On his way back, our op mc couldn't resist seizing the defeated frozen form of the Daoist Sword Immortal.
Recognizing the potential leverage such a figure could offer, he refrained from dispatching and killing him outright.
Instead, he meticulously preserved him in a hidden chamber, contemplating the myriad possibilities he might present in the future.
Daoist Sword Immortal, once revered and feared, now lay imprisoned in a state of suspended animation, his fate hanging in the balance.
For our protagonist, it was a calculated gamble, a wager on the uncertain currents of fate.
Perhaps, in time, Daoist Sword Immortal would prove instrumental in achieving his ambitions, a pawn in a game of power and intrigue that spanned the ages.
Or perhaps, condemned to perpetual solitude, he would serve as a grim reminder of the price one pays for longevity—a fate worse than death itself.
* * *