His heartbeat seemed to be magnified infinitely, his blood coursing through his veins like floodwaters as thick veins popped out of his skin, pulsing.
Within his consciousness, the tall, curling totemic flames were not as bright. A white shell of light surrounding it was the brightest it had ever been. White energy was continuously released, rushing manically down each part of his body.
The moving red totemic patterns slowly turned white. The Flaming Horn totem was no longer the colour the tribesmen were familiar with.
Whoosh!
A ball of white flames erupted in Shao Xuan’s palm. He turned, then swung his arm hard in a bright arc and slammed it into the thick layer of ice on the ground.
Boom!!
A dull rumble, like thunder from beneath the ground, travelled across the icy lands. The world seemed to fall silent because of it.
White flames burned on the surface of the ice, instantly expanding its area. The Founder Shaman Seal looked like it was burned into the ice, extending in all four directions, deep into the ground, through the tall and snowy mountains and to places the eye could not see.
Fatigue overcame Shao Xuan, for he had just released all the power in his body within a second. He felt a fire burning in his body, his exhaustion replaced with intense pain.
Shao Xuan ignored all of it, for it was a strange feeling. He was standing on ice, facing an approaching gigantic beast horde, with mountains so tall he could not see their peaks to his back. In terms of physical size, he was practically an ant now. Yet he felt like he was on top of the world.
Power and tranquillity.
These were the feelings brought by the white flames.
Looking up, Shao Xuan looked at the black herd charging at him. At that moment, everything slowed down for Shao Xuan. Even the sounds of approaching claws stepping on ice gradually faded.
No worries, no fears. Beneath the calm demeanour, there was a hint of anticipation that even Shao Xuan did not notice.
He felt the white energy seeping into the icy ground, beneath his feet, behind in the mountains, then further and further away as it expanded.
Within the land of ice and snow, a cold, gigantic source of murderous intent was awakening.
Shao Xuan looked towards Yi Xiang. The gigantic undead beasts had blocked him completely from view. Since Yi family members did not have physical strength, they knew how to protect themselves properly. It did not matter if Shao Xuan couldn’t see him, he knew that Yi Xiang could hear him.
“I always wondered. Who ruled the world before the humans rose up? I wondered if those former rulers still exist, where they were.”
Shao Xuan’s voice was not loud but Yi Xiang could hear every word, slightly puzzled. IN the next moment, the hand twisting the beads stopped, suddenly pinching the bead hard.
Ignoring Yi Xiang’s reaction, Shao Xuan averted his gaze and looked down beneath his feet. He lifted a foot and with a ‘bam’, he put his foot down.
Crack crack crack—
A crack appeared beneath his foot.
Like a fuse, it extended quickly from Shao Xuan’s foot to its surroundings. The crack grew bigger and bigger, then multiplied; the sound of tough ice breaking grew louder and more frequent.
Behind Shao Xuan, cracks scaled up the tall icy mountains, then continued to travel forward.
In front, the beast horde was approaching, causing the cracks to grow faster as the ground shook beneath their feet. The unfathomably ancient ice shelf was about to crack beneath this gigantic herd.
Rumble!
A large gust of gas rushed out of the ice, making a startling rumble. Large clouds of icy mist rose to the skies. Although they were one thousand metres apart with a beast horde between them, Yi Xiang could still feel the terrifying power hidden within this sudden explosion of frost.
At the spot where the horde was about to reach, also the true boundary between ice and land, the ice cracked suddenly!
Shao Xuan stumbled also from the intense vibrations that came with but he ignored the breaking ice, his eyes ablaze and fixed on the giant cloud of frost.
This was his form of retaliation towards Yi Xiang cornering him!
He had used up all his strength in this one strike, focusing all the power within him into one strike, the power of the Flaming Horn fire seed and white flames supporting him. The power of the white flames had seeped deep into the icy ground by now.
This was not a simple battlefield of knives and swords, this was a collision between two fire seeds!
The whtie flames amidst the ice and snow burned with an ancient pride, as well as unwavering determination.
Rumble!
Another deafening sound of breaking ice, as if space itself was torn. More frost shot out of the ice surface, ice pieces flying high up like countless stars, causing the entire beast horde ahead to turn blurry.
A giant beast claw covered in thick armour burst through the thick layer of ice, a green-gray body with blurry patterns appearing soon after the claw.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Similar consecutive events happened throughout the surface, fierce beasts as powerful as these sea beasts that current humans had never seen in the forest, ocean or desert broke through the ice one by one!
The ice beneath Shao Xuan’s feet cracked and raised in pieces as plank-like bones resembling city walls emerged from the ice. Its back subsequently broke through rock and ice as its entire body slowly emerged out into the open. A gigantic beast sealed in ice for an unfathomable period was out once more.
Behind Shao Xuan, loud rumbles came from the tall icy mountains that also started to crack.
Shao Xuan walked forward step by step along the beast’s back, until he stood on its head.
This was where their bones were buried. On this fateful day, Shao Xuan let these ancient bones see the sunlight once again!
Despite the fact that they were all long dead.
—
In a certain place far from King City, in a place known as the end of the lands, a group of people braved the cold winds as they waded through waist-high snow.
It was not snowing. Even if the next few days would not be sunny, there should be no snowstorms either. They wanted to take this chance to search for gemstones.
Due to the core seed, most places here did not have gemstones. However, the icy lands without core seeds had gemstones waiting for adventurous travellers to find.
Before both continents grew closer, the slave masters mostly used gemstones mined from this place.
This group were frequent visitors of this area, they had an advantage compared to other travellers who travelled far to mine the gemstones– they belonged to a tribe close to this place. Their soil was not fertile, the climate was harsh and unsuitable for grains, and they could not produce much crops every year. That was why very few tribesmen farmed crops, most chose to rear livestock such as goats with thick fur.
Most of the animals living in this region with year-long cold weather had thick fur and could withstand the cold.
However, their tribe would not live well if they solely survived on rearing livestock. In reality, they were very rich because of those rare gemstones.
Every year, they would trek deep into the ice and snow in search of gemstones. These tribesmen had strong physiques and also adept in combat- if they were not, they might not be able to keep the gemstones they mined.
This time was as per usual. It had snowed for many days, and now that it had finally stopped, they set off to this lesser-known world of ice and snow and started to search for treasure.
They had inherited this skill from their ancestors but even with their ancient texts, they still did not truly know this world. All they knew was that this world was vast and no one knew where the end was. It was very cold here. Even the best tribesmen would die in the cold if they could not take shelter in their man made caves during a snowstorm.
Such a dangerous piece of land was also perfect for the survival of this tribe.
It was too bad that since both landmasses grew closer, more and more gemstones from the other side entered their market, subsequently driving their hard-mined gemstones cheaper.
The team had been cursing and complaining since they departed.
“I heard the Flaming Horns signed a deal with King City, and brought a lot of gemstones over. That means the price of our gems will fall again, won’t it?!” someone complained.
Another person huffed and spat into the snow. “To hell with the Flaming Horns! If I ever see them…”
“If you see them?” The person behind mused. “I heard they all look like fearsome beasts.”
“So what if they look like fearsome beasts, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” The person behind asked, because the guy did not finish his sentence. When he looked up, he realised that the guy’s expression was solemn, watching his surroundings cautiously. Every step was now taken more carefully than ever, a short pause after each one as if he had to think before walking. Outsiders might not understand but as teammates, they could understand another mate’s meaning through every look and act.
The team fell silent instantly without the need for the leader to say anything. He walked in the front of the group slowly, every step much lighter than before. Where his skin was exposed, hairs standing as tall as needles could be seen, sensing their surroundings.