Time passed slowly. Jade Chu sat nearby, watching Evan Chu without blinking, feeling as if every second dragged on like a year. But when she saw the blackened, charred flesh on Evan's body slowly begin to regrow, her heart gradually eased from its despair.
Evan Chu slowly circulated Chaos Immortal Force within him, using wood-element energy to repair his body. After about three days, he finally opened his eyes. By now, half his injuries had healed, but the pain was still intense—he had never been hurt this badly before.
“Big Brother, you’re finally awake! You scared me half to death—how do you feel now?” Jade Chu rushed to ask as soon as Evan opened his eyes.
“I’m not dead yet, but if I had to go through that again, I might really not make it. I never imagined Heavenfire could be that terrifying—it almost turned me to ashes. But at least I managed to get the Fire‑Spirit Fruit. It was insanely hard.” Evan said, still shaken.
He then sat up and began slowly recovering, but now he could talk to Jade Chu while healing. “Qing’er, where did Tom go?”
“I sent him to check on the Ice‑Spirit Fruit’s maturity. Luckily you woke up—otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get it. You focus on recovering; I’ll go take a look myself. If it’s ripe, I’ll come get you immediately,” Jade Chu said.
As Evan continued to recover, he could feel his mastery of the fire element leaping forward—its energy was growing denser and more defined, almost as if the fire itself was becoming more tangible within him. That made him genuinely happy; maybe, once he got the Ice‑Spirit Fruit, his Fireshift could break straight through to the third layer.
If that happened, even Immortal Emperors would have to fear him. The idea was beautiful, but reality is cruel—can Evan really pull it off? Even the narrator isn’t sure; a smooth ride isn’t good, so let’s throw him some obstacles.
On the seventh day, Evan was fully healed. His muscles were brand new, smooth and tender as a newborn’s skin—if a woman had skin like this, countless people would envy her. He stood up and headed toward the Ice‑Spirit Fruit’s location.
Halfway there, Jade Chu came rushing over. “Big Brother, the Ice‑Spirit Fruit has ripened! Hurry and go get it!”
Evan and Jade Chu quickly arrived before the ice tree bearing the Ice‑Spirit Fruits. But now, even five meters away, the chilling aura was far stronger than when they first discovered it—so cold it could instantly freeze a person into shards. It was extremely dangerous.
“Big Brother, this always happens when the Ice‑Spirit Fruit ripens. Don’t overthink it—just take out a Fire‑Spirit Fruit and use its heat to raise the temperature. Good thing you got two Fire‑Spirit Fruits; if you only had one, it’d be rough,” Jade Chu said.
"Why would that be rough? I got two this time—could the Fire‑Spirit Fruit actually get destroyed here?" Evan asked in surprise. He was well aware of how water and fire elements could reinforce or restrain each other.
"It won’t really be destroyed, but its energy will definitely drop. Maybe that’s actually a good thing—this way you can absorb it more easily. Otherwise, with your current realm, you might not be able to handle the power of the Ice‑Fire Spirit Fruit Pair," Jade Chu explained.
With Jade Chu’s explanation, Evan instantly understood. He took out a Fire‑Spirit Fruit from his storage ring, but could only rest it on the Frostbane Sword—he didn’t dare touch it directly, since it could easily burn his hand to ashes.
As soon as the Fire‑Spirit Fruit appeared, the temperature around them shot up. The surrounding ice layers started melting rapidly, and water pooled all over the ground, flowing in every direction—only to freeze again into Mystic Ice moments later.
Evan slowly moved closer to the ice tree, stopping just three meters away. The cold was so intense that, even with the Fire‑Spirit Fruit’s heat, he still felt like he could be frozen solid at any moment.
He quickly activated second-layer Watershift, merging his body completely into the surrounding ice-element energy. The cold still seeped in, but it was much more bearable now.
Step by step, Evan approached the Ice‑Spirit Fruit. He could clearly sense the terrifying chill radiating from it. With a thought, he channeled his Heart‑Sword technique through his free hand, unleashing a sharp blast of sword-qi from his fingertips that neatly severed an Ice‑Spirit Fruit from the tree.
He immediately activated Star Siphon, pulling the fruit toward himself—only to feel as if he’d plunged into an icy abyss, instantly frozen into a statue of ice.
Evan forced Chaos Immortal Force to circulate inside him, shattering the Mystic Ice around his body. He immediately tossed the Ice‑Spirit Fruit into a separate storage ring—he’d never keep ice and fire fruits together, since their energies would cancel each other out and leave him with nothing.
Just then, the Fire‑Spirit Fruit resting on the Frostbane Sword suddenly slipped off. Evan panicked and used Star Siphon to catch it, but the temperature around him dropped even further. He realized he couldn’t safely take another Ice‑Spirit Fruit and was about to leave, when the ice tree erupted with a terrifying surge of cold.
Evan hurriedly stored the Fire‑Spirit Fruit in his ring, but the icy aura struck so suddenly he couldn’t react in time. His body was thrown backward by sheer instinct, but the cold enveloped him completely.
Instantly, Evan’s body was frozen solid into an ice statue, but inertia kept him flying backward, landing right in front of Jade Chu and Tom Chu.
Jade Chu and Tom Chu were both alarmed and rushed forward to check on him, but before they could even touch Evan, a surge of freezing cold struck them, instantly turning them into ice statues as well.
Evan could see their predicament with his own eyes, but he couldn’t break the ice—even though it seemed like Mystic Ice, it was dozens of times stronger. Otherwise, with his early Ninth‑Heaven Arch‑Immortal Realm power, he should have been able to shatter it easily.
Inside the ice, Evan felt an unbearable cold. Gradually, his limbs started to go numb, his blood seemed to freeze, and he couldn’t move at all. His anxiety mounted—if he couldn’t break this ice soon, it would only get thicker, and eventually he’d never escape.
Despite his panic, Evan forced himself to stay calm and search for a way to break the ice. Only by facing the crisis with a clear mind could he hope to solve it…