Its pair of protruding, blood-red ice pupils flashed with fierce scarlet light, constantly sweeping the ice cellar, yet they did not settle upon the remaining five cultivators. Its eyes were a vibrant, gory crimson; no matter what it looked at, it saw only a world bathed in bloodlight.
The cultivators were merely tens of zhang from the exit portal of light, yet not one dared to move an inch.
The Ice Toad Demon Spirit’s tongue—a projectile whose power rivaled a Minor Divine Ability Artifact—was terrifyingly fast at such a close range. Given the escape speed of these Core Formation cultivators, once the Ice Toad attacked, they would not have time to flee beyond the light portal.
The cultivators grew anxious.
Even standing perfectly still, they could only temporarily preserve their lives.
Within this ice cellar, where the oppressive aura was unbearably harsh, their internal magical power was rapidly being drained. Their reserves would soon be exhausted, leading to the same dead end: being frozen into five ice corpses by the fierce, chilling aura.
Ye Qin was burning with anxiety, even contemplating whether he should deploy his Minor Divine Ability Artifact, the "Xun Lei Ancient Mirror," even if it meant sacrificing a layer of his Core Formation cultivation's primordial essence to strike and wound the Nascent Soul-level Ice Toad Demon Spirit.
However, he wasn't certain how much damage the Xun Lei Ancient Mirror could actually inflict upon this Ice Toad.
After all, it was a Nascent Soul-level Ice Toad Demon Spirit; its defensive power could not be measured against a Core Formation-level Ice Crystal Demon Spirit.
If he failed to kill it, or even heavily wound it, and drew the Ice Toad’s attention toward himself, the one who would die was likely him. Furthermore, the speed of this Ice Toad’s ice-tongue attack was so fast that his Great Five Elements Sword Array might not be quick enough to defend or resist; it might not even withstand it.
“Brother Pang, Brother Ye, and Brother Fan, what countermeasures do you have? If we cannot subdue this Ice Toad, all of us will perish here today! Brother Pang, you still have two Minor Divine Ability Talismans, don’t you? Use them against this Ice Toad.”
Sun Xing remained motionless, transmitting his anxious voice through divine sense.
“Brother Sun, in the Fire Cellar, I only acquired one defensive Minor Divine Ability Artifact-grade Talisman. The other two are not defensive talismans but serve other purposes; they cannot kill this Ice Toad. My Flame Bell Cover’s power has severely waned now; it absolutely cannot withstand a single strike from this Ice Toad. Otherwise, I would gladly try to forcibly withstand it,” Brother Pang complained, counting his losses.
“Brother Pang, do you think I don’t want to! Only Nascent Soul cultivators can drive Minor Divine Ability Artifacts.”
If a Core Formation cultivator forces its use, it requires the expenditure of vast amounts of vital essence, resulting in a plummet of one cultivation layer. My lifespan is limited; dropping from the ninth layer of Core Formation to the eighth would mean the end of any hope of reaching Nascent Soul in this lifetime.” Brother Sun had a troubled expression, unwilling to easily deploy the Minor Divine Ability Artifact, and instead turned to Ye Qin. “Brother Ye, do you possess any means to deal with this Ice Toad?!” Ye Qin had initially considered using the “Xun Lei Ancient Mirror,” but upon learning that Sun Xing possessed two other ancient artifacts, he held back, shaking his head via divine sense. “As Daoist Brothers already know, in the Earth Cellar, I only obtained three Nascent Soul Secret Manuals. These three manuals are entirely useless against the Ice Toad. Since Brother Sun possesses Minor Divine Ability Artifacts, why not bring them out, and we can use them together!” Hearing that Ye Qin was also helpless, Sun Xing’s circulating internal power gradually weakened, making it increasingly difficult to resist the intense external cold. Finally, he gritted his teeth and declared, “Fine then, let’s use my Minor Divine Ability Ancient Artifact! I cannot drive this artifact alone; all you fellow Daoists must join me, pour your True Essence into it together, and heavily wound this Ice Toad Demon Spirit in one strike!” “Agreed! We will all act together, pouring in our True Essence with full force!”
Cultivator Fan immediately consented.
Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and Cultivator Pang hesitated briefly, then agreed.
