I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield Chapter 688 - 504: Mogaro, The Frozen Throne (Part 2)

The aggressively growing, thorned vines took advantage of the moment, burrowing deep into the magical creature's form. Their surfaces glistened, openly and greedily draining the creature's very essence.

Under the immense pressure from the wooden statue and the relentless energy drain by the thorned vines, the creature's physique began to collapse. Its black scales fractured, the demonic flames sputtered out, and with a final, resounding 'bang', it dissolved into a foul-smelling, viscous black puddle, utterly devoid of life.

The luminous green crystal orbs within the wooden statue's eyes gradually lost their glow. Its form shuddered momentarily before returning to its inanimate state.

Dongfang Qi descended from the wooden statue's apex, his green robes billowing dramatically in the sharp, cold wind.

At this critical juncture, the ice bones situated at the heart of the ice valley trembled. The encompassing ice layer split open with a precise fissure down the middle, from which a resplendently white ice scepter slowly ascended.

The scepter's surface was adorned with intricate, winding branch patterns. Capping its top was an ice crystal stone, the size of a pigeon's egg, radiating an abundance of pure spiritual energy.

Dongfang Qi moved closer, his hands gripping the ice scepter. A wave of cool energy surged through his palms and into his body, swiftly alleviating his exhaustion from the recent battle.

He gave a slight nod, clearly content with the scepter he now held.

However, as his gaze drifted beyond the confines of the ice valley, his brow creased, and a flicker of apprehension crossed his features.

Even with his considerable might, subduing the magical creature before him had demanded significant exertion. The safety of his clan and the elite golden bloodline cultivators under the Dongfang Clan's banner remained uncertain.

His thoughts cemented, Dongfang Qi wasted no further time, launching himself with speed towards the exterior of the ice valley.

......

Roar——!

From the summit of the ice mountain, a thunderous dragon's roar echoed skyward. The magnificent golden holy dragon, its body stretching dozens of feet, unfurled its immense form. Its scales blazed with an intense light as it plummeted earthward with world-ending ferocity.

Below, the black-scaled serpent demon let out a sibilant hiss, its forked tongue flicking. A noxious miasma swirled around it, staining the falling snowflakes a grim black.

"Boom!"

The holy dragon struck the serpent demon's vulnerable core with pinpoint accuracy. The serpent demon shrieked in agony as it was violently propelled backward, slamming with immense force into the main peak of the ice mountain.

The entire mountain range instantly fractured and collapsed. Massive ice fragments rained down, their booming reverberations filling the snowy expanse, majestically crumbling within moments, leaving behind a swirling fog of snow particles.

Emerging from the snowy haze, a streak of golden spear light sliced through the air. Dragon patterns coiled around the spear shaft, emanating an awe-inspiring draconic might.

"Splat!" Like a celestial meteor, the spear impaled the serpent demon's head, pinning it lifelessly to the ruined ice.

The residual tremors from the mountain's collapse continued, causing the ground to sink an additional few feet.

A figure clad in brilliant yellow descended gracefully; it was Ji Taiyan.

With a casual flick of his finger, a golden dragon flame erupted along the spear's shaft. The serpent demon's body was rapidly engulfed by the dragon flame, disintegrating into ash and scattering to the winds and snow within moments.

Ji Taiyan landed upon the ice-encrusted rock, his gaze sweeping across the devastated landscape. His brow furrowed deeply.

Beneath the ice, precisely where the serpent demon had met its end, the remnants of a partially obliterated dark gold sealing array were exposed. At its center, two bones as thick as an arm were entwined, surprisingly covered in fresh flesh from which demonic qi ceaselessly emanated.

"A being born from two bones, yet possessing such formidable power," his heart sank.

The perils concealed within this treasure vault far surpassed his initial estimations.

What profound secret could possibly lie hidden at this location?

The biting wind whipped snow against Ji Taiyan's face, his eyes alight with unwavering determination.

He was resolved to uncover the truth; failing to do so would inevitably lead to the demise of countless burgeoning talents.

...

Within the sprawling confines of the treasure vault, peril lay in wait at every turn. The intense luminescence from spiritual energy detonations flickered erratically through the winding corridors.

In one frigid passageway, a golden bloodline genius parried a magical creature's claw strike with his sword, only to be caught off guard by a counter-attack, screaming as he succumbed. In another stone chamber, an individual unleashed a forbidden secret technique, igniting their spiritual energy in a desperate, mutual destruction with a nearby creature, sending shattered ice mingling with blood and ichor in all directions.

Deep within the ice valley, the members of the Holy Blood Clan unleashed their divine prowess, obliterating monstrous entities. The sharp clang of steel against scale, the guttural roars of beasts, and the pained cries of humans merged into a chilling opera of life and death.

