"They were prepared," Lin Mu said darkly. "Soone among the Ephera Sect sacrificed themselves or planted a hidden agent."
Elyon's expression was unreadable, but his aura rippled with anger. "If the nest falls, the Ice Drake line could be crippled."
Lin Mu felt torn. Every instinct scread at him to rush south and save the Elder, but if the main nest was attacked, the future of the Ice Drakes would be lost. The weight of two impossible choices pressed on him like a mountain.
The Elder's strained voice ca again, weaker this ti. "Go to the nest. The young must be protected. We can endure this for now. Save them."
Cattaleya imdiately spoke through the talisman. "Lin Mu, go. We'll head to the Elder. Monk Hushu can try to suppress the poison. If it's a spiritual toxin, his purifying techniques might help."
Daoist Chu added, "We'll assist him. I have hundreds of healing and detoxifying pills. It can at least delay the poison. You handle the intruder before they destroy everything."
Lin Mu hesitated for only a mont more, then nodded firmly, his decision made. "Understood. Keep him alive. If anything happens, send word imdiately."
He reached into his robes and pulled out a shimring talisman etched with runes of silver light, the ergency return talisman they had crafted before the operation began. Activating it required only a touch of his spiritual energy.
"Elyon, with ," Lin Mu said.
But Elyon shook his head. "No. I'll stay. Soone needs to coordinate the others and monitor the formation network. Plus we don't know if there's more enemies hidden. We cannot be sure."
Lin Mu gave him a brief nod of trust. "Then observe and hold the line." KACHA
He crushed the talisman between his fingers.
HUALA
A brilliant pillar of light erupted around him, enveloping his body. The world blurred into streaks of blue and white as the teleportation array activated, pulling him through the fabric of space itself.
The last thing Lin Mu heard before vanishing was the distant roar of the Elder Ice Drake, echoing through the mountains, a sound filled with pain, fury, and a desperate plea.
The battle might have ended, but the true danger had only just begun.
The mont Lin Mu erged from the teleportation light, he was already moving. The biting cold of the main nest struck him, but his body, still thrumming with immortal essence and strong vitality, did not flinch.
The great cavern stretched before him, its walls made of layered blue ice that shimred with the glow of ancient runes.
SHUA
Countless smaller tunnels branched off into different chambers, but Lin Mu's immortal sense swept across all of them instantly, searching for even the faintest disturbance.
"There!" He found it almost at once.
A sinister energy pulsed from deep within the nest, just outside the hatchery chamber where dozens of crystalline eggs were kept.
Each one contained the unborn form of a young Ice Drake. Their shells glead with faint frost, radiant with life essence. And standing before the sealed entrance of that sacred place was a lone figure dressed in black.
His presence radiated calm cruelty, the air around him twisting faintly with distorted ripples of space.
Lin Mu's expression hardened. His senses sharpened as he realized the depth of the Ephera Sect's depravity. Their goal had not simply been to weaken or destroy the Ice Drakes.
They wanted their future.
"They were after the eggs..." Lin Mu muttered coldly. "So that's what this was all about."
It made sense now.
If the Ephera Sect could harvest the eggs of the Ice Drakes, they could raise and enslave them from birth, molding them into obedient tools. The Ice Drakes would beco nothing more than livestock, drained for their essence and bloodline. The thought alone ignited a fire within Lin Mu's chest.
His fury erupted like a volcano.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
With a low growl, Lin Mu released his power.
The Longgui Bulwark armor manifested around his body, plates of black rock streaked with molten veins locking into place with thunderous force. His aura expanded outward, causing the ice around him to crack and lt under the heat.
At the sa ti, crimson magma tentacles surged from his back as he entered the Magma Asura form.
HISS HISS HISSS
The temperature in the cavern spiked violently. The floor hissed as steam
exploded upward.
Thick plus of vapor swirled around him as the once-freezing chamber transford into a blazing inferno. Even the runes embedded in the icy walls flickered uncertainly, as if they were struggling to resist the sudden invasive
heat.
The black-robed man, sensing the change, turned his head slowly.
His face was mostly covered, only the faint outline of his eyes visible beneath the dark fabric. Lin Mu's appearance caught him off guard. The man's aura trembled, and a flicker of surprise passed through him.
But Lin Mu did not give him ti to recover.
WHOOSH
In an instant, Lin Mu burst forward.
CRACK
The ground beneath his feet shattered, sending chunks of lting ice flying in every direction. His Immortal essence surged through his veins as he activated one of his core body cultivation techniques: the Tyrant Bull Marrow Secrets. "The first skill," Lin Mu growled, his voice echoing like thunder through the cavern. "Tyrant Lift!"
His arms bulged, muscles expanding to inhuman proportions.
The armor around them grew thicker, and his immortal essence fused with his
searing energy, forming blazing horns of molten stone around his forearms. But these were no longer the ordinary horns of the tyrant bull... they glowed with
intense magma light, pulsing like the heart of a volcano.
The very air warped around them from the sheer heat.
The Ephera Sect cultivator tried to raise a barrier, but Lin Mu was already
upon him. His horned arms clashed together with the force of a collapsing mountain, aiming to crush the enemy between them.
SHUA
But just before impact, the man vanished.
Lin Mu's eyes narrowed. The rippling afterimage left behind was unmistakable.
"Spatial Qi?" Lin Mu muttered.
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