Instantly, a gentle warmth spread through my palm. Looking down, I saw it was a small wisp of Karma Fire.

I was astonished that Number 2 would share such precious Karma Fire, yet the faint warmth was already driving away a good measure of the cold.

Number 2 said, "Holding this flame in your hand will not only keep you warm, but it might just save your life when it matters most. Guard it well."

With that, he pulled his hood over his head and led the way toward the rift.

We followed him and stopped before the strange tear in reality. Since he couldn't see the rift, he asked me, "Is this the spot? I should just walk straight through?"

I nodded. "It should be possible, but perhaps not certain. For safety, let me go first. After all, if there's any trouble, I can see it, which will make dealing with it easier."

They both seemed to have no objection to my suggestion. Number 2 nodded and said, "Be careful."

Number 12 added, "Call out if you need anything; I'll use the Shift to rescue you."

Grateful for their goodwill, I pulled up the hood on my back, making myself look like a young mammoth walking upright.

Then, I approached the wall very cautiously.

I first extended my hand to probe, finding that it could pass right through. However, in the very moment it pierced the barrier, even with the sleeve covering my wrist, I felt a bone-chilling cold.

I quickly pulled my hand back with a low "Whoof."

Number 2 frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, it's just terribly cold over there. You both need to be prepared."

With that, I took a large stride and stepped through the rift.

To be honest, the moment I entered, the piercing, cutting wind that slammed into my face nearly drove me back out.

But first, retreating would be a huge loss of face; second, as I faced the blizzard, the Karma Fire in my hand suddenly burned much warmer, allowing me to withstand the initial onslaught of the cold wave. So, I just took a deep breath and kept moving forward.

Contrary to my expectations, the place I found myself in was not some dark, void-like temporal tunnel.

It was more like an arched cavern that someone had shaped.

Instead of stalactites on the ceiling, there were countless icicles hanging upside down.

Those icicles looked like rows of sharp swords; the slightest rash movement and one might fall, piercing me through.

Seeing these ice spikes made my heart clench, and I hurried forward.

Strangely enough, ever since I passed through the time-space rift, the area behind me had sunk into utter darkness. I could not see Number 2 and Number 12 standing with their flames in another world.

All I could see was ahead of me—at the end of the cavern—a faint trace of white light filtering in; that was the exit.

It seemed the outside wasn't pitch black, perhaps only appearing dim due to the blizzard.

Innumerable snowflakes, like foam in a washing machine drum, spun wildly, swept into the cave by the wind. Through the gaps between the flakes, I could occasionally glimpse the distant lights of that strange city.

I kept both hands tucked into my sleeves, constantly swirling the Karma Fire hovering in my palms to warm myself, but even so, I noticed my eyebrows were turning white at an alarming rate.

I exhaled—a puff of vapor proving I wouldn't instantly freeze into a popsicle—and began moving my stiff legs, continuing forward.

It was a temperature around minus one hundred degrees Celsius. Forget about my pee freezing; if I dared to pull out my apparatus, it would probably be frozen solid instantly, and if I didn't put it back quickly, a slight twist might cause it to snap off.

Under such temperatures, hands and feet quickly became unresponsive. If I stood in one spot for too long, I suspected I'd become an ice sculpture.

Truthfully, having never experienced such intense cold, I was quite panicked inside.

But panic aside, as I walked forward, I paid close attention to my surroundings.

Soon, I noticed a strange phenomenon: every time I took a step forward, some ice shards would inexplicably fall from above.

At first, I paid it no mind, assuming the sound of my footsteps was simply shaking the debris loose.

Then, I realized something was moving on the cavern roof, and it wasn't just one thing.

I had no choice. To eliminate the danger to myself, I had to take my hands out of my sleeves again and shine the light of the Karma Fire upward.

What I discovered was that between the hanging icicles on the ceiling, there were many holes of various sizes—the largest being about the size of a fist. These holes led deep into the cave walls, looking like the nests of some creature.

However, after watching for a long time, I didn't see any animal crawl out.

Just as I was about to move my feet again, a head shaped like a fish suddenly shot out of one of the holes.

When I saw it, I immediately recognized it—it was that bizarre flying fish from the evolutionary chart! We had just dealt with them earlier!

I never expected they actually lived in caves, and small holes connecting the fabric of spacetime rifts at that!

