16
Imperial Capital Academy, back mountain Forbidden Land.
A natural plaza surrounded by boulders was temporarily cleared.
It was usually deserted here, but at this moment it was packed with people.
Looking out, they were almost all deans and professors from the various departments of Imperial Capital Academy whose stamping of a foot could shake a region.
Even the reclusive and eccentric Lord of Senluo, Lin Zhu, leaned on her withered vine cane and stood quietly among the crowd.
Everyone's gaze converged on the young figure in the center of the plaza.
Gandalf sat cross-legged with a calm expression.
In front of him, the jade ice box emitting wisps of cold qi lay quietly on the ground.
Principal Chen looked at him, his gentle face carrying a lingering trace of worry.
"Student Gandalf, are you really ready?"
"It is still not too late to go back on your word."
Zhang Donglai beside him also furrowed his brows tightly.
"That's right, kid, don't bite off more than you can chew."
"We still have other methods, there's no need to take such a big risk."
The surrounding professors also cast persuasive gazes one after another.
Under the circumstance of already possessing a strange fire, forcibly absorbing an S-rank strange ice.
In their view, this was no different from suicide.
Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf and calmly shook his head at the crowd.
On his face, not a trace of tension or fear could be seen.
"Principal, General, thank you all for your kind intentions."
"My mind is made up."
Of course.
This kind of thankless job that required enduring inhuman pain was naturally something Zhou Huai wouldn't undertake personally.
He quietly withdrew his consciousness from Gandalf's body and activated the Intellect Core AI.
After finishing all this, he leisurely prepared to enjoy the upcoming good show from a God's perspective.
Center of the plaza.
Chen Lanxin had already used special materials to carve a huge Level 5 composite Formation on the ground.
This Formation integrated defense, isolation, and suppression into one.
The purpose was to prevent the violent energy from leaking during the absorption process and causing unnecessary damage.
After finishing all this, she retreated to the edge of the Formation and nodded at Principal Chen.
"Principal, everything is ready."
Chen Xuan took a deep breath, his gaze once again cast towards the proud back in the center of the plaza.
He spoke in a deep voice.
"Student Gandalf."
"You may begin."
The words fell.
Student Gandalf slowly stretched out his hand and opened the jade ice box in front of him.
Hum——!
An indescribable terrifying cold qi, as if capable of freezing the soul, burst out roaringly from the jade box!
The temperature of the entire plaza plummeted to the freezing point in this instant!
Some professors standing close by even felt as if their blood was about to be frozen stiff.
Everyone subconsciously circulated the energy within their bodies, resisting this bone-chilling coldness.
They looked in shock at the colorful ice crystal slowly rising from the jade box.
This was merely the aura leaking out.
They truly didn't know what kind of terrifying scene it would be if it were swallowed directly into the body.
Gandalf did not have the slightest hesitation.
He reached out and gently tapped on the 【heart of aurora】.
Snap!
A crisp sound, like glass shattering, rang out.
That indestructible S-rank strange ice shattered in response, turning into colorful points of light all over the sky, like startled fireflies, swarming eagerly into the center of his brows.
The next second.
A sudden change occurred!
"Snap! Crack!"
A layer of crystal-clear frost frantically spread from Gandalf's feet at a speed visible to the naked eye!
In the blink of an eye, it completely froze his entire person along with the ground beneath him!
A lifelike humanoid ice sculpture thus abruptly appeared in the center of the plaza.
Gandalf inside the ice sculpture still maintained a cross-legged posture.
His face even retained that calm and detached expression from before the absorption.
But the aura of life on his body completely disappeared at this moment.
Dead silence.
The entire plaza fell into a death-like silence.
Everyone's heart sank to the bottom of the valley at this moment.
"Failed?"
An elderly professor with white hair spoke with a dry voice, breaking the silence.
"The power of the S-rank strange ice is indeed too overbearing."
"His body simply cannot withstand the impact of this power."
Another dean who looked a bit hot-tempered said with an ugly expression.
"More than just the body, I'm afraid even his soul was completely frozen the moment it touched the 【heart of aurora】!"
"Now we're in trouble!"
Everyone's face was filled with solemnity.
If a proud son of heaven were to fall just like this.
For Great Xia Nation, this was undoubtedly a huge loss.
"Principal Chen!"
A middle-aged beautiful woman who looked like the dean of the healing department had a look of anxiety on her face.
"We must make a move right now!"
"Taking advantage of the fact that his soul hasn't been completely frozen yet, perhaps... perhaps there is still a glimmer of life!"
Chen Xuan's brows were twisted into a knot.
He stared fixedly at the ice sculpture without saying a word.
His heart was likewise fighting a fierce battle of heaven and man.
Reason told him that he should immediately step in to rescue him.
But deep down in his heart, there was a voice telling him.
Wait a little longer.
There had always been unknown secrets on this Gandalf.
Perhaps he could still create a miracle?
"We can't wait any longer!"
That hot-tempered dean was already a bit unable to hold back.
