Chapter 537 - 323: Ice Corpses Everywhere, Touching the Ascension Platform, The Ice Mountains Melt

As they drew closer, a lake soon appeared in the center. The crowd finally saw clearly that every white speck of light was, in fact, an iceberg.

Before them were at least a thousand icebergs. As far as the eye could see, the mountains of ice were layered one upon another, a truly spectacular sight.

What was even more shocking was that inside every iceberg in the lake was a living being. Some were humans, some were Demon Beasts, and some were even plants and other strange, ancient creatures.

Inside an iceberg in the very depths, a Purple Gold Ancient Tree over three thousand meters tall was frozen, radiating a brilliant Purple Gold light.

That iceberg was immense; the part exposed above the water alone was over seven thousand meters high.

Its towering appearance inspired an irrepressible urge to kneel and worship.

"That looks like a Divine Tree."

Lu Mingyuan realized that nothing here seemed to be simple.

Everyone was stunned by the scene. There were far too many creatures frozen in the ice, some of which had been preserved since ancient times. Their bodies had not decayed, still retaining their appearance from hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of years ago.

A young Qi Cultivator from the Three Academies came forward and said, "Your Majesty, there are many Treasures on these Ice Corpses! If we could shatter the ice and take them, the strength of our Great Yan would surely multiply."

Lu Mingyuan looked at the Armor, Battle Sabers, and numerous Innate Treasures on the beings in the icebergs. There was no shortage of Middle-Age Relics and even Immortal Artifacts among them.

However, his expression was solemn. He sent a telepathic message, "We cannot touch the Treasures on these Ice Corpses."

"Why?"

Some of the Great Yan Cultivators were baffled.

The owners of these Treasures were already dead. They were ownerless now, so why couldn’t they be taken?

It was difficult for Lu Mingyuan to explain.

He had seen the hexagrams and knew that even more precious Treasures would appear later. While the Magical Treasures before them were good, they would not be easy to obtain.

In short, he had a bad feeling about this.

The hexagrams had only mentioned two great Opportunities, but there was no mention of these frozen beings.

Extrapolating from that, it meant the things in these icebergs were not necessarily Opportunities—they were more likely deadly traps.

Lu Mingyuan said faintly, "If these Treasures could be taken, why haven’t the Demon Race touched them? It must mean there’s danger. Touching them is undoubtedly a death sentence."

"Besides, many of these Ice Corpses are ancestors from the Ancient Human Race. They fought against Divine Beings, battled the Demon Race, and repelled the Celestial Demons, forging a path of salvation for the Human Race. To us, they are pioneers, heroes even. How could we brazenly take their Magical Treasures?"

"We’ve only just entered the ruins. There are bound to be more precious Opportunities ahead. Why waste time here?"

Hearing this, the Qi Cultivator from before looked ashamed. "I see now. Your Majesty is truly far-sighted. It was I who was narrow-minded."

Under Lu Mingyuan’s restraint, not a single Great Yan Cultivator made a move on the equipment of the corpses in the icebergs.

However, the other Cultivators who came in after them lacked such awareness.

One by one, after seeing the fields of Ice Corpses, their eyes gleamed. They immediately used Divine Techniques to shatter the icebergs and plunder the Treasure Armor and Weapons from the bodies.

But they encountered no danger.

Yun Qinghe glanced back and said calmly, "You were right. People who covet treasure will only be penny-wise and pound-foolish here. There are far too many Treasures to collect them all. If they linger here, they’ll only miss out on even greater Opportunities."

Every being frozen inside an iceberg had a Treasure on them. Any Cultivator who saw those Treasures would surely be tempted.

If a Cultivator spent all their energy collecting Treasures, it would be perfectly normal for them to die in the Abandoned Deep Sea.

Everyone understood the logic, but very few could control the greed in their hearts.

Once the door to greed is opened, it can never be closed again.

"So many Treasures!"

"Heavens! As expected of Immortal Ruins, every single Magical Treasure is a top-tier Innate Treasure!"

"That looks like a Purple Gold Level Sword Nurturing Gourd from ten thousand years ago! There are only a few in the entire Central Plains World, and we actually found one here."

Many Cultivators were driven wild with excitement, their eyes turning green with envy. They fixed their gazes on some of the Treasures in the lake, using their own Magical Treasures to smash the icebergs and begin collecting the spoils within.

Lu Mingyuan paid them no mind and had already reached the summit.

But he found that the mark left by the Vast Righteous Qi had suddenly vanished.

’Could this be the location of the Ascension Platform?’

’It must be. The Seven-Colored Divine Mist was pointing to this location as well.’

Yun Qinghe’s slender, jade-like fingers were in constant motion, performing calculations. She nodded slightly.

Lu Mingyuan continued forward and discovered numerous corpses on the ground.

Most of them were corpses of the Demon Race, with residual Taoist Qi lingering on them.

This indicated the work of a Taoist Sect Qi Cultivator. Lu Mingyuan guessed it was likely Sui Yuqing.

Continuing forward, he came across hundred-meter-tall stone walls on both sides. The content on the walls varied, as if they were telling some kind of story.

The stories and patterns on them looked somewhat familiar, but Lu Mingyuan couldn’t recall where he had seen them before.

The murals possessed a magical power of their own. Lu Mingyuan had only glanced at them for a moment before a splitting headache struck him. The spiritual energy in his Sea of Consciousness was instantly drained, his mind went blank, and he nearly collapsed.

Seeing this, Yun Qinghe rushed forward to support Lu Mingyuan.

The subtle fragrance of a lock of her hair drifted to Lu Mingyuan’s nose, instantly refreshing his spirit.

"These murals were all carved by peerless Great Powers of the Middle Ages. They contain an extremely potent Dao-intent. You can’t look at them too closely. The great war of the Middle Ages was truly not as simple as it seems."