Shang Shaowu’s spirit pulsed erratically within the multi-colored ball of light. Opposite him, Shang Wuya and his three companions were all ashen-faced, grinding their teeth in sheer hatred, their expressions twisted with a ferocity that suggested they wished to tear him limb from limb. Ji Changkong watched the four faces in silence, a sense of deep confusion growing within him.

Shang Shaowu was merely Shang Wuya’s son; why were Shang Mu, Shang Luohai, and Shang Jizhi also so intensely keyed up? Could the bonds between these four truly be so profound, utterly devoid of the avarice and scheming common in great clans?

If what Ye Meizi had said was true—that the Shang brothers often quarreled, caused countless disputes over family matters, and had even come to blows over various interests—then Shang Shaowu’s current state should not have provoked such intense anxiety in Shang Mu and Shang Luohai. Why were these two so clearly terrified, even more so than if their own children were threatened?

There had to be some secret history he was unaware of, or else Ye Meizi had actively misled him!

“Do you believe me if I say I’ll kill this Ice Slave?” Shang Mu said, his face grim, his hand tightening on Shang Bingjie’s neck, his expression utterly savage.

“Go ahead and kill her,” Ji Changkong replied, his face darkening, a cold laugh escaping his lips. “The exterior resembles her, the aura is similar, even the profound ice is identical! However, every person’s soul ocean is unique. Most people can’t discern the difference, but the secret method I practice allows me to see through it. You think you can fool me with a mere imitation? You must take me for a fool!” At these words, the complexions of Shang Wuya and the other three instantly shifted between grim and pale. “Second Brother! What in the blazes are you doing?” Shang Wuya roared, enraged. “This girl is a fake?” “Big Brother, Shang Bingjie isn't on the Tiannan Star, and there’s no way she can return in three days, so, so…” Shang Mu looked utterly crestfallen, feigning contrition.

“You dared deceive me!” Shang Wuya was livid, his teeth clenched. “When we return, you will answer for this!” Shang Wuya then turned, bowing low in apology. “I apologize. I handled this poorly. Give us a little more time, and we will deliver the real Ice Slave!” Ji Changkong saw clearly that this was mere posturing.

He nodded with a smile. “If you had done this earlier, this boy wouldn’t have had his neck twisted so quickly by me. But it’s fine; his soul remains. As long as you find a suitable physical body for him, the impact won’t be too great. Now, tell me, how long will it take you to bring me the person I require?” Shang Wuya glanced at Shang Mu.

Shang Mu looked extremely troubled. He answered truthfully, “That Mu Slave is currently with my daughter on the Huoyu Star, and I cannot reach her temporarily. As for when she can return to Tiannan Star, I truly do not know. I have already dispatched people to Huoyu Star; as soon as they are located, we will bring them immediately.” “How is she?” Ji Changkong asked, his face grim. “Rest assured, she is safe and sound. My daughter treats her as a true sister; although she is an Ice Slave, my daughter has never used her to save her own life.” Shang Mu replied deferentially. “Huoyu Star? Are you certain they are on Huoyu Star?”

“Absolutely certain they are on Huoyu Star!”

Huoyu Star was an extremely famous celestial body in the Dead Star Domain. It was massive, easily over a hundred times larger than Tiannan Star, making it one of the most renowned celestial bodies in the region. Huoyu Star was teeming with experts from various major Clans and countless powerful families, holding many rare treasures of the Dead Star Domain.

He had learned this information from Huofeng and Xiaohan. Hearing that Shang Bingjie was currently on Huoyu Star immediately sparked new intentions in his mind.

Huoyu Star was immensely far from Tiannan Star. For an expert in the Niejing Realm to return from Huoyu Star might take decades. Even a powerhouse at the Ruyi Realm would require several years.

If Shang Mu dispatched an expert at the Niejing Realm to Huoyu Star to find his daughter, even assuming immediate success, the round trip would consume over a century—and that was the most optimistic projection.

To make him wait on Tiannan Star for over a hundred years, perhaps longer, was something he could not accept. After a moment of contemplation, he stated, “I cannot wait that long. I will go to Huoyu Star to find them myself. Does your Shang family have any special means of contact? Once I find your daughter, as soon as she lifts the restriction on Shang Bingjie, I will hand Shang Shaowu’s spirit over to her. How about that?”

Shang Wuya and the other three exchanged glances, their faces etched with difficulty, clearly reluctant to entrust the Shang family's means of contact to him, fearing he might kill Shang Mu’s daughter.

“You won’t have the chance,” came Shang Shaowu’s voice from within the multicolored ball of light at that moment.

As Shang Shaowu’s voice sounded, the five-colored sphere suddenly ruptured. Wisps of bone-chilling cold air flew out from the nearby mountains and lakes, converging upon Shang Shaowu’s spirit.

