through the air and landed on the thick ice, his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Clutching his head, Jialan crouched down in pain, his face deathly pale as two streams of crimson blood ran from his nostrils. He had not wanted to risk his life either. But this assassin had clearly reached the verge of Intermediate Peak. If he truly advanced to the Advanced tier, neither Jialan nor the entire border garrison would be a match for him.

It felt as though all strength had been drained from Jialan's body. His limbs were heavy as lead, and cold spread from deep within his bones. Yet it was not the familiar, controllable ice-element magic, but a piercing weakness and chill, as though even his blood were about to freeze.

In his mind, thoughts that had once been calm and clear began to crumble. His thoughts were like shattered ice crystals, scattering in every direction, unable to come together.

The two combat professionals were helpless and could only send him back to the small cabin in worry.

Inside the cabin, Jialan closed his eyes and forced himself into a meditative state. He knew that only meditation could restore his spiritual power and magic, but meditation was no easy task, especially when both his body and mind were so weak.

He began to regulate his breathing, trying to focus on the flow of magic within his body. At first, his thoughts were like wild horses breaking free of their reins, galloping uncontrollably in every direction. All kinds of shouts echoed constantly in his mind, disrupting his concentration. Fine beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead, and his breathing became rapid.

He gritted his teeth and focused all his attention on the Mental Core within his body. Gradually, his breathing steadied, and his thoughts began to clear.

He sensed the Mental Core within him like a faint ice crystal, emitting a pale blue glow. Though weak, that light contained endless cold. Jialan carefully guided that chill, letting it flow slowly. With every inch it moved, his body seemed to be covered in frost. Pain was gradually replaced by numbness, and his mind slowly calmed.

As his meditation deepened, Jialan's consciousness gradually sank into a strange world. He seemed to stand upon an endless Icefield, surrounded by unbroken ranges of icebergs as fine snow drifted from the sky.

The cold wind howled, yet it no longer made him feel cold. Instead, it brought him an unprecedented sense of peace. His spiritual power slowly recovered in this Icefield, like a dried-up lake being refilled by water from melted snow and ice.

Suddenly, he felt a powerful force surge from the depths of the Icefield, as though something were calling to him. Jialan followed the direction of that force, and faint cracking sounds came from the ice beneath his feet.

He knew this was the crucial moment for advancement. When he had killed the Ice Leopard last time, he had already stepped halfway into the threshold of Beginner Mid-Tier.

When he reached the center of the Icefield, a gigantic Ice Crystal Pillar appeared before him. Its body was clear and translucent, radiating dazzling light. Jialan reached out and gently touched the ice pillar.

In an instant, a powerful chill poured from the pillar into his body, reaching directly into his Mental Core. His body shuddered violently, as though he had been completely frozen by frost. Even his breathing stopped for a moment.

Immediately afterward, his Mental Core began to tremble intensely. An icy crystalline light suddenly burst forth, illuminating the entire Icefield. Jialan felt an unprecedented power surge from within, as though boundless icy force were rushing through his body. At that moment, his spiritual power also broke through its limits, like a storm sweeping across the Icefield and engulfing everything.

When the light gradually faded, Jialan slowly opened his eyes. His spiritual power had recovered and was even stronger than before. He could feel that his Mental Core had become more solid, while the power of his ice magic had risen to another level.

The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the heavy clouds, casting mottled light across the silver-clad forest. The entire snowy woodland seemed to have been touched by magic, crystal-clear and glittering. Every branch was wrapped in thick ice crystals, lightly colliding in the breeze and producing clear chimes like wind bells.

The mottled birchwood door slowly opened. The moment Jialan stepped out of the cabin, biting cold wind carrying fine snow grains rushed at his face, yet it made him feel more refreshed than ever. He took a deep breath, and the icy air flooded his lungs as the magic within him surged joyfully like a thawing stream.

"Success..." Jialan lowered his head and gazed at his hands. A cluster of deep-blue ice mist gathered above his palm. The mist shifted like a living thing, sometimes turning into birds, sometimes condensing into fish. He could feel the unprecedented fullness and vitality of the magic in his body.

In the distance came the crunch of footsteps on snow. Jialan looked up to see a slender figure walking toward him through a spruce forest laden with icicles. Sunlight danced through the man's dark brown hair, and pointed ears peeked out from between the strands. It was Shadow, the Half-elf archer.

"Congratulations." Shadow stopped five paces away, his emerald-green eyes like two flawless jade stones in the sunlight. A thin layer of frost covered the longbow slung over his shoulder, while snow grains from his night watch still clung to his leather armor.

The corners of Jialan's lips rose unconsciously, delight sparking in his eyes. "Thanks to your protection, I was able to advance without worry." He lightly waved his staff, its tip tracing an azure arc through the air. The surrounding snowflakes seemed to answer his call, forming a small vortex around him.

Shadow slightly raised his brows, keenly noticing that the snowflakes were not drifting at random but spinning along some mysterious pattern. "It seems it was more than a simple advancement." A rare look of approval appeared on his face. "Your control over the elements has become much more precise."

"Want to try it?" A mischievous glint flashed through Jialan's eyes as he suddenly pointed his staff at Shadow. In an instant, the snow beneath Shadow's feet rose into the air, gathering above his head into countless tiny ice crystal butterflies.

Those crystal-clear creations fluttered their wings, refracting rainbow light in the sun before gently landing on Shadow's shoulders and dissolving into specks of shimmering glow.

Shadow did not dodge. Only the tips of his ears trembled slightly. "Fancy tricks." Yet the tightness at the corners of his mouth had relaxed, the Half-elf's way of expressing pleasure. "The captain was right. You really do have talent."

At the mention of Argyle, Jialan's smile faded. "Now that you mention it, I really should thank Captain Argyle for sending you here. Otherwise, that assassin would have been difficult to deal with."

"I did not help you much. More importantly, the captain is concerned about your progress. The news coming from deep within the forest is not good..." Shadow said meaningfully.