The Forest of Ice was divided into rings of danger. There was the outer ring, which mostly had Gold Mancy Ice Spirit Beasts, and then the inner ring, where Cloud Mancy Ice Spirit Beasts became more common, while Gold Mancy Ice Spirit Beasts moved in large swarms and one could be easily overwhelmed if they were careless.

It was already highly disincentivized to enter the inner ring unless you were extremely confident in your strength. The swarms of Ice Spirit Beasts were too many, and it was even said that the Ice Mana was so potent that Spirit Beasts often manifested spontaneously in random locations.

This Ice Mana concentration was the true danger, though. If before someone quite powerful could get away with deploying their Third Eye, in the inner ring, you would likely be frozen instantly.

However, the inner ring was nothing compared to the core ring and the core itself. It was said that in the core ring, rather than Gold Mancy Ice Spirit Beasts appearing in swarms, it was instead Cloud Mancy Ice Spirit Beasts that did.

In fact, not only would they, but Ascending Cloud and Treading Cloud Ice Spirit Beasts would begin to appear as well. For about every 10 Touching Cloud Realm Ice Spirit Beasts, there would be one Ascending Cloud one. And for every 10 of the latter, there would be a Treading Cloud one.

And then there was the true core…

At this region, Treading Cloud Ice Spirit Beasts reigned supreme. The only reason they hadn't overrun the Sect itself was because of the existence of the Matriarch of the Hall.

No one entered this region except the Matriarch. This wasn't just because Dome of Heaven Ice Spirit Beasts might appear, but because the sheer cold at the core could kill an Ascending Cloud Realm expert whether they deployed their Third Eye or not.

Worst of all, even if you were a Treading Cloud Realm expert, your power output would be highly limited—and that was true even if you also happened to be an Ice Mancer, let alone if you weren't.

The Ice Mana at the core was especially unruly and difficult to control. The concentration of Heaven Resonance was shockingly high as well.

A Dome of Heaven Ice Mancer might be much stronger in the core region. But anyone else?

It was next to a death sentence.

And Theron wanted to check it out.

He flicked his wrist, [Shadow Extend] forming a tendril of darkness that pierced right through a Gold Mancy Ice Spirit Beast's head. It barely had the time to open its maw before it was dead.

Theron took another step, his movements with Dark Mana so much more fluid now than they had ever been.

He thrust again, his spear tip splitting into three and killing just as many.

Before, when he used [Shadow Step] against the Humanoid Ice Spirit Beast, he wasn't just faking it out like he had before. Theron was able to superimpose himself in three different directions at the same time. Whereas before he had to decide where he would appear ahead of time, this time, he could decide at the last minute after his opponent had already made a decision about which direction to attack.

If his opponent was late to decide, he could even go as far as to attack from three directions at the same time.

This was so much greater than his original modification to [Shadow Step] that it almost felt like he had created a new technique. It felt beyond Consummate Mastery.

It felt like Shadow Extend had also taken such a step. He felt like he could extend it further, but better than that, he could control the aftereffects more precisely—almost like homing in his blade to strike at a moving target, curling it through the air and hounding down the skull he wanted to pierce.

Theron was a one-man army.

His Dark Mana was like a beacon in the forest, pushing swaths of Ice Mana away and causing more Ice Mana to rush toward him to fill in the gaps.

Gold Mancy Beasts began to appear in larger and larger swarms the more attention he brought to himself and the more he killed.

Ice Spirit Crystals began to pile up on the ground, and Theron's point totals shot up faster and faster.

—

[Rankings]

[1. Orin Zimone - 137][2. Theron Galethunder - 118][3. Rose Milone - 94][4. Ailon Trum - 89][5. Lilac - 77][6. Violet - 77]

—

Theron's eyes narrowed when he checked the leaderboard again.

This Orin was very interesting. Honestly, Theron was very curious as to how his point total was increasing so quickly.

'Odd…'

What Theron found the most interesting was that Tyran's name wasn't nearly high enough.

Theron was an assassin first and foremost. Well, he felt he was at least as much of an assassin as he was a scholar. It was ingrained into his bones to gather as much information about his opponents as he could. As such, he had long learned the names of Tyran and the others.

He also had a feel for their strengths as well. Even if they weren't as strong as the top-tier Core Disciples, they weren't far off. Being in the top 20, at the very least, shouldn't be an issue for them.

So where were they?

'Is there a deal for them to not appear too flashy? But then what would be the point in participating? No, there should be another reason. Are they waiting around to just rob people after they're all done? Or is there another reason?'

Theron's gaze flickered as he slotted this matter to the back of his mind. He was rapidly approaching the core ring.

The gates to enter the Forest of Ice were around the perimeter of the outer ring. As one ventured further in, the zones became smaller, and the chances of meeting higher-powered individuals was likewise greater.

The Core Ring would be where the true battle for supremacy began amongst the strongest.

Theron felt a part of his bloodline boil, his hair dancing like a lion's mane in the wind.

His grip on his spear tightened, and deep inside, he felt the will to dominate.

Something about Orin's name being ahead of his pissed him off.

BANG.

Theron's power exploded, his Water Mana beginning to churn as well.

The skies filled with both streams as he erupted with one spear strike after another.

BANG.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.