Ice Extreme Divine Pill, Primordial Ice, Ling Luocheng

Time passed quietly in the steady rhythm of their "meetings every two days," and before they knew it, late autumn had arrived.

For nearly two months now, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, the door to the Frost Cultivation Room opened on time and closed on time.

Ling Luocheng had gone from polite detachment at the beginning, to occasionally giving Huo Chen a slight nod when he entered, to sometimes raising her eyes to meet his gaze for a brief instant while he explained things.

Every change had been exceedingly subtle, like ice gradually melting beneath a spring breeze—so slow it was almost imperceptible. Yet accumulated to this day, the difference had become plain to see.

She still did not speak much, still never took the initiative to make small talk, and still gave a slight nod of thanks when the instruction ended.

But before he arrived, she began adjusting the tea on his side to the temperature he preferred. She had noticed that when he first came, he took a sip of tea, paused slightly, and only then continued drinking. So she tested three different water temperatures before finding the one that made him drink without pausing.

When he explained particularly difficult concepts, she began to tilt her head slightly. The icy crystal cat-ear tiara atop her head would sway gently with the motion, revealing an unconscious expression of faint curiosity.

When he left, she began seeing him to the door and lingering there for a few extra breaths, rather than shutting it the moment he stepped out as she had at first.

Ma Xiaotao still occasionally came by to "inspect" them. Every time, she would tease them a few times, then leave laughing heartily only after watching Ling Luocheng's ear tips turn red with satisfaction.

And although Ling Luocheng would always shoot her a cool warning glance, that warning no longer contained the resistance it once had. It now carried more of a helpless familiarity.

That day, when Huo Chen pushed open the cultivation room door, he saw Ling Luocheng standing atop the ice platform with her eyes closed. The snowflakes around her were denser than before, yet lighter as well.

The snowflakes no longer merely drifted around her. They seemed to have come alive, rising and falling with her breathing, gathering at times and scattering at others, as though dancing a silent dance.

She opened her eyes, saw him enter, and gave a slight nod. "You're here."

Her tone remained cool, but its former distance was gone.

Like a piece of ice held too long in one's palm, its surface had begun to melt slightly, revealing the gentle warmth beneath.

Huo Chen walked up to her. Rather than beginning his instruction as usual, he took a jade vial from his robes and held it out before her on his palm.

Ling Luocheng's gaze fell upon the jade vial, and she paused slightly.

The vial was only the size of a thumb, pure white throughout. Its walls were as thin as cicada wings, and one could vaguely see a dragon-eye-sized pill inside. The pill was ice-blue all over, with silvery-white radiance flowing across its surface, as if a star had been sealed within it.

Even through the vial, she could sense an incomparably pure ice-elemental energy radiating from within, making her ice-element martial soul resonate as never before.

"What is this?" She raised her head to look at Huo Chen, a trace of confusion and shock in her pale ice-blue eyes.

"The Ice Extreme Divine Pill," Huo Chen said. "A divine-grade pill I obtained from the Reincarnation God King Dojo. It cleanses the meridians and marrow, strengthens one's foundation, and greatly enhances affinity and control over ice attributes. For you, it can help you break through that layer of 'shell' and allow your ice element to complete its final transformation."

Ling Luocheng's breath caught slightly.

A divine-grade pill. Of course she knew what those four words meant. It was a grade beyond this world, something that existed only in legend.

Her gaze rested on the jade vial for a long time. Then she looked up at Huo Chen, her voice carrying a tremor even she had not noticed. "This... is too precious."

"Precious things should be given to those worthy of them." Huo Chen's tone was calm, as though he were merely stating the obvious. "Your foundation, your talent, and your perseverance all make you worthy of it."

Ling Luocheng's eyelashes trembled violently.

She lowered her head and looked at the jade vial in silence for a long time.

When she finally raised her head again, her eyes were slightly red. Yet she did not cry. She merely reached out and accepted the jade vial.

When her fingertips touched the vial, they trembled slightly. Then she clenched it tightly, as though holding something incomparably precious.

"...Thank you." Her voice was soft and slightly hoarse.

"Don't thank me yet." Huo Chen smiled. "Refine it first. I'll stand guard for you."

