''...That's strange...'' an artificer from Iron Lords union said to himself as he saw the artifact in their hands.

''That...'' his friend next to him seemed like he wanted to say something but he seemed to be hesitating as he looked around him with wary and confused eyes.

But before even he could voice his opinion a young man jumped in with excitement.

''Isn't that the famous artifact Ice Empress used to defeat her enemies before she became an Empress?!'' he screamed at the tops of his lungs.

What was that? It was a legendary artifact that could be mass produced. Apart from its two weaknesses, it was perfect.

You could only use it after reaching the Deity Ascension stage, and laws stored in it could only stay stable for a few hours, depending on the strength and level of the laws used.

Empress of Ice used those laws to conquer the almost entirety of the continent by herself. She would just give tens of these with her techniques in it and send her disciples to attack various sects all the time. The rest of the sects in the continent just couldn't handle constantly getting attacked by the powers of Peak Dao Level Cultivator.

After the fall of the Glorious Yang Empire, there were only 6 Peak Dao Level cultivators in the whole continent, and even those Peak Dao Level cultivators could hardly go against the strongest attack of a Peak Dao Level cultivator a few times. Even fighting a normal Peak Dao Level cultivator would be easier, after all, how many times could they use their strongest techniques during a fight before exhausting themselves to death?

Many people secretly tried to glance at the Ice Empress with curious eyes.

Many people had many different thoughts.

'Did she steal the production method?'

'Did she come across the inheritance by chance?'

But the most obvious answer was already inside the minds of most beings there.

'Could she be the little girl on the screen?'

They didn't dare to voice their thoughts as the person they were thinking about was the Ice Empress.

She wasn't the scariest Empress and she wasn't the cruelest, but she was still an Empress. Her past was a secret until now as she had abandoned her name and fully taken her title as her new name. She obviously didn't want anyone to know about it. If they dared to say 'I figured it all out', who could guarantee their future?

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The said Empress on the other hand seemed to be out of it.

She didn't seem to care about people's thoughts, no, she was concentrating on something else.

Seeing her like this, even the Space Empress didn't dare to tease her.

'She was always silent, she always kept it to herself, but not like this...' she thought worriedly. She could already imagine what was about to happen.

--------

Wang's tossed orb stayed in mid-air for a few seconds before exploding into a cold, blue mist.

Mist seemed strange as it started expanding uncontrollably.

Soon, the strange mist met its first opponent.

Li Qiye's uncle Li Yan came across the blue mist and stopped in his tracks cautiously.

'That boy's poison arts are extremely powerful, I can't be careless and just jump into it.' he thought.

But after a few seconds, he relaxed and went through the mist.

'It's expanding by sucking in the water and moisture from its surroundings. It's cold and has the effect of slowing down, but that's all. It seems like that little girl with Ice cultivation made it.' he thought as he went through the mist reassuredly.

It could slow him down, it was fine. Everything would be fine as long as he didn't lose their track.

After all, even if they could escape from him for an hour or two, they couldn't escape from him forever. Their difference in cultivation would make sure of that. Eventually, they would run out of spiritual energy to fuel their escape techniques.

''Hmm?'' Li Yan felt something different about himself.

''What is going o- COUGH!'' he suddenly coughed in pain and spat out some blood.

He immediately shielded himself with his strongest art.

*Crack*

A tiny crack appeared in his shield as he was still surrounded by the dense and poisoned mist.

He put up another barrier before it cracked.

One of the jade talismans hanging from his waist cracked and his pale face recovered to its healthy state.

He considered his options for a second before coming to a decision.

'Mist has spread too much. I would waste too much energy if I tried to get out of it by combining barrier and escape techniques...'

''HUFF!''

He inhaled deeply before spreading his arms apart.

As his arms spread apart, an invisible force pushed out the mist away from him like a gust of wind.

He pointed his finger ahead and sent a small fireball into the mist that was coming close to him.

The icy mist that came into contact with his fireball disappeared for a second before getting replaced by another batch of mist.

'As expected, it's week to my fire art. It would be truly incomprehensible if it was somehow explosive or something, but it seems like my worries were for nothing.'

He sighed in relief.

He would lose lots of face if he was stopped by a trick from mere children, and even worse, his brother the Emperor would get upset.

'I still need a few years to break through the Emperor stage's barrier. I need to be patient and please my brother before I obtain the power to become the Emperor.'

Taking the rare moment of a breather, he prepared himself.

Flames appeared around his body.

With a resolute look on his face, he dove forward, right into the mist.