Chapter 467: The Physical Monster Is Here! (Two-in-One)

Meanwhile, in the Surface World.

The crowd erupted in an uproar once again.

[The teams led by Yi, Ice, and Soul Flame have encountered each other.]

[Ice and Soul Flame engaged in a chaotic melee.]

[Halfway through the battle, Yi's team joined the fray.]

[Ice and Soul Flame both suffered heavy casualties, leaving only the two leaders alive in their respective teams.]

[Yi's team suffered zero casualties.]

[The three teams have merged and are now moving together.]

[They have gathered enough keys to unlock the mysterious treasure.]

"The ninth child of Tianzi and the eleventh Monarch of the Beast Lord... have they both been defeated?"

"What do you mean 'merged and moving together'? It sounds more like those two were taken hostage."

"That shouldn't be the case. If that happened, there would be an announcement about Yan Jing defeating them both."

"But how is that possible? Are you saying the current situation is the ninth child of Tianzi, the eleventh Monarch of the Beast Lord, and the six people on Yan Jing's team moving together?"

"If that's the case, I lean toward the theory that those two teamed up and captured Yan Jing's six."

All sorts of rumors and speculation ran wild across the internet.

Meanwhile, in the First Ring Domain, the expressions of the Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman and the Man in the Dragon-Patterned T-shirt turned somewhat grim for the first time.

"Xiao Bing is usually a clever child. This shouldn't be happening..."

the T-Shirt Man muttered with a frown.

In his eyes, the nine who were dispatched this time were all true heavenly prodigies.

Any one of them could hold their own.

Tracing back five or six generations since the founding of Tianzi, there had never been such a golden age of talent.

Even if this surge in talent was due to the approaching Day of Godhood, he still had absolute confidence in his "children."

To him, Meng Bing fighting her opponent to a mutually destructive standstill was already unreasonable enough. Now, that youth from the Moon Yin Domain was actually leading his entire team to travel alongside those two. It was simply inconceivable.

Beside him, the Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman shared roughly the same thoughts. She frowned and bit her nails.

This ranking tournament was far more important than it appeared; its true purpose concerned the power dynamic among the three domains.

Therefore, even the slightest disturbance was enough to make these domain lords uneasy.

If one were to ask who among them was the happiest right now, it was naturally the Moon Yin domain lord.

"This child isn't as simple as you imagine," she said lightly.

With those casual words, she planted a seed of doubt in their minds.

If this seed truly took root and sprouted, the situation would become extremely dire for Yan Jing.

"Let's wait and hear what they have to say when they come out," the Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman said softly, moving past the subject.

They understood each other fairly well.

Because of this, she didn't believe a single word from the veiled woman.

She only believed what she could see with her own eyes.

They really found it.

Meng Bing stared at the key beneath the ice layer in front of her.

For the first time, a hint of joy touched her cold gaze.

"Go on, take the item out."

She subconsciously ordered her attendant.

The five people she had brought this time were all guards who had grown up with her since childhood.

If the Beast Lord operated on a hereditary monarch system, then Tianzi was governed by absolute family supremacy.

Strictly speaking, they were all bloodline descendants of that domain lord.

And between the nine of them, there were deep ties of blood.

Because of this, she firmly believed that their Tianzi faction would emerge as the ultimate victor.

The bonds of familial affection guaranteed that their relationships were far more solid than those of other domains.

But when she turned around and looked at the attendant she had just called, she remembered that he was already heavily injured.

"I'll do it."

Yan Jing took a step forward, moving a little closer to Meng Bing.

He didn't just want to act the part; he also needed to be in position to strike immediately if they were discovered.

But clearly, he was overthinking things.

Meng Bing shook her head and rolled up her sleeves. "It's fine. Focus on healing your injuries first."

"If you can't do it, I will," Wang Yan, the man with the flame mark on his brow, said in a deep voice. "Don't dawdle."

Meng Bing shot Wang Yan a cold glare. She extended her hand, frost materializing in her palm.

The drifting snow around them seemed to be drawn in, coating her hand and turning into a translucent layer of ice as she gently reached out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rapid series of impacts echoed through the air.

Within a few seconds, her palm struck the surface no less than a hundred times.

Dense webs of cracks instantly spread across the ice.

Under the continuous bombardment, the Bronze Key was successfully retrieved.

Meng Bing held the Bronze Key in her hand. After waiting a few seconds and seeing no reaction from the people behind her, she shot the team a confused look.

Yan Jing realized a strategic error had occurred.

He should have left one of their second-in-commands alive.

At least then they would have had someone to set the example for how to act right now.

Nobody had expected this team to have a mandatory celebration ritual every time their captain accomplished something.

What were they supposed to yell? "His Majesty is mighty"? "Long live the Emperor"?

Who the fuck knew.

After holding back Wang Gang—who was about to step forward and shout "Captain is awesome!" and "666!"—Yan Jing shifted his feet silently, preparing to strike.

But at that moment, Wang Yan stepped up from the side.

"What are you doing?"

