The Hidden Crypt

The entire ice cave is approximately two thousand meters in diameter.

For the past two days, Yuan Zhiyun has been searching everywhere inside, leaving no stone unturned, but to no avail.

The hidden corner she discovered today was a hole she found by chance.

There was a thin layer of ice at the entrance of the cave, and many pieces of ice were also covered on the outside. If she hadn't seen a bird land on this ground and then remain motionless, and hadn't used her Divine Sense to carefully investigate bit by bit because she found it strange, she wouldn't have been able to find this place.

After she caught the bird in her hand, she broke the ice. The bird, which had been motionless in her hand, suddenly struggled and flew out of her hand, then flew into the cave.

Seeing this, she waited in place for a moment, and seeing that nothing seemed amiss in the cave, she followed and entered the small cave entrance.

Upon entering the cave, she discovered a long, winding passage, barely wide enough for one person, that led downwards.

Following the passage down, she arrived at a small, square-shaped cave.

It was pitch black here.

Sensing no danger in her surroundings, and after scanning the area with her Divine Sense, Yuan Zhiyun took out four torches from her storage ring, lit them, and positioned them around the perimeter.

Only then did she see the entire scene inside the cave.

The entire cavern was surrounded by thick, hard ice, and it was completely empty except for two skeletons scattered in a corner and a completely opaque ice coffin in the very center.

But the bird from before has completely disappeared.

She glanced at the two skeletons, saw nothing nearby, not even Storage Bag, and then shifted her gaze to the ice coffin in the center.

Although it was an ice coffin, its surface was very blurry and not very transparent, making it impossible to see what was inside from the outside.

Yuan Zhiyun tried to use her Divine Sense to see what was inside, but found that her Divine Sense couldn't penetrate it at all.

So she stepped forward, relying on the many protective items she had, and used her Spiritual Power to wrap her hands to push the ice coffin away. However, despite her great effort, the ice coffin remained completely unmoved, even though she was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Seeing this, she couldn't help but guess that, after her investigation, this was the strangest place in the entire ice cave. She hadn't found anything unusual anywhere else.

Could this be the exit of this ice cave?

The thought of this possibility made her feel a little excited.

They pushed the coffin lid with even more force.

However, it was as if something was stuck inside; no matter how hard she tried, even with all her might, the coffin lid did not budge an inch.

Yuan Zhiyun was a little anxious, so she took out her sword and slashed upwards.

However, not even a single sword mark was found on this ice coffin.

Unconvinced, she unleashed all her most powerful Law Technique in turn, but the ice coffin remained completely unharmed.

Looking at the pristine ice coffin, Yuan Zhiyun, feeling somewhat exhausted, felt as if it were mocking her for overestimating her abilities.

For some reason, she suddenly remembered the words her father usually said to her.

"Zhiyun, an excellent family head cannot always think about doing everything independently. Admittedly, as a leader, you must have the ability to deal with various situations, but at the same time, you cannot ignore the power of the group. This is the core of Lineage's survival in this world."

While you are exceptionally talented as a cultivator, as a family head, you are far inferior to Shangpu. Although his intentions may not be entirely upright, it is undeniable that he is better at leveraging the power of a group. Therefore, if you truly wish for me to entrust the Yuan Household to you in the future, you must demonstrate the ability to lead a group in a way that earns my genuine respect."

Looking at the ice coffin that she couldn't open no matter what she did, Yuan Zhiyun murmured:

"Could it be that Father didn't really intend for me to compete with Yuan Shangpu, but rather hoped that I could develop my leadership skills...?"

She thought this way because she, who has always preferred to take on everything and act alone, suddenly had the idea that 'asking for help from others might be the only way to have a chance.'

Previously, she was ashamed of needing help from others, and felt that being able to solve everything on her own was what made her capable. No matter how messy or embarrassing it was, being able to solve things on her own made her much better than her cousins who only wanted to be parasites and scheme against each other.

But her father told her recently that she was far from meeting the standards of a head of the family, and even less than Yuan Shangpu.

At the time, she was very Qi Ingestion, feeling that she could not possibly be as good as that cousin who only knew how to seduce the younger members of various Lineage and engage in underhanded schemes.

So, in a moment of impulsiveness, I ran off to make a bet with him about the Icefield Spirit in this Icefield Mystic Realm.

Looking back now, I realize that I may still have shortcomings.

Or, I should give it a try myself.

Learn more about the power of organizing a group and experience it for yourself.

Sorting aside her somewhat chaotic thoughts, she thought for a moment and then went back up the tunnel.

She plans to find some people to help push the ice coffin.

Not long after she left, in the empty cavern, where torches were lit all around, the ice coffin in the very center, which Ren Yuan Zhiyun had tried so hard to keep still, suddenly opened silently.

The solid ice coffin was opened slightly at one corner.

A semi-transparent head peeked out from inside.

Seeing that there was indeed no one outside, the semi-transparent figure wiped non-existent sweat from its forehead.

"Goodness, that girl finally left. She looks young but she's got quite the strength. If she had kept pushing, I wouldn't have had the strength to hold on."

That's right, the person inside the ice coffin was another part of Liao Pantu's soul, which only had a strength of around the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Because his soul was divided into several parts, he generally wouldn't allow his various soul parts to be awake at the same time in order to prevent too much immediate mental deviation in each part.

Instead, he tries to keep only one of his souls awake, while keeping the rest in a semi-dormant state of cultivation.

Originally, each of his souls was in a secret realm, and the opening times of the various secret realms were different, so he didn't have these concerns before. Basically, whichever secret realm opened, he would switch to that soul to awaken.

But now the situation is different; he now has a need for his soul to remain conscious for an extended period.

Therefore, his soul, which had been in this Icefield Mystic Realm for the past two days, was essentially in a semi-dormant state.

His soul only awakened when his Soul-Chasing Magpie entered the cave and found him.

Unexpectedly, this Soul-Chasing Magpie was followed by a small, strong tail.

Liao Pantu took out the Soul-Chasing Magpie, examined it for a moment, thought for a moment, and then locked himself back into the ice coffin.