In the alliance, the more they attack me, the stronger I become!

"Hey?"

"If Volibear were to strike, we would be powerless—I've fought him head-on, and his power, enough to move mountains and fill seas, is beyond our current capabilities."

"Perhaps I can understand why you look so sad..."

"But don't worry too much, it's not a dead end yet." Cheng Xiao took the girl's hand, "We can try to ask for help from two people."

"Two people? Who?" Ashe asked.

"The probability of one being willing to help is very small, and the other..."

Cheng Xiao stood up.

"Let's go find her now."

----------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------

Lissandra smelled the spirit bear again—two days ago.

This time she was certain it was Volibear himself, not LeBlanc's machinations.

So she used her crystal ball to check the situation in the Freljord.

And today—at this moment—she opened the gates of the keep.

The frozen throne faced the corridor outside the door. The Frost Witch lightly raised her fingertips, and the ice cover that symbolized supreme power like a crown suddenly appeared, covering her blind eyes and firmly binding her beautiful long white hair.

Three figures walked slowly towards the castle, but there was no noise outside. It was obvious that the witch's guests had arrived.

"You are here."

Lissandra's calm and indifferent voice echoed throughout the castle, resounding with her majesty.

Cheng Xiao, Ashe and Sejuani entered one after another. The two girls had indifferent expressions, and it seemed that they still had no good feelings towards this witch who had ruled Freljord for thousands of years with brutal means.

In comparison, Cheng Xiao looks much more natural.

He bowed symbolically, then said with a smile, in the relaxed tone of greeting a friend: "It seems you have been waiting for us for a long time, Miss Lissandra."

"Miss...?" Lissandra was taken aback by the title, but she didn't show it on her face.

"Miss..." This somewhat delicate address, she didn't know how many years it had been since she had heard it—or perhaps never? As one of three sisters, no one had ever called her that, even before she gained supernatural powers.

Now it sounds even more awkward.

After all, she is hundreds of times older than Cheng Xiao...

"Two days," Lissandra said briefly. "Have you come all this way to discuss dealing with the Volibear?"

"Yes." Cheng Xiao did not hide it. "Just as you reminded me before, Xiong Ling is really ready to take action... This is much faster than I expected, and it even caught me off guard."

"Yeah." Lissandra nodded and waved her hand to summon the frozen chair again.

But there is only one - for Cheng Xiao.

The other two... haha, those who disrespect witches certainly don't deserve to sit down.

"But honestly, Cheng Xiao, if Volibear wanted to do it himself, even I wouldn't be able to stop him. You've fought him before, and you should understand that his terrifying power surpasses even mine."

"Maybe." Cheng Xiao really understood. "So I didn't come to you to ask you to help me fight that big bear. I just wanted you to help me find someone."

"Looking for someone? Who?"

"The one who defeated Volibear."

"Ok?"

A look of confusion crossed Lissandra's flawless face.

But soon, she thought of something...about the little-known war countless centuries ago.

The war between gods.

The one who successfully suppressed Volibear's rage...

"Ornn?" Lissandra would never forget that name.

The Bridge of Sorrow, which has stood outside the Frost Castle for tens of millions of years, was forged by that god.

"Yes, I think no one besides Ornn can withstand Volibear's wrath," Cheng Xiao said. "If Ornn is willing to take action, that foolish big bear will flee with its tail between its legs under his brother's hammer."

"Ornn..." Lissandra thought for a moment and said, "I can help you find him, but I'm not sure if he'd be willing to help—no, I think the chances of him being willing are slim."

"I understand, but I have to give it a try."

Cheng Xiao put away his smile and turned serious. Honestly, he knew Ornn even better than Lissandra did, and he knew the big goat's thoughts better.

Ornn... after the people of Hearthland were exterminated overnight, he almost became an "autistic child", ignoring everything other than forging, and unwilling to interfere in the affairs of the mortal world.

In fact, Volibear has made some small moves over the past thousands of years, but Ornn has never taken any action to stop him.

Now that Volibear is about to cause a big incident, it's hard to say whether he will pretend not to see it like before, or if he will think it's too much and help...

It’s hard to say.

But now we can only hope in him.

"Anyway, let's give it a try." Cheng Xiao took a deep breath, "If it doesn't work... we can find another way."

Hearing this, Lissandra was silent for a while.

Of course, she would never refuse Cheng Xiao's request - the child in front of her who had offended the demigod was already her most precious treasure.

She lifted her hands from the throne's armrests.

Powerful magic power suddenly erupted.

Images began to appear in the crystal ball in the center of the main castle, and the speed of flashing was much faster than usual.

Finally, the picture freezes on a dormant volcano that has been silent for many years.

"Let's go. I'll take you to see the real god..."

Chapter 70: Ice and Fire

"We are about to meet a true god."

Walking on the deserted glacier, Lissandra couldn't help but warn the three people behind her:

"His power is greater than anyone you've ever met, and his temper is more bizarre than any character you've ever known. No one can guess what's in his mind, and no one can guarantee that he will grant your request."

After a pause, Lissandra added, "The only thing that's certain is that he doesn't like others asking him for help—it was like that thousands of years ago, and it's even more so now."

Lissandra recalled some of the past... She, Avarosa, and Serilda had once asked Ornn for help. The latter agreed, but was not happy.

