Despite his transcendent speed, Jalen needed a full week to reach the boundary of the Land of No Return. He could have crossed the distance in half that time, but Calen's cultivation was too fragile for relentless travel; his qi would have burned out long before the journey's end. Jalen slowed his pace and allowed breaks along the way.
They paused beneath spirit trees whose leaves shimmered with qi, in caves shielded by natural stone, and once within a valley where lightning storms raged. There, Jalen's aura harmonized with the heavens, bolts bending harmlessly around him while Calen watched in awe.
At last, the horizon shifted. The air grew colder, sharper, until every breath cut like shards of glass. Before them stretched a frozen desert, endless and white, broken only by jagged glaciers and howling winds. This was the Land of No Return.
Calen shivered despite the protective qi Jalen wrapped around him. His face was pale, his meridians strained. Jalen knew the boy could not enter. Even Immortal Realm cultivators would freeze in an instant here, their qi overwhelmed by the land's violent energy. Ice cultivators fared no better—the storms twisted their own element against them, freezing their cores until they shattered. Only those at the Sky Limit Realm could hope to survive, and even then, survival was tenuous.
Jalen guided Calen to a settlement they had passed several miles before reaching the wasteland's edge. The town lay far enough from the frozen desert that its storms could not reach, yet close enough to serve as a refuge for travelers who dared approach. Calen remained there, sheltered from the deadly cold, while Jalen turned back toward the horizon alone.
The Land of No Return was a graveyard of ice. Blizzards blotted out the sky, hailstones the size of boulders crashed down, and winds screamed with shards of frozen qi sharp enough to flay flesh. Yet Jalen moved unhindered. His realm shielded him; his qi repelled the storm. Where others would freeze, he remained untouched. Where others faltered, he pressed forward.
Still, the land was not without irritation. Ice melted constantly against his aura, forcing him to burn more qi than necessary. The blizzards smothered his vision, and his spirit sense faltered under strange disturbances, leaving perception unreliable. Yet none of this deterred him. His purpose was clear.
Deep within the storm, the Origin Shard pulsed. His second spirit core resonated in response, whispering of a hidden treasure. Yet unlike always, it did not seize him. Jalen was surprised at its restraint. Still he ignored the call. His path was not treasure but blood.
The storm grew worse, winds shrieking like the cries of the damned, glaciers splitting with thunderous cracks. Then, suddenly, calm. The blizzard parted, revealing a pocket of serenity—an eye within the graveyard. Here, the winds stilled, and the ice fell silent, as if the land itself had chosen to spare this place. He knew there was more to this sanctuary than met the eye, but with Jael still lost, he had no time to dwell on it.
He noticed hundreds of cultivators lingered within, Sky Limit experts whose auras told of centuries of survival. Jalen scanned them without alerting anyone, but none bore the face he sought. His heart remained steady, his purpose unshaken. He pressed onward.
Half a mile further, his spirit sense caught a familiar resonance. He descended, and there stood Elijah. A smile broke across his face.
"Little Brother," Elijah greeted warmly despite the cold. "Not that it's not nice to see you here, but why are you here? Do you have a death wish?"
Jalen clasped his arm. "It has been too long, big brother. I am here for you—and for Jael. Where is he?"
Elijah's expression darkened. "A hundred and fifty years ago, we fought a half-step transcendent snow beast, massive and relentless. In the chaos, we were separated. I searched, but his thread vanished. I failed you, brother. I failed to protect your son."
Jalen's gaze hardened, his voice steady. "No. Jael lives."
Elijah looked up, disbelief etched across his face. "How can you be sure?"
Jalen did not elaborate. "He is alive." His certainty was absolute, a truth that needed no explanation.
Hope flickered in Elijah's eyes, though doubt lingered. "I want to believe you. But this land devours even the strongest. Jael was still in the Spirit Fusion Realm. With such a weak foundation, how could he survive here?"
"I will find Jael," Jalen said firmly. "And when I do, I will return for you."
Elijah's eyes softened. "Be careful. Leaving this sanctuary is dangerous. The storms grow worse the deeper you go."
Jalen nodded, his resolve unshaken.
Elijah watched as Jalen departed, awe mingled with concern.
The blizzards returned with renewed fury, as if enraged by his defiance. Shards of frozen qi lashed against his aura, each strike a test of endurance. He moved like a phantom, his presence veiled, his spirit sense stretched across the storm.
The land itself rose against him—glaciers clenched like fists, winds howled like beasts, and cold gnawed at even his transcendent strength. Yet Jalen pressed forward.
For almost a day Jalen scoured the wasteland, yet no sign of Jael appeared. The silence of the land pressed against him, heavy and unyielding.
Then, the Origin Shard stirred. What had once been a whisper grew insistent, its patience frayed. With sudden force it seized him, hijacking his body and hurling him through the blizzard toward the storm's buried heart.
He hovered above an ice maze, its walls jagged and glistening, and at the center a crystal pulsed with powerful ice qi, shimmering like a beacon. Yet it was not the crystal that held his gaze. Beside it lay Jael—bare and battered, wounded, encased in ice. His body was frozen in place, his breath faint, his thread fragile but unbroken.
Without hesitation Jalen descended toward him. But just as he neared the heart of the maze, the labyrinth shifted. Paths twisted, walls rose, and in an instant he was cast back to its beginning. He surged upward, seeking to break free, but a crushing pressure forced him down, denying the sky.
There was no way around. The maze barred every shortcut, leaving only one path forward. And so Jalen stepped into its corridors, each turn drawing him closer to the son imprisoned at its core—yet every step was fraught with risk and danger.