HSSB345: Obtaining the treasures
Looking at that chair of ice, Yan Zhaoge could feel an aura of a crouching tiger and a coiling dragon eternally wreathing it.
It seemed as though he had travelled back in time, able to see images of the past, a powerful Martial Saint expert just seated there, looking at the ice pillar at the centre of the great hall.
Coming beside the chair, Yan Zhaoge turned towards the great hall, looking at the body of the true dragon sealed in ice at its centre.
Ah Hu also calmed as he asked, “Young Master, the difficulty of storing this true dragon’s body must be great. How can we bring it fully away?”
Yan Zhaoge said, “You don’t have to worry about this; I already have an idea on how to do it. Let’s first check the other things within this ice palace.”
Ah Hu acknowledged his words, volunteering himself to perform the search.
Yan Zhaoge remained where he was, stroking his lower chin as he pondered.
When Ah Hu returned, he saw that their gains were rather abundant.
Originally having already been greatly overjoyed by the true dragon’s body, Ah Hu was currently smiling till even his eyes could not be seen.
Because so much time had gone by, many of the things stored within the ice palace had already rotted away, losing their value and uses.
However, even so, there still remained many treasures here where the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint had once resided that could still be used.
As a Martial Saint expert, the private properties of the Glacial Dragon Martial Saint were very abundant.
While it was unable to compare with the possessions of Sacred Ground-level powers like Broad Creed Mountain, for a solitary practitioner, he could already be considered extremely wealthy.
As compared to his, the collection of the Devil Saint Yuan Tian had been much more inferior.
Checking the objects, Yan Zhaoge gained a clearer understanding, “Right, from the looks of it, when he came back here for the last time, he did not leave in a hurry. He probably thought that it would just be a rather normal journey out.”
“At least, he had not thought that that might be a journey from which he would never return.”
Yan Zhaoge pondered, “Perhaps he went to investigate that secret of ‘Dragons Entering the Sea’, vanishing thereafter, his life or death a mystery.”
At this point, Yan Zhaoge checked over those treasures that had been stored within the ice palace once more, looking for possible clues.
Finally, a few fragmented scales attracted his attention.
“Dragon scales…” While the spiritual qi within the scales had already gradually dissipated completely, Yan Zhaoge still identified them very quickly.
Arriving at the ice pillar at the centre of the great hall, Yan Zhaoge carefully observed the body of the true dragon preserved within the ice pillar, before looking at the fragmented scales in his hands once more, “It was not from this dragon.”
“After piecing back the scales together, perhaps there’ll be some gains,” Yan Zhaoge ceased his pondering, raising his head to look at the massive ice pillar before him.
He reached out and pressed down on the ice pillar, feeling the cold aura within as he closed his eyes.
After a while, he took out the pillar of the Divine Palace in the form of a short stone rod once more.
The pillar of the Divine Palace grew massive, supporting the great palace of ice alongside that ice pillar.
Yan Zhaoge pressed down on the ice pillar containing the true dragon’s body with both hands, infusing his aura-qi within.
With his hands as the centre, a rectangular rune appeared beneath each hand, radiance intermingling as numerous patterns of light began appearing on the ice pillar’s surface.
Yan Zhaoge retracted a palm, taking out a pair of silver hoops.
With a light spin of his fingers, the two silver hoops flew out, one above, one below.
The silver hoop that flew upwards landed where the top of the ice pillar touched the ceiling of the great hall, while the one that flew downwards landed on the foundation of the ice pillar, at its bottom where it touched the ground.
The two silver hoops transformed into silver rings of light, slowly merging within the ice pillar before finally vanishing.
Yan Zhaoge pressed down with both hands on the ice pillar once more, before the aura-qi in his hands surged in reverse, creating a suction force on the ice pillar.
Having earlier still appeared to be one and inseparable with the ice palace, the massive ice pillar now shook as it was gradually shifted by Yan Zhaoge.
