Goldwing and Jenny Sima climbed up from the cliff, only to see Evan Chu standing there, not a hair out of place. He was smiling at everyone, calm and confident.
"Evan, are you alright? Just now you were covered in ice, not moving at all, and you wouldn't answer when I called you. What happened?" Jenny Sima asked anxiously.
"I'm fine, Jenny. Sorry to make you worry. I absorbed too much of the icy energy from the Ice Crystal, so that's why you saw me like that. But now I've converted all that power," Evan Chu replied with a reassuring smile.
Honestly, Evan wanted to rush over and hold her, to comfort her properly. But that purple barrier around Jenny kept him at arm's length, so he could only give up.
Macy, the Violet Thunder Fox, stared at Evan in shock. She knew exactly what it meant to absorb the cold from an Ice Crystal—just a little bit was enough to freeze you solid. For ice to actually form on your body, you’d have to take in a ton of that freezing energy.
"Big Brother, how much cold power did you actually absorb?" Macy asked, eyes still wide.
"Not much, just one Ice Crystal. But the chill inside that thing is seriously fierce—almost froze me to death! Guess I was born lucky, so I survived this time. Next time, I won't let that happen again," Evan said, half proud, half relieved.
Evan still felt a lingering fear. If Luna, the Sword Spirit, hadn't helped, who knows what would've happened? If his Pure Yang Qi hadn't burst out at the last second, he might've been forced into a breakthrough for the Fourth Layer of Starforge Body right there.
Macy's heart was a mess of emotions. She knew just how terrifying that icy power was—last time she absorbed only a trace and was frozen for three whole days. That kind of suffering was worse than death.
This guy actually absorbed an entire Ice Crystal? That's just... monstrous. The freak among freaks.
Jenny Sima had spent nearly four hours going up and down the mountain, and that was her absolute fastest. With all this snow everywhere, one wrong step could trigger an avalanche.
Right now, Evan’s Chaos Qi was feeling even stronger, and his desire for that giant ice pillar was burning hotter than ever. He said, “You guys should head down. I’m about to break open that pillar and grab the biggest Ice Crystal inside.”
"We’re not leaving. If you won’t let us follow you, fine, but you can’t make us go down the mountain. We’ll wait for you right here!" Jenny Sima insisted, her tone unyielding.
"That’s right, Boss! We’re staying put and waiting for you!" Goldwing chimed in.
"Big Brother, be careful! Especially watch out for the Coldflame. If Coldtide hits, we’ll run straight down the mountain. Even if it’s fierce, it can’t hurt us," Macy said after thinking it over for a long time. Maybe that was the only way to dodge Coldtide.
Evan looked at their determined faces and smiled. “Alright, you guys stay here. Be careful, and if Coldtide comes, run for the bottom of the mountain right away.”
Jenny Sima glared at Evan and said, “If Coldtide hits and we run, what about you?”
That was exactly what everyone was worried about. If Evan couldn’t dodge Coldtide, he’d be in real trouble.
“Don’t worry about that, Jenny. Is your man the kind of idiot who’d get himself killed? Trust me, I’ll be fine. Even if Coldtide comes, I’m fast enough to dodge it,” Evan said with a laugh. Deep down, though, he knew he didn’t actually have a surefire way to escape Coldtide. Hopefully, his luck wouldn’t run out.
Then Evan turned and walked toward the distant giant ice pillar, while the three of them just stood there, watching his figure slowly disappear into the swirling snow.
Evan stopped about thirty meters from the giant ice pillar, gripping Frostbane Sword tightly as he stared at it and grinned. "Let’s see you hold out against me this time!"
His Heart Sword technique was getting smoother every time. With a single thought, Evan sent a surge of Chaos Qi into Frostbane Sword, then fired it straight at the pillar.
Thunderous booms echoed across the mountaintop again and again. Evan could feel his Heart Sword getting even stronger, and he was honestly thrilled.
As Evan kept attacking, the cracks in the ice pillar grew wider and wider. He made sure to strike carefully each time—if the pillar shattered, Coldflame would burst out at any moment.
Coldflame wasn’t the real threat—he had enough distance to dodge it. But if Coldtide broke loose, then things would get truly dangerous.
"Evan, that pillar will break in at most three more hits. Be ready to dodge, and don’t rush to grab the Ice Crystal once Coldflame bursts out. I’m pretty sure the pillar’s collapse means the barrier will fail, and who knows what else might happen," Luna, the Sword Spirit, warned.
"Got it, Luna! I’ll be careful!" Evan replied, then sent Frostbane Sword flying at the pillar again.
On the third strike, Evan’s heart was in his throat. He stared at the pillar, ready to use Shifting Position at any second to get out of there fast.
But the astral wind up here was just too fierce—his Shifting Position could only move him five meters at a time, which was seriously frustrating.
Finally, his last attack split the pillar wide open. With a deafening crash, the five-meter-tall ice pillar toppled over, making the ground shake under Evan’s feet.
A massive cloud of white Coldflame exploded from the fallen pillar, instantly dropping the temperature. Even the swirling snowflakes froze in midair, and the snow on the ground turned to solid ice.
Evan felt the whole space lock up with Coldflame, and it was terrifying.
No time to waste—he hurriedly used Shifting Position to dodge to the side, icy pain stabbing through him like he was about to be frozen solid. He had to use the technique several times before he finally stopped.
Meanwhile, Jenny Sima, Goldwing, and Macy heard the crash and felt the tremors under their feet. That could only mean Evan had pulled it off.
"Everyone be careful! The Coldflame inside the pillar doesn’t have a fixed direction—if it comes our way, we have to run straight down the mountain. There’s no way we can resist that stuff," Macy shouted.
"Got it!" Jenny Sima and Goldwing answered in perfect unison.
Right then, Evan was hiding in the distance, watching the Coldflame surge toward his friends and feeling seriously worried.
His only hope was that they’d know to run straight down and dodge it. With Macy there, they’d probably be okay.
"Time to check out my loot!" Evan stood up and headed toward the fallen ice pillar.
The closer he got, the colder it felt. Gritting his teeth, Evan made his way to the shattered pillar, where a white crystal the size of an egg glowed softly.
Seeing that egg-sized Ice Crystal, Evan felt no joy at all. The Iceflame Crystal he needed to erase Roxanne Lin’s Vermilion Bird Mark wasn’t here, which meant keeping his promise to her just got even harder.
Still, there was no way he was leaving a treasure like this behind—not after burning so much Chaos Qi to get it.
Evan didn’t dare grab the glowing Ice Crystal with his bare hands; the chill on its surface was definitely lethal. If something unexpected happened again, he’d be in real trouble.
He carefully used Frostbane Sword to lift the Ice Crystal, balanced it on the blade, and moved it close. With a quick tap of his finger, he sent it straight into his storage ring.
Even that split-second touch left his whole arm coated in a thin layer of ice. "Holy crap! That’s insane! Good thing I pulled back fast!" Evan cursed.
Just as Evan grabbed the Ice Crystal and was about to leave, the ground suddenly shook violently. An ominous feeling welled up inside him—Coldtide!