Strongest Incubus System

Damon stood for a few seconds observing the woman’s smile, unable to decide if she was a vision, a memory, or simply a walking disaster wearing a pretty face. There was something profoundly wrong with the way she spoke of absurd subjects with the same nonchalance as someone commenting on the weather. The fact that she had just mentioned ”potential catastrophes” while seeming slightly amused didn’t help matters.

The wind continued to blow around them, carrying snow across the vast white expanse that seemed to have no beginning or end. The distant fortress remained motionless on the horizon, gigantic and silent, watching the two like a sleeping entity. Damon constantly felt the presence of that place pressing on his consciousness, as if the landscape itself were waiting for something.

He finally sighed and crossed his arms.

”Since you apparently know things I don’t, perhaps we can start with the basics.”

The woman raised an eyebrow.

”The basics?”

”Your name.”

She was silent for a few seconds.

She didn’t seem surprised by the question.

In fact, she seemed more intrigued by the fact that someone still cared about it.

Her blue eyes briefly drifted to the white sky above them before returning to Damon.

”My name is Xue Lian.”

The pronunciation carried an elegant sonority.

Soft.

Ancient.

The syllables seemed to fit naturally into that frozen world.

Damon mentally repeated the name a few times.

Xue Lian.

Strangely fitting.

It sounded like the name of someone born within a snowstorm.

Or who would eventually transform into one.

”Nice to meet you.”

Xue Lian observed his face for a few seconds.

Then she let out a little laugh.

Damon didn’t like that laugh.

He was already beginning to associate it with bad news.

”Why are you laughing?”

She tilted her head slightly.

”Because that was polite.”

”I try.”

”It’s a waste.”

Damon sighed.

”You really are terrible at social interactions.”

”I spent over two hundred years isolated on a frozen mountain.”

She shrugged.

”Apparently that affects conversation skills.”

For some reason, that elicited an involuntary laugh from him.

The whole situation was too absurd to be taken completely seriously.

At least for a few seconds.

Then Xue Lian looked at him again.

And the humor disappeared.

Completely.

The change was so sudden that Damon felt an involuntary tightness in his stomach.

Her eyes became much more serious.

Much more focused.

Like someone who had finally decided to stop avoiding an unpleasant subject.

”Anyway.”

Her voice became lower.

”You’d better know my name.” Damon immediately understood the tone.

And he didn’t like it.

”Why?”

Xue Lian answered without hesitation.

”Because you’re going to die soon.”

The silence that followed seemed to absorb even the sound of the wind.

For a few seconds Damon just stared at her.

Waiting for some indication that it was a joke.

A provocation.

Anything.

But he found nothing.

No smile.

No irony.

No trace of playfulness.

She was completely serious.

Damon blinked.

Once.

Then again.

Then he pointed to himself.

”Sorry.”

He took a deep breath.

”Could you repeat that part?”

”You’re going to die.”

”I heard that part.”

”So my communication remains excellent.”

”I strongly disagree.”

Xue Lian ignored the complaint.

Which was also becoming a habit.

She walked a few steps through the snow before stopping again.

The flakes kept landing on her white hair.

But they never stayed there for long.

As if the ice itself recognized something superior.

”You really didn’t notice?”

Damon frowned.

”I’ve noticed many things wrong recently.”

”List them.”

”My hair turned white.”

She nodded.

”Correct.”

”I’m trapped in an impossible memory.”

”Also correct.”

”An extremely suspicious woman appeared out of nowhere and threatened to kill me.”

”That part was reasonable.”

Damon stared at her for a few seconds.

”I’ll ignore that comment.”

”Good decision.”

He continued.

”Besides, apparently my Qi went haywire.”

Now she nodded again.

But this time her expression became more serious.

”That’s the problem.”

Damon felt the atmosphere change again.

The wind seemed heavier.

Colder.

More attentive.

As if the world itself were listening to that conversation.

Xue Lian slowly raised one hand.

Then pointed directly at his chest.

More precisely.

At his heart.

”You possess the Pure Ice Heart.”

The words echoed strangely in that place.

Not as simple information.

But as something important.

Something ancient. Something that carried weight.

Damon observed the finger pointed at him.

Then he looked back at her.

”And that means?”

”It means you’re an idiot.”

He remained silent.

”That explanation seems incomplete.”

”On the contrary.”

She crossed her arms.

”It’s extremely accurate.”

Damon felt a growing urge to throw snow at her.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling that this would end badly for him.

Very badly.

Xue Lian sighed.

Then she finally decided to explain.

”The Pure Ice Heart is one of the rarest glacial physiques that can exist.”

Her voice lost some of its usual sarcasm.

