Chapter 155: Three Great Commanders of the Winter Legion

Amos took in the sights as he walked, crossing the bronze keyhole zone that spanned over three thousand meters. He reached the end of the bronze section, only to find his path blocked by a vibrantly colored energy barrier.

The White Dragon Lord extended a claw and gently tapped the barrier. It did not react, but he could feel the surging energy contained within the colorful wall—as deep and vast as the ocean.

If he tried to force his way through, this beautiful, multicolored barrier could turn into an unstable bomb at any moment.

After a moment of thought, Amos tentatively reached out with the Golden Key. Just as he expected, the instant the key touched the barrier, the multicolored wall dissolved into motes of light.

Through the fluttering specks of energy, the White Dragon Lord saw a new treasury corridor hidden behind the barrier.

The white dragon passed through the starlike dust of colorful energy in the air and continued forward, sweeping his gaze over the vaults on either side. The treasures housed in this newly revealed corridor were an entire tier rarer than those in the previous section.

Yet the White Dragon Lord did not stop. He kept walking, because the keyholes in this vault were silver.

As he walked, the white dragon looked at the items stored inside, his throat bobbing. Any single one of these treasures was enough to stir a white dragon's greed, let alone so many gathered in one place.

Suddenly, Amos's pupils shrank. He had spotted a piece of legendary equipment.

This legendary equipment was a uniquely shaped bracelet. Its red stone was carved with gorgeous hollowed-out patterns and inlaid with sparkling flame gemstones.

Amos carefully examined the description of this piece of legendary equipment.

[Name]: Nordmar's Bracelet

[Description]: This is Nordmar's Bracelet, a piece of legendary equipment meticulously forged by the fire elemental lord Nordmar for himself. The materials originated from the deepest core of the Fire Elemental Plane—supreme-grade flame essence stone and top-grade flame marrow. Two spells are enchanted onto the bracelet.

[Fire Element Solidification · Legendary]: Fire elements will spontaneously gather around the wearer, accelerating their cultivation progress. A passive auxiliary spell.

[Hellrock Shield]: Arms the wielder with a burning rock shield that scorches approaching enemies. An active defensive spell.

The White Dragon Lord withdrew his gaze. Although this legendary equipment was enchanted with legendary magic, it was the most ordinary kind among legendary gear. Moreover, not only would it be entirely useless for boosting his power, but it would actually be harmful.

Because a white dragon's primary attribute was the ice element, the spontaneously gathered fire elements would only drag down his cultivation progress.

Without looking back, Amos skipped past the legendary bracelet and headed deeper into the treasury.

This was only the silver-tier vault, yet legendary equipment had already appeared. The white dragon looked forward to the deeper vaults with even greater anticipation.

Along the way, Amos discovered three more pieces of legendary equipment of mediocre quality. He was now certain that the superior-grade legendary equipment was hidden in the deeper vaults.

The White Dragon Lord quickened his pace.

Just as he expected, an identical energy barrier appeared at the end of the silver-tier vault. Repeating his previous action to open the barrier, the White Dragon Lord arrived at the gold-tier vault.

Unlike the bronze and silver vaults where treasures were stacked in rows and stored in individual compartments side by side, the treasures in the gold vault were much scarcer. Furthermore, every single item was protected by its own dedicated display case.

The surfaces of these display cases were not glass, but flowing elemental energy. This energy isolated the magical fluctuations emanating from the treasures, but from their appearance alone, one could tell how extraordinary the items inside were.

As usual, the display cases featured descriptions of the treasures. After reading the very first one, Amos drew in a sharp breath.

The White Dragon Lord stared at the translucent blue crown inside the case, his eyes revealing an undisguised possessiveness.

[Name]: Ice Spirit Crown

[Description]: The legendary equipment, Ice Spirit Crown, is a trophy claimed by a certain existence within the Winter Legion. It was forged from supreme-grade radiant ice—a material that can only be found in the extreme cold regions of the Star Realm—and meticulously carved by a powerhouse. It is enchanted with four legendary spells.

[Radiance of the Cold]: Allows the wearer to gain the favor of ice elements, enhancing the power of ice magic. A passive buff spell.

[Frost Fortress]: Activates the magic array within the crown to summon an incredibly hard frost fortress around the caster, defending against enemy magic, physical attacks, and a certain degree of mental attacks. An active defensive spell.

[Chill of the Radiant Light]: Releases the crown's inherent ice energy to form a ray of frost energy, creating absolute-zero temperatures to freeze the target. An active single-target offensive spell.

[Twilight Snow and Freezing Wind]: Activates the inherent magic array within the crown to summon polar winds from the Ice Elemental Plane, shrouding an area with a radius of a hundred li around the caster. An active large-scale area-of-effect offensive spell.

Even among legendary equipment, this item belonged to the absolute top tier, and its attributes were perfectly suited for a white dragon. Once he obtained it, the White Dragon Lord's power would step onto a whole new level.

He forced down the urge to insert his key into the keyhole. The moment he obtained the key, the white dragon instinctively knew he could only claim a single treasure.

And the [Ice Spirit Crown] before him was merely the very first collectible in this massive vault.

