I can receive unlimited protection; my parents handed me over to the state.

Then, she pointed her fingers like a sword and, to everyone's horror, stabbed herself fiercely in the chest!

"Pfft!"

With a soft sound, her fingers pierced into her body with surprising ease.

"Are you crazy?!"

Lu Yuan was the first to react. He grabbed Mu Bingli's wrist, trying to stop her, but it was too late.

Mu Bingli slowly withdrew her hand from her chest. Her face was deathly pale, but a faint smile played on her lips. At her fingertip, a small, translucent, diamond-shaped ice crystal, no bigger than a thumb and radiating extreme cold, floated silently.

The ice crystal was breathtakingly beautiful, like the purest treasure in the world. However, everyone present could feel a terrifying power emanating from that small ice crystal, a power capable of freezing one's soul!

"This...this is...the primordial crystallization of the [Ice Soul Divine Soul]?!"

Lin Ziling gasped in shock. As a scholarly genius, she recognized its origin at a glance! This was a supreme treasure condensed by Mu Bingli using her own soul essence and talent core—essentially a piece ripped from her very being! Its preciousness far surpassed that of the [Heart of Lava]!

"Why did you do this?" Lu Yuan frowned as he looked at her, not understanding.

Mu Bingli simply shook her head, gently pushing the [Soul Ice Crystal] in front of Lu Yuan. "You gave me a new life," her voice was soft, yet exceptionally firm, "I have nothing to repay you with, but this might be useful to you."

She knew that Lu Yuan was researching various extreme rules of power. Yan Ji had given him the ultimate fire, so she would give him the ultimate ice. This was the only way she could think of to "repay her debt," even though it was clumsy and even self-destructive, it was the most precious thing she could offer.

Lu Yuan fell silent. Looking at the pale-faced girl with stubborn eyes, he felt a kind of emotion called "touched" for the first time.

He had always considered these people as "partners" on his path to becoming a "master craftsman," or even "treasure hunters." He helped them improve their skills, and they provided him with materials and data—it was a fair exchange. However, he never expected that someone would make such a sacrifice in order to "repay" him.

"Take it back," Lu Yuan said in a deep voice. "I don't need it. I told you, this is a deal."

"You...you despise it?" Mu Bingli's body trembled slightly, and her eyes instantly reddened. This was what she feared most; she feared that the most precious thing she had given up would still be worthless in Lu Yuan's eyes.

"No." Lu Yuan sighed. He knew that if he didn't accept it, this stubborn girl might do something even more foolish. He reached out and took the [Soul Ice Crystal] that radiated extreme cold.

The moment the ice crystal touched his hand, a chill that seemed to freeze his very soul instantly swept over him! But Lu Yuan only let out a muffled groan, and with a slight turn of the [Protection of All Things] power within his body, he suppressed that chill.

"I'll take the things," Lu Yuan said, looking at Mu Bingli, each word distinct. "But I don't want a next time. Your life is your own, and it belongs to our entire team. I don't want my teammate to be an idiot who would hurt himself over trivial matters. Do you understand?"

Lu Yuan's words were harsh, even carrying a hint of reprimand. However, Mu Bingli, far from being upset, smiled instead. Her smile was like an iceberg melting and a snow lotus blooming, so beautiful that everyone present was stunned.

"Yes." She nodded emphatically. Because she understood. Lu Yuan's words, "my teammates" and "our whole team," warmed her heart more than any sweet words. She knew that from this moment on, she was no longer that lonely, icy goddess; she had companions she could rely on.

Not far away, Yan Ji, who had just been beaming with pride, watched this scene, and her smile slowly froze. She suddenly felt that her flippant kiss just now seemed... too cheap compared to Mu Bingli's life-risking "repayment of kindness." An unprecedented sense of crisis surged into her heart.

Inside the Divine Craftsman's Workshop, Lu Yuan sat alone cross-legged in the center. Before him floated two completely different things.

