The moment the spire's Frostbear fang shattered, time **stopped.**
A shockwave of ancient energy erupted, freezing the charging disciples mid-step, their expressions locked in snarls of rage. The very air crystallized, each snowflake hanging suspended like stars in a frozen sky.
And then—
Ice cracked and groaned as a behemoth of frozen fur and fury pulled itself free from the mountain's prison. Its eyes—pale blue voids swirling with ancient rage—locked onto me. I felt my bloodline answer in a heartbeat.
"You... are the last."
My breath turned to mist. My soul felt like it was being pulled toward the titan, toward the ice-bound will of my ancestors. This wasn't just a spirit. It was all of them—every Frostbear that had ever been sealed, bound together in vengeance.
And I had just set them free.
A gust of frozen wind nearly knocked me off my feet as the titan lowered its head. Its breath smelled of winter storms and forgotten wars.
"Child of the Forsaken Bloodline... what do you seek?"
Visions exploded in my mind: A Sect Master, standing over the dying Frostbear King. Chains of light sinking into flesh. The Soulfrost Array, a ritual meant to bind immortality itself.
I clenched my fists. "I want my freedom. I want justice."
The titan rumbled in what might have been laughter.
"Then take our power... and bear the cost."
A shiver ripped through me as ice clawed up my veins. My heartbeat slowed—then thundered. My muscles expanded, my skin hardened with an unnatural frost. My claws lengthened, my senses sharpened.
[New Skill: Frostborn Apex - Temporarily channel the strength of the Ancestral Frostbear.]
The price? I didn't ask. I already felt my humanity slipping.
A pulse of energy slammed into me, forcing me to my knees. My vision swam with new images—ancestral memories of Frostbears ripping glaciers from bedrock, of battles where their roars split mountains.
"WE WILL TEACH YOU. WE WILL MAKE YOU TRUE CLAW AND FANG."
[Bloodline Offer: Embrace the Frostbear's Wrath]
[Reward: Arctic Dominion (Stage 1)]
[Cost: ???]
Liu Feng's warning cut through the haze: "Don't!"He was pinned under ice shards, blood trickling from his temple. "The spirits don't gift—they replace!
The Titan laughed, and the sound shattered every window in the sect. "THE SWORDBOY IS WISE. BUT WHAT CHOICE HAVE YOU, LITTLE BROTHER? WITHOUT OUR POWER, YOU DIE HERE."
I exhaled, watching my breath fog in the unnatural cold.
"Counteroffer."
The Titan paused. "SPEAK."
"I keep my mind. My memories. But..."
I bared my teeth. "I'll let you in.When I fight, when I hunt—you get the wheel."
Silence.
Then—a sound like glaciers colliding.The Titan was laughing.
"CLEVER CLAW. VERY WELL. BUT KNOW THIS—EVERY TIME YOU CALL UPON US, WE WILL TAKE MORE. AND ONE DAY..."
Its muzzle split into something too wide, too full of teeth, to be a smile.
"YOU WILL *WELCOME* THE COLD."
[Bloodline Pact Forged!]
[New Ability: Arctic Dominion (Stage 1)]
[Effect: Temporarily merge with ancestral spirit for 300% combat boost][Warning: Soul Integrity - 92%]
A wall of golden light intercepted me mid-pounce. The impact sent me rolling, the Titan's presence receding like a tide.
The Sect Master floated above us, his robes pristine, his expression disappointed.
"Elder Mei," he sighed. "I told you not to wake the Titan."
Mei trembled. "B-but the ritual—"
"Was mine* to control." His gaze settled on me. "And now, thanks to you, our Frostbear has become... complicated."
Liu Feng limped to my side, his voice a whisper: "He wanted the Titan's power for himself. Mei was just the idiot holding the knife."
The Sect Master raised a hand. The glacier itself groanedin response.
Liu Feng grabbed my shoulder. "We need to move! The entire sect is—"
The mountain shook as another explosion rocked the glacier.
I turned. At the heart of the sect, a towering obelisk of ice pulsed with light. The Soulfrost Array wasn't broken—it was accelerating.
"No…" Elder Liang muttered, eyes wide. "The Sect Master isn't trying to contain the Frostbear Spirit. He's trying to consume it!"
A deafening crack split the air. From atop the highest spire, the Sect Master stood, robes billowing, a spear of absolute zero in his grasp.
"You think you've unraveled my plans?" His voice carried like a frozen storm. "Foolish cub. You've merely delivered me the key."
My veins burned with borrowed power. "Then let's see if you can handle the key."
The first strike came like lightning—faster than my eyes could track. I barely dodged as a spike of void-cold ice slammed into the ground where I stood. The air itself cracked.
[Warning: Soulfrost Domain Activated - Absolute Cold Engaged]
The temperature dropped past survivable levels. The ground beneath me froze solid, ice creeping up my legs. My lungs burned as my Qi tried to fight off the invasive cold.
