CHAPTER 340: YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY CRACKED

The courtyard was just as he remembered. The spiritual energy in the air was potent with a small pond reflecting the moonlight by the side and the bamboo grove swaying in a quiet rhythm.

He sat cross-legged at the center of the courtyard.

It was time.

For months which was years in Ascendant Realms, Victor had trained, fought, refined, and learned.

Yet no matter how deeply he cultivated within Ascendant Realms, he had always noticed one thing: he couldn’t do the same in reality.

Until now.

He took a slow breath and qi began to flow through his meridians, spiraling and compressing.

His dantian throbbed incessantly and suddenly, something clicked.

A connection.

His consciousness seemed to stretch, tethered between worlds. For the first time, he felt the faint sensation of energy moving within his real body...

The body that was laid underneath a cone of ice in the real world. This had never happened before.

His eyes snapped open.

"This— this is real."

He focused again. The streams of qi grew thicker, swirling faster. His breath came slower now as he entered deeper concentration.

The environment responded. The air rippled; faint distortions shimmered above the pond. The bamboo leaves began to sway despite the lack of wind.

It wasn’t just cultivation anymore, it was resonance. His virtual self and real self had synced perfectly.

On instinct, Victor extended his senses outward and nearly flinched. He could feel his real-world surroundings.

The icy terrain, the tilted skyscraper, and even the warmth of his soul-bonded beast, crouched silently beside his real-world form, guarding him.

"Unbelievable..." he muttered. "This... is..."

For the next several hours, Victor pushed forward.

Qi poured into his body like tidal waves as he not only filled his qi reserves but also further cultivated to increase the progress of his realm.

His Nascent Soul trembled as it expanded within his dantian, pressing against the threshold.

Boom!

A surge of force erupted outward. The bamboo trees bent sharply, the pond rippled into chaos, and the faint spirit arrays around the courtyard flickered in shock.

[ Nascent Soul Realm Progress: 98% ]

Victor opened his eyes, exhaling a thick breath of white mist. His hair clung to his forehead as his body broke out in sweat, but the smile on his face was nothing short of exhilarated.

He raised his palm and could better feel the laws of space. It was as though he could manipulate the rules of space as he deemed fit right now... and then he came to a realisation.

"So that’s why..." he whispered. "The Void Emperor Bloodline is responsible for this... the moment I completed its integration, this happened."

He stood slowly, turning upward toward the vast sky above Lingyun Town.

"I can cultivate in reality now," he said softly. "And I can enter Ascendant Realms without plugging the game up..."

He clenched his fist, feeling raw power surge beneath his skin.

"Is this the power of the Void Emperor Bloodline? Haha time to head back to Blueflame City and Violet Springs sect for missions..."

However, he paused when he noticed something at the corner of his vision.

"Has that thing being counting down this whole time?"

The numbers had bothered Victor only slightly at first. It had sat there, tucked at the top-right corner of his vision like a stubborn fly that refused to leave.

But now, he finally paid attention to it.

He squinted at the glittering numbers. They were close to zero. Very close.

Victor blinked while trying to recall what number he saw when he first arrived in Lingyun Town.

’Forty? Thirty-something?’ He wasn’t sure anymore, but it had definitely been above twenty-four hours at some point.

"Huh. That’s... what happens when it hits zero?" he muttered, scratching his cheek.

He brushed dust off his robes as he planned to step out.

Right as he took a step—

00:00

The timer hit zero.

And then—

His avatar dissolved.

Not in a dramatic explosion, not with an epic orchestral theme, not even with the dignity of a polite fade-out.... Just—poof. Gone.

Victor’s consciousness returned back into reality.

He gasped awake, feeling cold burning sharply against his skin. His eyelashes cracked tiny ice fragments as his eyes fluttered open.

Several layers of ice entombed him, shining faintly blue in the dim light leaking through the collapsed structure above.

The tilted skyscraper groaned around him like the skeleton of a forgotten giant with its metallic bones twisted by time and disaster. Frost coated the interior like a frozen graveyard.

Victor exhaled causing the air to crystallize instantly.

"Ah. Yes. Right. Forgot I was popsicle edition."

He wiggled his fingers and spotted that his right arm was still missing.

But his qi reserves were completely filled up just like he felt when he was in Ascendant Realms.

He pressed outward and shattered his icy cocoon.

