Deep Within the Profound Ice, Another Seal Revealed

The Profound Ice Heavenly Domain lay in the northern reaches of the Chaos Depths and was renowned for its bitter cold.

Frozen Chaos Qi blanketed the region year-round, and ice accumulated over billions of years had turned even the void into a silent expanse of white.

Xuandu traveled through that silvery world, his blue-green robes fluttering slightly in the freezing wind without gathering a trace of frost.

The Chaos Bead's barrier of light circulated silently, keeping all the cold more than ten feet away.

The Azure Emperor followed behind him, emerald-green life force coursing through his newly formed body.

That warmth stood out amid the bitter cold, like a wandering patch of spring.

The deeper they went, the colder it grew.

The frozen Chaos Qi formed transparent crystals suspended in the void, reflecting their advancing figures like so many shattered mirrors.

The two beings of the Profound Ice Heavenly Domain subdued by the Northern Dao Body sensed his true body's presence from afar. Neither approached; each remained at the edge of his territory in a show of respect.

Xuandu paid them no mind. His gaze remained fixed on the even vaster silver-white expanse in the distance.

He had sensed that presence.

The closer he came to the heart of the Profound Ice Heavenly Domain, the clearer it became.

Ancient and still, like a piece of amber forgotten at the end of time.

He stopped before an enormous wall of ice.

It stretched across the void for untold tens of thousands of miles, deep blue throughout, its surface smooth as a mirror and free of any sign of carving.

Yet Xuandu could sense an exceedingly faint ripple of laws flowing silently across its surface.

It was a seal.

An extremely ancient seal, even subtler and more restrained than the seal on