The Obsidian Courtyard was silent, save for the ragged, shallow breathing of the youth sitting at its center.
Fang Lin sat cross-legged, his spine straight despite the deep, aching exhaustion that pulled at his muscles. Around him, the dark mist of the Abyssal Valley gathered like a silent shroud, drawn toward him by the vacuum left in his dry, empty meridians. The defeat of his mirror projection had left him completely drained. Every drop of his Qi had been spent to achieve that single, micro-second edge in his transition between footwork and blade.
Now, his spiritual sea was a quiet, barren expanse, the True Dark Bud at its center humming with a faint, demanding vibration. It was the hunger of a breakthrough. The barrier to the Late Spirit Foundation Realm was right before him, visible and thin, but he needed energy to shatter it.
Fang Lin opened his eyes and looked at the white jade bottles lined up on the black stone before him. Without hesitation, he uncorked the first bottle and consumed three high-grade cultivation pills, their rich medicinal essence immediately dissolving into a warm, thick stream of energy that flooded down his throat.
"Circulate," Fang Lin thought, his mind focus locking onto his meridians.
He began to run the Nine Abyss Shadow Scripture, pulling the warm pill energy together with the pure, freezing Yin-frost Qi of the valley. Instantly, the temperature in his body plummeted. The pure Yin-frost energy of the Abyssal Valley was incredibly dense, and as it merged with the pills, it transformed into a freezing torrent that rushed through his dry pathways.
It felt as though liquid ice was being poured directly into his veins.
The sheer, biting cold was agonizing. His meridians, dry and sensitive from combat, contracted violently under the thermal shock. The frost began to solidify along the inner walls of his pathways, threatening to freeze his energy flow entirely. If his circulation stopped now, his meridians would shatter under the pressure of the ice, crippling his cultivation.
Within his spiritual sea, the sudden invasion of cold energy created a violent storm. Dark, freezing waves clashed against the walls of his consciousness. As the pain intensified, his senses began to warp. The physical environment of the Obsidian Courtyard receded, replaced by a chaotic, illusory space created by his own straining mind.
He saw the faces of his parents, pale and distant, calling out to him from a dark abyss. He saw Uncle Wei, his expression grave, warning him of the dangers ahead. He felt the crushing weight of his early days in the Green Bamboo Sect, the cold indifference of the outer world, and the terrifying pressure of the major sects that currently hunted his alias, "Shen Mo." The illusion whispered of his weakness, telling him that he was merely a minor cultivator struggling against forces too grand for him to comprehend. It urged him to yield, to rest, to let the freezing cold take him.
"Yield?"
Fang Lin's mind burned through the cold fog. The memory of Uncle Wei's sacrifices and the faces of his family did not break his resolve; they tempered it. He had not survived the ruins, outmaneuvered the major sects, and defeated his own reflection just to freeze to death in a solitary courtyard.
He enforced his intent upon himself, his consciousness gathering into a sharp, unyielding point.
"I shall not yield."
The declaration was not spoken aloud, but it echoed through his spiritual sea with the force of an iron decree.
Crack!
His soul force surged, his Peak-Solid Soul locking down his spiritual sea and instantly dispersing the chaotic illusions. The trembling in his mind vanished. With absolute control, he forced the freezing Yin-frost Qi to accelerate, ignoring the burning pain as the ice scraped against his meridians. He pushed the freezing torrent directly into the True Dark Bud.
After cultivating in the Yin-frost valley, he now has 10 True Dark Buds, approximately 1000 Dew drops.
The ten dark buds absorbed the cold wave, its closed petals trembling as the dark runes on its surface flared with a brilliant, freezing light. The pressure reached a peak. The barrier before him, which had stood firm, began to crack under the relentless pressure of his unyielding will.
Crack.
A clear, resonant sound echoed within his mind.
The bottleneck shattered.
The True Dark Buds suddenly expanded, its roots digging deeper into the bedrock of his spiritual sea. A massive, pure wave of refined Yin-frost Qi and dark energy erupted from the bud, flooding back into his meridians. The freezing pain instantly transformed into a deep, soothing cool. His pathways, now significantly wider and tougher, absorbed the refined energy hungrily, their capacity doubling in an instant.
His spiritual sea expanded, the water turning darker and more viscous, filled with a dense, freezing mist that swirled around the central bud. His Qi capacity, its purity, and the speed of his circulation had all leaped to a new stage.
Fang Lin opened his eyes. A faint, dark mist drifted from his pupils before dissolving into the air. His breathing was calm and deep, the exhaustion of the battle replaced by a surging, refined strength.
