I Reborn as a God Within a Statue, And You Ask Me to Enslave All Gods?-Chapter 164 --The Ice Maiden

The third figure—this one was unlike the others. It felt like a form of transcendence, a pure elevation. Compared to the first and second apparitions, this one radiated a terrifying level of strength, as if it had undergone a qualitative transformation.

"We all underestimated him," a voice murmured among the crowd. "From defeating the first figure to vanquishing the second, he spent barely any time. At this pace alone, he’s already created a miracle."

"I won’t deny his potential," another replied solemnly. "But that third apparition is in a league of its own. It’s a complete metamorphosis."

Countless ancient beings whispered amongst themselves. These were not ordinary onlookers—they were elites, the apex predators of countless races across the Realms. And yet, even they found it difficult to conceal the awe and apprehension in their gazes as they fixated on the eighth-tier region.

To them, Owen’s combat prowess had already defied natural law, verging on godhood. But this third figure—it was a ceiling. An unshakable shackle that crushed even their most ambitious fantasies.

Yet regardless of their inner thoughts, all eyes remained locked on the eighth-tier region. This duel, regardless of its outcome, would be immortalized in history.

After all, these very spectators—descendants of powerful bloodlines, inheritors of countless legacies—had attempted this trial before. Most had barely managed to defeat the first two figures. None had ever bested the third.

"That third figure... is not just a guardian. It’s a test of the heavens," a woman murmured. She held in her hands a semi-transparent crystal that pulsed with soft light. Her expression was grave. "Even though Owen surpassing us in potential would be hard to accept... I truly hope he can break through that shackle."

Her words made Titan and the others stir visibly, expressions of shock rippling across their faces.

It wasn’t that no one had ever succeeded in this domain. According to ancient records of Wraith City—an enigmatic fortress with roots buried deep in forgotten eras—there had indeed been one figure in the distant past who had succeeded. That individual had triggered a storm so tremendous that its echoes still haunted the upper planes.

If Owen succeeded here, would he not be the second to challenge destiny itself?

———

Beneath the scrutiny of these ancient beings, deep within the eighth-tier arena, Owen stood motionless, staring at the increasingly distinct silhouette before him.

From a storm of glacial winds, she emerged.

Each step she took conjured a blooming lotus beneath her pale foot, formed from pure ice—freezing the air, the space, even the concept of time itself. Her presence was not merely cold—it was absolute, a stillness that pierced bone and soul.

Around her, the entire region had become entombed in a dense sheet of frost. A glacial world unfurled, painting the void in sharp, biting whiteness. Snowflakes—each as precise and sharp as a blade—descended like tiny razors, slicing the air, carving the space into fractured, brittle shards.

Owen’s eyes narrowed as her appearance became clear.

She was young—barely past childhood. A budding lotus just beginning to unfurl its petals. And yet, she possessed a haunting beauty, ethereal and pristine, like the crystallized embodiment of winter itself. She didn’t appear to breathe, to blink, to even live—she simply existed, an eternal ice spirit given form.

From her body, Owen sensed no divine force, no elemental surge—only the overwhelming will of winter. The kind that didn’t just freeze your skin but froze the very passage of time, the flow of thought, the certainty of life.

For the first time, Owen—a divine being cloaked in celestial light—felt a chill seep into his bones. He shivered involuntarily.

This was not ordinary cold. It was the kind of cold that stripped away all sense of self. The kind that made one forget their own name.

It felt... divine.

"This chill... it’s terrifying," Owen muttered to himself. "But how? Her power level... it’s only tier-seven?"

Yet the oppressive aura she radiated—so suffocating, so immense—was equivalent to a peak tier-eight being!

That meant... based solely on pressure and potential, she had already surpassed the first and second figures.

More importantly, Owen could sense it—she possessed a bloodline. A bloodline so rare and potent that it warped the natural laws around her. He couldn’t identify its exact origins, but the frost she wielded was enough to freeze space, time, and soul alike.

Even for him, a two-star deity blessed with divine light, her presence was oppressive. The icy pressure scratched at his divine armor, reached deep into his spirit.

It felt as though all fundamental laws of reality—Orders themselves—were bending to her. Worshipping her. She was royalty. She was absolute.

