Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 161 - Chapitre 170

Rayden stared at the frightened analyst, his amber eyes gleaming with a cold, razor-sharp intensity. Where the analyst saw a dead end, Rayden saw confirmation.“If the traces were erased,” he said calmly, his steady tone instantly dissolving the tension that lingered around the main console, “then it means we’re on the right path. Someone powerful doesn’t want this clan to be found.”Elder Fei looked at her Young Master, a flicker of admiration flashing through her eyes. She nodded, understanding his reasoning. Turning toward her analysts, her authority returned like a blade being unsheathed.“You heard the Young Master!” she barked. “Change the search parameters. Forget the official archives. I want you to scour the sea of rumors, legends, folktales, forgotten sect records from borderlands, even lullabies whispered in backwater villages. Dig up every scrap, every whisper ever recorded about an ice or crystal clan!”The Golden Hall’s intelligence machine stirred to life once again, th

Elder Fei stared at the crystalline shard in her wrinkled hands, her fingers tracing the delicate carving of the ice flower. Then she looked back at Rayden, disbelief filling her eyes. The euphoria that had just begun to bloom shattered to pieces.“A trap?” she asked, her usually steady voice trembling. “But… for whom? And why would anyone go to such lengths?”Rayden took the crystal fragment from her and held it up to the light. “This trap wasn’t meant for us, Elder Fei,” he said, his calm voice echoing through the silence of the cave. “It was set thousands of years ago. Look at the residual energy in the artifacts, in the charred stones, everything feels ancient, authentic.”He paused, giving her time to grasp his reasoning. “Someone with immense power, and a terrifying strategic mind, came here long ago. They didn’t destroy the traces of the Ice Crystal Clan. Instead, they created false ones. A perfect narrative, complete with a battlefield, shattered relics, and legends to support

Elder Fei watched her Young Master anxiously. “Young Master, that report is three years old and comes from the wildest region in the north. It’s far too dangerous to go alone! Please, at least allow me to dispatch a squad from the Shadow Hall to escort you!”Rayden shook his head, his gaze fixed on the holographic map of the Frozen Dragon’s Spine Mountains. “No,” he said firmly. “If that place truly exists, it’s remained hidden from Brahma Angkara and the entire world for centuries. That means its defenses are extremely sensitive to foreign auras. One man leaves a smaller trace than a squadron. I won’t risk alerting it. Not when this might be our only lead.”His logic was unshakable. Elder Fei could only exhale softly. He’s right, she thought. ‘His mind is sharper than any blade. He’s not thinking of his safety, but of success.’“Very well, Young Master,” she said finally. “Then allow us to at least prepare the finest provisions for your journey.”At dawn the next morning, Rayden depa

The leader of the masked sentinels stared at Rayden, her voice, cold as breaking ice, still echoing faintly in the frozen air.The threat was final, absolute, leaving no room for negotiation. The ice-forged swords surrounding him didn’t waver. Their pale edges shimmered under the light of Nebulon’s twin moons. Behind them, the aurora-like barrier continued to pulse softly, indifferent to the confrontation before it, a cruel contrast of beauty and death.Rayden didn’t draw his blade. He didn’t assume a fighting stance. Instead, he slowly raised both hands, palms open, a gesture as old as understanding itself.“I did not come as an enemy,” he said, his voice steady and low, cutting cleanly through the whispering mountain wind. “I came seeking my family.”None of the guards moved. Their discipline was carved in ice. The leader, whom Rayden would later know as Lady Anya, took one measured step forward.“Lies,” she said flatly, her tone muffled by the mask of frost. “The Eternal Snow Clan

The second and third days passed in total silence. Rayden no longer tried to speak to the guards. He accepted them as part of the landscape, like snow and stone.Instead, he turned inward. He spent every waking moment in meditation, focusing wholly on the aurora barrier before him.He wasn’t seeking flaws. He wasn’t trying to force his way through. He was listening. He could feel the ancient current of energy weaving through the barrier, a pure, intricate symphony of cold. It wasn’t a wall, it was a heartbeat.Gradually, with patience honed by hardship, Rayden began to align the rhythm of his own dantian with the living pulse of the formation. It was a delicate, perilous process. His Eternal Vein Crystal Blood needed to hum in harmony with the barrier’s power, two strings of a harp tuned to the same note.Too much pressure, and the formation would destroy him. Too little, and it would reject him entirely.It was a silent dance of spirit and will.He relied not on strength, but on unde