Thinking of her father who had completely disappeared from the world, a trace of regret flashed through Yun Fei’s heart.
However, since she had very few memories of him to begin with—she even took her mother’s surname—that sliver of regret vanished after only a fleeting moment.
Sorting out her messy thoughts, Yun Fei gripped the handle of her spear with one hand and slowly walked toward the interior of the pillar of light.
The intense light constantly irritated Yun Fei’s eyes, forcing her to squint as she passed through the barrier.
After crossing the barrier formed by the curtain of light, the radiance suddenly dimmed significantly, and Yun Fei quickly adapted to the current light intensity.
Once she had fully adjusted, Yun Fei looked at her surroundings in surprise.
Although it was still a world of ice and snow, the sky was no longer as gloomy as it was outside; instead, it was a clear, transparent blue.
The most prominent feature ahead was a magnificent Crystal Palace.
Under the sunlight, it reflected various colors of rosy light.
It wasn’t snowing here, but when Yun Fei took a step, the depth of the snow actually reached halfway up her calf.
“Your Highness, there seems to be something inside that palace.”
“Mm, I feel it. It’s a very pure ice-attribute energy. But based on my senses, it doesn’t seem to be Spiritual Power. It’s very unfamiliar.”
Yun Fei stopped and felt it carefully, confirming her thoughts once again.
She was certain that the energy was something distinct from both Spiritual Power and Demonic Power.
At this moment, she thought of the intelligence regarding The Void: The Void came from a place independent of the Three Realms.
Even masters with spatial affinities could not determine its exact source.
Currently, there was reason to suspect that the source of The Void was a certain world separated by one or several thick layers of Quantum Medium, and the Three Realms might not be the only world currently being infected by The Void.
Thinking of this, Yun Fei increasingly felt that this Secret Realm had a significant background; it felt like something from another world.
As for why it had come here and gotten involved with Mu Lingxi, it was likely never wrong to let The Void take the blame.
Continuing forward, Yun Fei walked toward the Crystal Palace.
Along the way, the snow became shallower.
However, as she drew closer, Yun Fei discovered that on a flat piece of ground in front of the Crystal Palace, countless human-shaped ice statues were scattered about in total disarray.
Driven by curiosity, Yun Fei approached to take a closer look, though she did not lower her guard, tightening her grip on the spear.
According to the traveler’s adventure notes she had read, when approaching suspicious statue-like things, there was a high probability that some special mechanism would be activated, triggering a guard mode and launching an attack on the intruder.
Slowly approaching, Yun Fei found that they showed no signs of coming to life to attack her.
After a few cautious tests, Yun Fei finally lowered her guard.
“These people… don’t seem to be human?”
After carefully observing a few, Yun Fei discovered a common point among them: their ears were actually pointed!
This was quite a novelty for Yun Fei.
Just as she wanted to continue looking at a few more, the Magic Mirror’s voice suddenly came through, and its tone was somewhat strange.
“Your Highness, I think it’s better to hurry into the palace to see if there is any way to leave. These humanoid biological ice statues…”
The Magic Mirror’s hesitation left Yun Fei hanging.
“What’s wrong with these things? Just say it!”
“…As you know, over the course of a thousand years, I have followed dozens or even a hundred masters, and I have also stored all the books I have seen during that millennium. About three thousand years ago, near the North Sea Abyss, I once saw a book that recorded part of the history from before the Mortal Realm detached…”
Yun Fei didn’t expect that a simple question would cause the Magic Mirror to reveal such a shocking piece of information.
“Before the Mortal Realm detached… wasn’t that…”
“Correct. That history, known as the Ancient Era, no longer has any written records. That book was likely the last written text. Back then, as soon as my master at the time discovered it, they were immediately attacked by an unknown force. Before they could even get excited, they perished, and the book was destroyed by that power.”
Yun Fei swallowed hard secretly. “Then maybe you shouldn’t say it? I’m afraid of dying.”
“…Your Highness, it’s alright. I once told your mother with a ‘try it and see’ attitude, and she was perfectly fine. Furthermore, your father deduced the… Prophecy your mother spoke of based on this information, though I do not know the contents of that Prophecy.”
“Whew… then go ahead.”
Yun Fei took a deep breath, found a rock on the ground to sit on, and focused on listening to the Magic Mirror’s narration.
A bag of sunflower seeds even appeared in her hand.
The Magic Mirror: “…”
“Forget it, to save time, I will first tell you the information related to the present. It won’t be too late to tell you the rest when we encounter it later.”
The Magic Mirror looked speechlessly at Yun Fei, who intended to listen to a story, and decided to keep it short.
“In the history of the Ancient Era, our current Mortal Realm, Xuan Realm, Demon Realm, and the now-missing Light Realm shared a common name: the Fuyuan Realm. Now, I am going to talk about the Light Realm, because based on my judgment, this place should be a fragment of the Light Realm.”
Hearing the word “fragment,” Yun Fei’s eyes widened.
“You mean, the Light Realm has already… shattered?”
But the Magic Mirror shook its head.
