Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

322: Temple TracesLin Jingyu’s heart shook violently. Holding his sword, he cautiously approached: ”What exactly is going on? Who are you?”

”Me?” Lord Prophet’s illusory face revealed a mournful smile. ”I am merely the last prophet of the ’Frost Tribe,’ a wisp of Residual Soul that should have perished along with the tribe three months ago...”

He gazed at the ruins, two lines of light blue Soul Tears flowing from his eyes: ”Where is the prosperous tribe... Where are the welcoming tribesmen... They are all dead... They all died three months ago...”

”What exactly happened?” Lin Jingyu asked, his expression cold.

It was as if he saw a treacherous, massive hand constantly manipulating the situation.

Lord Prophet’s Residual Soul trembled violently, his eyes revealing bone-deep terror and hatred: ”Heh heh... it was the ’Frost Colossal God’ that we worshipped for generations... It went mad! It went mad without warning! It devoured the lives and Souls of all the tribesmen! It turned this land into a Dead Domain!”

”I gathered the remaining strength of the entire tribe and dragged it down with me... but my obsession was too deep; I was unwilling to let the tribe be annihilated just like that.

So, relying on the power of the tribe’s supreme treasure, the ’ice soul stone,’ I condensed the residual will of the tribesmen in these ruins and constructed this false Illusionary Dream.

Day after day, I repeated the scenes of the tribe’s final moments, deceiving myself, and attempting to deceive any intruder, until your arrival...”

Lin Jingyu fell silent. It turned out that the seemingly prosperous tribe was actually a tragic Illusion constructed by the obsession of countless Dead Souls. And Lord Prophet’s attack might not have been entirely malicious, but rather a test for the intruder, or a part of his mad obsession.

”You mentioned earlier that the guardian deities all possess the Bloodline of Ancient Gods? Their madness is caused by these so-called Ancient Gods?” Lin Jingyu grasped the key point in his words.

The image of Lord Prophet’s Residual Soul flickered unsteadily, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: ”I don’t know, I don’t know.

How pitiful that my tribe was annihilated, and I don’t even know the exact reason.

But I know... it must be inextricably linked to it... The Ancient Prophecy... when the world is destroyed... an external Thunder Emissary will come... to save the world... I always scoffed at it... until the tribe was destroyed...”

”And then... I met you!”

His words became intermittent, and the Residual Soul was about to completely dissipate: ”Outsider, this ’ice soul stone’... contains my tribe’s final blessing and power... It can temporarily allow you to... Breakthrough the limits of your current Realm... and unleash greater power...”

The cracked blue crystal stone detached from the dissipating Bone Staff and floated lightly toward Lin Jingyu.

Immediately, Lord Prophet’s eyes became incredibly sharp:

”I only ask that you find the truth... and help my tribe... take revenge!”

Before he finished speaking, Lord Prophet’s Residual Soul completely vanished into the bitter cold wind like smoke, leaving no trace.

He didn’t give Lin Jingyu a chance to refuse at all.

The last Residual Soul of the Frost Tribe thus disappeared.

Lin Jingyu caught the blue crystal stone, which felt icy cold to the touch. Feeling the vast and pure Soul Power and Ice-Element Energy contained within, his mood was as heavy as a mountain.

The secrets hidden deep within the Profound Ice Secret Realm were like a massive, contradictory vortex, pulling him deeper and deeper.

Who spoke the truth? Who spoke falsehood? Or... were they all part of the truth?

He carefully put away the ice soul stone, glanced at the dead silent ruins, turned, and continued forward in the direction deduced by the Sacrifice using his life.

Whether ahead lay a trap or the truth, he had no choice but to continue.

Several days later, using the Bone Fragment Map and the Sacrifice’s guidance to verify each other, Lin Jingyu discovered an extremely hidden entrance beneath a relatively sheltered Ice Cliff.

Brushing aside the thick ice and snow covering it, he found a small Ice Cave with obvious signs of artificial excavation.

Inside the cave were only a simple Stone Bed and Stone Table, covered in dust, clearly abandoned for a long time.

But at the head of the Stone Bed, Lin Jingyu discovered a line of writing hastily carved with a Sharp Weapon. The Handwriting was messy, revealing an indescribable panic and confusion:

”Am I still myself? So everything was destined...”

It was Fei Yangyang’s Handwriting! Lin Jingyu recognized it instantly!

It was exactly the same as what was left on the previous Note.

He had indeed been here!

But the information revealed between the lines was alarming.

”Am I still myself?” This sentence was full of doubt regarding his own existence! And what did ”destined” refer to?

In an inconspicuous crack beneath the Stone Table, Lin Jingyu found another tattered map drawn on some kind of Beast Hide.

This map was rough, but it clearly marked a route leading to a place called the ”Ice and Snow Temple,” and several dangerous areas were also marked on the route.

The Ice and Snow Temple! What connection did it have with the ”Ice Prison Divine Temple” mentioned by the Sacrifice before his death?

Or perhaps they were simply the same place, referred to by different names.

Lin Jingyu didn’t hesitate at all. He put away the Beast Hide map and looked determinedly in the direction indicated by the map. Perhaps all the mysteries could be answered there.

He left the Ice House and, following the map’s guidance, trekked arduously for more than ten days through the extremely harsh environment, avoiding several dangerous areas marked on the map that gave off heart-pounding auras.

Finally, after crossing an area of ”Absolute Zero” Cold Mist Zone that could freeze the Soul, the scene before him made him catch his breath.

A massive Palace, whose grandeur and magnificence defied description, stood silently at the edge of the Ice Plain.

It was constructed entirely of an indescribable blue Ice Crystal, seemingly condensed from the Essence of Eternal Cold Ice, towering into the clouds as if connecting heaven and earth.

The Palace’s design was archaic and ferocious, filled with the aura of ancient wilderness. Countless enormous Ice Pillars supported the structure, engraved with incomprehensible totems and scenes belonging to Ancient Deities.

However, in stark contrast to this magnificent sight, was the dense, unresolvable, towering Evil Qi and scent of blood permeating the area around the Palace.

Right in front of the Palace gate, which resembled the maw of a giant beast, and on the vast Ice Plain surrounding the Palace, hundreds of massive figures were gathered.

They were varied in form: some were like Giant Bears carrying Ice Peaks; some were like Savage Lions with manes like Ice Thorns; some were like Strange Birds whose wings spanned the sky; and others had hideous half-human, half-beast appearances... But without exception, their bodies were immensely huge, radiating a terrifying pressure that made the Soul tremble! Every single one possessed an aura comparable to a Golden Core Cultivator.

These were the ”guardian deities” of the various tribes within the Profound Ice Secret Realm! Astonishingly, they had all gathered here now.

But their state was extremely wrong! In the eyes of every guardian deity, a tyrannical, mad, bloodthirsty red light was burning.

Their bodies were covered in scars left by battle, and icy blue Blood was frozen on them. The intense scent of blood and Evil Qi was emanating precisely from them.

They also seemed full of hostility toward each other. Low growls and sounds of aggressive collisions rose and fell, making the entire area in front of the Palace resemble an ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons about to erupt.

And deep within the Palace, an indescribable, Ancient Will—cold, majestic, and vast, seemingly originating from the dawn of creation, making one instinctively want to kneel and worship—was pulsing deeply, like a heart slowly reviving.