It felt so good to be close to the witch!

The types of original sin in the "original sin contamination branch aggregate" within the Ice Witch Ais greatly surprised him.

Even now, if Roy is as dense as he is, he can see the enormous influence of the original sin trait on the witch's personality.

This effect was not so obvious when the pollution was still present, but as the pollution was completely removed, these original sin characteristics that had been suppressed for who knows how long erupted like a geyser.

The most obvious example of this is the healing witch Shanika.

The original sin traits of the healing witch Shanika are 60% lust and 40% gluttony. He hadn't yet noticed the gluttony, but lust… The image of Shanika's incredibly moist eyes when she looked at him flashed through Roy's mind, and he quickly shook his head.

The Shadow Witch's original sin traits are 60% rage, 20% pride, and 20% lust. Currently, Roy hasn't sensed any significant changes in Lilia, perhaps due to the large number of different original sin traits she possesses. Of course, it's also possible that these traits have already manifested, but he simply hasn't noticed them.

As for the Ice Witch Ais's 90% arrogance and 10% lust... Shanika's 60% lust is already displayed like this, so how will Ais's 90% arrogance manifest itself?

"call……"

She took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent thoughts in her mind. Regardless of how the original sin trait affected the witch's personality, that was a matter for the future. Right now, getting through the difficulties of the Fertility Festival was the top priority, and everything else could be considered later.

"Lilia took about six hours. I wonder how long it will take for Ais's talent to evolve..."

Roy sat cross-legged on the floor beside the bed, lost in thought. At the same time, he began to circulate the Explosive Breathing Technique through his mouth and nose, gradually accumulating battle qi.

Before Ais woke up, he couldn't test how the pale red fish frozen in the ice ball could help with his cultivation of fighting spirit.

The ice ball looked like an ordinary ice ball, but in reality, it was incredibly hard and frighteningly cold. Without Ais's control, it would be a pipe dream for him to break it.

If the Shadow Witch Lilia were to intervene, she might be able to open the ice ball with repeated attacks. However, such a violent method of opening the ice ball would likely damage the pale red fish inside, making it a losing proposition.

Rather than doing that, it's better to wait until Ais wakes up.

Anyway, the fish are right there and can't escape. Compared to his strength improvement, Ais's talent evolution is more important to Blackrock Territory.

……

Falling, falling, falling...

Ais felt as if she were drowning in the deep sea, her body falling uncontrollably at an ever-increasing speed.

During this process, she could feel the surrounding temperature getting lower and lower. Eventually, even she, a witch who controlled the ice element, felt the cold in her body.

No, this cold is no longer just a physical cold; it gradually seeps into the mind, making thoughts sluggish.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Ais felt her thoughts were about to freeze, her descent abruptly stopped.

The surrounding cold persisted, but after a period of adjustment, her sluggish thoughts began to slowly return to normal.

As the master of ice elements, her resistance to cold is unmatched by others.

With difficulty, she opened her eyes, and the sight that came into view caused Ais's pale silver pupils to shrink sharply.

This is a world made of pure white ice crystals!

Snowflakes fell endlessly from the sky, and in the hazy snow scene, there was a huge, pure white Iceland, shaped like an inverted triangle, suspended in mid-air.

Ais is currently in the snow beneath the pure white ice island, and in front of her is an ice crystal staircase leading to the pure white ice island.

There are ninety-nine steps in total. Looking up the steps, Ais could barely see that at the end of the ice crystal steps, at the entrance to the pure white ice island, there was a blood-red ice sword stuck in the ground.

There are 10 such ice swords on the stairs, one every nine steps. The blood color on the swords increases as you go deeper into the stairs. The ice sword on the ninth step has only a faint line of blood on its blade.

Just one glance at the crimson ice sword at the end of the stairs made Ais feel her consciousness freeze, and she quickly lowered her head in fright.

"Is this the place where my talent will evolve?"

Before the pollution removal process, Roy had already shared the evolution process of the Shadow Witch Lilia's talent with Ais, so Ais was not flustered at this moment.

"But how can I complete the evolution of my talent? Am I supposed to bite off a fragment of the staircase like the Shadow Witch, Lilia?"

The image of herself chewing on the stairs flashed through her mind, and Ais quickly shook her head.

The scene was too beautiful for her to imagine.

Since you don't want to climb the ladder, there's only one option left.

That is, to climb the pure white Iceland step by step under pressure!

The minimum goal is to climb to the ninth step and pull out the Bloodline Ice Sword stuck there!

Compared to the Shadow Witch Lilia, Ais's advantage is obvious: her Grand rank strength far surpasses Lilia's, who was only around Silver 3 stars when her talent evolved.

The pressure that could crush Lillia into dust was not insurmountable for her, a Grand Master.

The snow falling from the sky grew heavier, and the chill in the surrounding environment intensified. Ais could feel her body gradually approaching its limit.

If I continue to stay still, my body and mind will collapse once the chill in the environment accumulates to a certain level...