Now it sounded like an extremely tired teacher explaining something to a troubled student.

”The body produces ice energy continuously.”

She made a small gesture with her fingers.

”Cultivation typically consists of slowly expanding the channels capable of supporting that energy.”

Another gesture.

”Then strengthen the organs.”

Another.

”Then strengthen the bones.”

Yet another.

”And only then increase production.”

Damon listened attentively.

Because, for the first time, she seemed to be truly teaching.

Without insulting him.

Or at least insulting him less.

Then she pointed at him again.

”You did the exact opposite.”

Damon already suspected this.

Even so, hearing it that way was uncomfortable.

”Explain.”

Xue Lian looked directly into his eyes.

”You emptied everything.”

The answer came immediately.

Cold.

Direct.

”You released an absurd amount of energy without possessing channels capable of supporting the flow.”

She slowly shook her head.

”Your spiritual veins didn’t rupture.”

The next pause was short.

But heavy.

”They froze.”

Damon felt a shiver run down his spine.

Even in that world.

Even surrounded by ice.

It was still disturbing.

Xue Lian continued.

”Spiritual veins are responsible for conducting energy.”

She drew lines in the snow with her foot.

”Imagine rivers.”

The strokes spread across the white surface.

”You turned them all into blocks of ice.”

Damon observed the drawing.

Trying to visualize.

Trying to understand.

And the more he understood...

The less he liked it.

Because it explained many things.

It explained the coma.

It explained the strange sensation.

It explained the abnormal behavior of the Qi.

Perhaps it even explained why he seemed trapped in that memory.

Xue Lian observed his expression. And he realized exactly the moment when understanding began to emerge.

”Finally.”

She seemed almost satisfied.

”I thought it would take longer.”

”Thank you for your trust.”

”There was no trust.”

”I noticed.”

She nodded.

”Great.”

The wind picked up again.

The snow swirled around them in gentle spirals.

For a few seconds they both remained silent.

Then Damon noticed something.

An inconsistency.

He turned his eyes to her.

”Wait.”

Xue Lian raised an eyebrow.

”What?”

”You have the same physique.”

She nodded.

”Yes.”

”You’re freezing too.”

Another confirmation.

”Yes.”

Damon pointed to her body.

The crystalline marks continued to appear and disappear beneath her skin.

Her fingers felt stiff.

Her breathing remained irregular.

Clearly she wasn’t healthy.

Not even remotely healthy.

”Then what’s the difference?”

For the first time, Xue Lian seemed genuinely amused.

Not a small smile.

Not a discreet laugh.

She actually found it funny.

”Oh.”

She placed one hand on her chest.

”We’re completely different.”

Damon crossed his arms.

”Convince me.” She pointed to herself.

”I’ve cultivated this for over two hundred years.”

Then she pointed at him.

”You decided to blow up your own body.”

Damon opened his mouth.

He closed it.

He thought.

Then he answered.

”When you put it that way...”

”It gets worse.”

”I agree.”

Xue Lian laughed again.

The sound echoed softly through the snow.

Strangely human.

Strangely warm.

Despite all the ice.

Despite all the distance.

Despite all the bizarreness of the situation.

For a few seconds she seemed just a woman.

Not an ancient entity.

Not an impossible memory.

Just someone tired.

Very tired.

Damon carefully observed the frozen marks scattered across her body.

Then he mustered the courage to say what he was thinking.

”You look fragile.”

Silence fell immediately.

For a second.

Two.

Three.

Then Xue Lian began to laugh.

This time for real.

Not an elegant giggle.

A genuine laugh.

So unexpected that Damon froze completely.

She brought a hand to her face as she tried to regain control.

Without immediate success.

The situation seemed genuinely amusing to her.

Finally, after several seconds, she managed to respond.

”Of course I look fragile.”

The laughter returned briefly.

”I’m dying.”

Damon blinked.

”What?”

”I’m dying.”

She repeated it with absolute naturalness.

Like someone commenting on rain.

Or temperature.

Or time of day.

Nothing more than that.

Damon stared at her.

Waiting for further explanation.

More context.

Some emotional reaction.

But he found none.

Xue Lian simply shrugged.

”It’s been quite a while, actually.”

Her smile remained.

Small.

Almost melancholic.

But genuine.

”And I must admit.”

She looked at the distant horizon.

At the black fortress.

At the frozen mountains.

At that endless world of snow.

”It’s taking longer than I’d like.”

Damon felt something strange at that moment.

Because for the first time since he met her...

She seemed lonely.

Not sad.

Not desperate.

But terribly lonely.

Like someone who had kept walking for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to stop.

And for some reason...

That bothered him more than the news that he himself was dying.