The Ice Coffins

The surviving cultivators fled back into the lush mountain forest, their mood vastly different from when they had set out. Had it not been for the Snow Jade Dragon separated from them by a snow valley, buying them time to escape, far more than twenty-odd would have perished beneath the avalanche.

Xiao Chen searched the snowfield for a long time but found nothing remarkable, then pressed deeper into the snowy mountains to find Keke and the three skeletons.

Two hours later, he discovered their trail.

When he climbed to the top of a snowy peak, Xiao Chen was stunned. Not only did he find the three skeletons cultivating inside an ice cave, he also discovered a snow lotus as large as a house—and Keke was curled up on top of it, fast asleep.

The entire snow lotus gleamed with dazzling light, its radiance rippling like water, exuding an indescribable wonder. Spiritual energy coiled around it, auspicious vapors intertwined, and the whole plant seemed carved from divine jade, brilliant and blinding under the sun.

And there was Keke, sleeping soundly at the lotus's heart. One could not help but marvel that this little beast was truly extraordinary—every time, it found such spiritual treasures. It could hardly be coincidence; it was surely linked to its innate numinous nature.

The little thing was utterly carefree, not even afraid some wild beast might carry it off. It slept so deeply that one wondered how it had survived on Dragon Island, where savage beasts roamed unchecked.

Xiao Chen walked over quietly and reached out to touch it. A surprising thing happened: a soft radiance suffused Keke's body, shielding it from his touch.

"Ya-ya…" The snow-white beast was actually murmuring in its sleep. It turned over at Xiao Chen's touch, then went back to snoring, not waking at all.

This... left Xiao Chen speechless.

He did not disturb it further. Instead, he sat down on the snowy peak and began to meditate.

Though he was merciless toward his enemies, Xiao Chen was entirely different with those close to him. He doted on this little beast. This time, if not for Keke's rainbow jade eggshell fragments, he might have died under that flying dagger.

The Wheel King and the others sensed Xiao Chen's return. Their soul-lights flickered briefly in their eye sockets, then they stilled again, sinking into silent cultivation.

And so Xiao Chen sat motionless on the snowy peak until late in the night. Only then did he feel refreshed and restored to his peak condition. Thanks to having absorbed the essence of several dragon eggs, his life force was vastly greater than an ordinary cultivator's; otherwise, the fierce battles of the day might have seriously depleted his vitality.

Such abundant life essence was like having a second life. If he encountered an enemy of similar cultivation, he could engage in a mutual-destruction struggle and simply outlast them.

Starlight scattered across the sky. The night was as tranquil as water.

Only after midnight did Keke finally stir, climbing up with sleepy eyes. When it saw Xiao Chen, it blinked its big eyes in confusion, then seemed to remember something. It extended a tiny paw, pointing painfully at its round, bulging little belly, and then pointed accusingly at Xiao Chen, as if lodging a silent complaint.

Xiao Chen burst out laughing. This little thing clearly wanted to eat the snow lotus, but now that it had such a spiritual treasure right in front of it, it couldn't consume it—no wonder it was so frustrated.

"I think I should stop calling you 'little beast' and start calling you 'treasure seeker.' To find a king of snow lotuses like this... you really are the bane of all spiritual essence."

Keke seemed somewhat displeased. It grumbled indignantly and waved a tiny paw at Xiao Chen.

Then it rolled over, peeled back a few crystalline lotus petals from the heart of the flower, and dug out a fist-sized, jade-like object that blazed with divine radiance like a star. This was the true heart of the snow lotus, and even Xiao Chen was moved.

Keke drooled with desire but dared not eat.

"Haha…" Xiao Chen was thoroughly amused. Finally, he said, "Let me keep it for you for now. Once your little belly is less bloated, you can enjoy it at leisure."

Keke looked at him suspiciously, then dejectedly nodded. It broke the lotus heart in two: one half it wanted Xiao Chen to keep for it, the other half it gave directly to Xiao Chen. At the same time, it waved a tiny paw in warning, telling him not to even think about touching its half.

Xiao Chen could not help but chuckle. "You little beast, you still have some conscience—you didn't forget about me. Don't worry, I'll save it all for you. I won't take even half."

After visiting Keke's homeland, Xiao Chen felt much closer to the little creature. He could almost keep it by his side now.

"Keke, now I'll tell you how to deflate that round belly of yours."

Keke's eyes lit up immediately.

"To do that, you'll need your treasure tree. Last time, you saw me merge the tree into my body, right? Starting today, you need to try to absorb the Divine Sapling into your little belly, let it absorb the excess Life Nectar. Otherwise, it will take who knows how long for the nectar to be fully absorbed by you."

