"This is the origin of everything!"
One could even call the Scorpion Man the progenitor of this world.
Leylin's body floated into the air, drifting slowly downward until he reached the bottom of the depression.
When he beheld the Scorpion Man in full, his pupils contracted sharply.
In Leylin's field of vision, a massive half-human, half-scorpion corpse lay sprawled across the ground. Strands of blue ice network, like spider webs, threaded through the Scorpion Man's skin and connected to him, pouring vast quantities of Life Energy and ice energy into the body.
On the Scorpion Man's back, eerie green blood seethed and writhed as though it were alive. It had already spread across the entirety of the back and was creeping outward in all directions.
Green blood vessels had proliferated across nearly the whole of the Scorpion Man's body, even forming knotted clusters that resembled eyeballs—lifeless yet brimming with an unsettling, sinister aura.
Under the corrosion of the green blood and vessels, the Scorpion Man's overall appearance had undergone subtle changes.
Compared to the body in Leylin's memory, the Scorpion Man now looked more slender. Its facial features had even become refined, trending toward a more feminine appearance, with unmistakable female characteristics developing across its upper body.
"Hmm! No! This isn't a corpse…"
Leylin was suddenly alarmed. Only after drawing closer did he realize that the Scorpion Man not only had faint breathing but that its heart was even slowly beating.
Yet this pulse of life was minuscule compared to its enormous frame—so faint that Leylin had initially overlooked it entirely.
"This Scorpion Man… is actually alive!"
Leylin stumbled back several steps, and in that instant, the Scorpion Man suddenly opened its eyes!
"You've come!"
Familiar soul fluctuations began battering against Leylin's defenses.
"You're not him! You're the Ice Snow Empress! No—you're the guardian of the Frozen Alien World, the Bronze Giantess!!!"
Leylin blurted out in alarm, fine black scales erupting across his entire body as several potion vials shattered around him, conjuring a massive barrier of light. The crimson pendant dangling from his ear hummed with latent power, poised to strike.
The terror of ancient rule-bound creatures was something even Leylin dared not face head-on now.
Though he'd had a vague guess before, the moment the truth truly surfaced, it still left him feeling a touch disoriented.
Everything, everything—after witnessing this scene, flashed rapidly through Leylin's mind, quickly linking together.
During the great ancient war, the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes invaded the Frozen World, and the Bronze Giantess fell in battle. A drop of her blood landed on the Scorpion Man, fell with him through a spatial rift, and by chance arrived here.
The Scorpion Man perished on the spot, but the green blood on his back did not!
The Bronze Giantess was a terrifying creature of the Seventh Rank or above! She had even grasped certain rules, capable of rebirth from a single drop of blood!
Her bloodline inherited a portion of her spiritual imprint, so even after the Morning Star-level Scorpion Man perished, it still retained vitality!
Such an ancient being's bloodline, even just a single drop, was sufficient to gain new life after separating from its original body.
However, rebirth directly from a single drop of blood was far too difficult. Therefore, it acted like a virus, seeking a host life to parasitize, attempting to infect it and reshape it into the form it required.
And in the Dark Extreme Region, was there a more suitable creature than the Scorpion Man? Setting aside all else, the matter of distance alone made the choice clear!
Thus, the Giantess's bloodline began to parasitize the Scorpion Man's corpse, even modifying him, making him take on female physical characteristics.
This modification required not only vast amounts of time but also terrifying amounts of Life Energy.
Therefore, the Giantess's imprint also used the ice radiation to modify a region within the Dark Extreme Region into a frozen world, even giving rise to life native to that world!
Subsequently, she used part of the Scorpion Man's flesh to create Alvin, as her guardian.
In the Dark Extreme Region, a Morning Star-level guardian was already enough to suppress everything!
Thus, the Giantess hid behind the scenes, while Alvin handled all matters on the surface. Periodically collecting ice creatures for blood sacrifice, increasing the Scorpion Man's Life Energy, providing nourishment for the Giantess's blood.
Originally, all of this was nearing success.
Once the modification was complete, the Giantess could achieve rebirth through the Scorpion Man! Become another new life! If Leylin hadn't appeared.
But there are no "ifs" in the world. Leylin's appearance, and especially Alvin's fall, forced the Giantess to act personally, accelerating the progress of collecting flesh and Life Energy, until now.
"No! I am only a part of the Giantess. What I am now is a combination of the memory imprint and this Scorpion Man's body! Therefore, I am the Ice Snow Empress!"
The Scorpion Man's eyes were fixed on Leylin, and faint soul ripples emanated from his body.
