North Sea Continent.
At the bottom of the North Pole Ice Abyss.
Wang Ba looked at the ice before him, now empty save for a scroll hovering slightly above it, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.
A trace of frostlike indifference showed in his deep pupils.
Xuanyuanzi's figure slowly appeared beside him. He glanced over the empty space where the scroll floated, shook his head slightly, and sighed softly.
"You're merging with your incarnation considerably faster than I expected."
Wang Ba's voice was as usual, and a habitual smile rose on his face.
"There's still a long way to go. We've only achieved an initial alignment."
"I have yet to thank you, Senior, for carefully guiding Ice Daoist and providing such an excellent place."
Yet despite his smile, his eyes remained filled with cold indifference, as though even that smile were merely the result of some calculation.
Xuanyuanzi waved a hand at his words.
"This little favor hardly counts for anything."
Then he said casually:
"Though I've never merged with an incarnation, I do know that achieving alignment is the hardest part. You've already made that start, so complete fusion presumably won't take much longer."
Wang Ba's smile faded slightly, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
"That isn't entirely the case. The process in between isn't difficult; it only takes patient grinding. But there's still a hurdle at the final step of complete fusion. If I cross it, I'll ascend to heaven in a single stride and can take the opportunity to enter the second tier. If I can't, I'm afraid it will take a long time."
Xuanyuanzi did not dispute this.
Both Wang Ba's and Ice Daoist's Dao Domains had reached first-tier perfection. Although their power and foundations differed considerably, they were essentially no different. Completely