Chen Wuya had barely stepped out of the secret chamber when the mark in his palm was still burning hot. Without stopping, he headed straight for the floating crystal stele deep within the altar. Its surface was black, like fire-charred wood, crisscrossed with cracks. Only a faint glimmer flickered at its center.
Bai Zhi followed close behind him, her hand never leaving her sword hilt. She could feel intermittent tightening in her abdomen, as though something were gently tugging at her from within. She said nothing, merely bit down on her lower lip and forced herself to focus.
Mo Feng opened his mechanism kit and took out a fragment of a jade tally along with several rubbings of murals. He set up the instrument at the edge of the stone platform, his fingers rapidly turning the dials. "The Royal Seal has only just fused, and its energy hasn't dispersed yet. This is the best time to read it."
Chen Wuya nodded and raised his right hand, slowly channeling Ice Misaligned Force into the groove at the base of the crystal stele. A ghostly blue glow spread along the cracks, like water seeping into parched earth. Dark-red words began to emerge across the stele's surface, line after crooked, twisted line, as if someone had gouged them out with their fingernails.
"'Use pure blood to awaken the origin...'" Bai Zhi softly read the first sentence. "'Take extreme cold as the furnace, forge the Black Ice Baleful Artifact, and open the gate to the Nine Netherworlds.'"
Mo Feng's hand froze, and he looked up at her. "This doesn't sound like an inscription for a weapon. It sounds more like a record of a ritual."
Chen Wuya stared at the inscription and continued reading. "'For every snow demon woman more than three months pregnant