As Lu Xingzhou expected, the Bingyu Zong’s formation was not within or near the sect, but at the border between Bingyu Zong to the north and Dongyue Hanchuan.

Judging by the glaciers on the ground, this area already belonged to Dongyue Hanchuan, meaning that beneath lay glaciers formed by a frozen ocean, not the solid land of Tianshuang Guo.

Furthermore, this formation was currently idle, guarded by only a few people.

It was also in a remote corner, with an ice mountain blocking it, and the formation itself was nestled within a mountain hollow.

So, if they had previously used the slow method of having people secretly watch Bingyu Zong, it would have taken a long time to get any results. Now, they could head straight for the central point.

It was a grand formation, one that Bingyu Zong had likely been setting up for many generations. The entire mountain hollow, spanning several li, was within the formation’s scope, with traces of formation stones visible on the ground everywhere. It was the most massive formation Lu Xingzhou had seen in his cultivation career. While its power might not be enough to shake a thousand-li glacier, achieving the goal of “communicating with a certain entity at the bottom” was quite possible.

Lu Xingzhou “sealed” Dugu Qingli’s power and led the white-haired girl, as if leading a pig, to the center of the formation.

Dugu Qingli glared at him angrily, her face as cold as frost.

Ling Qixuan laughed beside them, thinking that if this Tianyao嫡传 escaped, he wondered how this Judge Lord would die. The young girl probably hated him to death, not even bothering to glance at him, the instigator of this formation. Her blue eyes were fixed on Lu Xingzhou.

Lu Xingzhou seemed to ignore the white-haired girl’s murderous gaze and turned to Ling Qixuan, asking, “How do we operate it? Where do we put her?”

Ling Qixuan pointed to a central spot resembling a hexagram formation. “Just place her here and fix her in position.”

“Do we need to knock her out or anything?”

“No, the more conscious she is, the better. Her Ice Soul Body will resonate more easily. But she must be immobilized; don’t let her interfere, otherwise, who knows what might happen.”

“Alright.” Lu Xingzhou arranged the white-haired girl into a bundle, like a figurine, placed her in the center of the formation, and slapped a binding talisman on her. “Is this okay?”

Ling Qixuan actually wanted to add a binding spell himself, but he felt it would be disrespectful to the Judge, as if questioning the quality of his binding talisman. After some thought, he still cast a spell. Dugu Qingli immediately felt ice mist rising around her, condensing into crystal walls that trapped her in the center, unable to move.

After doing so, he still cautiously said, “Judge Lord, please don’t be offended; safety comes first.”

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand as if he didn’t care. “How does the formation work? I’ll observe.”

Ling Qixuan said, “Then please step aside, Judge Lord.”

Lu Xingzhou retreated to the corner, with Yin Fenglaoren nervously guarding him.

Hundreds of Bingyu Zong disciples sat in formation, each in their designated position, spread throughout the mountain hollow formation. Ling Qixuan, with several high-ranking members, surrounded Dugu Qingli’s hexagram, each occupying a star eye position, holding a special hand seal.

“Crack…” Ling Qixuan activated some kind of formation eye, and suddenly, all the formation points glowed with crystal-like light. The crystals illuminated the mountain hollow, looking incredibly beautiful.

“The more beautiful something is, the more it contains murderous intent,” Yin Fenglaoren sighed beside them. “Such is the saying, ‘Red powder conceals a skeleton.'”

“Isn’t it better to deal with corpses?” Lu Xingzhou looked at him sideways. “If red powder is like a skeleton, why not just play with skeletons?”

Yin Fenglaoren chuckled, not answering.

Actually, Lu Xingzhou knew why Yin Fenglaoren suddenly uttered this sentiment. It was a subtle warning: playing with the Tianyao嫡传 and even offering her to Bingyu Zong as a formation eye was something even demonic cultivators rarely did. Killing someone was usually a clean affair. Don’t bring the undying hatred of Tianyao Shengdi upon Yanluo Dian. We just pledged allegiance to Yanluo Dian; we don’t want to become cannon fodder yet…

However, on the point of “the more beautiful something is, the more it contains murderous intent,” it was quite apt in the current scenario.

Anyone would be captivated by the beautiful sight of glittering ice crystals all over the mountain hollow, forgetting the power connecting to the underworld beneath this beautiful scene.

Dugu Qingli, at the center, felt it most acutely.

Lu Xingzhou’s “sealed her cultivation” and “binding talisman” were clearly all fakes. Her cultivation was entirely intact, and that talisman was not a binding talisman; instead, it served as protection. If she encountered unexpected harm, the talisman could instantly teleport her several zhang away the moment the harm approached.

So, Lu Xingzhou paid no mind to Ling Qixuan’s Bingyu Prison; it was something she could escape from at any time.

At this moment, Dugu Qingli’s spirit was connected to the entire grand formation, feeling her soul being pulled by the formation, extending downwards.

Dugu Qingli suppressed the urge to resist, gathered her soul, and allowed it to descend and connect.

A strange feeling also vaguely arose in her heart, as if this place was very familiar, like home.

Home… Dugu Qingli thought for a moment. She had cultivated in the glaciers since childhood. One could say that apart from the central area, which she couldn’t approach, other parts of the glaciers felt very much like home, as if she had long become one with the place. So, after reaching the third rank, was her soul particularly easy to integrate with this place, truly like coming home?

