Si Han, unfamiliar with the concept of Atlantis, continued, “When it rises slightly from the extreme depths, the sensation it transmits to us is the light tremor we felt before. Now, the tremors are getting more severe, naturally indicating it’s getting closer to the surface. Once it rises again, it might not just be an earthquake; if it causes the Han Chuan to crack, the resulting damage could be even more troublesome.”

Lu Xingzhou asked, “How do we stop it from rising further? Does Lord Si have any ideas?”

Si Han shook his head, “No, I’m currently troubled and planned to report it to the Holy Lord for a decision, but now Marquis and Holy Maiden have arrived.”

Lu Xingzhou was also deep in thought. Such incidents usually have two causes: one is the rising of submarine land due to crustal movement, and the other is a shift in the position of a hidden realm space below. The underlying cause is the Ice Demon at the very bottom struggling to break free, its power causing spatial instability, with various scattered hidden realms moving erratically, and one of them is about to emerge.

Normal crustal movement should not be this rapid; for it to rise so much in half a year is unlikely. In this kind of world, the second possibility is almost certainly the case.

When he and Ye Tinglan fell into a spatial rift together, it also proved that the space beneath Han Chuan was unstable, which verified this.

To solve this problem at its root, of course, would be to eliminate the Ice Demon. But this is impossible; even in ancient times, this Ice Demon could only be sealed by chains and not destroyed. It is even more impossible for current cultivators to completely eliminate it; even if the already Qian Yuan-level Ye Tinglan and Jiang Duxu came, they could probably only strengthen the seal.

Even if they were to come, they couldn’t penetrate to where the Ice Demon is now. It’s unknown how deep it is beneath the ice layer, separated by the special ice of Dong Yue Han Chuan. Forget about drilling down, they can’t even precisely locate it.

Otherwise, Ye Tinglan would have long ago tried to resolve this potential danger that could affect her disciple, but she couldn’t, so she could only tell her disciple not to come…

The only way to bypass these strict conditions is through the formation of the Bing Yu Zong combined with Du Gu Qingli’s primordial resonance. Only Du Gu Qingli can face the Ice Demon directly with her primordial power; no one else can.

So, solving the problem at its root is currently impossible… There is only a temporary solution: try to stabilize this rising space to buy a few years of peace.

This can be solved by setting up a formation, but a formation capable of suppressing such a vast space is not easily established. It requires relatively high-end formation materials, and the nodes of the formation need to be surveyed on-site. There’s a high probability that the formation needs to be set up inside the hidden realm itself, as setting it up only outside won’t be enough to suppress it.

If they have to enter the hidden realm, since it’s almost emerging, there should be some way to get in, but they would face unknown risks. The Xuanshe they encountered when he and Ye Tinglan fell into a small hidden realm was not much weaker than Ye Tinglan. If they encounter something similar or even stronger, they might not be able to defeat it.

In any case, they are not going to face the Ice Demon directly, so Du Gu Qingli can go.

Lu Xingzhou and Du Gu Qingli exchanged glances, both understanding each other’s intentions, and then said in unison, “We’ll go take a look first.”

Si Han asked, “What assistance do you need from me?”

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment and then listed a few items, “Lord Si, please help gather these materials.”

Si Han scanned the list for a moment, realizing they were all formation stones and flags, and understood. “Understood, it will be ready soon. Are you sure you don’t need us to send powerful cultivators along?”

Du Gu Qingli hesitated, “Someone can provide support from the ice layer above… but if we go down, we might not be able to bring too many people.”

Si Han was puzzled. He didn’t immediately understand what she meant. Are you saying you can travel through ancient profound ice with people? Our cultivators from the Tian Shuang Country have studied ice for a lifetime, and only dare to claim ice affinity; no one dares to say they can achieve this…

This was Lu Xingzhou’s second visit to Dong Yue Han Chuan. The last time, he was merely a fourth-rank cultivator, only able to search for herbs and undergo trials in the outer regions; he couldn’t even enter the central area.

The closer to the center, the denser the ice became. In the very central area, the ice was so thick it was almost solid, and even with the eyesight of a third-rank cultivator, one could only see a hazy ice mist, everything seeming like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in water.

Being in it, even with Lu Xingzhou’s current first-rank strength, he felt very cold, like an ordinary person in the dead of winter. If he were any weaker, he probably couldn’t last a day.

That’s why Zhang Liying said he couldn’t conduct a detailed survey here; even standing was difficult, let alone doing any work.

But Du Gu Qingli beside him walked as if strolling in a garden, as if there was no difference between being here and being outside, not even blinking an eye.

Amidst the howling cold wind, Lu Xingzhou surveyed left and right for a long time, slightly frowning.

There was nothing, which itself goes against the intuition of a cultivation world.

Such a special place should, by all rights, contain special things, like ancient ice crystals or unique ice fruits that only grow here. Yet, it was a vast expanse of nothing.

“Don’t bother looking, there’s nothing here,” Du Gu Qingli said, sitting cross-legged on the thick ice with her sword in her arms, as if casually sitting on grass.

Lu Xingzhou asked in surprise, “Hey, did you enter the central area during your childhood cultivation? You seem very familiar with it.”

“Not when I was a child…” Du Gu Qingli calmly replied, “Haven’t you seen my childhood house? It was also in the outer area.”

