Yang Yi closed the chat channel, took two deep gulps of burnt liquor, and began to tremble.The searing sensation was so intense it was almost intoxicating.Once he steadied himself, he used the Third Eye again to scout toward the northeast—then stood up.The Ice Nest believers were moving.They were slowly getting up—agonizingly slow.As they moved, pieces of their bodies fell off: fingers, ears, toes—even half an arm at times.But there was no blood, because the breaks were frozen solid, like shattered glass.All except for the giant in the center.He seemed to have completely adapted to the extreme cold—unaffected by the freezing temperature. Or maybe… he had become one with the frost.He didn’t lose body parts, and he stood up much faster. Once fully upright, his height was nearly ten meters. His head had no face, no features—just a large rhomboid block of ice.His limbs were unnaturally long—his legs more than seven meters, arms about six—like a noodle man.In his right hand, he held an egg-shaped crystal of ice. Inside it, something was sealed—a severed head of an old man, with a chip embedded in its forehead.When the giant was crouching earlier, he had been holding that crystal close, which was why Yang Yi hadn’t noticed it until now.And that head inside the ice—it was alive. Its eyes were open. Its mouth moved.Yang Yi watched closely, mimicking the lip movements, trying to read its speech.“Do not… approach the White Palace… must repel… heat…”The longer he read, the smoother it became, until he fell into a kind of trance, muttering unconsciously:“In this world, only the cold is absolutely fair. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° It brings all things back to peace—into shared eternity!”【Awe +10. Sanity -10】A chill shot through him. When Yang Yi came to his senses, he realized frost had formed directly on his skin.Not on his clothes—on his skin. Unnatural.At the same time, he gave off a strong burnt odor—even he could smell it. In her sleep, Suna stirred, wrinkled her nose, and turned away.Then, just as suddenly, the frost vanished—as if it had never been there.A system message appeared:【Oath prerequisite quest failed. You have rejected the Call of the Extreme Cold.】Reading that, Yang Yi’s heart sank. He knew he’d just escaped a disaster.He’d almost become one of the Frozen Ones—like those Ice Nest believers, twisted and frozen, huddled in the snow, shivering forever…“Seems like the more you know, the more dangerous it gets…” he muttered.He quietly approached Suna and brushed a hand across her face.No frost.Yang Yi relaxed a little.He stopped listening to the giant’s words, focusing instead on its actions.After speaking a few lines, the giant’s followers slowly walked toward him, then squatted down again—curling into fetal shapes, arms wrapped around knees, heads tucked in.Then a massive foot came down—crushing one of them.The process was long—painfully slow.The giant applied pressure gradually, grinding the believer’s body into frozen fragments.Yang Yi watched the scene.He didn’t observe continuously—just short bursts of a few seconds at a time, pausing for ten or twenty seconds between each, to conserve the Third Eye’s duration.After crushing over a hundred of them, the giant waved his hand.The shattered frozen pieces on the ground began to change—sprouting insect limbs and wings—until they rose into the air.Even the severed limbs that had fallen earlier were transformed—turning into Ice Nest Worms that flew toward the Nyxstar.Yang Yi watched them go, then finally pulled his vision back.He didn’t need to observe anymore. He’d learned how the Ice Nest Worms were created.Now, all that mattered was rest—and preparing for the battle ahead.After sending off that swarm, the believers huddled up again—curling into egg-like forms that trembled occasionally.Yang Yi took another swig of burnt liquor, found a comfortable spot, and began organizing his thoughts.There were many Ice Nest believers, but they couldn’t directly transform into worms. They needed the giant to do it.And they were incredibly slow. Without the giant, they posed almost no threat.If he could take down the giant—everything would be solved.Yang Yi narrowed his eyes and began formulating a plan…About six hours later, Suna woke up.She checked her status panel:Suna (Mortal)Path: TruthStrength: 5 (114/200)Mind: 6 + 2 (70/4000) 【Witch’s Blood bonus】Agility: 6 (21/4000)Constitution: 5 (142/200)Perception: 9 (22/32000)Sanity: 80/80Stamina: 100/100Vitality: 100/100Mana: 8/8Talents: Witch’s Blood, Forbidden ScholarSpells: Curled Touch, Summon Flesh Golem, Energy OrbAbilities: None———Her condition had fully recovered, and she felt well-rested.She unzipped her sleeping bag and climbed out, the sound alerting Yang Yi.“You’re awake?” he asked, turning toward her.“Mm.” She nodded.A few minutes later—“So basically, unless we kill that giant, we can’t get out of this glacier?”“Exactly.”Yang Yi confirmed it.He explained everything he’d seen the night before, and even outlined a tactic—decapitation strike.He would rush in to kill the giant, while Suna provided cover.But there were still details to iron out…***Two hours later.They stopped about a hundred meters from the cluster of believers.The outermost Ice Nest worshippers were already reacting, slowly rising.And one’s movement led to another’s, like a chain of dominoes. Soon, the entire mass began to stir—including the frost giant less than 500 meters away.“That’s as close as we can get. They’ve noticed us.”Yang Yi’s tone was serious. He reached into his stomach pouch and pulled out the long-sealed Broken Iron, slamming it into the ground, leaving a small crater.He had already used the fear wraiths stored inside it to lower his sanity below 50—entering a berserk state.Then, he and Suna quickly built a bonfire out of wood that could burn steadily.It took several minutes—but they weren’t in a rush.The Ice Nest believers took a full minute or two just to turn their heads, even longer to start moving closer.The real enemy wasn’t their speed—it was the cold.The temperature had dropped to –70°C, and it was still falling.Even with burnt liquor in their veins, their bodies could barely move.So the first thing they did was light the fire—to raise the temperature a little, and to drive away the white mist.Suddenly, a freezing wind swept over them—dropping the temperature sharply again.And with it came an old, commanding voice:“By what means did you arrive in this place?”

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