The next day, as expected, Wutan City was thrown into a massive uproar.
News that Gale Bi, the patriarch of the Gale Family, the Great Elder, and several core experts had all perished overnight in the Obsidian Mine Cave outside the city spread through the entire city as though it had grown wings.
The traces left at the scene were strange and gruesome, as if it had been ravaged by an extreme cold storm. Most of the bodies were frozen, and their causes of death were baffling.
The Gale Family immediately fell into chaos, left leaderless.
The Ouba Family, which had long been eyeing them hungrily, and the Xiao Family, which had been quietly biding its time, acted almost the instant the news was confirmed. Like sharks that had caught the scent of blood, they swiftly began carving up and annexing the Gale Family's businesses and territory.
The balance of power among Wutan City's three great factions was completely shattered, and the city's power structure underwent a violent reshuffling.
Yet to Mo Lin, the instigator behind the turmoil that had set the entire city abuzz and made countless people burn with envy, it was nothing more than irrelevant clamor beyond the window.
Within his hidden temporary residence, in a quiet room simply outfitted with a soundproof barrier, Mo Lin sat cross-legged with his eyes shut.
His consciousness had long since sunk into a vast and peculiar space—his Sea of Consciousness.
This place was not a dark void, but a fantastical and dazzling realm.
On one side lay an endless ice-blue tundra, where frigid air bit to the bone and snowflakes drifted through the air. On the other was a scarlet land of lava, where heat waves surged and flames rose.
The two extreme powers of ice and fire were not wholly opposed here. Instead, they intertwined and circulated in an enigmatic rhythm, forming a fragile balance.
At the core where ice and fire intertwined, two stunning figures floated in the air.
One of them appeared to be a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl. She wore a short emerald-green skirt, her petite body was delicate and graceful, and her exquisite features resembled those of a porcelain doll. Yet her emerald eyes carried a pride and sharpness that did not match her appearance.
An aura of absolute frost radiated from her body. She was the Ice Empress in human form.
The other was a woman dressed in white as pure as snow. Her bearing was cold and ethereal, like a fairy maiden from the moon palace. Her beauty was peerless, carrying the aloofness and majesty of one who looked down upon all living beings. She was naturally the Snow Empress.
At this moment, Mo Lin's spiritual body had taken solid form here, engaging in his usual "sparring session" with the Ice Empress and Snow Empress.
"Brat, take this! Emperor Palm: Great Cold Without Snow!" the Ice Empress shouted. With a light tap of her jade-like hand, an icy palm force that seemed gentle yet contained the intent to freeze all things silently struck toward Mo Lin.
Mo Lin did not dare be careless. With his mind fully focused, he struck out with a palm as well. Ice-blue light flowed across his palm. Though it lacked the Ice Empress's effortless mastery, it carried a faint semblance of the Emperor Palm's essence.
Bang!
The two forces of extreme cold collided. Mo Lin's spiritual body shook violently and drifted several steps back, a thin layer of frost spreading across his surface. Still, he had barely managed to withstand the blow.
"Hmph! It barely looks decent, but you're still far too green! Your energy isn't condensed enough, and your artistic conception is nowhere close!" The Ice Empress curled her lips and criticized him without mercy, though an imperceptible trace of satisfaction flashed through her emerald eyes.
After all, Mo Lin had only been exposed to the Emperor Palm for a short time. Such progress was already rare.
"Calm your mind and focus your spirit. Feel the path along which the chill circulates, rather than merely imitating its form." The Snow Empress's cool voice rang out from the side, like an icy spring striking jade, directly identifying the key point.
As its creator, the Snow Empress would occasionally offer a sentence or two, often allowing Mo Lin to see the light at once.
Mo Lin took a deep breath—a spiritual action—and focused again, clashing with the Ice Empress once more.
Within this spiritual world, he could freely display and hone the many powerful skills he had inherited from the two Empresses, such as the Emperor Palm, the rudimentary form of the Emperor Sword, and a deeper understanding of the Emperor's Cold Heaven domain.
Though these were merely clashes on the spiritual level, the improvement to his actual combat ability was entirely real.
This sparring continued for about an hour before Mo Lin's spiritual body felt a wave of exhaustion, bringing it to an end.
The Ice Empress dispersed the cold aura around her, planted her hands on her hips, and floated before Mo Lin. Raising her delicate little face, her emerald eyes spun with curiosity and mischief as she suddenly asked,
"Hey, brat, don't spend all your time training. Tell me, there are a few women around you now that you have some kind of entanglement with, right?"
Mo Lin's spiritual body froze slightly. He had not expected the Ice Empress to suddenly ask such a question.
The Ice Empress counted on her fingers. "That Xiao Yi Xian you met in Qingshan Town—you went through hardships together, didn't you? And in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, with Yun Yun, the sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, you also had... uh, some 'intimate' contact?
"And yesterday, you played the hero saving a beauty, then kissed that enchantress called Ya Fei!"
Her tone was plainly teasing by the end.
Even the Snow Empress, usually as cold as snow, glanced over slightly, seeming to take a hint of interest in the question.