Large chunks of frost scattered across the metallic floor, ringing like glass. Victor stretched causing his joints to crack. Then he glanced around uneasily.

"Where’s big guy...? He went to get water, right? Might as well take a look around before he gets back..."

He stepped out of the twisted structure and into the world of frozen storms.

Except... this time, the cold didn’t stab into his body. It didn’t even prickle. Victor looked down at his hands, flexed his fingers, and blinked.

"Okay, this is weird. Normally by now I’d already be a Victor-shaped ice sculpture. But I feel... fine?"

The icy landscape around him glittered under pale sunlight. Rough mountains of frost pierced the horizon, and terrible red lightning flickered inside distant swirling blizzards. And yet he felt nothing... not frostbite, not discomfort, not even a chill.

"Huh. So immunity to ’turn into ice cube’ is part of the new skill set. Nice."

All this led to back to the present... with Victor sitting cross-legged on top of a frozen electric mast, calmly meditating while the death winds howled around him.

(( Present Time ))

Victor hopped down from the mast, landing in a soft spray of snow. His bonded beast was resting below with its feathers shimmering with frost, talons like icy daggers, and an intimidating presence that would’ve earned it worship in most ancient civilization.

Victor reached out and patted its head. "You big adorable menace. Thanks again for playing babysitter while I was gone. Also, sorry for the ghosting—literally."

The beast roared affectionately, sounding like an avalanche mixed with a hawk’s cry.

Victor rubbed the creature’s neck. "Alright, boy—girl—uh... buddy. Time for a test run. Since I’m awake, arm restored, and immune to freezing to death, we can finally go for a ride."

He climbed onto the beast’s back.

The creature stood proudly, spreading it wings wide with each feather glowing faintly like crystallized mana.

Victor took a deep breath. "Okay, majestic ice birb. Show me what you’ve got."

The beast crouched.

And then—

FWOOOOOOOSH!

They blasted into the sky so fast Victor almost left his soul behind.

"WHAAA—! Bro, I said fly, not teleport—!"

Wind tore past him like a hurricane. The world below blurred into streaks of white and blue. The speed was unbelievable... so unbelievable that Victor had to grip the beast’s feathered neck like his life depended on it.

Because it did.

He laughed breathlessly. "You’re kidding me! You’re THIS fast? Then why—WHY—did you move slowly when carrying water?!"

The beast screeched proudly.

"Ah. You were pretending to be weak to surprise me later, huh? Cute. Manipulative. I respect it."

They soared between spiky frozen peaks. Below them were ravines cracked with shimmering ice formations. Above were volatile storms with violent spirals of blizzards mixed with red lightning that tore through the sky like a furious deity practicing calligraphy.

Victor pointed at one. "Hey, don’t go close to that—it looks like it wants to erase my existence from all time periods."

The beast adjusted course instantly.

But Victor wasn’t done being surprised.

A random incoming flock of frost wyverns attempted to challenge them. They screeched while flapping their wings wildly, preparing to attack.

Victor braced himself, ready for a fight.

However, his mount suddenly reappeared behind the wyverns and unleashed a massive burst of concentrated wind blast.

"A GALE STRIKE?!" Victor yelped. "Bro—BRO—how are you using my technique?!"

The beast turned its head mid-flight and chirped smugly.

Victor pinched the bridge of his nose. "No way... you copied me. You actually copied my wind arts. What’s next—you gonna spit flames too?"

The creature inhaled.

Victor’s eyes widened. "No—NO—don’t try it, you’ll burn your face off—!"

But instead of fire, the creature unleashed a concentrated blast of icy azure energy, freezing the wyverns mid-flight.

Victor blinked rapidly. "Okay... okay. So you have your own magical attacks too. And you copied mine. Great. Amazing. I have officially become obsolete."

He sighed dramatically.

The mount nudged him affectionately.

Victor snorted. "Alright, alright. I forgive you for outperforming me at everything. Mostly."

They continued flying.

From this height, Victor could see far more than before. The icy terrain wasn’t just dangerous, it was downright apocalyptic. He saw weather anomalies that broke logic.

A spiraling ice tornado with black shards slicing around its center.

A storm of red lightning erupting from a frozen lake like some divine punishment.

A cluster of floating icebergs rotating around each other at impossible angles.

Yet... his beast avoided all of them effortlessly.

"Yeah... you’re absolutely cracked," Victor muttered.