Glaciers stretched as far as the eye could see, and goose feather-like snowflakes drifted through the air. This was a world of ice and snow.

There was nothing else—only ice and snow.

Su Yu found himself standing amidst this frozen wasteland. As he looked around, all he could see was an endless expanse of white and feel the biting, bone-chilling cold.

Cold.

It was a novel sensation.

Ever since awakening his Ice Emperor Martial Soul at the age of six, Su Yu had almost forgotten what it meant to feel cold.

Even the Ice Extreme Cold Spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was a place he could freely come and go.

He was the king of ice, the sovereign of frost.

Yet, in this strange, icy world, an intangible chill invaded him, evoking a feeling he hadn't experienced since his first journey to the Extreme North.

That cold pierced to the bone, numbing even his soul.

"The Ice Ancestral Symbol."

Su Yu wasn't entirely ignorant; he knew a little about the Ancestral Symbols.

The Ancestral Symbols were extraordinary items of the world. Though they lacked sentience, they possessed an instinctive spirituality.

To truly wield the power of an Ancestral Symbol, one first had to gain its recognition.

Each Ancestral Symbol's trial was unique, and Su Yu knew very little about the trial for the Ice Ancestral Symbol.

Buzz!

Just as Su Yu was observing his surroundings, a deep humming sound seemed to resonate through the heavens and the earth.

The next moment, the towering glacier to Su Yu's right began to tremble violently.

It was as if a mountain was collapsing. Massive snowbanks crumbled, and in an instant, the ground shook. A torrent of snow cascaded down, overwhelming everything in its path.

An avalanche.

"What the—!"

Su Yu exclaimed in shock and immediately turned to flee.

But the avalanche moved far faster than he anticipated. He only managed a few steps before the surging snow engulfed him. His vision went black as he was buried beneath layers upon layers of snow.

The crushing pressure and unimaginable cold wrapped around him, leaving him teetering between darkness and numbness.

He could feel his body freezing solid. The suffocating sensation made him feel as if he couldn't breathe.

His thoughts began to slow, his spirit dulled, and even his soul seemed to stagnate.

It was as if Su Yu was lost in an endless void of darkness, unable to find any direction forward.

At this moment, he seemed to forget who he was. He even forgot how to think. Only the icy chill pervaded everything, freezing time itself.

...

Meanwhile, in the outside world, Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong'er were on the verge of losing their minds.

It had been over three months since Su Yu last went into seclusion.

Three whole months and Su Yu still hadn't emerged from the training chamber.

Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong'er, who had never encountered such a situation before, were growing increasingly restless.

Su Yu had never stayed in seclusion for this long.

"I can't wait any longer. I have to go check on him today."

Wang Dong'er abruptly stood up.

She couldn't endure this any longer.

She had been waiting outside, afraid to disturb Su Yu's seclusion. But now, three months had passed without a single sign of activity.

She was worried that something might have happened to him.

How could anyone remain in seclusion for so long?

"I'll go with you," Meng Hongchen said gravely. Her usually sweet and delicate face was tense, her ice-blue eyes filled with deep concern.

Su Yu's silence over the past three months made her just as anxious as Wang Dong'er.

The two women exchanged a determined glance and rushed toward the training chamber together.

At the entrance to the chamber, Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong'er shared another look before preparing to open the door. However, they were stopped by Shui Lingguang.

"Mistresses, please remain calm. The Young Master is fine. There's no need to worry."

As the guardian of the Ice God Palace and someone deeply connected to Su Yu's Eighth Trial, Shui Lingguang could sense Su Yu's condition to some extent.

If anything had happened to Su Yu, she would have known.

From her perception, not only was Su Yu unharmed, but his current state was excellent.

She didn't want Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong'er to interrupt Su Yu's enlightenment.

"Shui Lingguang, step aside! Su Yu has been silent for over three months. How can we feel at ease without seeing him for ourselves?"

Wang Dong'er declared, stepping forward to brush Shui Lingguang aside. Shui Lingguang did not dare to retaliate and sidestepped to evade her.

As Wang Dong'er reached out to push open the door, Shui Lingguang blocked her again.

"Shui Lingguang!"

Wang Dong'er shouted, her eyes red with anger.

She was truly furious now.

It had been three months, and all Shui Lingguang ever said was the same reassurance. Yet, she had no way of knowing how Su Yu was doing.

This made her heart tense and anxious—how could it not?

"Ling Guang, step aside, please."

Meng Hongchen stepped forward as well. Her voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

Shui Ling Guang hesitated. Wang Dong'er was impulsive by nature, but Meng Hongchen had always been composed and steady.

But now that even Meng Hongchen wanted to force her way in, Shui Ling Guang was at a loss for what to do.