Remarkably, regardless of the battle's ferocity, the violent surges of energy seemed contained by an unseen boundary, never breaching their confines. It was as if the entire treasure vault had been partitioned into countless discrete arenas, each a crucible of survival.

Deep within the vault, hundreds of ice mirrors, each as tall as a person, were arranged in three precise rows. Their polished surfaces flawlessly reflected scenes of ongoing battles, capturing not only the ferocity of the creatures but also the alarm and terror etched on the faces of the geniuses.

Standing silently before these ice mirrors, like an unmoving statue, was a figure of striking, perfect handsomeness. He wore a crown of ice crystal gems that shimmered with a light blue hue. A snow-white robe, embroidered with intricate ice patterns along its hem, cascaded down to his ankles. In his hand, he held a magic staff topped with an embedded ice soul, radiating an aura of supreme authority, as if he were an emperor ruling over a realm of ice and snow.

Behind him, four formidable ice and snow spirit beasts awaited their orders.

The Ice Crystal Phoenix possessed wings sculpted like delicate glass, its tail feathers emitting a radiant icy blue glow, while fine ice mist condensed near its beak. The giant bear with a snowy mane was mountainously large, its thick white fur resembling wool, and its claws gouged deep, bone-exposing scars into the ground with every scrape. The spirit deer was enveloped in a faint golden aura, ice flowers crystallizing in the tines of its antlers and blooming into ephemeral ice crystals with each step it took. Completing the quartet was a colossal pangolin-like beast, its back adorned with layers of rhomboid ice crystal scales that reflected a cold, metallic sheen under the light, crouching low like a mobile fortress clad in ice armor.

"Young Master, the strength displayed by these humans truly exceeds our expectations," the spirit deer stated, shattering a nearby ice crystal with its hoof. The ice flowers on its antlers trembled as it spoke, "Especially those bearing the Holy Blood lineage; they are capable of shattering Mokaluo’s avatar single-handedly. If we were to solicit assistance from the Empire’s most powerful experts, perhaps we could..."

"No," Lan's voice was as frigid as ice, the ice soul atop his staff pulsing with a faint gleam. "The Empire's avarice is deeply ingrained. Should their mightiest intervene, all that our race has meticulously prepared to subdue Mokaluo, along with the sacred inheritance passed down through generations, will be utterly plundered."

He raised a hand, gently brushing over the ice patterns adorning his robe, his gaze serene. "We must leverage their power to weaken Mokaluo, but ultimately, the final blow must be struck by our Ice God Race."

"Precisely," the white bear rumbled, its heavy breaths expelling two clouds of white mist that solidified into fine ice particles in the air. "Never trust others again—have the painful lessons from the past not taught us enough?"

Upon hearing this, the spirit deer, the Ice Crystal Phoenix, and the pangolin-like giant beast all nodded in solemn agreement.

During the great turmoil that befell the Ice God Race, they were still in their nascent stages, lacking direct battlefield experience. Yet, the devastating aftermath and its underlying causes and consequences remained etched in their memories.

Had it not been for their naive reliance on external "aid" in the past, the Ice God Main City would not have been so easily breached, and their entire race would not have teetered on the brink of extinction, leaving only a few scattered remnants like themselves to guard this frigid seal.

"Over thousands of years of suppression, Mokaluo has been steadily siphoning our race's power to augment its own strength," the white bear declared, its heavy claw slamming onto the ground, causing the ice surface to fracture with fine lines. "Meanwhile, we have continuously replenished the energy void within the sealing formation, our own powers long diminished from their zenith. If no external force intervenes, it will break free from the formation within twenty years at most—and when that time comes, we shall all be buried alongside it."

"Therefore, these humans are our most suitable instruments," Lan stated, his gaze sweeping across the battling figures within the ice mirrors, his tone unwavering. "We can manipulate their trial pathways, transforming them into tools to deplete Mokaluo’s strength. However, in the end, whether it can be annihilated completely still hinges on that one individual..."

Before he could complete his sentence, he and the four spirit beasts simultaneously shifted their attention towards the deepest part of the hall.

There stood a throne, meticulously crafted from thousand-year-old profound ice. Its armrests were intricately carved into coiling ice dragons, their scales meticulously pieced together from countless minute ice crystal shards, refracting an eerie blue luminescence. Dozens of silent ice souls were embedded within the throne's backrest, their once brilliant radiance now dulled, their surfaces marred by cracks resembling a spider's web.

The base of the throne melded seamlessly with an ice mountain beneath it. This mountain, entirely crystalline, held within its core a dimly pulsing, writhing shadow—the very heart of Mokaluo.