He had broken through to the Late Spirit Foundation Realm.
As he stabilized his breathing, a soft rustle of mist drew his attention.
The white fog at the edge of the courtyard parted, and the Elderly Mansion Spirit stepped forward. The ancient spirit's eyes were bright, carrying a proud, glittery look as he watched Fang Lin. It was the look of an appraiser who had discovered an extraordinary treasure, one that exceeded all initial expectations.
"You have succeeded, Little Lin," the Mansion Spirit said, his voice echoing softly in the quiet courtyard. "To break through under such conditions, while maintaining absolute control over your own mind, is something few can achieve at your age."
Fang Lin stood up, bowing respectfully. "Thank you, Senior. Without the purity of the valley's energy, I would not have succeeded so quickly."
The Mansion Spirit shook his head. "The energy is but a tool. What allowed you to succeed was your will. When the freezing cold threatened to lock your meridians and the illusions tried to corrupt your heart, you did not yield. You enforced your intent upon yourself."
The spirit paused, his expression growing serious. "Do you know what that intent is called?"
"Will Power?" Fang Lin asked, recalling the ancient sayings.
"Indeed. But more specifically, you have awakened the first stage: Mortal Will, the Will of Self," the Mansion Spirit explained. "Qi controls energy, the body controls flesh, the soul controls spirit, and the laws control reality. But Will... Will controls oneself, and eventually, it can impose itself upon reality. A cultivator with Mortal Will masters himself. You can resist fear, withstand immense physical pain, see through mental illusions, and remain completely unaffected by the aura pressure of those in higher realms. It is the foundation of all true experts."
The spirit gestured, and a soft, freezing light flared in the air between them. A ancient, ice-blue jade slip materialized, floating silently before Fang Lin. It radiated a cold so intense that the moisture in the air instantly crystallized into tiny, falling snowflakes around it.
"Because you have awakened Mortal Will, you are now qualified to receive this reward" the Mansion Spirit said. "This is a Core Art: the Frozen Heaven Sutra. It defines the Law of Stillness, the ultimate pursuit of the Frost element, which seeks to bring all motion, energy, and life to absolute cessation."
The spirit's gaze locked onto Fang Lin. "This Core Art is exceptionally dangerous. If a cultivator attempts to train in it without possessing Mortal Will, their own soul and meridians will be frozen into ice within three breaths. The technique demands that you master yourself before you attempt to master the absolute cold."
Fang Lin reached out, his fingers brushing the freezing surface of the jade slip. A cold shock ran up his arm, but his newly awakened Mortal Will held his mind steady, preventing the chill from invading his consciousness. He pulled the slip toward him.
"Along with the Core Art, you receive the supporting Frost Cultivation Art, the Ethereal Frost Art," the spirit continued. "And its Legacy Technique: the Freeze of Ages."
"Freeze of Ages?" Fang Lin repeated the name.
"A freezing aura domain skill." the spirit explained. "When activated, it projects a domain of absolute stillness around you. Within this area, the motion, speed, and techniques of all enemies are continuously slowed, their energies frozen by the absolute cold. Unlike other high-tier domain techniques that exhaust a cultivator in a single breath, the Freeze of Ages consumes your Qi gradually, allowing you to sustain it during prolonged combat. However, at your current Late Spirit Foundation Realm, even a gradual consumption will drain your reserves if maintained too long. Use it with caution."
"There are three other Frost skill techniques in the Ethereal Frost Cultivation Art to support your new path," the spirit said.
"First, the Glacial Needle Piercing. It allows you to compress your Frost Qi into a high-speed, invisible needle. It is designed to penetrate defensive armor and barrier formations, freezing the target's internal organs and meridians directly upon contact."
"Second, the Stillness Deflecting Mirror. You form a defensive mirror of absolute cold before you. When an enemy attack strikes the mirror, the absolute cold absorbs its kinetic and elemental energy, reducing its velocity to zero and deflecting the remnant force back at the attacker."
"Third, the Glacial Drift Step. A movement technique that leaves freezing, icy footprints in your path. Any enemy pursuing you who steps on these cold traces will have their movement speed restricted, their feet frozen to the ground while creating slippery, difficult terrain for others."
Fang Lin bowed deeply, accepting all four jade slips. "Thank you for the inheritance, Senior."
"You have earned them," the Mansion Spirit said. Then, his ancient face turned solemn, the proud smile fading. "But now, we must speak of your future. You have reached the Late Spirit Foundation Realm. The next major step is Core Formation. And for you, this step will be unlike any other."
Fang Lin's focus sharpened. "The core breakthrough?"
