The vast expanse of heaven and earth was covered in white snow, a boundless vista. At the very pinnacle of the Arctic, upon an ice-bound summit, a sudden flash of light erupted, and a man clad in magnificent armor, intricately embroidered with arcane sigils, materialized out of thin air.

He appeared to be in his early twenties, yet his eyes held an ancient weariness, deep and still like the water in an old well, undisturbed by ripples. Behind this man, light flickered, and several figures emerged in succession: a burly, rugged man; a handsome youth; and a captivating, alluring woman.

As the handsome youth stepped forth, he immediately frowned. "A fractured space, and the entrance is so small.

Hmph!" "Let's go," the leading youth stated calmly, casting a sweeping glance over their surroundings. A slight relaxation eased his gaze before his figure dissolved, darting toward the distance.

"Judging by the look of things, the Volcanic Age hasn't descended yet." Ye Chen looked down upon the snow-covered earth below, his mind settling into tranquility. He promptly activated his communicator to contact his younger sister, Ye Zhu.

"Hello, the user you have dialed is currently outside the service area," the communicator chimed a flat tone. Ye Chen paused momentarily, then his brow furrowed.

"Outside the service area? According to what was said before, Bai Long and Mo Feng and the others entered a special Trial Space for tempering.

Could it be that so much time has passed and they still haven't emerged? Or has something happened to the Bright Base City?" The thought brought a creeping anxiety to his heart.

"Hey, wait up!" Kaba shouted loudly from behind. Ye Chen's body halted slightly.

He turned back. "What is it?" Kaba's expression shifted, and he roared angrily, "I have upheld my end of the promise.

You should remove the powder of the Seal of the Stars from our bodies now, shouldn't you?" Ye Chen shook his head. "There's no need to discuss such foolishness.

When I possess the ability to escape your clutches, I will naturally undo it." Kaba raged, "Do you intend to have us follow you indefinitely?" Ye Chen nodded. "Clever." Kaba nearly spat blood, his face turning ashen with fury, gritting his teeth.

"If, when the time comes, you turn against us, won't I be at your mercy! You had better release me today, or I'll fight you to the death, even if it means my demise!" He had to do this.

Now that he was constrained by Ye Chen, if Ye Chen grew strong enough to deal with him, then escape would become utterly impossible—it would simply be awaiting death! Rather than that, it was better to fight!

Ye Chen frowned, pondering for a moment. "How about this: the next time, we sign a Contract Talisman.

You only need to obey me for 100 years, and I will remove the powder of your Seal of the Stars, letting you go!" Kaba's eyes widened. "100 years?

Are you joking? Make me follow you, a mere brat, for that long?

Absolutely not!" In truth, what made him even more wary was the terrifying cunning Ye Chen displayed even at his current strength; the speed of his future advancement would likely be frightening. While he might not reach the Quasi-God Realm in a short century, he wouldn't be far off.

Ye Chen's expression darkened. "Then what do you propose?" Kaba gritted his teeth.

"Ten years! I will follow you for a maximum of ten years!" Ye Chen frowned, looking displeased.

"Unacceptable! It must be at least 50 years." Kaba shouted furiously, "No matter what, ten years is my limit!

Not one day more! Agree if you will, or forget it!" Ye Chen fell silent for a long moment, annoyed.

"Very well, it's settled then. But for these 20 years, you must guarantee my life.

Otherwise, if I die, you die too!" Kaba scoffed, "Who needs you to remind me so many times? Do you think I don't know?

Hmph!" "Then let's go!" Ye Chen's expression returned to calm, though inwardly he was quite satisfied. According to the ruin's projections, a major war might erupt in 10 years; surviving a decade was questionable, let alone twenty.

Originally, he had planned to keep Kaba by his side for only two or three years and be content. "Wait a moment," Kaba called out.

"What is it?" Ye Chen turned back, frowning. Kaba glanced at the fifteen Mummy Puppets behind him and shrugged.

"Don't you have that space? Help us put these puppets inside; they have no energy and cannot fly on their own." Ye Chen glanced at the puppets and spoke coldly, "This is the only time.

If you cannot make good use of this scrap metal in a timely manner, don't keep them around in the future." Saying this, he extended a hand, slashing the air, opening the Rune Space. Inside, it was piled high with the flesh and blood of fish monsters.

He guided his fingers, placing the remains one by one into the cold storage of the Fire Civilization. The capacity of the Fire Civilization Space was hundreds of times that of the Rune Civilization!

"Rune Battleship," Ye Chen commanded with a wave of his hand. Whoosh!

The Rune Battleship hummed and shot out of the space, revealing itself in the sky. Its entire hull vibrated, instantly dispelling the accumulated stench of gore and becoming spotlessly clean.

"Everyone aboard!" Ye Chen glanced at Kaba and led the way onto the Rune Battleship. The old Green Rune man emerged from the cabin, rubbing his hands together, bowing and scraping with a greasy smile.

"What great pleasure brings you to take the ship out for a spin today?" Ye Chen surveyed the surroundings. "Check how far we are from the Bright Base City." The old Green Rune man closed his eyes to sense the location, then smiled.

"Not far at all. In your terms of spiritual civilization, this is the North Pole.

