191: The struggle within the palace, the murderous intent outside.

Inside the Ice Extreme Palace, the atmosphere was colder than ten-thousand-year profound ice.

The grand hall was incomparably vast, with a high-domed ceiling made of countless giant ice crystals, reflecting a faint blue light. On both sides stood twelve massive pillars carved with ancient ice patterns. At the end of the hall was a high ice platform, upon which seven seats carved from complete cold jade were placed.

At this moment, five people sat on the seven seats. In the center was an Elder with an ancient face and eyes like a deep, cold abyss; he was Ice Origin, the current Clan Chief of the Ice Spirit Clan. To his left and right sat four Elders with majestic auras, with Elder Bing He positioned on the left, in the secondary seat.

Jin Ling stood alone in the center of the grand hall, enduring the scrutinizing gazes from all directions. The coldness and pressure in those gazes made her slender body tremble slightly, and her face was as pale as paper.

"Bing He, you have presumptuously brought those with impure Bloodline and outsiders into the Permafrost Domain, violating clan rules! Now you even propose to open the Ancestral Ice Secret Realm, which is simply preposterous!" a red-faced Elder, sitting on the right-hand primary seat next to Clan Chief Ice Origin, sternly shouted. He was Grand Elder Ice Crack, in charge of punishments within the clan, known for strictly adhering to clan rules and being headstrong.

"Grand Elder, please calm your anger," Elder Bing He responded calmly, neither humble nor overbearing. "Ling'er bears our clan's Bloodline, and her mother, Jin Furong, was once a member of our clan. She has returned with a token, and according to ancient agreement, she has the right to request an audience with the Elder Council. Opening the Ancestral Ice Secret Realm is not just for her, but more importantly, to retrieve the long-lost 'ancient ice spirit talisman.' This talisman concerns the stability of the Secret Realm, and even our clan's Legacy. How can we ignore it due to prejudice about Bloodline?"

He took out the ice spirit talisman, and the ancient, pure aura it emitted caused the eyes of the Elders present to waver.

"Hmph, who knows if this talisman is real or fake? Even if it's real, who can guarantee that after opening the Secret Realm, that girl with mixed Bloodline won't defile the Holy Land? What's more, those two outsiders she brought have strange auras, especially that man; he carries an unsettling aura of destruction, definitely not a benevolent person! If we let them approach the Secret Realm, the consequences would be unimaginable!" Grand Elder Ice Crack refused to yield an inch, his gaze as sharp as a knife, sweeping over Jin Ling.

"Grand Elder, your words are mistaken," a gentler-faced female Elder, sitting next to Elder Bing He, spoke. She was Elder Bing Yun, in charge of scriptures and education. "Although Ling'er's Bloodline is not pure, she is still a descendant of our clan's Bloodline. Now, the backlash of the ice Soul within her has reached a critical point; if she doesn't see the Secret Realm's core, the 'ice origin heart,' she will surely die. To stand by and watch her die, is that our clan's Dao? As for those two foreign powerhouses, they escorted Ling'er and the ice spirit talisman back, doing us a favor. As long as they abide by the rules, there's no reason not to be accommodating."

"Accommodating? Rules are rules!" Grand Elder Ice Crack slammed his hand on the cold jade armrest, and the entire grand hall trembled slightly. "Bing Yun, you manage the scriptures; have you forgotten the ancestors' teachings? Non-pure Bloodline individuals are not allowed to enter the Secret Realm! Outsiders are not allowed near the Holy Land! These are iron laws! If we make an exception for them today, what will become of our Ice Spirit Clan's prestige tomorrow? How will the purity of our Bloodline be preserved?"

"Iron laws are also made by people! The ancestors established this rule back then to preserve the purity of the clan and avoid external intrusions. But the current situation is special; Ling'er's life is at stake, and the ice spirit talisman has been recovered after being lost. How can we treat all situations the same?" Elder Bing He argued strenuously.

"Special? I see it as inviting a wolf into the house!" Grand Elder Ice Crack sneered, his gaze sweeping over Clan Chief Ice Origin, who had been silent all this time. "Clan Chief, this matter still needs your decision! You must not make a grave mistake due to a moment of soft-heartedness!"

For a time, the debate in the hall was endless. Only Elder Bing Yun supported Elder Bing He, while two other Elders supported Grand Elder Ice Crack. Another Elder remained silent, his attitude unclear. Clan Chief Ice Origin, with his eyes slightly closed, gently tapped his fingers on the armrest, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

Jin Ling stood below, listening to the fierce argument above concerning her, her heart filled with helplessness and sadness. She felt her body growing colder and colder, and that familiar backlash power, as if it wanted to freeze her very Soul, began to stir again. She bit her lower lip tightly, not letting herself cry, her light blue eyes filled with despair.