"Waiting one more second means one more point of danger for Student Gandalf!"
"If we miss the optimal rescue timing, he really won't be saved!"
Just as everyone was arguing endlessly and Chen Xuan was about to make up his mind to act.
Lin Zhu, who had been silent all along, suddenly flashed a strange light in her turbid eyes.
She stretched out her withered finger and pointed at the center of the plaza.
"Look."
Her voice was hoarse, yet it clearly entered everyone's ears.
Hearing the sound, everyone looked over.
The next second.
Everyone's eyes suddenly widened.
I saw that on the crystal-clear ice sculpture, unexpectedly... unexpectedly, fine cracks began to appear!
Following that, an extremely faint, almost invisible dark green flame quietly seeped out from those cracks.
That flame seemed to possess its own life.
As soon as it appeared, it began to frantically lick the surrounding ice.
The melting speed of the ice sculpture became faster and faster.
"He... he hasn't failed yet!"
"He is still resisting!"
Everyone's spirit suddenly shook!
That heart that had sunk to the bottom of the valley was lifted up once again.
Time seemed to become incomparably long at this moment.
Every minute and every second felt like a torment.
Finally, under everyone's gaze.
"Bang!"
Accompanied by a crisp explosive sound, the huge humanoid ice sculpture shattered roaringly, turning into sparkling ice crystals all over the sky, scattering and flying in all directions.
Gandalf's figure appeared in everyone's line of sight once again.
He was still sitting cross-legged with a calm expression.
As if everything just now had nothing to do with him.
However, this was merely a beginning.
The true peril had just descended!
Boom——!
A violent, dark green flame suddenly erupted from within Gandalf's body!
That was the 【Soul-Devouring Netherflame】!
Feeling the aura of the intruder, it launched a counterattack without hesitation!
Following that, another equally overbearing cold current exuding colorful radiance also gushed out from within Gandalf's body!
Ice and fire!
Two completely different extreme forces unfolded the most primitive and barbaric clash outside of Gandalf's body!
For a time, the temperature of the entire plaza fluctuated high and low.
Sometimes scorching hot like midsummer, as if placed in a crater.
Sometimes bitterly cold like midsummer, as if falling into an endless ice abyss.
Gandalf's body became the battlefield where these two forces clashed.
His skin was sometimes covered by the dark green flames, turning charred black.
And sometimes frozen by the colorful ice, pale as paper.
Everyone watched with their hearts in their throats.
They could hardly imagine what kind of inhuman torture Gandalf was enduring at this moment.
Ice and fire dual heavens.
This was no longer simple pain.
This was torture sufficient to completely destroy anyone's will!
If it were any one of them, they probably would have broken down mentally long ago and turned into cripples.
However, the young man sitting cross-legged at the center of the storm had always been exceptionally calm.
He simply mechanically propped up the arcane shield over and over again.
Letting those two violent forces frantically ravage and collide on the shield.
Even without frowning a single bit.
"This guy..."
That hot-tempered dean looked at this scene and couldn't help muttering to himself.
"This guy has such a resilient mental state!"
Although the others didn't speak, the shock in their eyes had already explained everything.
Chen Xuan and Zhang Donglai exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of relief in each other's eyes.
Fortunately, this youth was a person of Great Xia Nation.
Right at this moment, Chen Xuan's expression changed, and he shouted sternly.
"Not good! The energy within his body is about to go out of control!"
"Everyone! Prepare to make a move!"
Before his voice faded, he rushed up first.
Boundless energy surged out from his body, turning into an invisible giant hand, attempting to forcibly suppress those two violent forces.
The other deans and professors also made their moves one after another.
The healing department chanted soothing incantations, attempting to calm the restless energy inside Gandalf's body.
The support department released various buff auras, blessing them onto Gandalf's body.
Even Lin Zhu waved the withered vine cane in her hand.
Countless thick vines filled with the aura of life burst out of the ground, like giant pythons, wrapping around Gandalf layer upon layer, attempting to use the power of life to harmonize those two extreme forces.
Under the joint suppression of dozens of top experts, those two violent forces finally gradually subsided.
They no longer attacked each other, but began to fuse with each other at an extremely slow speed.
Everyone let out a long breath.
The most dangerous stage had finally passed.
What came next could only rely on Gandalf himself.
Time passed minute by minute in dry waiting.
Five hours later.
When the last trace of the dark green flame and the last wisps of the colorful cold current completely integrated into Gandalf's body in an instant.
A terrifying aura several times stronger than before burst out roaringly from his body!
Gandalf, sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes.
At that moment.
Everyone present felt their breathing skip a beat.
I saw that within those deep eyes.
In the pupil of the left eye, dark green flames were burning.
While in the pupil of the right eye, colorful auroras were blooming.
Ice and fire.
Destruction and rebirth.
Two completely different extremes achieved a perfect unification on his body.
Chen Xuan looked at this scene, his heart that had been suspended for a long time finally completely settled down.
He was still somewhat incredulous, muttering to himself.
"Really... really... succeeded?"