Cold.
Bone-chilling ice.
Boundless freezing cold.
Meridians shattered, Dantian destroyed...
The mountain gate collapsed in flames...
Figures of fellow disciples falling one by one, and the master’s final shout...
In the Frost Roar Valley, everything was to be buried in deathly silence and ice, but deep inside, that intense unwillingness and resentment, that persistence for survival, surged like unextinguished lava beneath the Ice Mountain.
Plunk.
Ling Mo sank into the ice river, his whole body encrusted with frost, wrapped temporarily in a thin white icy cocoon, protecting his broken body and soul.
Silence.
Emptiness.
No hope, no sound, no warmth, even the pain itself became vague. The thirst for revenge, the extreme desire for power, became his only spiritual pillar.
He gradually heard other sounds, the nearly stagnant flow of his blood, the weak heartbeat like ice shattering.
The Ice Spirit Root within him resonated with the principles and power of Frost Roar Valley, and the seeds of future transformation sprouted slowly.
...
Standing on the riverbank, Ling Mo successfully climbed ashore.
He looked down at his hands, checked his injuries; to his surprise, more than half had healed.
His body had mutated.
His skin had turned pale, faintly showing icy patterns. A touch of air with his fingertips could bring about small ice crystals.
He felt power!
A cold, hard, utterly pure power, like solid ice, mingled within his flesh.
He faced a nearby ice mound, slowly clenched his fist, and struck.
Bang.
The ice mound exploded, turning into finely powdered ice dust, scattering in all directions with the air surge.
Ling Mo’s face twisted, feeling a strong conflict within his former cultivation technique when unleashed, causing internal injuries with just a simple punch.
A thought flashed in his mind: "I must adjust properly to leave this place."
Outside, there were certainly people hunting him.
Thus, he crouched down, beginning to digest this mutation.
Years later.
He stood on a hill, looking back; Frost Roar Valley was just a blurred outline in his vision.
His heart was full of excitement. During his adjustments, he had refined his cultivation technique, creating the «Eternal Silence Profound Ice Body Casting Demon Technique»; his combat power had soared, and his cultivation level climbed to the Golden Core Level.
Now, it was time for revenge!
He found his old enemies. No words were wasted, just the most primitive slaughter.
His body, his fists, were the most terrifying weapons. Extreme cold killed numerous people. Wherever he walked, frost marks spread automatically beneath his feet.
One force after another was destroyed.
Men, women, cultivators, mortals... all transformed into different posture, frightful ice sculptures.
Successful revenge rapidly caused him to lose humanity, his heart grew colder, and he became more indifferent to all living beings.
The painful cries, the curses, even the warm blood had no means to stir any emotion in his eyes.
He was like a humanoid snowstorm, bringing disaster wherever he went.
The Righteous Path’s pursuit followed naturally.
"Ling Mo, you’ve become a Fallen Demon! The cultivation technique you’ve created is flawed, affecting your sanity!"
"Surrender, perhaps someone can still heal you."
Ling Mo merely raised his blade hand.
The battle began.
Round after round of battles...
Eventually captured, imprisoned, reaching the end of his life.
In the moment of death, his eyes flickered alive for an instant.
"Finally... liberated."
...
In a short time, Ning Zhuo experienced Ling Mo’s entire life.
His eyes flashed with brilliance: "With spine as the pillar of heaven and earth, bearing the weight of profound ice! With meridians as the ancient path of the ice river, allowing cold energy to flow! With flesh as fertile soil, nurturing an indestructible demon body!"
"This is the «Eternal Silence Profound Ice Body Casting Demon Technique»!"
"But... it is flawed, with significant shortcomings causing the cultivator to gradually lose humanity, turning into unfeeling snow. Even rationality would be eroded, eventually nearly lost."
Ning Zhuo keenly perceived the whole process personally. Humanity flowed like water, constantly draining away in Ling Mo’s heart. Initially, only human emotions like joy, sadness, fear were replaced by absolute reason and calmness.
Then indifference, feeling no difference towards all living things, towards the Human Clan, no longer touched.
"He didn’t intentionally kill, the snow just swept over, treating all living things equally."
Along with the feelings, Ning Zhuo pondered even further, resulting in more gains.
He was now entirely convinced that the second procurement of Demon Path souls, Ling Mo was definitely the biggest harvest among them!
"His comprehension was actually just so-so, yet in Frost Roar Valley, by chance, his Spirit Root and body mutated within the valley."
"This mutation helped him survive and in the process of adjusting and refining the original cultivation technique, he smoothly created the «Eternal Silence Profound Ice Body Casting Demon Technique.»"
The mutation occurrence was not surprising.
Frost Roar Valley, one of the world’s wonders, comparable to Star Burning Pit. The former is filled with the principles of ice and sound.
Ling Mo’s body and spirit were damaged at that time, yet he possessed an Ice Spirit Root resonating with external forces, thus invoking the principles of Frost Roar Valley, eroding his body.
This transformation usually resulted in death, but Ling Mo was very fortunate.
He survived, refined the «Eternal Silence Profound Ice Body Casting Demon Technique,» further excavating and utilizing his mutated body and Spirit Root.
In essence, Ling Mo and Ning Zhuo were the same.