190: In the icy realm, undercurrents begin to emerge.

Taking one step into the storm barrier was like entering another world.

The wind, snow, and severe cold of the outside world instantly vanished, replaced by a strange tranquility and an extreme, pure coldness.

The sky was an eternal ice-blue, and though there was no sun, a soft, omnipresent light emanated from the ground beneath their feet, the surrounding structures, and even the tiny ice crystals floating in the air.

What unfolded before Li Ao was a magnificent scene that defied description.

Massive glaciers, transparent like sapphires, formed the main body of the mountain range, and countless structures carved from pure ice crystals were built along the slopes, layer upon layer, reflecting a dreamy halo.

Wide streets were paved with smooth, millennia-old profound ice, polished like mirrors, reflecting the aurora flowing above.

Various strange, blue-glowing ice-type plants adorned the sides of the streets and the spaces between the buildings, adding a touch of vitality to this ice-blue world.

The air was permeated with extremely pure ice-attribute energy; with every breath, a coolness could be felt flowing into the lungs, but for those without an ice-attribute Physique, this energy carried intense repulsion and corrosiveness.

Occasionally, members of the Ice Spirit Clan walked the streets. Both men and women were beautiful and possessed a cold, aloof demeanor, wearing clothing woven from ice silk or some kind of glowing moss.

When they saw Elder Bing He, they would respectfully bow, but when their eyes swept over Li Ao, Medusa, and especially Jin Ling, they revealed surprise, scrutiny, and even undisguised repulsion and disgust.

"Impure Bloodline..."

"How did outsiders get in?"

"It's Jin Furong's daughter..."

Whispers of discussion, like cold wind, drilled into their ears.

Jin Ling lowered her head, staying close to Li Ao and Medusa, her small hands clutching the corner of her clothes, her body trembling slightly.

This land, the source of her Bloodline, brought her not a sense of belonging, but omnipresent pressure and discrimination.

Medusa's purple eyes coldly swept over the members of the Ice Spirit Clan who were casting strange glances. An invisible pressure naturally emanated from her, instantly quieting the discussions.

As a queen, she possessed her own pride; were it not for Li Ao's mission and Jin Ling, she would never have stepped into such an exclusive place.

Li Ao, however, appeared the calmest.

As he walked, he carefully observed this strange kingdom.

The energy structure here was incredibly stable and ancient; the extreme "silence" and "purity" faintly resonated with certain characteristics within his Nirvana Power.

The nirvana star core within his Qi Sea seemed to rotate slightly faster in this location, as if absorbing something, or perhaps probing a power that was similar in origin but different in nature.

"A very interesting place," Li Ao thought internally. "The 'Stillness' here is absolute coldness under order; while my 'Nirvana' is the return of all things to ruin after the end. The two seem similar, but their essence is completely different."

Elder Bing He took in the reactions of the three, secretly nodding, especially at Li Ao's calmness and Medusa's cold arrogance.

He sighed and gently said to Jin Ling, "Linger, don't worry about the stares. Your mother... she had her own difficult circumstances back then."

Jin Ling looked up, tears welling in her eyes: "Grandpa Bing He, my mother... she truly wanted to return."

Elder Bing He's eyes were complex; he didn't reply, simply quickening his pace.

He led the three through several streets until they arrived before a more magnificent ice crystal palace situated halfway up the glacial mountain.

The palace entrance was heavily guarded; the guards' aura was stronger than the patrols outside, and their gazes toward Li Ao and the others were even colder.

"This is the Ice Extreme Palace, our clan's deliberation hall," Elder Bing He stopped and said to Li Ao and Medusa. "Please wait here, both of you. I must first take Linger inside to meet the Clan Chief and the Elders and explain the situation.

The matter of opening the Ancestral Ice Secret Realm concerns clan rules and is not simple; it requires a resolution from the Elder Council."

Li Ao nodded: "Understood. We will wait here."

Elder Bing He glanced at Jin Ling again, signaling her to follow, and then led the nervous Jin Ling into the solemn and majestic Ice Extreme Palace.

The palace doors slowly closed, isolating the inside from the outside.

Li Ao and Medusa stood on the platform outside the palace, overlooking the dreamy ice crystal city below. The cold wind swept past, whipping their clothes and hair.

"Although the energy here is dense, it is too rigid and stagnant, lacking vitality and change. This is not a place for long residence," Medusa commented coolly, sensing the surrounding environment.

"Indeed, extreme purity often implies extreme exclusivity and fragility," Li Ao agreed. "However, this environment should greatly restrain the vile creatures from the Hall of Souls."

His Soul Power, like invisible ripples, quietly spread out, carefully sensing every corner of this ice crystal kingdom.

The perception granted by the nirvana star core seemed to become even sharper here.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly, and his sharp gaze swept toward a relatively remote ice tower in the distance.

Just now, he had captured an extremely faint fluctuation that was completely incompatible with the pure, icy energy of the entire Ice Spirit Clan.

The fluctuation carried a hint of obscure spatial distortion and a familiar cold malice. Although it flashed and vanished, and was perfectly concealed by the dense icy energy of the place, it still failed to completely escape his perception.

"It seems the claws of the Hall of Souls have reached further than we imagined, managing to infiltrate even here," Li Ao transmitted to Medusa, his tone laced with coldness.

A cold light flashed in Medusa's purple eyes: "Are they here for the ice spirit talisman, or do they have other intentions?"

"Perhaps both," Li Ao pondered. "Let's wait and see how things develop. If they dare to make a move here, we can clean them up all at once."

The two stopped speaking, quietly awaiting the result from inside the Ice Extreme Palace.

But both knew that Jin Ling's desire to successfully open the Ancestral Ice Secret Realm would be far from smooth sailing.

The internal resistance from the Ice Spirit Clan, coupled with the threat of the Hall of Souls lurking in the shadows, all hinted that a greater storm was brewing beneath this seemingly tranquil ice crystal kingdom.

Time passed slowly, yet no news emerged from within the Ice Extreme Palace. The atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy.