After the emperor finished speaking, the underground palace fell into a long, deathly silence.
A long while passed before an exceedingly faint sigh came from the mystic ice coffin, barely audible, yet it made the underground palace tremble.
"Over two thousand years... heh, heh. To think... so much time has already passed."
The voice was ethereal, laden with the weariness of countless years and a barely perceptible trace of loneliness.
"Speak, descendant. Since you have come here, you must have some use for these old bones of ours."
Though his voice was calm, the chill within the underground palace grew heavier.
The emperor nodded.
Without wasting words, he stated his purpose directly. "Yes, Ancestor. A great devil has emerged in Tai Prefecture in the south, and he is about to reach the great perfection of Divine Mansion. I wish to ask you to act, Ancestor—to slay this fiend, cow the world, and stabilize the situation for a time, buying our ancestor more time. Otherwise, I fear we will soon be unable to hold those wolves with their ravenous ambitions in check."
"Our ancestor..."
Inside the coffin, he murmured to himself.
Then he asked, "Within this mystic ice coffin, I know nothing of the passing years. How many more years does our ancestor need to attain the Saint Realm?"
The emperor pondered briefly before answering, "Ten years at the shortest, twenty or thirty at the longest. Then our ancestor will successfully refine and merge with the Heavenly Human Sacred Artifact and attain the Saint Realm."
"Ten years at the shortest, twenty or thirty at the longest... very well..."
The voice abruptly turned cold.
A terrifying killing intent spread from the mystic ice coffin.
Boom!
As his words fell, the entire mystic ice coffin exploded!
The icy mist dispersed, revealing the man