Outside the hall.

Li Ao and Medusa still stood quietly waiting. Although the argument inside the hall was blocked by a barrier, the faint energy fluctuations and oppressive atmosphere that subtly emanated could not escape their perception.

"It seems the resistance is not small," Medusa's purple eyes slightly lifted, looking at the tightly shut hall door.

"As expected," Li Ao's expression was calm. His attention was more focused on perceiving the surrounding environment. That fleeting abnormal fluctuation just now had put him on alert.

He closed his eyes, pushing his Soul perception to its limit, while cautiously drawing out a trace of the Nirvana Power from the nirvana star core. The "ending all things" characteristic of Nirvana Power, at this moment, seemed to become a demon-revealing mirror, keenly discerning all energy that was inconsistent with this pure, icy environment.

A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint of cold light appearing within them.

"Found it!"

In his perception, about several hundred meters away from the Ice Extreme Palace, beneath a seemingly ordinary ice crystal pavilion, three extremely hidden auras lurked! These three auras were like bone-marrow parasites, perfectly utilizing the Ice Spirit Clan's pure icy energy as a cover, but deep within their core, a trace of the Hall of Souls' Origin Power, originating from the same source as the Wild Eagle but even purer and colder, was intertwined!

Moreover, one of these auras had actually reached the Dou Zun level! Although it was only an Early Stage One-Star Dou Zun, it was much stronger than the Wild Eagle!

"One Dou Zun, two high-level Dou Zong... they really spared no expense," Li Ao's lips curled into a cold arc. "Are they lurking here to strike during the chaos when the Secret Realm opens, or do they have other motives?"

He looked at Medusa, informing her of his discovery.

Medusa's eyes gleamed with killing intent: "A mere One-Star Dou Zun, daring to covet? We might as well go and deal with them now."

Li Ao shook his head, his gaze profound: "No rush. Their remaining hidden and still means the time is not right, or they have reservations. If we act now, we might alert them and even be misunderstood by the Ice Spirit Clan. Since we know their location, the initiative is in our hands."

He paused, then continued: "Let's wait for a result from inside the hall. If the Ice Spirit Clan agrees to open the Secret Realm, these people will surely show themselves. If they don't agree... it won't be too late for us to clean them up then."

His plan was clear: to observe in silence and strike later. On someone else's territory, acting rashly was not the best strategy.

Time passed by second by second, and the debate within the Ice Extreme Palace finally seemed to have a conclusion.

Clan Chief Ice Origin slowly opened his eyes. His gaze, like a cold abyss, swept over the people below, finally resting on Jin Ling, and he slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying decisive power:

"The Ancestral Ice Secret Realm can be opened."

Jin Ling suddenly looked up, her eyes bursting with an unbelievable light of hope.

Grand Elder Ice Crack's face changed: "Clan Chief!"

Ice Origin waved his hand, stopping him, and continued: "However, there are two conditions."

"First, opening the Secret Realm requires a huge amount of energy and the combined power of five of our clan's Elders, along with the assistance of the 'Ice Origin Grand Array.' During this period, the Permafrost Domain's defenses will be at their lowest, requiring strict precautions against external enemies."

"Second," his gaze turned towards outside the hall, as if piercing through the thick ice door, landing on Li Ao and Medusa, "those two foreign powerhouses are not allowed to enter the core area of the Secret Realm; they can only wait at the Secret Realm's entrance. Furthermore, they must make a Soul oath not to pry into or reveal the secrets of our clan's Secret Realm."

The hall door slowly opened, and Elder Bing He emerged with a complex-looking Jin Ling.

"Young Master Li, Your Majesty Queen," Elder Bing He looked at the two. "The Clan Chief has agreed to open the Secret Realm, but there are conditions..."

He repeated the two conditions.

Li Ao and Medusa exchanged glances.

"Understood," Li Ao readily agreed. His goal was to escort Jin Ling to obtain the ice origin heart, suppress the backlash, and fulfill his promise to Madam Jin. As for the core of the Secret Realm, he had no covetous desires, at least not at the moment.

"In that case, please follow me to the Secret Realm entrance. The opening ceremony will begin immediately," Elder Bing He said, a trace of imperceptible solemnity in his eyes. He knew that the real test had just begun.

Li Ao nodded, his gaze seemingly inadvertently sweeping over the ice crystal pavilion in the distance where the Hall of Souls powerhouses lurked, a cold sneer forming in his heart.

"The prey has entered the arena, and the hunters... should also show themselves."