Dragon's Origin

"Something's here!" With a shout from the most junior member of the Shi family, everyone's attention focused.

"Don't move!" The two Grand Elders had been waiting for news, and upon hearing the shout, they immediately yelled in unison, stopping everyone.

Without knowing what lay beneath, it was best to carefully inspect and verify anything discovered before proceeding. No one disagreed with this approach.

Several important figures descended, including Wang Sheng. They cautiously spread out, with the two Grand Elders taking the lead, crouching down to examine what had been found.

It appeared to be a regularly shaped stone object, though most of it was frozen in the ice, making it difficult to discern. However, its regular shape suggested an artificial origin, unlikely to be formed naturally.

Despite the Grand Elders' earlier warnings, a piece had been chipped off, likely due to excessive force during the ice removal. After all, they were all Legendary experts, and even a little force could be too much for some things.

"A tile!" Wang Sheng, standing at the back, recognized the shape almost instantly. While the two Grand Elders seemed intent on further examination, Wang Sheng directly called out.

Hearing Wang Sheng's voice, everyone took a closer look and realized it was indeed a tile frozen in the ice.

Just a tile, nothing significant, so the chip was inconsequential. Smiles spread across everyone's faces.

Although a tile was worthless, its presence indicated the existence of man-made structures. Man-made structures suggested that the ultimate treasure might be hidden within the building or in a secret chamber below.

The two Grand Elders had explained that their ancestors had collected a batch of treasures but couldn't transport them, so they hid them somewhere, drawing a map for their descendants. Given the circumstances, the treasure was definitely obtained from the Lin family, who were jointly exterminated by various families. The storage location would likely be a suitable spot belonging to the Lin family.

Finding a tile was the right track!

"Dig carefully!" The two Grand Elders instructed, "We should be close to the ground level. Be careful not to collapse the building below."

Everyone understood that if the ultimate treasure was inside the building, its collapse could damage the treasure, which would be disastrous. Therefore, everyone proceeded with much lighter movements.

While the others continued, Wang Sheng understood the situation. The tile wasn't frozen flat in the ice but at an upward slant. No force underground could create such an angle; it could only be caused by the space below being filled with ice, gradually pushing it up. The entire ground structure was likely solidified by the ice and wouldn't collapse.

Wang Sheng didn't bother to voice this, choosing to wait for the outcome. These ice formations were no match for dozens of Legendary experts, who could excavate all the ice even with their bare fingers. Wang Sheng's task was to direct the Daoists in constructing ice houses to prevent the area below from freezing again.

While waiting, Wang Sheng frequently cultivated. With the old Daoist by his side, he didn't have to worry about losing himself in the process, as the old Daoist always had a way to wake him up.

Chunks of spiritual energy ice formed above the large pool and fell into it, visibly raising the ice surface in the Yuan Soul space bit by bit.

Cultivating in the core area was incredibly fast! Wang Sheng marveled while also monitoring the excavation progress.

The ice house above was completed, providing much warmth once sealed, shielding the area from the biting gale. The excavated pit wouldn't be quickly filled and frozen, allowing those below to dig safely.

After three full days, Wang Sheng's ice surface had risen by three inches, and the building below was finally excavated.

The building was a complete grand hall, but filled and solidified with ice. The experts from both families used various methods to extract the ice without damaging anything inside.

To preserve the integrity of the hall, they deliberately excavated the surrounding open space, revealing the outlines of several side halls. However, since the treasure was here, they left the surrounding areas untouched for now.

In fact, from the moment they reached the ground, Wang Sheng knew that the object attracting the battle consciousness sprites was still underground, not in the main hall. However, Wang Sheng didn't reveal this, letting the two families continue digging. It would only waste a little time, and they would eventually reach their destination.

The main hall was ordinary, a centuries-old building perfectly preserved by the ice. However, the hall felt somewhat empty, even with many torches lit, it appeared dim under dozens of feet of ice.

Wang Sheng placed the snow rats on the ground again, allowing them to continue searching. Having smelled the ultimate treasure map before, the two snow rats now had no disagreement, squeaking excitedly at the same spot in the center of the hall.

This mirrored the state of the battle consciousness sprites; as Wang Sheng stood on the floor of the hall, the sprites began to fly wildly in the Yuan Soul space. The sixty-four sprites darted around, completely disregarding any calculations.

The object attracting the battle consciousness sprites was very close.

"It's still below!" Wang Sheng announced, reminding the two families, "Whether you dig or look for mechanisms, be careful of formations."

This was just a reminder, and everyone knew it was well-intentioned. However, they didn't take it to heart; could a centuries-old formation in this icy land, without spiritual energy, still function?

While dismissive, they completely forgot that many formations in the core area of Thousand Despair Land had existed in the glaciers for centuries and still possessed formidable effects.

Of course, one could argue that those ice mountains contained sealed super-beasts, serving as the source of the formations' spiritual energy. But here, they were quickly approaching the ultimate treasure; could there still be any problems?

"Search carefully for any entrance to an underground passage." The two Grand Elders urged everyone to start working, "Start from the outside!"

A dozen people began excavating the ground outside, while several others inside the hall began to check each floor tile, wall, and pillar. If possible, they preferred not to damage anything.

"Found it!" An expert checking a corner of the wall suddenly shouted in surprise, forcefully prying up a square floor tile.

At that moment, boom, a burst of fire completely engulfed the expert.