Chapter 42: The Discovery of the Ice Tomb

Kyle and the others stood in front of the ice tower that emitted a powerful cold energy aura. The icy blue and shimmering cold energy shield was like an insurmountable chasm, firmly protecting the ice tower. Any force that approached it would be mercilessly rebounded. Kyle frowned tightly. He gathered the stardust power again and again and launched all-out attacks on the shield, but each time it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with little effect. Elsa cast her ice magic, trying to resonate with the cold energy in the shield, but she still couldn't break through this barrier.

"This shield is too powerful. It's probably not going to work if we keep trying blindly like this," Cavin gasped, looking exhausted. Controlling the balance between the stardust power and the cold energy earlier had already drained a lot of everyone's physical strength, and now facing this powerful shield, they felt even more helpless.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Morgan accidentally glanced towards the back of the ice tower. In the shadow of the ice tower, a faint blue light caught his attention. "Look, everyone! There's something over there!" he shouted, pointing in the direction of the blue light.

Everyone followed the sound and looked over. It seemed that there was something mysterious hidden behind a huge ice layer. They bypassed the ice tower and cautiously approached the blue light. As they got closer, a magnificent ice tomb gradually came into view.

This ice tomb was carved from a single piece of crystal-clear ice. It was extremely huge. Inside the ice, many members of the Lingyao Clan were sealed. They were in various postures. Some had their hands clasped together, as if they were praying piously; some held weapons, as if they were still fulfilling their guarding duties; and some were snuggling up to each other with peaceful expressions. Although they had been frozen for many years, their faces were still lifelike, and their faint but distinct signs of life could be felt.

"This... this is simply incredible!" Alicia exclaimed, her eyes full of shock. "These members of the Lingyao Clan were actually frozen here. They must have gone through something terrible."

Kyle stepped forward and gently touched the surface of the ice tomb. A biting cold instantly came through his fingertips. "We must find a way to rescue them. Their lives are fading away, and time is running out," he said firmly and urgently.

Elsa carefully observed the ice tomb, trying to find clues to open it. "The material of this ice tomb is special. It's completely different from the surrounding ice layers. It seems to be forged by an ancient and powerful magical force. To open it, we need to find the corresponding energy or solve the mechanism inside."

Cavin searched for clues around the ice tomb and found that the bottom of the tomb was engraved with dense runes. These runes were similar to those on the previous ice sculptures but were more complex and difficult to understand. He squatted down, studied them carefully, and muttered to himself, "These runes should hold the secret to opening the ice tomb, but the arrangement is too complicated. I need some time to decipher them."

Morgan activated his illusion ability and tried to observe the inside of the ice tomb from different angles. However, he found that there seemed to be an invisible barrier inside the tomb, preventing him from going deeper. "There's still a protection mechanism inside this ice tomb. My illusions can't get in," he said with a frown.

Everyone fell into deep thought, not knowing what to do for a moment. Suddenly, Kyle had an idea. "Since the ice tomb is related to the Lingyao Clan, and the Lingyao Clan is good at controlling the power of the stars and cold energy, let's try combining the stardust power and the cold energy again and see if we can resonate with the ice tomb?"

Elsa nodded in agreement. "This might be a way. Kyle, you release the stardust power first, and I'll guide the cold energy. Everyone, focus and pay attention to the changes."

Kyle took a deep breath, clenched his hands tightly, and the stardust power gushed out from his palms like brilliant starlight, slowly swirling around the ice tomb. Elsa cast her ice magic, condensing the surrounding cold energy into a blue energy flow, which intertwined with the stardust power. Morgan, Cavin, and Alicia also concentrated their minds and provided mental support for Kyle and Elsa.

With everyone's efforts, the stardust power and the cold energy gradually merged, forming a powerful and strange force. When this force approached the ice tomb and touched the surface of the tomb, the runes on the ice tomb began to flicker and emit a dazzling light.

"It's working! Keep increasing the power!" Kyle shouted.

"I feel that the power is a bit unstable. Everyone, hold on!" Morgan shouted while maintaining his mental support.

Alicia also stared nervously at the ice tomb and said, "We must succeed. These members of the Lingyao Clan are still waiting for us to rescue them."

Everyone gritted their teeth and continued to increase the power output. The runes on the ice tomb flickered more and more frequently, and the light became stronger and stronger. Suddenly, a dull rumble sounded, and a crack appeared at the top of the ice tomb. An ancient and mysterious aura filled the air.