Mo Lin pondered for a moment, and a complicated smile appeared on his spiritual body's face.
He did not avoid the question, but seriously considered it.
"Xian'er..." In Mo Lin's mind appeared the kind yet somewhat stubborn girl gathering herbs in Qingshan Town, as well as the moments when they had leaned against each other in the valley and opened their hearts to one another.
"She was the first woman I truly came to know after arriving in this world, and the first for whom I developed feelings. Being with her is pure and relaxing.
"She bears the Calamity Poison Body, and her fate has been full of hardships. That makes me feel pity for her, as well as a sense of responsibility.
"I hope to protect her and help her escape the curse of her constitution. These feelings began amid hardship, carrying the sincerity of a young man first tasting love."
The Ice Empress snorted. "You really know how to cherish a beauty. What about Yun Yun? She nearly killed you, yet afterward she... Hmph!"
At the mention of Yun Yun, Mo Lin's gaze deepened. "Yun Yun... the situation is rather complicated. When we first met, it was a fight to the death, but that battle also allowed me to witness the bearing of a Dou Emperor expert.
"Later, through a series of coincidences, we had some... unexpected intimacy. Her status is noble, her strength is formidable, and beneath her cold exterior, she is warm-hearted. Being with her gives me a sense of challenge and conquest.
"Moreover, my initial insight into the Yin Yang Feather Transformation Art was thanks to her. Toward her, perhaps I feel some attraction born from her mystery and strength, along with the subtle connection created by that accident. But what happens in the future will depend on fate."
"Tsk, tsk, you make it sound so reasonable." The Ice Empress clicked her tongue and pressed on. "What about that Ya Fei from yesterday? You were pretty domineering. You directly declared that she was 'a woman you had your eye on,' then forcibly kissed her!"
Mo Lin smiled. His feelings toward Ya Fei were clearer. "Ya Fei... she is an exceptionally clever woman, skilled in calculation and social maneuvering, filled with the charm and ambition of a mature woman.
"Getting along with her is more like a game of strategy, full of probing and tugging. I admire her ability and beauty, and I also need the resource channels of the Mittel Family behind her.
"Saving her was partly going with the flow and partly because I valued her as a person. As for that kiss..."
Mo Lin paused, revealing an amused smile. "Perhaps it was a moment of impulse, or perhaps I wanted to break the ease with which she had always handled everything and leave a deeper mark in her heart.
"Between us, interests, admiration, and desire are intertwined. How things develop in the future may be quite interesting."
Summing it up, Mo Lin said frankly, "Xian'er represents my first love and responsibility. Yun Yun represents accident and challenge. Ya Fei represents strategy and desire.
"They are each different, and the places they occupy in my heart, as well as what they mean to me, are all different."
After hearing this, the Ice Empress tilted her head, curiosity gleaming in her emerald eyes. "Then which one do you like the most? Or rather, how do you plan to handle these relationships?
"Brat, don't tell me you really want to imitate those emperors and build yourself a harem?"
The Snow Empress spoke coolly as well, with a hint of warning. "Love is what most entangles the heart and mind. If you aspire to the peak, you must understand that affection between men and women can also become a shackle."
Mo Lin fell silent for a moment at her words. Then his spiritual body's gaze became firm and profound. "Whether I like one more than another is not something that can be compared so simply.
"Every woman who has appeared in my life has her own unique bond with me. I am not heartless, but I will never allow love to bind my hands and feet."
He looked at the Ice Empress and Snow Empress, his tone carrying a maturity and confidence beyond his years. "My path is to pursue the ultimate limits of Dou Qi, explore Yin Yang Origin Power, and reach the supreme Emperor realm.
"If confidantes who share my aspirations and can support one another accompany me on that path, it will naturally be one of life's blessings. But I will never let romantic attachment become my shackles."
"As for how we will get along..." The corner of Mo Lin's lips rose. "Let nature take its course and follow my heart. I will not betray any sincere feelings, but neither will I abandon my path for anyone.
"If they can understand and accept my path, then we can walk together for a while. If not, then each of us can have her own splendid life."
"What a fine 'let nature take its course and follow my heart'!" The Ice Empress clapped and laughed, apparently quite satisfied with Mo Lin's answer. "You've got some spirit, at least! Beauty hasn't muddled your head. I want to see just how far you can go, brat, and how many romantic debts you stir up along the way!"
The Snow Empress nodded slightly, and a faint trace of approval seemed to pass through her cold eyes.
Mo Lin's response showed that he was not someone who would drown in love. His heart held a broader world, which matched their expectations for their inheritor.
The conversation within the Sea of Consciousness gradually subsided, and Mo Lin's consciousness returned to reality.
He opened his eyes, the sharp gleam in them restrained. His feelings and his path now seemed clearer than before.
The clamor outside the window was someone else's feast, while his journey had only just begun.
Whether it was the conflict in Wutan City or the tangled relationships between him and the several women, they were only scenery and trials on his path toward the summit.
His goal had always been that vast world as boundless as a sea of stars.
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