Amidst the friction, a great amount of shattered ice descended from above, the ice pillar becoming a little shorter. Yan Zhaoge exerted force with his hands, pushing the ice pillar to lie horizontally across.
The ice pillar were densely packed with silvery patterns of light that shone non-stop, the true dragon’s body sealed within still unmoving, as though in a deep slumber.
Yan Zhaoge attempted to keep this massive ice pillar within his Shadow Shrinking Pouch.
However, the ice pillar that had earlier appeared quiet and even a little ordinary suddenly surged with an extremely powerful aura that was terrifying beyond compare.
The ferocious spiritual force rejected entering the Shadow Shrinking Pouch, almost wanting to rip it into pieces.
“Remarkable indeed,” His expression not changing, Yan Zhaoge lightly tapped the pillar of the Divine Palace beside him.
The stone pillar shrunk slightly. Then, Yan Zhaoge controlled the descending ice pillar, the powerful aura from within finally calming somewhat.
Yan Zhaoge immediately kept the pillar of the Divine Palace and the true dragon’s body together within the Shadow Shrinking Pouch.
On the other end, Ah Hu had also kept everything else as Yan Zhaoge now said, “Let’s go.”
It did not have to be thought to be known that the people of the Heavenly Thunder Hall were currently outside the ice palace, waiting for them outside the ice lake.
Very possibly, having been at the Ice Pith Vein earlier, the Heavenly Thunder Hall’s Elder Zhen and the others were also rushing back at rocket speed.
Having viciously harmed the Heavenly Thunder Hall at the Ice Pith Vein, causing a great many of their personnel in the Extreme Northern Lands to have been lost, it was not like there was no chance of the Heavenly Thunder Hall sending over reinforcements from the Thunder Domain.
However, this was not hard at all for Yan Zhaoge. Leaving the ice palace, he did not leave the ice lake, instead taking out the Underground Splitting Shuttle and entering the depths of the lake, leaving from underground.
Within the Underground Splitting Shuttle, looking at the cracks that lay across its exterior, Yan Zhaoge smacked his lips, “Over at the Ice Pith Vein earlier, the pressure was really a little great. The damage to the Underground Splitting Shuttle is even more tragic than back then with Old Man Great Sorrow’s Tomb.
Ah Hu’s heart leapt in shock, “Young Master, might it break down halfway? If that happened, we might be buried underground.”
Yan Zhaoge chuckled, “Relax, it is at least still sufficient to complete this trip.”
Very quickly, the Underground Splitting Shuttle shot out of the earth, the two seeing the light of day once more.
Yan Zhaoge kept the Underground Splitting Shuttle. Gazing backwards, snow filled the entire sky, the vast territory of the Extreme Northern Snowy Plains filled with the feeling of desolation.
“While this is rather close to the Thunder Domain, at the end of the day, it is still not the territory of the Heavenly Thunder Hall, “Yan Zhaoge shook his head.
Lin Zhou and the others might not recognise the Underground Splitting Shuttle, but they should still know that he had this treasure.
However, other than guarding the exterior of the ice lake, there weren’t many things that they could do. Their manpower was far from sufficient to spread out across the surrounding area and completely cover the nearby lands.
Controlling the Underground Splitting Shuttle, he could choose whatever direction he liked, with it being extremely convenient.
For the martial practitioners of the Heavenly Thunder Hall, finding a way to quickly open the ice palace was still the more practical choice.
Yan Zhaoge said to Ah Hu, “Let’s go. Make sure to clear up the traces, lest we get tracked.”
The two headed east once more, towards that blue hot spring that they had discovered previously.
Calculating the time, Yan Zhaoge found that the accumulated spiritual qi within should already be sufficient.
After journeying for many days, returning from whence they had come, Yan Zhaoge broke through the layers of ice and soil, the blue hot spring from which hot steam rose reappearing before them.
Yan Zhaoge took out a transparent crystalline object, throwing it within the blue hot spring.
Instantly, the hot spring began to bubble and surge. At the same time, the blue light faded away, to be replaced by a bloodred glow.