The miniature cosmos had changed again.
What once felt like a prison of silence had slowly become a sacred training ground.
Planets drifted through silver darkness.
Meteor fragments floated like forgotten ruins.
Ancient currents of cosmic force moved soundlessly through the void.
And at the center of it all—
Lin Shuan stood upon a barren, floating world no larger than a mountain range.
Its surface was grey stone, cracked and ancient.
Dead.
Lifeless.
A silent planet formed by condensed cosmic matter.
Before him—
Tian Wuchen.
Hands behind his back.
Eyes carrying immeasurable depth.
For a long while, neither spoke.
Only the wind of the void moved.
Then Tian Wuchen finally said,
"Today…"
"…you do not train the Frost Divine Heart."
Lin Shuan blinked.
"…Master?"
Tian Wuchen turned toward the small planet beneath them.
"You will learn how to use it."
There was a difference.
A vast difference.
Control was survival.
Usage—
was power.
Lin Shuan's breathing slowed.
His expression sharpened.
Tian Wuchen raised a hand.
The drifting stars above dimmed.
The surrounding void became unusually still.
"Power is not merely force."
"It is understanding."
He pointed at the barren planet.
"Use the silence of the void."
"Use the comprehension of the universe."
"And combine it…"
"…with frost."
Lin Shuan stared at the dead world.
"…On the planet?"
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"Freeze it."
Lin Shuan stepped forward.
Closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank inward.
He heard the heartbeat.
The Frost Divine Heart.
Steady.
Heavy.
Alive.
Then—
he listened deeper.
Beyond his own heart.
To the stillness.
To the silent rhythm Tian Wuchen had forced him to feel.
The universe pulsed.
And Lin Shuan moved with it.
His palm lifted.
Cold began gathering.
Not ordinary cold.
Absolute white frost.
Pure silver-white mist spiraled around his arm.
The temperature of the floating world dropped.
Stone began crystallizing.
Frost spread.
At first uncertain.
Unstable.
Then—
smoother.
Lin Shuan opened his eyes.
A pale divine glow flashed in them.
He whispered,
"Freeze…"
His palm descended.
BOOM—
Absolute white frost erupted outward.
Not violent.
Silent.
Terrifyingly silent.
The planet's surface froze in expanding circles.
Mountains became crystal.
Stone turned silver.
Frozen mist rose in spirals.
Within moments—
half the floating world had become a kingdom of ice.
Lin Shuan breathed heavily.
Sweat on his brow.
His control was rough.
But real.
Tian Wuchen observed.
Then—
"Again."
And again.
And again.
Days passed.
Lin Shuan practiced continuously.
Sometimes the frost exploded too violently and shattered terrain.
Sometimes it collapsed prematurely.
Sometimes he froze himself.
Once he accidentally turned the entire planet into a glacial prison and nearly exhausted himself unconscious.
Tian Wuchen only watched.
Corrected.
Refined.
One day—
Lin Shuan finally stood amid a world completely coated in absolute white frost.
No instability.
No backlash.
The frost moved with thought.
With intent.
His control had become natural.
Not perfect—
but worthy.
He exhaled.
Looking at his frozen creation.
"…I can feel it obeying…"
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"Because it no longer fears you."
Lin Shuan turned.
"…Fears me?"
"A divine power behaves like a living law."
"If forced…"
"It resists."
"If understood…"
"It submits."
Silence.
Then Tian Wuchen suddenly asked,
"Lin Shuan."
"What battle techniques do you possess?"
Lin Shuan blinked.
Then answered honestly.
"…Very few."
"I have body techniques."
"Some clan arts."
He hesitated.
Then—
"One offensive technique."
Tian Wuchen's brows lifted.
"Oh?"
"Show me."
Lin Shuan's eyes lit slightly.
He stepped back.
Took stance.
Circulated Luo Essence.
The air trembled.
His aura surged.
Body Refiner power gathered.
Then—
he moved.
A violent forward smash.
Power exploded through his arm.
And behind him—
a white dragon soul emerged.
Ancient.
Roaring.
Coiling around his strike.
"Sky Dragon Smash!"
BOOM—
A dragon-shaped shockwave tore across the frozen world.
Mountains split.
Ice exploded.
A canyon formed.
The dragon phantom slowly faded.
Silence.
Lin Shuan breathed hard.
Looking proud.
"At my rank…"
"This can wound anyone at my stars."
"Even stronger opponents."
Tian Wuchen stared.
Then smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
Lin Shuan grinned slightly.
But—
Tian Wuchen said,
"Crude."
Lin Shuan froze.
"…Crude?"
Tian Wuchen walked forward.
"You know nothing of true techniques."
He raised one finger.
"Martial techniques have four ranks."
His voice echoed across the frozen world.
"Human Rank."
"Earth Rank."
"Heaven Rank."
"Emperor Rank."
Each word shook space.
"And every rank…"
"Contains three stages."
Lower.
Middle.
Upper.
Lin Shuan listened like a starving man.
Tian Wuchen continued,
"Your Sky Dragon Smash…"
"…is Heaven Rank."
Lin Shuan nearly jumped.
"Heaven Rank?!"
Then—
Tian Wuchen added calmly—
"Middle stage."
Lin Shuan was stunned.
A technique he considered supreme—
was only middle stage.
And incomplete.
Tian Wuchen stepped closer.
"And it has two parts."
Lin Shuan's pupils contracted.
"Two…?"
"You only know one."
"The white dragon aspect."
"The second half…"
His eyes gleamed.
"…belongs to me."
Then—
space trembled.
Golden light appeared.
