Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

A bone-chilling ice cave, with its white crystals embedded in the rock walls reflecting a deep blue, frigid glow.

Countless jagged icicles of varying sizes and thicknesses hung from the cave ceiling, resembling a dense forest.

Water droplets continuously gathered from the tip of the icicles, dripping into the three-zhang-square cold pool below, making a regular, clear sound, as if it had existed since ancient times.

wow-

The surface of the cold pool suddenly broke, and amidst several splashes, Liu Yu and the other three leaped out of the water and landed on the shore.

"Such pure cold air." The woman surnamed Zhang rubbed her goosebump-covered arms, her breath condensing into white mist.

The man surnamed He appeared calm, but his tone betrayed excitement: "Although it's an abandoned mansion, it's still the work of a Nascent Soul cultivator."

The man surnamed Xu pried a glowing crystal off the rock wall, examined it briefly, and then tossed it aside: "I never expected that this senior in the sect would open up a cave in such a place with sparse spiritual energy. Senior Brother An and the others would never have guessed. Junior Sister Liu is indeed meticulous and able to find clues."

Liu Yu smiled slightly: "I also deduced this from the recorded life story and the fact that the senior's spirit beast had many dragon bloodlines."

"Alright, stop wasting time and hurry up and explore further." The woman surnamed Zhang exhaled another puff of white breath and frowned, saying, "This place clashes with my cultivation method, it's really uncomfortable."

Without further delay, the man surnamed He took the lead and stepped into the winding passageway covered with ice crystals.

The four figures quickly disappeared into the shadows.

Just as they disappeared, a light ripple spread across the surface of the cold pool, then quickly subsided.

A blurry, indistinct shadow, blending into the surrounding chill and shimmering water, silently landed on the shore.

Taking advantage of the absence of others, Lin Jingchu summoned his clone again. As soon as the clone appeared, he activated the "Concealment Technique" to hide his presence. Then, the real body and the clone drifted into the tunnel one after the other like two ghosts.

After walking for a while, they saw Liu Yu and his group stop in front of a huge, icy jade gate. The jade gate was two zhang high, crystal clear, and carved with nine coiled, insect-like dragon-like beasts.

The male cultivator surnamed Xu held a silver magic disc that shimmered with spiritual light, making hand seals and casting spells, focusing all his attention on breaking the restrictions on the door.

At this moment, beads of sweat were already visible on his forehead. A moment later, he changed to another magic artifact to break the formation.

Liu Yu and the other two waited quietly by the side. Lin Jingchu, who was also waiting, thought to himself: This art of formations still needs some refinement.

About an incense stick later, as the man surnamed Xu cast his final incantation, the Jade Gate flashed with spiritual light and opened a narrow crack inward amidst a low, grinding sound.

A chill several times stronger than normal emanated from the cracks in the door.

The eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair of Liu Yu and the other three were instantly covered with white frost.

The man surnamed He's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he shouted, "Go in!" With a swift movement, he was the first to slip through the narrow gap that only allowed one person to pass at a time. Liu Yu and the other two followed closely behind.

Lin Jingchu waited a few more breaths to make sure there were no ambushes behind the door. He then moved slightly, like a slippery fish, and quietly slipped into the doorway.

Behind the door was a spacious and towering ice crystal hall, where eighteen thick ice pillars, each requiring two people to encircle, stood tall, supporting the dome.

The surrounding ice walls and ice pillars are covered with various dragon reliefs.

Lin Jingchu's gaze swept over the ice pillar, and he noticed that there was still a faint flow of restrictive spiritual light on it.

A man surnamed Xu spoke, warning, "Be careful, don't touch these ice pillars. Although it's deduced that the cave's defensive restrictions have become ineffective due to abandonment and the passage of time, this 'Mysterious Dragon Cold Light Array' is based on cold air. Even if its offensive capabilities are reduced to less than one-tenth, triggering it would still cause extreme trouble."

Liu Yu and the other two knew this, so they all stayed away from the icicles and proceeded cautiously.

Lin Jingchu approached cautiously, stopping to carefully study the restrictions on it.

A moment later, the four members of the Yuling Sect arrived at one side of the hall. The ice wall here was no different from the others, also covered with dragon reliefs.

"This is the hidden entrance to the cave." The man surnamed Xu said excitedly, "Senior Brother He, you activate the key, I'll open this final portal."

The man surnamed He nodded and offered up the azure pearl. He, along with Liu Yu and the woman surnamed Zhang, quickly formed the Three Talents Formation and infused their magical power into the pearl.

The jewel shone with a deep blue light once more, illuminating the ice wall.

When the blue light shone on the dragon relief on the wall, the dragon's eyes suddenly shone with golden light, and the entire ice wall seemed to "come alive", emitting an even stronger chill and spiritual pressure.

The man surnamed Xu dared not be negligent. His hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, instantly casting dozens of complex spiritual spells that disappeared into the ice wall.

