"No!"
At this moment, in the grand palace of the Chen Kingdom, Lord Chen Guoguo's roar pierced the air, filled with shock, disbelief, and terror. His hand stretched frantically toward the world item, the Gravity Ball, but it was too late. Before he could grasp it, the white ice mist swept through the halls like a relentless flood.
The freezing cold struck first at his body, then spread. In an instant, he was encased in ice, transformed into a lifelike sculpture—solid, unyielding, eternal. The majesty and terror that had always radiated from him, his aura of dominance over mortals and even some gods, now crystallized into a cold, unmoving figure.
At that very moment, Lord Chen Guoguo died.
Not only him, but countless other elite generals of the Chen state, the most loyal and skilled soldiers, fell victim to the ice. They hadn't the time, nor the power, to resist. One by one, men who had once laughed at the very notion of gods and boasted of slaughtering divine beings, now stood frozen as eternal statues. Their eyes, wide with the last spark of fear, were preserved forever in ice, stripped of life, voice, and movement.
Those who had once clamored for glory, for slaughtering gods, were now reduced to lifeless monuments, victims of forces they could neither understand nor counter. Even their spirits—if they lingered at all—were swallowed by the unyielding frost.
The city itself, home to ten million souls, fell silent. No sound of life. No flutter of birds. No cries, no wind through the streets—only the quiet hiss of ice spreading, a deep, omnipresent stillness. It was as though time itself had stopped, as if this city had been frozen for millennia, untouched, unbreathing.
"Huh?! The power of liquid nitrogen… seems even stronger than I imagined."
Outside the capital, Xia Chuan observed silently, eyes scanning the frozen cityscape. He had unleashed the liquid nitrogen he had brought, and the result was terrifying in its completeness. The white mist swirled, engulfing streets, palaces, walls, even the fields outside. In moments, the capital of the Chen Kingdom had been transformed into a city of ice—buildings, animals, and people alike turned into lifelike statues, all emitting a numbing chill.
The cold would persist for a long time. In this world, unlike in Xuanhuangxing, the ambient temperature did not counteract it. Sunlight in this world, he noted with curiosity, seemed weak, almost benign. Standing beneath it, the warmth was negligible—less than the comfort of an ordinary light bulb back home. Perhaps because of this, his liquid nitrogen exerted effects far beyond his expectations, and the freezing process was faster, the frost more enduring.
Yet, he could not help but smile faintly. This also meant his power in this world… was even stronger than anticipated. One could manipulate natural forces with unprecedented efficiency here.
"Master," a familiar voice echoed in his mind. The Book of Wisdom, ancient and vast, spoke. "There is a world item in this capital."
"What? Another world item?" Xia Chuan's eyes gleamed. His excitement surged like molten energy. He had just acquired one world item, and now… another? Truly, his luck in this miniature world had exceeded expectation. He felt almost dizzy with anticipation.
"It is in the palace," the Book of Wisdom clarified, guiding him with quiet certainty.
Without delay, Xia Chuan moved toward the palace, navigating the frozen streets, past lifeless soldiers and generals, past ice-encased horses and wagons. Finally, in the inner hall, he found it: a small black sphere resting atop the frozen body of an elderly man in imperial robes. The man himself had long since lost life, now merely an ice sculpture—a vessel of history, frozen in time.
Whoosh!
The sphere hovered before Xia Chuan, small but dense with a presence he could feel in his bones. Power surged within it, ancient and unfathomable. There was no doubt: this was a world item.
"How… how do I refine it?" Xia Chuan asked, curiosity and eagerness vibrating through him.
"Simply drop blood upon it," the Book of Wisdom replied. "Use the blood to consecrate the world item. Sacrifice is required."
Xia Chuan nodded, a small, precise cut across his finger. A single drop of blood fell onto the sphere. To him, it seemed a mere speck—but to the black sphere, it was a lake, a torrent, a feast of vitality.
Immediately, the sphere shuddered. It drew the blood in, greedily absorbing it. In moments, it had consumed every trace, shimmering faintly as it pulsed with life and power.
Boom!
In the next instant, the black sphere rose, spinning in midair. Then, without warning, it merged with Xia Chuan, embedding itself within his body. Energy coursed through him, spreading, vibrating, and filling every fiber with an almost overwhelming presence.
World Item: Gravity Ball.
Ability: Manipulate gravity within a certain range. Increase or decrease gravitational force. The extent of manipulation depends on the physical strength of the holder.
Xia Chuan's eyes widened involuntarily, a thrill of exhilaration surging from deep within.
A world item that controlled gravity. Not auxiliary or minor. This was a weapon of unparalleled lethality. A single item, wielded correctly, could reshape battlefields, crush armies, and even challenge other world items.
Moreover, the scope of its power was linked directly to physical strength. Consider the Lord of Chen Guoguo—already a miniature human in scale—able to manipulate gravity tenfold, maybe fiftyfold at maximum. Xia Chuan, in his current form, far larger than a miniature human, could manipulate forces exponentially greater. Ten thousand times gravity? Perhaps even more. And the energy expended… negligible.
He could feel it, the raw potential humming inside him. Such power… was unprecedented.
"It's incredible. Finally, truly incredible," he muttered, almost to himself. Luck had smiled upon him, yes—but not merely luck. Opportunity, timing, and his own actions had all aligned. To obtain this world item… this level of treasure… was beyond reward. It was destiny.
The world itself seemed to pulse in response, an invisible acknowledgment of the item's activation. The city lay frozen, the Chen Kingdom destroyed, the gravity of power now literally and figuratively in Xia Chuan's hands. Every street, every statue, every frozen figure—silent witnesses to the arrival of a new force in the world.
Xia Chuan's interest in this world, which had already been piqued, now became fascination. So much power, so many secrets, unimaginable treasures scattered across its surface. The more he saw, the more he realized: even gods, even ancient forces, might not withstand the right hands.
His mind raced, possibilities unspooling like threads of light. Gravity could crush mountains, immobilize armies, alter landscapes. The entire realm… could bend to his will, if he dared.
And yet… he knew restraint was necessary. Even with such power, carelessness could be fatal. The frozen city around him was a reminder. Power without understanding, no matter how grand, could lead to disaster.
A smile curved across his face, a mixture of satisfaction, excitement, and a hint of mischief. He had claimed the Gravity Ball. He had frozen a kingdom. And still, he thirsted for more.
The miniature world, once a place of ordinary challenges, now stretched infinitely in complexity and opportunity. Xia Chuan's journey had just begun. Every frozen street, every ice-bound figure, every palace turned monument of frost… whispered secrets of strength, of possibility, and of worlds yet unseen.
The black sphere pulsed faintly within him, a heartbeat of potential, ready to obey.
With the Gravity Ball in hand—no, within him—Xia Chuan felt invincible. The city lay in ice, the Chen Kingdom a testament to his newfound might, and the world itself… waiting. Waiting for what he would do next.
And somewhere in the distance, the frozen air shimmered, a reminder: the world contained forces older and stranger than even he had imagined. But for now, he held the ultimate weapon, a world item unmatched, a power that could challenge gods themselves.
He had succeeded. Yet, he had only just begun.
The Gravity Ball hummed faintly, responding to his heartbeat, a promise of devastation, a companion of conquest. Xia Chuan's eyes gleamed, reflecting the icy city around him, reflecting his own excitement and anticipation. The miniature world had become his playground, and he was ready to reshape it—gravity, life, death, all at his fingertips.
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