Chapter 314: Chapter 314: The Frozen Lake.

Everyone stared ahead at the scene in awe.

The surface of the lake shimmered like a vast mirror of jade.

Its frozen expanse reflected the pale light, creating a breathtaking scenery.

A faint mist hovered over the water, curling and drifting gently as if the lake itself was breathing.

Even from a distance, they could feel it… that chilling aura.

It was not the ordinary cold of ice… but something deeper.

Something that seem to seeped into the bones and brushed directly against one soul.

Shen Jia instinctively hugged her arms tighter.

“This… isn’t normal ice.”

Jian Ruyi frowned, her gaze sharpening.

“There is spiritual energy in it. Dense… and extremely pure.”

Liu Yanyue took a slow step forward, her boots touching softly against the frost covered ground.

Her expression gradually changed as realization dawned on her.

“There might be… a natural treasure in this lake.”

At her words, everyone’s attention sharpened instantly as they understand what that meant.

Yue Lan, however, remained quiet.

Her eyes were fixed on the lake as a strange instinctive pull rising within her chest.

“… It feels gentle and familiar,” she murmured softly.

Meanwhile,

Goldie, standing beside her, tilted its head slightly as it noticed a dozen frozen figures.

And all of them… were the puppets that Goldie was supposed to look after.

“…!”

“…!”

“~”

Suddenly, a dozen waves of intent reached Goldie in it’s mind.

All the frozen puppets seemed overjoyed at its arrival.

“…”

Goldie raised a hand and pointed toward the center of the frozen lake.

Crack!

Crack!

Thick vines suddenly burst out from the ground, stretching toward the frozen figures.

At Goldie’s sudden action, everyone followed its direction and finally noticed the frozen figures as well.

The thick vines surged forward with surprising force, shooting across the frozen surface like unleashed serpents.

They wrapped tightly around one of the frozen puppets.

The puppet’s entire body was completely encased in layers of translucent ice.

Its expression was locked in perfect stillness as if time itself had been stopped the moment it was frozen.

Goldie’s arm remained raised, silently commanding.

Then the vines tightened.

Pull!

A sharp cracking sound echoed as the vines yanked backward with immense strength.

Crack…

For a brief moment, the ice around the puppet trembled as thin fractures began to spread across its surface.

“It working !” Shen Jia exclaimed.

But the next instant—

The crack suddenly stopped.

Then, as if the lake itself had rejected the attempt…

ZING!

The thin fracture sealed shut in the blink of an eye.

The ice returned to its flawless, untouched state.

“…What?” Shen Jia blinked in disbelief.

Goldie also paused.

Its head tilted slightly, as if calmly analyzing the situation.

Then, without hesitation—

More vines burst violently from the ground.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

This time, multiple thick vines lashed forward at once, wrapping around several frozen puppets simultaneously.

Goldie clenched its hand into a fist.

Pull!

The vines strained powerfully as the ice let out a deep, groaning sound.

The ground trembled faintly under the immense force.

For a brief moment, the frozen surface actually distorted, as though something beneath it was fiercely resisting.

Slowly…

A faint, eerie chill spread outward.

And then—

Shhh

A wave of frost surged across the vines.

In an instant, the thick, powerful vines that had just been moving with such force… were completely frozen solid.

“…!”

Everyone’s breath hitched.

The vines were now completely rigid, encased in the same flawless ice as the puppets.

Liu Yanyue, who had been quietly observing, murmured softly,

“…There’s something beneath the lake.”

Everyone turned their gaze toward the center of the lake, but they saw nothing on the surface.

That’s mean whatever it was… it had to be deep below.

Yue Lan remained silent.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the lake as the faint pull in her chest grew stronger with every passing second.

“It’s not hostile,” she said softly. “It’s just… rejecting us.”

“Rejecting us?” Liu Yanyue turned to look at Yue Lan. “What do you mean?”

Yue Lan didn’t answer.

Not because she didn’t wanted to… but she couldn’t as she didn’t fully understand it herself too.

Goldie, who had been standing motionless the entire time, suddenly moved.

And without warning, It stepped forward.

Crunch.

Its foot landed firmly on the frozen lake.

Everyone stiffened.

“Goldie?” Yue Lan called out instinctively.

But the puppet didn’t stop.

Step.

Step.

Step.

It walked forward in complete silence, its black cloak swaying gently as it advanced steadily toward the center of the lake.

“… What is it doing?” Jian Ruyi whispered.

Yue Lan paused for a moment, deep in thought, before finally opening her mouth.

“The thing beneath the lake… should be what Li Feng wants.”

At her words, everyone turned to look at Goldie, who continued walking calmly toward the center.

Thin layers of ice could be seen forming on its black cloak and limbs, but they shattered instantly before they could fully form, crushed by its sheer strength and aura.

Soon, Goldie reached the center of the lake with ease.