However, the crack didn't continue to expand and seemed to be restricted by some powerful force. "What's going on? Is our power not enough?" Morgan asked anxiously.

Cavin observed the runes carefully again and found that the light of several runes was relatively weak, and they seemed to be the key nodes of the entire rune system. "Everyone, pay attention. These runes might be the breakthrough point. Let's concentrate our power on these areas!" he shouted, pointing at those runes.

Kyle and Elsa adjusted the direction of their power and concentrated the stardust power and the cold energy on the key runes. With the impact of the powerful force, the light of these runes gradually became stronger and echoed with the light of the other runes.

Just when everyone thought that the ice tomb was about to be opened, a strong cold energy storm suddenly surged around the ice tomb, blowing everyone off balance. It turned out that the protection mechanism of the ice tomb had detected someone trying to open it forcefully and activated a more powerful defense. Kyle and the others managed to steady themselves with difficulty, but they found that the crack that had been opened earlier was actually starting to close up.

"No, we can't give up!" Kyle shouted. Ignoring the impact of the cold energy storm, he released the stardust power with all his might again. Elsa also tried her best to guide the cold energy, attempting to counter this powerful defensive force. Cavin chanted incantations loudly, using magic to stabilize everyone's postures, and continued to study the runes to find a solution. Morgan constantly changed his illusions to interfere with the direction of the cold energy storm.

"Kyle, I can't hold on much longer!" Elsa shouted, her hair fluttering wildly in the cold energy storm.

"Hold on a little longer. We can definitely do it!" Kyle replied, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

With everyone's perseverance, the cold energy storm gradually weakened, and the crack on the ice tomb started to expand again, and ice blocks fell one after another. Everyone quickly stepped back to avoid them. With a loud bang, the top of the ice tomb was completely opened, and a powerful cold air rushed towards them, making everyone shiver.

When the cold air dissipated, they saw the surviving members of the Lingyao Clan lying quietly inside the ice tomb. A faint blue light surrounded their bodies, which was their weak life force. Kyle and the others carefully entered the ice tomb, looking for a way to rescue them.

They found that there was a huge stone platform in the center of the ice tomb. On the stone platform was placed a crystal emitting a soft light. The crystal was surrounded by engraved runes, which seemed to be the core of the ice tomb. Cavin stepped forward and carefully studied the crystal and the runes. The runes recorded the reason for the formation of the ice tomb: a long time ago, the Lingyao Clan encountered a huge disaster. To protect the last surviving members of the clan, the leader cast a powerful magic spell and sealed these people in the ice tomb, waiting to be rescued one day. The key to opening the ice tomb was to find someone who could balance the power of the stars and the cold energy, and only they could wake up the sleeping members of the Lingyao Clan.

"We've found the way to open the ice tomb and also learned about its origin. Now, we need to find a way to wake up these members of the Lingyao Clan," Kyle said, looking at the crystal on the stone platform with hope in his eyes.

Elsa stepped forward and gently touched the crystal with her hand. The crystal instantly emitted a strong light, and the light quickly spread throughout the entire ice tomb, enveloping each surviving member of the Lingyao Clan. However, after flickering a few times, the light gradually dimmed. Only a small part of the ice layer on the surviving members of the Lingyao Clan melted, and then there was no further change.

Everyone fell into a predicament again. Could it be that all their efforts were about to go to waste? Kyle clenched his fists, filled with unwillingness. He looked around and suddenly noticed that there were several grooves on the wall of the ice tomb, and their shapes were somewhat similar to the scales of the Ice-Winged Snow Dragon that they had collected before. He quickly took out the scales and tried to embed them into the grooves.

"Everyone, help quickly and see if there are any other ways to assist," Kyle shouted while trying to embed the scales.

Elsa immediately cast her ice magic, trying to create better conditions for embedding the scales. Cavin also nervously observed the runes on the side, hoping to find new clues. Morgan used his illusions to carefully examine every corner of the ice tomb, not missing any possible details.

The moment the scales were embedded in the grooves, the light in the ice tomb became extremely bright, and the crystal emitted a strong light again. This time, the light was stable and lasting. Under the illumination of the light, the ice layers on the surviving members of the Lingyao Clan began to change, and it seemed that they were continuing to melt, but the progress was extremely slow.

"It seems to be working, but it's still not enough. We need to find other ways," Alicia said anxiously.

Everyone fell into deep thought and continued to search for other possible ways to rescue the surviving members of the Lingyao Clan in the ice tomb.