Chapter 2

"Friends are to be betrayed when there is profit to be had." Before Zichen's life force dissipated, he only remembered this sentence.

Zhao Can kicked him into the mountain ravine. A trail of blood flowed from his chest, and his life force had already dissipated; Zichen was dead.

Legend has it that after a person dies, their soul does not immediately dissipate but lingers around the body. If the resentment is deep enough, the soul might transform into another form, such as a ghost or a malevolent spirit.

"Thud!"

Amid the uneven ravine, Zichen's body finally fell onto the thick layer of snow, leaving his body intact.

Drops of blood flowed from his chest, carrying the last warmth of his body, melting the snow beneath him. Like water droplets on snow, small and deep holes appeared, gradually deepening and expanding.

Until the snow melted, revealing a layer of hard ice, and on the ice, there was a small ice ball.

The red blood from Zichen's chest fell onto the ice ball, instantly dyeing it red.

In the next moment, a strange change occurred.

A silver light suddenly flashed on the small ice ball. The blood that had fallen seemed to be absorbed, reaching the center of the ice ball, resembling a beautiful amber.

"Buzz!"

After absorbing the blood, the ice ball began to tremble, emitting a brilliant silver light. The silver light was like water but had the high temperature of fire. As it appeared, the surrounding ice and snow began to melt.

After the ice melted, the ice ball suddenly flew up, emitting a brilliant silver light like writhing lightning snakes. It seemed to come to life, flying towards Zichen's chest.

The ice ball entered his heart, releasing waves of silver energy that integrated into various parts of Zichen's body. Then, Zichen began to glow.

The silver light, like electric snakes, twisted and writhed.

The silver light was a peculiar energy, carrying intense heat, but it did not boil Zichen's blood. Instead, it made his stagnant blood flow again. Zichen's cold body also regained human warmth.

At the same time, under the silver light, the wound on Zichen's chest began to heal miraculously. The damaged meridians also slowly recovered.

The silver light, like water, not only repaired Zichen's meridians but also circulated through his blood, integrating silver energy into his skin, bones, and even his bone marrow.

This was a transformation of his body and bone marrow.

This was a great transformation.

Zichen's entire body turned silver, radiating intense heat, instantly melting the ice beneath him.

"Thud!"

Zichen fell into the water below the melted ice.

Then, a jet of black liquid emerged from Zichen's body. This was the impurities in his body, being expelled due to the great transformation.

In a daze, Zichen felt a suction force, as if it was pulling him into another world, dark and cold.

Zichen was terrified, a natural fear of death.

Then, Zichen saw the silver light, which was warm. The silver light enveloped his entire body, making him feel warm again, like being in his mother's embrace, very comfortable.

Feeling comfortable, Zichen couldn't help but want to...

...

"Ah, so hot!"

When Zichen regained consciousness, he felt the surroundings were extremely hot, as if he was being boiled in a pot. He saw the boiling water around him.

Zichen's face changed instantly, and he used his hands and feet to climb up, finally emerging from the ice hole.

"Phew, almost got cooked."

Climbing to the shore and moving far away, Zichen leaned against a cliff, breathing heavily.

After he left the water, the boiling water calmed down, and Zichen felt no discomfort.

"Ah!"

Zichen, who was breathing heavily, suddenly exclaimed, his clear eyes becoming confused.

"Didn't I die? Why am I still here?"

Zichen looked himself over, finding no wounds, his skin smooth and white like a newborn baby.

"No wounds, did I just fall asleep and dream that Zhao Can killed me?" Zichen was puzzled, but soon he saw the puncture marks on his chest.

"This isn't a dream, I'm still alive."

Zichen's face was bitter. Everything that happened was real; he was stabbed but didn't die.

He was alive, but it was no different from being dead. His damaged dantian was empty, with no trace of true qi.

"What's going on? Why am I still alive when I should have died?" Zichen thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He had never heard of anything on the Tianwu Continent that could bring the dead back to life.

"Not only am I not dead, but my damaged meridians have also healed, with no signs of injury. Maybe my dantian has also healed." Suddenly, Zichen had a wild guess.

Then, he began to practice his cultivation technique.

The surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth began to converge on Zichen, at a speed ten times faster than before. If his previous absorption speed was a thin thread, now it was a thick rope made of ten threads.

Zichen was excited, but due to his distraction, the cultivation technique stopped, and the spiritual energy that had gathered in his meridians dissipated.

"Again!"

Zichen was very excited, though he didn't know why he had come back to life. One thing was certain: he had experienced a great transformation, which had rejuvenated his body.

