"Young Master, this..." Mu Chen widened his eyes, stamring as he looked at the crack that had split open.
Originally, it was just an inconspicuous crack, but after the earth shook, it sohow beca large enough for a person to pass through, like an open door.
At this mont, the snowfield had restored its calm, and it seed that the massive disturbance earlier was rely to open this door.
Mu Qingge pursed her lips tightly and walked towards the opened crack.
The others followed closely, not daring to slack off even a bit.
As they approached, they finally noticed that the crack was actually connected to a winding staircase leading downward. The transparent staircase seed to have been carved from ice, and it could reflect the image of anyone standing on it.
Around the staircase was a vast, open ice cave, where ice stones stood, strange and varied in shape. The end of the staircase seed to lead sowhere unknown, entirely out of sight.
Besides this staircase, there was no other path. While the others hesitated, Mu Qingge took the lead and stepped onto the staircase.
As her feet landed, the entire staircase seed to tremble, a flash of light on it, making it appear more solid. She focused completely, carefully stepping downward.
Four others followed closely behind her.
Once they were all inside, the opened crack suddenly closed, reverting to its original state.
The sound of the ’door’ closing halted the five, who turned back to look.
Though the door was shut, the cave remained brightly lit, with the ice stones shimring with a gentle glow.
"Young Master, let lead the way."
As Mu Qingge intended to continue downward, Mu Chen offered proactively.
Without waiting for Mu Qingge to agree, he moved past her, taking the lead position.
"Let’s go." Mu Qingge lowered her eyes and commanded.
The five continued to descend. The staircase rose and fell, yet always moved downward. The deeper they went, the colder it beca. Suddenly, a massive black hole appeared before them, and the staircase continued to extend into the darkness, with no end in sight.
"Young Master!" Mu Chen stopped and turned to Mu Qingge, waiting for her directive.
Mu Qingge’s gaze slightly tightened as she looked at the bottomless black hole. Within the hole, cold air seed to continuously blow, while the surrounding ice emitted a faint blue glow.
"Yuanyuan." Mu Qingge called softly.
Yuanyuan imdiately understood her intention, snapping his fingers four tis in quick succession, causing four flas to float before him. The fiery warmth of these flas rapidly dispelled much of the coldness.
Yuanyuan waved his hand, causing each fla to float before the other four. The temperature was just right to envelop them, protecting them from the invading cold, while illuminating their path to reveal their surroundings.
This scene brought a joyful expression to Mu Chen and Mu Peng.
"Keep moving, I want to see where this place leads!" Mu Qingge said sternly.
...
Half a day after Mu Qingge and her companions entered the crack, Mu Tianyin and his three subordinates arrived at the cliffside.
However, amidst this vast white world, they found no clues. The previous tremor had also covered up any signs of others having been there.
"Young Master, did the Celestial Summit provide any hints? If there’s nothing, and we continue searching like this, I’m afraid..." one subordinate bravely spoke up.
Mu Tianyin naturally understood this reasoning.
He pondered for a mont, recalling each word his ntor had spoken about this place.
Suddenly, an impression flashed into his mind.
It was from a conversation with his ntor before departure. His ntor, while discussing this space, seed to ntion that the possible location for the Divine Strategy Middle Volu was rembered due to a special mark used to hide the coordinates of a space, as instructed by the Clan Leader of the Mu Clan.
Upon completing the task, he inadvertently saw a map drawn by the Clan Leader.
"Cliff!" Mu Tianyin’s fierce eyes sparked with a sharp gleam.
A cliff?
His three subordinates looked puzzled.
Mu Tianyin’s eyes slowly narrowed, reflecting a confident glow in the slits, "The Divine Strategy Middle Volu is hidden beneath an ice cliff. The cliff’s shape is very distinctive, like a sharp sword pointing skyward, easily recognizable."
A cliff like a sharp sword pointing skyward?
The three imdiately searched the surroundings and almost simultaneously spotted the sa cliff.
That cliff was exceedingly prominent, standing out with its straight sword-like appearance, piercing the sky, in stark contrast to the surrounding glaciers.
"Young Master, over there!" one of them excitedly pointed.
Mu Tianyin’s lips curved into a confident smile, and with a swift dash forward, he kicked up the snow, blurring the vision of his subordinates.
Once their vision cleared, Mu Tianyin had already charged beneath the glacier.
The three dared not delay and hurriedly followed.
Standing before the glacier cliff, Mu Tianyin was already searching for clues. He laid his hands on the smooth surface of the glacier, carefully probing while instructing, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and find the chanism for ."
