Chapter 999: Ice God Lotus

The cave dwelling's entrance was tightly sealed, its surface covered in the mottled traces of time, yet the array patterns upon it remained remarkably intact and radiated a terrifying power. Clearly, the protective wonder-array here had not dissipated with the passage of time; instead, it still possessed strength.

"Miss Qing, this wonder-array is well-preserved. I fear that even a Marquis-level powerhouse would find it difficult to force their way in," the man named Mu Yao said, frowning as he stared at the array patterns on the cave door.

Several personnel from the Golden Dragon Treasure House who were traveling with them also nodded repeatedly.

Miss Qing’s thin veil stirred slightly, and she seemed to smile as she said, "No matter. Since we have come here, we have naturally made some preparations."

She extended her right hand, and one could see that her slender palm was covered by a pristine white ice-silk glove. She slowly removed the glove, exposing a hand as flawless as fine jade to the air.

That slender, jade-like hand seemed to carry its own icy chill; merely placing it in the air caused a faint, cold mist to emanate from it.

Looking at that near-perfect pair of hands, let alone the men, even some of the girls in the group could not help but feel a sense of astonishment rising in their eyes.

These hands were simply too beautiful; they were practically like works of art.

In Miss Qing’s fair palm, a complex, deep-blue ice pattern emerged at this moment, which seemed to contain an extremely terrifying power.

She placed her palm against the cave door, and the next instant, deep-blue frost suddenly spread out from her palm, covering the cave door in just a few short breaths.

As the frost permeated, the wonder-array patterns appeared as if they were being frozen, and they actually began to dim gradually.

When the array patterns were frozen, the heavy cave door before them slowly opened.

"Let’s go. The array patterns will only be ineffective for a short time, so we cannot delay," Miss Qing said, walking into the cave dwelling first.

Inside the cave dwelling was a massive karst cave, with countless sharp icicles hanging from the ceiling, and a bone-chilling cold permeated the space.

This cave dwelling felt like a world of ice.

The group looked around with curiosity.

However, at this moment, some of the surrounding ice pillars seemed to emit strange movements. Accompanied by cracking sounds, those ice pillars actually condensed into individual ice puppets.

These ice puppets were likely a defensive mechanism; upon detecting intruders, they were naturally triggered.

Boom!

As soon as the ice puppets took form, they spewed rolling cold air and, like agile apes, began to launch attacks at the group.

"Brother Mu Yao, please help to block them," Miss Qing said.

"Rest assured, Miss Qing. You go ahead and complete your task; leave these things to us!" Mu Yao agreed instantly, then his massive resonant power erupted, and he led the group to meet the charging ice puppets.

The two sides collided, and violent energy fluctuations swept through the massive ice cavern.

Protected by Sister Jin and the other guards, Miss Qing moved forward rapidly. They navigated through complex passages while avoiding layer upon layer of obstacles. After spending quite some time, they finally stepped into an underground area filled with countless ice crystals.

This area was permeated with cold air, and countless ice flowers bloomed amidst the crystals. These flowers were deep blue in color and spat out cold light.

At the very center stood a high ice platform; its steps were formed from ice, crystal clear yet radiating an endless chill.

Miss Qing’s eyes, like frozen lakes, stared at the very top of the platform. There, a snow-white lotus was growing quietly, absorbing the cold air of heaven and earth, looking just like an ice sculpture.

The lotus petals were covered in obscure, ancient light patterns, making the snow-white lotus appear extremely miraculous.

Most uniquely, in the center of the lotus was a transparent flower bud, and inside the bud, there appeared to be a blurry human figure no larger than a palm, curled up.

Miss Qing looked at the snow-white ice lotus on the platform, ripples appearing in her eyes, and she whispered to herself, "It really is the 'Ice God Lotus'."

The so-called "Ice God Lotus" was an extremely rare heavenly treasure. For those with an ice-type affinity, it was a supreme treasure. Most importantly, when the Ice God Lotus grew to its limit, an ice spirit would be born within it.

And Miss Qing’s purpose in coming here was for this.

Once she obtained this item, her ice affinity would undergo a complete transformation, and her own compatibility with the "Ice Saint Seed" within her clan would reach the highest level.

Miss Qing moved with light steps, walking toward the ice platform step by step.

The woman named Sister Jin followed closely, her gaze scanning the surroundings with vigilance. However, at this moment, her expression suddenly changed.

She reached out abruptly, grabbing Miss Qing’s wrist, and as her red lips parted, a sharp golden light shot out, striking toward the right side.

Clang!

The golden light collided directly with a sharp sword tip, and powerful resonant power erupted, instantly shattering the sword tip into powder.

Yet, at the very moment Sister Jin struck, several figures among the guards who had been walking with them revealed murderous intent in their eyes and launched an offensive, attacking Miss Qing, who was in the center.

"Lu San, what are you doing?!" This sudden attack from their companions left Sister Jin looking stunned, and then she roared in fury.

