Chapter 186: Snow Woman

After finishing his exchange with Mr. Huang, Lei Kedun readjusted the ritual materials that had not yet been cleared from the floor, quickly set up a new ritual, and extracted the gem that had gathered various frost-type abilities.

Even with a layer of transparent amber seal separating them, the temperature in the room still dropped several degrees rapidly.

Lei Kedun held the pale‑blue gem sealed in transparent amber, quietly feeling its icy chill and potency.

"Close to Sequence Four level, but still a bit short."

Lei Kedun made an assessment in his mind.

In his mind he already recalled the imagined dragon from the Grosser's Journey, the Northern King Yurisan.

Perhaps the gem's origin is a Second Era creature like the Northern King Yurisan; at that time, aggregating similar traits was the mainstream.

After pondering for a while, Lei Kedun set the transparent amber down and packed away the remaining ritual materials on the floor.

Having finished, he sat in the high‑back chair at his desk and began contemplating what kind of figurine to craft with the pale‑blue gem.

"Frost, Vengeful Soul, Navigator"—Lei Kedun leaned back in the chair, murmuring low, and gradually formed an idea.

He picked up the round‑bodied fountain pen and a sheet of white paper on the desk, and began writing:

Snow Woman: She dwells in deep mountains, governs winter's snow, and her soul is composed of three emotions—fragility, grace, and melancholy.

She has snow‑white skin, a beautiful appearance, and a virtuous temperament.

She likes to appear on snowy nights; anyone who sees her and cannot resist her allure will be forever frozen by her gentle kiss, have their soul devoured, and their ice‑sculpted body taken back to her mountain cave for display.

Setting the pen down, he gave the paper a gentle shake twice; Lei Kedun looked at the Snow Woman story pieced together from his memories, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

It was only a story, yet Lei Kedun had already sketched a beautiful, moving lady figure in his mind.

Eagerly, he fetched the materials needed for the figurine from the clutter, and Tu Ba Ge skillfully assisted beside him.

After spending an afternoon, Lei Kedun finally molded a satisfactory, beautiful lady figure from clay.

Lei Kedun produced the semi‑transparent doll from Yuanhun Steve and the pale‑blue gem given by Mr. Huang.

This time Lei Kedun did not first blend the materials into a magical elixir to pour over the figurine to make it a wondrous artifact.

The main reason was that the pale‑blue gem was so cold that, before it even touched the pure water in the glass bottle, it froze it.

Lei Kedun had to skip that step, directly taking out the materials to prepare the prayer ritual to the Hidden Sage.

On the floor he used reagents to draw a pair of eyes filled with countless sparkling stars, cold and indifferent, without eyelashes.

He arranged the candles, figurine, semi‑transparent doll, pale‑blue gem and other materials in place.

Snap! He snapped his fingers, the candle ignited, and Lei Kedun immediately dropped two drops of essential oil into the flame.

The flame flickered twice, and the room instantly filled with the scent of tulips.

Seeing this, Lei Kedun quickly rose, stepped back, and began to chant aloud:

"Sage who perceives the world, eyes that probe truth, embodiment of endless knowledge and spiritual numbers!"

"I pray to you, I pray for the power of knowledge."

"I ask that you grant illusory knowledge the ability to become tangible power."

As Lei Kedun finished chanting, the room's temperature unknowingly fell to the point where white frost could form.

Lei Kedun exhaled a puff of white vapor, his gaze fixed on the extremely unstable pale‑blue gem.

Without the transparent amber barrier, the pale‑blue gem's mixed pathways and differing sequence traits began to churn, causing the room's temperature to plunge sharply.

Tu Ba Ge shivered beside him, tightening his high‑end custom tailcoat, and curled up between two cushions.

Fortunately, the Hidden Sage responded swiftly; within a breath or two after the incantation, the spirit realm corresponding to the room merged directly with reality.

One massive torrent of information after another descended in an illusory form.

The figurine, pale‑blue gem, semi‑transparent doll, and the paper bearing the Snow Woman story that had been on the floor all disintegrated in an instant, turning into streams of information.

These pieces of information were drawn into mid‑air, coalesced, and solidified into an illusory light sphere.

Surrounding information continued to rush rapidly into that illusory light sphere.

In less than two minutes, the once‑illusory sphere was tinged with a blend of pale blue and pure white.

The illusory sphere slowly solidified into a tangible form: a palm‑sized figurine of a tall, voluptuous woman with snow‑like skin and long pale‑blue hair.

The Snow Woman's dress resembled ice crystal, shimmering with translucent glimmer; a single glance evoked a strong allure.

The figurine bore many snow‑flake motifs; the woman's lower half was a transparent‑like white, her upper half solidly colored, appearing as a ghost trying to disguise herself as human.

