30 years ago, there was a man named Fei Sheng who was summoned to another world.

  Fei Sheng was a member of five otherworlders summoned through great means to the empire as weapons against the demon lords.

  As otherworlders come to possess great power after being summoned, Fei Sheng, like his peers, quickly rose to fame and power partially thanks to his unique swordsmanship, but what made him rise above some of the otherworlders was his unique skill and blessing.

   was his unique skill, with it he had the capability to create and control ice and glaciate whatever stood in his way. His blessing - 'blessing of mana' made him have an exceptional affinity to mana to the point of being in a class of his own. It is his monstrous mana capacity that fueled his rise to power.

  5 years passed from the year he was summoned and on one particular day, he had an arranged meeting in an inn with one of the otherworlder contenders that he could call his rival in power.

  Sheng walked into the tavern holding his katana which had come to be known and recognized by all who had seen him mercilessly crush his opponents with nothing but ice and a blade.

  The inn was shabby to say the least, but it was in no way quiet thanks to the absurdly cheap prices of beer hung by the entrance. Even as Sheng looked around, customers draped in equally shabby clothing sat and enjoyed the night.

  And soon enough, he was at his own table, where he met a person he recognized all too well.

  "Garva.."

  The man had a glistening full knight armor on, which stood out like a sore thumb in the shabbiness of the place.

  Sheng took his place and sat across from the man. He took his sheathed katana and placed it on the table - a message. He wasn't there for nice talk and was beckoning Garva to get to the point of the meeting.

  "Ah , Fei Sheng my friend..." Garva began to say with his perfunctory smile but froze when he saw the katana on the table. "Ah , don't want to catch up with your old pal?"

  Fei Sheng's expression was cold to say the least, rivals in power who didn't see eye to eye didn't call each other for 'old talk' , the only thing that could come out of their meeting could only be a duel to end the rivalry.

  "You were always a person of few words, hmm." Garva held his chin as he bashfully analyzed Fei Sheng. And then he sighed and leaned in. "Fei Sheng, to tell you the truth- I have an offer for you. " He said.

  An offer ? From Garva known to shamelessly hoard every nice thing for himself ? What did he want from Fei Sheng , and what did he want in return?

  Fei Sheng was incredibly suspicious, but kept his expression neutral- he wordlessly beckoned him to continue.

  "I am sure you have heard of the rising guild known as Apotheosis, and how it's heading towards greatness and fame. Apotheosis is currently recruiting people of great power - those who join it are certainly going to be exceptionally strong and well-known in the future. I am already a member of Apotheosis, and I am sure you can tell by my recently acquired legendary knight armor that it offers great benefits for otherworlders like us, unlike other guilds. Would you like to join?" Garva smiled.

  Fei Sheng had In fact, heard about Apotheosis, a guild reserved for the elite, but he had become suspicious of it - why was it intentionally drawing powerful people to itself? What was the Guild master plotting?

  "I am afraid I won't be joining you in Apotheosis, as you already know - I have no affiliation with any guild and would like to maintain that status. I have attained this strength that I have through my own means and will continue to do so. If you have nothing else to discuss, I will be leaving you." Fei Sheng made sure to coldly reject the offer. He began standing up to leave after grabbing his sheathed katana.

  But Garva's smile didn't falter.

  "Are you sure, old friend? Why don't I show you the headquarters and show you what they have to offer, hmm?"

  Fei Sheng chose not to entertain him and strutted towards the exit.

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  Two men in shabby clothes blocked the exit. Fei Sheng recognized them as the men who had earlier been laughing amongst the other customers. In fact, he realized then that all the customers in the tavern had stood in unison and were quickly surrounding him, equipped with varying powerful weapons.

  It had been a trap all along.

  "What is the meaning of this, Garva?" Fei Sheng was making calculations in his head as he turned to face Garva, who had a wicked smile.

  "Oh, this? This is something I brought me to, you know - convince you to reconsider our offer."

  Upon close inspection, the weapons readied against him all had mana cores with mana capacity and density that put them in national class. Fei Sheng would not be escaping the encirclement in one piece.

  Time was of the essence; Fei Sheng immediately activated his skill and made the temperature of the tavern instantly plummet to the negatives; the surrounding people were upon him in seconds.

  Ranged weapons were thrown at him. It seemed they planned to kill him if they couldn't have him.

