Evan Chu’s stubborn resolve left the three of them feeling helpless. None of them would agree to let him face danger alone. At this moment, Jenny Sima spoke up:
“Evan, I know you’re doing this for Roxanne, but have you really thought through the consequences? If anything happens to you, both Roxanne and I will be trapped in pain. Can’t you stop being so selfish?”
“Enough. Saying more will only add to Big Bro’s burden. Let him do what he wants. Anyone who can slay a Demon Tiger isn’t ordinary. I’m worried too, but since he’s set on this, all we can do is silently support him.” The Violet Thunder Fox said.
Evan smiled. “It’s not like I’m going right now. Just cracking that ice pillar already burned half my stellar power. I need to recover, so you don’t have to worry. This place is dangerous—you should head down the mountain.”
“No, we’re not leaving. If we can’t stop you, we’ll stay here and wait. If anything happens, at least we’ll be able to help!” Jenny insisted, her attitude just as firm.
With the purple barrier around her, Jenny didn’t feel the cold at all, but Goldwing and the Violet Thunder Fox were suffering. Goldwing’s face was especially pale, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
“Goldwing, Macy, you two should go down. Jenny’s protected by the barrier and will be fine for now. Don’t freeze yourselves to death for my sake. I have to recover as quickly as possible, so don’t let anyone disturb me.” Evan finished speaking and went to sit down.
Goldwing and the Violet Thunder Fox didn’t say anything. They wanted to stay, but the cold invading their bodies was getting worse. If they didn’t purge it soon, it could leave hidden dangers and seriously affect their future cultivation.
Macy had already shifted into her human form. She glanced at Evan, who was meditating, and at Jenny’s worried face, then said to Goldwing, “Goldwing, let’s find a place to force out the cold in our bodies. Big Bro needs time to recover his stellar power. Once we’re done, we can come back.”
“Alright, that’s all we can do. Let’s go!”
After Macy and Goldwing left, only Jenny and Evan remained atop the mountain. Snowflakes drifted endlessly, and blasts of astral wind swept up banks of snow, making the summit feel cold and eerily silent.
Evan set several Starstones in front of him and began dual-focused absorption. Now, converting stellar power into Chaos Qi was incredibly fast. After refining two Starstones, his Chaos Qi had recovered to about sixty percent.
Jenny just stood quietly in the snow, watching Evan—the man full of legend and mystery—with endless feelings stirring in her heart. Snow piled thickly outside her purple barrier, unable to touch her.
Evan absorbed energy madly. Suddenly, Luna’s voice echoed in his mind: “Evan, try absorbing the Yin-cold energy inside an Ice Crystal and see what happens. Go slowly—if your meridians can’t take the chill, stop immediately. It’ll be dangerous otherwise.”
“Got it. By the way, Luna, do you think that huge ice pillar might contain an Iceflame Crystal? And is that Coldtide Macy mentioned really so terrifying?” Evan asked in his heart.
“I can’t say for sure about the Iceflame Crystal. Every time I probe the pillar with divine sense, some invisible barrier bounces it back. That ice pillar’s probably an entrance to a formation—destroy it, and the entrance should appear.
As for Coldtide, I’ve never seen it myself, but it must be terrifying. Otherwise, Macy wouldn’t be so anxious and afraid. You need to be careful—if anything feels off, withdraw immediately. Don’t be stubborn; no one knows what might happen next.”
Evan pondered Luna’s words, realizing she was right. He took out the smallest Ice Crystal from his storage ring. Since he’d never absorbed one before, caution was best.
Now, holding the Ice Crystal, he felt only a faint chill—very different from when he’d first obtained it. Evan cleared his mind and began to absorb it slowly.
Threads of icy-cold energy started flowing from his arm meridians toward his Earth Star Pellet. As soon as the chill entered his body, Evan felt like he’d been tossed into an ice cellar, shivering uncontrollably.
“The chill inside this Ice Crystal really is extraordinary. Just absorbing a little makes my whole body cold. The blizzards and astral winds never bothered me, but this— I’ll have to be even more careful.” Evan thought.
He slowly drew the cold energy from the Ice Crystal into his body, then quickly circulated Chaos Qi in his Earth Star Pellet, letting it gradually surround and fuse with the cold that had just entered his core.
Time ticked by. A thin layer of ice formed over Evan’s body, pain from his meridians growing sharper. He endured it in silence, but the smallest Ice Crystal was only a third absorbed and he was already almost frozen stiff.
“Evan, that’s enough! You have to stop. If you keep going, you won’t be able to circulate Chaos Qi, and that’s dangerous!” Luna’s voice was tense.
Evan was panicking too. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep absorbing—the cold inside the Ice Crystal had found a way out and was pouring into him nonstop. He couldn’t stop it, and by now he was almost frozen solid, unable to move.
"Damn it! Am I really going to freeze to death here? The chill inside this Ice Crystal is insane. What do I do? If this keeps up, I’m dead for sure!" Evan cursed inwardly.
Now, not only did his meridians ache, but even his muscles started to hurt. This pain was no less than what he’d felt breaking through the Starforge Body, but this time he couldn’t even move—a bitter suffering with no way to cry out.
The icy-cold energy inside him grew heavier and heavier. The Chaos Qi in his Earth Star Pellet could no longer control it all, and the cold began to reverse-flow through his meridians.
Evan knew exactly what this meant. If it kept up, he’d be forced into a breakthrough to the Fourth Layer of Starforge Body—something impossible in his current state. The only outcome would be death.
Jenny watched Evan from afar, not daring to get close for fear of disturbing him. She could only stand quietly in the wind and snow, watching her beloved. If she went to his side now, she’d see the panic and helplessness in his eyes beneath the ice layer—but she didn’t. The only one who could save Evan now was Evan himself.