Noticing her hesitation, Meng Hongchen said lightly, "We just want to take a look. We won't disturb Yu."

"We only want to know how Yu is doing."

Shui Ling Guang bit her lip, unsure whether to agree or refuse.

Just then, the door to the secret chamber suddenly opened, and a figure stepped out.

"Xiao Yu!"

"Yu!"

"Young Master?!"

Exclamations rang out one after another, and immediately, two figures rushed forward and collided into Su Yu's embrace.

One on each side, they clung tightly to Su Yu's arms.

Su Yu was momentarily taken aback, but his gaze softened as he gently hugged the two women.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Su Yu said with a smile.

...

The story, however, dates back to over three months ago.

At that time, Su Yu was undergoing the trial of the Ice Ancestral Symbol.

Within the space of the Ice Ancestral Symbol, Su Yu was almost completely frozen—body, soul, and even his thoughts seemed to drift into eternal silence.

Su Yu had entered a highly unusual state. He forgot who he was, what he needed to do, and wandered aimlessly, even losing the ability to think.

The power of the Ice Ancestral Symbol controlled all the ice and snow in the world, capable of freezing everything.

The trial for the Ice Ancestral Symbol required the inheritor to seize a sliver of light—the faintest spark of clarity—while both their body and mind were frozen, and not lose themselves in the process.

Su Yu didn't know how long he had been frozen, but he was fortunate to have endured.

By grasping that faint, mysterious spark of clarity amidst the frozen void, he managed to regain a shred of consciousness despite being mentally frozen.

This act earned Su Yu the recognition of the Ice Ancestral Symbol, making him its new master.

Even more astonishingly, the Ice Ancestral Symbol fused with the vacant slot of Su Yu's ice-attribute martial soul, becoming an extraordinary new martial soul.

Now, Su Yu not only had two standard martial souls—the Ice Emperor and the Dragon God Seal—but also two unique ones: the Necromancer and the Ice Ancestral Symbol.

The Ice Ancestral Symbol, as a martial soul, couldn't have soul rings added to it. However, with its inherent abilities, soul rings were unnecessary.

The Ice Ancestral Symbol itself possessed many powerful capabilities, though Su Yu would have to discover and develop them on his own.

Ancestral Symbols are fascinating treasures. They don't directly enhance soul power but instead scale with the strength and comprehension of their user.

If the user has deep insights into the Ice Ancestral Symbol and sufficient strength, the Ice Ancestral Symbol's power can be earth-shatteringly immense.

In the original story, even a Reincarnation Stage expert like Mo Luo used the Flame Ancestral Symbool to fight on equal footing with an Ancestor powerhouse.

The power of Ancestral Symbols is undeniably terrifying, but their full potential depends entirely on the user.

At Su Yu's current level, he could only wield a tiny fraction—less than one ten-thousandth—of the Ice Ancestral Symbol's power.

The reason? He was far too weak.

Even though the Ice Ancestral Symbol was right there, many of its abilities were beyond Su Yu's reach.

But as Su Yu's cultivation level increased and his understanding of the Ice Ancestral Symbol deepened, the Ice Ancestral Symbol would become his ultimate weapon for dominating the world.

Simply put, with proper mastery of the Ice Ancestral Symbol, Su Yu's invincibility was only a matter of time.

For the past three months, Su Yu had been focusing entirely on comprehending the Ice Ancestral Symbol's power.

Though he spent an eternity within the Ice Ancestral Symbol's space, only a moment had passed in the outside world.

The Ice Ancestral Symbol itself didn't have this time-distorting ability, but Su Yu suspected it was due to the system.

If the Ice Ancestral Symbol's internal time flowed at the same speed as the outside world, Su Yu's daily check-in tasks would have been disrupted.

The system's rewards were designed not to interfere with Su Yu's regular check-ins, which seemed to be a hidden feature of the system.

This was Su Yu's theory.

For the past three months, apart from his daily check-ins, Su Yu had devoted all his energy to comprehending the Ice Ancestral Symbol.

The process was grueling. Every day, Su Yu would study until his head felt like it was splitting.

After three months, his progress was minimal.

But even with such meager results, Su Yu felt as though he had been reborn.

The Ice Ancestral Symbol truly lived up to its name. Even with just a superficial grasp of its power, it significantly enhanced Su Yu's combat prowess.

As of now, Su Yu's overall strength has increased dramatically.

And as he continued to grow stronger, the Ice Ancestral Symbol's assistance would only become more profound.

Su Yu now possessed the foundation to one day become truly invincible.

...

"These past months must have been hard on you," Su Yu said softly, holding the two women close.

In his rush to comprehend the Ice Ancestral Symbol, he hadn't thought much about anything else.

Three months had passed in the blink of an eye, and Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong'er must have been worried sick.