Guided by the Snow Plain Giant Wolves, Xiaoqi's group traveled along the winding underground ice passages. Blue light on the ice walls served as guiding lanterns, illuminating the wolves' agile, silent figures. The passages were sometimes wide, sometimes barely wide enough for one person—interconnected like a massive ice labyrinth. The air was imbued with ancient, pure ice-attribute spiritual energy, more concentrated than the outside world yet also more peaceful—no longer carrying the God-Entombing Ice Valley's turbulence and malice.
After traveling for about half a zhang, faint flowing water sounds and brighter light came from ahead. Passing through an arched ice door, the scene before them suddenly opened up.
They seemed to have entered another world. This was a massive underground void, its dome high and distant. Countless glowing white stalactites hung like inverted swords, illuminating the entire space. In the void's center was a sizable underground lake. The lake's water was not ink-black but presented a dreamlike ice-blue,spiritual energy. Around the lake stood many dome-shaped ice houses, their structures clever, blending with the surrounding ice crystal environment.
Many Snow Plain Giant Wolves lay or roamed between the ice houses; some smaller-sized, variably-colored wolf cubs romped and played. Beyond the wolves, Xiaoqi also saw figures! They wore clothing sewn from white beast furs and some kind of tough ice-silk, their bodies similar to humans, but with slightly pale skin and mostly silver or ice-blue hair. Their eyes were clear as glacial water. Some sat by the lake, breathing the ice-blue lake'sspiritual energy; some polished certain ice crystal tools; some interacted affectionately with the giant wolves.
This was the Ice-Phantom Clan! An ancient remnant clan truly residing in the depths of the ice plains.
Xiaoqi trio's arrival immediately drew the attention of all Ice-Phantom Clan members and wolves. When they saw the wolf king leading them and that recovering wolf cub, the clan members' wariness quickly transformed to curiosity and a thread of friendliness. Obviously, the wolf king had conveyed what happened through some means.
An elder in the most elaborate robes embroidered with ice crystal talismanic patterns, supported by a young Ice-Phantom Clan woman, walked out from the largest ice house. His beard and hair were entirely white; his face was simple and plain; his eyes were deep as ten-thousand-year-old ice; his aura. The impression he gave Xiaoqi was the Golden Core True Lords he had seen in Heavenly Axis City! This must be the tribe's Great Priest.
The wolf king howled several times, seemingly reporting to the Great Priest. The Great Priest's gaze slowly swept over Xiaoqi, Aunt Su, Zhao Tiezhu, finally landing on Xiaoqi. His gaze seemed capable of penetrating hearts, seeing essence.
"Far-traveling guests, thank you for saving our child." The Great Priest spoke, his voice aged yet peaceful, actually speaking standard Continental Common Speech: "Snowclaw told me you possess a pure, warm power that dispelled the soul-devouring malice poison corroding it." What he called Snowclaw must be that wolf cub.
"Merely a small effort; Elder need not stand on ceremony." Xiaoqi respectfully saluted: "Junior Tang Xiaoqi, entering your honored land by chance, actually because of external changes..."
"We already know of Ice Evil Ancestral Lord's conspiracy and the ancient Ice Flood Dragon's awakening." The Great Priest interrupted him, his tone carrying solemnity: "The Netherwinter Abyss seal has been disturbed; the Ice Flood Dragon Elder's fragmentary soul has been awakened by blood and greed. The God-Entombing Ice Valley has become a human purgatory. And the Sacred Lotus... has also reached the moment of true maturation."
He looked up toward the cavern dome, as if capable of penetrating thick ice to see outside circumstances. "The Ice-Phantom Sacred Lotus is our clan's sacred treasure and also the core maintaining this place's ice-vein balance. It does not grow in the area you all contested. Instead, it is within the ice-vein source—'Ice Heart Secret Realm.' What appeared outside is merely its projection and escaped aura forming 'mirror-flowers water-moon.'"
Xiaoqi's heart. So it was! That gray-robed elder Ice Evil Ancestral Lord was probably merely used by others, or his inherited information was incomplete. The true Ice-Phantom Sacred Lotus was absolutely not there!
"Great Priest, what should we do now? The outside's Netherwinter True Malice and Ice Flood..." Zhao Tiezhu couldn't help asking, worry on his face.
The Great Priest looked at Xiaoqi, his gaze carrying scrutiny and a thread of expectation: "The Ice Flood Dragon Elder, though weakened by ages of sealing, its fragmentary soul stirred, its essence is still an ancient sacred beast—unreachable by brute force. To quell its fury and close the Netherwinter Abyss, only the Sacred Lotus' pure origin power can pacify and purify it."
"To enter the Ice Heart Secret Realm to obtain the Sacred Lotus, one must cross the 'Ice Wind Valley' beyond the tribe's sacred ground." The Great Priest's voice turned serious: "Ice Wind Valley is a naturally-formed extremely dangerous place, filled with 'Ice-Phantom Gale Winds' capable of tearing apart metal and stone, freezing souls. This wind is not ordinary cold wind but a transformation of highly concentrated ice-vein spiritual energy. It holds extreme rejection and destruction toward all non-ice-attribute energy. An ordinary Golden Core cultivator, without special protective methods, would also face annihilation."
The Great Priest looked at Xiaoqi seriously: "But you possess Purification power—this may become your advantage. The Ice Wind Valley's winds, though terrifying, also represent a form of 'purification'—they purify everything non-ice, forcing alignment with their extreme environment. Your purification Dao, if understood correctly, may harmonize with this principle, allowing passage."
He continued: "However, true passage requires more than just resistance. One must attune to the valley's heart, understanding the unity of ice and void, the meaning of preservation through destruction. Only then can one truly traverse it and reach the Ice Heart Secret Realm."
"Moreover," the Great Priest added, "the Sacred Lotus has sensing consciousness. It will test any who approach—testing not strength, but heart. One must possess a pure heart and true intent to potentially gain recognition."
Xiaoqi listened intently, his expression serious. The Great Priest's words were essentially telling him that this trial was not simply about power, but about understanding and alignment with certain Dao principles.
"Junior understands," Xiaoqi said respectfully. "May I ask how long the Sacred Lotus will remain in the Ice Heart Secret Realm?"
"It has already ripened," the Great Priest replied. "The moment approaches when it will either be claimed or return to void. You have perhaps three days."
Xiaoqi's gaze hardened with resolve. Three days—this was both urgent and sufficient if they moved quickly.
"I will attempt it," he declared.
The Great Priest nodded approvingly: "Your resolve is commendable. The tribe will provide assistance—ice-attribute protective artifacts and a map of the Ice Wind Valley's interior. May heaven favor the righteous."
As night fell over the tribe's settlement, Xiaoqi sat alone by the underground lake, contemplating the Great Priest's words. The path ahead was perilous, but so was the opportunity. To obtain the Ice-Phantom Sacred Lotus would not only save countless lives but also complete his own preparations for Golden Core formation.
Beside him, the rabbit spirit dozed off, and somewhere in the settlement, Zhao Tiezhu's snoring echoed. Aunt Su had retired to rest, though her eyes had carried that familiar complex expression when she looked at Xiaoqi earlier.
In the darkness of the underground world, Xiaoqi's jade pendant glowed faintly, as if resonating with something far away—the Sacred Lotus awaiting in the Ice Heart Secret Realm.