A life-or-death situation!
She gritted her teeth and, without hesitation, took out a tea leaf from the Enlightenment Tea Leaves and put it in her mouth. At the same time, she fully activated the Ice Emperor's Heart, and mysterious ice crystal patterns appeared on her body. Her aura rose steadily as she tried to withstand the attack.
But she also knew that this was far from enough! The monster's breath could probably severely injure or even kill a cultivator from the Immortal Platform Secret Realm!
Just as the crimson breath was about to engulf the Snow Empress—
"You beast, how dare you act so violently!"
A majestic and indifferent voice echoed through the abyss, drowning out the monster's roar.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
The devastating dark red breath, less than three zhang away from the Snow Empress, stopped abruptly without warning, then crashed back as if it had struck an invisible wall!
At the same time, a slightly blurry yet majestic phantom, seemingly supporting the heavens and earth, appeared behind the Snow Empress. The phantom was shrouded in chaotic energy, making its face indistinct; only its eyes, when opening and closing, revealed terrifying scenes of the rising and falling of the Sun Moon, and the birth and death of the Milky Way.
The phantom merely glanced at the crimson eyes beneath the abyss.
"Puff!"
Like the soft sound of a bubble bursting.
Those savage, insane, and Mighty One crimson eyes suddenly froze, then filled with terror and disbelief. And then... silently, along with the dark red "sea of blood" below, vanished completely, as if erased by an eraser.
The churning gray fog subsided, and the biting winds quietly ceased. Beneath the abyss, only pure darkness and nothingness remained, as if the world-destroying monster had never existed.
The bronze chains stopped shaking, and the temperature returned to normal.
Snow Empress stood there, stunned, the fragrance and Daoist essence of the Enlightenment Tea Leaves spreading through her mind, a cool current flowing through her limbs, yet she remained completely unaware. Just moments before, she had been so close to death; and now, that despairing crisis had vanished so easily... by being "seen"?
She slowly turned her head.
Behind her, the majestic phantom shrouded in chaotic energy was slowly dissipating, eventually transforming into specks of light that disappeared into the Azure Emperor's token— the Green Lotus Jade Pendant —in her bosom. The jade pendant was slightly warm, emitting a gentle ripple, as if soothing her frightened mind.
It was His Majesty! It was a trace or backup plan left by His Majesty Lin Hao in the keepsake that was triggered at the crucial moment, saving her life!
The Snow Empress tightly gripped the warm Green Lotus Jade Pendant, a complex mix of emotions welling up within her. It was a sense of relief at surviving a calamity, awe at Lin Hao's unfathomable methods, and a profound sense of gratitude. If His Majesty hadn't left her with a backup plan, she would already be dead by now.
She bowed deeply once more to the jade pendant and in the direction Lin Hao had left. This time, her respect was greater than ever before, filled with heartfelt gratitude.
Without further delay, Snow Empress moved swiftly, stepping over the last section of the bronze chain and reaching the Other Shore.
Looking back, the abyss remained, the chains stretched across the sky, as if nothing had happened. But the Snow Empress knew that what she had just witnessed was no illusion. The terrifying leyline spirit and the life-saving phantom were real.
" The Qing Emperor's Tomb is indeed fraught with danger. Your Majesty is right, my strength is far from sufficient." The Snow Empress secretly reminded herself, keeping the near-death experience firmly in mind, while also feeling an even stronger desire for power.
She determined the direction; they were already outside the tomb. In the distance, sparse ancient forests and undulating mountains could be seen. The concentration of spiritual energy was much thinner than inside the tomb, but it was relatively safe.
Snow Empress found a secluded cave, set up simple security and concealment formations, and sat down cross-legged. Her immediate priority was to refine the Enlightenment Tea Leaves in her mouth and improve her strength. Having just experienced the danger, she would have a deeper understanding of the four words "strength is supreme".
The Enlightenment Tea Leaves melted upon entering the mouth, transforming into a cool and vast torrent that surged straight into the sea of consciousness. In an instant, the Snow Empress felt an unprecedented clarity in her mind. Many obscure and difficult points in her past cultivation were now as clear as lines on the palm of her hand. The sounds of the Great Dao echoed in her mind, and the traces of various laws in the world seemed to become tangible.
She dared not waste this precious opportunity, so she immediately focused all her mind and activated the Taiyin True Scripture, guiding this vast stream of pure energy and Daoist charm to integrate into her own Magic Power, temper her divine sense, and comprehend the Great Dao of Taiyin.
While the Snow Empress was in seclusion refining the Enlightenment Tea, a tremendous change was unfolding deep within the Qing Emperor's Tomb.
Before the imperial palace in the core area, blood had already flowed like a river. Dozens or even hundreds of cultivators from sects, families, and independent cultivators were engaged in a chaotic battle, vying for some spiritual pills, magical treasures, and fragments of scriptures that flew out from the side halls and corridors of the imperial palace. The shouts of killing, roars, screams, the sounds of magical treasures colliding, and the booming of Daoist magic intertwined, turning this ancient imperial burial ground into a battlefield of Asura.
The imperial palace gates were tightly shut, with a hazy blue light flowing around them. The restrictions were so powerful that no one had been able to break them to this day. The important figures from various forces—the supreme elders of several holy lands, the heads of the Desolate Ancient Family, and Mighty One demons—were all suspended in mid-air, confronting and restraining each other. They did not directly engage in the melee, but instead kept a close eye on the imperial palace gates, waiting for the restrictions to weaken or for a flaw to appear.
Sudden!
Rumble--!!!
The entire Qing Emperor's Tomb, no, the entire ancient ruins of this small world, trembled violently! It was as if a colossal beast that had slumbered for millennia was turning over.
The earth cracked open with jagged fissures, spewing forth scorching subterranean fire and poisonous smoke; black cracks appeared in the sky, and void storms raged; distant mountains collapsed, and ancient trees fell in swathes. The azure light above the imperial palace gates suddenly became extremely dazzling, then abruptly collapsed inwards, as if devouring something.
"What happened?!"
"An earth dragon turning over? No! It's the very essence of the ruins erupting!"
"Look, the Imperial Palace!"
Everyone looked on in horror, only to see the blue light on the imperial palace gate collapse to an extreme point before suddenly exploding!
Boundless azure light soared into the sky, transforming into an enormous, incomparable phantom of a Chaos Green Lotus, swaying between heaven and earth. Each lotus leaf seemed to carry a world within it, exuding an imperial might that suppressed eternity! Although it was only the residual pressure of a phantom, it still made all the cultivators present, including those important figures from the Immortal Platform Secret Realm, tremble in their souls and couldn't help but kneel down.
" The Azure Emperor's phantom! Has the Azure Emperor's Great Dao imprint been activated?!"
"Is the Imperial Palace about to open? Is the legacy about to manifest?!"
Some were terrified, but many more were ecstatic, their eyes gleaming with a greedy, burning light.
However, before they could make a move, the enormous Chaos Green Lotus phantom only lasted for a few breaths before suddenly collapsing and turning into a rain of light. Most of it disappeared back into the imperial palace, while a small portion scattered throughout the tomb.
At the same time, an even more ancient, desolate, and violently chaotic aura slowly awakened and spread from the depths of the earth and from every corner of the tomb.
"Roar!" "Awoo--" "Hiss--!"