"It… what is that?"

"That's not Bone Frost…"

"Is that even ice?"

Whispers spread rapidly through the audience.

"Ask the Kidney Peak disciples!"

"Yeah, they must know!" The other disciples began to ask around.

Much to their surprise though, even the disciples of the two Kidney Peaks, those who should have been the most familiar with cold-based techniques, were visibly confused. Their expressions mirrored those of the others, their understanding failing to align with what they were witnessing.

"We've never seen this…"

"That's not the Endless Frost Tomb Art…"

"What technique is this?"

Their voices carried uncertainty.

Because they truly did not know.

The knowledge of the Freezing Abyss Glacial Art had never been shared.

It was not something they had been taught.

It was not something they had even expected to see.

But there was one person…

Who reacted differently.

The First Kidney Peak Head.

Bing Yansu.

He had been still until now, his expression unchanged, his presence detached from everything around him.

Then…

He moved.

Not physically.

But internally.

His spirit sense surged outward, focusing entirely on the black ice spreading across the arena. The moment it made contact…

It recoiled.

Forced back.

Repelled.

Bing Yansu's eyes widened.

For the first time…

Emotion appeared.

"Impossible…"

The word escaped him before he could restrain it.

A surge of Grey Surprise energy erupted from him, far more intense than anything Han Yu had sensed before from any individual within the sect. Mixed within it were traces of Violet Fear and even a thread of Red Anger, emotions that betrayed the depth of his reaction.

His mind raced. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Fragments of ancient records.

Broken descriptions.

Half-lost knowledge.

They aligned.

Connected.

And formed a conclusion he had never expected to reach.

'The real technique…'

He turned his gaze toward Han Yu.

'He found it…'

Then toward the Second Kidney Peak Head.

'And you… hid it…'

He did not know how his junior brother had managed to do all this. After all, he knew better than anyone that the technique was long gone. The only place that it could be found was the inheritance stelae. But there was no guarantee that one could obtain it from it and even if one did, learning it was far more difficult.

'No, if the disciple did... then he... and then...' His mind ran at a rapid pace.

Everything made sense now.

The sudden appearance of a disciple.

The strange behavior over the past two years.

The secrecy.

The changes.

All of it.

Bing Yansu's expression darkened slightly.

But his attention did not leave the arena.

Because what he was witnessing…

Was only beginning.

Below, Han Yu stood at the center of the spreading abyssal frost.

His presence had changed.

Completely.

The faint cruelty that once lingered in his gaze was gone.

Replaced.

By something colder.

Deeper.

A stillness that did not merely suppress emotion, but devoured it.

An abyss.

Unfathomable.

Uncaring.

Unavoidable.

Meng Ji felt it.

Even without understanding it.

A chill ran through him, not from the temperature alone, but from something far more profound.

But he did not stop.

He could not stop.

The massive Blood Qi spear he had launched earlier descended with unstoppable force, cutting through the air toward Han Yu.

It should have struck.

It should have pierced.

It should have ended the moment.

But Han Yu simply raised his other hand and touched it...

The instant his fingers made contact…

Everything froze.

The entire spear, nearly five meters in length, halted mid-motion, its momentum erased as if it had never existed. A layer of black ice spread across its surface instantly, consuming it entirely.

Then… It changed.

The ice did not merely cover it.

It reshaped it.

Expanded it.

The spear grew larger, its form elongating, thickening, becoming something entirely different. What had once been a construct of Blood Qi was now an abyssal weapon of black ice, twice its original size, its surface swallowing the light around it.

The audience fell silent.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

They simply watched.

Han Yu's expression did not change.

He placed his hand lightly against the base of the frozen construct.

And pushed.

The spear moved.

Not with explosive force.

But with terrifying speed.

"Sky Freezing Abyssal Arrow."

His voice was calm.

Almost indifferent.

The arrow vanished.

Then reappeared.

Right in front of Meng Ji.

There was no time to react.

No time to think.

Instinct took over.

Meng Ji roared, his entire body erupting with Blood Qi as he poured everything he had into defense. The energy spiraled outward, forming a dense, rotating barrier in front of him.

Layer upon layer.

Reinforced.

Compressed.

A shield built from desperation and power.

The abyssal arrow struck.

For a moment…

Everything held.

The barrier resisted, its layers grinding against the advancing force, Blood Qi clashing against the devouring black ice.

Then…

The ice spread.

It did not break the barrier.

It consumed it.

The spiraling layers slowed, then froze, the motion halting as the black ice crawled across their surface, turning them into static, lifeless structures.

Meng Ji's eyes widened.

The pressure intensified.

The arrow did not stop.

It continued forward.

Relentless.

Unyielding.

Meng Ji screamed, forcing more power into the barrier, his veins bulging, his aura flaring to its peak.

For a moment…

It worked.

The arrow slowed.

Barely.

Then…

Cracks appeared.

Fine.

Thin.

Spreading.

The sound echoed.

Sharp.

Final.

The barrier shattered.

The arrow struck.

Meng Ji was thrown backward, his body propelled through the air like a broken projectile. He crashed into the ground with immense force, the impact sending fractures across the arena floor.

Silence followed.

Complete.

Absolute.

Then…

A collective intake of breath.

Shock.

Disbelief.

The audience erupted into whispers, their voices rising in confusion and awe.

"What was that…?"

"That wasn't a normal technique…"

"He froze it… and turned it against him…"

"That power… what kind of ice is that?"

Above, the elders leaned forward.

Their expressions no longer calm.

No longer detached.

This…

Was not what they had expected.

And at the center of it all…

Han Yu stood.

Unmoving.

The black ice continued to spread beneath his feet.

And the abyss…

Had only just opened.