  Fei Sheng created an ice wall of three layers, that blocked most of the ranged weapons, and he dodged the remaining ones with minimal effort.

  The temperature gradually increased at a sharp gradient, and the ice wall began melting in seconds. Fei Sheng noticed that all the national-level weaponry were of the fire-type. It seemed Garva had come prepared against him.

  "God, it's sure hot - isn't it? Fei Sheng, my friend. I offered you a toast which you refused, only to drink a forfeit. No matter , if we can't have you on our side - then your body will serve just as good, Dead Or Alive." Garva had a triumphant expression on his face as he made his slow and measured advance towards Fei Sheng.

  Meanwhile, Fei Sheng was fighting against several enemies at once, who had national-level weaponry - if not for his swordsmanship, he would have lost already. But he was barely hanging on with it.

  The heat was beginning to be hellish, and he started sweating despite constantly trying to lower the temperature with his skill.

  Fei Sheng dodged a pierce towards his throat, a lunge attack, and a sweep towards his feet all at once. He willed his blessing of mana to fuel him, and he counterattacked by making a wave of sharp ice that pierced and instantly killed all three foes - mercy wouldn't get him out of the mess now.

  He continued taking down those who fought against him, while keeping a sharp eye on Garva, who was now observing him like a hawk. It seemed he was waiting for Fei Sheng to tire himself so he could land a fatal blow.

  Fei Sheng had enough of the game; he willed the blessing to provide him a large torrent of mana. Garva seemed to notice the abnormality of the mana flowing towards him, and Fei Sheng noticed as well that Garva started to activate his own unique skill. But it was too late, Fei Sheng used his skill summon a blizzard that spread outwards with him as the center. The entire inside of the tavern was encased in ice except for the exit, which Fei Sheng had craftily let remain open.

  He wasted not a single second and exited the tavern.

  From that day on, Fei Sheng was on the run - Apotheosis seemed especially determined to have him one way or the other, and Fei Sheng dreaded what they would do to him if they managed to catch or kill him. Garva was arrogant with his attempts to catch him, and that was why Fei Sheng managed to foil every one of them.

  He resolved himself on leaving the Empire completely and migrating to the north. At his point of moving from city to city to avoid Apotheosis, Fei Sheng had come to hear of the north, where a continent draped in ice was rumored to be - a continent so cold that no human could survive more than a few minutes in it before being frozen to death, even with a legendary flame-type artifact.

  It was during that migration that Fei Sheng came into contact with one of Apotheosis's attempts to capture or kill him. Garva and Mirabel's conjoined vicious attacks left him deeply wounded, his mana pathways in jeopardy. They had managed to carve off pieces of his flesh, leaving him a bleeding mess.

  If you were to ask him about the details of what happened after, Shei Feng wouldn't be able to tell you - he remembered taking a modest boat to escape the continent after using his blessing to stop his bleeding - everything after that was a blur.

  He woke up ten days later in a continent of ice, his previously life-threatening wounds only light injuries. He noticed that he had on a strange bracelet that resisted the coldness of the continent - Fei Sheng would have been able to resist the cold even without it, but he found that he needed it more than ever then.

  He could never again use his , his mana pathways were ruined beyond repair, and he could never be able to absorb and use mana even with his 'blessing of mana'.

  Three years passed, and Fei Sheng explored most of the land in the strange continent. Being powerless and unable to advance his power, he took up exploration as a hobby and consolation since he was entirely on his own. He noted down his discoveries - the large piece of land was so lethally cold that there hadn't been any monsters or beasts yet able to adapt to its harshness, and vegetation here was encased in thick layers of ice - dead.

  He was the only living organism in an entire continent.

  At the very least, he had thought so up until he moved further north towards the North Pole.

  Further north, the atmosphere gradually changed - the land became less cold as he went past the epicenter of absolute cold and diverted further north. He traveled for two more years before he came upon a strange land.

  A land that was separated from the coldness by a clear boundary, like a line separating the shore from the sea.

  A land where he met strange people who used a strange energy called Qi, and who used it to 'cultivate' and grow stronger.

  A land where he made new friends - a mortal woman of his age named Mei Li, a stubborn teenager he nicknamed 'Little Cheng.'

  A land where he was no longer known as Fei Sheng, but Wung Dao.

  Wung Dao, the genius swordman.