The Hidden Crypt

The entire ice cave was about two thousand meters in diameter.

Over the past two days, Yuan Zhiyun had been groping around inside, leaving no corner unturned, yet she found absolutely nothing.

The hidden corner she had just found was a subterranean hole she stumbled upon by accident today.

The entrance to this hole was covered by a relatively thin layer of ice and scattered with many broken ice shards. If she hadn't seen a small bird land on this spot and suddenly become motionless, prompting her to curiously investigate with her divine sense inch by inch, she would never have discovered this place.

After grabbing the bird and smashing the ice layer, the bird that had been lying still in her hand suddenly struggled free, flew out of her grasp, and darted right into the hole.

Seeing this, she waited in place for a moment. When no abnormalities appeared from within, she followed suit and entered the small hole.

Upon entering, she found a long, winding, downward-spiraling passageway that was only wide enough for one person.

Following the passage down, she arrived in a rather small, square subterranean vault.

It was pitch black inside.

Sensing no immediate danger and having swept the area with her divine sense, Yuan Zhiyun took out four torches from her storage ring, lit them, and secured them to the surrounding walls.

Only then could she clearly see the scene inside the vault.

The vault was surrounded by thick, hard ice. It was completely empty, save for two skeletons scattered in a corner and a completely opaque ice coffin sitting right in the center.

The bird from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

She glanced at the two skeletons. Seeing nothing around them, not even a single storage bag, she shifted her gaze to the ice coffin in the middle.

Although it was an ice coffin, its surface was very blurry and barely transparent; it was impossible to see what was inside from the outside.

Yuan Zhiyun tried to use her divine sense to look inside, only to find that her divine sense couldn't penetrate it at all.

Relying on the numerous protective items on her person, she stepped forward, wrapped her hands in spiritual energy, and tried to push the ice coffin open. Who would have thought that even after she, an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, exerted the strength of nine bulls and two tigers, the ice coffin still wouldn't budge an inch.

Seeing this, she couldn't help but speculate. After her thorough investigation, this was the strangest spot in the entire ice cave. She hadn't found anything unusual anywhere else.

Could this be the exit to the ice cave?

Thinking of this possibility, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited.

She pushed against the coffin lid with even greater force.

However, as if it were jammed from the inside, no matter how hard she pushed, even using every last ounce of her strength, the lid showed no sign of moving.

Growing anxious, Yuan Zhiyun drew her sword and slashed at it.

Yet, not a single sword mark was left on the ice coffin.

Refusing to give up, she unleashed a barrage of her most powerful spells, but the ice coffin remained completely unscathed.

Looking at the pristine ice coffin, an exhausted Yuan Zhiyun felt as if it were mocking her for overestimating her own capabilities.

For some reason, she suddenly recalled the words her father spoke to her most often.

"Zhiyun, an excellent family head cannot always think about accomplishing everything alone. True, as a leader, you must have the adaptability to handle all kinds of situations, but at the same time, you cannot ignore the power of the group. This is what a family is, the core of surviving in this world.

Although you are an outstanding cultivator, as a family head, you are far inferior to Yuan Shangpu. Even though his intentions may not always be righteous, it is undeniable that he is better at utilizing the power of the group than you are. Therefore, if you truly want me to hand the Yuan family over to you in the future, you must show me that you have the ability to lead a group, so that I can truly acknowledge you."

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

"Could it be that Father didn't actually want me to compete with Yuan Shangpu, but rather hoped I would temper my leadership skills..."

She thought this way because she, who had always liked to take on everything and act alone, had just now actually generated the thought that getting help from others might be the only way to have a chance.

In the past, she always considered it shameful to need help. She felt that being able to solve everything alone was what made someone formidable. No matter how miserable she looked, as long as she could handle it independently, she was far better than those clan brothers at home who only wanted to be parasites and engage in petty schemes.

But a while ago, her father told her that her way of doing things was still far from the standard of a family head, and even inferior to Yuan Shangpu.

At the time, she was very unconvinced, feeling that there was no way she could be worse than that clan brother who only knew how to collude with the side-branch juniors of various families and play dirty tricks behind the scenes.

So, she impulsively ran to make a bet with him regarding the Icefield Spirit in this Icefield Secret Realm.

Thinking about it now, perhaps she really did have her shortcomings.

Or, maybe she should give it a try.

She should learn more about organizing the power of the masses and experience it for herself.

Putting away her somewhat chaotic thoughts, she considered for a moment and then went back up the hole's passageway.

She planned to find some people to cooperate and push the ice coffin together.

Not long after she left, in the completely empty subterranean vault lit by torches, the ice coffin in the center—which had remained completely immobile no matter how hard Yuan Zhiyun tried—suddenly opened silently.

The solid ice coffin opened slightly at one corner.

A translucent head peeked out from inside.

Seeing that there really was no one outside, the translucent figure wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"Good lord, this girl is finally gone. She looks young but has quite the strength. If she kept pushing, I wouldn't have had the energy left to hold it shut."

Indeed, the person inside the ice coffin was another part of Liao Pantu's soul body, which only possessed the strength of roughly the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Because his soul had been split into several parts, in order to prevent his various soul segments from developing too many real-time ideological deviations, he generally would not let multiple soul bodies be awake at the same time.

Instead, he tried his best to keep only one soul body awake, while the remaining soul bodies mostly stayed in a semi-dormant state of cultivation.

Originally, each of his soul bodies was located within a secret realm, and the opening times of these secret realms were all different. Therefore, he didn't have these concerns before; basically, whichever secret realm opened, he would just switch to waking up the corresponding soul body.

But the situation was different now; he had a need for one soul body to remain awake long-term.

So for the past two days, his soul body located in this Icefield Secret Realm had actually mostly been in a semi-dormant state.

It wasn't until his Soul-Chasing Sparrow entered this vault and found him just now that this part of his soul body awakened.

Who would have thought that the Soul-Chasing Sparrow was followed by a little tail with such great strength.

Liao Pantu took out the Soul-Chasing Sparrow, examined it for a moment, thought about it, and then shut himself back inside the ice coffin.