Unlike his expectations, the appearance of the status panel didn’t bring any changes to his progress bar at all.

======== STATUS ==========

Name: Water

Remark (1/1): Melted by you.

=========================

To add salt to the wounds, there was no option to regenerate the remark as well. As a result, he wasn’t even able to make the progress percentage rise by a single decimal point. It was still stuck at 97%.

However, hope is a funny thing. At times, no matter what, it fails to appear. However, when it does...it refuses to go away easily.

’The water body...I should check its status as well!’

Although he had been exploring what the water body contained all this while, the thought of checking the status of the water body itself had never surfaced in his mind.

"Yeah...unlike the icy ground, the water body should have been there from the start..." he muttered to himself, and instead of freshening up, rushed straight towards the coast several miles away.

The cold wind continued slamming onto his face as his figure kept rushing towards the coast, anticipation growing in his heart with each passing second.

’It must be the case...Yes, I couldn’t be wrong this time...’ he thought to himself as the edges of his lips curled into an excited grin.

An hour and a half later, he was standing at the edge of a frozen cliff, looking down at the clashing water below.

The blue ice-cold water had never felt so beautiful as it did today. The next instant, he opened its status panel.

======= STATUS ========

Name: Realmic Sea

Remark (1/3): Bone-chilling cold [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

======================

The mission panel popped up next to him the very next instant.

[Progress: 97% -> 97.3%]

Looking at the increment, Yi Chen tried to deny it, but it was hard to do when the reality was being presented to him right in front of his eyes.

His chest turned heavy as all his previous anticipation drained the very next instant.

However, despite his disappointment and with perhaps the last embers of hope still lingering within him, he generated the other two remarks.

[Progress: 97.3% -> 97.8%]

Looking at the progress bar, he didn’t curse out like before.

Instead, letting out a deep breath, he fell flat on his back.

THUD!

"Gosh...I feel so exhausted," he muttered to himself, a self-deprecating smile forming on his face, "Is it because I rushed all the way here?"

The coldness of the icy ground seeped into his head, neck, and back. However, he didn’t resist it and stayed in that position.

As if it were his way of punishing himself for being a fool.

His robes soon got wet because of the ice as the cold swept through his body, making him breathe heavily in response.

However, he still lay there in the cold despite having the ability to warm himself, eyes staring at the white sky, which had stayed the same for all these years.

"I never thought there would come a time when I’d start missing the sun..." he muttered while thinking back on the last time he had witnessed it.

’Yes...it was before I entered the black tower,’ his eyes widened subtly in realisation as an image of him watching the sun setting on the horizon flashed in his mind.

"Thinking back on it...Didn’t I share my last sunset with Madam Gao?" A nostalgic smile formed on his face as he let out a chuckle. The next instant, his mood became much better.

"God...I could kill to get a glimpse of sunlight right now," he shook his head in amusement while looking at the plain white sky.

’Yeah...I think I should return now,’ he thought a few moments later. He had rushed here without telling anything to Gao Zhen, so she must be lost, seeing that he had disappeared all of a sudden.

Planting his palms against the icy ground, he lifted himself up and was about to stand up when he paused all of a sudden.

’Wait a second...’ his eyes widened in thought as he tilted his head up.

"The sky..."

He had never checked the sky’s status panel before!

However, despite this realisation, he didn’t explode with excitement like before. Having learnt from his previous disappointments, he took a deep breath to regulate his bearing.

The next instant, without pinning much hope to it, he called out the sky’s status panel.

====== STATUS ========

Name: Frozen Ice Realm

Remark (1/3): Created by the First Abyssal Sovereign [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

=====================

The first thing that caught Yi Chen’s attention was naturally the name.

’...didn’t I check the sky’s status? Why is the name taking the entire realm into account?’ he thought with a frown.

"Is it because the sky encompasses the entire realm?"

He muttered in confusion. However, his focus on this matter didn’t last long as the very next instant, the mission panel flashed in front of his eyes.

[Progress: 97.8% -> 98.9%]

"!!!"

Seeing the massive jump of more than a percent, his breathing quickened, making him tap on the regenerate option the very next instant.

[Remark (2/3): A Realm specifically made to pass down the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts (Regenerate: 25,000 EXP)]

’Yes, this is it!’

Yi Chen exclaimed in excitement, seeing the progress bar take another huge leap.

[Progress: 98.9% -> 99.7%]

With his heart beating at its fastest, he reached his hand toward the panel to regenerate the final remark.

REGENERATE!

The moment he tapped on the screen, the final remark momentarily flashed in front of his eyes before being covered by the mission panel’s pop-up.

[Progress: 99.7% -> 100%]

.

.

Ding! Congratulations!

You’ve completed the mission!

Assimilating the details regarding the Godly Meridians...Information Consolidated...

Would Host like to proceed with the transfer now? (Yes/ Later)

With the dinging sound came another pop-up urging Yi Chen to make a decision.

His hand immediately reached for the panel, and he pressed ’Later’.

If it were before, he would have instantly proceeded with the transfer. However, there was something more important that needed his attention at this moment.

Earlier, although for a brief instant, he had caught sight of something which he wanted to confirm as fast as possible.

The moment the panel disappeared, his gaze immediately fell on the status panel, quickly scanning downwards to read the final remark.

====== STATUS ========

Name: Frozen Ice Realm

Remark (3/3): Time moves 180 times faster inside the realm.

=====================

"!!!"