Losing years of diligent cultivation’s worth of True Essence was certainly better than perishing here.
Moreover, if the five Core Formation cultivators attacked together, the vital essence consumed when using the Minor Divine Ability Artifact would be shared among the five of them, avoiding the drastic drop of an entire Core Formation layer. The price they paid was naturally significantly reduced.
This was a cost they could still bear.
“The Savage Ox Ancient Seal!”
Sun Xing immediately controlled it with his divine sense, sending a yellowish-orange ancient seal flying out from the storage bag at his waist.
This was an Earth-attributed Minor Divine Ability Artifact, perfectly suited to Sun Xing’s Earth Spirit Root.
This palm-sized Minor Divine Ability ancient seal was brimming with spiritual energy. Carved upon it was a lifelike ancient exotic beast with a single curved horn, its hooves lifted high, roaring toward the sky.
“Quick, inject True Essence!”
Sun Xing roared.
As this ancient artifact emerged, the pure essence from the mouths of the five Core Formation cultivators immediately shot out towards the Savage Ox Ancient Seal.
The situation was critical; no one dared to hold back.
The Savage Ox Ancient Seal absorbed the vital energy and instantly swelled madly. The seal’s heavy yellow radiance immediately brightened. The exotic beast carved on the seal became even more vivid; its yellow light pulsed as if it were about to come alive, emitting faint, wild, savage roars. “An Artifact Spirit? This Minor Divine Ability Ancient Artifact has an Artifact Spirit refined from a Savage Ox?!”
Ye Qin gasped out large breaths of vital energy, yet he was secretly astonished by this sight.
Although his Xun Lei Ancient Mirror possessed immense power, it lacked an Artifact Spirit.
Bing'er’s Crimson Flood Dragon Sword also possessed such a spirit—a Crimson Flood Dragon Artifact Spirit.
Ye Qin rarely used Minor Divine Ability Ancient Artifacts and knew little about these Artifact Spirits.
“You court death.” Sun Xing forcibly spurred the Minor Divine Ability Ancient Artifact—the Savage Ox Ancient Seal—forming hand seals and shouting, spitting out large amounts of essence onto the ancient seal, infusing his own vital energy, and controlling this seal that weighed tens of thousands of jun.
The light image of the ancient beast appeared on the seal, continuously expanding. In an instant, the dazzling yellow light illuminated the entire central ice cellar. In the blink of an eye, its massive form enveloped the entire cellar, charging forward wildly.
The Ice Toad Demon Spirit’s pair of blood-red ice pupils locked entirely onto this ancient seal. The immense pressure brought by this ancient seal occupied all its attention, leaving it no time to care about the cultivators.
“Savage Ox Ancient Seal!” When the yellow light reached its peak intensity, the light image of the earthen exotic beast roared deafeningly, “AOOO!” It suddenly lifted its hoof and stomped down ferociously toward the Ice Toad. That Savage Ox Ancient Seal, manifesting as a heavy hoof, transformed into a streak of yellow light, hurtling down toward the Ice Toad Demon Spirit.
“BOOM!”
The might of the ancient beast was capable of shattering mountains!
A single stomp was enough to crush a thousand-zhang high mountain into dust.
“Gua Gua!”
Reflected in the Ice Toad’s pupils was a savage ox ancient seal streaking down like a meteor, transforming into a heavy hoof, stomping down upon it.
It was completely unafraid. It resolutely opened its mouth and spat, its ice-thorn tongue shooting out like lightning toward the ancient seal.
“Rumble, CRACK…!” A deafening roar echoed through the ice cellar. The yellow light formed by the Savage Ox Ancient Seal collided with the Ice Toad Demon Spirit’s ice tongue, exploding with earth-shattering force. A vast wave of spiritual power surged outward, throwing the cultivators backward until they slammed against the crystal walls of the ice cellar, spitting blood.
Amidst the rumbling, the entire ice cellar shook.
The cultivators were only affected by the shockwave of the collision between the Nascent Soul-level Ice Toad and the Savage Ox Ancient Seal. Had they been directly hit, they would have likely been pulverized instantly.
The savage ox hoof struck down repeatedly against the Ice Toad Demon Spirit.
