The Path to Self-Destruction

Tens of thousands of kilometers away from Luo Feng, in the snowy expanse, a dark shadow lurked.

“Caw, caw, caw~~~ This human doesn't seem to understand teleportation, but his strength is formidable. My clone, which only possesses a fraction of my power, was killed so easily by him. He must have at least peak King-tier combat power. Let the other fellows gnaw on this bone first.” The shadow vanished into thin air.

...

Luo Feng continued his journey through the snow, unhurried, as if admiring the scenery.

“The true form of the Soul-Devouring Beast didn't even show up. I only revealed a hint of my abilities, and it was already scared off. It's truly cautious.” Luo Feng kept walking. Since entering the Ice Prison, he had traveled nearly ten million kilometers in a straight line, yet he hadn't found any other imprisoned powerhouses besides the Soul-Devouring Beast.

“Hmm?” Luo Feng's eyes lit up as he gazed at an ice mountain in the distance. Atop that ice mountain, a figure stood.

Though separated by tens of thousands of kilometers, their vision was sharp enough to easily spot each other, provided there were no obstructions.

The figure turned, looking towards Luo Feng!

It possessed a towering divine body, covered entirely in feathers, and a pair of vertical pupils stared intently at Luo Feng.

“It's a Katuo Clan member,” Luo Feng mused.

The Katuo Clan, a subsidiary race under the Monster Race Alliance, was known for its cold and fierce warriors. When Luo Feng confirmed that the powerhouse standing atop the distant ice mountain belonged to the Katuo Clan, he knew a battle was likely inevitable.

“Whoosh!” The Katuo Clan powerhouse in the distance instantly transformed into a streak of light, leaving a brilliant trail in the air as it lunged directly towards Luo Feng.

Luo Feng stood in the snow, looking up at the approaching Katuo Clan powerhouse, waiting silently.

The distance between them rapidly closed!

The Katuo Clan powerhouse's eyes gleamed with endless killing intent and madness, which also sparked a hint of killing intent in Luo Feng's own eyes: “Why do all the powerhouses imprisoned in the Ice Prison immediately attack upon seeing another?”

Buzz!

The Katuo Clan powerhouse immediately cast a ‘Space Lock,’ completely suppressing spatial fluctuations within a certain range, temporarily preventing both sides from teleporting.

This made Luo Feng secretly smile. This Katuo Clan powerhouse probably didn't understand teleportation, and in reality, Luo Feng himself didn't either, so there was no need for the ‘Space Lock’ at all.

“Human, die!” The Katuo Clan powerhouse roared fiercely through telepathy. “Either you die, or I die!”

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from the Katuo Clan powerhouse, startling the usually calm Luo Feng: “Burning his immortal divine body? He's lost his mind, completely mad. Even if this Katuo Clan powerhouse truly wants to fight to the death with me, there's no need to burn his divine body without even knowing my true strength, is there? Burning one's divine body causes immense damage and takes a long time to recover.”

“Whoosh.” Luo Feng flapped his Wu God Wings, swiftly evading the Katuo Clan member's close-quarters attack.

“Katuo Clan powerhouse, we don't know each other at all. You don't even know my strength, so why are you burning your divine body right away? Even if you want to kill me, if my strength were weak, wouldn't you have burned your divine body for nothing?” Luo Feng transmitted.

Whoosh!

A chilling, blood-red blade light streaked across the sky, and Luo Feng once again evaded it from a distance.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Luo Feng, relying on his Wu God Wings, dodged repeatedly. In Luo Feng's judgment, this Katuo Clan powerhouse was also at the peak King-tier level. Once he started burning his divine power… Luo Feng truly couldn't clash head-on for now. It was better to keep evading and let the opponent consume more of his divine body.

“Even with my divine power burning, my instant evasion isn't as good as yours?” The Katuo Clan powerhouse seemed somewhat frantic. “Human, if you're strong enough, fight me head-on! Even if I die, let me die in a direct battle.”

“Katuo Clan powerhouse, do you think I'm foolish?” Luo Feng easily dodged again and again.

No matter how fierce the Katuo Clan powerhouse became while burning his divine power, he was purely exerting strength with nowhere to apply it, unable to even touch Luo Feng… If the Katuo Clan powerhouse knew the reputation of ‘Daohe King,’ he probably wouldn't be doing such a foolish thing now. But clearly, among the many powerhouses imprisoned in the Ice Prison, very few knew of ‘Daohe King.’

“Hahaha…”

The Katuo Clan powerhouse suddenly threw his head back and laughed, his laughter spreading like shockwaves in all directions.

He stood in mid-air, no longer pursuing Luo Feng, just laughing.

“Hahahahaha… Hahahahahahaha…” The Katuo Clan powerhouse laughed wildly. Although he stood in mid-air, laughing maniacally and not chasing Luo Feng, what shocked Luo Feng was that the Katuo Clan powerhouse was still burning his divine body, showing no signs of stopping.

“Katuo Clan powerhouse,” Luo Feng spoke.

“Hahahahaha… This is fate, this is fate!” The Katuo Clan powerhouse laughed, looking up. “I, Nong Zang, grew up as a genius from a young age… I grew all the way to King-tier, full of vigor, only to fall into the Ice Prison due to being too adventurous! Once trapped in the Ice Prison, there's no way out. Countless eons wasted here in this Ice Prison, through long years… My clan has probably long forgotten me, my relatives are long dead, and how many of my friends are still alive?”