Could my previous speculation be correct? Are these creatures the very threads connecting the various worlds across spacetime rifts?

Furthermore, could they be a crucial element driving biological evolution, and the very cause of the Primal Beasts' rampage?

I observed the flying fish closely and noticed it seemed drawn to the Karma Fire in my hand.

Creatures living in such extreme cold would be acutely sensitive to even weak sources of heat. Therefore, they must have been perched above, tracking me, this sudden arrival of a heat source.

Although I desperately wanted to get a better look at the form of this flying fish and see how it differed from the ones we encountered before, the Karma Fire began to grow agitated under the influence of the malice emanating from the creature.

If these flying fish were to leap onto the fire, I would likely burst into flames along with it.

For safety, I quickly tucked the Karma Fire back into my sleeve.

The flying fish were equally cooperative, retreating back into their holes.

I let out a slow breath and continued forward, soon reaching the cave mouth.

The cold outside intensified dramatically here; a layer of frost had already coated the surface of my mammoth furs.

Now I truly understood the extreme external temperature; I had to pull my hat down further to cover my face.

Fortunately, the temperature of the Karma Fire was also rising, so I hadn't turned into an icicle yet.

I looked out at the scene: it was essentially a swirling chaos of snowflakes, obscuring all visibility.

Perhaps this was temporary; even the Ice Age had clear days, and blizzards only occupied about a third of the time.

If we had any choice in the matter, we would certainly have chosen a clear, fine day for this exploration.

But time was pressing now; we were forced into this.

Thinking back to when we sailed during that major storm, exploring amidst a blizzard didn't seem so bad after all.

Just as I was about to step out of the cave to scout the immediate area, a heavy sound suddenly reached me from not far outside the entrance.

Thump! The sound was incredibly loud, causing the very ground beneath us to tremble slightly.

However, my first thought wasn't to ascertain the source of the noise, but to protect my head, just in case ice shards were falling from above.

Luckily, being right at the cave mouth, the icicles there were frozen into a solid mass, posing no falling danger.

But then, a strange cry echoed from deep within the cavern: "Ah! Oh! Watch your heads, what's going on!"

Immediately afterward, two small pockets of fire lit up the darkness, illuminating two faces—it was Number 2 and Number 12.

My tongue felt stiff with cold as I asked, "Are you two alright?"

Seeing me, Number 2 hurried over. "We're fine. A few ice shards can't stop me. But you, why did scouting take so long? We thought the Big Gray Wolf had snatched you."

I replied wryly, "The terrain is too complex, the situation too delicate, and there were too many novelties. Thus, I delayed my report. I beg the Empress Dowager's forgiveness."

Number 2 rolled his eyes at me. "Stop fooling around, Little Locker. What's the situation ahead?"

I laughed heartily; cracking that joke instantly made me feel warmer.

But after the laugh, I felt that strange sound was still bothering me, so I said, "The situation is still unclear, but that loud noise just now wasn't likely from a mammoth or other large animal. It might be some unexpected mode of transport or machinery."

Number 2 nodded. "We truly have arrived at an extraordinary place. Be extremely cautious about everything."

With that, I led the two of them, taking one step out into the mysterious continent veiled in miles of snow.

The blizzard and gale immediately obscured our vision. Although the light was dim, the white snow provided a reflective surface, allowing us to make out our immediate surroundings.

And to protect our eyes, we took out the dark glasses from our respective cases, lest the snowflakes blind us.

Stepping out of the cave door, I realized the snow layer beneath the overhang was already higher than my knees. I felt as though I had fallen into a quagmire, the snow instantly reaching my waist.

This made movement incredibly difficult, but we still shuffled forward step by measured step.

After only a short distance, we encountered the first structure that could be called a marvel.

A hexagonal stone tablet, about five or six meters high, materialized out of the blizzard.

Seeing evidence of man-made construction, we quickly gathered around it.

Only upon getting closer did we realize the inscription was very simple, carved in neat, standard Arabic numerals: 0016.

Whether judging by the lettering or the color of the stone, the monument exuded an aura of heavy melancholy, as if the world behind it were a tomb, saturated with despair and death.

While the three of us stared at the strange tablet, the ground not far off suddenly vibrated slightly. Through the swirling storm, we saw a giant, entirely white figure slowly walking.