On the left is the still slowly pulsating [Heart of Lava], radiating intense light and heat, like a miniature sun, distorting and warping the surrounding air. On the right is the crystal-clear [Soul Ice Crystal], exuding extreme, chilling cold, like a miniature black hole, devouring all light and heat in its vicinity.

One hot, one cold; one fire, one ice. Two completely opposite forces, yet both reaching the pinnacle of their respective rules, coexist strangely in the same space. They repel and oppose each other, and at their boundary, space exhibits an extremely unstable and fragmented state.

"Sizzle... sizzle..." The faint sound of space tearing could be heard continuously.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes, his immense spiritual power splitting into two streams. One stream probed into the [Heart of Lava], sensing the raging pure yang fire and the rules of primordial magnetic energy; the other stream probed into the [Soul Ice Crystal], experiencing the absolute zero that froze all things and annihilated everything.

He was analyzing, he was comprehending, he was trying to find the possible balance between these two opposing rules. This was an extremely dangerous process; if he was not careful, and these two extreme forces lost control and collided, the resulting energy annihilation would be enough to wipe the entire East China Sea base off the map!

However, Lu Yuan was enjoying it. He could feel that his understanding of "rule weaving" was improving at an unprecedented speed!

Fire is the release of energy; ice is the stripping away of energy. They are like two sides of the same coin, seemingly opposed, yet actually sharing the same origin. If... if these two forces could be fused together... what kind of thing would be created?

A bold idea began to grow wildly in Lu Yuan's mind.

Just as he was immersed in this wonderful realization, an ethereal, emotionless voice suddenly rang out behind him: "You're playing with fire."

Lu Yuan didn't need to turn around to know who it was—"Zero," the mysterious girl who appeared and disappeared without a trace. He opened his eyes and slowly withdrew his spiritual power. "Why are you here?" he asked calmly.

Zero didn't answer his question. She walked to Lu Yuan's side, extended a slender white finger, and gently traced the constantly shattering and reforming spatial rift between the [Heart of Lava] and the [Soul Ice Crystal]. Miraculously, those violent spatial rifts were smoothed out.

"Fire and ice are two fundamental manifestations of the material world; they are one of the cornerstones that constitute this universe," Zero said calmly. "Your attempt to touch and change them is itself a provocation against the fundamental rules of the world."

Lu Yuan frowned: "A provocation?"

"Yes, provocation." Zero turned his head, his deep blue eyes looking at him quietly. "Do you think that Atlantis is the only enemy you face? No, they are just a bunch of pathetic creatures abandoned by the times. Your real enemy is far more terrifying than you imagine."

The word "zero" made Lu Yuan's heart sink slightly. He remembered the lesson that Dean Qian Sen had given him, about "high-dimensional warfare" and "the void abyss".

"Every time you forge something, every time you weave rules, you leave an indelible 'ripple' in the underlying information dimension of the world," Zero continued. "These 'ripples' are like campfires burning in a dark forest, attracting countless hungry hunters."

Zero's voice remained calm, but Lu Yuan detected an unprecedented solemnity in her words.

"You've been making too much noise lately. First, there was the Phoenix Cry and Soul Suppression in the North, and then this 'Godslaying' feast in the East Sea. The 'divine artifacts' you've created, and the 'rule fluctuations' they emit, have reached a critical point."

"You are like a child holding up the sun in the darkness. You think you are illuminating the way forward, but you don't know that you are also exposing yourself completely to the eyes of all the monsters."

"Something has already noticed you," Zero said slowly. "Something that doesn't belong to this world, something that feeds on information and rules. They are casting their gazes at you from that endless void. They are very interested in you, and even more interested in your soul that can create rules."

Zero's words sent a chill down Lu Yuan's spine. For the first time, he felt a chill that ran deep in his soul, a feeling a hundred times stronger than when he faced the S-rank Star Envoy "Azure Dragon"! It was the innate fear that a lower-dimensional being feels when facing a higher-dimensional being!

