Once his missions were completed, Han Thuong found himself with some free time. He decided to stay at Kieu Anh Phong’s house and participate in a short training course alongside the three long-armed brothers and the General's other disciples. This training was a nightmare for the three brothers, who were only at the Qi Condensation stage. However, for Han Thuong—a Foundation Establishment cultivator—it wasn't particularly difficult.
Despite their struggles, the three brothers possessed a trait that surpassed ordinary men: Super Strength (STR 300). Because of this lopsided development, their other attributes were incredibly weak; both their stamina and mental stats were low. To capitalize on their strengths, the General taught them to use Power Bows for long-range attacks to ensure their safety. Additionally, he instructed them in the "Dragon-Subduing Fist and Foot" technique, helping the brothers develop powerful legs to jump and run swiftly away from danger.
During a training session, Doanh Thuong Quan arrived and invited them to explore the Ice Spirit Temple. This was a structure manifested by the Mysterious Ice Sect and placed in the outside world. It was open to the public, attracting a great deal of attention from nearby humans. However, this accessibility created a problem: rogue cultivators and dangerous criminals would lie in ambush nearby, looking for opportunities to get rich quick without effort. As a result, reports of robbery and theft in the area had become quite frequent.
Having entered that specific Ice Spirit Temple several times before, Han Thuong understood the place well and volunteered to lead the way. Han Thuong explained: "In each Elemental Temple, there is at least one Elemental King or Queen. Each King and Queen possesses a different amount of magic, which must be exchanged using Merit. The more advanced the magic, the more Merit it costs."
"For newcomers," Han Thuong continued, "the Temple also provides a practical test and an emotional affinity test for the element—such as Fire or Ice affinity. All of these are free. If you complete them, you will be gifted a basic spell of that element."
The General remarked, "That sounds wonderful. I would like to learn a spell myself."
Han Thuong replied, "But you already have a power, General—the Phoenix Fire."
The General extended his hand, revealing a brand of the Fire Phoenix on his palm. "Some time ago, I accidentally encountered a fire phoenix. It pursued me but did not kill me; eventually, it granted me this mark and flew away."
Han Thuong pulled up his sleeve to reveal an Ice White Tiger mark and said, "This is the mark of an Elemental Temple. That fire phoenix might very well have been the Fire Elemental King."
The General nodded. "Ah, I see."
The Trial of the Ice White Tiger
Han Thuong accompanied the group to the Ice Temple. Many people were already there, but nothing was happening. The Temple stood silent and unresponsive, leading many disappointed visitors to leave. Seeing this, Han Thuong squeezed to the front. Inside the temple was a vast, empty space. In three corners of the room stood three small statues of the Ice White Tiger. Han Thuong approached one of them and spoke: "Greetings, Ice White Tiger System. I have come here to test my compatibility with the Ice Element."
The entire room began to shake, and a deep, powerful voice resonated: "Ice White Tiger System scanning records... Player: Han Thuong. Cultivation: Foundation Establishment. Triple Spiritual Root. Ice Attribute Compatibility: 40%. Basic Challenge accepted. Intermediate Challenge available. Checking personal stats... You can learn 11 intermediate spells out of the 108 intermediate spells of the Ice Temple."
Everyone in the room let out a collective "Oh!" of surprise and scrambled toward the remaining two statues. Han Thuong happily stepped away from the statue to head outside, leaving room for others to check their own stats and receive the system's development advice.
Han Thuong said to his group, "Let’s wait outside. These people will be leaving soon because no one here meets the requirements to accept the Ice White Tiger's challenge." He walked out, found a large rock, and began carving instructions for those who would come later, so they would know how to use the Temple.
A while later, after the crowd had dispersed, Doanh Thuong Quan and the General finally entered with Han Thuong. As he activated the Ice White Tiger System’s guidance mode, the outer doors slammed shut, locking the three of them inside. Han Thuong explained, "This system operates at maximum training capacity when there are at most three people inside. If there are more, the training system will shut down."
The General looked into a crystal ball displaying his personal stats, which included a special stat (VIT > 300), a special skill that allowed him to grow massive to increase Strength at the cost of continuous health loss, and the "Four Beast Divine Fist" (Tiger Fist, Tortoise Hand, Phoenix Fire, Dragon Kick).
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The system spoke: "According to my analysis, you belong to the Body Refiner class, specializing in defense. Combined with Ice magic, the Frost Mark will make your defense even more solid. Advice on Magic Cultivation: Do not pursue it; compatibility with Ice techniques is 30%, which is very poor. Advice on Mental Power: Index is very low; do not cultivate."
The General replied, "I will focus on Body Refining."
The system answered: "Good. There are two paths to choose from. First, upgrade Tiger Fist into Ice Tiger Fist, which slows opponents with low ice damage; the degree of slowing or freezing is proportional to the number of melee hits landed. The second choice is to upgrade Tortoise Hand into Black Ice Tortoise Hand. This condenses surrounding water to create a shield. If there is enough water, it can create a spiked shield. Blood is also considered water. This is dangerous and very cold; it requires high ice resistance."
