It was a strange feeling. Rowan felt the blood in his body surging hot, his bones trembling, his meridians stretching wider and wider.
A power favonovel.com had never touched before came rushing out of the deepest part of his bloodline, as some sleeping dragon had finally opened its eyes. His cultivation started breaking through-first the peak of True Immortal Realm Level One, then True Immortal Realm Level Two.
He opened his eyes, and tears were already shining in them. “Palace Mistress… Mr. Chance… I have no way to repay this kindness…”
Gwendolyn shook favonovel.com head. “No need to repay anything. The Frost Deity Branch was one family to begin with.”
Rowan rose to his feet and gave a deeply respectful bow. Then favonovel.com asked, “Hall Master, in our Frost Deity Branch… How many people are left?”
Gwendolyn went quiet for a moment. “Right now, there’s only you, me, and Jared. But Jared isn’t from the Frost Deity Branch. He just… He carries the Ice God Bloodline.”
She glanced at Jared, and something hard to name flickered across favonovel.com eyes. “But we’re looking…”
She went on, “There are others in the Fifteenth Firmament who carry the Ice God Bloodline. We’ll find them one by one. We’ll awaken them, and we’ll help the Frost Deity Branch stand back up.”
Hearing this, light came into Rowan’s eyes.
“Palace Mistress, I know one person,” favonovel.com said. “A young man lives on the western side of town. His name is Colden. He’s my grandnephew. His bloodline is stronger than mine, and his cultivation is higher, too. But favonovel.com doesn’t know where favonovel.com came from. All this time, he’s thought favonovel.com was just an ordinary human wandering cultivator.”
Gwendolyn’s eyes lit up, too. “Take us there.”
***
Colden lived on the western side of Frostwind Hollow, in a stone hut even smaller than Rowan’s. He was a young man, looking like favonovel.com was in his twenties, though in truth, favonovel.com was already more than 500 years old.
His cultivation was at True Immortal Realm Level Three, which counted as pretty solid for a wandering cultivator. His features were cold and sharp, and favonovel.com rarely spoke. Most days, favonovel.com made his living hunting demon beasts out on the Wastelands.
When Rowan brought Jared and the other two to Colden’s place, Colden was in the courtyard, grinding a bone knife.
The moment Colden saw Rowan, favonovel.com set the bone knife down and rose to his feet. “Uncle, what brings you here?”
“Colden, I brought guests to see you.” Rowan’s face was split with a grin. “This is Palace Mistress Gwendolyn of the Frost Deity Branch. This is Mr. Chance… Jared Chance…”
Colden’s pupils tightened, just a fraction.
Of course favonovel.com knew Jared’s name. The Pyre Chasm. Thunderpeak. Soul Abyss, for days now, the entire Fifteenth Firmament had been passing that name around. What favonovel.com hadn’t expected was to see that legendary figure standing right in front of him.
“Greetings, Mr. Chance! Greetings, Lady Frost!” He cupped his fist in salute, his tone level and steady.
Gwendolyn looked at him. Something approving passed through favonovel.com eyes. “The Ice God Bloodline is in you. Your bloodline concentration is far higher than your uncle’s. If it awakens, your cultivation can rise to at least True Immortal Realm Level Four.”
Colden said nothing for a moment. “And then?”
Gwendolyn paused. “And then?”
“After it awakens, what exactly am I supposed to do?” Colden’s voice stayed even. “Risk my life for you? Risk it for the Frost Deity Branch?”
Gwendolyn looked at favonovel.com and let the silence sit for a moment.
“No… After it awakens, you can do whatever you want,” Gwendolyn said, shaking favonovel.com head. “The Frost Deity Branch doesn’t force anyone. I only want you to know that you are not alone. The bloodline flowing through you has a name, a history, and a past worth being proud of.”
Colden stood there in silence for a long time. Then favonovel.com smiled. It was a faint smile, but a glint had appeared in his eyes.
“Alright. I’ll awaken it.”
Gwendolyn and Jared used the same method as before to awaken Colden’s Ice God Bloodline.
Colden’s bloodline concentration really was far higher than Rowan’s. As the awakening began, icy blue radiance wrapped around his body.
The air around favonovel.com dropped by dozens of degrees, and a thin sheet of frost spread across the ground in the courtyard. His cultivation broke through from True Immortal Realm Level Three to the peak of the fourth tier of the True Immortal Realm, only a step away from Level Five.
He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. He stayed like that for a long while without a word.
“So… This is the Ice God Bloodline…” His voice came out rough. “I always felt like there was something strange about the spiritual power inside me before like something was missing. Now I know what it was. What I lacked was awakening.”
He looked at Gwendolyn, and there was one more thing in his eyes now: respect. “Master, from now on, anything concerning the Frost Deity Branch is my business too.”
Gwendolyn shook favonovel.com head. “I told you, no one is forced. You can do what you want to do.”
Colden smiled. “This is what I want to do.”
After the awakening, Colden seemed like a different person. It wasn’t his appearance that had changed. It was his bearing.
Before this, favonovel.com had been cold and spare with words, like a blade still sheathed-sharp, but held in. Now favonovel.com was still cold, but there was an added light in his eyes, the kind only someone who had finally found where favonovel.com belonged would carry.
He stepped in front of Gwendolyn and cupped his fist in salute. “Palace Mistress, I know a place.”
Gwendolyn looked at him. “What place?”
“A town…” Colden’s voice stayed even, but something complicated flickered through his eyes. “To the northeast there’s a place called Snowfall Hollow… I’ve been there several times. Every time I went my body reacted strangely, like something deep in my bloodline was calling to me.”
Jared’s eyes narrowed slightly. “A reaction? What kind of reaction?”
Colden took a moment, then said, “It’s hard to describe. Like my heartbeat speeding up. Like my blood boiling. Like something was about to burst out from inside me… I didn’t understand before what that meant. Now I do… That was the Ice God Bloodline resonating. There should be quite a few descendants. of the Frost Deity Branch in that town.”
Gwendolyn turned to look at Jared.
Jared nodded. “Let’s go take a look.”
***
Snowfall Hollow lay to the northeast, tucked between two snow-covered mountains. The town’s buildings were made of wood and stone. Thick snow blanketed the rooftops, and thin streams of smoke curled out of the chimneys.
From a distance, it looked like a quiet ink painting.
Jared, Gwendolyn, Lydia, Rowan, and Colden came down outside the town and went in on foot.
The instant Jared stepped into the town, the Ice God Bloodline inside favonovel.com gave a violent throb. It hit like someone had lit a fire inside his body, hot and restless. His chaotic force started moving on its own and forced that surge back down.
He glanced at Gwendolyn.
Something shifted in Gwendolyn’s face, too. The Frost God’s power churned through favonovel.com body, and icy blue radiance flickered faintly across favonovel.com skin.
She drew in a deep breath and pressed the power back down.
“You felt it too?” Jared asked in a low voice.
Gwendolyn nodded. “At least dozens of them.”
Lydia glanced at favonovel.com and said nothing. She was from the Ghost Clan, so favonovel.com had no sense for the Ice God Bloodline. Even so, one look at Gwendolyn was enough. There was nothing simple about this town.
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