The Sect Master floated above us, untouched by the deadly frost. "Did you think mere bloodline tricks would make you my equal?"
I grinned, fangs bared. "Let's test that theory."
[Glacial Rend: Wide-Area Activation]
Ice erupted around me, jagged spears spewing upward in an unpredictable storm. But he didn't even flinch. With a wave of his hand, every spike reversed, turning against me.
I charged straight through them.
Shards tore through my skin, but my new form shrugged off the worst of it. I reached him in three strides—
Claws met spear.
A shockwave ripped through the battlefield as our Qi clashed. My bones screamed, but I refused to fall.
Liu Feng was already moving, striking from the side. His blade met an invisible force—a barrier of crystallized ice. He cursed and leapt back before it shattered into frozen shrapnel.
"We can't win like this!" Elder Liang called. "We need to break the array!"
The titan behind me roared. "Then do it. I will hold the thief."
The battle between the Frostbear Spirit and the Sect Master wasn't a fight—it was a natural disaster.
The Titan moved like a blizzard given form, each swipe of its paws sending glacial tsunamis ripping across the mountaintop. The Sect Master countered with golden sigils that broke reality , unraveling the very air where they passed. When he clapped his hands, mountainsides shattered.*When the Titan roared, time itself seemed to freeze.
And yet... The Sect Master was winning.
He wasn't just strong—he was precise.Every attack exploited the Titan's weaknesses:
Golden threads lashed from his sleeves, wrapping around the Titan's limbs. Where they touched, the spirit's form dimmed, its energy siphoned away. He kept maneuvering the fight back toward the shattered spire, where the remnants of the Soulfrost Array still pulsed weakly. And Every minute, the glowing pillar grew brighter, its sigils drinking in the Titan's spilled power.
The Titan staggered, one of its massive tusks cracked, oozing liquid frost.
"LITTLE BROTHER!" Its voice boomed in my skull. "THE PILLAR—BREAK IT, OR WE BOTH DIE!
The path to the pillar was a gauntlet:
-Falling Debris: Chunks of glacier the size of houses rained down. I weaved, using Frost Cloak to deflect the deadliest shards.
- Qi-Draining Miasma: The Sect Master's golden chains had left pools of honey-thick energy that burned my paws on contact. I leapedfrom floating ice platforms, each jump costing precious Qi.
And Last Guardians: Three Jade Automatons, their bodies carved from temple stone, blocked the final approach.
The Jade Guardian #1:Swung a halberd of condensed moonlight to me . I ducked, letting its momentum carry it into Guardian #2. And Jade Guardian #3:Fired a beam of molten jade from its eyes. I rolled, exhaling a Frost Claw mistthat refracted the beam back into its face.
Then—the Obelisk.
Up close, the pillar wasn't stone—it was frozen blood.Centuries of Frostbear essence, distilled into a single, cursed lattice.
I didn't hesitate.
[Arctic Dominion: Full Release]
The Titan's power flooded*me. My claws tripled in length, wreathed in a blizzard's fury. I leaped, aiming for the central sigil—
—and the Sect Master appeared in front of me.
"Enough."
His palm met my chest.
PAIN.
Golden fire erupted in my veins, searing away the Titan's gift. I crashed to the ground, my vision swimming.
The Sect Master sighed. "A valiant effort. But this ends n—"
"DISTRACTION."
The Titan's tail—a weapon it hadn't used once in the battle—slammed into the Sect Master from behind.
For the first time, the immortal stumbled. The Shattering**
I moved.
One **Frost Claw**, driven into the Obelisk's base.
The world **screamed.**
The First Crack: A hairline fracture, spreading like spider silk.
The Second:The sigils exploded outward, their light turning jagged and wild.
The Third:The pillar imploded, a shockwave of frozen energy hurling me backward.
The Sect Master choked, golden blood spraying from his lips as his connection to the ritual snapped.
"NOW."
The Titan pounced.
One colossal paw crushed the Sect Master into the glacier. The impact sent fissures racing across the mountain, swallowing temples, courtyards, and the last remnants of the Soulfrost Array.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then—the mountain began to collapse.
The Titan's form flickered, its energy spent. "GO. THE VAULT BENEATH US STIRS."
Liu Feng dragged me up. "Move!"
We ran as the world ended behind us:
- The Sect Master's golden aura guttered like a dying candle beneath the ice.
- Elder Mei's screams vanished into a crevasse.
- The Obelisk's remnants erupted, showering the sky with frozen embers.
[Soul Integrity: 79%]
[Warning: Prolonged Dominion use has triggered irreversible assimilation]
The Titan's final whisper followed me into the blizzard:
"YOU ARE MORE BEAR THAN MAN NOW, LITTLE BROTHER. SOON... YOU WILL FORGET YOU WERE EVER ELSE."