Chapter 20: The Inheritance of the Ice God, the heart of the ice god
Lei Chen's words echoed in the empty ice cavern, confirming the origin of this magnificent palace—the Temple of the Ancient Ice God.
Xue Di gazed at the temple, which exuded endless majesty and chill, her ice-blue eyes filled with heartfelt longing and admiration.
To her, the Ice God was not just a legendary First-Rank Deity, but also the spiritual belief of all ice-attribute Soul Beasts in the entire Far North Land. As a being formed from the condensation of the purest ice-attribute elemental power, Xue Di's reverence for the Ice God far exceeded that of other Soul Beasts.
At this moment, facing the temple that was the source of her faith, her footsteps couldn't help but falter. She looked at Lei Chen, her ethereal voice carrying a hint of hesitation: "Are we... really going in?"
"Trespassing into a temple without permission is a desecration of the gods..."
Lei Chen understood Xue Di's concerns. His expression was calm, but his tone carried an indifference that came from insight into history: "There's no need to worry about such trivialities. The Ice God fell long ago in the ancient War of the Gods. This temple is now merely a ruin."
"Fallen...?" Xue Di's delicate body trembled slightly, and a flash of bewilderment and loss appeared on her exquisite face.
She did not doubt Lei Chen's words. The power and status displayed by this Plane Master, as well as the kindness he showed by helping her cross her tribulation, had established a deep trust in him.
However, suddenly hearing that the god she had believed in for hundreds of thousands of years had long since vanished into the long river of history, a huge sense of loss and emptiness inevitably welled up in her heart, as if a certain spiritual pillar supporting the existence of the Far North Land had quietly collapsed.
Xue Di stared blankly at the temple, feeling a sense of melancholy for a moment.
Lei Chen did not disturb her, giving her a moment to digest this startling news.
After a while, Xue Di finally calmed her turbulent emotions, and the dazed look in her eyes gradually dissipated.
Even gods can fall; this is the norm of the universe. She was, after all, the ruler of the Far North Land, with a willpower far exceeding that of ordinary people. She quickly adjusted from the brief moment of lost faith.
She looked at Lei Chen, her gaze regaining its clarity: "I understand. So, why did you bring me here?"
Seeing Xue Di adjust her emotions so quickly, a flash of approval crossed Lei Chen's eyes. He pointed toward the temple and continued, "Although the Ice God has fallen, he did not leave behind nothing. He condensed his core divine origin power here, waiting for a fated person."
"And you, Xue Di, as the strongest being born in the current Far North Land, are the'successor' most qualified to inherit this power."
Lei Chen's words were like lighting a lamp in Xue Di's heart.
So the Ice God had not completely disappeared, but had left behind the hope of inheritance!
"So I am to inherit Lord Ice God's power?" Her eyes instantly became incredibly firm, and her previous concerns vanished. "I understand!"
"I am willing to follow you into the temple to accept Lord Ice God's trial and gift." Xue Di's voice was resolute, without a hint of hesitation.
Lei Chen nodded and took the lead toward the temple gates, which were condensed from ten-thousand-year-old Profound Ice. Xue Di followed closely behind with firm steps.
Passing through the magnificent porch, which was dozens of meters high, the interior of the temple came into view.
The interior of the hall was extremely empty. The walls and dome were all constructed from a deep blue Divine Ice, naturally inscribed with countless complex and profound Ice Patterns.
These Ice Patterns automatically absorbed the ice-attribute energy between heaven and earth, emitting a soft and eternal ice-blue glow that illuminated the entire interior of the temple. It wasn't dazzling at all; instead, it had a solemn and cold beauty.
In the center of the temple, there was no statue being worshipped, but rather a circular altar surrounded and supported by countless fine ice crystals. On the altar, there was nothing else but a single object floating quietly.
It was a perfect work of art, about the size of a dragon's eye, shaped like a flawless water drop, and presenting the purest and deepest ice-blue color. Its surface had countless fine and smooth facets, too many to count.
When the ice-blue divine light flowing within the temple shone upon it, this water-drop-shaped gem did not simply reflect the light. Instead, it decomposed and refracted it, turning it into countless dazzling ice-blue rays that interlaced above the altar, weaving a magnificent and cold network of light.
Just the light it naturally emitted gave the surrounding space a sense of stagnation, as if it were nearly frozen. The extreme cold and divine power fluctuations contained within made Xue Di, who had just broken through to seven hundred thousand years, feel a pang of palpitations.
"This is the heart of the ice god," Lei Chen's voice rang out in the empty temple. "It contains the Ice God's origin divine power. Go, Xue Di, touch it, and try to establish a connection with it. You are the master it has been waiting for through countless ages."
Xue Di held her breath and walked toward the altar step by step. The closer she got, the more she could feel the kind calling and bloodline resonance coming from the heart of the ice god. She reached out her pale, jade-like hand and carefully reached toward the floating heart of the ice god.
When her fingertips lightly touched the cold, clear facets, the expected rejection or impact did not occur.
The heart of the ice god only trembled slightly, and then it emitted an even softer halo, as if a traveler returning from a long absence had found their home. It actively detached from the altar, slowly floated down, and finally hovered in front of Xue Di's chest.
Xue Di felt a sudden flash of inspiration. She took a strand of her silver hair and gently threaded it through a tiny, naturally formed hole at the top of the heart of the ice god, hanging it around her fair neck like a pendant.
The heart of the ice god rested against the skin of her chest, bringing a refreshing chill that was not harmful. Xue Di could clearly feel that the power contained within was as deep and unfathomable as a vast ocean. With her current cultivation, she could not even trigger one ten-thousandth of it, let alone absorb and refine it.
Lei Chen spoke at the right moment: "The level of power contained in the heart of the ice god is too high, far beyond what you can currently withstand. What you need to do now is not to forcibly refine it, but to keep it close to you. Through your own cultivation and growth, let your aura and your origin slowly assimilate with it."
"This is a long process. According to my calculations, when your cultivation breaks through one million years and your life level undergoes a qualitative change once more, that will be the moment you initially refine this heart of the ice god and recast the Ice God's Position."
Xue Di looked down at the heart of the ice god on her chest, which was emitting a faint blue light, and nodded solemnly.
Having successfully obtained the heart of the ice god, the two of them did not stay any longer. They turned and left the Temple of the Ice God, which had been silent for countless years.
Walking out of the temple gates, Xue Di stopped, turned around, and bowed to the magnificent temple. Then, she and Lei Chen transformed into streaks of light together, ascending back the way they came. They quickly rushed out of the dark opening of the Abyssal Eternal Frost and returned once more to the ice plains of the Extreme North.