"M... Master." Tokisaki Kurumi was momentarily at a loss, her hands and feet not knowing where to go. Speaking ill of someone behind their back and getting caught red-handed—how embarrassing it was.
"When did you arrive? Why didn't you send me a message!" Tokisaki Kurumi stiffly raised her head to look toward Ning Rongrong.
"If I told you in advance, could I still catch you badmouthing me behind my back?" Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes. "I don't want to end up like a certain sect master, having my strange fetishes known."
"That's still because of you—always going on about fatherly love and filial piety. It's hard not to know." Tokisaki Kurumi retorted.
"What did you say? I didn't hear clearly. Please think it over and say it again." Ning Rongrong made a gesture of digging her ear, indicating she had a bit of "ear ringing."
"Nothing, nothing."
"That's right, isn't it? How could something like fatherly love and filial piety appear in our loving Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? That doesn't conform to tradition."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "..."
Look at what you're saying.
She had just come out of seclusion, so her mind wasn't clear yet?
Of course, such words Tokisaki Kurumi didn't dare say out loud. Who knew what this black-bellied pink-haired one wanted to do to her again.
"Master, how long have you been here."
Forcibly pulling the topic back, Tokisaki Kurumi pretended as if nothing had happened.
"A while. My strength has improved somewhat, so it's normal that you all didn't notice."
"However, I didn't expect there to really be an Ice God palace inside." Ning Rongrong's voice carried a sigh.
In the original work, the legend of the Ice God existed in God of Ice and Fire, but even up to the later Douluo series, there seemed to be no discussion of the whereabouts of the Ice God ruins.
After God of Ice and Fire, even descriptions of the Extreme North were scarce. It could be said to be unrelated to the protagonist, probably...
"By the way, what else did you all discover below?" Ning Rongrong pressed.
Upon arriving at the Wind Snow Valley rift, she saw the three standing like wooden stakes.
She had heard their narration after returning, but it was only about the Ice God ruins and such; the rest still needed detailed inquiry.
After speaking, Ning Rongrong's gaze turned to the two standing beside Tokisaki Kurumi, and she said:
"Long time no see, Bing Di, Xue Di."
Bing Di just nodded; having just argued with Tokisaki Kurumi, she didn't want to speak. Xue Di sized up Ning Rongrong for a moment and smiled slightly: "Mm, your temperament is completely different from the last time I saw you."
Ethereal, light—completely unlike a normal soul master.
Moreover, unlike the previous slight sense of majesty, the current Ning Rongrong was more restrained.
As the Snow Lady, who was close to nature, she was more sensitive to auras and temperaments, and could clearly notice Ning Rongrong's difference.
"Mm, I've made some breakthroughs, so changes in temperament are normal." Ning Rongrong didn't explain much about her own affairs.
Tokisaki Kurumi also took over the topic, narrating to Ning Rongrong what had just happened on the seal side.
When her words ended, Ning Rongrong fell into a long silence.
Dragon roar and phoenix cry.
Divine beast escaping its cage, cicada shedding its carapace?
The Ice God palace seemed to be suppressing some passage?
Ning Rongrong pinched her chin in thought.
Excluding factors outside the Douluo Continent world, involving dragons... Dragon Valley?
No way!
The black phoenix escaped, leaving its body and partial soul consciousness for the ice palace to pull a substitute prince trick.
And the passage suppressed by the Ice God palace—if only counting the Douluo Continent, not other worlds.
Abyss passage?
The Demon Empress had appeared, so the existence of an abyss passage wasn't impossible.
She remembered that the ruler inside the abyss passage seemed to be a first-level god.
Secondly, there was the Crimson Mother, the mother of the Abyss Plane's ruler, whose strength was roughly also first-level god, and who seemed to have broken through to the God King realm in Ultimate Douluo.
So, did the Ice God fall while suppressing the passage?
Ning Rongrong was silent, expressing doubt.
If it really involved matters of another great plane, it wasn't something that could be touched now.
Things like the dark forest law—who knew if they would happen!
To have equal dialogue, one needed the strength for equal dialogue.
Be it the God Realm or that abyss plane, without strength, it was all empty talk.
