Catheya's eyes snapped open, and she took a shuddering breath. It was a big mistake. Icy liquid poured into her lungs, nourishing the frigid chill that had already invaded her body. She was drowning, entombed, in the dark waters far beneath the surface. Desperate and confused, her mind latched onto a comforting memory.
Her plight was oddly familiar to her first visit to the depths of the Abyssal Lake, even if this experience had ensconced her in utmost cold. Back then, she'd been overwhelmed by boundless Death to the point she'd questioned her heritage. Thankfully, she eventually found the common thread, and the lake grew more hospitable.
The similarity helped Catheya rein in her confused and panicky state. The liquid gate suddenly felt like a womb. The change in perception didn't award a sudden immunity to the immense chill, but it let her rouse her Three Purities and harmonize with the surroundings. It was a feeble defense since the past days had left her utterly drained. As luck would have it, she had another item to protect her.
Catheya shifted her attention to the three crystals secured within her robe, each exuding ancient cold that resonated with the pod's turbid waters. They were still there, existing as physical objects. Catheya had been uncertain they'd be waiting for her when waking up, considering she still couldn't tell whether her journey had been taken with flesh or spirit. Hopefully, three was enough.
She held onto the feeling of Ice and Death becoming one as she dug through the tundra. Unfortunately, the sense of overlap was gone when she reached the surface. Death receded when faced with the blistering winds, mimicking the retreat of Death before Ice within her body. Yet a smile spread across her face as she looked at the swirling belts of glimmering ice overhead.
Her idea was feasible.
Catheya's abyssal eyes turned to the desolate fields before her. It was the same view as the one greeting her when her return from the Perennial Vastness was interrupted.
She'd pushed herself to the brink of collapse in her desire to return to Zac's side. More than forming her core, Catheya had looked forward to seeing the shock on his face when he saw what she'd accomplished. A liquid core combining the essence of Abyssal Death with frigid waters like those she'd endured for years inside the Tears of Belsim. A core that was an ocean while her pathways became tributaries.
Those desires were dashed when the transportation sphere spat her out in this hellish environment, where her newfound pride was quickly pushed down a peg. The cold was so overbearing she only managed to rotate a trickle of energy. The rest was frozen solid, like a river enduring a blistering winter. It was the same for her soul, even her heart.
Taking a single step had felt like a tribulation as punishing as Heavenly Lightning. Thank the Heavens she'd already stepped onto the path of Harmonization. It was barely enough to avoid being frozen solid, though it didn't solve her predicament. There was no contacting home or calling for help in this glacial world, and Catheya would die the moment her soul was drained, and the Harmonization failed.
She'd refused to give in, stubbornly taking one step after another in the direction that best resonated with her path, hoping it would lessen her burden. She wanted to walk out of the tundra that way or at least find a spot that wasn't so monstrously cold. Flying would have been faster, but how was that possible with her energy frozen solid? Not to mention, the sharp winds above the valleys would have frozen her into an ice cube.
Any thoughts of home, Zac, her cultivation, and the future were eventually trapped in ice. Only the cold remained, occupying the entirety of her mind. No, the cold and her determination to keep going. It was only later she realized her trek took two months, when the distance traversed could have been covered in a couple of hours.
The person who stumbled into the small abode that day was different from the one who began the journey. Every part of her had been harshly tempered by the environment. It was a rebirth through suffering. Even her Daos had jumped forward because of the intense strain. Her [Black Ice Cosmos] had seen the greatest transformation, where the fusion between Ice and Death seemed refined over decades.
Today, that Earthly Domain was strong enough to seize control over a small piece of the tundra, and she moved like the wind between crags and frozen trees. The journey was still arduous, and it almost felt like the damp robe caressing her body was on fire. It was the lingering cold of the place she almost failed to escape. A realm that could possibly match the Abyssal Lake in power.
The simple abode eventually came into view, and the unbearable cold suddenly disappeared. It was still all around her, even stronger than before. However, it was as though the cold itself had been frozen and rendered unable to act on its surroundings.
Catheya exhaled and drove the chilly water out of her robes before entering, creating a sparkling shroud of ancient water in her wake. Unfortunately, she couldn't do the same with the cold that had dug into the depths of her bones.
"Teacher," Catheya said, bowing with genuine deference.
