I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield Chapter 625 - 478: Ice Stele, Battle with the Vampire Again

A fierce blizzard raged across the vast snowy expanse, hurling tiny ice shards everywhere, while a piercing whistle cut through the frigid air.

Amid the storm advanced a lone silhouette, featuring waist-length ice-blue tresses as smooth as a cascading waterfall, swaying gracefully like rippling ice motifs in the gale, possessing features flawlessly chiseled from frost and snow—beauty so peerless it humbled even women, exuding a chilling, detached presence.

This was Lan, parted from Qin Tian.

Lan trod upon ankle-deep snow, yet when his foot rose, no trace marred the surface, as though his steps merely glided above without touching the flakes.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Abruptly, the sound of fracturing ice rumbled from beneath, and the icy ground hidden under the snow began to heave upward.

Dark beasts erupted from the earth, some lacking limbs, others whole, all shrouded in thick black energy.

Their empty sockets fixed on Lan, emitting guttural snarls as they lunged forward in a frenzy.

Lan's face stayed serene, that breathtaking countenance undisturbed, without so much as a glance toward the horde.

Just as the lead creature neared, he casually extended a finger, unleashing a surge of pale blue ice energy that rapidly expanded.

The instant after, every charging monster became encased in massive layers of frost, from toes to crowns, solidly immobilized as ice sculptures, captured mid-assault.

Next, Lan clenched his empty fist.

"Click—"

The frozen forms exploded into shards, ice chunks flying outward, disintegrating the beasts into countless fragments devoid of vitality.

Mere seconds passed to vanquish scores of foes, but to Lan, it felt trivial; he pressed onward across the frozen wastes.

With each step, a soft pale blue glow flickered beneath the snow.

Ice Elements of differing sizes emerged gradually from the drifts, radiating pristine power.

For the first time, Lan's gaze flickered with emotion upon beholding the hovering Ice Elements—their essence stirred a profound familiarity within him, as if tied to some buried recollection from ages past.

Moments later, every Ice Element, drawn by an invisible summons, streamed toward Lan in unison.

Rather than resist, Lan welcomed them openly into himself.

The initial Ice Element touched his palm and dissolved on contact, flooding his form with pure energy, while an arcane, nostalgic memory crashed into his thoughts like a relentless wave.

Visions flashed: Ice God Race warriors drilling with fervent cries, clansmen gathered in warmth reciting timeless chants, and the desperate clash against monstrous foes at the end...

Lan's frame quivered faintly, his shut eyes growing bloodshot, a crystalline tear tracing from the eye's edge down the pale chilled skin, freezing into minuscule crystals as it met the snow.

One after another, Ice Elements dissolved within him, causing wild surges in surrounding spiritual energy, his presence visibly swelling, even a subtle glow weaving through the ice-blue locks.

Still, tears streamed freer, shoulders shaking harder, those typically crystalline eyes now brimming with bewilderment and anguish.

Upon absorbing the final Ice Element, Lan whispered hoarsely, voice laced with irrepressible weeping: "Ice God Race... is this my race? Why did they all die, leaving only me alive... Who am I? Who exactly am I?"

The tempest howled fiercely, leaving him isolated on the boundless white plain, his stately form starkly solitary against the infinite drifts.

These abrupt recollections and self-revelation weighed like iron chains, casting him into profound disarray.

Suddenly, an odd summons echoed from the horizon.

No audible noise, but a psychic pull spanning distances, enigmatic yet vividly sharp, like a distant echo harmonizing with his soul, slicing past the roaring gale straight into his mind's core.

Lan jerked his head up, ice-blue hair whipping wildly, staring far ahead.

Beyond the limitless snowy field under leaden skies lay nothing unusual, yet the call intensified, directing him unerringly to one spot.

This pull felt deeply innate, etched into his very blood, infused with boundless affinity.

In that bearing lay what he had forever sought—resolutions to every tormenting riddle.

Hesitation absent, Lan strode forth, following the guiding instinct.

......

Whoosh—

Qin Tian released a puff of foul breath, which swiftly turned into white mist amid the frigid air before rapidly vanishing.

Having absorbed over twenty Ice Elements, he sensed the dramatic surge of spiritual energy bursting within his body.

Pure and untainted by any impurities, the energy from these Ice Elements could be directly assimilated without refinement, sparing him three to four months of grueling cultivation after devouring more than twenty of varying sizes.

Additionally, fragments of memories from Ice God Race warriors lingered within some of these Ice Elements.

Qin Tian shut his eyes, and those memory shards replayed in his mind like scenes from a film—the savage battlefield, the warriors' fierce roars, the fierce strikes between ice blades and monster claws...

The Ice God Race's prowess went far beyond his imagination; he even "saw" a number of Tier Eight powerhouses in battle, massive blades crafted from ice energy slashing through the clouds and splitting mountain-sized monsters clean in half.

However, the monsters' elite forces were equally daunting, surpassing the Ice God Race in numbers too. In the end, the warriors managed to hold them back only by incinerating their vital essence or invoking the clan's sacred treasures.