The city was frigid, with snowflakes drifting down.
Walls and rooftops were coated in thick frost, while roadside trees retained their green hues, encased within blue ice crystals.
From afar, it presented a beautiful spectacle.
Yet, this was hell. The city, home to over a hundred thousand people, had turned them all into ice sculptures, each frozen in their final moments of terror.
Walking the streets, the biting wind felt like ice, and both the silent city and the chilling temperature sent shivers down one's spine.
Upon entering, they had learned that this was the effect of an uncontrolled immortal artifact, a testament to the terrifying power such artifacts could wield.
Those currently possessing immortal artifacts hadn't even managed to unleash one percent of their full potential.
However, the biting cold and desolation here did not affect Li Qingyun and his companions.
"Do you think these people are still alive? If we chisel them out of the ice sculptures, will they attack us?"
"Ridiculous, such a coward! Brother Xian said there are no hidden dungeons here, so rest easy and go nuts!"
"Damn it, are you already starting to roast them with fire?"
Meng Zibin had begun gathering his Sun True Fire and was now using it to heat an ice-sculpted corpse.
This wasn't ordinary ice; ordinary fire couldn't melt it.
Why roast them, you ask? Naturally, because storage rings were found on their bodies!
He frowned and said, "This isn't a good method; the efficiency is too low. With so many people, it'll take ages to thaw them one by one, wasting a lot of our time. My suggestion is to deal with the [Eternal Frost Lamp]."
Not only Meng Zibin, but others were also using their unique skills, some with blades and swords.
However, this thing seemed quite tough. Without high-quality flames, it wouldn't melt, and with anything less than a decent magical artifact, even swords would chip.
Those who entered were initially eager to collect resources, expecting a treasure trove everywhere. Upon entering, they indeed found resources everywhere, but unfortunately, they were all turned into ice sculptures.
To claim them, one had to melt the ice first.
If melting was impossible, they resorted to using magical artifacts to dismember them, taking away even the hands with the storage rings.
This approach was rather awkward, but for now, they couldn't find a better solution.
"Let's go, we're heading to the City Lord's Palace!"
At the very center of the Winter City stood a magnificent palace, the residence of the Ice Empress, who was also the City Lord.
Her cultivation also reached the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm, making Winter City roughly equivalent in power to the Five Elements Immortal Sect.
However, unlike other forces, this was a city with complete industries and a massive trade hub, attracting numerous cultivators. The wealth contained within this city likely equaled that of dozens of [Deep Sea Dragon Palaces].
"Hey, Zhang Xiaohu, keep up! We might need to use immortal artifacts later," Li Qingyun called out.
"Coming, coming!" Zhang Xiaohu quickly followed, as did the others.
When Chu Yang explained the reason for [Winter City]'s fate, they also learned about the existence of the [Eternal Frost Lamp].
During the Ice Empress's refinement process, something went wrong, causing the immortal artifact to go out of control, freezing the entire city.
There were two types of artifact spirits: one was artificially refined into the artifact or willingly sacrificed by a demonic beast, and the other was born naturally.
Meng Zibin's [Flood Dragon Splitting Abyss Halberd] belonged to the former; the Flood Dragon soul within was forcibly extracted and refined along with the weapon.
The latter required more stringent conditions for birth, not only a long period but also a good nurturing environment, or for its owner to grow stronger, allowing the artifact to benefit and thus have a chance to develop an artifact spirit.
Artifact spirits born naturally were also more powerful than those forcibly refined, capable of providing some miraculous enhancements to their masters during battles.
Li Qingyun's [Chaos Divine Lotus] evolved within the medicinal garden, thus developing its own sentience, which was currently transforming towards becoming an artifact spirit.
As for the [Floating Abyssal Pearl] and [Heaven-Opening Divine Axe], perhaps fearing that artifact spirits might excessively influence the user, the system had automatically erased them when they were obtained through the lottery.
The group took to the sky directly, flying towards the City Lord's Palace.
The closer they got, the more they felt the biting cold, clearly indicating that the source of the frigid air was within the palace.
The Ice Empress was indeed luxurious; the magnificence of the entire palace was in no way inferior to the imperial palace of the Great Yan Dynasty.
Qin Xiaoxiao thrived in this environment, having almost forgotten what winter felt like.
The group quickly traversed the palace, following the source of the cold.
Finally, they discovered the Ice Empress in her bedchamber.
Clad in a magnificent robe, the Empress held a lamp in her hand, her face frozen in an expression of terror.
She herself had been turned into a blue ice sculpture, but the ancient lamp in her hand continued to burn.
Pale white flames flickered on the wick, resembling a white reaper harvesting souls, captivating anyone who glanced at it.
All eyes were drawn to the lamp; undoubtedly, this was the [Eternal Frost Lamp].
"What do you think? How should we handle this lamp?"
"Qin Xiaoxiao, why don't you go touch it?" Wang Teng looked at Qin Xiaoxiao and said.
Qin Xiaoxiao hid behind Luo Xiaowei and glared at Wang Teng, "Why don't you go touch it yourself? You want to harm me!"
"Uh... but as soon as I get close, I feel like I'm going to freeze solid. You're not afraid of the cold!"
"Who says I'm not afraid of the cold? I'm terrified!"
No one moved, naturally because they sensed danger.
Furthermore, the surrounding cold was extremely terrifying. Before entering, they had no choice but to fully circulate their cultivation techniques to resist this icy chill.
Li Qingyun held a green lotus in his hand and said to the crowd, "Then you all step back a bit. I'll test the waters first?"
Everyone retreated a few steps.
Then Li Qingyun tossed the green lotus in his hand towards the [Eternal Frost Lamp].
"Boom!"
Like a stone creating a thousand ripples.
The pale white flames erupted fiercely, as if enraged. A terrifying cold transformed into a storm, surging directly towards the crowd!
Li Qingyun was greatly alarmed and quickly retreated!
Instantly, the [Chaos Divine Lotus] within him erupted with five-colored divine light. As they were all immortal artifacts, the [Chaos Divine Lotus] found the lamp quite displeasing.
The divine light emanating from the [Chaos Divine Lotus] directly dispersed this storm of cold air!
Then, a scene that shocked them occurred: the Ice Empress, at this very moment, actually moved...
"It's... it's a zombie?"