Frozen Abyss, Ice God's Temple!

Hearing Snow Empress's concerned question, Lei Chen turned to look at her, a relaxed smile appearing on his handsome face. "The tribulation lightning of a mere seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation is nothing more than a tonic to me. Naturally, I am fine."

Feeling the Thunder God Origin within him grow much stronger and more solid, Lei Chen was in quite a pleasant mood. He then said to Snow Empress, "I should congratulate you instead. You successfully broke through the seven-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck, taking your cultivation to another level."

The frost on Snow Empress's stunning face softened slightly. She shook her head, her tone sincere. "Had you not intervened, I would never have been able to survive this tribulation unscathed. Snow Empress will remember this favor forever."

Lei Chen waved his hand. His tone was casual, yet carried an unquestionable air. "I already said that helping you is helping myself. There is no need to thank me again. More importantly, now that you have broken through seven hundred thousand years and undergone a qualitative transformation in cultivation, you should be able to enter that place."

"That place?" Snow Empress froze slightly, a trace of confusion flashing through her ice-blue eyes. But a moment later, as though she had thought of something, her ethereal voice carried a hint of uncertain alarm. "You mean... the Frozen Abyss?"

"Correct. The Frozen Abyss." Lei Chen nodded, his gaze turning toward the deepest heart of the Far North Land, as though it could pierce through the endless glaciers and see that place, which even he found somewhat unusual.

The Frozen Abyss was the true forbidden land of the Far North Land, located in the deepest part of its core region.

It was a bottomless, enormous ice chasm, shrouded year-round in an absolute chill capable of freezing even light itself. The power of ice contained within far surpassed anything the outside world could imagine.

Even with Snow Empress's former peak cultivation of six hundred and ninety thousand years, she had tried several times to venture deeper, only to be driven back each time by a terrifying extreme cold originating from the level of laws. She had been utterly unable to reach the core.

But things were different now. In Lei Chen's eyes, Snow Empress, having broken through seven hundred thousand years, was qualified to enter it.

"For soul beasts, seven hundred thousand years of cultivation is an immense dividing line," Lei Chen explained. "Once you cross this threshold, your strength undergoes a qualitative leap. With your current power, you will still feel pressure, but you can barely enter and investigate it."

"So, do you want to see what secrets are hidden inside?"

Snow Empress nodded almost without hesitation. "Yes! Since you mentioned this place, there must be a reason. I am willing to accompany you."

She had already come to trust Lei Chen completely, believing that this Lord of the Plane would never act without purpose.

"Good. Then let us go. Ice Empress over there, come along as well." Lei Chen smiled faintly, and his body transformed into a streak of seven-colored light that shot toward the depths of the Far North's core region.

Seeing this, icy-blue radiance flashed around Snow Empress as she immediately followed. Though Ice Empress was filled with curiosity and worry, she too transformed into an emerald streak and closely followed behind.

Three streams of light cut through the freezing winds of the Far North at incredible speed, arriving at an unusual place in the next instant.

Before them lay an enormous glacial basin. At its center was a pitch-black opening over a thousand meters in diameter, like a giant maw opened by the earth itself. The ice around its rim was an eerie deep blue, as though it had settled there for hundreds of millions of years.

Before they could even approach, an extreme chill capable of freezing the soul rushed toward them. Even Ice Empress, whose cultivation was nearing four hundred thousand years, could not help but shudder. Emerald light surged around her as she resisted with all her strength.

Yet deep within that black opening was not lifeless darkness. Instead, faint ice-blue halos, seemingly from ancient times, flowed within. An indescribably ancient, majestic, even faintly sacred aura emanated from it.

"This is the place." Lei Chen stopped at the edge of the opening and said to Ice Empress behind him, "Ice Empress, the chill within the abyss is extraordinary. You cannot endure it yet, so wait outside. When I come out later, I have something to discuss with you."

Feeling the terrifying aura radiating from the opening, one that made even her soul tremble, Ice Empress knew that her strength was insufficient and immediately answered respectfully, "Yes, Senior!"

Though she did not know Lei Chen's exact identity, the strength he had displayed and Snow Empress's attitude were enough for her to address him as Senior.

Lei Chen looked at Snow Empress and nodded. Then he took a step forward, his figure vanishing into the pitch-black opening.

Snow Empress drew in a breath of icy air. Determination flashed through her ice-blue eyes as the radiance around her blazed brightly. Following behind Lei Chen, she resolutely stepped into the Frozen Abyss, the most mysterious place in the Far North Land.

The moment they entered the abyss, the surrounding scenery changed drastically.

The light from the entrance above swiftly vanished, replaced by a strange ice-blue glow. This light did not come from any source; it was more like the chill emitted by the ancient, unfading black ice around them had condensed into radiance.

The passage did not descend vertically, but twisted and wound onward. The ice walls around them were smooth as mirrors, yet incomparably hard, engraved with countless naturally formed, complex and profound ice patterns.

The deeper they went, the more terrifying the cold became. The ice elemental energy filling the air was so dense that it seemed capable of freezing the surrounding space itself. Every stretch they advanced required them to withstand tremendous pressure.

Snow Empress had to push her seven-hundred-thousand-year cultivation to its limit just to barely resist the all-pervading extreme cold. Secretly alarmed, she knew that without her recent breakthrough, she would never have been able to endure this place for long.

Yet Lei Chen ahead continued at an unhurried pace. Seven-colored halos flowed around him, effortlessly keeping out the chill that even Snow Empress found oppressive.

After descending an unknown distance, the passage ahead suddenly opened up, revealing an enormous underground ice cavern before them.

When Snow Empress saw the scene within the cavern, even with her hundreds of thousands of years of composure, she could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Her beautiful eyes were filled with shock.

At the center of the ice cavern was not the darkness she had expected, but a massive palace floating in the air, built entirely from translucent blue ice crystals!

The palace was ancient in style and grand in scale, exuding an aura of ultimate ice far denser and purer than that of the outside world. That ancient, majestic sacred presence came from here!

Above the palace's main gate, a complex rune condensed from the purest laws of frost radiated a gentle yet incomparably majestic ice-blue divine light.

The instant Snow Empress saw that rune, her delicate body shuddered violently. A powerful stirring rose from the depths of her soul, and a title inherited through her bloodline escaped her lips without her control:

"This is... Lord Ice God's temple?!"

Lei Chen calmly gazed at the towering divine temple, sensing the pure power of laws contained within. He nodded slightly. "Correct. This is the temple of the Ancient Ice God."