Ice Prison King

Barn brought Adele's family of four back to the Ice Blade 123 squad's base. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he keenly sensed a strange aura emanating from Fukaloss's closed room—clearly, an uninvited guest had arrived.

"Declan, take them to get familiar with the environment and arrange rooms first," Barn instructed, turning to him. "I'll go check on Miss's situation."

Declan nodded slightly and led the four Moonflower Deer towards empty rooms on the other side of the courtyard. Barn took a deep breath and slowly walked towards Fukaloss's room. Just as he was about to knock, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Oliver, thin and gaunt, opened the door. His usually stern face was now filled with humility. He slightly shifted his body and said, "Come in."

Barn stepped into the room without changing his expression.

The room was softly lit. Besides Fukaloss, who was still sitting by the bed with her head bowed in silence, a woman sat in a chair by the tea table.

The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, with long, gray-white hair casually tied back. She carried herself with grace and nobility, her face gentle and kind. Her eyes, however, were as deep as an ancient well, calmly observing him. Though her gaze seemed mild, it carried an invisible pressure.

Barn instantly tensed his mind, clearly sensing the other party's powerful aura. He already had a guess—this must be the "grandmother" Fukaloss had mentioned, who was a High God.

Oliver stepped forward at the opportune moment. "This is Lord Annabelle."

"Barn pays his respects to Lord Annabelle," Barn said, not daring to be negligent.

The woman named Annabelle nodded faintly, her expression casual. She asked directly, "I heard you claim to be a 'Tiger-pattern Warrior'?"

Barn nodded calmly and replied in a steady tone, "Reporting to you, my lord, I hail from the Bole Clan of the Yulan Continent. Our clan members are known as Tiger-pattern Warriors by humans on the Yulan Continent." He only answered with information that was not crucial.

"I want to see you transform," Annabelle said plainly, but with an unrefusable command.

Barn subconsciously glanced at Fukaloss, who was sitting by the bed. She still had her head bowed, her long hair obscuring her face, making her expression unreadable. She remained silent, as if everything happening in the room had nothing to do with her. Seeing this, Barn hesitated no longer and silently activated his bloodline power, initiating the Tiger-pattern Warrior transformation.

A platinum halo enveloped his entire body. His form slowly stretched, transforming into a white tiger-person with wings on its back. Faint purple markings remained on the wings, a mark left from activating his bloodline after drinking the blood of a Thunder-wing White Tiger. However, as his strength grew, these purple markings had faded, and his form was slowly evolving towards the appearance of a divine beast, the White Tiger.

Annabelle slightly raised her gaze, sweeping over his wings and body. A flicker of imperceptible understanding flashed in her eyes. She then nodded gently, signaling, "Return to your human form."

Barn complied, dispelling the transformation and resuming his human appearance. Annabelle picked up her teacup, took a sip, and slowly asked, "Do you know the origin of your clan's bloodline?"

Barn understood inwardly but feigned ignorance, truthfully replying, "Our Bole Clan's ancestor, Bole, first appeared on the Yulan Continent over four thousand years ago. Since then, our clan has thrived and passed down through generations." He deliberately acted naive, unwilling to reveal his true knowledge of the bloodline.

Annabelle looked at his composed expression, a hint of a smile in her eyes. She did not offer any direct guidance, merely stating, "Fukaloss mentioned that you've been getting along well lately, and she even found inspiration from you, comprehending the profound mystery of 'Circle Softness.' Speaking of which, I still owe you a favor. These are for you."

As her words fell, she casually tossed a simple spatial ring towards Barn.

Barn quickly caught it. In the presence of a High God, he couldn't immediately drip blood to claim ownership and check its contents. He could only bow respectfully and thank her, "Thank you for your generous gift, my lord."

Annabelle waved her hand, her tone returning to its usual calmness. "I'm taking Fukaloss back to the Royal City. I won't be appearing for a long time. Take care of yourself."

Before Barn could respond, Fukaloss, who had been silent, suddenly looked up. Her eyes were filled with stubbornness, and she declared loudly, "I'm not going back! I want to stay here with my teammates!" Her voice still carried traces of lingering grievance and unwillingness.

Annabelle looked at her, her tone softening slightly but with an unyielding firmness. "Fufu, you are already a God-tier. You shouldn't be so willful anymore. You need to learn to bear the consequences of battle—even if I help you this time, you will eventually have to face fierce battles alone, and friends and family will inevitably fall in battle. This is not cruel; it is the tempering that the strong must endure."

Fukaloss continued to pout, her lips pursed, and turned her head away, clearly not convinced.

Annabelle shook her head helplessly and continued to persuade her, "Your talent is extremely high. While the three profound mysteries you've comprehended are not yet perfected, try to fuse them as soon as possible. Once you successfully fuse the three profound mysteries and combine it with your Evil Eye King talent, your strength will approach mine. At that point, I will no longer interfere with your freedom; you can do whatever you wish."