Ling Luocheng nodded. She sat cross-legged on the ice platform, poured the Ice Extreme Divine Pill from the jade vial, and held it in her palm.

The pill was ice-blue throughout, silvery-white light flowing across its surface as it radiated a sharp yet pure aura. She took a deep breath and placed the pill into her mouth.

The pill melted the instant it entered her mouth.

A fierce, vast force exploded within her at once, surging through her meridians.

Wherever that force passed, the impurities within her body were cleansed away bit by bit. Her meridians became clearer and broader, while her bones became tougher and denser.

She could feel her ice-element martial soul undergoing some fundamental change under the nourishment of that force—an indescribable transformation, as though it were returning to its origin.

Huo Chen gently pressed his palm against the center of her back. The power of reincarnation slowly entered her body, guiding the medicinal power of the Ice Extreme Divine Pill along the proper paths and ensuring that it evenly nourished every inch of her meridians and the source of her martial soul.

Time passed second by second.

A dazzling ice-blue radiance began to shine from Ling Luocheng's body.

The light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping her whole body until even her figure became blurred.

The temperature in the cultivation room plummeted. A thick layer of white frost condensed over the walls, while the snowflakes drifting through the air became denser, more crystalline.

Then, all the light suddenly contracted inward, condensing into a single point before erupting outward with explosive force.

An ice-blue pillar of light shot toward the sky, spreading across the cultivation room's vaulted ceiling and transforming into countless dancing ice-crystal snowflakes.

Those snowflakes were more crystal-clear than before. Each shimmered with a faint silvery-white glow as it slowly drifted down, adorning the entire cultivation room like a fairyland.

Ling Luocheng slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes were still pale ice-blue, but that blue had become deeper and more translucent than before, as though it could reflect the entire sky.

Her skin had become fairer and more delicate, carrying a faint luster like the finest mutton-fat jade. Her features had not visibly changed, but her overall bearing had undergone a qualitative leap. That coolness remained, but it was no longer an aloofness that kept others a thousand miles away. Instead, it was the purity and nobility of a snow lotus atop a high mountain—something one dared not profane, yet could not help wanting to approach.

She lowered her head and looked at her hands. She could feel power several times purer than before surging through her body. Her ice-element martial soul had completely transformed. It was no longer an ordinary ice element, nor even ultimate ice, but something more primordial, more pure.

Primordial Ice.

The most supreme ice in the world, an existence beyond Ultimate Ice, was the origin and final destination of all ice elements. She no longer needed to borrow the power of ice, because she herself was ice incarnate.

She raised her head and looked at Huo Chen. All sorts of emotions surged within those pale ice-blue eyes, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she found that every word seemed pale and powerless at this moment.

In the end, she merely said softly, "Huo Chen, thank you."

Her voice remained cool and clear, yet beneath that chill was a tenderness that had never been there before.

Huo Chen looked at her and smiled. "How does it feel?"

"It feels..." Ling Luocheng lowered her gaze to look at her hands, then raised her head again. A rare brightness shone in her eyes. "Like I've finally found where I'm supposed to be."

She rose to her feet, walked to the wall of the cultivation room, and gently drew a line across the frost-covered surface with her index finger.

The mark left a clear line on the wall. The frost around it rapidly condensed into fine ice crystals, refracting dazzling light beneath the lamps.

It had merely been a casual stroke, without using any soul power at all, yet the temperature of the entire wall plummeted by several degrees.

That was the power of Primordial Ice. There was no need to activate soul power or unleash soul skills; its mere existence could influence the ice elements around it.

Ling Luocheng stared at the icy mark in silence for a moment before turning to look at Huo Chen.

The corner of her lips curved ever so slightly. It was an extremely subtle arc, one that would have gone unnoticed without close attention.

Yet since Huo Chen had known her, it was the first time he had seen a genuine smile on her face.

"Huo Chen." She called his name.

"Yeah?"

"Could our meeting every two days be changed to every day from now on?"

Huo Chen paused for a moment, then smiled. "Sure."

Ling Luocheng nodded and said nothing more. She turned and returned to the ice platform, sat down cross-legged once more, closed her eyes, and began consolidating her newly transformed martial soul.

But the faint curve at the corner of her lips never disappeared.