"The specific situation is still unknown for now. My perception range has its limits after all."
"But..."
Xue Di's mind recalled the information obtained from the nearby soul beasts.
"The nearby soul beasts previously heard a long, drawn-out dragon roar, along with a sharp bird cry."
"Dragon roar and phoenix cry?" Tokisaki Kurumi's pupils slightly dilated, puzzled as she said,
"Besides sealing one ancient phoenix inside, is there also a dragon sealed here?"
"There shouldn't be." As she spoke, Xue Di shook her head again. "I'm not certain. I've been in the rift valley for so many days and haven't heard any dragon roar."
If it weren't for the numerous soul beasts all hearing this sound, Xue Di would suspect she was being deceived.
After her words fell, the surroundings fell into a long silence.
"What about the ancient black phoenix?" Tokisaki Kurumi's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Xue Di, don't tell me you have no useful information at all?"
After all, this time she was acting on behalf of her own master to handle things!
If she messed it up, would she have to become a mascot beside Ning Rongrong afterward, a beckoning cat?
"This is also the point that's puzzling me."
Upon hearing this, Xue Di couldn't help but let out a long sigh. "The black phoenix's power and aura are much weaker than before, and its voice sounds like a desolate wail of loneliness."
"Only in such a situation did I judge that the ancient black phoenix might have left the seal."
"Perhaps, it's also related to that dragon roar in some way."
There was no helping it. Unless they broke the seal and went inside to check the situation, relying solely on perception—and having to cross the seal set by a god at that.
This was still only possible because she was the Snow Lady, with her special circumstances allowing her to perceive something. But it was impossible to fully grasp what was happening inside the seal.
As for breaking the seal, whether it could even be done was one thing.
If that black phoenix inside came out, the entire continent would likely be thrown into chaos, with no peace for man or beast.
Just making contact with it filled her with an extreme sense of disgust.
"Let's go in and take a look." Tokisaki Kurumi's voice pulled Xue Di's thoughts back.
"Go in and look?"
"Yes. The master told me that she left a backdoor in the seal."
"Our cultivation methods are different, so you all can't enter. But I and the master are basically in a complementary power relationship."
"I can also unlock this seal. Even if I can't, I can still infiltrate power inside through special means."
"This... you all even did such a thing?" Xue Di hadn't spoken yet, but Bing Di was already fuming and cursing. "Are you master and servant planning to stab us in the back?"
"Of course not." Tokisaki Kurumi shrugged. "It was just in case something goes wrong later, to make it easier to handle."
"The master and I can touch the things after the seal, and it has nothing to do with you soul beasts or soul masters. What are you worrying about?"
"After all..."
As Tokisaki Kurumi said this, she paused, her gaze turning toward Bing Di, whose anger was skyrocketing.
"You all weren't the ones who asked my master to handle this ancient black phoenix?"
"Since that's the case, we definitely need to be able to access the situation to avoid unexpected occurrences."
"You!"
"Enough."
Xue Di spoke up to interrupt Bing Di. She was also somewhat helpless. Did the Dark Devilgod Tiger and Bing Di just clash in their zodiac signs or something?
Every time they met, they were either undermining each other or on the way to undermining each other.
Xue Di sighed. "So, what do you plan to do?"
"I'll tell you first: even if the one inside isn't the original guy, its strength is still above mine, or even Di Tian's."
"We'll figure out a way to sneak in first and then talk." Tokisaki Kurumi spread her hands.
The three of them arrived together at the edge of the seal.
From inside came oppression and darkness. In the depths of the rift valley, cold,阴阴 winds occasionally blew.
The seal array formed from the surrounding ten-thousand-year cold marrow, under the influence of the cold wind and aura, showed signs of teetering on the verge of collapse.
"What next?" Xue Di turned her head to look at Tokisaki Kurumi, only to see two identical clones appear beside Tokisaki Kurumi.
"Xue Di, Bing Di, place your hands on the clones and inject your soul power with your perceptions attached."
"Hm?" Xue Di and Bing Di exchanged a glance, and Bing Di even spoke up to ask, "Reason?"
"Don't be so vigilant toward me. I just want to take you in to see. Anyway, you don't trust me much, so wouldn't it be good to come along together?"
"Attach your perceptions, and leave the rest to me."
"Xue Di, what do you think?" Bing Di sought Xue Di's opinion.
Xue Di didn't answer. She walked to the position of the clone on Tokisaki Kurumi's far right and placed her palm on its shoulder.
Seeing Xue Di like this, Bing Di on the side also stepped forward to the other one behind, making a similar motion to Xue Di.
The two infused their soul power into Tokisaki Kurumi's body.
A few seconds later, the clones' appearances began to change, respectively becoming Bing Di and Xue Di's forms.
"This is?"
Bing Di and Xue Di were both quite surprised.
"A method of remote control. Infusing your perceptual auras into the clones to create a puppet-like control method. It's quite troublesome to explain."
"You just need to know that this is equivalent to clones with little of your strength."
"Next, I can take you into the seal."
At Tokisaki Kurumi's feet, a pitch-black circular space condensed once more, and a clone completely identical to Tokisaki Kurumi appeared.
With a "whoosh."
The three disappeared from the spot.
The main body remained at the edge of the seal to avoid various unexpected situations.
Because the seal itself had a gap involved, the three quickly entered inside.
"As expected, the temperature here is much higher than before." Xue Di's expression was grave.
The ancient black phoenix was originally an ice-attribute creature. Logically speaking, the closer to its surroundings, the colder the environment should be.
But now, it wasn't that her perception was wrong; rather, the situation here had undergone some special change.
They continued flying toward the pitch-black, profound area ahead.
In the space as black as ink, a light suddenly appeared.
"That is..."
Clearly a pitch-black domain, yet in the distance, an object with a discernible shape appeared.
"A palace?" Bing Di said in astonishment.
A palace rendered in gray-black, surrounded by blackness.
No, rather than surrounded, it was more like this palace was suppressing something.
At the same time, at the position of the massive chains extending from the palace, covered in a layer as if coated with ice and snow.
Seven or eight spiraling chains stretched out from all directions, binding a large bird with pitch-black feathers.
That bird's form, based on the surveyed intelligence, was very likely the ancient black phoenix.
"Is that the sealed black phoenix?" Bing Di's body trembled slightly. "Such strong power."
"No, the aura is much weaker than before." Xue Di shook her head, refuting Bing Di's judgment. "I don't know if you've noticed, but the ancient black phoenix's eyes are extremely dull, as if it has lost its soul."
The energy it released wantonly wasn't targeted at anyone.
It continuously diffused the controlled strange aura outward. Most importantly, on the black phoenix's body, everyone felt a decaying aura, giving a sense of impending death.