119: Su Chen is awake!

"Abandon all emotions... forsake all attachments... only then can you inherit the legacy of the Ice Prison Sovereign... Only a truly calm and ruthless heart can wield the vast divine power within this eternal ice core..."

"What I bestow upon you now... is but one ten-thousandth of the ice core's power..."

"Come... sever all bonds... embrace me... and you shall obtain... unimaginable... supreme power~~~"

A whisper, as if originating from the deepest part of the soul, filled with extreme temptation and coldness,

like countless icy threads, entwined Su Chen's gradually awakening consciousness.

[Ding! Under the passive erosion of the eternal ice core's ultimate ice origin power, the host has successfully awakened the A-Rank Talent — Ice Incarnation! Successfully awakened the A+ Rank Skill — Absolute Zero: Eternal Frost Prison!]

[Absolute Zero: Eternal Frost Prison (A+ Rank) — Activates the ultimate cold origin power within the body, instantly creating an absolute zero domain centered around oneself. The stronger the consumed ice origin power, the greater the Skill's might. (Silence reigns, motion ends. This is the eternal abode of all things — Welcome to my ice hell.)]

The system's notification sound was cold and clear.

Wh-what's going on?

Awakened a new Ice Talent and Skill?

And that tempting whisper just now... what was that?!

Su Chen's consciousness struggled and bobbed in the icy ocean.

He clearly felt... that with just a thought, if he were willing to abandon those so-called "emotions" and "attachments"... an unimaginably vast and terrifying power of ice could instantly fill his entire body!

That power... was enough to make him reach the heavens in one step!

But... without joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, without the people and things he wanted to protect... would that still be Su Chen?!

A cold monster, only knowing how to pursue power?!

No!!!

I am Su Chen!!!

I am a living, breathing person, with flesh and blood, who cries and laughs, gets angry and protects!!!

What damned Ice Prison Sovereign legacy! What absolute ruthlessness!

I don't care for it!!!

Get lost!!!

Amidst a roar and resistance from the depths of his soul, Su Chen's massive compound eyes suddenly snapped open!

His consciousness had fully returned!

What met his eyes was Aria's stunningly beautiful face, close at hand, yet etched with worry.

"Big Guy! You're awake?!"

Behind Aria, Bearman King Enuoke, whose injuries had mostly recovered, was leading tens of thousands of standing Iceborn Clan warriors in silent vigil.

Seeing Su Chen awaken, all Iceborn Clan warriors, including Enuoke, knelt on one knee in unison, heads bowed, letting out a deafening cheer:

"Welcome, Master, upon your awakening!!"

The roar echoed through the cold ruins.

Su Chen shook his still faintly aching massive head and rubbed his temples with a tentacle (if that counted as a temple),

then looked around in confusion:

"Aria... how long have I been asleep..."

"Hmm? Where are Chen Feng and the others? Why don't I see any Divine Summer people?"

Aria's purplish eyes flickered slightly, her voice still carrying its characteristic languor, yet seeming to hide something:

"You slept for two full days and two nights. As for those Divine Summer people... they have all evacuated and returned to the Divine Summer homeland."

"All returned to Divine Summer?! Not a single one left behind?!"

Su Chen's compound eyes instantly narrowed, immediately catching an unusual implication in Aria's tone,

and he pressed, "No! Aria, tell me! What exactly happened?!"

Aria's red lips parted slightly, seemingly hesitant, but finally she said gravely:

"Big Guy... that... Cthulhu's right leg... that we encountered at the base of Mount Fuji... it... broke through the seal..."

Boom!

Like a clap of thunder exploding in his mind!

Su Chen's massive body suddenly stiffened!

Just as he feared, it came to pass!

He had just seen that ancient record, and the thing he worried about most... had actually happened so quickly?!

"No!"

Su Chen immediately reacted,

"That stinky foot wasn't sealed in Fusang?! Even if it escaped, what does that have to do with Divine Summer?! Why did Chen Feng and the others all retreat?! What exactly happened?!"

Facing Su Chen's barrage of questions, Aria opened her mouth, her eyes darting away, seemingly unwilling to tell him the cruel truth.

Su Chen's gaze instantly turned cold,

and he abruptly turned to Bearman King Enuoke, who was kneeling to the side, his voice carrying an unquestionable command:

"Enuoke! You should know! Speak!!!"

Enuoke's massive bear body trembled violently, feeling the palpable pressure,

and without daring to hide anything, he immediately replied respectfully:

"R-reporting, Master! That escaped Cthulhu limb... seems to have parasitically controlled a native creature, transforming into... into the form of the Yamata no Orochi from Fusang mythology..."

His voice trembled slightly with fear; the name of an Outer God was enough to chill any living being aware of its existence.

"It... it has already... already completely annihilated the entire Fusang Archipelago... over the past few dozens of hours... Now... it is... it is moving towards Divine Summer!!"

Boom—!!!

A terrifying aura, like a tangible storm, suddenly erupted from Su Chen's thousand-meter-tall body!

The surrounding cold air was instantly pushed away, and the ice beneath his feet let out groaning cracks!

"So that's it... that damned stinky foot... actually dares to set its sights on Divine Summer..."

Su Chen's voice was frighteningly low, as if ten thousand years of ice were grinding together, filled with monstrous rage!