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In the next second, Snow Empress gently pointed her fingertip forward. A single droplet of water flowed slowly through the air. Then, it radiated a vibrant aura that made Tang Chen's soul feel very comfortable and close to it.
Immediately after that, the scene changed completely.
The temperature of that water droplet, which was filled with the spiritual light of life, began to drop in a strange way. It was not freezing into dead silence. Instead, the movement of the spiritual light inside it became slow and orderly. It looked like a rushing stream that was now entering a deep state of meditation.
"Ice is not the death of water," Snow Empress said softly. "It is just the slumber of water. It is a peaceful change of water's form."
In the next second, the outer layer of the water droplet began to turn into hard ice.
However, at the very core, the spiritual lights of life were not put out. Instead, it looked as if they were protected by this clear crystal structure. Their glow became even more concentrated and pure. It was as if they had found an everlasting support inside the cold ice.
Snow Empress continued to speak, her voice calm and wise. "Ultimate cold is not about taking away life. It is about letting life exist in another way that is more lasting and strong. When you look at the Extreme North Land, do you only see things dying? No, it protects the most ancient and strong source of life. They are simply sleeping inside the ten-thousand-year profound ice.
When the ice turns back into water, it can bring everything back to life. Gentle water nourishes all things and is the true source of life. Water and ice, in a way, are not just changes in temperature.
They are a transformation between life and death. The change between ice and water is also a reincarnation of life and death. If water is the source of life, that means ice can also be changed into life force."
Snow Empress's gaze seemed to pierce through the mental world. She connected directly with Tang Chen's mind.
In the next second, Tang Chen raised his palm without even thinking. He released his Blue Silver Emperor Spirit. Blue and gold vines formed a tight bind around his arm. They gave off warm waves of life energy.
At the same time, cold air swirled in his other palm. The chill of Ultimate Ice spread outward from his hand.
In the past, these two forces felt very different to him. They even felt a little bit repulsive to each other.
But right now, under the guidance of Snow Empress, he saw a much deeper truth.
The life waves of the Blue Silver Emperor were actually sharing the same rhythm with the purest water elements. That was not just a simple comparison, but a real law of the world. The appearance and flow of life energy in the physical world always depend on the cycle of water elements.
Then, he looked at the Ultimate Ice. He controlled the cold air to gently cover a single leaf of the Blue Silver Emperor.
The leaf did not wither at all. Instead, it was wrapped in clear ice crystals. Its veins became much clearer, and its green color became deeper. It looked as if time had slowed down on it. Its life was instantly frozen in its most beautiful state.
The ice did not kill the leaf. Instead, at a very tiny level, the absolute low temperature and orderly structure protected the leaf. It safely sealed the water and the spiritual light of life inside the leaf's cells.
Was it a conflict? No, that was just a fake appearance on the surface.
The true truth was just a change in form.
"Water and ice come from the same source," Snow Empress explained. "Life force is the spiritual power that moves and changes all things. These two forces do not fight each other. In fact, they can even join together. Imagine using the life force of the Blue Silver Emperor as a source to fill the sky and earth with water vapor.
Then, you use Ultimate Ice to instantly turn it into billions of ice crystals that have spiritual life. When that happens, every single snowflake can become your eyes, and every icicle can heal or kill. That will no longer be a simple way of freezing things. It will be the creation of a unique ice Domain of life and death, and you will be the ruler of it."
Hearing these words from Snow Empress, Tang Chen's mind shook violently. It felt as if a big wall in his mind had collapsed. His vision suddenly became very clear.
He looked at his right hand, which held life force as warm as the spring season. Then, he looked at his left hand, which held Ultimate Ice as cold as the winter season.
At this moment, he no longer felt they were fighting each other. He tried to carefully put a tiny trace of the purest Blue Silver Emperor life force into the cold air at his left fingertips.
A real miracle happened.
That small trace of white cold air was not weakened or pushed away by the life force. Instead, it acted like dry land meeting sweet rain. It greedily absorbed that life aura.
The color of the cold air slowly became clear and transparent. Faint green and gold light lines began to flow inside it. It did not give off a feeling of dead silence and severe cold anymore. Instead, it showed a strange coldness that actually carried life inside it.
Although this power was extremely weak right now and needed very careful mental focus to control, this sign of fusion was completely real.
Ice and life could really merge together.
This was no longer just a theory in his head.
It was a brand new realm, full of endless possibilities. Tang Chen had touched it with his very own hands.
These laws of the world used to seem opposite to each other. Now, they merged inside his heart into a grand, powerful, yet peaceful and everlasting river. He did not need to choose between ice and life. He just needed to let them fully merge and change into each other.
"So that is how it works," Tang Chen thought to himself.
Thinking of this, Tang Chen slowly closed his eyes, and then he suddenly opened them again.
There was no loud explosion of spirit power. There were no bright lights that hurt the eyes.
There was only a silent ripple. It felt like it came from the very beginning of the world. It quietly spread out with his body at the center. In an instant, this ripple swept across the entire Sunset Forest below him.
A divine miracle took place.
Wherever the ripple went, huge ancient trees, thick bushes, green grass, and running streams all changed. Everything, absolutely everything, instantly formed a layer of clear, pure Ultimate Ice on its surface.
In the blink of an eye, the entire vast forest within his sight turned into a boundless, dazzling forest of ice crystals.
The sunlight passed through the clear ice layer. It broke into billions of beautiful rainbows. It looked like a still, frozen painting had suddenly opened up between heaven and earth.
Beneath the ice, all the plants did not become dark or dry. Instead, they became even more colorful and green. One could even see the life force, which was many times stronger than usual, slowly moving through the veins of the leaves.
Some gentle flowers were wrapped inside the ice crystals. The open shapes of their petals were frozen forever. Their colors were rich and bright, looking as if they could break through the ice and bloom at any second.
Small animals that were frozen in the forest did not have fear in their eyes. They only showed a sense of peace. The life force inside their bodies was not cut off. They had simply fallen into a deep sleep, protected by the absolute low temperature.
Even though everything was frozen for ten thousand miles, the place was still full of life. Ice had become the most beautiful and solid protection for life force.
However, this was only one side of his new power.
Right after that, Tang Chen's thoughts changed slightly. The deep ripple that filled the sky and earth completely changed its nature. It felt like a warm spring day had suddenly dropped into a cold, empty void.
The massive life force that was just flowing beneath the ice crystals was suddenly pulled away. It was destroyed by an invisible hand.
It was the exact same frozen scene, but the feeling was completely different now.
The ice layer stayed clear, but because it lost its life force, it became empty, pale, and terribly cold. The grass and trees beneath the ice quickly turned gray. They withered into ash, leaving behind only the empty shapes of their ice shells. The small animals that were frozen became stiff instantly. Only their outlines remained, looking like cold ice statues.
The bright rainbow light also turned into a simple, dead, and scary white light.
One single thought could bring a lot of life force, and another single thought could bring the death of all things.
"Is this a Domain that I realized all by myself?" Tang Chen asked himself. "The change between life and death is an endless cycle. I will simply call it the Forbidden Domain of Life."
At this exact moment, inside the Imperial Palace of Heaven Dou City, a great battle had already started.
With the appearance of Gold Crocodile Douluo, the whole situation suddenly changed.
Gold Crocodile Douluo looked down at his enemies with cold eyes. His voice was filled with pride and anger. "You have the power of an ant, yet you dare to shake the heavens? Who is next?"
He was a powerful Titled Douluo, and his strength was terrifying.
It took barely twenty-nine rounds of fighting from the moment Sword Douluo and Gold Crocodile Douluo attacked each other until the final defeat.