Apotheosis

They had to step carefully since, according to Elizabeth, the Cold Prisons were horrible and dangerous.

Fortunately, the prisons were special. The temperature inside was indeed extremely low, but it would not hurt them even if they got very close.

"Did you say that the Cold Prisons are not the coldest, but the third coldest?" Zen asked questioning how that could be true.

From what he had seen just now, it seemed the temperature inside was already low to the extreme. Under such a temperature, even time and space had undergone a qualitative change; he found it hard to imagine an environment that could be colder than that.

"You will soon see the second coldest place," said Elizabeth. "But the place with the lowest temperature on the Other Shore is said to be on Stage Thirty-three. I have only heard of it, never seen it."

"I'll soon see the second coldest place..."

Zen repeated to himself, trying to restrain his curiosity. He walked slowly on the path between the Cold Prisons, under the protection of the Divine Fire Shield.

It took them about an hour to pass through the low-lying area filled with Cold Prisons and then, a huge frozen structure appeared before Zen.

"A temple?" Zen wondered as he looked at it closely.

"It could be, but no one can be sure," Elizabeth replied shrugging her shoulders.

It looked like a frozen temple, but its style was very unique in that it looked more like a huge metal box than a traditional temple.

"What civilization would construct a temple like this?" Libby asked shaking her head in confusion and astonishment.

"Has anyone explored this temple before?" Zen asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Look carefully at the ice on the outer layer."

Zen stared at it for a while and then raised his eyebrows slightly at what he discovered.

This layer of ice gave off a great deal of pressure, somewhat similar to that of the Cold Prisons.

"This box has the second lowest temperature," Elizabeth said indifferently. "In a Cold Prison, it would take almost all the water in a sea to create a thumb-sized ice cube. Look over there..."

Not far away, on the left, was a very special looking Cold Prison. The others were empty, but this Cold Prison held a small ice cube the size of a thumb in the center.

for countless years.

No one had even gotten close to it, let alone seen it move.

The sudden change had startled her.

"Crack!"

The ice on the surface of the metal box cracked.

If a thumb-sized ice cube would require the water of a sea to be condensed into it, one could only imagine the kind of power needed to break such thick ice.

"Retreat! Hurry!"

An ice block the size of a fist fell from above and crashed into the ice field.

"Crack!"

This highly condensed ice block held an amount of water equivalent to a huge sea the size of several provinces.

The upper ice field was unable to support it at all. The ice block smashed right into it, penetrating the thick layer of ice, and smashing into the lower ice field.

Luckily, this area on the lower ice field was unpopulated. The ice block had not fallen on any living creatures. The only damage caused was a small pit in the ground, left by the ice block before it disappeared without a trace...

Many more ice blocks fell similarly.

To be safe, Zen, Elizabeth and Libby had all retreated. A long while later, most of the blocks of ice at the front of the metal box had fallen off.

A dark red light silently began glowing to reveal the outline of a door.

"It has a door. Does that mean we can go inside?" Elizabeth was overtaken by excitement.

She had passed by here many times and had always regarded this place as forbidden and not to be approached. Anyone who witnessed this sudden change would be as excited as she now was.