Keke's bright eyes went wide. It covered its round little belly and shook its head vehemently, as if to say it would rather die than do that. "Ya-ya ya-ya…" It seemed to be saying it would never plant a tree in its belly.

"If you don't want to, that's fine. So much Life Nectar absorbed by you alone will bring tremendous benefits. But you'll have to curb your appetite for a while and stop thinking about delicious food."

Keke immediately lost all spirit. Huffing indignantly, it scrambled back onto the snow lotus and went back to sleep.

"Keke, don't just sleep. It's time to 'replenish' your treasure tree. Plant it on the snow lotus."

Xiao Chen carried Keke into the ice cave and planted the treasure tree atop the snow lotus. In the watery moonlight of the night, radiance swirled over the snowy peak. The palm-high Divine Sapling, with its trunk coiling like a flood dragon, bore three leaves—one ink-jade, one white-jade, one emerald-jade—and all at once burst into dazzling brilliance.

At dawn, Xiao Chen and his companions left that place. Gazing into the distance through the morning glow, they spotted what looked like a cluster of ruined, ancient palaces on a distant snowy peak.

When they climbed there, they found it was no illusion. A real ruin lay before them.

Broken ancient halls, nearly collapsed, had once been imposing layers of palaces. Now only one or two rooms still stood, though they seemed likely to fall at any moment in the wind and snow.

They found nothing of note—only an old ruin, nothing like the eerie, dread-inducing Sacred Mountain.

"With these ancient halls as a marker, we can temporarily bury the dragon eggs here. It'll be convenient to retrieve them later." Xiao Chen wanted to pause his absorption of the dragon eggs. His enlightenment at dawn the previous day had given him a new understanding of the cultivation path, and he wished to begin a different kind of training.

Besides, the eggs wouldn't run away. He could come back for them anytime.

And in his heart, there was a flicker of hope—perhaps one or two little dragon kings might actually hatch from them.

Xiao Chen never expected that when he shattered the frozen ground and dug into the permafrost, he would unearth an ice coffin!

This was a major discovery! Could this be the burial ground of an ancient god? He thought so, and quickly shattered the surrounding frozen soil, letting the ice coffin emerge onto the snowy mountain.

Under the sunlight, he could clearly see through the transparent coffin: inside lay a complete human skin, wrinkled and folded, evidently left behind by someone extremely aged.

This was too eerie!

Only an old skin, no corpse—this sent a chill through Xiao Chen. But he would not be frightened off. He gently pushed open the coffin lid, revealing the skin within.

When he lifted it, he found that apart from a crack running from the head to the abdomen, the entire skin was nearly intact, not a single tear anywhere. Even the sparse, almost-falling white hair and the white eyelashes were still preserved.

For some reason, Xiao Chen felt an unusual chill in this place. Even the morning sunlight seemed to have lost its warmth, the radiance turned pallid.

Involuntarily, he thought of a cicada's shell. This old skin resembled the discarded husk of an insect, as if sharing some similar property.

He did not stop there. He dug up another patch of frozen ground nearby. To his surprise, he actually found a second ice coffin, barely two meters from the first.

Xiao Chen drew a sharp breath. Could this really be an eerie burial ground? If so, these ruined palaces would be a hall of the dead!

The second ice coffin broke through the soil. Inside lay another deeply wrinkled old skin. This time, a chill ran down Xiao Chen's spine, for he realized the two skins were extraordinarily similar. When he laid them flat and compared them, he found their facial features were completely identical.

Identical faces! And upon closer inspection, Xiao Chen felt his scalp tingle. He discovered that the birthmarks on the two skins matched perfectly, with not the slightest difference.

"How can this be? Even identical twins wouldn't be this alike..."

Xiao Chen found this place increasingly uncanny.

A burial ground that sent chills down one's spine! He could not stop now. He continued excavating the frozen earth, and soon a third ice coffin was unearthed.

He took a deep breath, not yet looking at the third coffin. Instead, he shattered more ice and kept digging.

But he had already opened up all the ground around the ancient halls. He found no fourth coffin. The three coffins emerged from spots exactly two meters apart, arranged in a neat line. Based on this pattern, it seemed there were only three.

Xiao Chen lifted the lid of the third ice coffin. He froze. The wrinkled skin inside was identical to the first two—the three birthmarks matched without a hair's difference.

How could this be? Xiao Chen felt an icy dread creep over him. Why were there three identical human skins, but no bodies? Had something eaten all the flesh?

Calming himself, he examined the third coffin more carefully. Suddenly, his expression froze. He had found a crucial clue! Inside the third ice coffin, he spotted several drops of blood—and they did not seem to have dried very long ago.