Dark Clouds

Sion was still sitting on the bed in the inn. The night had passed quickly, and it was already almost halfway through the day.

While Sion was still thinking about the new information and what to do next, a familiar sound suddenly rang in his mind again.

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has partially adapted to the Qi of Heaven and Earth.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host's body has evolved and awakened high-level Spiritual Roots (Adapted).]

As soon as he heard this, he was instantly happy, but before he could celebrate, Sion suddenly felt a weight greater than anything he had ever felt before. It was as if the sky was falling on top of his body.

Which wasn't so wrong.

At that moment, something unknown to many was happening. In just a few seconds, the system warned Sion. The sky of Coldri City, which had been clear, suddenly darkened completely.

Black clouds appeared, covering the sky and the horizon, seemingly endless. Above the city, the air trembled, and the clouds swirled rapidly over the city as if forming an eye.

Thousands of lightning bolts gathered silently.

In the city, a silent horror took hold, everyone felt the immense pressure from the sky, even though it was less than one percent of what Sion felt. It was only a remnant, but even so, everyone fell to the ground, thinking they were going to die.

Sion in the room thought his body would break into pieces from the pressure, but before that.

'Ding!'

[Warning! Two spiritual roots in the same body go against the heavenly rules.]

'Ding!'

[Warning! The Heavenly Dao tried to restrict and eliminate the host. The Universal Will has been automatically activated.]

Sion felt his life return as he took a deep breath. The pressure he felt was gone. Just when he thought he would be okay, a terrible pain suddenly arose in every corner of his body.

It was as if stakes were being driven into every inch of his skin.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Sion couldn't stand the pain and screamed as his body fell onto the bed, writhing in agony. The pain was so intense that even fainting was impossible.

Then it happened again.

'Ding!'

[Warning! Ice Spirit Root in conflict with Adapted Spirit Root]

'Ding!'

[Warning! The Adaptive Core has been activated automatically.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has adapted to two high-grade Spirit Roots.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host's body has evolved and awakened Twin Spirit Roots (Adapted)]

Sion, who was writhing on the bed and thought he was at the end of his life, felt a momentary relief. The cause of the pain had been resolved.

But the consequences were obvious. Sion couldn't breathe properly, his mouth was full of blood. His body felt like it had been crushed by a mountain.

Sion could barely think from the pain.

But somehow his mind acted on instinct.

Without realizing it, the basic body enhancement technique he had learned from the book began to circulate.

Suddenly, the snow mark on his forehead glowed brightly, as did his blue veins. The Awakening of the Glacial Veins had been activated again.

Sion's hair turned completely white as his bed and the room suddenly froze. The pain in his body decreased considerably because of this.

Then, Sion finally managed to focus as much as possible on circulating the technique.

His completely broken body began to absorb the ambient Qi like a black hole. His Adaptive Core was functioning at its current maximum capacity. But all of that Qi was not absorbed by the core this time.

All the Qi ran entirely through Sion's body. An unbearable pain arose again as he felt the wave of Qi leave every part of his body, he felt like he would die at any moment, but the snow mark on his forehead glowed brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, it began to snow heavily throughout the city. All the cold Qi from a great distance gathered in Sion's room, his body completely frozen, turning into a blue and white crystal.

And then Sion fainted.

*****************************

In the city, people only saw the skies suddenly darken, then felt like they were going to die for just an instant, then all the black clouds disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and then a snowstorm suddenly began.

No one understood what was happening, but everyone immediately ran to their homes, leaving the place looking like a ghost town.

In a secret room below the Golden Hall. The old attendant looked up as if she could see everything, even though she was underground. As soon as the heavenly tribulation happened, she had noticed it. But she couldn't even move. When she finally did, she noticed the heavy snowfall.

Then a thought came to her mind.

"Could it be… this is his doing? No, it can only be because of him. This is no longer so simple, I must act immediately."

As soon as she said that, a golden plaque suddenly appeared in her hand, in the center of which was a symbol with a golden hall drawn on it and a single letter.

'Guardian'

The old woman sent her Qi to the plaque and began to speak.

"Reporting, I am the guardian who watches over the Frozen Forest by the city of Coldri in the Rhyne Kingdom. I am contacting you again."

