Cold on the outside, warm on the inside—that was Grace Clark's evaluation of his future sister-in-law. She was clearly very good to him, yet insisted on putting up an unapproachable front. Still, Grace Clark had to admit, she was really cool like this.

Very adorably cool.

Grace Clark followed Emily Turner out of the library pavilion, and to his surprise, she left the Academy of Arcane Arts altogether, exited the imperial city, and headed straight for the Lin family estate.

Grace Clark followed her home, still looking puzzled as he trailed her into his own room.

At that moment, Emily Turner turned around and said, “Close the door.”

Grace Clark casually closed the door.

Emily Turner looked at him and said, “Take off your clothes.”

Chapter 007: Parents from Another World

Inside the tightly sealed room, Grace Clark was wearing only a shirt, with wisps of cold air swirling around his body.

This chill was emanating from Emily Turner, causing the temperature in the room to plummet, making Grace Clark feel extremely comfortable. At first, he thought Emily Turner was up to something improper, but now he realized she was actually creating a cultivation environment for him.

To awaken the ice arcane art a second time, one must remain in an extremely cold environment for a long period, thereby stimulating the body’s potential. But it was the hottest part of summer, and Grace Clark simply couldn’t find such a frigid place.

Unless, of course, someone with the same awakened ability created one for him.

His future sister-in-law had really gone to great lengths for him.

Grace Clark stopped letting his thoughts wander and focused all his attention on sensing the changes in his body.

He couldn’t let his mind wander anyway, because by now the room’s temperature had dropped so low that Grace Clark could barely stand it. He had to channel all his strength to resist the severe cold outside.

During this process, Grace Clark could feel the power surging within him slowly increasing.

Although the growth was slow, almost imperceptible, it was indeed improving.

People called this power “yuan force.” Yuan force was the foundation for performing arcane arts; any arcane art had to be cast through yuan force. When yuan force increased to a certain level, a quantitative change would trigger a qualitative leap, allowing the arcane art to awaken again.

An hour later, two figures emerged from the room.

Emily Turner looked a bit pale; using her ability for such a long time had greatly depleted her yuan force.

Grace Clark’s steps were unsteady. The cold environment had quickly drained his strength, and with Emily Turner continuously lowering the temperature, Grace Clark had been pushed to the point of exhaustion.

But the benefits were obvious. With her help, the yuan force within Grace Clark had grown significantly. Just now, he tried and found he could form a thin layer of ice on his hand out of thin air. Although this was the current limit of Grace Clark’s ability, it was far from the true limit of this power.

According to historical records, those who mastered the ice arcane art to the extreme could freeze mountains, rivers, and lakes with a wave of their hand, even seal an entire city in ice. It was said that in the Great Xia army, there was a mighty figure who had awakened this art six times.

And in the northern Da Luo Dynasty, there was an even more legendary figure who had awakened this ability seven times, possessing heaven-tier strength.

The climate of the Da Luo Dynasty was different from that of the Great Xia. Most regions there had long, harsh winters, and some extreme areas were covered in ice and snow all year round—perfect for people like Grace Clark and Emily Turner to cultivate this ability.

Based on the number of arcane awakenings, people divided ability users into nine levels.

From lower yellow tier, upper yellow tier, lower black tier... all the way to lower heaven tier, upper heaven tier, and the legendary supreme tier, corresponding to one awakening, two awakenings, up to nine awakenings of the arcane art.

Emily Turner had already awakened four times, reaching upper black tier strength—already a genius among geniuses. And her illustrious elder sister seemed to have awakened five times, achieving five awakenings before the age of twenty—even Grace Clark himself felt unworthy of her.

Thinking of his fiancée, Grace Clark grew curious and asked, “Lingyin, what ability has your sister awakened?”

But Emily Turner didn’t say much about it, replying coolly, “You’ll find out in the future.”

Grace Clark was determined to break off the engagement and ride free, so there was no “future” for them. He was just momentarily curious about the fiancée he had never met.

Twenty years ago, both the Zhao and Lin families were on the verge of decline, but after the Zhao family gave birth to that girl and she awakened her ability, Emily Turner’s father—Grace Clark’s nominal father-in-law—was instantly promoted from a third-rank earl to a first-rank marquis. All of this, simply because he had a daughter.

Just how special was that Zhao family daughter, to bring so much honor to her family?

Curiosity aside, Grace Clark also understood that these matters ultimately had nothing to do with him. Once the engagement was dissolved, the two would have nothing more to do with each other.

In the courtyard, David Harris watched as Grace Clark and Emily Turner came out of the room, both looking exhausted, and couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

But then, he looked up at the sky, turned around as if nothing had happened, and took off running.

David Harris dashed away, and Emily Turner also left the Lin residence.

Grace Clark walked to a corner of the courtyard, to the spot where David Harris usually trained his strength, and easily lifted a small stone lock.