At this moment, far away at the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters in Star Luo City, Jin Li was sprawled carelessly on the large sofa in Huo Yuhao's office.
Her posture lacked any shred of decorum; one leg was draped over the sofa's armrest, while the other dangled off the edge, swinging lazily. Her entire body seemed embedded into the soft leather, so comfortable she couldn't even be bothered to lift her eyelids.
Huo Yuhao had been away from Star Luo for some time, so the workload for her role as 'Tower Master Secretary' had plummeted, and she had naturally taken over this office.
At first, she only came in to sit occasionally, but eventually, she simply claimed it as her private base.
She would drift in every day, flop onto the sofa, eat snacks, and live quite happily.
At this moment, she was holding a paper bag containing some kind of snack made from candied fruits and dried nuts. It was perfectly sweet and sour with a chewy texture, and she could finish half the bag in one go.
She had just picked up a piece of preserved fruit to put in her mouth, but before her teeth could bite down, her whole body shuddered without warning, as if something had struck her all the way up from her spine.
Jin Li sat up almost instinctively, her shoulders and back tensed straight. Her long, golden-red hair flared up and fell with her movement, like a cluster of suddenly ignited flames tracing a dazzling arc in the air.
Her gaze swept rapidly across every corner of the office, her pupils slightly constricted, her expression alert and sharp, like a Vicious Beast that had sensed danger.
In that instant, she had indeed felt a sense of crisis.
She couldn't say exactly what it was, but it gave her a chilling coldness.
However, after investigating, she found nothing.
Jin Li frowned, her gaze scanning back and forth twice more before she slowly lay back down.
She picked up the piece of preserved fruit that had fallen onto her leg, looked at it, stuffed it back into her mouth, chewed gently twice, and then slowly swallowed it.
For some reason, she felt it didn't taste as good anymore.
...
On the top floor of the Radiant City Hotel in the Sun Moon Empire, Wang Donger was sitting cross-legged on the bed to cultivation.
Her eyes were lightly closed, her breathing steady and long. Her powder-blue long hair draped smoothly down her back, swaying slightly with the circulation of her Spirit Power.
She wasn't actually a diligent person in her daily life. With her talent, she could achieve in little effort what others took years of hard cultivation to reach, which had fostered a somewhat lazy habit.
But ever since she had grown closer to Huo Yuhao, her 'good enough' attitude had begun to loosen imperceptibly.
Huo Yuhao's cultivation speed was simply too fast, and she didn't want to be left too far behind, so she had been much more diligent in recent years than when she was young.
At this moment, she was immersed in her cultivation state, completely unaware that a golden light was slowly reappearing between her eyebrows—a trident-shaped mark.
Not far away, Huo Yuhao's room was shrouded by a Formation.
These Formations not only blocked the leakage of Snow Empress's biting cold aura from within but also cut off all external means of detection.
But Tang San's Divine Sense was naturally different; those Formations could block the means of a Mortal, but they could not block the investigation of a God King.
Tang San's Divine Sense easily passed through the obstruction of the Formations and entered the room.
He saw the room almost covered in ice crystals, and he saw the white cold current of Snow Empress in the center that had gradually calmed down.
He did not feel surprised. As the Child of Destiny of this era, Huo Yuhao's Opportunity was already significant.
However, when his Divine Sense swept past Electrolux, who was beside Huo Yuhao, he suddenly paused. He saw Electrolux.
His very existence was a thorn in Tang San's eye.
From the day Huo Yuhao was born, his entire destiny had been within Tang San's arrangements.
Which node would meet whom, which period would obtain what Opportunity, which step would lead to what kind of path... Tang San had arranged them all one by one.
The growth trajectory of this youth was like a map he had drawn himself; every turn, every mark, was set by his own pen.
But now, on this map, there appeared too many forks he had not anticipated.
All the changes seemed to trace back to Huo Yuhao's childhood.
In the future scene Tang San had originally foreseen, Dai Yuner should have died in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, and Huo Yuhao's fate would have slid forward along another, more controlled track.
But the reality was that Huo Yuhao chose to leave the Dukes Mansion with his mother, avoiding the tragedy that originally belonged to him.
And this was just a beginning; the subsequent changes became more and more frequent and dense.
And the one who played the biggest role in this seemed to be this Soul from another world, Electrolux.
Tang San had never considered this existence in his plans. He was like a chess piece that shouldn't have appeared on the board; he had fallen out of thin air and messed up the whole game.
Tang San's gaze sank as he watched that figure silently.
To ensure his own plan, and to drag Huo Yuhao's line back to the right track.
Electrolux, cannot be left alive.
...
Inside the room, Ice Empress's figure stood to Huo Yuhao's left. Those usually cold eyes were now full of tension and concern, staring fixedly at the rolling white cold current in mid-air.
And in the air to Huo Yuhao's right, another figure was floating.
White robes like snow, inscribed with mysterious golden patterns, his face withered and calm—it was Electrolux.
His posture was composed, his muddy yet deep gaze falling on Snow Empress as he said, "I can take action to help you Seal your Origin energy."
"We might not be able to find a complete solution for now, but that doesn't mean we won't be able to in the future."
Ice Empress heard this, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
She almost rushed to speak, her tone carrying an irrepressible urgency and expectation: "That's right, Snow Empress! Yuhao is... in the future..."
Before she could finish her words, the white cold current in mid-air, which had already tended to calm down, expanded violently without warning.
BOOM!!!
Extremely cold energy, several times more powerful than when Snow Empress had erupted in anger just before, rushed toward the surroundings like a burst levee.
The biting cold wind, mixed with nearly tangible ice crystal fragments, swept through the entire room with destructive force.
The layer of ice, a foot thick on the walls, thickened further, and the frozen cracks on the tabletop increased due to the erosion of the low temperature.
The Formations Huo Yuhao had set up in advance were shaken repeatedly by this sudden burst of cold power, emitting a shocking humming sound, as if they would shatter at any moment.
And in the midst of this raging chill, Snow Empress's voice came out again, more urgent than before, carrying a trace of panic she herself could hardly conceal.
"It's too late, my Origin energy is suddenly out of control!"
The eruption of that power was without warning; even Snow Empress herself had not been able to detect it in advance.
She had clearly been trying her best to suppress the fluctuations of her Origin within her body just a moment ago, but at that very instant, it was as if something had nudged her core, and the balance that was already precarious within her was completely broken, no longer able to be contained by her own power.
Huo Yuhao's expression changed suddenly. He had no extra words, almost subconsciously unfolding his Spirit Domain.
The Space-Time Illusory Extinction Domain spread silently, shrouding the entire cold current of Snow Empress like a flexible thin film.
The moment the Domain covered it, the raging chill in the room suddenly subsided.
Those ice layers that were spreading crazily stopped expanding, and the white cold mist in the air also solidified in mid-air as if a pause button had been pressed, no longer churning.
But this calm was only temporary. Huo Yuhao's expression remained tense, with fine beads of sweat oozing from his temples. He could feel his mental force and Spirit Power draining at a speed far exceeding normal; this Domain could not hold for long.
He decisively turned to Electrolux, his voice carrying a trace of urgency: "Teacher, can you still apply the Seal now?"
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.