Frozen Ancient God Seal

Bai Xiaowen put away the Frost Dragon.

The passageway was rather narrow. Although the Frost Dragon could barely fit inside, it would definitely be inconvenient for it to move around. Since Bai Xiaowen did not lack the Frost Dragon's combat strength, he temporarily recalled it.

The Frost Dragon raised its head and exhaled, blasting out the large amount of dirt and ice chips it had just inhaled, then obediently vanished.

Bai Xiaowen stepped into another collapsed passageway.

As soon as he entered the passageway, the first sensation that arose was still cold.

This was somewhat strange. Generally speaking, when the surface temperature was cold, it would become relatively warmer once one entered the underground layers. Yet this place was even colder than the surface.

After going several hundred meters deeper, the temperature had fallen to the point where Bai Xiaowen had no choice but to circulate True Yuan Power to protect himself against the chill.

"Eh, this is..."

Bai Xiaowen bent down and picked up a shattered black stone. Broken symbols were engraved upon it.

Though the symbols were ancient and damaged, they still emitted a faint glow. Clearly, they were still functioning to some extent, releasing wisps of cold air.

Could the low temperature here be caused by these symbol-inscribed black stones?

Bai Xiaowen swept it with the Eye of Evolution.

Spirit Realm Rules notification: "You have obtained a special item: Frozen Ancient God Seal (Incomplete). Gather 17,737 Frozen Ancient God Seals (Incomplete), and you will have a chance to reassemble the Frozen Ancient God Seal."

Upon seeing that it required more than seventeen thousand incomplete items, Bai Xiaowen immediately lost interest in reassembling the Frozen Ancient God Seal.

The complete Frozen Ancient God Seal was probably an Artifact-grade item. The symbols engraved upon it felt somewhat familiar to Bai Xiaowen. They were clearly God's Script, much like the Planetary Boundary Stele.

Anything that could bear God's Script and still retain energy fluctuations was definitely no ordinary object.

Bai Xiaowen continued along the passageway. At times, he could see other black stones embedded in the sidewalls of the passageway, likewise engraved with the symbols of the Frozen Ancient God Seal.

Though he did not expect to reassemble the Frozen Ancient God Seal, there was no reason to leave such things behind when he encountered them. Bai Xiaowen carefully pried down each God Seal Black Stone.

Where these God Seal Black Stones were stored also mattered. Bai Xiaowen placed them separately into a small Storage Ring. Since the God Seal Black Stones constantly released cold air, mixing them with other materials could potentially cause certain property conflicts, with materials like Demon Blood being one example.

The passageway spiraled downward, extending deep underground. The farther down he went, the denser the chill became, and the more God Seal Black Stones appeared.

Bai Xiaowen released Sigdrifa and Kitz, having them help collect the God Seal Black Stones from the walls of the passageway.

"So cold, so cold... Eh, shouldn't I, as a vampire, be immune to cold?" Kitz fell into deep thought the moment he emerged.

"You're merely more resistant to cold than humans. The temperature here is extremely low, already beyond what physique alone can withstand. Just obediently use Spiritual Power to ward off the chill," Bai Xiaowen said.

"Yes, Boss." A thin layer of Black Fog rose over Kitz's body.

Sigdrifa likewise used Spiritual Power to ward off the cold. Following Bai Xiaowen's instructions, she and Kitz collected God Seal Black Stones from the passage walls, one on each side.

Bai Xiaowen formed one Daoist Mark after another and stuck them onto Kitz's forehead. Like light bulbs, they emitted a gentle glow that illuminated the increasingly dark passageway.

"Master, what exactly is this place?" Sigdrifa saw ancient mural carvings appearing intermittently upon the passage walls. They depicted men, women, winged creatures, and soaring dragons.

The mural carvings clearly told a continuous story. However, their style was extremely simplistic, and with the passage of time, many murals had been destroyed, making it difficult to discern the tale they told at a glance.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "We're inside a planet called Profound Ice Star. It looks like an Ancient Ruins site, but I don't know the specifics either."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen added, "Sigdrifa, remain by my side throughout this exploration of Profound Ice Star. Unless something unusual happens, I won't recall you. If you remember any important information, tell me promptly."

"Yes, Master."

Sigdrifa's expression turned slightly solemn. She had clearly understood what Bai Xiaowen meant.

When she had first received an infusion of Death God's Power and become a Soul Race Heavenly King, Sigdrifa had recalled some fragmented scenes from her life. They showed a ruined battlefield, towering figures like mountains, winged Valkyries charging forward, and vast armies of skeletal remains on the ground...

Bai Xiaowen had always suspected that Sigdrifa had been a Valkyrie who participated in the Gods War during her lifetime. However, after passing through Nagel, the Seventh Death God, and then him as her master, almost none of Sigdrifa's memories from life remained.

Now that they were exploring the Land of Origin, consider its other names: the Land of Fallen Gods, the Labyrinth of the Gods...

It was easy to associate them with a war between gods. Perhaps here, Sigdrifa would recall some even more important memories.

Even if she could not recover her complete memories, recalling just one or two more battle scenes from her life could help Bai Xiaowen gather more intelligence.

Bai Xiaowen felt that he was at a disadvantage in terms of intelligence within the Land of Origin.

The others were basically Chosen of a God, or at least prospective Chosen. With deities guiding them, they would obtain a great deal of intelligence about the Land of Origin before entering it.

As for Bai Xiaowen, he had merely seen the will projection of the God of Truth and obtained a small amount of information about the Land of Origin from Qiao Liqun.

Qiao Liqun definitely had many things he had not told him. That was perfectly normal. The man had no obligation to tell him anything.

Bai Xiaowen felt that the fact no deity had ever asked whether he wished to become Chosen was itself abnormal.

Putting aside selection standards as demanding as those of the God of Truth, even the worthless scum from the Hidden Society could become Chosen. Bai Xiaowen considered his own potential far from weak, so why had he failed to gain a deity's favor?

After thinking it over, it was probably related to Nagel, the dead Seventh Death God, as well as the Black Book in his mind.

Still, not becoming Chosen was a good thing. Bai Xiaowen had no desire to become Chosen and turn into a deity's puppet.

However, every gain came with a loss. Aside from not receiving a deity's gifts and guidance in terms of strength, not becoming Chosen also meant that throughout the exploration of the Land of Origin, his intelligence would always lag behind that of the others.

This required Bai Xiaowen to make full use of every possible source of intelligence around him.

"Master, be careful."

A rustling sound arose. Within the chamber below the passageway, rolling white waves could vaguely be seen.

Those two "white waves" surged up the passageway toward Bai Xiaowen—an enormous swarm of insects!