Snowfield Province, located in a glacial belt, is cold all year round. Towering snow-capped mountains rise one after another, forming a magnificent landscape. The province is vast and sparsely populated—of the Tang Dynasty's 108 provinces, it has the fewest cultivators and the widest territory.
The provincial capital of Snowfield Province is called Mystic Ice City. The name comes from the fact that all its city walls are forged from Mystic Ice. Seen from afar, the massive fortress rising from the frozen plains is both imposing and beautiful.
Inside Mystic Ice City stands a sprawling circular compound.
This is the Prime One Church’s Snowfield Province Branch Altar.
The branch master of Snowfield is Carl Yelson, whose cultivation has reached mid-Fusion stage.
Headquarters has a rule that no branch master may serve for more than a thousand years. The main reason is to prevent branch masters from growing too powerful and issuing commands on their own.
But Carl Yelson has held the Snowfield Branch Altar master position for over 1,200 years.
He’s been able to break this rule because his grandfather is a Tribulation-stage powerhouse, headquarters doesn’t really care about Snowfield Province, and Carl has cultivated plenty of connections with the higher-ups. So the Prime One Church’s leadership simply turns a blind eye and lets him stay on as branch master.
Logically, in such a desolate place, Carl should have tried to transfer out long ago. But he chose to stay—and even asked to be reappointed.
That’s because he discovered a rare treasure here in Snowfield Province—the Ice Soul. Consuming Ice Soul causes one’s cultivation to soar at an incredible rate.
When Carl first arrived in Snowfield Province 1,200 years ago, he’d just broken through to Fusion. For the first 800 years, he made almost no progress. But about 400 years ago, after accidentally discovering Ice Soul, his cultivation skyrocketed. Now, he’s at the peak of mid-Fusion—just one step away from late Fusion stage.
Once he reaches late Fusion, his long record as branch master—plus his grandfather’s influence—will guarantee him a direct-transmission elder seat when he returns to headquarters.
Direct-transmission elders are true power-holders in the Church. In the entire Prime One Church, there are only twenty-four direct-transmission elders.
But lately, Carl hasn’t been enjoying himself at all.
Recently, headquarters actually sent two Fusion-stage experts to help him guard the branch altar. Supposedly, it’s to prevent a sneak attack by someone called Little Demon Song.
Next month is the Ice Soul mining period—a secret he doesn’t want anyone else to know, not even fellow Church members. So he’s kept a cold, distant attitude toward those two Fusion experts.
But today, yet another Fusion expert arrived—this time, a mid-Fusion cultivator.
This made him even more uncomfortable.
He felt headquarters didn’t trust him. Six branch altars had already been wiped out by an early Soul-Split junior—that was their own incompetence. Carl refuses to believe Little Demon Song could ever destroy his branch altar.
“Branch Master, Lord North and the others have arrived!”
Just as Carl Yelson was considering when to set out for the Ice Soul harvest, he heard his subordinate’s report and immediately frowned.
Ice Soul is a rare treasure that only forms once every ten years, and it must be mined within three days—otherwise, it will dissolve back into the world.
Now there are less than twenty days until the Ice Soul emerges, but headquarters has sent three Fusion experts to make him stay at the branch altar to guard against Little Demon Song. If he misses this chance, he’ll have to wait another ten years—how could he possibly agree?
"Greetings, Branch Master Carl!"
Soon, the three men arrived together.
The middle-aged man leading them was Blake North, a rising star at headquarters who’d made a name for himself in recent years. The other two early Fusion cultivators were elderly, one named Steven Chase and the other Roy Redcloud.
"Mm." Carl Yelson nodded coolly, then said with open arrogance, "Since you’re here, have a seat."
The three were already used to Carl’s arrogance, but with a Tribulation-stage grandfather backing him, they didn’t dare show their displeasure.
Once seated, Blake North spoke up: "Branch Master Carl, we’ve come to discuss strengthening the branch altar’s defenses."
Carl raised his brows, took a sip of tea, and replied slowly, "I think our current defenses are tight enough—no need to change anything."
As he spoke, Carl sneered inwardly, cursing Blake North and the others for meddling.
Blake North could only smile wryly. "Branch Master Carl, you can’t be careless. With our current setup, if Little Demon Song really attacks, we might not be able to stop him."
Carl snorted, "Little Demon Song? An early Soul-Split junior and you take him so seriously? If he dares to make trouble here, I’ll crush him with a single finger!"
Seeing Carl so arrogant, Blake North tried to advise him: "Branch Master Carl, don’t underestimate him. One of the six destroyed branch altars was Battlefront, whose master Terry Xie was also mid-Fusion!"
Carl dismissed it, "Hmph, that’s because he was stupid. Terry Xie isn’t even worth comparing to me!"
His cultivation had soared in recent years, and so had his confidence. He didn’t even consider Terry Xie, who was the same rank, worth noticing.
"But..."
Blake North tried to say more, but Carl raised a hand to cut him off, his voice cold: "Blake North, this is the Snowfield Branch Altar and I’m the branch master. Headquarters sent you here to assist, not to boss me around. I know what I’m doing—don’t try to tell me otherwise."
Carl’s blunt words left Blake North and his companions fuming. Any other branch master would never dare treat headquarters experts this way, but with a Tribulation-stage grandfather backing him, there was nothing they could do.
As evening fell, snow drifted for thousands of miles and the world turned pure white.
A plain spirit-beast carriage slowly approached the city gates.
After paying the entrance tax, the carriage rolled safely into Mystic Ice City.
"Young Master, I don’t quite understand—why are we entering the city so openly?" Inside the carriage, Shaoyang Chen asked Ian Song, puzzled.
Ian Song smiled. "I’ve already destroyed six Prime One Church branch altars. They’re bound to be more vigilant now, and every branch will secretly monitor unfamiliar faces. So they’d never expect us to walk right in the front door this openly."
"Doing the opposite—Young Master, you really are clever. So where are we heading now?" Shaoyang asked again.
"Straight to the Snowfield Branch Altar," Ian replied meaningfully.
Half an hour later, the spirit-beast carriage was stopped ten miles from the branch altar.
"Who’s inside the carriage?"
It was a patrol squad from the Snowfield Branch Altar.
"Are you blind? We’re here to visit Branch Master Carl Yelson. Move aside!"
Shaoyang Chen stepped out, releasing a thread of Fusion-stage aura, instantly terrifying the patrol cultivators.
"P-please forgive us, Senior! We’re just following orders!"
The patrol squad leader stammered, trembling.
Shaoyang Chen snorted. "Hmph! My young master is a friend of Branch Master Carl Yelson. How dare you offend us? For Carl’s sake, I’ll let it slide—now get lost!"
"Yes, Senior! We’ll leave right away!"
The squad leader waved his men to leave.
"Wait!"
Just then, a lazy voice sounded from inside the carriage. A strikingly handsome youth stepped out—Ian Song. "You arrived just in time. Lead the way for me, will you?"