The Hidden Sage withdrew in a torrent of information, and the room's space once again severed its link to the spirit realm.

The room's temperature rose quickly, soon returning to normal.

Lei Kedun took two steps forward and caught the Snow Woman figurine as it fell toward the floor.

It was ice‑cold to the touch, not just a physical chill but a deep cold that reached the soul.

Perhaps because the pale‑blue gem was sufficiently powerful, Lei Kedun even sensed a divine aura emanating from the Snow Woman figurine.

His intuition told Lei Kedun that this Snow Woman figurine had reached a demigod tier, albeit the weakest kind—far weaker than a typical demigod, comparable to the Northern King in the Grosser's Journey.

Leaning back in the chair at his desk, Lei Kedun held the Snow Woman figurine, closed his eyes, and performed a simple divination.

The Snow Woman figurine possesses demigod‑level frost abilities and also commands numerous Level‑Five sequence death spells.

It can freely switch between spirit form and flesh, and in spirit form it becomes a true wraith, able to pass through obstacles, hide in mirrors, and directly assault an opponent's soul.

The drawback: the Snow Woman tempts every adult male who sees her; those who cannot resist are devoured, their bodies frozen into ice sculptures.

The Snow Woman despises anyone who breaks a vow; anyone who does so before her is brutally slain.

Lei Kedun reopened his eyes, glanced at the Snow Woman figurine in his hand, and as his gaze swept over its pale‑blue eyes, he felt as if it were meeting his stare, even observing him.

He rose, stretched lazily, placed the figurine into a nearby display cabinet, and planned to later find time to experimentally test the Snow Woman's abilities.

Lei Kedun again collected the remaining ritual materials from the floor, restoring the room to its original state.

He then turned, went downstairs to the kitchen, and prepared his dinner for the day.

Silver City—Dairik, who had been confined at the base of the round tower for several days, felt he had adapted to the darkness and could ignore the occasional cries for help and shouts.

Dairik lay on his bed, quietly pondering or zoning out, sometimes regretting the impulsive decision he had made.

He doesn't dare imagine what would happen if the Six-person Council didn't trust him, but firmly believed he was being bewitched by the evil god.

No, I should trust the Chief's insight and judgment; the Six-person Council won't easily believe me, but they certainly won't simply think I'm bewitched by the evil god.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Dai Li Ke lay on the bed, deep in thought, when he seemed to hear a violent pounding on the door.

Driven by curiosity, Dai Li Ke calmed himself, listened carefully, and tried to identify the source of the pounding.

The pounding came from the next room; amid the collision sounds he also heard a faint, sharp, mournful wail.

The hair on Dai Li Ke's body stood on end, and he sprang up from the bed, assuming a highly defensive posture.

At that moment, the thudding spread to the metal wall separating the two rooms, creating one sagging bulge after another.

Instinctively, Dai Li Ke tried to summon a holy light; his vision suddenly brightened, and the surrounding space seemed to be moved outdoors, just as lightning flashed across.

The pounding stopped abruptly, the base of the Circular Tower fell silent, and even the slightest footstep echoed far, lingering in that deep quiet.

Dai Li Ke lowered his defensive stance, bowed his head, and pondered what had just occurred.

Thump! Thump! Thump! At this time, the metal wall on the other side seemed to be lightly tapped by a curled finger.

"Who?" Dai Li Ke raised his voice, sounding slightly terrified as he asked loudly.

The knocking ceased immediately; after a few seconds, a deep yet rather aged voice sounded vaguely:

"So it's just a little fellow!"

Seeing the other could communicate rationally, Dai Li Ke's nervousness eased a bit; he leaned closer to the wall and asked:

"Who are you?"

The aged voice on the other side of the wall did not answer the question, but said cheerfully:

"Your companion beside you has nearly lost control several times; today it finally couldn't be saved."

"So has he turned into a monster now?"

Dai Li Ke asked through the metal wall.

"No, he's already a corpse; at the moment he became a monster, he was sealed by the artifact here."

The aged voice said with a sigh:

"I've been here for forty‑two years. Hmm, the guards told me I've already witnessed far too many similar incidents."

Dai Li Ke, rather surprised, retorted:

"You've been here for forty‑two years?"

Normally, loss of control is divided into three stages: the appearance of omens, the body and mind becoming uncontrollable, and finally a total collapse, transforming into a terrifying monster.

Even an extraordinary being in the second stage, after being taken to the base of the Circular Tower, can be treated with medicines, rituals, and other methods, gradually stabilizing; at most after a year or a year and a half they recover normally.

If they do not recover within that period, only complete loss of control remains possible; in any case, they cannot be confined for as long as forty‑two years.

(End of chapter)