Leo didn’t think twice and rushed directly towards the canyon without any hesitation.
At the edge of the grassland, the Silvergold Demonhorn Beast suddenly stopped, watching Leo charge into the canyon with a strange look in its eyes.
Noticing that the Silvergold Demonhorn Beast wasn’t pursuing him, Leo felt a slight surprise. Normally, the beast wouldn’t let him off so easily. Was there something in the canyon that it feared?
Regardless, if he didn’t enter the canyon, he would be doomed by the Silvergold Demonhorn Beast anyway.
As Leo swiftly flew out of the canyon, a bone-chilling cold hit him head-on. Beyond the canyon lay a world of ice and snow. The vast ice field made Leo seem insignificant in comparison.
Even with Leo’s robust Cultivator physique, he felt an unusual cold here. Almost instinctively, Leo released his spiritual sense, letting it spread out. Soon, his spiritual sense returned with shocking information: not far ahead was a massive light screen, a barrier!
After the initial shock, Leo’s curiosity grew. He summoned the Divine Dragon Sword, stood on it, and flew towards the barrier. Upon seeing it with his own eyes, Leo was once again stunned. The entire barrier looked like an overturned giant bowl, grand and immense, with no visible end.
Inside the barrier was a huge ice lake. Even with Leo’s vision, he couldn’t see the end of the lake. The water wasn’t frozen; it resembled a vast light blue mirror with a perfectly calm surface. The only visible phenomenon was a faint blue cold vapor occasionally emanating from the lake’s surface.
Even through the barrier, Leo could feel the power of that faint blue cold vapor-a chill that seemed to penetrate the soul. It seemed the barrier’s purpose was to block the cold emanating from the ice lake. This barrier must have been set up by an Ascension Master. Perhaps due to the passage of time, its effectiveness had diminished, allowing some of the cold to seep through.
This small amount of cold had turned the area outside the barrier into an icy world. Approaching the barrier’s edge on his sword, Leo tentatively extended his right hand. Expecting resistance, he was surprised when his hand easily passed through the barrier.
This unexpected situation made Leo’s heart race. He controlled the Divine Dragon Sword and charged into the barrier. The surface of the barrier only rippled slightly without any other reaction.
Upon entering the barrier, an intense cold a hundred times stronger than outside enveloped Leo. In an instant, a layer of light blue frost formed all over his body. Leo tried to circulate his Spiritual Power, but it seemed almost frozen, slowing down significantly and barely keeping him aloft.
The bone-chilling cold made Leo’s lips tremble uncontrollably. Struggling against the cold, Leo took out a small porcelain bottle and swallowed two Major Vitality Pills. As the pills were absorbed and digested, combined with Leo’s use of the Nine Heavens Star Chart to mobilize his Spiritual Power, some of the dreadful cold was dispelled.
Despite this, Leo still felt very cold, and the effects of the Major Vitality Pills were quickly wearing off. He had to descend to conserve Spiritual Power to resist the severe cold. Reaching the edge of the ice lake, he saw that it was vast, with its end seemingly leading into a void.
What lay at the end of this ice lake? Could it be an entrance to another Plane of Existence? To Leo, an Enchanted Realm was just a hidden pocket dimension on Earth. This pocket dimension might be a link between two Planes of Existence.
The terrifying cold nearly turned Leo into an ice sculpture. To avoid freezing completely, he swallowed two more Major Vitality Pills. Though their effect was minimal against such severe cold, it was better than nothing.
After walking a few steps along the lake’s edge, the pills’ effects wore off. Without Spiritual Power’s support, light blue frost quickly covered and froze the Divine Dragon Sword completely. The frost rapidly spread from Leo’s hands and feet to his entire body.
In just a few seconds, Leo became an ice sculpture holding an ice sword. Frightened, he tried to use his Spiritual Power to shatter the frost covering him. However, his Spiritual Power seemed frozen as well, unresponsive to his commands.
Without Spiritual Power, shattering the frost was impossible. As frost covered his eyes, Leo’s vision and consciousness began to blur. A gust of cold wind blew him into the ice lake.
Strangely, despite the severe cold, the lake water wasn’t frozen and quickly submerged Leo’s neck. At this moment, Leo felt utterly helpless; he regretted entering and thought he might have had a chance against the Silvergold Demonhorn Beast.
Now he understood why the beast hadn’t pursued him. If he couldn’t shake off the frost covering him, he would either freeze or drown as he sank deeper into the lake.
Leo’s thoughts and consciousness entered a chaotic state-a near-death experience without pain or sensation, beyond his control.
Was this how he would die? He still had so much unfinished business…
Sophia’s face appeared before him, smiling sweetly at him. Soon, Sophia turned into his mother-in-law Jessica, who pointed at him and scolded him harshly.
The scene shifted to him sitting in a clinic’s consultation room with patients praising his medical skills. The compliments faded as another scene emerged: he and Coral sat in a luxurious auction hall where he spent a fortune on a Purple Radiance dagger.
Coral smiled at him, saying something he couldn’t hear. Familiar faces began to drift away from him; he tried to reach out but could only watch them disappear.
All scenes vanished as Leo’s remaining consciousness plunged into endless darkness. Spinning… endlessly spinning…