Amid the snow filling the sky, Meng Qi sat cross-legged before the weathered ice wall. His eyes held ancient lamps that shot out three feet of gleaming radiance. Black and white flowed without pause, "illuminating" every ice crystal and the minutiae of how they combined into one whole, taking them into the depths of his eyes and casting them into the lamp wicks. He analyzed, reorganized, and evolved them ceaselessly. Gradually, illusory laws surfaced one after another, resembling glass and crystal, flickering constantly in Meng Qi's eyes.
A crystal-clear purple lightning long saber lay across his knees. With both hands gripping its hilt and one hand stroking its blade, he explored the mysteries of its structure, absorbing the various pieces of information transmitted from its depths.
Within Meng Qi's slowly rippling sea of mind, the mist grew increasingly dense, forming darkness. An ancient, desolate pool emerged, seemingly towering above the Nine Heavens. Within it, thunder and lightning had transformed into water—silver-white, pure azure, golden, resplendent violet, black and white, and every other color. They were sharply stratified. The deeper one went, the more the vastness and terror contained in each drop of thunderwater made one tremble. As for the scene at the bottom of the pool, Meng Qi's current level—even with Absolute Blade's complete memories—was unable to see it. He could only make out a blur, heart-stirring and soul-shaking, as though it could annihilate an entire era.
The "soil" and "stones" around the ancient pool were all extraordinary. Under the unceasing battering of the thunderwater and its constant tremors, they gradually shed their original forms and transformed into crystals of various colors, excellent materials for artifact refinement. The deeper they went, the higher their grade.
The thunderwater rippled, electric radiance interweaving above it. Every drop of "water" and every bolt