Iram Rai stepped out of her self-made ice house, her breath curling into the frigid air as she ventured into the heart of the Hidden Ice World in search of prey. Each step across the snow-laden terrain stirred memories—memories of how she had come to possess the most powerful treasure in her arsenal, hidden deep within this secret realm of frost and silence.
"I was only at the Spirit Fusion stage when I entered the Forbidden Ice Ruin," she recalled, her thoughts drifting like snowflakes in the wind. "Back then, I joined a team of cultivators from my sect in hopes of boosting my cultivation and finding treasure."
The moment they entered the ruin, they were struck by a fierce Law Storm—an eruption of Ice Laws laced with the volatile chaos of Space Laws. Spatial cracks tore through the air like invisible blades, twisting the very fabric of reality around them. Death came swiftly. Cultivators screamed and vanished into fractures of space, their cries snuffed out by cold and silence.
In the ensuing chaos, Iram became separated from her group. A dense wall of spatial law surged between them, cutting her off. On one side, her comrades retreated under her command; on the other, a chaotic barrier of law energy sealed her in.
"With my strength at the time, there was no way to pass through."
She endured the storm's wrath, her Moon Body shielding her from the full brunt of the Ice Laws. But the Space Laws... they lacerated her Spirit Body and soul alike. Blood froze before it touched the ground. She felt herself slipping, her strength draining, her will fraying.
Desperate, she extended her Spirit Sense—and found hope.
Amid the violent flux of laws, one region stood still. It pulsed with unnatural stability, as if untouched by the ruin's chaos. Intrigued and with no other option, Iram drew on her remaining strength and made her way toward it. At its center, half-buried in snow and surrounded by silence, she discovered a crumbling teleportation platform.
Despite its dilapidated condition, the array still held a flicker of spatial energy. She quickly retrieved Spirit Stones from her storage bracelet and arranged them in the platform's slots. Channeling her Spirit Sense, she activated the array.
Space energy flared around her, enfolding her like a cocoon—and with a final surge, the storm vanished.
She was gone.
---
When Iram opened her eyes, she stood within the Hidden Ice World. A calm silence greeted her, unmarred by the chaos of laws. Her heart eased as she sensed the stable energy of the realm—no storms, no space distortions.
Injured but alive, she swallowed several healing pills and meditated until her wounds faded. Once recovered, she prepared to explore.
From her storage bracelet, she summoned a treasure shaped like a massive lotus leaf—a flight tool. Swallowing two Spirit Pills to slow the drain on her Spirit Power, she ascended into the frozen skies.
For two days, she traversed the expansive realm—an icy expanse of ten thousand square kilometers. Ice Bears lumbered through white forests, Ice Monkeys swung from frost-covered trees, and serpentine Ice Snakes slithered beneath crystal lakes. All were at the Nascent Soul level, far beneath Iram's Ancient Spirit cultivation. Most fled at the mere sight of her.
At the realm's center, a majestic palace of blue-white stone stood like a relic from a forgotten age. Iram approached, only to find it sealed by a glowing barrier.
With a focused breath, she lifted both hands and channeled her Spirit Power through her Ice Spirit Root. A massive axe of pure ice formed above her head. With a cry of force, she brought it down. The barrier shattered—not like something violently broken, but like glass finally succumbing to age and time.
Inside, silence reigned. Empty chambers greeted her—no traps, no formations, just faded furniture and a lingering sense of history. Yet in the main hall, a sealed door still shimmered with a fading formation.
She attacked it with an ice-forged sword of Spirit Power. The formation weakened, but held.
"I never studied formations," she muttered. "If I want what's inside, I'll have to break it the hard way."
And so, she did.
---
A month passed.
With one final strike, the formation shattered.
Exhausted yet eager, Iram pushed open the doors. Inside, a simple table and chair stood waiting. Upon the table lay four books and a small black wooden box.
She stepped forward, scanning the books first. Three were Ice Law techniques:
Ice Law Hand
Ice Law Chains
Ice Python
The fourth was a cultivation notebook, its pages filled with insights into grasping Ice Laws.
Then she opened the box—and gasped.
A radiant treasure bathed the chamber in gold and white light. Her eyes widened.
"A Godhood-level artifact..."
It was the World Holder.
Such artifacts were rare beyond imagining, bound not to the physical body but to the soul. She linked her soul to it immediately. A rush of Soul Power surged through her—intoxicating, immense. Yet only one feature of the artifact responded to her current strength: a teleportation function, usable once per year.
There was a condition, however. She could not remove the World Holder from the Hidden Ice World—because the realm itself was a part of the artifact. It housed an entire internal world. But to control that space, she would need a far greater level of Soul Power.
She smiled, remembering the day she was ambushed—how she survived only because of her friend's gift and this artifact's hidden function. Perhaps, she thought, it was no coincidence she found it.
"Perhaps... fate always intended for me to have this treasure—and this child."
---
In the days that followed, she hunted ice-elemental beasts, consuming their spirit-rich meat to nourish herself and the life within her. Time passed.
And soon, she reached the final stage of her pregnancy.
Sensing that her child would be born within the week, Iram Rai began her preparations in earnest, her heart calm, her spirit focused—for a new life was about to enter the world.