The woman sitting in the back of the simple wooden cottage looked the same as when they first met. Beautiful, tranquil, and distant. Catheya called her teacher, but there was no official bond of discipleship between the two. Catheya didn't even know her full name. It had taken her over a month of wheedling just to get the name Hivissul.
Hivissul was like the world around her, unchanging. She rarely moved, except once a week when she watered the clay pot by her side. She wore a deep-blue robe made from icy silk, her horns looked like dead trees covered in frost, and her graceful features could have been cut from white marble. Despite her elegant appearance, hiding the domineering aura her body passively exuded was impossible.
The brutal air only pureblooded dragons possessed.
It had been a huge shock to stumble onto such a peerless existence at the end of her arduous journey, and the stubborn determination that had kept Catheya going almost collapsed from an innate, primal fear of the predator before her. There were many races of dragons, but a pureblood adult should be at least an Autarch. Hivissul's mere presence would have disintegrated Catheya if she hadn't allowed her approach.
There was one more thing that gave Catheya some confidence she'd survive their first meeting.
"How was it?" Hivissul asked, opening her eyes.
Catheya's brows furrowed in confusion as she looked down at the three pieces of unmeltable ice in her hand. Was it another test?
Hivissul never explained how to use the [Permafrost Lodestones]. The dragon said explaining it before proving herself was meaningless. Catheya had assumed the more stones, the better. She found one the first day, so she'd set a goal to find five before the realm overwhelmed her. If that weren't enough, she'd train and head back until she had bags full of the things.
Now, it looked like only one was needed. So which one should she use?
Catheya scrutinized the three pieces. They all looked roughly the same, resembling uncut gemstones the size of a fingernail. If one looked closely, you could see their uneven surfaces were a tapestry of natural runes. Should she pick the one with the densest runes? Or the one whose icy energy was slightly stronger?
One held superior truth, the other superior energy. And yet Catheya's gaze stopped at the one that excelled at neither. It was the last one she found just before escaping. The place she found it wasn't special, and it didn't harmonize with her in a way the others failed. Yet, there was something about it that pulled her closer.
"Fate..." Catheya whispered as she picked up the stone. "This one, I guess."
"Good. To have been chosen by three lodestones is decent. For one of them to be a True Faestone proves you've been chosen," Hivissul said, and a rare smile appeared on her face as the other two stones floated into the air. "It wasn't meant to be."
Catheya looked on with surprise as immense waves of energy burst from the small crystals before they collapsed onto themselves. The lingering aura of spatial ice indicated they had gone back home, without Hivissul's help. Catheya looked at the remaining crystal with marvel. These little things hid such amazing power?
"Chosen for what? And by whom?"
"As a friend of the gorge by its denizens."
"There are actually beings living there? It looked and felt completely lifeless," Catheya said.
"Some would consider the Fae of the gorge as Natural Formations or unusual energy loci. However, as a being of Death, you should understand that the rules of existence are not cut in stone."
"So this is a living thing?" Catheya asked.
"You will have to figure out that answer yourself," Hivissul said. "Remember never to betray the trust. You are not strong enough to pay the price of disloyalty. When the Earth turns its back against you, so will the Heavens."
"What should I do now?"
"As I said. You have to find the answers for yourself," Hivissul said as a gate opened before Catheya. "Only then will the triumvirate path open."
Catheya inwardly grimaced but didn't let any displeasure show on her face. Her teacher seemed unwilling to explain further or even solve the creeping frost. The test wasn't over.
At least the dragon hadn't discarded her. The gateway didn't lead to the Permafrost Gorge or off the tundra. The cultivation cave she'd dug for herself in a mountain right at the edge of Hivissul's domain waited on the other side of the portal. Half of it held the full fury of the blistering cold outside, while the other was under the control of Hivissul's domain.
The unique environment had given her plenty of insights into the Dao of Ice, and the remote location allowed her to cultivate without disturbing her teacher's rest. It looked like she had to seclude herself and figure out how to use a True Faestone before the ancient frost crippled her.
Catheya was anxious to get started, but she stopped just as she was about to pass through.
"If I succeed—"
"Then I'll uphold my promise," Hivissul said, her eyes closing. "I will take you to the Fifth Pillar."
"As I said before, The Starbeast Alliance is contending for the pillar..." Catheya hesitated. "What if—"
"The Starbeast Alliance will not stop my advance. As for the trial itself, I will not interfere," the dragon said, and Catheya felt a wind push her through the gate. "Remember, face the Earth, face the Heavens. Only an open heart can let divinity inside."