As the cultivation technique ran, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged from all directions, entering his meridians through his pores. After a full cycle, the spiritual energy entered his dantian.

Zichen was full of anticipation for his empty dantian, hoping for a miracle.

"Whoosh!"

The true qi that had just entered his dantian vanished. His dantian could no longer store true qi.

"Finished."

Zichen, who had been excited, was now desperate. Heaven had not let him die but had given him a great transformation, making his absorption speed ten times faster than others. But if his dantian couldn't store true qi, what was the point?

"Heaven, you might as well let me die."

Zichen couldn't help but complain, but living was still better than dying.

At that moment, Zichen's heart suddenly beat rapidly. A silver energy surged through his blood, rushing to his brain.

"Buzz!"

In an instant, a bolt of lightning appeared in Zichen's dark mind. The terrifying lightning, like a dragon, wreaked havoc in his brain. It felt as if he had been attacked a thousand times, causing intense pain, making Zichen clutch his head and roll on the ground.

He didn't scream, as the pain in his brain was too intense to allow him to express it.

A tall figure, comparable to heaven and earth, appeared in Zichen's mind.

Zichen couldn't see the figure's face, only a majestic back. Zichen had never known what heaven and earth were, but at that moment, he seemed to understand.

The back was heaven, the back was earth, with the head touching the sky and the feet on the ground.

The back stood still in his mind, but the aura it emitted was that of heaven and earth, far more powerful than the aura of the Lingwu Sect's leader he had seen before.

Zichen couldn't see the front of the back but could see what was in front of it.

A bolt of lightning, as thick as heaven and earth, like a dragon, was dancing in the air.

In Zichen's small mind, two things comparable to heaven and earth appeared, currently in a hostile state.

"Roar!"

A deafening dragon roar, the lightning dragon charged at the figure, its powerful aura causing a storm in Zichen's mind.

The figure didn't speak, only extending a right hand to grab the lightning.

As the hand moved forward, it transformed into a world, a universe. With a gentle grab, the terrifying lightning dragon was caught in the figure's hand. Then, as the hand returned, the dragon's size shrank, and in the end, the entire dragon was held in the figure's hand.

A lightning dragon comparable to heaven and earth was held in a hand, transformed into a small, silver-glowing sphere, which greatly surprised Zichen.

Holding the sphere, the majestic figure turned around. Zichen widened his eyes, trying to see the figure's face, but it was like a fog, making it impossible to see clearly.

Zichen only saw a pair of bright eyes, sharp and piercing, as if they could see through heaven and earth.

Then, Zichen saw a lightning dragon charging at him.

It was the sphere transforming back into a dragon, opening its massive mouth, and biting at Zichen. Zichen wanted to run, but this was his mind, with no place to escape.

Endless lightning engulfed Zichen, and his consciousness instantly dissipated.

In the outside world, Zichen suddenly opened his eyes, his body drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his body.

"What's going on?"

Today's strange events were far beyond Zichen's expectations.

At that moment, Zichen felt something new in his mind.

It was an extremely complex cultivation technique, difficult to understand, and profound. It flooded into Zichen's mind like a tide, making his already painful head feel like it would explode.

Fortunately, the tide came and went quickly, leaving a cultivation technique in Zichen's mind.

Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique.

A basic but terrifying and almost unbelievable cultivation technique. It was both a cultivation technique and a method to temper the body. At a high level, it could summon heavenly thunder to temper the body. The true qi cultivated was also lightning true qi.

"Such a powerful cultivation technique, but what use is it?"

Zichen was deeply impressed by this technique. If he cultivated it, his future achievements would be terrifying. However, his dantian was broken and could no longer condense true qi. No matter how powerful the technique, it was just a decoration for Zichen.

The world has treasures and great encounters. Zichen's encounter was great, comparable to a transformation of heaven and earth. But with his dantian broken, his transformation was greatly diminished.

"This is still a great encounter. Surviving a great disaster, there must be a great fortune. Although I can't cultivate true qi, I can still train my body. A strong body, comparable to a fierce beast, is not necessarily a waste."

Then, he thought of the 500-year-old snow ginseng.

"If I get that snow ginseng and absorb its essence, my body will definitely become stronger. Maybe I can use its powerful spiritual energy to repair my dantian." Zichen's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Roar!"

At that moment, a furious roar echoed, rolling over several mountains, causing a large amount of snow to fall.

Zichen's body was instantly covered by the falling snow.

"Ice bear, that's the sound of an ice bear. They haven't left."

The snow moved, and Zichen emerged, his eyes becoming incredibly bright and cold.