Chapter 546: Mysterious Operation

Xu Yang and Shi Lingyun, two masters of spiritual power, combined their efforts to achieve an incredible miracle. They actually shattered the spiritual protection barrier on the outer layer of the Codex, releasing the complete map imprint.

"This must be the complete map of the Glacial Ruins, there's no mistake," Xu Yang declared. "I'm looking for the entrance to these ruins!" Shi Lingyun diligently released her spiritual power to continue searching. However, after half a day, Xu Yang had already firmly engraved every detail of the map in his mind, yet neither of them had been able to pinpoint the exact location of the Glacial Ruins.

"I say," Ling Yao rarely spoke sarcastically, but she suddenly chimed in with this remark, "your spiritual powers are so formidable, yet you can't even find an entrance?" This truly left Boss Xu Yang speechless. "If you can do it, then you do it!" he retorted.

"Hmph, I'll do it then!" Perhaps out of spite, Ling Yao casually thrust a sword beam upwards. This girl, who already possessed the highest mastery in swordsmanship, unleashed terrifying shockwaves with the power of that single strike, astonishing everyone. In just an instant, that sharp finger-sword beam pierced through the very center of the map.

Immediately after, an invisible pressure silently descended upon Xu Yang and his two companions. And that point of light, torn open by the sword beam, transformed in a very short time into a dazzling, radiant teleportation channel, which strangely appeared before the three of them.

"Oh my god... this can't be so cliché, can it? Could it be that the teleportation entrance to the Glacial Ruins, which we've been searching for so long, was sealed within the Codex map?" Although this miracle was created by Ling Yao, even she was utterly dumbfounded, seemingly more shocked than Xu Yang and Shi Lingyun. What incredible luck had she stumbled into, accidentally achieving a major feat?

"Heh heh, how about that, Boss Xu Yang? In the end, you still had to rely on me!"

Xu Yang pursed his lips in resignation. "Don't celebrate too soon. This entrance appeared very strangely. Let's first figure out what region it connects to before we do anything else, lest we end up with nothing but false hope."

Ling Yao was already impatient to verify the final destination of this passage. After all, she had been part of Xu Yang's team for so long, and it had always been him outperforming everyone. She had never experienced the boss being put in his place, and this was undoubtedly the most precious opportunity.

With a shimmering of light and shadow, Ling Yao was the first to vanish into the teleportation channel. Xu Yang and Shi Lingyun exchanged glances; they had no other choice. They both entered the spatial light.

After a moment of spiritual disorientation, the three gradually recovered their clear-minded state. It was then they realized that the space before them was completely unfamiliar.

This appeared to be a desolate world built upon a layer of ice. It stretched endlessly, and even the color of the sky seemed entirely different from that of the actual Far North Sea.

More importantly, after entering this space, the three of them were unable to detect even the slightest trace of life force flowing around them, let alone search for the mysteriously missing Long Kun.

"Boss, what should we do now? This place seems very strange, and we can't see any similarities with the map in the Codex!"

Xu Yang was also speechless for a moment. "You ask me, who am I supposed to ask? You're the one who broke through this spatial barrier! However, I do think that since this space originated from the Codex, it must have some potential connection to the Glacial Ruins. Don't be impatient. Let's walk around and look for any hidden clues."

The more perplexing the situation, the more fully Xu Yang's role as the team's steadying soul would be displayed.

The three of them walked an unknown distance. Suddenly, Ling Yao's foot sank, and she broke through the ice beneath her feet, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

"Damn it, so careless? Grab my hand." Shi Lingyun instinctively grabbed Ling Yao beside her. However, she hadn't anticipated that the very moment their hands connected, a powerful surge of devouring energy abruptly emerged from the depths of the ice cave.

"No!!" Shi Lingyun screamed, and both she and Ling Yao, who was half submerged, were swallowed into the ice cave.

Xu Yang was furious. Just as he was about to rush forward and dive in with them, he found that the ice cavern instantly sealed itself, leaving no trace of damage!

A terrifying burst of power instantly gathered beneath Xu Yang's feet. He stomped down at the corresponding location of the ice cave, unleashing astonishing vibrational force.

"Damn it, what is this place? Who's messing around behind the scenes!" What kind of existence was Xu Yang? No one could plot against him from behind. If anyone actually dared to do something so suicidal, they would surely pay a heavy price.

*Rumble!* The Asura Divine Sword immediately appeared. Xu Yang was about to dig three feet deep and completely clear away all the ice beneath his feet, when suddenly, three powerful cultivators, shimmering with faint yellow aura halos, appeared before him.

The halos around these three individuals appeared soft, but the grave and sharp intensity gathered between their brows gave Xu Yang a special, unprecedented feeling.

It was as if these three people had come before Xu Yang from a very ancient era. In terms of their aura, their attire, and all other aspects, they seemed completely out of place with cultivators of Xu Yang's generation.

"Are you looking for those two female companions?" Among the three, the only woman, standing in the middle, slowly spoke. Her voice remained calm, betraying not the slightest emotional fluctuation.

"That's right. You'd better not lay a finger on either of them. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"You can rest assured. No one will harm them until your identities are confirmed," she replied. "This passage to the Glacial Ruins has been dormant for hundreds of thousands of years. If I'm not mistaken, the Codex should have been sealed within the Supreme Sea Pearl, and you..."

Before the woman could finish, Xu Yang flicked his palm, summoning the Supreme Sea Pearl. Upon seeing this divine pearl artifact, the three individuals before him immediately understood everything.

"So that's it... Are you saying you are the inheritor of the Sea God's power?"

Xu Yang nodded with a light chuckle. "That's right. And you should also answer me: Is this the location of the Glacial Ruins?"

"Yes. This is the only path leading to the Glacial Ruins. More precisely, this path was left behind by the Sea God's footsteps when he departed back then. For his inheritor to reopen this path hundreds of thousands of years later, it must be destiny."

"Hahaha... 'Searching far and wide only to find it effortlessly close at hand.' Very good." Xu Yang put away the Asura Divine Sword and walked towards the three individuals. But he saw the woman, shrouded in the yellow halo, subtly shift her foot. The faint yellow aura instantly expanded more than tenfold, forming an immense protective halo, firmly shielding the three of them within it and separating them from Xu Yang's position.