The Ethereal Domains

Chapter 717: The Extreme Cold!

The Extreme Cold! . . .

The five of them had disappeared from view, but the Kingdom of Lan-Feng's troops continued to watch in awe. The five men remained cold, fearless, calm, helpless, and heroic in their actions.

Unwavering and without fear, they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The fire raged on, and the million troops of the Kingdom of Lan-Feng, even those who had been retreating, came to a standstill. They gazed upon the top of the wall with a sense of reverence. They couldn't help but admire their adversaries because they were honorable men.

"When we conquer the Kingdom of Chen, the first thing I'll do is erect a monument for Lord Cha and his men!" Wenren Jianyin declared in a deep voice. "These are truly heroic figures who deserve a place in history."

The others nodded in agreement.

However, in that moment, something suddenly shot out from the top of the wall. It moved rapidly toward the center of the fire.

No one could quite grasp what it was. The heated air twisted due to the flames, and they couldn't be certain if they had indeed seen something take flight. It might have been an illusion.

Yet, the next moment, the unimaginable occurred.

...

When Cha Eun Xiao and the other four disappeared into the dense smoke and the roaring fire, an inexplicable sensation of coldness enveloped the area.

In the midst of this fiery inferno, there was a distinct chill.

Both the Kingdom of Lan-Feng's soldiers and their Chen counterparts were shocked, as if they had witnessed ghosts in broad daylight.

The Chen soldiers had managed to escape the immediate vicinity of the fire but were still on its periphery. As the flames surged forward, those closest to it felt almost roasted. In this dire situation, feeling cold should have been a relief, yet it instilled a sense of dread.

The place should have been scorching due to the intense heat, so why was it growing colder?

It wasn't just a brief chill; the coldness continued to intensify and spread throughout the area.

Despite the fire raging all around, it couldn't dispel this cold. It felt as though winter had descended upon them, and the soldiers found themselves trembling.

It was an undeniable coldness.

"Look at the fire!" someone cried out with fear. Clearly, something strange was unfolding.

It was as if the rolling fire had abruptly encountered a powerful antagonist. It resembled a colossal net woven from water, fog, snow, and ice, which enveloped the fire and began to smother it.

After a period of eerie silence, a surge of bone-chilling coldness suddenly erupted.

- Pop! -

Simultaneously, the fire was completely extinguished.

The smoke, which had veiled the battlefield, vanished as well.

In place of the raging inferno, an icy mantle now covered the entire area. This frost continued to expand rapidly, enveloping a much larger territory. It moved with remarkable speed, encasing the previously fiery expanse in an unyielding freeze. Yet, the ice didn't stop there; its relentless advance continued.

While this otherworldly ice extended its frigid reach across the land, a massive crevice appeared in the ground.

- Crack! -

The chasm extended from east to west, and its depths were unfathomable, spanning roughly three meters in width.

The land had cracked apart due to the rapid and extreme freezing caused by the cold.

Everyone present was utterly shocked.

The sight was nothing short of terrifying.

"What in the world... How can this happen? Is it a natural occurrence, or is it the result of human intervention?" Wenren Jianyin marveled, feeling profoundly unnerved.

Fear prickled at the nape of his neck.

All the soldiers and generals were shivering from the bone-chilling cold. Their faces were ashen, not just due to the cold, but also because they were frightened. This extraordinary event had transpired right after the blazing fire, and it couldn't be attributed to natural causes. It was clearly a result of human actions, and that made it all the more terrifying.

Their weapons resembled frozen blocks of ice, nearly freezing to their hands. Some couldn't endure the cold any longer and attempted to release their weapons, only to discover that their fingers had become so rigid they could hardly move them. Their skin stuck to the weapons, and when they managed to free their hands, it was painful, yet their extremities felt numb, making them unable to discern the full extent of their discomfort.

The sudden and extreme coldness had descended within a mere moment, plunging the battlefield into chaos. It was something none of these men had ever experienced before.

It had transformed the once-burning landscape into an icy wasteland.

It was inconceivable, and had they not witnessed it themselves, they wouldn't have believed it. This wasn't just ordinary coldness; it was a type of extreme coldness, even bordering on absolute zero.

"Comm... Commander..." one of the generals stammered, his body quaking uncontrollably. Evidently, he couldn't bear the cold any longer. "We should... retreat now... If not... Our brothers... I fear... they... ahhh..."

His quivering worsened, and he couldn't form a complete sentence.

Wenren Jianyin was astounded. This general was only at the middle levels of the Earth Origin Stage, yet he was superior to ninety-nine percent of his men. Seeing him in such a state, Wenren Jianyin couldn't help but worry about the others.

"Retreat!" Wenren Jianyin declared, exhaling deeply.

The enormous woodpile that had previously been ablaze now resembled a massive mound of ice. It was almost translucent in its frozen state.

In the blink of an eye, it had transitioned from extreme heat to extreme cold. The intensity of this cold energy was beyond frightening.