A jade scroll manifested.
Ancient.
Covered in dragon runes.
Its pressure alone bent the air.
Lin Shuan stared.
Heart pounding.
Tian Wuchen spoke one name—
"Golden Dragon Smash."
The words carried majesty.
Ancient domination.
Lin Shuan whispered,
"…Master…"
Tian Wuchen looked at him.
"This technique transforms force…"
"…into dragon might."
"At your own star level…"
"It can cripple equals."
"Against higher stars…"
"It can still wound."
A pause.
Then—
"At your own level…"
"It can kill."
Lin Shuan's blood heated.
Kill across same stars?
A monstrous technique.
Tian Wuchen flicked the scroll toward him.
"Learn."
Lin Shuan caught it.
The jade burned cold and hot together.
Ancient.
Heavy.
He sat immediately.
Cross-legged.
Held the jade before him.
Sent consciousness inside.
And—
the world vanished.
—
He entered a realm of gold.
Dragons.
Countless dragons.
Roaring through heaven.
Ancient symbols floated.
Runes moved.
Words formed—
not spoken—
imprinted.
Mystical golden scripture.
Golden Dragon Smash—
First Form: Dragon Soul Descent.
Second Form: Imperial Dragon Crush.
Each symbol contained layered meaning.
Combat law.
Body path.
Dragon force.
Lin Shuan immersed himself.
Understanding.
Absorbing.
Then—
the runes moved.
One by one—
they flew into him.
Into his consciousness.
Into his soul.
His body trembled.
Outside—
he remained seated.
Motionless.
Days passed.
Weeks.
Months.
Tian Wuchen watched silently.
And while Lin Shuan meditated—
his cultivation moved.
Body Refiner…
eight stars.
Then higher.
Denser.
Stronger.
Finally—
Peak Eight-Star Body Refiner.
The floating cosmos shook subtly.
His aura deepened.
Months later—
his eyes snapped open.
Golden dragon shadows flashed within them.
He inhaled sharply.
"…I understand."
He rose.
Energy erupted.
Half frost.
Half dragon.
Tian Wuchen smiled.
"Show me."
Lin Shuan stepped forward.
He activated the technique.
Golden force surged.
His body glowed.
Dragon patterns crawled over skin.
Then—
ROAR—
A golden dragon phantom exploded behind him.
Massive.
Majestic.
He launched forward.
Golden Dragon Smash!
BOOM—
The strike annihilated a distant frozen mountain.
Turned it to dust.
Lin Shuan himself stared.
"…This…"
"…this is…"
Tian Wuchen finished:
"Power."
But—
he shook his head.
"Again."
Thus began another brutal phase.
Golden Dragon Smash training.
It was far harder than Sky Dragon Smash.
Because this technique carried dragon will.
It resisted imperfection.
Lin Shuan failed repeatedly.
Sometimes dragon force rebounded and blasted him away.
Sometimes frost and dragon energies clashed inside him.
Sometimes he coughed blood.
Once his arm nearly shattered.
Yet—
progress came.
Slowly.
He learned combining Frost Divine Heart and dragon force.
White frost dragon.
Golden imperial dragon.
Sometimes both.
The miniature cosmos became battlefield once more.
Frozen planets broke.
Meteor fields shattered.
Void storms rose from their clashes.
One day—
Tian Wuchen stood before him.
"Combine them."
Lin Shuan frowned.
"Both?"
"Yes."
He inhaled.
Activated Frost Divine Heart.
Absolute white frost spiraled.
Then—
Golden Dragon blood ignited.
Gold and silver.
Cold and dominance.
Opposites.
United.
He moved.
Sky Dragon Smash—
merged into—
Golden Dragon Smash.
White dragon roared.
Golden dragon descended.
Two dragon souls spiraled together.
Twin Dragon Smash.
BOOM—
A floating planet cracked.
Split in half.
Silence.
Even Lin Shuan stood frozen.
He had done it instinctively.
Tian Wuchen's eyes narrowed.
Not displeased.
Surprised.
"…Interesting."
Lin Shuan breathed hard.
"What was that?"
Tian Wuchen said quietly—
"Something not in the technique."
Silence.
Then—
"…Perhaps your own path."
Those words hit deeper than praise.
His own path.
Not borrowed.
Created.
But Tian Wuchen did not let pride grow.
The next day—
training worsened.
Because now—
another method would begin.
A new path.
Not combat.
Not elemental mastery.
Something harsher.
Tian Wuchen stood with hands behind his back.
Looking at drifting stars.
"Lin Shuan."
"You now have frost."
"You have dragon force."
"You have battle techniques."
"But…"
He turned.
"You fight only with power."
"Now…"
"You learn how to kill."
Lin Shuan's spine chilled.
"…Kill?"
Tian Wuchen nodded.
"The next training…"
"…is battle comprehension."
He raised a hand.
Space twisted.
The stars darkened.
Ancient battle phantoms began appearing.
Ghostly warriors.
Dragon spirits.
Emperor shadows.
An endless battlefield forming.
Lin Shuan stared.
Awe.
And dread.
Tian Wuchen smiled faintly.
That dangerous smile again.
"The next phase begins."
Lin Shuan swallowed.
"…Master…"
"…what kind of training is this?"
Tian Wuchen's answer came calmly.
"Survive a thousand deaths."
The battlefield erupted.
And Lin Shuan realized—
everything until now—
frost mastery…
dragon techniques…
cultivation breakthroughs…
had only prepared him…
for this.
And somewhere deep within his chest—
the Frost Divine Heart pulsed.
As though anticipating war.
The training of a true monster—
was about to begin.