"We got it, so let's go. Why are you dawdling and wasting time?"

His expression grew vigilant. "Is someone else nearby?"

Interrupted like this, Meng Bing didn't seem to dwell on the silence. "Let's go," she said coldly.

Their luck was pretty good, Yan Jing thought. However, he then saw Zhao Dongchuan flash him a hand signal, and he immediately realized someone else was the truly lucky one.

The group returned to the Ice Cavern.

The moment they stepped inside, they felt the air temperature plummet.

The interior of the Ice Cavern was composed entirely of transparent ice. There was only a single path. Clusters of sparkling ice flowers grew along both sides of the walkway, while spike-like icicles hung from the ceiling above, radiating a biting chill.

At the very end of the path, a massive bronze gate blocked their way.

The gate stood a full five to six meters tall, its left and right sides engraved with obscure patterns. Yan Jing only understood one of the carvings: it appeared to depict some kind of sacrificial ritual, with a crowd of people singing and dancing around a giant block of ice.

He had already memorized these patterns the last time he was here, swapping to Wen Xu's identity to search through his memories.

However, he still couldn't identify the origin of the carvings. He had only found rumors that closely resembled this sacrificial ritual.

It involved a tribe that rose to prominence during the era before the severed era.

They were known as the Ice Clan.

The bodies of the Ice Clan members were composed entirely of solid ice.

And the deity they worshipped took the form of a giant block of solid ice.

They firmly believed that ice was the most reliable substance in the world; even if shattered into pieces, it could grow back together.

However, before the arrival of the Source of Mutation, this tribe had always remained completely unknown.

It wasn't until a certain Source of Mutation arrived that they finally began to rise.

Three large locks hung from the greyish-green door handles.

Meng Bing and Wang Yan stepped forward together. Both wore vigilant expressions. After exchanging a glance, they inserted the keys into the locks.

Click—

It sounded like a palace sealed for ten thousand years had just been opened. A scent of decay blew toward the group on the freezing wind. [The team formed by Ice, Soul Flame, and Yi has opened the gate hiding the secrets of the Glacial region.]

In the First Ring Domain, several domain lords stared intently at the words on the ranking board, their expressions unconsciously turning grave.

Meng Bing and Wang Yan warily peered inside the open gate.

It wasn't as magnificent as they had imagined. The dim lighting made visibility extremely low; they could only see a few meters past the entrance. It looked like an ordinary, empty clearing with absolutely nothing inside.

"Luo Wang, go inside and take a look."

Wang Yan spoke, and it was by no means a suggestion.

The one playing the role of Luo Wang was Zhao Dongchuan.

Yan Jing's eyes turned icy as he shot the rest of the group a look.

If things go south, we strike.

The group understood. They adjusted their angles slightly; though they didn't move much from their spots, they subtly formed an encirclement around the two leaders.

Right at that moment, Zhao Dongchuan covertly blinked twice.

This was the secret signal they had agreed upon beforehand: Don't rush.

His seemingly broken right hand hung loosely behind his back, his fingertips twitching slightly.

Wang Yan suddenly blanked for a moment, then spoke as if he had changed his mind. "Forget it."

With that, as though forgetting his earlier caution entirely, he walked straight through the gate.

The exact moment his foot touched the ground inside—

With a low hum, the brightness inside the gate suddenly spiked.

It was as if countless lamps had been ignited all at once.

The group could finally see the scene within.

The layout inside was extremely simple.

Translucent ice extended upward from the gate, forming a massive "cave" dozens of meters high.

However, it didn't feel empty, because embedded within the ice walls that formed the cave were all kinds of entities of varying shapes and sizes.

There was a giant over a dozen meters tall, a standalone eyeball spanning several meters, and a "knight" clad in blood-red armor.

Even the flames burning on the armor had been frozen still within the ice wall.

Without exception, every single one of these figures was frozen inside the ice. They all faced the interior of the cave, their collective gazes falling squarely on the group at the entrance. The atmosphere was incredibly eerie.

Standing right in front of the group was a wall of ice of indeterminate thickness.

[Glacial Legacy]

[To advance, you must shatter the ice layer.]

[After passing through each layer, you may choose one item from the vault behind the ice wall to take with you as a reward. Note: The ice layer will regenerate on its own. There is only one way to travel back and forth, which is to shatter the ice layer. You must save enough strength to make the return journey.]

[If you are trapped inside the ice layer, you will become an ice corpse and add a touch of splendor to the Glacial region.]

[If you can reach the final layer, you will obtain the Ten-Thousand-Year Solid Ice, granting eternal youth and immortal foundations for generations to come.} Lines of ink-like text appeared before the group.

At the same time, the system also provided a similar prompt.

This indicated that the ink lines before them weren't some deceptive trick.

Meng Bing and Wang Yan's faces both lit up with joy. This was a true fortuitous encounter.

If there had been other competitors around, the two of them might have had to fight a bitter battle. But since it was only the two of them here, things would be much easier.

"Who goes first?"