"Yes," the spirit said, walking slowly across the obsidian floor. "A normal cultivator forms a single core. The absolute geniuses of the major sects might attempt to form two. But you... your path requires you to form three separate cores: Frost, Life, and Death. And they must be formed sequentially during a single breakthrough event."
Fang Lin listened intently.
"You will begin with the Frost Core, then the Life Core, and finally the Death Core," the Mansion Spirit explained. "The difficulty is not merely in forming them, but in maintaining absolute, perfect balance among the three clashing forces. If any one core becomes slightly stronger than the others during the process, the balance will shatter. The opposing forces will tear your spiritual sea apart, and you will disintegrate into nothingness."
The spirit stopped and looked directly into Fang Lin's eyes, his voice carrying an absolute, unyielding weight. "Therefore, you must remember this rule, Little Lin: at all costs, your Core Formation breakthrough must be performed within this Legacy Mansion, under my direct supervision and with the assistance of the Mansion's stabilizing formations."
"Why?" Fang Lin asked.
"Because the outside world lacks the spatial stability required to balance three clashing cores," the spirit warned. "Only here, within the isolated laws of the Mansion, can we suppress the external tribulations and stabilize your spiritual sea if the energy begins to fluctuate. If you attempt this breakthrough in the outside world, you will die. There are no exceptions."
Fang Lin felt a cold shiver that had nothing to do with the Yin-frost Qi. He committed the warning to the deepest part of his memory. "I understand, Senior. I will not attempt it outside."
"Good," the spirit's expression softened slightly. "Now, your foundation is new, and you have received several advanced techniques. You need time to consolidate your realm and master these arts before you return to the outside world. Enter the time-dilated chamber. I will set the dilation to five-fold."
Fang Lin nodded. He held the jade slips, his mind already analyzing the complex pathways of the Frozen Heaven Sutra. He walked toward the inner chamber of the main hall, where the spatial formations hummed softly.
---
Inside the quiet, isolated chamber, the passage of time became a distant concept.
He began by circulating the Ethereal Frost Art. The new cultivation art was incredibly refined, guiding the freezing Qi through his expanded meridians in a smoother, more efficient rhythm. The cold energy, which had once felt like liquid ice scraping his pathways, gradually became a natural extension of his own body, flowing in harmony with his breath.
He spent the first two weeks focusing entirely on the Frozen Heaven Sutra. The Core Art was deep and complex, requiring him to project his Mortal Will into his Qi to enforce the intent of "Stillness." Under his unyielding focus, the cold Qi in his spiritual sea began to change, losing its wild, volatile nature and becoming quiet, heavy, and absolute. By the end of the second week, a faint, ice-blue frost pattern began to form on the surface of the True Dark Buds, confirming that he had reached the Smaller Mastery of the Frozen Heaven Sutra.
With Smaller Mastery achieved, the seal on the Legacy Technique was unlocked in his mind.
Fang Lin spent the remaining three weeks training in the new skill techniques. He practiced the Freeze of Ages, releasing a quiet, translucent blue wave of energy that spread ten paces around him. Within this domain, the drifting dust particles in the air froze instantly, suspended in mid-air as if time itself had stopped. He monitored his Qi consumption, confirming that while the domain slowed everything within its reach, the drain on his spiritual sea was gradual and stable, allowing him to sustain it for several minutes if needed.
Next, he practiced the three support techniques. He gathered his Frost Qi, compressing it into a tiny, nearly invisible needle that flew from his fingertip with a sharp hiss, piercing deep into the stone walls and leaving a core of solid ice within the rock. He practiced the Stillness Deflecting Mirror, condensing a thin, circular shield of absolute cold that could halt the momentum of incoming forces. Finally, he practiced the Glacial Drift Step, his movements light and swift, leaving a trail of freezing frost on the ground that instantly coated the obsidian floor in a thin, treacherous sheet of ice.
By the end of the thirty-five days, his breathing was perfectly steady, his aura calm and retracted. His Late Spirit Foundation Realm was rock-solid, and his new Frost techniques had been seamlessly integrated into his combat system.
Fang Lin stood up, his eyes clear. His physical appearance had matured slightly, the five weeks of continuous training and physical aging visible in the sharper lines of his jaw and his slightly taller frame.
He walked out of the chamber, ready to return to the outside world, where seven calendar days had passed.
Fang Lin spent thirty-five subjective days—five full weeks—secluded within the time-dilated chamber of the Mansion, while only seven days passed in the outside world.
Totally, it has around two months since he entered the World-in-a-Jar again.
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