"Ding. Exchange successful!"
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the intermediate immortal technique: Ice Emperor's Art!"
[Ice Emperor's Art]: An intermediate immortal technique. Grants control over all the ice in the world like an Ice Emperor descending. Allows complete freedom to manipulate ice, shaping it however one desires, without any restrictions.
Ethan's heart raced with excitement.
His first intermediate immortal technique!
And just by reading the description, he knew its power completely eclipsed Ice-Make magic.
To control all the ice in the world…
If he were to face another Ice Mage in the future, he could directly seize control of their creations. Against him, Ice Mages would be powerless!
Not only that the Ice Emperor's Art also gave him an even greater shaping ability, one that could far surpass any conventional technique.
The thought made Ethan's blood boil.
But then, another realization struck him.
High-level magic could only be exchanged into intermediate immortal techniques, not into high-level immortal techniques.
Even so, this intermediate technique already went beyond Ur's high-level Ice-Make magic.
If intermediate is already this strong… then how powerful would a high-level immortal technique be?
The more he thought about it, the more his anticipation grew.
But when he calmed himself, Ethan noticed Ur watching him closely, her eyes filled with expectation.
"Well? How's the control? Did you manage to get it?" Ur asked, her tone just a little anxious.
Ethan shook his head.
"I still need some time. This magic is… quite complicated."
Though he had already mastered the Ice Emperor's Art, he had no intention of showing it off right away.
This was high-level magic even among powerful mages, it would take weeks or months to learn. If he were to master it instantly, it would look monstrous.
Talent was good. But if it was too unnatural, people would no longer see him as a genius, but as something else a monster.
Ur might not judge him harshly, but Ethan wasn't willing to take the risk.
Better to hold back, wait a day or two, and then "master" it naturally.
Ur listened to Ethan's words and opened her mouth to comfort him.
"This is very normal. After all, Ice-Make is a high-level magic."
Though she spoke gently, Ur secretly let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
Yes, having a genius disciple was something to be proud of. But it could also be… overwhelming.
Especially when that disciple was Ethan his learning speed was simply too fast. Each time she taught him a spell, he not only mastered it instantly, but somehow managed to optimize it into something stronger.
That was enough to make any teacher's heart ache.
In fact, the reason she had chosen to reveal Ice-Make magic so early was partly to intimidate him a little. She thought, Surely this will take him longer…
So when she saw Ethan appear troubled by it, she felt a rare sense of relief.
At least he was human after all.
Still, she worried he might grow discouraged. So she continued to comfort him.
"There's no need to rush. Take your time to think carefully about its principles. With your talent, I have no doubt you'll grasp it soon enough."
"Yes!" Ethan nodded firmly, his expression full of determination.
…
About two days later, Ethan finally "managed" to completely grasp Ice-Make magic.
Ur slowly opened her eyes again.
She had originally thought it would take Ethan at least ten days to grasp Ice-Make. Yet in only two days, he had fully mastered it!
She couldn't help but feel shaken.
Even for her, when she first learned Ice-Make, it had taken a long time and a tremendous amount of effort and that was with years of prior experience in Ice Magic.
And how long had Ethan even been her disciple?
The thought was staggering.
Ur suddenly realized she had forgotten to even test Ethan's Ice-Make. A small stroke of luck, perhaps because if she had, she might have been overwhelmed again.
After all, Ethan wasn't truly wielding Ice-Make, but the immortal art Ice Emperor's Art. Compared to ordinary Ice-Make, its power was in an entirely different league.
To some extent, with Ice Emperor's Art alone, Ethan's strength was already comparable to Ur's.
The only advantage she still held was her wealth of combat experience and the countless years of discipline that had honed her instincts.
Without that, if they had simply compared techniques, Ice-Make would have fallen short.
That was the terrifying power of the intermediate immortal art Ice Emperor's Art.
…
Unknowingly, four months slipped by.
In that time, Ethan trained every day, pushing his body to its limits.
At the same time, with Ur's teachings as cover, he had secretly exchanged more than ten new immortal arts.
Though most were low-level, their strength was still formidable. In fact, many of them already surpassed his very first immortal art, Profound Ice Crack.
Moreover, with the dual support of training and exchanging immortal arts, the total amount of magic power within Ethan's body had skyrocketed.
Compared to four months ago, his magic power had increased by at least five times!
Sitting cross-legged atop a snowy mountain peak, Ethan absorbed the countless ice-aspected magic particles drifting in the air, steadily converting them into his own mana.
Eventually, he felt that familiar resistance in his core his magic power had reached its bottleneck once more. He could absorb no further. With a light sigh, Ethan opened his eyes and stopped his meditation.
He picked up the coat lying beside him and pulled it on.
Although it still felt a little strange to be forced to strip down during meditation, Ethan had to admit that here on this snowy mountain, it really did accelerate the absorption of magic particles. So, despite his reluctance, he went along with Ur's training methods.
That said, if there was anyone who enjoyed this the most, it was Gray. That kid… even when he wasn't cultivating, he seemed to love stripping off!
Ethan couldn't help but twitch his lips at the thought. Truly, some habits formed early…