Her spirit drifted serenely, and in her ears, she seemed to hear Ling Qixuan’s surprised whisper: “How is her soul so compatible with Dongyue Hanchuan, as if she is one with this river?”

Lu Xingzhou’s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.

If the white-haired girl was formed from the so-called “origin” of the Ice Demon, and Dongyue Hanchuan was essentially a prison suppressing the Ice Demon, then the white-haired girl should not be compatible with Dongyue Hanchuan; instead, there should be repulsion and resistance.

Who would be close to the cage that imprisoned their true body? That would be ridiculous…

So, perhaps the white-haired girl truly had no connection to the Ice Demon?

Dugu Qingli herself thought the same, feeling a little more relaxed. She could vaguely hear a soul resonance and calling from the extremely deep abyss.

To be precise, it was just a ripple of consciousness, an intense “I want to get out” consciousness resonating, connecting with her through the formation, not someone calling or transmitting thoughts.

Dugu Qingli could almost see, somewhere at the very bottom of the glacier, what appeared to be shattered architectural ruins, like some ancient stone underwater palace. In the center of the palace was a humanoid body entirely condensed from Xuanbing, too blurry to see clearly, but generally much larger than a human, buried within the shattered palace.

Around the palace seemed to be a sealing formation, with indistinct chains of the Heavenly Dao intertwining, locking this demon within.

The Ice Demon exuded a terrifying icy chill, spreading outwards. The water of the originally underwater palace had all turned into ice, freezing the entire palace within it.

As years passed and seas turned into land, the palace was submerged by the vast ocean, buried and unknown.

And the new “vast ocean” was again gradually frozen by the spreading extreme cold, until the entire ocean became a glacier.

So… Dongyue Hanchuan was not just freezing the Ice Demon; this cold river itself was caused by this Ice Demon. It was originally an ocean, forcibly condensed into a glacier!

Thus, the reason for the coldness of Tianshuang Guo could also be determined: it was the result of the northern chill spreading south. This was not merely caused by the air above, but by the pervasive cold seeping from deep underground, which was also considered a problem of the earth’s ley lines.

This was still the naturally emanating icy chill of the Ice Demon after it was sealed, capable of causing such results… How vast an area did it affect? Besides creating a thousand-li cold river, it also affected a country to the south!

What if it escaped?

What a terrifying catastrophe that would be!

The people of Bingyu Zong originally hoped to find the true body of the Ice Demon through Dugu Qingli’s icy affinity. Therefore, what Dugu Qingli’s consciousness perceived was entirely under the observation of Ling Qixuan and others.

Upon seeing this result, everyone was aghast.

This discovery overturned their original beliefs. They had always thought that the Ice God was trapped in the cold river, which was like a prison, and they were the rescuers. Now, it seemed there was indeed a prison, but it wasn’t the glacier itself; the glacier was instead an extension of the Ice Demon.

If the glacier was an extension of the Ice Demon, then did Dugu Qingli’s soul, which was so compatible with the glacier as if one with it, mean that… Dugu Qingli was truly connected to the Ice Demon?

Amidst their hesitation, Dugu Qingli finally delved into the center of the palace, to the location of the Ice Demon locked by the chains of the Heavenly Dao.

Due to the presence of the restriction, Dugu Qingli’s consciousness could not go any deeper; she could only observe from a distance.

The Ice Demon was in a semi-comatose state, but it clearly still had an instinctive consciousness. The “I want to get out” consciousness Dugu Qingli felt earlier came from this. Now, being closer, the feeling was even more pronounced; there was an extremely strong ripple of thought: “You have come… are you here to take me out…”

Dugu Qingli: “…”

Do I know you?

“No… you are me, how can you escape from me…”

“Come back… you too, come back…”

Confused ripples, like a left and right brain fighting, continuously emanated. Dugu Qingli couldn’t help but respond, “I don’t know you.”

“Boom!” The Ice Demon’s body angrily opened its eyes, its huge pupils crimson like blood, radiating a chilling demonic aura. The terrifying destructive and annihilative desires made even Ling Qixuan and others, who prided themselves on being demonic cultivators, tremble with fear.

No matter how demonic, demonic cultivators still possessed some basic human morality and logic.

Innate demonic entities would not have such human thoughts. Their very existence was to turn everything they saw into an ice purgatory.

But the more this was the case, the more ecstatic Ling Qixuan and his group became.

This was the true Bingyu Zong, this was the source of power Bingyu Zong sought!

The Ice Demon furiously tried to devour Dugu Qingli but was restrained by the chains of the Heavenly Dao, unable to approach. One could only see the invisible chains vibrating, and the frozen ice stones of the shattered palace crumbled, the tremor subtly reaching upwards from thousands of li deep. The glaciers everywhere began to experience bottom tremors again, and space became chaotic.

Ye Tinglan, observing from the shadows, thought it was about time. If he didn’t act soon, something might go wrong.

Just as he was about to reveal himself to save his disciple, he saw Ling Qixuan swiftly撤 the formation and then just as swiftly撤 the ice prison that trapped Dugu Qingli.

Ye Tinglan: “?”

Dugu Qingli opened her eyes and looked at Ling Qixuan, bewildered.

Ling Qixuan, however, led his followers to kneel before her: “Greetings, Ice Lord…”

Not to mention Ye Tinglan and the white-haired girl, even Lu Xingzhou, who had meticulously planned everything, was dumbfounded by this turn of events.

What kind of development was this?