Douluo Continent: The Twin Sons of the Styx River, Shaking the World and Destroying the Heavens

Chapter 264 Refining the Heart
Meng Hongchen clenched her teeth even tighter, and the veins on her forehead bulged slightly. She relied entirely on a stubborn determination to stay awake, determined not to let the biting cold erode her will, nor to let the heavy icy pressure crush her body.

Just then, snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky. At first, there were only a few scattered flakes, but in an instant, they turned into a fine snow curtain, falling and swirling down onto the icy steps, the icy walls, and even onto her shoulders, instantly freezing into ice, adding a touch of desolation to this icy path.

As the snowflakes fluttered down, Meng Hongchen's vision suddenly went dark, as if a heavy veil had been drawn over her eyes. The ice walls, the snow curtain, and the road ahead all lost their color in an instant, ultimately fading into complete darkness. Her sight had been taken away after all.

This icy path begins by stripping away one's five senses one by one, serving as the start of the test.

The moment her foot touched the ground, a faint light suddenly appeared in the darkness of her blindness. Meng Hongchen seemed to have fallen into a misty dream, and before her eyes appeared her childhood self—a small figure standing in an unfamiliar courtyard, clutching half a melted candy in her hand, her eyes timid.

Then, the scene shifted, and she saw her young parents. At that time, they had not yet been involved in the royal conflicts of the Sun Moon Empire. Her father was laughing as he lifted her above his head, while her mother gently straightened his clothes. But in an instant, the flames and sounds of battle tore apart the warmth, and her parents fell in the chaos, their blood staining the last warm hue in her memory.

The world only knows the genius girl Meng Hongchen, but they don't know the hardships of being a genius. She lost both her parents at a young age and relied on her grandfather Jing Hongchen and her brother for survival.

No matter how real an illusion may seem, it will eventually crack. When the words "Grandpa will protect you" echoed repeatedly in her ears, Meng Hongchen was suddenly jolted—Grandpa's expectation was for her to become stronger, not to wallow in the pain of the past.

She clenched her fist tightly, her nails digging deep into her palm (even though she could no longer feel anything). That obsession with protecting her ignited like a wildfire, instantly shattering the shackles of the illusion. The light and shadow before her eyes suddenly shattered, plunging her into blindness and darkness, but it also made her mind even clearer.

The illusion has been shattered.

But his eyes remained imprisoned in darkness by those invisible rules, and his blindness did not end with the shattering of the illusion. He could only explore his surroundings with his remaining senses; the icy steps creaked under his feet, and the weight of snowflakes, carried by the cold air, fell on his shoulders. Every step felt like walking through pure nothingness, with only the unwavering determination in his heart guiding his way.

In complete darkness, the ground beneath her feet suddenly became slippery—the last stretch of road turned out to be a frozen river.

At first, she heard the roar of rushing water, as if the glacier stretched endlessly, trapping her in this void of cold. But Meng Hongchen's mind was clear; though her five senses were lost, her will was as firm as a rock—just as those seemingly endless ice steps were nothing more than illusions woven from fog and mirage.

This glacier could not be crossed by foot alone—beneath the ice, the currents of the water became increasingly clear, as if revealing something. Clearly, for this final stretch, the rules required her to abandon her footing and swim across this river frozen beneath the ice.

The chill had already seeped into her very bones, and she could no longer feel the coldness of the water. Only the latent power of the current seemed to drag her away and devour her. But she did not hesitate. She groped her way into the water, and the icy river instantly enveloped her (even though she had lost her sense of touch). With only a will to move forward, she struggled to paddle in the darkness. As soon as she entered the river, an indescribable pain suddenly seized her—even though she had lost her sense of touch, the pain went straight to her soul, as if every inch of her skin was being cut by ice shards, and every bone was being crushed by the cold.

Her soul trembled uncontrollably, the pain amplified to an infinite degree, becoming the only clear sensation she could perceive. The icy water completely enveloped her; the biting chill was no longer an invasion, but transformed into countless sharp needles, frantically piercing her consciousness. She could even "feel" the ice closing in on her head, shutting out light and hope, leaving only boundless cold and excruciating pain, threatening to shatter her will completely.

But she didn't stop paddling, even though her arms were already numb (she had no sensation other than pain), she still moved forward instinctively, as if she wanted to carve out a path to survival in this extreme pain.

As she swam to the middle of the river, a subtle yet distinct pain suddenly exploded within her—despite the loss of all tactile sensation, the tearing pain from her skin pierced through the numbness and stabbed at her very soul. A bloody wound appeared on her arm without warning, the blood mingling with the icy river water, instantly freezing into tiny ice crystals that drifted slowly away with the current.

Immediately afterwards, a second and third wound appeared, covering her limbs, each one accompanied by excruciating, tearing pain. It was as if the glacial water was not only freezing her flesh, but also tearing her body apart inch by inch, forcing her to succumb to the agony and blood loss.

But Meng Hongchen's paddling motion did not stop, and the ice crystals formed from the blood beads left a series of intermittent marks behind her, like a road paved with willpower.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the ice on the opposite bank, a strong sense of restraint suddenly came over her—in a daze, it was as if invisible chains were emerging from under the ice, tightly binding her limbs and torso, tightening more and more.

Just as she was about to reach the other side, the blindness in her eyes suddenly disappeared, and light rushed into her vision.

She was horrified to discover that a jet-black chain was wrapped around her right arm, its surface gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, stretching endlessly into the darkness behind her. Even more chilling was the sight of another chain firmly binding her ankle, the other end of which was connected to a massive piece of metal—a metal that shimmered with a unique dark silver hue in the icy water, the incredibly dense and heavy deep-sea silver.

The weight of the silver was far beyond her imagination, dragging her body and almost pulling her back into the depths of the icy river. The chains not only bound her limbs but also seemed to imprison her strength, exhausting her with every inch she moved upward.

Meng Hongchen yanked the chains hard, but a sharp numbness shot through her arms. Her fingertips felt stiff, like stones frozen in ice, and even exerting force felt sluggish. Then, a strange itching sensation crept up her ankles. Even through her heavy boots, it felt as if an invisible hand was scratching her repeatedly. The itch was so persistent and persistent that she almost had to bend over.

Finally, with all her remaining strength, she struggled upwards—the chains seemed to loosen at that moment, and covered in icy water and blood, she broke through the ice and crashed heavily onto the icy ground on the opposite bank.

Water and ice shards splashed everywhere. She lay there, panting heavily, the burning pain in her lungs and the wounds all over her body screaming together.