Chapter 285: Icy Undead

"Darcel….not to question your senses but are you sure this is it? I mean, really, even if somebody does have this great treasure finder, they would probably glance over this." 

Masami couldn't help but question. If it's something concerning this mysterious Frozen Prison Domain, she was expecting the unexpected. 

Aniela felt the same way, curiously tilting her head while trying to find something odd-looking.

In response to the girl's suspicions, Darcel simply shrugged. He, too, felt slightly ludicrous about the treasure spot. But his Chaotic Senses couldn't lie to him. 

Fruna's compass was frantically going off here, so they had no other choice but to try here.

Keeping his gaze focused on the plain ruined Ice temple, Darcel told the girls, "Appearances can be perfectly deceiving in any place. If you really think about it, someplace that's completely ordinary would make a good hiding spot. In any case, let's go get this orb."

Aniela and Masami could only relent to Darcel's reasoning even though they still had some reasonable slight suspicions. 

Before landing, the trio did a quick scan over this area.

As they expected, nothing came up in their Spirit Sense. The only thing they could perceive was the slight dreadful chill continually permeating throughout the whole Frozen Prison Domain. 

With things seeming as safe as they can get, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami quickly flew towards the ground. 

In an instant, the trio landed just several feet away from the ruined Ice temple entrance.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami had then decided to cautiously walk into the ruined Ice temple rather than brazenly charging in. They wanted to be ready for any possible unexpected surprise attack. 

"Hmm? Well, this place certainly fits the abandoned aesthetic. Just complete ruins everywhere."

Aniela commented as she curiously gazed around the interior of the Ice temple. Like she said, everything here was incomplete shatters. 

Chunks of walls were destroyed, numerous large and small holes painted the ground, and there were even shards of metals and scattered bones.

The scattered bones led Darcel, Aniela, and Masami to believe that there must've been some unlucky cultivators who failed in the worst way in trying to become Mages. 

A slight rise of worry did try to bubble up within their chest when seeing the scattered bones. But the trio quickly squashed it down. They have already come this far; they can't let any kind of fear affect them now.

"Sooo? Where should that whatever orb be?" 

Masami was already curiously walking around the Ice ruined temple. She was checking out the nooks and crannies of the place, not letting any small detail escape her sights.

"I guess we have to leave no stones unturn." Aniela quickly joined in with her in searching every minute detail. 

Darcel, on the other hand, didn't bother with gazing around the temple. Instead, he stared specifically at Fruna's compass without moving. 

His eyes soon closed as he sensed a pulse of Magical Energy leading towards a specific spot. After only a few moments, Darcel located precisely where this pulse of Magical Energy is.

He lifted one foot up and accurately placed it upon a very specific tile in the icy floor. And when his foot landed, it had actually sunken a few inches into the ground! 

Immediately, Darcel's eyes widened in surprise.

A surplus of Magical Energy suddenly released out of the floor, swirling around the whole Ice ruined temple! 

"Eh-eh?! What's going on??" 

Aniela and Masami simultaneously stopped what they were doing.

Their bodies promptly went into fight mode as they sensed the Magical Energy. Although, when looking around the temple, the girls became slightly confused. 

Despite the clear presence of Magical Energy, nothing was coming out to them.

In that instance, Aniela and Masami tossed their gazes on Darcel. They both became innately curious seeing his foot slightly sunken into the ground. 

And in the very next moment, they both began to become panic-stricken, thinking Darcel accidentally stepped on a trap!

However, before the girls could react, Darcel calmly raised his hand. He quickly explained to them, "Don't get agitated. The compass was pointing me to step here. I think I got-"

'Rumble~!' 

In the middle of Darcel's sentence, an intense rumbling interrupted him. 

The rumbling shook the entire ruined Ice temple and even surprised the trio with its high intensity.

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami even had to use Qi just to stabilize themselves during the intense rumbling. 

And right then, at the far back end of the ruined Ice temple, the ground started to crack like a widening spider web.

After only several seconds, the cracks burst open with a tremendous bang! 

Darcel, Aniela, and Masami watched with widening eyes as something massive rose up from the ground.

Like it was rising from the depths of the abyss, an fifteen feet tall undead creature stood in front of the trio! And compared to the other undead, this creature had a more distinct appearance. 

Donning this creature's entire body was glistening crystal ice armor. The Ice armor looked nearly identical to the Ice permeating the entire Frozen Prison Domain. 

"Huh….tch, talk about a grand entrance. So….now what?" Masami asked, staying rooted to her spot while her gaze never left the undead creature. 

"Weell….I guess we should go up, right, Darcy? I don't think we have any other options. Unless that compass is telling you something else?" Aniela turned her gaze over to Darcel and asked. 