After speaking, he murmured to himself, "The Divine Strategy Middle Volu must be beneath here, and there must be a chanism to let enter. Divine Strategy, you’re mine!"
...
In the dark void, the floating steps continued to extend. Along the descending, winding steps, only four flas of Taichu Urgent Fire floated, casting faint shadows of people in their light.
"Young Master, we don’t even know how long we’ve been walking here. It seems this space has no distinction between day and night, and it’s even harder to tell ti inside this cave," Mu Chen whispered to Mu Qingge while leading the way.
Mu Qingge took out the incense given by the High Priest. What was once a stick the length of a finger had now burned down by one-third.
She silently put the incense away and said to Mu Chen, "We’ve probably been in here for two or three days."
"That quick!" Mu Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he said to Mu Qingge, "In that case, we don’t have much ti left. We must quickly find the Divine Strategy Middle Volu and also save ti to return."
"Hmm." Mu Qingge nodded slightly.
The five people quickened their pace on the winding, descending floating steps.
Perhaps another hour passed, or maybe two... Finally, they erged from the dark cave, and beneath their feet was no longer a floating step but a thick layer of ice.
"What’s going on? Could it be that we’ve gone in a circle and ended up in so ice cave again?" Jiang Li looked at the sight in astonishnt.
Before them, it was no longer dark, but what appeared was an ice cave that seed plain and ordinary.
Inside, icicles hung down, and ice pillars stood in rows, resembling a Crystal Palace.
"Since the floating steps pointed us here, let’s continue inward." Upon exiting the dark cave and not finding what she was expecting, Mu Qingge felt a sense of heaviness.
She really didn’t have much ti to waste here, and she couldn’t fathom what the ancestors of the Mu Clan were thinking to set up such a long path.
"Let’s go. We can’t just stop here," Jiang Li nodded and sighed.
The five of them continued towards the ’Crystal Palace.’ Although their sight had returned to normal by now, the chill still lingered, so Yuanyuan did not retract the Taichu Urgent Fire.
"What’s that? It’s so beautiful!" After walking for a while, Jiang Li suddenly exclaid as she looked ahead.
Following the sound, Mu Qingge saw a bright, vivid red that caught her eyes, causing them to narrow. In an instant, she widened her eyes and quickly moved towards the crimson hue.
Mu Qingge’s unusual behavior puzzled the other four.
"Is it really necessary to be so excited?" Jiang Li muttered.
They followed Mu Qingge, who had already reached a plant, squatting down and intently observing this mushroom-like, yet different, plant.
It was the only one, growing in a crevice of the ice layer. If not for its vibrant color, one might have overlooked it.
Its body bore delicate, beautiful natural patterns, resembling clouds and feathers.
"It really is the Blood Feather Ganoderma!" Mu Qingge exclaid joyfully.
"Blood Feather Ganoderma? What’s its use?" Jiang Li leaned forward, bending down curiously towards Mu Qingge. She stared at the blood-red ganoderma, but to her, it was rely a stunning sight, especially striking in this white world.
"The Blood Feather Ganoderma is key to resurrecting Mu Liancheng," Mu Qingge explained in a low voice.
She was imnsely happy at the mont, as sothing even Si Mo found difficult to locate was discovered by her in the Cold Inch.
No! She didn’t find it. Jiang Li did!
Mu Qingge turned her gaze to Jiang Li, a subtle glow in her clear eyes.
"No need to thank too much, this Empress always has good luck," Jiang Li, understanding the gratitude in her eyes, raised her eyebrows with a slight pride, flicking her hair.
Mu Qingge smiled, pursed her lips, and gently picked the Blood Feather Ganoderma, carefully storing it in a jade box and placing it in her space.
After completing all this, she breathed a sigh of relief, stood up with a refreshed spirit, and said, "Let’s move on."
Obtaining the Blood Feather Ganoderma ant there was now even more hope for resurrecting Mu Liancheng.
She had not imagined that this journey to the Cold Inch would yield such an unexpected discovery.
The five of them continued walking for quite a while until they finally reached the end.
What was called the end appeared to be an entrance to a cave-like dwelling.
In front, the ice layer appeared to be carved into a door-like shape, with three steps leading up to it. Outside the stairway, two grand ice sculptures stood on either side.
"They seem like mythical creatures!" Mu Peng gazed at the two ice sculptures, guessing.
The two sculptures appeared to be guarding this entrance.
Mu Qingge felt a strong premonition upon seeing this scene, a sense that what she sought was hidden within this tightly sealed cave.
’I think I sll the scent of Zizi,’ suddenly, Hou’s voice echoed in Mu Qingge’s mind.
Zizi!
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