Approaching the Sealing Core

Huo Yuhao paid no heed to everyone's shock. He strode straight across the plaza and headed for the only passage ahead.

The residual energy from the battle had made his spiritual perception even sharper.

He could sense that at the end of the passage, an immense life aura powerful enough to make one's soul tremble was slumbering.

That aura was ancient and vast, yet it carried an inescapable trace of weakness.

It was done!

The final step of breaking the seal and absorbing Sky Dream lay right before him.

He stopped and looked back at the others, who were still frozen in place.

"Keep up."

After passing through the deep passage, the view before them suddenly opened up.

The moment they stepped inside, it felt as though their breaths had been stolen away.

This was an enormous circular space beyond description, so magnificent it seemed almost unreal. The dome was so high that its end could not be seen. Only countless thick pillars of ice hung down from the darkness, like colossal pillars holding up the entire world.

Yet the most awe-inspiring sight was beneath their feet and across the surrounding walls.

The entire space was a super-array formed from countless profound runes! Dense blue patterns covered every inch of ice, like a circuit board spread across the world, flickering rhythmically with a steady, solemn pulse, as though it were breathing.

"G-Good heavens..." One team member's voice trembled as he nearly dropped to his knees.

"The final terminal! This has to be the final terminal of the 'main server'!" Vice Dean Mo Li looked like a madman. He tossed aside every instrument in his hands and spread his arms as though he wanted to embrace this sacred space. "Look at those energy circuits! Look at that rune density! Perfect! Absolutely perfect!"

Tu Feng, this burly man, had completely turned into a country bumpkin as well. His mouth hung open, his Adam's apple bobbing, yet he could not utter a single word.

He could feel the soul power within him becoming more active than ever in this space, as though it were cheering and making a pilgrimage!

At the focus of everyone's gaze, at the center of the enormous array, a massive ice cocoon floated silently in midair.

Its entire body was crystal-clear, yet its surface was shrouded in a visible layer of white frost mist that flickered in and out of sight. A pure, vast, and even slightly primordial aura of ultimate ice radiated from the cocoon, causing the temperature throughout the space to drop several more degrees.

"The Life Core!"

"It's definitely the Life Core!"

The members of Light of Truth erupted with unprecedented fanaticism in their eyes. They had found it! The truth they had pursued all their lives—the legendary God's Legacy—was right before them!

Huo Yuhao also displayed shock at just the right moment. His mouth hung slightly open, as though the sight before him had left him speechless.

Yet within his spiritual sea, it was an entirely different scene.

[Thought Palace]

Within the Thought Palace, a massive data model of the ice cocoon was constructed instantly, and that immense life energy transformed into a surging torrent that shot into the sky!

[Assessing target life energy level...]

[Warning! Energy level far exceeds the known upper limit of the database!]

[Assessment result: Million-year level!]

A monstrous wave rose in Huo Yuhao's heart.

So this was... the million-year soul beast, Sky Dream Iceworm?

Even after being sealed for countless years and weakened to the extreme, the life aura it leaked out was still this terrifying!

He quickly shifted his attention to the array beneath his feet.

[Analyzing core sealing array...]

[Energy structure is highly coupled with the target lifeform... Bidirectional energy circuit confirmed.]

[Function assessment: While extracting and suppressing the target's life energy, this array also uses a minuscule portion of the dissipated energy to sustain its life functions in reverse.]

[Conclusion: A perfect eternal prison.]

Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly.

What God's Legacy? This was clearly a god's prison!

These idiots from Light of Truth really thought they had found some treasure.

"Quick! The core is right there!"

"We need to sample it immediately! Analyze its energy composition!"

Several researchers could no longer restrain themselves and rushed frantically toward the ice cocoon at the center. In their eyes, the cocoon was an inexhaustible treasury of energy!

Tu Feng was also eager to make a move. Though he feared Huo Yuhao, the temptation before him was simply too great!

"Stop!"

Huo Yuhao's icy voice boomed through the grand space like a thunderclap.

The bodies of those researchers who had rushed forward suddenly stiffened, and they froze where they stood.

"What are you trying to do? Pull its 'plug'?" Huo Yuhao's voice dripped with undisguised mockery.

He pointed at the light patterns beneath the researchers' feet, whose flickering frequency had suddenly accelerated. "Beneath your feet are the core's 'power lines'! Take another step forward, and the bioelectric fields carried by your bodies will interfere with their stability, causing energy disorder!"

"At best, the Life Core will be destroyed on the spot, and all of us will be torn to pieces by the violent energy."

Huo Yuhao paused, then added coldly, "Of course, there may not even be a worst-case outcome, because we might not get the chance to become dust."

Hiss—

A wave of sharp intakes of breath echoed through the frigid space.

The researchers turned deathly pale, scrambling and crawling back as they looked at Huo Yuhao with lingering fear and gratitude.

"C-Consultant... then... what should we do?" Tu Feng broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly asked.

"Yeah! We can't just stand here and watch, can we?"

Everyone's enthusiasm had been doused with a bucket of ice water. They all turned toward Huo Yuhao, awaiting the decision of this "key."

Huo Yuhao did not answer immediately.

He stepped forward several paces and came to the very front of the group, facing the enormous ice cocoon alone.

Then, in a tone of solemn declaration, he slowly said, "The prophecy chose me not to bring you here sightseeing."

"I am the 'key.' Only I can safely 'interpret' and 'awaken' this inheritance."

"Now, everyone retreat to the entrance of the passage. Without my order, no one is to set foot in this plaza again."

His voice was not loud, yet it carried unquestionable authority.

This time, no one raised any objections.

Tu Feng was the first to respond, roaring at everyone, "Did you hear him? All of you, fall back! Whoever dares disobey the consultant's orders, I'll be the first to chop him down!"

The crowd immediately surged backward like a receding tide, huddling far away at the mouth of the passage as they nervously watched the lone figure of the youth in the center of the plaza.

In the vast, magnificent temple, only Huo Yuhao and that enormous ice cocoon radiating endless chill remained.

Huo Yuhao's mind was utterly clear.

Very good.

These useful tools had perfectly fulfilled their historical mission.

Next came the climax of the entire show.

Rescue, and then... absorb!

He no longer hesitated.

Tian Meng, I've come to fulfill my promise.

He murmured inwardly.

Then he raised his foot and took his first step toward the ancient array formed from countless runes before him.