“No way out.”

“Wasting away the years, and still having to scheme and fight with you guys for that sliver of hope, haha, not a moment of slack in billions of eons… I can't take it anymore. Old Blind Man, Soul-Devouring Beast… you all struggle on, I won't be joining you. I'll go ahead.” The Katuo Clan powerhouse's voice echoed in all directions.

The Katuo Clan powerhouse looked at the shocked Luo Feng: “Human, I had wanted to perish in madness, to perish in battle, but it seems I won't get that chance.”

“You're just giving up?” Luo Feng asked.

“What good would not giving up do? Human… being trapped in the Ice Prison is the greatest torment.” The Katuo Clan powerhouse shook his head. “Unless a super-being from your clan values you immensely and personally comes to take you away. Otherwise, there's practically no hope of getting out. My clan… haha, they've probably forgotten me long ago.”

“I'm leaving, I'm leaving.”

“Finally free.”

The Katuo Clan powerhouse suddenly self-destructed his divine body, instantly creating an explosion like a sun, with endless energy surging in all directions. The Katuo Clan member didn't even consider the human beside him when he self-destructed; his heart was already dead. As for whether the human would die in his self-destruction, he couldn't be bothered to think about it. If he died, he died. Perhaps death would be a release for that human too.

...

Deep within the ice mountain.

The Soul-Devouring Beast was coiled there. Hearing the voice, amplified by burning divine power, that spread throughout the entire Ice Prison, its fierce eyes paused slightly, a hint of sorrow flashing through them.

“Old friend, you're giving up just like that?”

“If you had to die, why not die by my hand? That way, I'd have a sliver more chance of getting out.” The Soul-Devouring Beast's hoarse voice echoed in the cave.

...

A thousand kilometers deep beneath the snowy ground, in a cavern, a winding figure with a human-like head was coiled. Its eyes closed, it sighed softly: “He is free.”

...

Inside a magnificent palace deep within the frozen ocean.

“Another idiot has given up. Good, good, good. The more who give up, the more who die, the greater my chance of getting out. Let them all die, a bunch of fools.”

...

Throughout the entire Ice Prison, the super-powerhouses who had been imprisoned for countless eons reacted to the Katuo Clan powerhouse's death with either shared sorrow, scorn, or indifference… Their reactions varied, but none were shocked, because such self-sought deaths had happened many times before.

The air currents in mid-air were chaotic. Luo Feng, who had wrapped himself in his wings, slowly unfurled them.

Hovering in mid-air, Luo Feng looked at the World Ring, weapons, armor, and other items floating before him—the遗物 of the Katuo Clan powerhouse.

“Suicide?”

“To cultivate to King-tier, who doesn't possess extraordinary willpower? Who doesn't have unwavering conviction? Yet, he was driven to suicide.” Luo Feng murmured. The Katuo Clan powerhouse's words echoed in his ears, making Luo Feng vaguely understand why he had sought death.

“The Katuo Clan, a weak alien race. Even if a Monster Race powerhouse were here, they wouldn't be able to contact their clan. Let alone the Katuo Clan, which is merely a subsidiary race of the Monster Race.” Luo Feng said softly. “They don't have the virtual universe, so they can't communicate. They can only endure endless solitude here.”

“Slaughter is the theme of the Ice Prison.”

“Infinite years, constant solitude, always in this Ice Prison, no escape, no contact with their clan, endless fighting, endless struggle. One year, a hundred years, ten thousand years… countless eons… finally, they break down.” Luo Feng sighed inwardly. This was the power of time and solitude. In the face of time, even a King-tier immortal, if perpetually alone, would eventually have a day of collapse.

“What exactly is going on?”

Luo Feng was indeed shaken by the Katuo Clan powerhouse's suicide. He no longer had the patience to walk slowly and instead transformed into a streak of light, flying at maximum speed through the high altitude.

Whoosh!

The streak of light cut across the sky.

The more Luo Feng recalled and pondered while flying in mid-air, the more he was shocked: “I was able to endure the life-and-death inheritance back then. Although it was only for six thousand years, every second was harder to bear than a year. But that was because I still had a strong conviction! If I, like that Katuo Clan powerhouse, knew my relatives were already dead, would I still persist for billions of eons in the Ice Prison?”

Luo Feng silently questioned his heart.

Would he persist?

“Yes!”

“Absolutely!” Luo Feng nodded silently.

He would definitely get out and find a way to reverse time and space to revive his relatives.

If he couldn't revive his relatives, he would still kill Qingdoukou Venerable for revenge, because Qingdoukou Venerable had stolen his time with his loved ones.

“Strength. Qingdoukou Venerable is strong, so he can imprison many powerhouses and treat it like a game.” Luo Feng thought to himself. “Perhaps if any of these imprisoned powerhouses became a Universe Venerable, Qingdoukou Venerable would immediately cut them down, wouldn't he?”

...

Luo Feng flew towards the ends of the earth, below him an endless expanse of snow and countless ice mountains. Finally… Luo Feng saw the transparent, colossal ice stele.

The ice stele was majestic, inscribed with Monster Race script.

“No wonder…” Luo Feng murmured, looking at the script. “How ruthless, Qingdoukou Venerable!”