I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

"you……"

Qin Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak. His second sword strike slashed through Chaos Flame's neck. Its head flew off, landed on the ground, and rolled twice. The flames subsided from its body, and its skin changed from dark red to grayish-white, like burnt charcoal.

The Chaos Fire Crystal emerged from the corpse. It was the size of a fist, dark red in color, with flames flickering inside, like a solidified heart.

Qin Yuan reached out and grasped it. The Chaos Fire Crystal transformed into scalding liquid, flowing down his fingers into his palm and merging into his meridians. His cultivation began to ascend from the Void to the Highest Level—the First Stage of the Chaos Opening. His aura surged, and Lin Qing'er took a step back.

Qin Yuan closed his eyes, sensing the new power. The Primordial Chaos was different from the Supreme Nothingness. The Supreme Nothingness was the ultimate form of "existence," while the Primordial Chaos was the power "before existence." It was more primal, more violent, and more difficult to control.

He opened his eyes, glanced at the corpse of Chaos Fire, and turned to walk out of the city.

Lin Qing'er followed behind him without saying a word.

The Chaos Fire City collapsed behind them. City walls shattered, houses collapsed, and flagpoles snapped. Dark red crystals fell one after another, sinking into the depths of the chaotic energy.

The second city is further east.

Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er flew for a long time. The chaotic energy grew thicker and colder. Qin Yuan's golden aura shrouded the grayish-white mist like a solitary lamp, illuminating a distance of several feet ahead.

An icy blue light appeared deep within the mist. It was not the warm light of flame, but the cold light of ice, like the moon on a winter night.

Chaotic Ice City.

The city walls are ice-blue and translucent, allowing glimpses of the buildings behind them. The city gates are ice sculptures, with a string of icicles hanging from the lintel, tinkling in the wind.

There was no one in the city. No one on the streets, no one in the houses, not even the guards on the city walls. Only the wind, and the sound of icicles in the wind.

The moment Qin Yuan stepped onto the street, he heard a cracking sound beneath his feet. It wasn't that he had broken anything; rather, the ground began to freeze. The ice spread outwards from his feet, covering the entire street, the walls, and the rooftops. This wasn't ordinary ice; it was chaotic, mysterious ice, as transparent as glass, yet harder than steel.

Qin Yuan tried to lift his foot, only to find it frozen solid. The ice spread from his ankle upwards, down his calf, and to his knee. Lin Qing'er was also frozen; the ice had reached her waist.

The palace doors opened. A woman stepped out.

Her skin was as white as snow, so white that you could see the blue veins beneath. Her hair was also white, reaching her waist. Her lips were bloodless, her eyes were ice blue, and her pupils were vertical, like a cat's.

Chaotic Ice.

"The first level of the primordial chaos." She looked at Qin Yuan, her voice like the wind blowing across ice, "That piece of trash Chaos Fire can't even beat someone like this."

The ice had spread to Qin Yuan's chest. He could no longer feel the cold, because his body was numb. But he could feel his spiritual energy draining away—the ice was absorbing his spiritual energy, like a sponge absorbing water.

The ice had reached Lin Qing'er's neck. Her face was pale and her lips were purple, but her eyes were still open, staring at Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan closed his eyes. The Chaos Fire within his body began to circulate. It was power obtained from the Chaos Fire Crystal, originating from the same source as the Chaos Ice, but with opposite attributes. Fire and ice collided within his body, causing his meridians to ache as if they were being torn apart.

He opened his eyes. The golden light shield turned red, and the ice on its surface began to melt. Water droplets slid off the shield and dripped onto the ground, making a sizzling sound.

Qin Yuan broke free from the ice. He reached out and grabbed Lin Qing'er's hand, pulling her out of the ice. The ice on her body shattered, falling to the ground and turning into a puddle of icy water.

Chaos Ice's pupils contracted slightly. "You can break my ice?"

Qin Yuan did not answer. He pushed Lin Qing'er behind him, facing the Chaos Ice.

Chaos Ice raised its hand. Chills surged from all directions, condensing into countless ice blades, each the size of a palm, its edges as thin as paper. These ice blades rained down on Qin Yuan like a snowstorm falling backwards.

Qin Yuan swung his sword. Golden sword energy wove into a net before him, and the icy blade struck the net, shattering into ice shards. The ice shards landed on Qin Yuan's shoulders, head, and sword, quickly melting away.

Chaos Ice frowned. She raised her hands, and the chill intensified. The air began to freeze, and time began to slow down. Qin Yuan felt as if he were swimming in water, each movement requiring ten times the usual effort.

"Absolute zero," Chaos Ice said. "Nothing can move in this realm."

Qin Yuan could feel the spiritual energy within his body freezing. It wasn't his meridians, but the spiritual energy itself—the Chaos Fire was extinguishing, and the Heavenly Dao was solidifying.

He closed his eyes. No longer resisting, but feeling. Feeling the power of chaotic ice, feeling the essence of absolute zero. It wasn't cold, but stillness. Absolute, irreversible stillness. All movement ceased here, including life itself.

The chaotic fire within Qin Yuan's body extinguished. Not because it was suppressed, but because he voluntarily relinquished it. After the fire died down, what remained was not emptiness, but something else entirely—not fire, not ice, but "temperature" itself. Temperature is not heat, not cold, but the intensity of molecular motion. Stillness is not the end of temperature, but its beginning.

He opened his eyes. There was no gold or red on the sword, only a transparent, almost invisible light.

He brandished his sword.

The sword energy slashed out silently, without color. A gash was torn open in the Absolute Zero Domain, like cloth being cut by scissors. Chaos Ice's pupils dilated; she wanted to dodge, but her body was frozen by her own domain—she couldn't move.

The sword's energy slashed across her neck. Her head flew off, bloodless, the wound filled with blue ice crystals. Her body shattered, turning into a pile of icy blue fragments scattered on the ground.

Chaotic ice crystals emerged from the fragments. Smaller and colder than chaotic fire crystals, they felt like holding a piece of dry ice in your hand.

Qin Yuan absorbed the energy. His cultivation level rose from the first level of the Chaos Opening Realm to the third level. Lin Qing'er's complexion regained its rosy hue, and her aura rose from the fifth level of the Void Sovereign Realm to the ninth level.

The chaotic ice city collapsed. Ice walls shattered, houses collapsed, and icicles fell to the ground, making their final tinkling sounds.

Qin Yuan didn't turn around. He pulled Lin Qing'er along and continued eastward.

The third city was further away. Qin Yuan heard thunder before he even saw the city.

Chaotic Thunder City floated amidst dark clouds. These were no ordinary clouds, but rather clouds formed from condensed chaotic energy, a thick, grayish-black mass, as heavy as a quilt. Lightning flashed through the clouds, not occasionally, but continuously, cascading like a waterfall. The lightning struck the city walls, sparks flying, and the chaotic crystals on the walls were blackened by the heat.

Just as Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er approached, a thick bolt of lightning struck down. Qin Yuan raised his sword to parry, but the instant his sword made contact with the lightning, he felt as if his arm had been struck by a sledgehammer. He was thrown back several feet, his feet leaving two marks in the air. His arm was numb, his tiger's mouth split open, and blood flowed down the hilt of his sword.