Chapter 496: Entering

Chapter 496: Entering

Li Wei heard Saint Xi's words and stood frozen for a moment.

Saint Xi had flown all the way to hover above the back of the Ice Emperor without being attacked even once.

Li Wei let out a slight sigh of relief.

He looked down and could only see the vast expanse of the Ice Emperor’s back, like a continent in its own right, unable to make out its full form.

The shape of the Ice Emperor somewhat resembled the legendary Kun Whale—

a supermassive whale as large as mountain ranges themselves.

After circling briefly over the Ice Emperor’s back with Li Wei aboard, Saint Xi began descending toward it.

“This is far too reckless,” Li Wei said helplessly.

Saint Xi landed on the broad back of the Ice Emperor.

Her thirty-meter dragon frame was utterly insignificant before such an immense creature.

The Ice Emperor’s back alone could accommodate thousands upon thousands of creatures like Saint Xi.

Let alone Li Wei himself.

As Saint Xi lay prone atop the Ice Emperor’s back, she heard mournful cries echoing from within its body.

She spoke with unwavering certainty, “It seeks our aid.”

Li Wei also felt something strange after landing on the Ice Emperor, but he sensed nothing resembling a call for help.

Perhaps this was yet another racial ability unique to Sacred Dragons.

Looking down at the gray-black expanse beneath his feet, Li Wei gazed around him—it stretched endlessly in every direction.

Even if the Ice Emperor truly were calling out to him, what could he possibly do?

He turned to look at Saint Xi and asked, “Alright then, I understand that much. So what should we do now?”

Saint Xi glanced about, seemingly orienting herself, then took hold of Li Wei’s hand and ran off in one direction.

“This way.”

Following behind Saint Xi across the Ice Emperor’s massive back, Li Wei found the sensation underfoot quite peculiar.

It felt somewhat like stone, yet carried a hint of rubbery elasticity.

If forced to describe it, he would say it was akin to a thick, rigid slab of rubber.

They had originally landed near the head of the Ice Emperor, yet despite Saint Xi leading the way, they still needed time to reach their destination.

Before them now appeared a gradually deepening black pit.

Its diameter likely exceeded twenty meters.

“What is this?” Li Wei asked, clearly puzzled.

Saint Xi replied, “From here, we can enter inside this giant. It wants us to help remove some foreign object from within its body.”

“Inside? Foreign object?” Li Wei raised a skeptical brow.

He stared at Saint Xi, his eyes searching hers to confirm he hadn’t misheard. “Are you sure you want to go inside the Ice Emperor?”

Saint Xi nodded firmly. “Yes, absolutely.”

After a brief silence, Li Wei gave a slow nod. “I see.”

“What kind of foreign object are we talking about?”

Saint Xi shook her head. “I don’t know either.”

Li Wei speculated aloud, “Then perhaps it refers to something external that invaded the Ice Emperor’s body—a harmful parasite of some sort?”

His thoughts drifted back to those shadowy figures he'd seen in the Frozen Abyss.

Could those people be the so-called 'foreign objects'?

Had they infiltrated the Ice Emperor’s body to gain control over it?

If that were true, then he definitely had to venture inside and investigate.

Prior to entering, Li Wei sent a magical message to the Ice Queen, informing her that he might not be able to contact her for a while.

He wasn’t certain whether communication crystals would function properly inside the Ice Emperor’s body.

So he prepared for the worst-case scenario. As long as he told the Ice Queen where the Ice Emperor currently was, she could probably estimate how long it would take before reaching the City of Ice.

What was the Ice Queen doing anyway? After sending the message, Li Wei waited for a long time but received no reply.

With that, he put away the crystal communicator and followed Saint Xi into the enormous dark pit located on the Ice Emperor’s back.

As he stepped inside, Li Wei continued wondering just what exactly this pit was meant to be—

Was it perhaps one of the breathing passages of the Ice Emperor?

That seemed plausible enough, though unfortunately no one offered him answers.

Together, Li Wei and Saint Xi flew forward into the pitch-black passage leading into the Ice Emperor’s interior.

Ten meters downward, thick black bristles lined the fleshy walls—each strand ten meters long.

Countless bristles crossed like spears, blocking the path ahead.

Neither Li Wei nor Saint Xi wished to alarm the Ice Emperor or cause unintended consequences, so they carefully slipped between the gaps formed by the interwoven bristles rather than destroying them outright—they were simply too robust.

It was as if they had entered a colossal maze; only finding the correct route would lead them to their goal.

Li Wei reached out and touched one of the black bristles beside him—the texture was tough yet rough against his palm.

Deeper and deeper they ventured inward. The diameter of the flesh-lined tunnel steadily shrank—from more than twenty meters wide at first, narrowing to less than ten meters.

The thick black bristles transformed into finer tendrils of flesh.

These new appendages proved even trickier to navigate—not anchored like the bristles, they swayed gently with air currents.

Unlike the static bristles, these tendrils seemed reactive—if disturbed, they responded accordingly.

Undoubtedly, both types served the same purpose—to prevent intruders from passing through this passage and entering the Ice Emperor’s body.

Flying ahead of Li Wei, Saint Xi’s eyes glowed golden, piercing through the surrounding darkness.

Li Wei’s eyes also shimmered faintly with gold light.

There was no need for illumination spells; their enhanced vision allowed them to perceive everything clearly.

This was thanks to the powerful night-sight abilities inherent to Sacred Dragons.

Saint Xi remarked, “Up ahead, the flesh tendrils are too dense—we won’t get past.”

Li Wei replied, “Looks like we’ll have to resort to using a little special technique.”

Earlier, he and Saint Xi had noticed that the tendrils automatically wrapped around anything they touched.

Thus, both had been extremely cautious throughout their journey, avoiding contact with any of the tendrils whatsoever.

A small fireball slowly materialized in Li Wei's palm.

Under his control, the fireball flew forward, gradually releasing its heat.

The fleshy tendrils, sensing the stimulus of the fireball, reacted immediately.

Like tentacles, the flesh tendrils coiled around the fireball, but the moment they touched it, they were burned by the flames and instantly recoiled, curling up into tight balls.

Seeing this, Li Wei abandoned his original idea.

With a shift in his thoughts, the fireball suddenly grew larger, charging toward the darkness ahead.

All the flesh tendrils that came into contact with the fireball curled up into tight spheres.

Li Wei grabbed Saint Xi's hand and rushed forward.

"Quick, run now!"

Leading with the fireball, the two of them charged rapidly inside.

The surrounding flesh walls trembled, and Li Wei realized that the earlier provocation might have triggered something unpleasant.

But there was no help for it now—they could only follow this path to its end.

"Keep running!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The contracting flesh walls suddenly expanded outward, and from the depths of the darkness surged an intensely piercing cold current.

The bone-chilling cold flowed along what seemed to be nasal passages, shooting out from the Ice Emperor's body.

In the sky, a cloud of ice and snow appeared, ice crystals reflecting sunlight and transforming the entire mist into a spectrum of colors.

(End of Chapter)