Seeing this, Leylin felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Even if the other party carried the blood of a rule-level existence, the body modification wasn't yet complete. It couldn't even be considered a true resurrection — merely a bloodline imprint clinging desperately to survival.
As a result, the Scorpion Man couldn't even move right now. He had to communicate through soul force, let alone attempt any kind of teleportation.
"If that's the case, I still have a chance!" Leylin's eyes blazed with sharp light.
Even if the other party completed the body modification, they would at most reach the peak of Tier 4, or perhaps leverage the power of their bloodline to rival a Tier 5 Radiant Moon
"Scorpion Man? Is that this creature's true name?" Leylin asked.
"Yes! But I don't like this appearance, so I can only modify it, steering it toward the Scorpion Woman's form. After all, the Scorpion Woman's illusion abilities are famous throughout the entire Glacial World, and the innate talent she forms happens to perfectly match my bloodline! It's just that this process, along with the transition from death to life, requires an enormous amount of time…"
The Ice Snow Empress seemed to have become an entirely different person, answering every question Leylin threw at her.
"No wonder…" Leylin nodded, though a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.
Boom!
The ground trembled. Something like blue tree roots burst from the earth, their branches and tendrils merging with the blue appendages on the Scorpion Man's body, forming a cage that sealed Leylin inside.
Pfft! Pfft! Snow-white mist poured continuously from the Scorpion Man's pores, fusing into the blue tendrils and forming natural frost runes across their surface.
"But fortunately, you came! With the flesh and blood of a human Morning Star, and once I use the Voss Sacrifice to offer your qualia point to the Glacial Lord, I should be able to accelerate the transformation — perhaps even complete it entirely!"
The Ice Snow Empress's voice carried a frigid edge. "Since you killed Alvin, repay that debt with your own flesh and blood!"
Boom! A blood-red blade of light materialized on Leylin's palm and slashed violently against the cage, producing a piercing roar.
Numerous snow-white runes flashed, and a layer of hard blue ice crystallized over the surface, freezing the blood-blade against the cage's edge. More blue frost began creeping toward Leylin's arm.
"A 700-degree attack and it's still ineffective?"
Leylin dodged backward, studying the runes covering the cage. "Simple energy circuits shouldn't have this kind of power — is it these runes?"
"Frost-binding runes from the ancient Glacial World. There are even records of them restraining Radiant Moon-level Wizards! If you don't believe me, feel free to keep trying!"
The Ice Queen's voice erupted into wild laughter: "You think I have no power to fight back just because I can't move? I told you — once you entered, you would regret it!"
Leylin paid no attention to her shrill laughter, instead walking calmly to the edge of the cage. "Chip! Scan!"
"Ding! Ancient Frost-Binding Runes detected! Effects: increase attached object's durability by five energy levels, frost resistance by seven energy levels, and provide frost reflection capability! Estimated overall strength: 890–1120!"
The Chip responded promptly.
"At this level, I'd probably need to unleash my full Comoros Serpent Transformation several times to have any chance of breaking out!"
Leylin let out a long sigh. "But... is that really necessary?"
He extended both hands, and a faint purple glow began to shimmer across them.
The moment the purple radiance touched the cage, something strange happened! Black spots began to spread across the structure, and even the ancient Binding Runes couldn't stop them.
The entire cage, like a decrepit wooden frame, corroded at an alarming rate, riddled with holes.
*Crack!* Leylin applied only a slight amount of force, and a massive hole opened up in the cage. He stepped through.
"Impossible!" The Ice Queen's shrill laughter cut off abruptly.
"Nothing is impossible! You carefully analyzed my potion and even neutralized the toxin, but did you really think the potion I prepared would be that simple?"
Leylin smiled faintly, a purple symbol flickering at his fingertip.
It seemed this symbol triggered a chain reaction. Countless purple spots surfaced across the Scorpion Man's body, spreading even toward the Blood Seal on his back.
Through his earlier arrangements in the Ice Castle and the modifications he had made to the Ice Clan members who came with him, Leylin had completely reversed the situation and seized the initiative.
"Hmph! Mere toxins!" The Ice Queen scoffed coldly.
"I know — for an ancient Dawn Star being, this amount of toxin is barely effective and won't last more than a few minutes... but that's all I ever needed it for — to stall for a few minutes..."
Leylin's eyes gleamed as he approached the Scorpion Man, gazing at the green blood on his back.
"You don't know this yet, do you? I am actually a Warlock! More than that, I am a bloodline descendant of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpuses — the very one who caused your downfall. And for us Warlocks, separating blood and purifying genes is simplicity itself..."