"What should I do?" Lu Yuan asked for the first time in a tone of seeking advice. He knew that since "Zero" had come to him with these questions, she must have her own purpose.

Zero shook his head: "There's no other way. Once you choose this path, there's no turning back. You can only become stronger, strong enough to terrify those 'things' that 'watch' you, strong enough to snap their 'watching' in two!"

She paused, her gaze falling on the [Soul Ice Crystal] in front of Lu Yuan: "The fusion of fire and ice is a shortcut, but also the most dangerous dead end. Once this coin is tossed, the consequences might be unbearable. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"Zero" asked finally.

Looking at the two extreme powers of ice and fire before him, Lu Yuan remained silent for a long time before finally smiling.

"Why not?" His eyes regained their usual calm and confidence. "Since I've already been targeted by a pack of hungry hunters, rather than waiting to die, I might as well make this campfire burn even brighter. I want to see whether they'll devour me first, or whether I'll drag them down from that high 'void' and throw them into my furnace, to see what kind of 'divine artifacts' I can forge using 'gods' as materials!"

Lu Yuan's words were filled with an outrageous arrogance! Even Zero's perpetually icy face showed a very subtle change. She gave Lu Yuan a deep look, as if she wanted to re-evaluate this audacious young man.

"You will bring utter disaster upon yourself," she said softly.

"Then let this calamity come even more fiercely!"

Lu Yuan laughed heartily, then reached out and grasped both the [Heart of Lava] and the [Soul Ice Crystal] in his hand!

"boom!"

A violent energy exploded in Lu Yuan's palm, half of it scorching heat that could incinerate everything, and half of it freezing cold that could freeze the soul. These two completely opposite forces, like two enraged primordial beasts, clashed wildly within his body, trying to tear him to pieces.

"snort!"

Lu Yuan groaned, his face turning deathly pale. But instead of letting go, he gripped the two legendary materials even tighter, his eyes flashing with an almost insane stubbornness.

"Trying to cause trouble on my turf? You'd better behave!"

He let out a low roar, and the dormant [Blessing of All Things] system within his body was activated to its limit at this moment! Countless golden threads, invisible to the naked eye, surged from the depths of his soul, like a net that forcibly bound the two violent energies together!

"Give it to me, melt it!"

Lu Yuan's mental power transformed into an invisible giant hammer, slamming hard into the connection point of the two energies!

"Sizzle—"

A piercing sound of energy friction echoed within his body. His body was like a boiler about to explode, with lumps of varying sizes constantly bulging on his skin, which he then forcibly suppressed.

Zero watched this scene silently. For the first time, a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes. She hadn't expected that Lu Yuan would actually dare to use his own body as a furnace to forcibly fuse these two opposing extreme rules!

That madman!

Time ticked by, and Lu Yuan's body oscillated between destruction and rebirth, his consciousness beginning to blur. Yet, he gritted his teeth, refusing to give up. He knew this was his only chance: either successfully control this new power, or be annihilated by it, his soul and spirit destroyed.

After an unknown amount of time, the two originally extremely violent energies finally gradually calmed down. They stopped colliding with each other and began to intertwine and merge in an extremely mysterious way. Finally, in Lu Yuan's palm, a constantly rotating Tai Chi symbol, half red gold and half ice blue, was formed.

A more terrifying aura of chaos, belonging neither to fire nor ice, yet surpassing both, emanated from the mark.

"It's a success..."

Lu Yuan exhaled a long breath, a mixture of icy and fiery energy. He could feel that his understanding of the rules had entered a completely new realm! He glanced down at his body, which was almost bursting at the seams, and couldn't help but smile bitterly. This time, he had indeed gone a bit too far.

Just then, a cool, soft little hand suddenly touched his back. A gentle yet incredibly pure life energy slowly flowed into his body. His damaged meridians and body began to repair themselves at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Yuan turned around and saw "Zero" standing behind him, her hand on his back.

"you……"

"I just don't want my 'investment' to go down the drain so quickly." Zero withdrew his hand expressionlessly and said calmly.