The ice wall trembled slightly, and frost fell in patters from its surface.

"Open!" The veins on the man surnamed Xu's forehead bulged slightly as he exhaled and spoke, casting the last spiritual incantation into his body.

The ice wall trembled violently, and a flash of light appeared on the wall, slowly revealing the outline of a blurry portal.

The man surnamed He looked excited as he stared intently at the light gate that was about to take shape.

However, after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the ice wall was still trembling, and the portal had not yet been completely stabilized.

"What happened?" The man surnamed He turned around in surprise, looking at the man surnamed Xu, whose forehead was covered in sweat. "Was there an error in activating the incantation?"

The man surnamed Xu looked confused and anxious: "The incantation is correct, and the key resonance is also correct... Could it be that it's too old and the portal mechanism has malfunctioned? Let me take another look..." As he spoke, he took out the jade slip and was about to immerse his consciousness into it.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Suddenly, an ice pillar cracked, and a large plume of milky white ice mist surged out from its surface, instantly condensing into an ice dragon with ferocious horns and clearly visible scales and claws in the air.

The nearly two-zhang-long ice dragon circled once in mid-air, and its head then locked onto the four people in front of the ice wall.

The man surnamed Xu's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in alarm, "Not good! The autonomous defense mechanism of the 'Mysterious Dragon Cold Light Array' has been triggered! Retreat quickly!"

Before the exclamation could even finish, the ice dragon twisted its body and pounced forward with a biting cold wind.

"Don't get entangled in the fight, lest you activate other Xuan Chi. Once the cold energy within its body is exhausted, it will dissipate on its own," the man surnamed Xu shouted as he retreated hastily.

Liu Yu, the man surnamed He, and the woman surnamed Zhang also summoned their flying magical artifacts and dodged in different directions, all fleeing without attacking.

But their hopes of "not triggering more" were immediately dashed.

Perhaps the fluctuations in spiritual energy caused by the four people dodging unintentionally triggered something, or perhaps there was some other reason—

Click! Click! Click!

Three sharp, cracking sounds came from different icicles in the hall.

Three more ice dragons of varying sizes climbed out of the ice pillars, shaking their heads and wagging their tails, and joined the battle.

Four ice dragons crisscrossed the hall, lunging and biting wildly, bringing with them a flurry of frost and cold.

The pressure on the four members of the Yuling Sect increased dramatically. They could no longer care about the unopened ice wall portal and scrambled around the hall, facing numerous dangers.

At this moment, the trembling ice wall's spiritual light suddenly stabilized, and a stable light gate was formed.

The man surnamed He was overjoyed and, seeing an opening, quickly rushed toward the portal.

Click!

On the side of the ice wall, another ice pillar spewed out cold air, and the fifth ice dragon revived, swinging its body to pounce on the man surnamed He.

"Damn it, what's going on!" the man surnamed He roared, forcibly twisting his body to dodge the ice dragon's attack.

Hidden in the corner, Lin Jingchu's lips curled into a slight smile. All of this, of course, was orchestrated by him in secret.

Now that the gate of light is secure, the four members of the Yuling Sect are too busy to take care of themselves, and it is time to act.

Using the frost and ice stirred up by the churning ice dragon as cover, the clone slipped into the portal like a ghost.

Inside the hall, whenever the four members of the Yuling Sect tried to approach the portal during a lull in the ice dragon's attacks, a new ice dragon would inevitably reappear nearby.

In a short while, seven ice dragons were wreaking havoc in the once quiet and empty hall.

If these ice dragons hadn't only resorted to basic pounces and claw attacks, and their offensive tactics hadn't been so monotonous, the four of them would have already perished.

Liu Yu spun around nimbly, narrowly avoiding the claws of an ice dragon once again, and shouted, "There may be unknown restrictions near the gate. Let's retreat to the passageway and discuss this further."

Having said that, she transformed into a white rainbow and turned back towards the icy jade gate she had entered through.

The other three, though unwilling, knew the situation was hopeless and followed closely behind, rushing out of the hall.

The seven ice dragons chased the jade gate to the front, but stopped in unison and turned back to the main hall.

At that very moment, several beams of light pierced through the ice dragons and accurately struck the remaining, unactivated ice pillars in the hall!

The cracking sounds continued incessantly, and at the same time, the remaining ice pillars surged with cold air, and the eighteen ferocious ice dragon shadows instantly filled almost half of the hall.

"Junior Sister Liu, what's going on...?" The man surnamed Xu looked at Liu Yu, who calmly withdrew her hand, his face full of doubt.

Liu Yu said calmly, "Since we can't force our way in now, let's activate all the remaining Frost Qi Xuan Chi. Let them release the accumulated cold energy first."

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.

So the four of them stood quietly behind the icy jade gate, peering through the crack in the door at the eighteen ice dragons that seemed to be circling and dancing aimlessly in the hall, and at the gate that emitted an alluring, soft light.