Meng Bing looked at Wang Yan, her tone full of wariness.

If one of them struck while the other was exhausted, even with the protection of a Crystal Stone, the victim would be forced to end their ranking tournament prematurely.

That was certainly something neither of them wanted to see.

In the end, both of them brought out contract-type items and signed two agreements, promising not to attack each other while inside the Ice Cavern.

"Let's do it."

They exchanged a glance, then ruthlessly launched their attacks.

Although the members of their teams were still heavily injured, delays invite trouble; seizing the initiative was the only true path to victory.

Meng Bing's methods were the same as before, while Wang Yan was much more berserk.

He swiped a fingertip across his brow, and a layer of bloody light surfaced around his body.

It was extremely similar to the technique he had used during the battle between the three domains earlier.

Immediately after, he clenched his fists and slammed them into the ice wall ahead.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening explosions echoed through the cavern.

Ripples of cracks spread out across the wall of ice in front of them.

Just as the map had stated, the ice here wouldn't collapse from brute force alone, and outputting too much weird energy would actually trigger an avalanche instead.

Therefore, even with the two of them unleashing such powerful techniques, the ice wall only cracked little by little, exposing a passageway just wide enough for one person.

"You all don't need to come inside."

Meng Bing instructed Yan Jing and the others behind her.

She was worried that if she brought them in, they wouldn't be able to get themselves back out later.

And if she had to escort the group back out, she would need to reserve a significant amount of strength.

That would be a senseless waste of this opportunity.

"Understood."

Yan Jing nodded.

Soon, the two of them had carved several feet into the ice layer and stepped inside.

The ice behind them gradually began to heal. They walked deeper into the ice like this until only their vague silhouettes could be seen, leaving it impossible to tell exactly how far they had gone.

"Captain, are we moving?" Qi Ming asked after Yan Jing signaled that the group could speak freely.

"Otherwise, I'm afraid all the good stuff will be snatched up by them first."

Yan Jing shook his head. "No rush."

Now that they were in a place like this, he had plenty of methods to monitor the opposition's situation.

After assigning Xiao Xin to keep an eye on those two, he had the group rest in place.

Ultimately, he was still prioritizing caution above all else.

This place reminded him of the Sand Domain. That had also been a similar ancient legacy, and in the end, they had actually dug up a living person.

An entity that seemed to hail from thousands of years ago.

This place might not be a trap, but he couldn't say it was free of danger.

As for the so-called "good stuff"—

The events in the Sand Domain had already proven a point: the legacies in the God Storage Land might contain good things, but they weren't meant for them.

They were meant for the era before the severed era.

Seeing Yan Jing make such arrangements, the group didn't ask any further questions.

Since they all trusted him absolutely anyway, the group simply ended up playing poker under the watchful gaze of a wall full of ice corpses.

It wasn't until a full three or four hours had passed.

Only then did Yan Jing stand up, signaling the group to follow behind him.

"Let's go."

He spoke flatly, then faced the ice wall in front of him.

And threw a direct punch.

Boom—

Resting in the fifth layer, Meng Bing and Wang Yan were both startled to hear a massive explosion echoing from behind them.

They exchanged a glance and stood up warily.

They hadn't expected anyone to find this place, let alone arrive so quickly.

Right now, they were both utterly exhausted, and they couldn't freely use weird energy in this place either.

If the opponent was an entity who vastly excelled in physical strength, this situation would likely spell disaster.

Thinking back to the items they had obtained since coming in—which were completely useless to them—they both groaned inwardly, feeling that they had been far too reckless in entering.

They had paid such a massive price, only to walk away with a pile of garbage.

"It's fine. The other side still needs a few hours to catch up,"

Wang Yan said in a deep voice. "Hurry up and recover. The moment they show their heads, strike the one at the very front."

"As long as we knock them back into the ice, we can seize the initiative."

Meng Bing nodded.

Indeed, for the two of them, their biggest advantage was likely being outside the ice.

As long as they could stall for time, the opponent would likely get stuck inside the regenerating ice wall.

But right after they finished speaking, Meng Bing looked at Wang Yan with a confused expression. "Do you feel like..."

"Feel like what?" Wang Yan asked, then froze.

He vaguely felt it too...

Meng Bing stared at the ice wall in front of her in sheer disbelief, her voice trembling slightly. "Do you feel like the noise is getting louder and louder?"

First layer, two meters.

Second layer, four meters.

Third layer, seven meters.

Fourth layer, ten meters.

Yan Jing silently recited the intelligence Xiao Xin had gathered earlier, meticulously calculating the distance he was advancing.

The final layer.

Eight meters.

Five meters.

Two meters.

Here it comes!

In less than ten minutes.

Under Meng Bing and Wang Yan's dumbfounded gazes, Yan Jing's fist burst through the ice. Immediately after, his figure stepped out of the ice layer, step by step. Because his speed was simply too fast, the shattered ice tunnel behind him hadn't even shown any signs of healing yet.

Before the two could speak, he tapped his fingertip.

Time stopped.