With a flicker, Shang Shaowu’s soul appeared above a nearby ice-cold lake. A column of water shot upward, and Shang Shaowu began condensing a physical body from the stream. In no time, a body as crystalline and translucent as one of the Mu Clan appeared over the lake. Shang Shaowu had formed his body from condensed ice, his spirit anchored within the frost. His aura was now strikingly similar to that of a top-tier Ice Clan master.

“Brat, you cost me a physical body I tempered for many arduous years. Even if my spirit finds a suitable body to inhabit now, I will struggle to exert my full power. I will make your existence a living hell!” Shang Shaowu glared at him coldly. “Don’t you want those three wretches? Rest assured, I will grant your wish! I will make you all die together!”

Ji Changkong’s expression shifted. From Shang Shaowu, he sensed a strange fluctuation—one highly similar to what Ice Clan masters exhibited when using their techniques. While the Shang family’s power derived from the Ice Clan, achieving this level was certainly beyond any ordinary Shang family member.

Moreover, after his spirit escaped, Shang Shaowu’s tone had abruptly changed, addressing him as “brat,” as if he were ancient. “Shaowu?” Shang Wuya asked tentatively.

“I endured for so long precisely to prevent that painstakingly refined body from being destroyed. Since you destroyed my hope, I will destroy yours!” Shang Shaowu’s eyes held an endless, profound coldness. He suddenly commanded, “The four of you, capture him! I want him alive!” “Understood!” Shang Wuya and the four replied respectfully in unison.

Ji Changkong was utterly astonished. Shang Shaowu was clearly just Shang Wuya’s son, yet he was now issuing orders as a master to the four, and even more bizarrely, they were obediently acknowledging him. What was going on? While he stood bewildered, Shang Wuya and the three had already launched their attack.

The four figures of Shang Wuya vanished into thin air. Spatial fissures appeared in the void, and their forms flickered in and out of existence within these rifts, seemingly traversing vast distances in the void, making it impossible for Ji Changkong to lock onto them with his divine sense.

Simultaneously, an intensely profound cold energy surged from the surrounding mountains and lakes. This must have been a peculiar formation set up by the Shang family. Wherever the deep cold passed, everything was instantly frozen—trees, rivers, mountains, space, everything—rapidly encased in ice.

The chilling energy spread relentlessly. In just a single breath, all flora and fauna within a thousand-mile radius were frozen stiff. Aside from the four Shang Wuya members appearing in the spatial rifts, only Shang Shaowu remained unaffected by this power.

Tens of thousands of sharp, icy javelins shot out from the spatial fissures, a dense swarm that blotted out the sky, all converging on Ji Changkong.

Ji Changkong, also affected by this power, felt his limbs growing numb and his soul sluggish, seemingly unable to react.

It wasn't until the barrage of over a hundred thousand ice shards was nearly upon him that his pupils sharply contracted, and the “Yan Lei Leng Yan” deeply hidden within his body gave a violent shudder. In an instant, the chilling constraint binding his body vanished without a trace.

The roar of successive exploding thunderclaps resonated from within him. Suddenly, tens of thousands of lightning bolts shot out from his body, twisting and winding through the void like giant dragons. With every serpentine movement, faint sparks of fire erupted.

These very faint sparks of fire rippled through the void within the thousand-mile radius. Under the light of these flames, the frozen world suddenly collapsed. Amidst the cataclysmic roar, the pervasive chill that seemed to engulf the entire Tiannan Star was rapidly purged. The figures of Shang Wuya, hidden within the spatial fissures, warped in the explosion, looks of sheer terror on their faces.

“Yan Lei Sacred Fire!” Shang Shaowu suddenly cried out, his eyes filled with astonishment. After a brief pause, a gleam flashed in his eyes, and his face broke into manic joy. “You Ming Cold Flame!”

Shang Shaowu became intensely agitated, laughing madly. “The fusion of two ‘Source Fires’! Excellent! Truly marvelous! As long as I absorb this fusion of the two ‘Source Fires,’ I will surely recover my peak strength. Then, even if the Ice Emperor does not challenge me, I will settle scores with him!”

Shang Shaowu laughed maniacally, his body growing increasingly crystalline. An extreme cold permeated outward from him. The soul ocean within his spirit began to churn unpredictably, and numerous bright points appeared in his soul imprints. All sorts of esoteric cold-elemental cosmic profound truths began to evolve within his imprints.

The previously collapsing ice-cold realm began to reform under the shifting imprints within Shang Shaowu’s soul ocean.

Gigantic, diamond-shaped ice shards shot out from the torn spatial fissures. Within each shard existed a complete world, blanketed in snow and ice, seemingly a passage to another intensely frigid dimension.

Hundreds of these diamond-shaped ice blocks shot out from the spatial ruptures, trapping Ji Changkong within. The frigid power from the ice shards surged violently outward, dragging Ji Changkong into an extremely cold region of chaotic space.

“This is my divine weapon from before my reincarnation, brat. You can take pride in dying after forcing me to deploy my intrinsic divine weapon,” Shang Shaowu sneered.