"An anomaly has occurred, something has started a heavenly tribulation, but the tribulation has not descended. After that, the weather changed completely, causing an extreme snowstorm. I feel the Qi of ice gathering in the city, and it is already close to the density of the outer area of the forest."

"There is a high chance that the Snow Spirit that appeared in the city yesterday is responsible. What are your orders?"

After saying that, the old woman didn't have to wait long before the golden plaque vibrated and she heard a voice in her mind.

'Do nothing for now, there may be other Snow Spirits nearby. A Golden Guardian has been flying to your location since yesterday and will arrive in two days at the latest. Send reports if there are any new developments.'

"Do not approach the Snow Spirit. Your report yesterday said that you did not sense any Qi coming from it, but that is impossible. Weak Snow Spirits cannot stay outside the Frozen Forest for long, or they will die. So it is hiding for some reason. Do not let your guard down."

"Understood!"

******************************

An hour had passed. In Sion's room, someone suddenly tried to open the door. But they couldn't do it at all. Then, the door was broken into pieces that flew out with the thick layer of ice that held it inside.

Then a girl entered the room.

"Sion, it really was you. What happened?" Mei Li had suddenly arrived at Sion's room.

She saw his completely frozen body, his hair completely white, and the expression of pain on his face, but she didn't know what to do. She had no idea what had happened, let alone how to help.

Mei Li, after seeing the heavy snowfall, suddenly felt that something had happened to Sion.

So, after heading straight for Sion's inn, as if she already knew where he was, she found him. She felt that the cold energy coming from the room in this inn was as extreme as that in the forest where she had been. But now she was no longer under the protection of Deacon Fei's bell.

Her body was shaking, even with her Qi covering her body, she couldn't hold on for long.

She looked at Sion, trying to think of something, when she suddenly saw the snowflake on Sion's forehead, this time she didn't look away. Her eyes seemed to be burning, a pain greater than anything she had ever felt, but she didn't look away.

"I have to find a way, I have to see something. Please, this time show me the way!" Mei Li said loudly, hoping that her eyes could show her how to help Sion.

Her eyes, still focused on Sion's forehead, suddenly burned even more intensely. Blood began to flow from under her eyes as their color changed completely. Instead of green, they now turned completely gray. Her irises transformed into strange, unreadable symbols.

Mei Li felt a pain as if her head had been torn apart before passing out completely, unable to do anything to help.

…

After half an hour had passed, the extreme snowstorm suddenly subsided little by little until it stopped completely. The ice Qi began to disperse as the temperature in the city rose.

At the inn.

'CRACK!'

The sound of ice breaking suddenly echoed through the room. The block of ice that had frozen Sion cracked and began to break apart suddenly. In an instant, Sion's body was free again.

Then his eyes began to show signs that they would open.

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has begun his journey in cultivation.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has successfully broken through to the first stage of the Body Enhancement Realm, Skin Hardening.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has successfully broken through to the second stage of the Body Enhancement Realm, Tendon Enhancement.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has successfully broken through to the third stage of the Body Enhancement Realm, Muscle Refinement.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has successfully broken through to the fourth stage of the Body Enhancement Realm, Bone Consolidation.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has successfully broken through to the fifth stage of the Body Enhancement Realm, Internal Organ Purification.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has gone against the heavenly rule and received the title 'Heavenly Enemy.']

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has completed the mission, 'Help Mei Li awaken her eye talent.']

[Rewards are being calculated]

Sion, who had already woken up, looked at the large amount of information in disbelief.

When he suddenly saw the last message from the system.

"Mei Li? Where?"

Sion suddenly looked around and saw a girl lying on the side of his bed, her face resting on the bed, fragments of ice covering her completely cold body.

Sion realized that her breathing was weak and saw blood running down her face.

"Shit, what the hell happened here?" Sion said as he looked at the room, which was still completely frozen.

He looked at the bed with a layer of ice, and the light black color stuck to the ice fragments on the bed, and he had a vague understanding of what had happened.

Then he suddenly opened his arms, and all the ice in the room suddenly shook and then turned into freezing Qi, absorbed by his body, except for the black particles that remained frozen, which Sion sent to the bathroom.

Sion then picked Mei Li up and placed her on the bed, covering her with all the blankets he could find.

Then he stared at her, calming down when he realized that Mei Li's breathing was slowly returning to normal. And he breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment.

'Ding!'

[Rewards have been calculated.]