The entrance to the 60th floor appeared deceptively simple—just a metal door with intricate runic patterns, pulsating like veins as blood seemed to flow through them. But as soon as Yan Jin stepped in, everything changed. His body was pulled into a separate space, the temperature spiking dramatically. The stifling heat wrapped around him like a suffocating blanket, and the air reeked of burning and charred remains.
The crackle of fire and the hiss of bubbling lava filled his ears. He could sense the presence of oppressive heat all around him. His soul force was restricted by some unknown power, confining his perception to a mere few meters. His vision was hazy, as though the very air distorted the reality around him.
Instead of charging blindly, Yan Jin paused, forcing himself to adapt. His breathing slowed as he assessed the environment. It was clear he was in a cave—a fiery, magma-filled cavern. The echoes of his footsteps bouncing off the walls told him as much. The place felt dangerously real, even if it was likely a conjured illusion from the runes on the door. Still, the heat was no illusion; the flames would surely burn him alive if he made one wrong move.
He calmed his mind, picking up a few scattered pebbles from the ground. With measured concentration, he threw the stones one by one, listening intently to the echoes. The sound waves reverberating off the walls allowed him to map the cavern in his mind. He could visualize the treacherous terrain—the pools of molten lava, narrow ledges, and erupting fire geysers.
"Too easy," he muttered to himself.
Yan Jin clasped his hands together, forming a sequence of seals. Immediately, a shimmering frost spread over his feet, crackling as it cooled the fiery ground around him. He summoned the power of his Gwi bloodline, and a majestic crystal phoenix materialized behind him, gleaming with icy radiance. Its crystalline feathers shimmered, refracting light like a thousand frozen shards of glass. With a swift leap, Yan Jin mounted the back of the phoenix, and together they soared into the air.
The fiery cavern below erupted into chaos as Yan Jin flew forward. Pillars of fire shot up randomly from the ground, their intense heat threatening to melt even the air around them. Yan Jin weaved through them with precision, the phoenix's icy wings slicing through the dense heat. He ducked under a fire geyser that burst from the ceiling, narrowly avoiding the searing flames. His breath quickened as another explosion erupted to his left, spraying molten rock into the air.
But Yan Jin was unshaken. He and the phoenix moved as one, dodging each fiery attack with grace. The icy aura from the phoenix left a trail of frost in their wake, temporarily cooling the oppressive heat as they dashed forward. The sound of the fire crackling and the lava bubbling was drowned out by the roar of his companion's wings beating against the thick air.
A massive pillar of flame burst up directly in front of him, but Yan Jin was ready. With a quick gesture, he summoned a barrier of frost, just enough to divert the flame as the phoenix swooped past it. Another explosion sent a fireball hurdling toward them from the side. Yan Jin leaned left, guiding the phoenix into a spiraling dive, narrowly avoiding the inferno.
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind slammed into him from the side, knocking him off balance. He steadied himself but realized that he had lost all sense of direction. The blizzard had swallowed him whole, reducing the world to a swirling mass of snow and ice. The once smooth plains of snow had become a treacherous, shifting expanse.
Yan Jin stood in the middle of this raging tempest, no longer certain of where he was headed. The cold may have been his ally, but the storm was a different beast—.
Yan Jin exhaled a slow, frosty breath, his body tense as the cold bit deeper into his bones. This time, he felt it. The challenge was real. Without hesitation, he released his Gwi bloodline to its fullest, allowing his power to surge through him like a torrent. A cold, white flame erupted around his body, shrouding him in an aura of icy brilliance. It was his natural defense, a flame so cold it resisted even the biting winds of the storm.
He called upon the power of the phoenix once more, summoning a magnificent bird of crystalline ice and frost. Its wings beat against the storm, pushing back the gale with every stroke. He leapt onto its back, determined to press forward through the blizzard. But just as quickly as the phoenix took flight, the storm roared with renewed fury.
A colossal gust of wind collided with them, and in an instant, the phoenix shattered into shards of ice. Yan Jin was hurled through the air, his body spinning wildly out of control. Before he could react, his skull slammed headfirst into an unforgiving rock formation with a sickening crack. His vision blurred, the world around him spinning into darkness as the cold consumed him entirely.
In a flash, Yan Jin found himself back at the entrance, gasping for breath. He instinctively touched his head, checking to make sure it was still in place. His fingers trembled as they brushed over his scalp, the memory of his death still vivid. It had been brutal, far more intense than anything he had experienced in a long time. He patted his body, ensuring everything was intact. He was out of breath, his mind rattled and exhausted.
"I thought I understood the power of ice..." he muttered under his breath, leaning against the entrance wall. "...but I was wrong." The sheer force of the storm had overwhelmed even his most powerful abilities. The ice he commanded was nothing compared to the primordial cold of this floor. The realization humbled him.
For a few moments, he simply sat there, catching his breath, his mind racing as he pieced together what had just happened. The environment wasn't something he could simply overpower. He needed to think, to plan, and most importantly, adapt.
"Attempt number two," he muttered to himself, standing up and brushing the snow off his legs.