The General laughed and asked the system, "Only children have to choose. I choose both. Are there any requirements?"
The system stated: "Linking with the Heavenly Dao system to evaluate the subject's Merit... Scan successful. Confirming transaction."
The General agreed, "Fine." Immediately after, the system reported: "You have the right to cancel the transaction within one hour. If you leave this place, you lose the right to change. Do you wish to spar?"
The General shouted, "What does 'spar' mean, Han Thuong?"
"Wait a bit, I’m not finished yet," Han Thuong called back. He was looking at his own two choices in the crystal ball. First was to upgrade his ability to summon 10 Ice Spirit Soldiers (slow and sturdy) into 4 Ice Tiger Warriors (agile, ice explosion upon destruction). Second was to upgrade his ice magic into Frost Mist Technique, which combined cold with blurred vision for the opponent—perfectly suited for his invisibility-in-ice abilities.
Doanh Thuong Quan was also hesitating, as the system had provided very strange information:
- Special Bloodline: White Dragon King (70% compatibility with Ice).
- Immortal Race Bloodline: Spirit Severing Cultivator (Fire system) (0% compatibility).
- Special Skill: Knight’s Aura, using spirit to create attacks (Ice, Fire, Lightning). Triple Spiritual Root.
The system’s advice: "Shift cultivation from Immortal Path to Body Refining. Utilize the Dragon Blood to greatly increase vitality and greatly increase mental power to control the ice element."
Doanh Thuong Quan thought to himself, "Everyone in my family is a fire magic genius. Will I be okay practicing ice magic?"
They stayed in the training area of the Ice Temple for many days, still unable to decide which combat strategy to adopt. The more they questioned the system, the more options it provided, and its deep analysis gave them much to ponder. Since they couldn't monopolize the Temple for too long, they eventually decided to return home and come back another time.
Elsewhere, Doanh Thuong Hoang discovered a Fire Temple near his location and immediately sent troops to occupy it, hoping to increase the number of fire mages in the kingdom. However, after one month, a group of Druids and Forest Gods attacked and destroyed the wooden walls surrounding the Fire Temple. A peace was later brokered, but the King of the Minor Kingdom was deeply resentful and planned to take revenge on the Forest Gods if given the chance.
The Encounter with One-Strike
A short while later, as Han Thuong returned to the Ice Temple to continue his training, he stumbled upon a fight: three against one, all at the Qi Condensation stage. Seeing the unfairness, Han Thuong moved to intervene. But the General stopped him. "Don't be in a hurry. From what I see, that boy will win, and those three will lose. Stay quiet and observe."
The boy wore a hooded cloak bearing the mark of the Hunter’s Guild. He held a white blade and had one eye covered. Alone against three enemies, his aura was fierce. They surrounded him, firing spells and attacking continuously, sword light flashing as they tried to take his life. But the boy remained incredibly calm. His blade had not even left its scabbard. His feet were nimble, moving lightly to dodge every single attack.
He forced all three opponents into a straight line. Then, he slowly drew his blade. Killing intent erupted from his body and poured into the weapon, turning the White Blade into a Black Blade. When the blade slashed out, it created a massive wave of killing intent, shattering three swords and severing the arms of his opponents. Immediately after, he sheathed his blade and walked away.
Han Thuong caught a glimpse of the boy’s face and found it very familiar. He chased after him. When he was close enough, Han Thuong called out, "Trung Hau, is that you? It's Han Thuong!"
The boy stopped in his tracks. "Hello, brother. It's been a long time."
Han Thuong smiled. "Long time no see! Where are you going? Are you free? Let's have a few drinks."
Trung Hau smiled, took a look at Han Thuong, and said, "So you've become a General of the Minor Kingdom. I'm busy today; I'll find you next time." After saying that, he greeted Han Thuong and vanished.
Trung Hau asked his own system, "Can I go meet him?"
The System replied: "You can, but you must not stay too long. You must leave within one year. The safest is under one month; that's fine. Exceeding this time will bring misfortune to the other party."
Trung Hau nodded. "I understand. To the Elemental Temple first." Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Trung Hau jumped into the Elemental Temple and triggered its defenses, preventing anyone else from entering.
The Elemental Temple System activated: "System under attack! Transitioning to defense mode; entry and exit prohibited."
Trung Hau said to his system, "Proceed with system upgrade. Supplement the current system with knowledge." Trung Hau’s Heavenly Lone Star System immediately infiltrated the Temple's system, copying its knowledge and adding data from other Temples.
Sensing the intrusion, the Temple summoned an A-rank Elemental God to attack Trung Hau. He immediately began to run, drawing the fight out as long as possible to let his system work. He revealed his full power, removing the bandage over his left eye. His cultivation soared to the Foundation Establishment (B-rank) level.
Killing intent blanketed the area; everyone within a mile could feel it. The killing intent was slowly pulled back into the blade, turning it into a Black Blade. He raised it high, aimed precisely at the opponent's weakness, and brought it down. Despite having high combat power, the Elemental God had low defense and collapsed instantly. Later on, Trung Hau would be known by the nickname "One-Strike"—for one strike was all it took to defeat any foe.