"No wonder the third figure is always the strongest. This girl’s bloodline... it elevates her actual combat power to an entirely different realm!"

For the first time since entering this trial, Owen felt genuine danger. Not caution. Not pressure.

Danger.

A threat that could not be underestimated. A challenge he might not overcome.

"The reason even beings like Titan failed to claim the eighth-tier region... it’s because of her," he whispered. His expression hardened. "This is no ordinary battle."

If it had been any other deity—even one with the same rank and divine light—none could have defeated even the first figure.

Owen’s victories were not by chance.

They were a result of three factors: the crystal core that allowed him to temporarily transcend his limits; his unmatched speed in reaching this realm the moment the trial appeared; and the sheer immensity of divine points stored within his divine core.

All of these allowed him to crush the top ten combatants of the human ranking list back-to-back.

But now, with this girl before him—he sensed the first true possibility of defeat.

Still, the chill in his heart only lasted a breath. His divine mind swiftly regained calm. His eyes narrowed as he focused entirely on the girl now encased in swirling frost.

With a divine breath, Owen raised his hands to the heavens.

Suddenly, a hundred blazing meteors tore through the skies, roaring down like divine wrath.

He was done testing. This was all-out war.

The eighth-tier region had become a symbol. A sacred place desired by all elites—Titan and others on the Killing Leaderboard had tried and failed to conquer it.

If they wanted it... then Owen had to seize it.

He would take what they could not.

Boom!

A torrent of meteors cascaded from the heavens like a dragon’s roar. The very air ignited. As they descended upon the girl, however, they entered the domain of frost.

And that’s when the world changed.

The moment the fireballs reached her aura, they halted—as if the laws of motion themselves had ceased.

Frozen. Completely immobile.

The ice had become its own world. Within it, time no longer flowed.

Then, like creeping frostbite, tiny crystals bloomed along the fireballs’ surface—crawling inward with terrifying speed. Within seconds, each flaming rock was devoured, extinguished, and shattered into icy dust.

A snowstorm descended.

Hundreds of meteors—divine god skills summoned at immense cost—had failed to even touch her.

Owen’s eyes narrowed.

The divine points consumed to summon those skills were immense.

Thankfully, this place—like "Heaven"—refunded spent divine points after each encounter.

Still, the reality was stark. The Ice Maiden had casually neutralized his divine fury.

He inhaled slowly.

Then, with a single gesture, he summoned fire.

Compressed spheres of pure flame materialized, their heat so intense they began warping the space around them. Slowly, those spheres condensed further, shifting from ethereal flame to molten magma—red-hot and violent.

They ignited everything.

If she wielded ice, then he would summon fire.

At first, the flames merely licked across the region. But soon, they evolved—compacting, deepening, boiling with destructive intent.

When the sea of lava finally stretched across half the sky, it surged forward—crashing into her frozen domain.

Ordinary magma would have stood no chance. But this was not ordinary.

These flames had been compressed so severely that within them existed a seed of true destruction. When they made contact with the frozen world, chaos exploded.

Sssssssss!

Steam erupted in violent plumes as frost clashed with flame. Ice cracked. Fire hissed. Thunderous explosions echoed as elements violently repelled each other.

Two worlds—fire and ice—collided.

At the epicenter, chaos reigned.

A hazy maelstrom formed where the two domains met. It was impossible to see through. Impossible to predict.

It was then, from within the frost, that she moved.

Her eyes opened.

They shimmered like crystals—clear, pure, and ancient. She had awoken.

She beheld the encroaching inferno, and for the first time, her expression shifted ever so slightly.

Owen had pierced her domain.

That was... unexpected.

"A god?" she whispered.

A soft voice, like wind over snow.

"I didn’t think I’d meet another one."

"I once knew a god," she continued, her gaze distant, lost in memory. "He was strong—so strong he almost succeeded. He was my friend."

"But he failed. That path... it was too dark, too steep. It swallowed him."

She looked at Owen once more.

"But you... you woke me. That means your potential surpasses his."

"Perhaps... you can succeed."

"But only if—"

Her hair flared out behind her, strands of white twisting like serpents made of snow.

Her voice sharpened.

"Only if you can defeat me!"

A new surge of frost exploded outward, drowning the world in blinding white.

She had finally taken him seriously.

The true battle was about to begin.