After helping that person, he used his supreme power to throw the shovel and fork to the end of the world to show his determination to never help others again.

"Let's give it a try." Cheng Xiao also understood Ornn's temper and personality. In fact, she didn't hold much hope for this trip - Ornn's willingness to help was the best option, but not the most likely option.

The group moved on.

Starting from the Frost Keep at the northern end of the Freljord, the journey wound its way to a place where the sun could not be seen. Here everyone lost their sense of direction, even Lissandra was not sure which direction she was heading.

She only knew that she was getting closer and closer to the demigod.

A little thought left over from tens of millions of years ago... I didn't expect it would come in handy today.

Ornn was reclusive, but she could find him.

Since the fateful battle with Volibear, no one in the Freljord has seen him again—everyone even speculated whether the Forge God had died at Volibear's claws, but Lissandra knew that Ornn had actually won that battle.

She also knew where Ornn was hiding...his so-called retreat.

On that inconspicuous volcano.

As time goes by, not many people remember what the place was called, but the "living fossil" Lissandra cannot be unaware of it.

That is the hometown of the Lu family.

This is also where Ornn first appeared.

After the extinction of the Lu family, Ornn hid himself there with a heavy heart, and used his terrifying power to cut off the mountains and dig out the glaciers, preventing anyone from approaching.

All the travelers who happened to pass by thought that there was an endless and meaningless icy wasteland, so no one bothered the isolated demigod anymore.

"We're...here."

After crossing the last cliff, Lissandra stopped.

Behind her was a road paved with ice, and the ice road she created had begun to melt - although the ice was not pure ice, it could normally last for at least several years or even decades without melting.

And here... in just a few minutes, the ice she created with magic will melt.

Beneath the cliffs lay bottomless pits, beneath dormant volcanoes lay terrifyingly high temperatures. The God of Forge hated the cold, and the place where he lived was terribly hot.

Lissandra raised her hand again and created another ice bridge across the canyon. Then, under the puzzled gaze of the other three, she returned to the other side of the cliff.

"Keep going, and you'll see that huge figure at the top of the volcano."

"Aren't you going with us?" Cheng Xiao asked.

"No. He doesn't like me." Lissandra shook her head and said frankly, "I lied to him once—back in the days of the Three Sisters. About digging the Howling Abyss and building the Bridge of Sorrow... I lied to him."

Hearing this, Cheng Xiao remembered some details and stopped trying to persuade him to stay.

The other two girls didn't say much and silently followed Cheng Xiao to continue climbing the volcano.

The hillside was strewn with black stone, scarred as far as the eye could see. The three men discovered a maze of charred foundations—the remains of a small city, yet it was not recorded on any map. This was the Hearth Town.

The final climb wasn't too long, but the intense heat underfoot made the three of them walk very slowly.

The terrifying high temperature is obviously different from the cold climate of Freljord. It is like a huge steamer here, and even the stone road under your feet is a little hot.

The two girls, who were used to the cold, couldn't stand the hot air at first, but at the same time they knew that if they took off their clothes, they would be more easily hurt by the high temperature - just like travelers in the desert always wear thick coats.

They gradually began to feel dizzy, and the soles of their feet in their boots were burned red.

In the end, Cheng Xiao, who had an immortal body, carried them on her back and was able to move forward - she held Ashe in a princess hug, with Sejuani hanging on her back.

Finally, they saw the "furnace".

Atop a high mountain, the furnace's circular dome was the only thing that looked handmade. The hearth itself was shaped like a giant ram's head, its inlaid stone slabs dotted with tufts of goat grass. In the ram's mouth was a fiery flame, bright enough to be seen even with eyes closed.

The two girls' cheeks were already red from the heat and their consciousness became blurred. Only Cheng Xiao could get close to the huge furnace.

But of course, he only has the ability to be immortal, not immune to external harm.

He just felt the heat was unbearable on the road ahead, but when he got to the back, it was like stepping into a steamer - his whole body was red, and some parts of his skin were cracked, as if he was roasted.

He endured the pain and walked around the huge furnace that was as big as a hill.

Then, behind him, he saw a figure as huge as the furnace.

And a pair of magnificent ram horns.

"God of Smelting..." Cheng Xiao called out the figure's name, his voice hoarse as if there were roasted pebbles in his throat.

The figure did not respond, but Cheng Xiao was sure that it was Ornn.

His height didn't seem very tall given his massive muscles, and his entire body showed a tendency to "grow sideways." The horns on his head were so curved and majestic that they could almost accommodate several people standing on them.

He seemed to be a little hunchbacked, but the slightly bent spine did not affect his body, which was still larger than anyone else - no, this could no longer be compared with humans, but with mountains, rivers and seas.

"Onn..."

Cheng Xiao called out again, and the huge figure finally stopped what he was doing.

Ornn, the Forge God, had been swinging his great hammer, striking something, but now he stopped.

He turned around reluctantly, his huge body and slow movements causing the entire volcano to tremble slightly.

One of his eyes was almost as big as Cheng Xiao's body - as a demigod, he could control his body to grow or shrink, and now was his most primitive form.

He stared at the mortal in front of him, his eyes revealing impatience.

But there is also a hint of doubt.