328: Chapter 326 Boundless Ice Plains, Heaven and Earth Imprisoned

The sky was filled with dead silence, and the chill was bone-piercing.

Yun Ming slowly awoke amidst a cold sensation. He lifted his heavy eyelids, and what met his eyes was an endless expanse of vast, snowy white. The sky above was completely sealed off by thick, dark clouds, presenting a depressing and deathly silent leaden gray. There was no sun, no moon, no stars, and not a trace of daylight; the entire world was shrouded in a gray, hazy mist.

Heavy snow fell endlessly from the depths of the clouds. Unlike the light, fluttering snow in ordinary worlds, the snow here was thick, dense, and heavy, as if someone above the Nine Heavens had overturned a sea of snow, causing it to crash down in massive sheets. The falling snow covered the sky and earth, yet it fell with absolute silence. The moment it touched the ground, it melted and settled without a sound. All noises were completely swallowed by this frozen land, leaving a dead silence that was unsettling.

A biting cold wind swept across the entire ice plain. It lacked the violent roar of a gale, having only a low, long-drawn-out wail, like an ancient beast lurking at the end of the world, moaning in a low, sorrowful voice. Each sound seeped into the bones, carrying an extreme frigidity that permeated his entire body.

Yun Ming slowly sat up. A thick layer of snow had already accumulated on his shoulders and back. The icy snow particles pressed against his skin, dispelling the last trace of chaotic sleepiness.

He stood up, lifted his eyes, and surveyed the surrounding world.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast ice plain, boundless and endless, with no beginning and no end.

Beneath his feet was not soft, accumulated snow, but a layer of incomparably hard, deep-blue ice. The ice layer was crystal clear, emitting a faint, cold light. Beneath the limpid ice, countless blurry and eerie outlines were vaguely frozen—perhaps ancient, craggy rocks, or massive, twisted skeletons. Whether they were ancient beasts or primordial beings, they had been permanently frozen beneath this ice, silent for eternity. The entire ice surface was exceptionally flat, smooth, and cold, without a single crack, remaining as stable as ever after countless ages.

Yun Ming took a step, his shoe sole making contact with the ice surface, emitting a faint, crisp friction sound. It was short and thin, immediately swallowed by the dead silence of the world.

Subconsciously, he spread out his Divine Sense, wanting to investigate the terrain for dozens of miles around and figure out his location. But the next instant, his brows furrowed tightly, and a trace of surprise arose in his heart. His Divine Sense was actually firmly suppressed by an invisible, eerie force. It wasn't just weakened or attenuated; it was as if it had been completely pressed down and imprisoned by the thick, eternal ice layer. It could only extend about ten miles before it began to blur, twist, and shatter into Chaos. Beyond ten miles, there was only complete nothingness and emptiness; he could not perceive any aura or scene.

Refusing to give up, he focused his mind and Qi, pushing his Divine Sense to its limit in an attempt to break through this imprisonment. But the result remained unchanged; ten miles was the absolute limit of perception in this world.

Yun Ming looked up at the low-hanging dark clouds above. The thick cloud layer hung heavily, so low it felt like he could touch it if he raised his hand, making the world feel even more oppressive. With a surge of spiritual power beneath his feet, his figure shot up from the ground, charging straight toward the clouds, hoping to break through the haze, ascend to a vantage point, and glimpse the boundaries of this world.

Ten zhang, twenty zhang, fifty zhang, one hundred zhang... His figure continued to rise, ascending rapidly, but the dark clouds above were like an incurable disease, constantly rising along with him, forever hanging a short distance above his head—unreachable and unbreakable. No matter how high he flew, he could never escape the shroud of this gray haze.

He stopped in mid-air and looked down at the ground. Below him was still the endless, flat ice plain, a vast expanse of white, monotonous and eerily strange. Even the spot where he had sat for so long had already been covered by falling snow, leaving no trace to be found. The entire world had no undulations and no reference points; he could not distinguish north, south, east, or west, nor determine height, distance, or proximity, and was completely lost.

With no other choice, Yun Ming slowly descended back to the ice plain. The moment his feet touched the solid ice surface, the feelings of strangeness and oppression in his heart grew even stronger. He no longer attempted to fly, choosing instead to walk forward. He randomly selected a direction and began to walk steadily.

With every step he took, the hard ice surface emitted a faint, cracking sound—fragile and muffled, as if the eternal ice were groaning in a low voice. The sound of his footsteps fell clearly into the empty world, but he waited in vain for any echo. All sounds were completely absorbed and swallowed by this dead, frozen plain, leaving only boundless silence to accompany him as he traveled alone.

