“Oh? It’s been a while since I’ve had a visitor.” A man leaning relaxedly on a large, ornate ice throne said, a slight smile playing on his lips. His long, silver hair flowed down his shoulders as his icy blue gaze lowered on the man who entered His hall.

“3230 years, to be exact.” A bald monk wearing blue robes with a black eight-trigram design on the back stared up at the man, his face becoming increasingly serious.

“Was it that long?” The man on the throne chuckled. “Ah~ Now I remember.”

He turned his head, and on a pillar embedded in the walls of the castle was a bald head that looked strikingly similar to the monk before him. The look of utter despair was still etched on its face, forever captured.

“There was that little guy who suddenly barged in here, claiming I had his Holy Relic.” He shook his head, still chuckling at the audacity of that little monk. “And to think I used to respect monks. Ahh~ How the mighty have fallen.”

Peering down the man beneath him, he leaned in as if to gaze through his soul and asked, “…You wouldn’t happen to be here for the same reason, right?”

“…”

Seeing the stiff expression on the monk’s face, the man’s smile widened as he leaned back on his throne. “While I appreciate your devotion to your cause, unfortunately-“

He snapped his fingers, revealing countless other heads that were embedded in the walls, all with similar expressions. “-I’m running out of space.”

“…Truly the Frozen Halls. It’s like looking at different points in time, forever immortalized. How terrifying.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, little monk~”

The monk ignored his snarky remark and continued looking around under the eyes of the owner. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that the man on the throne wasn’t attacking, just waiting with that same perpetual smile. ‘So, the records are true. He won’t make a move so long as we’re not hostile.’

However, he felt very uncomfortable under that gaze. It looked as if there was no emotion behind it, but really, he was looking at him as if he were a circus monkey about to dance—and for good reason.

Everyone who entered these halls, regardless of their background, age, strength, or gender, came with the purpose of challenging him. Whether it was for prestige, his treasures, his head, or to be immortalized in his castle. At the end of the day, they sought battle.

That is if they could even reach him. Most never made it this far, merely ending up as fuel for his castle. However, even the ‘lucky few’ who passed were always nothing but slightly larger ants in his eyes.

The monk’s eyes flashed as he finished looking around the interior, not finding anything particularly interesting other than the head, and returned his gaze back to the owner.

Cupping his fists with a slight bow, he said, “This one’s name is Jinlong Zushi, the grand disciple of Tianxing Zushi, the man whose head you showed.”

“Jinlong… Tianxing… You monks always have ambitious names. To be honest, you look more like a Paul with that shiny bald head of yours.” The man on the throne nodded a few times. “Mmhm~ I’ll label you as Paul when you join your Grandmaster. Paul, the thousandth generation of men who wished they could grow hair. Sounds good, rolls off the tongue.”

“…” A vein bulged on Jinlong’s forehead, but forcibly calming himself down, he bowed once again and asked, “…I’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“Oh?” The man raised an eyebrow. “What’d you like to know?”

The monk took a deep breath, steeling himself, then asked, “…You’re sealed in this castle, correct?”

“Unfortunately~”

“That means you can’t leave, right?”

“Well… That’s technically correct, but who knows? Maybe I’ve already escaped, and what you’re seeing right now is a clone~! Haha!”

Jinlong didn’t like the sound of that, but he kept his composure.

“And I can leave anytime I want?”

“The door’s right there~ But it’d be a shame not to put you on the wall of shame, Paul.”

“…Do you know who put you in here?”

“Certainly not a baldy~!”

“…” Jinlong sighed, feeling a surge of irritation bubbling within him, but circulating his cultivation allowed him to keep his cool.

“I’m guessing those Central Continent hermits did it…”

“Again, you’re not technically wrong, but… I did make a bit of a mess out of things when I was younger. I bet a few of those guys were involved in sealing me.”

Jinlong, once again, didn’t like the sound of that, but what could he do?

His eyes narrowed as he digested the man’s responses, a mixture of jokes and indifference that made it hard to gauge his true intentions. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your name?” he asked cautiously. No matter how many times they’ve raided these Halls, none who have faced this man returned alive.

Thus, his name was still a mystery to the world.

The man on the throne tilted his head slightly, the hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. “Name? Hmmm… Sure. You can call me Kaius.”

“Kaius…” Jinlong repeated, the name rolling off his tongue as he committed it to memory. “I see. I’ll be sure to remember it.”

“Oh? Is it finally time for the show to start?” Kaius sat up on his throne with a hint of expectation. It’d been a while since he was entertained, after all!

Jinlong didn’t say anything and simply turned around and walked toward the entrance of the massive hall. Kaius grew confused, not expecting the monkey this time around to go with such a strategy. However, he didn’t make any moves and continued watching.

As he walked, a set of gold prayer beads appeared in Jinlong’s hands. ‘Ancestor’s, give me strength.’ He whispered to himself, the beads lighting up almost as if to respond to him.

‘I won’t let your sacrifices go in vain!’

Giving a silent prayer, he made his way outside the Hall, where he finally turned around and stared at Kaius. After a moment of deliberation, he opened his mouth, his voice echoing off the walls. “Do you want to know why we haven’t visited you in these past 3,000 years? When we used to send people here every decade?”

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Raising the prayer beads in the air, Jinlong shouted, “Ancestral Trigram Soul Array!”

The prayer beads hummed and split apart, with each orb heading straight for certain heads in the walls. As if there wasn’t a barrier between them, the prayer beads melded into the heads of his Ancestors, shining brightly.

Doing a few hand signals, Jinlong’s eyes narrowed as he concentrated deeply. The prayer beads began to emit a brilliant light, resonating with the ancient and powerful souls within the walls of the Frozen Halls. Each bead, now infused with the essence of his ancestors, created a connection, forming an intricate network of energy that enveloped the entire hall.

Kaius, observing from his throne, raised an eyebrow in genuine interest. It had been millennia since anyone had posed a real challenge or displayed such a unique technique in his presence. “Impressive,” he murmured, his voice laced with a hint of excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Jinlong chanted in an ancient dialect, his voice echoing through the vast chamber. The energy network thumped, and the ancestral spirits began to stir, their ethereal forms materializing and intertwining with the glowing beads. The air crackled with power, the temperature dropping even further as the ritual reached its climax.

“Ancestors of the Trigram Sect, heed my call and lend me your strength!” Jinlong’s voice boomed, his figure surrounded by a swirling vortex of spectral energy. The glowing heads embedded in the walls seemed to respond, their once-frozen expressions shifting from despair to determination.

Kaius leaned forward, his icy blue gaze locked on the spectacle before him. “So, this is the power of baldies… Fascinating.” Despite his nonchalant demeanor, there was a spark of anticipation in his eyes.

Jinlong’s body lifted off the ground, buoyed by the surging energy. “With the power of my ancestors and the sacred Trigram technique, I will snatch your body and soul! You will be merely fertilizer for the birth of our Lord!” He extended his arms, directing the amassed energy toward the ice throne.

Kaius stood up with his arms wide open and a large smile plastered on his face. “You think you’re the first to try, little monk? If you can, by all means, take my head! Hahahaha!”

BOOOOM!

***

An enormous explosion shook the area around the majestic castle, sending ripples through the earth. Unfortunately, only one person was around to witness the blizzard being pushed back by the shockwaves’ sheer might.

Mira turned toward the castle in the distance, her expression solemn. ‘Looks like something interesting’s going in there.’ She stomped through streams of blood and guts, surrounded by dead enemies, as she made her way toward the source of the explosion.

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