After speaking, without waiting for Fukaloss to retort, Annabelle's body suddenly erupted with a terrifying High God domain. An invisible force instantly enveloped the entire room, forcibly restraining Fukaloss and rendering her immobile. Then, carrying Fukaloss, she flashed and transformed into a streak of light, speeding towards the distant Ice Prison Royal City, leaving behind only a faint divine power fluctuation.

Oliver bowed to Barn. "Please hand over Blair's body to me. My lord wishes to take her back to the Royal City for burial. As for Julia's body, her family will come to collect it later."

Barn nodded without further comment. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved Blair's body from his spatial ring. The Beholder's corpse still bore faint traces of ice shards and dark blue blood, its former vitality long gone. Oliver carefully put the body away, then also turned and transformed into a figure, flying towards the direction of the Royal City.

Watching their receding figures, Barn sighed softly and took out the spatial ring Annabelle had bestowed. He dripped a drop of blood onto it, completing the ownership transfer.

His spiritual power probed the ring, and a hint of surprise flashed in Barn's eyes—inside the ring lay one hundred Soul Gold Beads, emitting faint soul fluctuations. Each bead radiated golden soul power and was of superior quality.

"The Ice Prison King is indeed generous," Barn mused inwardly.

Annabelle's words just now—that Fukaloss's strength would approach hers after fusing three profound mysteries and combining it with her talent.

An ordinary Lower God might not understand the meaning behind this statement, but Barn, having read the original work, knew that fully fusing three profound mysteries was already the realm of a six-star demon. With the added boost of the Evil Eye King talent, Fukaloss's strength could completely touch the threshold of a seven-star demon.

In the Ice Prison Royal City, a powerful expert with seven-star demon strength—Barn believed there was no one else. Annabelle's identity was thus self-evident; she was likely the Ice Prison King.

Just then, Barn suddenly slapped his forehead, a look of annoyance on his face. "Blast it, I forgot to get Adele's divine spark back!"

Adele's divine spark was still in Fukaloss's possession.

But he had never entered the inner city of the Ice Prison Royal City. Moreover, he was just a lowly Lower God and had no right to meet Annabelle, a High God, let alone demand a divine spark. For a moment, Barn felt a headache coming on and could only put the matter aside, planning to find a way later.

After Fukaloss was taken away by Annabelle, days turned into weeks, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, two figures suddenly appeared at the entrance of Barn's courtyard, breaking the silence of the base. The man had two purplish-gold dragon horns on his head and a stern face. He wore a suit of black armor intricately engraved with dragon patterns, exuding a powerful aura of a Middle God. Barn immediately recognized him as the deputy commander of the Heavenly River Legion.

The woman beside him was a delicate-looking young woman, dressed in plain clothes, her expression haggard, her eyes filled with fatigue and sorrow. Her aura was also very unstable.

Sensing the auras emanating from the two, especially the suppressed grief and hostility, Barn quickly got up and went out. Just as he was about to greet them, he met their chilling gazes—cold, sorrowful, and with a hint of imperceptible resentment. The words that were on the tip of Barn's tongue were forced back down.

After a moment of silence, the man with the purplish-gold dragon horns spoke first, his voice low and hoarse, filled with unconcealable grief. "We are Julia's parents."

Barn understood and said nothing more. He silently raised his hand and took out Julia's body from his spatial ring. The headless corpse still retained its appearance from when she died, and dried bloodstains remained on her armor.

After retrieving the body, Barn respectfully stepped back a few paces, lowered his gaze, and stood aside, giving the couple space.

"Waaah—" Julia's mother could no longer hold back as she looked at her daughter's cold corpse. She covered her face and sobbed uncontrollably, her cries piercing and despairing, making one's heart ache.

The man, however, clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. Blood dripped from between his fingers, but he seemed oblivious, his gaze fixed on his daughter's body, his grief almost overflowing from his eyes.

At this moment, Declan and Adele also heard the commotion and hurried out of their rooms. Seeing the scene in the courtyard, both their expressions tightened, and they silently stopped in the distance, not daring to approach.

Barn simply stood by, waiting quietly.

Ten minutes later, the man finally calmed the grief in his heart, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Barn, his tone softening slightly: "My name is Timothy. Your mission to escort the Ghost-faced Spider is considered complete; you may head to the mission hall later to claim your corresponding rewards."

"Lord Timothy," Barn bowed slightly, his tone tinged with guilt, "I am sorry, we failed to protect Julia."

Timothy waved his hand, saying nothing more. Although the grief in his eyes had not yet faded, he understood that on the battlefield, life and death were unpredictable, and there was no one to blame.

"By the way, the great war between the royal cities has just ended. Do not venture out for now; wait a few hundred years until the borders have stabilized."

Without waiting for Barn to answer, he carefully picked up his daughter's body, offered a few soft words of comfort to his still-sobbing wife, and then, with his wife in tow, vanished from the encampment in a flash.