He did not know how long he had been walking—an hour, two hours, or perhaps longer. Time had lost its meaning here, and the surrounding scenery had never changed in the slightest. There were no mountains or hills, no rivers or streams, no vegetation or living creatures. As far as the eye could see, there was only cold ice, falling snow, and wailing winds. Dead silence, desolation, and frigidity were the only backdrop of this world.

The endless repetition of scenery was extremely easy to erode one's spirit and breed despair.

Yun Ming's steps faltered, and he stopped in his tracks, his gaze heavy and focused. He took a deep breath, and his spiritual power surged forth, directly activating his Divine Ability, Law of Heaven and Earth.

One zhang, five zhang, ten zhang, fifty zhang, one hundred zhang!

His figure shot up rapidly, transforming into a one-hundred-zhang giant, standing tall on the ice plain, overlooking all directions. Yet, the dark clouds above still rose along with him, firmly shrouding the heavens and earth, refusing to disperse in the slightest. Looking around, it was still an endless, flat ice plain. The vast world was empty, with only him standing there, small and abrupt, like a thin chopstick standing alone on a white wilderness.

He retracted his Divine Ability, and his figure suddenly shrank back to its normal size, the heaviness in his heart growing even more intense. He slowly crouched down, his fingertips touching the cold, hard ice surface; the sensation was bone-piercing, and the texture was incomparably hard. He scratched hard with his fingernails, but the ice surface remained as smooth as before, leaving not a trace. He increased his force, yet still could not shake it in the slightest.

Yun Ming slowly stood up and clenched his right fist, concentrating all his physical strength from the third stage of Body Refining and all his spiritual power from the Early Nascent Soul Stage into that one punch. Such force was enough to shatter a ten-thousand-zhang mountain, heavily injure a Soul Transformation expert, and was enough to dominate a region in the outside world.

With a thunderous boom, his heavy fist smashed fiercely onto the ice surface!

The expected explosion, collapse, and roar did not occur at all.

The moment the majestic and fierce fist force landed on the ice surface, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, silently and completely swallowed and dissolved by the ice layer. The ice surface remained flat, without cracks, depressions, sound, or movement, changeless for eternity, and stable to the point of being terrifying.

Yun Ming lowered his eyes to look at his intact fist; the web between his thumb and index finger was not split, and his bones were uninjured. Yet, that solid, majestic power had truly been completely dissolved by this eerie ice layer. This ice plain was far more terrifying and mysterious than he had imagined.

Just at this moment, an extremely weak voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Don't waste your effort."

The voice was hoarse and weak, as thin as a gossamer thread, like the breathy sound squeezed out by someone bedridden with a long illness using their last ounce of strength. It was faint yet clear, piercing through the heavy wind and snow, precisely entering Yun Ming's ears, standing out exceptionally in the dead silence of the ice plain.

Yun Ming's heart jolted; his figure turned instantly, his gaze sweeping sharply behind him.

Behind him was still the vast snowy plain, with falling snow fluttering and cold winds wailing. It was empty, with no sign of a person to be seen and no scent of a living being to be detected. Yet, his extremely sharp Divine Sense clearly captured that this voice did not come from the surrounding world, but originated from beneath the thick ice layer under his feet!

He immediately leaned down, pressing his ear tightly against the deep-blue ice surface, listening intently.

Beside his ear, there was only the steady sound of his own heartbeat and the faint flow of his blood. Apart from that, there was dead silence; the voice from before had completely disappeared, leaving no trace.

"Who are you?" Yun Ming asked in a deep voice, his words slowly dissipating over the empty ice plain, still without the slightest echo.

A long silence shrouded the world. Just when Yun Ming thought the other party would not respond again, that weak voice came from beneath the ice once more, even weaker than before, as if it might be completely extinguished at any moment.

"Someone trapped here... just like you."

Yun Ming stood up, his gaze heavy as he looked out at the boundless ice plain. He still did not know where this place was, the identity of the person beneath the ice, or how many secrets and dangers were hidden in this eerie, extremely cold world.

But he knew that he absolutely could not stagnate and sink into despair here.

He did not linger, resolutely turning around and once again choosing a direction to walk forward. The rustling snow continued to fall, instantly covering the shallow footprints he had just left, clean and neat, as if no one had ever set foot on this desolate, extremely cold ice plain.