"Master, master."
"Ning Rongrong, Ning Rongrong!!!"
"I can hear you; don't shout so loud." Ning Rongrong gave Tokisaki Kurumi a white-eyed look. "If that's a sealed passage, then try not to touch it as much as possible!"
"Hmph, do you also want to obtain the Ice God's inheritance?" Bing Di said indignantly.
"No, I said not to, so we won't." Ning Rongrong shook her head. "Keeping one's word is something our Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still has some integrity in."
"Xue Di, I once asked you how the Ice God fell. You told me it was in the Extreme North, right?"
"That's right."
Xue Di nodded, somewhat unable to grasp the meaning of Ning Rongrong's words.
"Have you ever thought that it might have fallen for the sake of sealing?"
"This..." Xue Di fell silent.
To put it bluntly, this was from inherited memories. The Ice God did indeed fall in the Extreme North, but the specific reasons for the fall were still unclear.
"Let me put it this way: if that black ice phoenix came from that passage, then might there exist another even stronger being?"
"Of course, this is just my speculation."
Regarding the matters of the Crimson Mother and the Abyss Holy Lord, since it wasn't confirmed, Ning Rongrong didn't mention it to Xue Di and Bing Di, or even Tokisaki Kurumi.
"Then what do you mean?" Xue Di's delicate eyebrows furrowed.
"Leave it for now!" Ning Rongrong said. "We'll discuss it after finding that black ice phoenix and fully understanding the situation."
"You know the whereabouts of the ancient black phoenix?" Xue Di was puzzled.
"If the location is right, I think I have a general idea, but I don't know the method of entry."
"Let's go into the seal first and take a look. If that ancient black phoenix could break through the seal and leave, there should still be traces left in the space. I also want to see the current state of the ancient black phoenix."
"Let's go, and don't resist."
Ning Rongrong waved her hand, and specks of luster covered everyone.
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding scenery shifted.
Ning Rongrong had already brought the three inside the seal once more.
"You... you just came in directly like that?" Astonishment appeared on Bing Di's face.
"Mm, my strength has improved somewhat, so entering the seal is doable." Ning Rongrong nodded.
"That's not what I meant. There's a third-level god inside no matter what; aren't you afraid we'll all get wiped out!"
Watching Ning Rongrong lead everyone deeper, terror appeared on Bing Di's face.
That was a third-level god!
Limit Douluo could still run, but how could one run from a third-level god?
"Eh heh, the Bing Di who fears neither heaven nor earth is actually afraid?" Tokisaki Kurumi spoke up at the right moment. "I thought you this little scorpion could face danger without fear, but it turns out you're all bark and no bite."
"House cat, don't spout nonsense. This is called being brave and strategic; I don't want to court death." After Bing Di finished speaking, she ignored Tokisaki Kurumi and turned her head to look at Xue Di beside her.
"Xue Di..."
"Believe in Ning Rongrong! Anyway, we can't get out either."
Hearing Xue Di's words, Bing Di's expression stiffened.
They were inside the seal and indeed couldn't get out—at least she and Xue Di couldn't.
The logic was sound, no mistake.
But, but!
Suddenly, a fierce pressure assaulted toward them. They were getting closer, closer to the sealed ancient black phoenix.
"As expected, the spacetime here has undergone considerable disorder."
Ning Rongrong's eyelids moved slightly, and she stepped out from the barrier protecting everyone.
In the disordered aura, there was a sense of draconic oppression that hadn't fully dissipated, meaning the ancient black phoenix hadn't left for long.
Ning Rongrong released her perception.
Reaching the second realm of utmost perfection—the Extreme of Heart.
Her perception of the subtleties around her became even more acute. Even in the chaotic waves of aura, she could peel away the threads and differentiate, extracting useful information.
Ning Rongrong extended her slender finger and lightly tapped.
Pale green wave-like soul power condensed into a thread that fell into her palm.
"Found it. It seems my speculation wasn't wrong."
"Master, careful!"
Abruptly, an extreme light appeared ahead.
Purple-black energy pierced through space, growing larger and larger in Ning Rongrong's pupils.