Chi Xue, Ling Tian, and the others had been out of sight for so long that quite a few cultivators suspected they had hidden again in the Extreme Ice Plains. After all, they knew that the most dangerous place was also the safest. Many cultivators returned to the Extreme Ice Plains to search for them, and the frozen lake was undoubtedly a prime target. Among those who returned were cultivators at the Twenty-third Heaven of Near-Saint. When they dived to the bottom of the lake, it was undoubtedly the most dangerous moment for Chi Xue and the others.
But after all this time, Chi Xue and the others had made excellent progress. Most of them had reached the peak of the Twenty-first Heaven of Near-Saint, while Po Tian and Chi Xue, who had attained the highest cultivation levels, had already broken through to the Twenty-second Heaven of Near-Saint. At their current levels, they could dive much deeper into the lake. Though they still could not reach the place where Ling Tian had once hidden, they could easily conceal themselves beneath the silt and evade the Outer Realm Cultivators. Even cultivators at the Twenty-third Heaven of Near-Saint could barely reach the lake bottom, let alone dive beneath the silt.
What's more, once Chi Xue and the others sensed someone diving to the lake bottom, they deliberately concealed their auras and descended even farther. That made it even less likely that the Outer Realm Cultivators would find them.
After failing to find Ling Tian and the others yet again, the Outer Realm Cultivators were more or less certain that they were not hiding in the Extreme Ice Plains. They had no choice but to search elsewhere, and the forbidden grounds were obvious places to look.
It made sense. Cultivators came and went