By now, half of its body was caught in a frantic cycle of freezing and unfreezing, as if the lake itself was desperately trying to repel the invader.

Goldie looked down slightly.

Its dim eyes suddenly flared brightly… as it had found it.

The flower.

Beneath Goldie’s feet, at the very depths of the frozen lake, a single flower swayed gently.

It should have been impossible as the flower was encased under layers upon layers of ancient ice, in a place where even spiritual energy had been frozen solid…

Yet it moved… softly as if breathing.

Its petals were a pale, translucent blue, almost like carved ice, yet far more delicate and alive.

Faint streams of light flowed through them like glowing veins, pulsing slowly.

At its core, a dim glow flickered gently.

It was cold… pure and ancient.

After finally locating it, Goldie’s eyes flared even brighter.

Then, it raised one leg slightly and stomped down hard.

Bang!

Crack!

The stomp echoed across the frozen lake like a thunderclap.

From beneath Goldie’s foot, a web of fractures exploded outward, racing across the surface in cracked lines.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

But before they could say anything—

ZING!

The glow beneath the lake pulsed powerfully and the cracks… stopped spreading.

Then, they began to slowly seal themselves once more, as if the ice was regenerating.

Goldie stared at the phenomenon for a moment, then stomped again, this time much harder.

BOOM!

CRACK!

But this time, the ice could not regenerate fast enough as Goldie’s figure dropped slightly as the surface beneath it gave way.

Its method was simple.

It would simply keep breaking the ice until it reached the bottom.

Without hesitation, It stomped again.

And again.

And again.

BOOM!

CRACK!

BOOM!

CRACK!

From afar, the scene looked utterly surreal.

It was an endless cycle of destruction and restoration.

It was a crude, yet strangely effective method.

Like Goldie was relentlessly trying to force open a door that refused to yield.

Gradually, Goldie’s figure completely disappeared into the ice.

Yet everyone could still feel the powerful tremors echoing outward with each heavy strike from below.

Seeing that Goldie had vanished beneath the surface, Shen Jia scratched her head in confusion.

“So…what should we do now?”

Liu Yanyue let out a soft sigh.

“We’ll just wait for it to come back.”

Yue Lan and Jian Ruyi nodded in agreement.

They didn’t mind waiting.

Judging from the distance and the regeneration speed of the ice, Goldie should be able to reach the depths within a day.

For cultivators like them, a single day was nothing.

But then—

As if guided by the same instinct, all of them suddenly looked up toward the distant sky.

…And there it was.

A brilliant blue light descended slowly… like a teardrop falling from the heavens.

At first, it was nothing more than a speck… a faint glimmer of blue against the endless sky.

But as it descended, the blue light swelled… growing brighter and more intense with every passing moment.

HUMM…

A surge of pure spiritual energy swept through the entire secret realm, causing the atmosphere itself to tremble.

Though it was still far away, its brilliance was so overwhelming that every cultivator in the secret realm could see it clearly.

As it continued to fall, faint ripples spread across the sky like invisible waves, warping the very fabric of space around it.

Auspicious omens manifested in its wake.

As a majestic and massive blue phoenix formed from glowing wisps of light appeared, gracefully circling the blue radiance as though escorting a sacred treasure.

And an ancient, primordial aura that seemed to predate time itself washed over the land.

“…What is that?” Jian Ruyi whispered, her eyes locked on the falling light.

But no one answered.

None of them had ever seen anything like it before.

Yet they all understood one thing instinctively:

This was an opportunity… and an extraordinary one at that.

Without a word, they exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

Then, all of them turned and rushed toward the direction where the blue light was falling.

_

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_

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A while earlier,

Deep inside the forest somewhere.

The area in the surronding looked as though a devastating battle had just taken place.

The earth had shifted unnaturally, and several mountains had collapsed, as countless sword slashes appeared across the ground.

A man from the Earth Dragon Sect could be seen, badly injured.

His massive frame was covered in blood as heavy chains bound him to the ground.

…It was Tie Shan, the strongest outer sect genius of the Earth Dragon Sect.

Standing in front of him was Yan Moxuan, who had his arms crossed and was sneering arrogantly at the body-tempering genius.

“Hmph! I thought you be impressive after what that guy told me, but you’re just like the rest… pathetically weak.”

Yan Moxuan turned his head and called out,

“Ye Mo, didn’t you say this guy was a monster? Are you sure your strongest ’Life’ isn’t simply too weak?”

Just then, a casual voice echoed through the air

“Ahh~ Brother Yan, I swear I didn’t lie! I really lost two of my life this time!

Ye Mo stepped out from the tree behind him, both hands raised with a helpless wry smile on his face.

“Not to mention my weakest life, but I even lost my strongest too! You of all people should know how terrifying my Primordial Tri-Life Physique is!”

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