Chapter 37

Ah Hu looked at the surface of the ice lake with a pained expression: "If it really is the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit, and we can't collect it, it would be such a pity."

"Master, shall I go back and call for help? Although we might have to share some of the spoils, it's better than returning empty-handed from a treasure mountain."

Yan Zhaoge similarly stared at the lake, where a huge black shadow could be seen moving vaguely beneath the ice, causing the sky and earth to seem to turn upside down, and the entire ice valley to tremble.

After a moment of thought, a smile suddenly appeared at the corners of Yan Zhaoge's mouth: "Perhaps there's a way to try."

He took out a small iron plaque from his chest, looked at the ancient and incomplete characters on it, and infused his own Gang Qi into it.

The patterns on the small iron plaque immediately glowed with a white light.

In the extremely cold environment of the ice valley, the white light was even brighter and more dazzling, gradually taking on a bluish hue.

Yan Zhaoge silently practiced a profound technique, and his own Gang Qi began to turn cold and icy.

He approached the edge of the ice lake, squatted down, and let the small iron plaque touch the ice surface.

In the next moment, the vibrations beneath the lake seemed to suddenly stop for an instant.

Then, they quickly became violent, and the ice on the surface of the lake began to crack extensively.

Suddenly, a huge force erupted from the small iron plaque, almost causing Yan Zhaoge to lose his grip.

Yan Zhaoge increased the pressure of his fingers and held the iron plaque tightly.

He then felt a noticeable suction force from the lake water, trying to pull the iron plaque into the water.

The dragon's roar from the lake water became increasingly loud and piercing.

Standing up, with invisible currents of air swirling around him, shimmering with a faint metallic luster, and his body enveloped in Gang Qi, Yan Zhaoge took a step forward and entered the ice lake.

With Gang Qi protecting him, the cold lake water was automatically kept at bay, and Yan Zhaoge's figure sank into the lake water.

Behind him, Ah Hu instructed the others to stay behind, and he also followed Yan Zhaoge into the water.

Once in the water, they continued downward, stepping on the ice, and the cold water currents around them converged toward the small iron plaque in Yan Zhaoge's hand.

Under the ice-blue glow, the small iron plaque began to gradually restore itself.

A smile appeared on Yan Zhaoge's face. In the next moment, a huge black shadow flashed before him, and up close, it turned out to be a thick dragon tail bone.

Landing on the dragon tail bone with Ah Hu, Yan Zhaoge firmly planted his feet, and his body swayed with the dragon bone as it thrashed around the bottom of the ice lake.

Yan Zhaoge accurately inserted the small iron plaque into the gap between two segments of the bone.

The dragon bone immediately trembled, and a faint white light appeared along the central spine, running through the entire segment of the dragon bone.

Yan Zhaoge extended his other hand and pressed it on the white light that had appeared on the surface of the dragon bone. The touch was icy cold, and even with Gang Qi protecting him, he felt the bone-chilling cold.

"Turn!" Yan Zhaoge silently commanded, activating the secret technique. The white light on the dragon bone began to twist.

As if being forcefully extracted, the white light started to detach from the dragon bone.

Ah Hu, who was prepared, revealed a large ice-blue jade and handed it to Yan Zhaoge.

Yan Zhaoge pressed one hand on the dragon bone and held the jade with the other. Soon, the jade began to glow with white light, and a dragon's roar could be heard from within.

The Ice Dragon Bone Spirit was continuously extracted from the dragon bone, passed through Yan Zhaoge, and sealed into the ice-blue jade.

Yan Zhaoge's expression remained calm, but his face gradually took on a blue hue, pulsing continuously.

Seeing this, Ah Hu breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that everything was going smoothly, and that their master only needed some time to obtain the precious Ice Dragon Bone Spirit.

But Yan Zhaoge's expression did not relax: "Is there another person extracting the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit from the direction of the dragon's head?"

"Is the person who caused the earthquake by disturbing the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit also them?"

Yan Zhaoge focused his gaze and saw that they were standing on the dragon tail bone, but the dragon's body was extremely long, extending deep into the rock layers at the bottom of the lake. The front half of the dragon bone, where the head was, was unknown.

Closing his eyes, Yan Zhaoge calmed his mind and merged with the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit. In his mind, a different scene gradually appeared.

Images flashed rapidly before Yan Zhaoge's eyes.

In a vast valley, deep within a cave, cold winds swirled, creating a world of ice.

At the bottom of the cave was a seemingly bottomless cold pond.

At the bottom of the pond, the head of a huge ice dragon, now reduced to bones, lay motionless, as if in a deep sleep.

Suddenly, the pond water rippled, and a bright and fresh white-robed girl appeared in the cold pond.

This girl's beauty was no less than Sikuang Qing's, with flawless features and a pair of deer-like eyes that were both lively and gentle, evoking a sense of tenderness.

"These are the residual memory imprints of the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit, replaying past events." However, what caught Yan Zhaoge's attention was that he recognized the person.

Although they had never personally interacted, Yan Zhaoge would never mistake her.

This girl was named Meng Wan, a disciple of the Great Sun Holy Sect.

"Interesting..." Yan Zhaoge's pupils slightly contracted.

A few years ago, an extremely powerful holy weapon suddenly appeared in the Eight Great Worlds.

This treasure was called the Taiyin Crown, of unknown origin, but with unparalleled power, ranking among the top in the Eight Great Worlds after the Great Catastrophe.

However, this holy weapon was quite peculiar; even a Martial Saint could not harness or activate even a fraction of its power.

Only a woman with the Taiyin constitution, after reaching the Grandmaster realm, could activate a limited amount of its power.

But the Taiyin Crown was so powerful that even a Grandmaster-level woman with the Taiyin constitution could unleash nearly the power of a regular holy weapon, albeit for a short time.

After discovering the key to its operation, the Eight Great Worlds were in an uproar, and all the major holy lands began to search for and cultivate young girls with the Taiyin constitution.

However, girls with the Taiyin constitution were rare, and it was even more challenging to find those of the right age for martial cultivation.

Despite this, the vast and populous Eight Great Worlds managed to find a few, each belonging to different holy lands.

The Taiyin Crown was so powerful that a Grandmaster-level female martial artist could unleash great power, and if a Taiyin woman reached the Great Grandmaster realm, the potential was unimaginable.

No single holy land could monopolize the Taiyin Crown, as the others would not accept it.

However, the power of the Taiyin Crown was highly effective against the Eight Great Worlds' archenemies, the Flame Demons, making it a much-needed force.

Thus, after an alliance, the major holy lands decided to hold a Taiyin Trial every so often, where the Taiyin women from each holy land would compete, and the winner would possess the Taiyin Crown for a period.

Currently, there were no Great Grandmaster-level Taiyin women, so the Taiyin Trial was accepted by all and could proceed peacefully.

All the major holy lands were also putting effort into cultivating their own Taiyin women.

Meng Wan was the Taiyin woman of the Great Sun Holy Sect.

The environment of the cold pond was a good place for her Taiyin constitution.

However, from the memory imprints of the Ice Dragon Bone Spirit, it seemed that Meng Wan was not there to cultivate, nor did she discover the peaceful and dormant Ice Dragon Bone Spirit.

Her situation appeared somewhat peculiar.

Not long after, another person suddenly fell into the cold pond at the dragon's head. Yan Zhaoge focused his gaze and was surprised to see someone he recognized.

Bare-chested, with disheveled hair and flame patterns on his body, it was clearly Ye Jing!