The Ice Toad was relentlessly trampled by the Savage Ox Artifact Spirit, knocked entirely to the ground. Large shards of ice slag flew off its crystal shell. It shrieked wildly; its ice crystal body developed noticeable cracks, clearly sustaining damage.
But this injury was not enough to kill it.
The Ice Toad’s blood-red eyes turned frantic. Its ice tongue ‘Swish, swish…’ struck the Savage Ox Ancient Seal densely, like rain.
The Savage Ox Ancient Seal only managed a few stomps before the vital energy within the ancient artifact was rapidly depleted. Its yellow light dimmed, and its volume began to shrink drastically.
“This is bad; this Savage Ox Ancient Seal cannot even suppress this beast! How can this be? Is the power of a Minor Divine Ability Artifact still insufficient to contend with it?” Sun Xing manipulated the ancient seal, enduring the immense pressure, his face ashen.
It seemed the vital energy of the Savage Ox Ancient Seal would be exhausted in moments.
Once its vital energy was gone, this Minor Divine Ability Artifact would likely be smashed apart by the Ice Toad.
“Only Nascent Soul cultivators can exert the full power of Minor Divine Ability Artifacts. Even joining forces and expending True Essence, we can only exert barely half the power of the Savage Ox Ancient Seal! Quickly, inject vital energy into the ancient seal! Hey!”
Cultivator Fan roared. He opened his mouth and once again spat out over ten mouthfuls of vital essence, causing the yellow light of the Savage Ox Ancient Seal to surge again, barely maintaining the situation.
Of course, as the price, his Nascent Soul strength immediately dropped by one layer, plummeting from the eighth layer of Core Formation to the seventh, and a flush of crimson rose to his face.
The cultivators looked at Cultivator Fan in shock.
Having cultivated to their late Core Formation stage, they were all extremely protective of their vital essence. Even when fighting desperately, they had to be meticulous and avoid wasting even a speck of vital energy. Cultivator Fan’s expenditure of vital essence showed he simply didn't care about his own reserves.
“Fool! What are you waiting for? Act together and severely wound this Ice Toad! Once the restrictions on this treasury are disabled, all losses will be recovered!!! There are vast amounts of elixirs, artifacts, and talismans in the treasury—as many as you want! Are you still worried about losing this bit of vital essence?”
Cultivator Fan roared at the assembled cultivators.
“Brother Fan certainly has a broad perspective! If we can obtain the treasury’s contents, I won't hold back my two Minor Divine Ability Talismans either!”
Cultivator Pang’s expression changed. He still held two Minor Divine Ability Talismans, intending to keep them as a final trump card. He flipped his hand, producing an earth-yellow Minor Divine Ability Talisman and hurling it fiercely toward the Ice Toad.
“Earth Cellar Raging Prison!” This Minor Divine Ability Talisman was activated, suddenly erupting with rolling, dense earth spiritual energy.
This talisman struck the Nascent Soul-level Ice Toad, which was currently locked in a fierce battle with the Savage Ox Ancient Seal.
This talisman, shining brilliantly yellow, transformed into a gigantic earthen prison, enveloping the Ice Toad and firmly restraining it.
This earth prison was extraordinarily thick and immensely hard; it could even trap an early Nascent Soul cultivator, preventing escape. Core Formation cultivators attacking it with their Nascent Soul Artifacts probably couldn’t move it in the slightest.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
The Ice Toad, caught off guard while dealing with the Savage Ox Ancient Seal, struggled violently against the earthen prison, attempting to break free.
“It worked!”
Cultivator Pang cried out in ecstasy upon seeing this earth-element Minor Divine Ability restraint talisman successfully trap the Ice Toad.
However, before his joy could fully manifest, he was horrified to discover that with every fierce impact of the Ice Toad, numerous fine cracks appeared in the earth prison. These cracks grew larger at a visible rate.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
“This Earth Cellar Raging Prison still cannot hold it! It can probably only last for half an incense stick’s time! In this brief time, we must hurry and find a way to stop the ancient restriction and abolish all the restrictions within the treasury vaults!” Sun Xing, Ye Qin, and the other cultivators recoiled in horror, trembling with fear.