Before responding, Darcel took a moment to see if his Spirit Sense would tell him another path. But, Fruna's compass was leading him towards this giant ice armor undead creature.

Putting Fruna's compass away, Darcel told the girls in a firm tone, "No, everything points to this creature. Ok, just stick close to me and make no sudden movements."

Aniela and Masami got serious at this moment. They quietly nodded towards Darcel while flanking both his right and left side. 

With everyone in line, Darcel began cautiously strolling up to the ice armor undead creature.

Step by step, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's footsteps loudly sounded out to their ears. Tension began to increasingly fill their bodies with each step they took. 

But nothing instantaneous happened to them.

It wasn't until the trio reached thirty feet from the ice armor undead creature that a change finally occurred. The very instant they reached thirty feet, the undead creature suddenly twitched alive! 

A faint blue glow swirled in its dead eyes as its head looked down to stare at Darcel's group. 

"Jump back!" Darcel quickly ordered out. 

Immediately after saying so, he, Aniela, and Masami flashed backward in a trail of light.

However, as they flashed backward, confusion began to run through Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's minds. 

"Hey! Is this a joke or something! This creature is barely stronger than a Qi Foundation cultivator!" Masami spoke right when her foot touched the ground. 

Aniela tilted her head, thinking out loud, "This shouldn't be right at all. Ah! Maybe it's some sort of trick." 

"Not possible. The compass pointed me specifically to this creature. The orb is undoubtedly in there."

Darcel quickly corrected. Though, he was also feeling queer about this situation. The oddest part was how the undead creature still isn't moving. It's simply just standing there, gazing at them with its creepy dead eyes.

"So since it's in it, might as well get this over with." Masami nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. 

Since they apparently have an easy way out, she wasn't going to let this opportunity waste away.

Raising a single finger, Masami spawned a small blue fireball at the tip and casually tossed it right towards the undead creature. 

In an instant, the undead creature was engulfed in raging blue flames.

At that moment, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami were expecting the undead to simply melt away. Masami had even precisely controlled her power for as to not damage the Royal Orb within it.

However, instead of melting away, the blue flames stayed engulfing the undead creature. 

And at the same, its cultivation began to dramatically soar! 

"This! Qi Sea in a second?!" Both Aniela and Masami raised shocked cries. 

They have never seen anything like this! It was like the creature was absorbing the power from Masami's fireball.

Right then, while Aniela and Masami lagged in shock, a cold light spewed from Darcel's eyes. He instantly released Innate Qi, bringing his energy to full power! 

As his aura swept around like a hurricane, Darcel blasted right towards the undead creature.

Aniela and Masami only had the time to blink their eyes, and in the next instance they reopened; Darcel had already turned into a black trail of light! 

Black flames covered Darcel's fist as he struck out at lightning speed at the still unmoving undead creature.

'Bang!' 

Without seemingly any resistance, Darcel's flaming fist blasted the undead creature straight towards the ice wall. 

A massive impact sounded out as the tall creature was embedded into the ice walls, causing spider web cracks to form behind it.

In that attack, Darcel seemingly had the advantage. However, he wasn't pleased at all. Even as he directly struck it, Darcel could still sense its cultivation was massively increasing. 

And after his attack, the undead creature cultivation instantly soared to the peak of the Innate Core realm! 

Right then, an unfathomable powerful aura burst out the undead creature. 

Its energy crazily spread around the whole Ice temple, creating a whirlwind of chaotic air and unleashing a powerful pressure upon Darcel, Aniela, and Masami. 

'Tch seems like a fight is inevitable.'

Initially, Darcel believed Masami didn't use a powerful enough attack to wipe off the creature. But it seemed like its power was destined to increase whether or not he continued to attack.

Although he couldn't get the jump on the creature, Darcel, Aniela and Masami didn't delay when facing off against the undead creature's aura. 

In that instant, the trio spared no expense, fully releasing their bloodline powers like a stormy tidal wave!

'Hua!' 

Darkness energy wrapped around Darcel, a Light aura covered Aniela's body, and a blue flaming firefox cloak engulfed Masami's entire being. 

At the same time, the trio had also fished out half-step Royal Spirit Swords! 

These Royal Spirit Swords were just on the borders of reaching Heavenly Transformation power but not fully completed. Typically, only half-step Heavenly Transformations cultivators can properly wield these weapons. 

Masami met the requirements with her cultivation level, but Darcel and Aniela were still under.

However, because of their special bloodline powers, they could easily cross this barrier. 

And with these Royal Spirit Swords in hand, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's powers explosively increased, soaring to even greater heights.