The atmosphere in the corridor changed drastically.The air that had been calm… now felt heavy and oppressive.A cold aura from Fang Zhe spread unconsciously. It wasn’t the kind of cultivation aura that was clearly visible… but something deeper. Sharper. As if it came from experiences someone his age shouldn’t possess.Erina and Irma exchanged glances.They knew… this wasn’t just ordinary anger.“Fang Zhe…” Irma’s voice finally broke the silence.She stepped forward slightly—not too close, but enough to show she wasn’t avoiding him.“You don’t have to carry everything on your own.”The sentence was simple. Yet it made Fang Zhe shift his gaze slightly. Erina snorted softly, though this time not in her usual sarcastic tone.“She’s right,” she said, crossing her arms. “You talk as if this is only about you.”She stared straight at him.“The Zhao family issue isn’t something that can be solved with emotion.”Her tone was calmer… but serious. Fang Zhe didn’t respond immediately.His gaze r

Fang Zhe spat to the side again, his expression filled with disdain.“A frightened doctor is a doctor who has already failed before the battle even begins. If you want your daughter to die, then go ahead and continue this arrogant ruler’s farce. But if you want her to live, stop barking about executions!”“BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU!” one of the elderly guards shouted, about to slash his sword toward Fang Zhe’s neck.“ENOUGH!”The Mayor’s voice thundered, halting his subordinate’s movement. He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He stared intently at Fang Zhe. In all his years of power, this was the first time someone had dared to expose his desperation in such a crude and brutal way.Yet strangely, beneath his surging anger, a small part of him acknowledged the truth in those words. Fang Zhe’s cold logic pierced through the fog of madness that had clouded him for days.A long silence filled the corridor. Erina and Irma didn’t even dare to breathe.Slowly, the Mayo

While unconscious…Darkness engulfed Fang Zhe like a rising tide—thick and suffocating. His consciousness sank into the deepest recesses of his memories, a place where the pain no longer came from the frigid aura of the Eternal Ice Body, but from the raging fire of hatred that burned within his soul.In his cold, sweat-soaked slumber, Fang Zhe was no longer in the luxurious chamber of Mayor Shange’s residence. He had returned to the past—to a dimly lit room filled with a nauseating stench, a mixture of cheap alcohol and overpowering perfume.“Stop… please stop…” the voice was hoarse, trembling with suppressed sobs.Fang Zhe saw himself—or rather, a younger, powerless version of himself—standing frozen behind a slightly open door. Inside, at the center of the room, Young Master Zhao—a man with an arrogant face who always believed the world lay beneath his feet—was roughly gripping the collar of Fang Zhe’s aunt.His aunt—the woman who had sacrificed everything to raise him—now looked so

Fang Zhe panted heavily, cold sweat soaking his entire body. In the silence of his room—now covered by a thin layer of ice from the remnants of the energy explosion—he felt a drastic change. His senses sharpened; he could hear the flutter of insects’ wings outside the window and his own heartbeat, now steady like the rhythm of war drums.“Five-Star Qi Gathering Realm.”This was not just a number. Fang Zhe clenched his fist, and instantly, a pale bluish-white frost vapor coiled around his arm. Within his Dantian, a seed of ice crystal purified every drop of energy flowing through his veins. He felt as if he could freeze running water with just a flick of his finger.“What a vast world…” he muttered while staring at the ceiling. “At least with this power, I won’t have to feel as helpless as I did in that nightmare.”Three Days of Silence…The three days of rest granted by Erina passed in the blink of an eye for Fang Zhe. But for the outside world, those three days marked the beginning o

Fang Zhe turned around calmly, his gray robe fluttering gently as if stirred by a freezing wind of his own making.Behind him, Young Master Zhao was still slumped on the ground, gasping as white vapor escaped his breath. Meanwhile, his father—the Family Head—stood frozen in place, his face deathly pale, as if his soul had just been forcibly torn away.Each step Fang Zhe took echoed against the marble floor now covered in ice crystals, creating sharp, cracking sounds that rang loudly in the silent hall.Not a single remaining shadow guard dared to block his path. They all stepped aside, bowing their heads with trembling bodies, unable even to look at the back of the “corpse” who had risen as a ruler of ice.The moment Fang Zhe passed through the Zhao Family’s grand gate, the massive ironwood doors slammed shut behind him, driven by a burst of his Qi.BLAAM!As soon as he stepped onto the streets of Shange City, the silence in his mind was shattered by a familiar mechanical voice.*DIN