“I am not sure. I cannot judge based on this alone. However, these humanoid creatures, based on their characteristic pointed ears, should be the native beings of the Light Realm—Elves.”
“Elves?” Yun Fei stroked her chin, a glint flashing in her eyes.
“Magic Mirror, do you think I can take some Elf ice statues back for research? I feel like it would be very interesting!”
“Uh… you’re actually thinking about that!”
“Hehe~ I’m just joking~ But wait, stop for a second. I think I just saw a mysterious object flash between the ice statues and rush into the Crystal Palace. We have to go in and check it out!”
“Something flashed past?”
Yun Fei quickly stood up, grabbed the spear beside her, and hurried toward the inside of the Crystal Palace.
“Oh~ I see it! That white flying thing!”
Yun Fei soon spotted the object that had just flashed by and immediately charged forward.
When the white flying object saw the person charging toward it, it was startled at first, but then it actually came to a gradual stop.
Yun Fei clearly hadn’t expected it to stop suddenly.
She had figured the mysterious creature in this Secret Realm would flee under her pursuit, acting out a scene of her chasing and it escaping!
Forget it, stopping is fine too.
I can ask it about the situation here… provided it can speak and understands what I say.
Yun Fei stopped in front of the flying object and took the chance to observe it.
She suddenly discovered that its ears were also pointed, just like the ice statues.
“Are you an Elf?”
The small creature that appeared to be an Elf trembled slightly.
Then, it slowly turned its head, looking down instead of at Yun Fei’s face.
It nodded, then shook its head.
Seeing this reaction, Yun Fei felt another wave of speechlessness.
This action of both nodding and shaking its head was truly difficult to understand.
But the good news was that it could understand her!
This made things easier!
“Your… Your Highness, how are you alive? And you came from the outside…”
At this moment, before Yun Fei could ask anything, the little Elf’s words left her completely stunned.
What did it mean, how was she alive?
She recognized every single word, but put together, they were very strange.
“Ha? No… what do you mean I’m alive? When did I die? Also, do you know me?”
Only then did the little Elf slowly lift its head.
Its moist eyes stared blankly at Yun Fei for a few seconds before finally revealing a trace of panic.
“Sor… Sorry! I recognized the wrong person! I was wondering, Her Highness is still lying in the coffin inside, how could she possibly come out…”
As she spoke, the little Elf began to sob.
That pitiful appearance couldn’t help but evoke a feeling of pity in Yun Fei.
“…Alright, alright, don’t cry. I’m a lost traveler. Can you tell me how to get out of here?”
“Ugh… Get out? I don’t know how to get out. I’ve been here for a long time too. I’ve been guarding Her Highness’s Ice Coffin and haven’t left. I don’t know how much time has passed outside…”
Great! It’s been here the whole time?
Does that mean there’s no way out?
Yun Fei’s heart suddenly felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar, turning cold and heavy.
“Then can I go in?”
Yun Fei was still unwilling to give up.
She had to go in and look for clues.
There must be a way out; it was just that this little Elf hadn’t discovered it in all these years!
Comforting herself and cheering herself up this way, Yun Fei questioned the little Elf.
“Go in… that’s fine. Her Highness didn’t put on airs when she was alive, and it should be the same now. She won’t mind. I’ll open the door for you.”
The little Elf thought for a moment and nodded gently.
The tear stains at the corners of its eyes had already condensed into ice crystals.
It shook them onto the ground and returned to an optimistic and cheerful demeanor.
“Come on, follow me! Before the disaster descended, the front gate was set so that only those with Elven bloodline could open it. Luckily I’m still guarding this place, otherwise you would have to freeze and starve outside!”
The little Elf fluttered its ice-blue translucent wings and flew slowly toward the palace gates.
Yun Fei followed closely behind.
As they walked, Yun Fei asked the little Elf a few more questions.
“Are you the only Elf left here? What about the other Elves? Are they all like the ones outside?”
“I… I am indeed the only one here. However, my current body is a magical construct. My original body is already dead; it’s one of the ice statues outside. I was very afraid of death, so I refined this miniature version of myself to house my consciousness…”
“As for the other Elves… there shouldn’t be any more here. Before Her Highness passed away, she cut this area off from the Light Realm to prevent the disaster from spreading further into the Light Realm.”
Yun Fei fell silent. “My condolences…”
But, the disaster… was it The Void? Or something else?
Yun Fei wanted to continue asking, but the gate had already been opened.
She had no choice but to stop and instead look inside the Crystal Palace.
The floor and walls inside the Crystal Palace were almost entirely made of ice, smooth as a mirror.
She could even see a motionless fish inside the floor; she didn’t know how many years it had been frozen there.
“…This was originally the front line for resisting the disaster. To protect the rear, Her Highness sacrificed her life for the country. After her death, the power within her body went out of control, freezing everything for a hundred miles. This palace was also formed specifically to house her remains.”
Seeing Yun Fei’s confusion, the little Elf began to explain the origin of the Crystal Palace.
After this introduction, Yun Fei’s eyes widened in shock.
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