But the guards who had launched the sneak attack turned a deaf ear, their strikes fierce as they aimed for Miss Qing’s vital points.

Miss Qing’s willow brows furrowed slightly. She formed a seal with one hand, and a bracelet made of deep-blue beads appeared on her slender jade hand, with ice light patterns engraved upon them.

She flicked her finger, and the deep-blue beads shot out, transforming into ice-crystal light shields that hovered around her, blocking all those attacks.

Clang! Clang!

As ice shards splattered, those extremely fierce attacks all returned without success, and the several figures flashed back and retreated.

Sister Jin hurriedly stood in front of Miss Qing, glaring at these figures, and shouted again, "Lu San, have you gone mad? You dare to ambush the Young Lady? Are you not afraid of the Master settling scores with you when we return?!"

These people had all been selected as Miss Qing’s guards and were originally people worthy of trust, but the fact that they would suddenly betray them left Sister Jin unable to believe it.

Facing Sister Jin’s angry rebuke, those figures remained silent and did not answer.

"Sister Jin, no need to be angry. The fact that they are acting now shows that their goal from the beginning was not to guard me, but to stop me."

"Being able to plant people into this guard team is likely not something they could have done alone," Miss Qing said calmly at this time.

Upon hearing this, Sister Jin’s heart sank. The candidates for the Young Lady’s guards had been personally selected by the Master, yet even so, they had been infiltrated. One could see how deep the waters behind this ran.

It seemed that within the Golden Dragon Mountain, there were those who did not wish to see the Young Lady obtain the "Ice God Lotus."

Miss Qing stared at those people and said again, "I imagine that besides you, there must be others, right? But they shouldn't be in the guard team. So the greatest possibility is... the Golden Dragon Treasure House here in the Tianyuan Shenzhou, is it not?"

Shortly after Miss Qing’s voice fell, a burst of laughter came from the passage behind them.

"Miss Qing is truly intelligent. It seems you have long held some wariness toward us." As the voice approached, Mu Yao was seen leading a dozen figures as they walked over slowly.

As Mu Yao walked over, he directly displayed his full resonant power, and a formidable resonant power pressure permeated this icy area.

This level of intensity had clearly reached the level of the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Stage!

His strength was in no way inferior to Zhao Yan after he had broken through with the help of a Resonance-Transforming Pill!

Feeling that pressure, Sister Jin’s expression could not help but sink. Previously, on the Golden Dew Platform, this Mu Yao had only had half a foot in the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Stage; yet looking at it now, he had clearly been hiding his strength.

As for Sister Jin herself, she was only at the Half-Step Heavenly Resonance Stage. Previously, she had been evenly matched with Mu Yao, but now it seemed she was even a notch weaker than him.

Furthermore, Mu Yao had many helpers behind him, while looking at their side, the guard team had suffered a betrayal, and their strength had waned while the enemy's had waxed.

"Young Lady, you go and take the treasure in a moment, and afterwards I will send you away!" Sister Jin whispered to Miss Qing.

Miss Qing shook her head slightly and said, "You are no match for him."

At this time, Mu Yao also revealed a gentle smile and said, "Miss Qing, we do not wish to harm you, but this 'Ice God Lotus' really cannot fall into your hands. If you are willing to give it up, we can escort you away."

Miss Qing took a step forward, her thin veil stirring, and she seemed to smile: "Alright."

Hearing her answer so readily, Mu Yao was taken aback. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Miss Qing raise her jade hand, and deep-blue ice patterns emerged in her palm.

Boom!

The next instant, a deep-blue ring of light suddenly swept out. The ring seemed to contain an extreme icy cold, and wherever it passed, everything was frozen into ice.

Including the people nearby.

Mu Yao’s expression changed drastically, and he attempted to resist with his own Heavenly Resonance Stage power, but the deep-blue ring was unexpectedly tyrannical. As it swept past his body, it began to freeze even his resonant power.

Thus, Mu Yao discovered that his body was gradually losing control and beginning to turn into an ice sculpture.

"Miss Qing, your body is also being frozen!" Mu Yao said in a deep voice.

Indeed, just as he said, Miss Qing’s attack seemed indiscriminate, so at this moment, she too was gradually losing control, with frost spreading along her delicate body.

"Young Lady!" Sister Jin cried out in alarm.

But Miss Qing reached out and tapped, and an ice talisman appeared on Sister Jin’s wrist. She said calmly, "Sister Jin, leave quickly. Find Li Luo and tell him that an old acquaintance is in trouble and ask for his help."

Sister Jin was startled. This was a struggle within the Golden Dragon Treasure House; although Li Luo was the Dragon Head of this generation of the Li Tianwang lineage, would he really intervene?

But at this moment, the freezing had already spread. Sister Jin had no time to think further and could only bolt out. Using the ice talisman to slightly block the spread of the extreme frost, she flashed through the passage.

When she looked back again, the entire passage was completely frozen. That chill made even her shudder involuntarily.

Sister Jin hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted her teeth, turned around, and sped away outside the cave dwelling.