Lu Xingzhou paused, “How did you know I saw it?”

They had flown here and hadn’t visited any ruins along the way.

Du Gu Qingli said, “I built that house myself; it was a cultivator’s dwelling, so it had some sensory arrangements… When you and A’nuo were hiding inside, I knew it from a thousand li away.”

Lu Xingzhou’s expression changed somewhat. At that time, Du Gu Qingli was only a third-rank cultivator; having such senses was not something an ordinary person could achieve. Lu Xingzhou himself admitted that any sensory formation he set up couldn’t transmit information over a thousand li.

There were quite a few discoverable unique aspects about this little white-haired girl.

Du Gu Qingli said, “Although I couldn’t enter the central area when I was a child, I lived here for half a year before leaving the mountain.”

“You were only fifth-rank that year…”

“Yes, is it strange for a fifth-rank to enter the central area?”

Lu Xingzhou was bewildered. He and A’nuo, both fourth-rank, could only stay on the outside.

Du Gu Qingli glanced at him disdainfully, “One of you only knows how to lust, and the other only knows how to eat. What else do you know?”

Lu Xingzhou was speechless.

Du Gu Qingli continued, “However, that half a year yielded basically nothing, somewhat wasting time. In the outer regions, one can often find special ice-type plants, rare treasures, and even ice-bottom tombs or ruins. The further one goes towards the center, there’s nothing on the surface, and the profound ice below is too thick. My strength at that time couldn’t break through, so I gained nothing. That’s why I simply left the mountain… and then my master sent me to protect Shen Tang.”

And then she met this scoundrel of a man beside her.

Du Gu Qingli’s early life was too simple; her memories were just a vast expanse of frost and snow. The human she interacted with the most was Ye Tinglan, who occasionally visited Han Chuan to see and guide her disciple.

Actually, it was also difficult for others to find rare treasures, tombs, or ruins in the outer regions. The vast Han Chuan was a completely barren place, rarely visited. Even people from Tian Shuang Country rarely came here for trials, as there was nothing.

The reason Du Gu Qingli could find things was very similar to A’nuo’s talent for affinity with plants; the ice often gave her special information, making her perception unique.

Lu Xingzhou asked, “So, because you couldn’t break through, you gained nothing, but you actually knew there were things down there?”

“Mhm, the ice would tell me where things were different.” Du Gu Qingli said with certainty, “It was vague before, not entirely clear, but now I can feel a huge, ice-sealed city below, very close to the surface.”

“Can you break into it now?”

Si Han, who had been listening for a while, couldn’t help but say, “Even if I were to strike a sword here, I could only make a small, shallow pit. Digging down is almost impossible.”

“Is that so?” Du Gu Qingli said, “I don’t think so.”

Si Han was about to say something when his eyes suddenly widened.

Du Gu Qingli’s legs, as she sat cross-legged on the ground, visibly merged with the profound ice below, as if her entire body was a single ice sculpture.

Then the ice sculpture sank further and further, changing from a full body ice sculpture to a half-body, and finally completely merged into the cold ice. Even the last wisp of white hair that disappeared seemed like frost and snow fluttering in the air.

A hand suddenly reached out from the ice and grabbed Lu Xingzhou’s ankle.

“W-what the…” a surprised cry rose, and the person was already pulled into the ice bottom and disappeared. Amidst the cold wind, Lu Xingzhou’s last words remained: “Lord Si, please have people provide support above… We’ll be back in a…”

Si Han watched, dumbfounded.

This was ancient profound ice that even a sword couldn’t penetrate, incredibly solid. How did this scene look almost like slush?

He stubbornly poked the spot where the two had disappeared, and it remained so solid that he couldn’t even make a dent.

He had heard of water evasion, fire evasion, and earth evasion, but never ice evasion… And was that state just now ice evasion? Can ice evasion carry people?

That was merging with the ice and frost, wasn’t it?

Is she truly the mistress of ice, the embodiment of the laws of frost?

A whooshing sound broke the silence, and Si Han snapped back to reality, sharply shouting, “Stop right there!”

He saw Ling Qixuan, the Sect Master of Bing Yu Zong, appear nearby, his eyes burning with fanaticism. “Indeed, it is the Ice Lord…”

Si Han retorted angrily, “I don’t care what you want to do, but don’t even think about provoking the Ice Demon at this time. No one can bear the consequences if the Ice Demon emerges! If you mess around, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

“Lord, you misunderstand. We are busy revering the Ice Lord; how could we cause her trouble? Besides, at most, we can only sense the Ice Demon; we can’t even touch it. What could we possibly scheme?” Ling Qixuan smiled, “I merely came to admire the Ice Lord’s power. If Lord Si allows me to guard here, I would be immensely grateful. If not, I will simply return.”

Si Han frowned slightly, still not entirely trusting. “Then please go back. My people and I are sufficient to provide support here.”

Ling Qixuan didn’t seem to mind, retreating with a smile, as if merely witnessing this process of merging with the ice and frost was enough to satisfy him.

In the distance, a small mechanical figure cautiously peeked out from behind an ice rock, observing everything.

Jiang Yuan sat somewhere in the outer area, stroking her chin. “Is there something wrong with this person…?”