At the ship's normal speed, it will only take 10 minutes to fly there." "The North Pole?" Ye Chen frowned slightly. "I didn't expect the passage from the bottom of the South Sea to appear in the North Pole—to get to the Bright Base City from here, even at my flight speed, it would consume a significant amount of energy and require nine hours to arrive." Whoosh!

At that moment, Kaba, leading the contingent of mummies, floated onto the deck of the ship. Kaba looked at the vessel with surprise and nodded.

"Not bad; it even has a Quasi-God level mode of transport." Ye Chen said no more. Seeing all the mummies aboard, he instructed the old Green Rune man to power up the ship and accelerate toward the Bright Base City.

With the advanced technology of the Rune Battleship, the deck contained an automatic positioning and navigation system that only required setting the destination. As the ship started, a surge of boiling hot air billowed from its stern, like a beast poised to strike, shooting forward instantaneously.

In its wake, the clouds were torn apart, trailing long vaporous tails as it hurtled toward the Bright Base City. Ye Chen and the others stood inside the cabin.

Despite the ship's incredible speed, the deceleration glass allowed them to clearly observe the outside world. Below, the earth was a vast expanse of white snow.

After a few minutes, they crossed over a dozen frozen rivers, towering snow-capped mountains, and numerous countries. Seven or eight minutes later, they traversed from the North Pole into Chinese territory.

"Hm?" Ye Chen's gaze swept over a spot in Xinjiang, where a previously desertified area was now covered in melting ice, transformed into clear river water. Within it swam various fish beasts, such as Sword-Eyed Fish, Flood Dragons, and Roaring-Tusked Beasts.

Ye Chen's eyes flickered, and his brow furrowed slightly, a faint worry crossing his mind. Hubei Province, Shennongjia.

The location of the Bright Base City headquarters. Figures labored day and night, excavating and retrieving the corpses of monsters encased in ice.

A year and a half had passed, yet the fervor of the people had not waned in the slightest, because during this time, the Base City's stored provisions had been entirely exhausted, leading to a severe food shortage that necessitated daily excavation. The entire population of the Base City required the equivalent of one or two Flood Dragons daily just to meet their needs.

The ice was incredibly thick; it was extremely difficult for ordinary people to excavate. A person with Level 100 Physique, using their weapon, would struggle immensely to bore even a thirty-meter ice hole, expending tremendous effort.

This resulted in meager yields—supply could never meet demand. Furthermore...

The Bright Base City was relatively better off. The China Base Cities were sinking into hardship.

The massive population, more than half of whom were ordinary civilians with weak constitutions, possessing only Level 1 or 2 Physique, utterly lacked the strength to search for food within the ice. Yet, they were compelled to venture out in large groups, jointly chipping away at the ice.

The Base City's military could only excavate enough food for their own consumption, and even then, there wasn't much surplus. These frail individuals who banded together outside to dig for food had become prey for those with middling, not-too-low, not-too-high physiques.

In the early days, a strange incident occurred in the China Base Cities. Large groups would often venture out, only never to return.

Their friends harbored suspicions, but as more and more people vanished outside, a fierce debate erupted. It was only through Murong Xue's stratagem that they managed to ascertain that these people were being hunted by predatory gangs and turned into food.

That particular gang was eventually hacked to pieces, but subsequently, similar groups emerged one after another. Some, fearing Murong Xue, even shifted their hunting targets to the Bright Base City, drawing it into the turmoil.

Xu Tianguo received the news and was overwhelmingly furious. He dispatched substantial forces to brutally rectify the situation, annihilating many such gangs.

With the strength of the Bright Base City, and Ye Chen backing them, even actions that overstepped boundaries went unchallenged. This use of overwhelming force, this 'violence against violence,' calmed the man-eating disturbances somewhat, though they could never be entirely rooted out.

In Yichang City, Hubei Province. On a sheet of white ice, two small dark figures crouched low, moving with extreme caution.

These two were raggedly dressed, like beggars, yet their exposed skin was scrubbed as white as snow. While their skin wasn't refined, it was certainly clean; water resources were the last thing they lacked during the Ice Age.

"Brother, look!" A clear, girlish voice rang out, laced with excitement. "What is it?" The slightly older boy quickly turned his head to look.

"Look! That Red-Scaled Fish Beast is so close to the ice!

We only need to dig two or three meters to get it!" the girl exclaimed happily. The boy's eyes lit up.

"Really?" He rushed over for a look and immediately saw a fish beast frozen in the expanse of white ice—its scales were a vibrant crimson, it was a full zhang long, and its face was hideous. He gasped in pleasant surprise.

"This Red-Scaled Fish Beast has Level 100 Physique! It's enough food for us for several days!" "Quick!" The two hastily took out the small shovels from their shoulders and began hacking at the ice block.

These two children possessed extremely weak constitutions; the boy was around Level 10, and the girl was weaker, only Level 5—both were at the very bottom rung of the Base City society. After digging for a while, they were drenched in sweat and panting, resting briefly before continuing.

Suddenly— A string of strange, mocking laughter echoed. "What excellent luck!

Meeting two little cubs in such a secluded spot. Tsk tsk, those little arms look so tender and white.

I wonder how they taste?"