At the center of an open field of perfectly smooth ice, there was a crystal formation shaped like a lotus—delicate, radiant, and translucent. Each petal glimmered faintly with flowing patterns of silver and pale blue, releasing threads of frost energy that seemed to breathe in rhythm with the world itself. The air around it was so cold that even time seemed to slow down.

Max stopped and stared at it for a long moment. "What is this?" he muttered quietly, stepping closer.

The energy radiating from it was unlike anything he had felt before. It wasn't aggressive or forceful. It didn't burn or freeze. It simply existed—quiet, unshakable, and perfect. It felt like the embodiment of purity itself, untouched by emotion or conflict.

'So this is… an essence?' Max thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as he observed it more carefully.

The energy resonated faintly with his soul. He could feel it brushing against his consciousness, calling to him in a language that was neither sound nor light. It was peaceful, yet immensely powerful.

He raised his hand, and the frosty wind around him rippled faintly in response.

"This energy…" he whispered, his voice thoughtful. "It's pure ice essence… but not like any I've felt before."

Then the realization came. His eyes widened slightly as the answer surfaced in his mind.

"The White Lotus Essence Ice…" he said softly.

It was one of the most ancient and rarest ice essences known in the legends—a form of frost said to be born from the soul of an ancient deity of stillness. It was the ultimate essence of purity, the foundation upon which the highest forms of ice could exist.

He had heard of it before in old texts, back when he studied elemental theories in some of the books of the Black Lotus Guild and Great Ruler Empire, but he had never imagined he would actually see it with his own eyes.

The White Lotus Essence Ice stood before him, quietly radiating its otherworldly glow.

Max's expression turned solemn as he stared at it. He didn't know yet if this was the key to the fourth level concept of ice, but if anything in this realm could lead him to it, it was this.

"Looks like I finally found you," he murmured under his breath, stepping closer to the glowing lotus of frost.

Before Max could even sit down to meditate and comprehend the fourth level concept of ice from the White Lotus Essence Ice, the essence suddenly stirred. Its gentle radiance grew stronger, its form pulsing as if alive. Then, before Max could react, it rose slowly from the frozen ground and drifted toward him, gliding through the air like a living spirit of frost.

"What…?" Max muttered, his eyes widening.

He raised his hand instinctively, but it was too late. The White Lotus Essence Ice moved faster than his reaction. It reached his chest and, without hesitation, melted into pure light before piercing through his body and vanishing inside him.

For a moment, there was silence. Nothing happened.

The world around him was still. His heartbeat was steady, his breathing normal, and the surrounding frost quiet. But deep within him, something began to stir.

It started as a faint chill in his veins. Then, in an instant, it erupted.

The White Lotus Essence Ice awakened violently inside his body, releasing a surge of divine cold energy that tore through his meridians like a flood. It raced through every corner of his being, freezing his blood, his bones, and even his soul. His body turned pale as cracks of frost spread across his skin.

"Damn it!" Max growled through clenched teeth, grabbing his chest as the freezing pain intensified.

But the cold wasn't alone.

The moment the White Lotus Essence Ice tried to take root inside him, his black flames—the Devouring Essence born of his black dragon bloodline—reacted violently. It was as if the flames sensed an intruder, something entirely incompatible with their existence.

A deafening roar echoed within Max's body as the black flames exploded outward, surging to life with uncontrollable fury. Their heat was immense, burning away the frost that covered him for only an instant before it returned again, even stronger than before.

The clash began.

The ferocity of the black flames met the iciness of the White Lotus Essence Ice head-on within Max's body. The two forces collided like two primordial beasts fighting for dominance, each refusing to yield. The impact was catastrophic.

Max screamed in pain as his body convulsed, his knees hitting the ground hard. The frozen plain beneath him shattered and melted simultaneously, the land turning into a chaotic battlefield of boiling steam and jagged ice. The black flames erupted from one side of his body, devouring everything they touched, while on the other side, the divine frost froze the air solid, encasing everything in crystal.

The two elements clashed violently inside him, tearing through his organs, shattering his meridians, and threatening to destroy his physical vessel entirely. It wasn't just a battle of opposites—it was annihilation itself, a war that could not coexist in the same world, yet was happening inside his body.

Max's expression twisted in agony as he struggled to control his energy. The ground beneath him split open, magma and frost erupting together in a terrifying spectacle.

He tried to channel his Unholy Trinity Body, but even that supreme physique trembled under the pressure. The Devouring Flames were primal destruction, pure chaos and hunger, while the White Lotus Essence Ice was sacred order, absolute stillness and purity.

The clash between the two was not like the friction between two elements—it was the collision between two ideologies, two extremes of existence.

His muscles tore and regenerated again and again. His skin cracked like shattered porcelain, light leaking from the fractures—half of it burning black, the other half glowing white. His bones groaned, his blood hissed as it alternated between boiling and freezing.

Max could barely remain conscious. His teeth gritted so hard that blood seeped from his mouth. Every time he tried to circulate his energy to suppress the chaos, one side of his body would explode in flames while the other would freeze solid, undoing all progress instantly.

He could feel both energies fighting to dominate the other, consuming his vitality in the process.

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