Chapter 1222: Changyang Mingyue
Jian Chen trembled inside when he heard that. After examining the frozen middle-aged man again, he felt exceptionally shocked inside. Even the ruler of the Beast God Continent, having reached the apex of Saint Emperor and only a single step away from the supreme Origin realm, had frozen to death here as well. The shock that it brought Jian Chen was far greater than seeing the thirty-odd Saint Emperors and Class 9 Magical Beasts earlier.
The power of peak Saint Emperors was incomparable to regular Saint Emperors. The difference was akin to the Ninth Heavenly Layer of Saint Ruler and the First Heavenly Layer of Saint King or Saint Kings at Great Perfection and those who had only recently became Saint Kings. Although they belonged to the same level of cultivation, the disparity was enormous.
Not only was Urton a peak Saint Emperor, he was a beast of antiquity as well. He was even more powerful than human peak Saint Emperors, and it would be true to call him the strongest beneath the Origin realm. Yet, even someone like Urton could not avoid being frozen into a statue. Not only this make Jian Chen and Nubis shiver inside, even Rui Jin, Hei Yu and Hong Lian felt the same.
“Five hundred thousand years ago, Urton was invincible. There was no one who could defeat him, but he actually met his end on these icy plains and did not fall in battle. This place is just too terrifying,” Nubis said in shock. He was shivering inside. His fear for this place had become much heavier after seeing Urton’s frozen corpse.
It was not just Nubis. Even Jian Chen felt a sliver of dread. The icy plains were far too terrifying; just the icy climate was enough to freeze Saint Emperors to death. No wonder the Saint Emperor ancestors of the protector clans were so fearful of the Ice Goddess Hall.
Rui Jin, Hong Lian, and Hei Yu looked at each other and became extremely solemn. Even before Saint Emperors, they had never shown such a serious expression before.
Nubis bowed deeply to Urton before continuing on with Jian Chen and the others. They did not touch Urton’s corpse, not even the Space Ring on his finger. With what they had experienced earlier, they all knew that both Urton and his Space Ring had been reduced to ice after so many years. His entire body would turn into an icy mess after the layer of ice on the surface was destroyed.
Everyone felt very heavy inside after witnessing what had happened to Urton. They did not say anything and continued on in a straight path.
After traveling for another hundred kilometers, Nubis could no longer endure it any longer as the weakest. He was sucked into the artifact space by Jian Chen. If it were not for Jian Chen’s Chaotic Body and the Chaotic Force, he probably would not have been able to last until now either. The coldness had reached an extremely terrifying level where even the Saint Force of Saint Kings could be frozen. The only reason why Rui Jin, Hong Lian, and Hei Yu could continue on was because they used their own great powers along with the origin energy armor.
However, they knew very well that the coldness was far weaker than several hundreds of thousand years ago. Otherwise, they would not have been able to make it further than Urton with their strength as Saint Kings. They might have already been frozen into life-like statues before they had even seen the Saint Emperor statues.
They traveled another half a day, but they only traveled five hundred kilometers during that time. They were obstructed by a layer of boundless cold mist. The mist seemed to form a natural barrier, stopping them in their path.
“This mist is something else,” Hong Lian said heavily as she stared at the mist after they all had stopped. It was illogical for mist to exist at such a terrifyingly cold temperature.
Mist was fine droplets of water, yet it was impossible for water to exist in this wasteland because all of it should have frozen into ice that was tougher than steel.
“You guys stay here first. I’ll go in and have a look,” said Hong Lian. The flames on her glowed much brighter and the Scorching Godfire Hairpin appeared in her hands. She carefully made her way into the region of mist.
As soon as she stepped into the mist, a hissing sound was immediately produced from the contact of mist and flames. However, the mist was far more terrifying than anyone had imagined. Hong Lian only lasted a few seconds before her roaring flames were suppressed by the mist. Within the next few seconds, the flames had been forced back into her body. The coldness rapidly drew closer to Hong Lian, where even her fire-red feathermail became coated by a thin layer of white frost.
Hong Lian paled in fright. She had realized long ago that the mist was nowhere near as simple as it seemed, but in no way did she ever expect it to be so terrifying. Without holding back, white flames surged from her hairpin, engulfing her in a single moment.
The power of the white flames was incomparable to the power of the red flames. As soon as they appeared, the ice crystals on her melted and even the mist around her was forced back by three inches.
Hong Lian was relieved. She continued on as she protected herself with her hairpin. However, the coldness in the mist increases as she went deeper inside. Taking just the first step, the mist grew half an inch closer to her, now two and a half inches away.
When she took a second step, the mist grew another half an inch closer, now two inches away. With the third step, it was one and a half inches away, and with the fourth, it was only an inch away from her.
Hong Lian gently sighed as she looked at the white haziness that showed no signs of ending. She carefully backed off. She knew if she took a fifth step, the coldness would end up pressing against her skin and she would be frozen into a statue. Even with her origin energy weapon, it might not be enough to keep her safe.
“You should all see as well. The mist is far more terrifying than we imagined. Even I can only take a few steps. You can’t make it through it,” Hong Lian said with some dejection. She reigned supreme with fire and could conquer the cold. However, even the mist did not open a path for her even after she had brandished her origin energy weapon. She was unable to lighten up no matter what over this.
Jian Chen frowned as well. He could obviously see just how terrifying the mist was, but it seemed to form a barrier stopping them. It was boundless, so if they could not pass through it, they could only end their journey there, let alone find the Ice Goddess Hall.
At the same time, in a room completely constructed from ice, a lady, who seemed to be around twenty years of age, sat on a white piece of ice as she cultivated.
The lady was extremely pretty, such that her beauty could outshine the moon. She was completely snow-white; not only her hair, but her eyebrows and eyelashes as well.
The lady was Changyang Mingyue who had left the clan many years ago.
Suddenly, Changyang Mingyue opened her eyes. Her face lit up in surprise, and she excitedly said, “Brother, it’s my brother. I can see my brother…” With that, she leaped off the ice and ran out of the room as a white blur.
There was a room completely constructed from snow and ice, and all the decor in there was created from ice crystals. They shone brightly and were extremely pretty. Although the room was wonderfully decorated, it was all snow-white. There was only white, and the temperature there had also reached an unbelievably low level.
Compared to the temperature in the room, an eternal cavern of ice was like a scorching volcano.
A person clad in white armor sat on a bed of ice in the room. Her eyes were closed and the armor completely covered her, only revealing her eyes. Even her face was concealed.
At this moment, the door to the room forcefully swung open. Changyang Mingyue ran in with bare feet in joy as she urgently said, “Protector Shui, I can see my brother. I can see my brother. My brother’s come, and he’s been obstructed by the profound ice Qi outside. Let him in quick.” Her voice was filled with excitement. Perhaps due to being overjoyed, a faint red flush had appeared on her pale-white face.
Protector Shui slowly opened her eyes. She could not help but gently sigh when she saw how excited Changyang Mingyue was. She said, “Your majesty, can’t you just forget about them?” The ‘them’ she had mentioned was not just Jian Chen, it included all the people in the Changyang clan and all the people Changyang Mingyue once knew.
Changyang Mingyue became angered, “Protector Shui, I can never forget my brother. He will always be my brother, so hurry up and let him in.”
“Sigh,” protector Shui exhaled. Helplessness filled her eyes.