The thought flashed through Ais's mind, and she immediately felt a chill. Without further hesitation, she took a step forward and arrived at the first ice crystal staircase, stepping directly onto it.

"boom!"

Just as Ais's right foot touched the surface of the ice crystal staircase, an invisible pressure descended from the sky and acted entirely on her.

Ais didn't know what kind of pressure the Shadow Witch Lilia experienced when she stepped onto the first step in the "Talent Evolution Space"—let's just call it that for now—but from Ais's personal perspective, although the pressure on the first step was quite strong, it was far from reaching her limit.

The pressure on the steps is even, acting on every corner of the body.

Of course, the human body always has vulnerable organs, and at this time, it is necessary to mobilize magic to protect them.

After adjusting to the pressure, Ais took the second step.

"boom--!"

The immense pressure caused Ais's knees to buckle, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.

If the pressure of the first step is 10, then the pressure of the second step is doubled, reaching 20!

With her slightly bent knees straightening, Ais firmly planted her feet on the second step.

Her gaze turned serious.

The pressure on the second step was twice that of the first, but still within her tolerance. However, if each subsequent step increased at the same rate, then…

There's no point in overthinking; at this point, all we can do is move forward.

Ais, her face somber, stepped onto the third step.

"Om-"

The pressure reached 30, causing the air to groan.

Ais's bones cracked and popped, and despite the outside temperature being below zero, beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead.

Thankfully, it's not 40...

Although she was under a lot of physical pressure, Ais felt a sense of relief.

The pressure increases by 10 between each step, rather than doubling directly, which gave her hope of reaching the ninth step and pulling out the blood-lined ice sword.

After a brief pause to adjust, Ais reached the fourth step.

"Click! Click! Click!"

The pressure reaching 40 made the groans from Ais's bones more pronounced, and at the same time, fine streaks of blood began to appear on her skin.

My body has reached its limit...

Looking at the ninth step, which still required five more steps to reach, Ais let out a soft sigh.

She knew that with her physical body alone, reaching the fourth level of the ice crystal staircase was her limit; any higher and her body would likely be crushed by the terrifying pressure.

"In that case..."

A flash of azure light crossed Ais's pale silver eyes, and the next moment, she entered a state of "Grand Elementalization".

In an instant, the pressure descending from the sky suddenly weakened, becoming only half its original strength.

"Just as I predicted..."

Ais was overjoyed, and then took four steps to reach the eighth step.

Upon arriving here, even in her "Grand Elemental" state, Ais felt a heavy pressure once again.

"Crowning" can reduce the pressure by half, turning the original 80 pressure into 40.

Even a pressure of 40 was already the limit that Ais's body could withstand.

Looking at the Bloodline Ice Sword, which was only one step away from her, a determined light flashed in Ais's eyes.

No matter what, she must complete the evolution of her talent!

Whether for her own sake, for Elena's, or for Roy's...

"Ding--!"

Inside the left chest cavity, the dormant "Witch's Heart" emitted a dazzling azure light.

"Elementalization" is a skill that powerful witches can master. "Grand Elementalization" is merely an additional enhancement of "Elementalization" after a witch is promoted to Grand rank.

The true power of a Grand Witch lies in the extraordinary organ that gathers within her body—the "Witch's Heart."

Not only can it bring witches magical power far exceeding their limits, but as a highly condensed substance of magic and flesh, the "Witch's Heart" can also radiate a circle of magical power with the characteristics of a Grand Witch herself.

The range of magical radiation varies depending on the witch's strength, but one thing is the same: when a Grand Witch is within the range of magical radiation, her strength will be greatly enhanced.

This magical radiation is also known as the "crown domain".

Now, Ais has opened up her own "Ice Crown Domain"!

"Dong dong!"

The "Witch's Heart" pounded rapidly, and a circle of azure light spread outward five meters from Ais's body. The massive enhancement of the "Grand Domain" did not come out of thin air, but required a large amount of magical power to support it.

A powerful sense of strength filled her body. Knowing that time was limited, Ais dared not hesitate for a moment and stepped onto the ninth step.

An immense pressure descended from above, but Ais, empowered by the "Ice Crown Domain," withstood it. She walked to the Bloodline Ice Sword and raised her hand to grasp the hilt.

The instant her hand touched the hilt of the sword, the Bloodline Longsword transformed into a flowing, blood-tinged cold current that merged into Ais's body.

A terrifying chill spread from her arm to every corner of her body. Ais felt that her body was undergoing some indescribable change under the influence of the cold current formed by the blood-lined longsword.

Despite the excruciating pain in her body, Ais looked towards the tenth step.

She knew that her limit was the Bloodline Ice Sword on the ninth step, and the Double Bloodline Ice Sword stuck on the nineteenth step was something she could never reach now.

But at least before leaving, she wanted to experience what the pressure of the tenth step was like.

"boom!"

The moment she stepped onto the tenth step, the terrifying pressure caused Ais's elemental body, enhanced by the "Grand Domain," to begin to collapse.