The White Dragon Lord began inspecting the items one by one. With such a prime opportunity, he naturally had to maximize his gains and pick out the single best piece of equipment.

At first, he would be astonished for quite a while after viewing a collectible. But now, after looking through a hundred display cases, the White Dragon Lord felt entirely numb.

All sorts of supreme-grade legendary equipment, incredibly rare magical materials, and bizarre oddities sat there, waiting one by one for the White Dragon Lord's selection. Amos was completely dazzled.

He reached the end of the gold vault and spotted another colorful magic barrier blocking the way forward.

If the gold tier already held supreme-grade legendary equipment, what came after gold?

Divine Artifacts?!

After a moment's thought, the White Dragon Lord lowered his head and continued inspecting the display cases. No matter how good the items in the deeper vaults were, he couldn't take them anyway. Rather than agonizing over mere fantasies, he was better off finding the treasure most suited to himself right here in the gold vault.

After reading the description of another treasure, the White Dragon Lord casually moved to the next display case. He glanced at an ice-blue crystal bottle inside and read its description. His pupils shrank, an expression of absolute disbelief crossing his face.

A long moment later, the white dragon accepted the truth before his eyes. His expression was a vibrant mix of emotions—wild joy, deep regret, heartache, and profound relief cycled across his face.

After bowing his head in thought for a while, the White Dragon Lord finally made up his mind. He took out his key and inserted it into the case's golden keyhole. The Golden Key melted, and the protective energy on the case's surface vanished.

The White Dragon Lord took out the ice-blue bottle. Raising it to eye level, he stared at the red liquid shimmering with blue motes inside the crystal glass. His gaze was complex.

A long time passed.

Amos put the bottle away and turned to walk out of the vault. Back where he had first entered, a Portal was waiting for his return.

Without a single backward glance, the White Dragon Lord stepped into the Portal.

...

In the Ice Elemental Plane, upon a boundless snow-covered plain, a majestic ice temple stood tall in the freezing wind.

The temple covered a vast expanse, stretching as far as the eye could see. Its foundation consisted of solid ice rising some twenty meters above the ground, and that was just the surface—there was no telling how deep it went below.

Mined in the primeval era, this eternal, unmelting ice had existed here ever since, steeped in the weathering of history.

Resting on the foundation was an orderly forest of ice pillars, laid out like a carefully planned grove. These massive cylindrical pillars, so thick it would take thirty people to wrap their arms around one, were carved with all sorts of bizarre and wondrous reliefs. Every single pillar bore a different design.

Ordinary people certainly wouldn't recognize these strange carvings, but if a scholarly Mage who studied primeval history were present, their hands would tremble with excitement. These reliefs depicted all kinds of exotic beasts and rare creatures that had truly roamed the world during the ancient era.

Yet even more striking than these wondrous carvings was the roof of the temple. It had no ornate tiles, nor a smoothly rounded dome.

In fact, there was absolutely nothing atop the ice pillars. Standing on the temple's foundation, one could look straight up and see the open sky. Strangely, however, the interior of the ice temple was not buried beneath thick snow like the icy plains outside.

Any snow that fell upon the floor simply melted into the foundation and vanished. Only the very tops of the pillars gathered pointed mounds of white snow, making them look like tall, straight ice cream cones.

This seemingly crude and ruined temple was the headquarters of a super-faction renowned across the entire multiverse and among all major powers—the Winter Sanctuary of the Winter Legion.

Right now, in the very center of this reclusive yet mighty organization's headquarters, the three great commanders of the Winter Legion and their leader were gathered. Together, they stared at the Portal in the heart of the temple.

An ice elemental with an inverted triangular body looked at the Portal, which had shown no signs of activity despite them waiting for over a month. He then turned toward the Winter Commander, Motznovi.

"Motznovi, is that little white dragon you recommended actually capable of this?!"

Hearing his colleague's buzzing voice, Motznovi replied in annoyance.

"Fernando, apart from possessing an atavistic bloodline, this white dragon is no weakling. Even before stepping into the Legendary Rank and receiving the baptism of the world's laws, he fell into the Ice Worm Mother's trap completely off guard and still managed to escape with his life."

Motznovi paused for a moment before continuing.

"You know the difficulty of the trial. If even a dragon like him couldn't pass the first stage, then this trial would have no reason to exist."

Hearing this, one of the three great commanders of the Winter Legion, Fernando, irritably pounded his chest. He spoke in a muffled, echoing voice.

"Hmph! I've only been asleep for eight thousand years, and you woke me up. If this white dragon isn't as outstanding as you claim, I'll never let you hear the end of it!"

"You!"

"Enough, you two. This is the Sanctuary!"

Seeing her two colleagues about to start arguing again, Catalina, another of the three great commanders of the Winter Legion, spoke up to remind them.

At Catalina's reminder, the two mighty Winter Commanders immediately fell silent. They looked toward the massive statue, beneath which sat Lissandra—the current leader of the Winter Legion—resting with her eyes closed on the ice throne.

Seeing that Lissandra paid no mind to their squabble, the two Winter Commanders breathed long sighs of relief in their hearts. They turned their heads away, refusing to look at one another, opting for out of sight, out of mind.

At that moment, Lissandra, who had been resting with her eyes shut, opened her ice-blue eyes.

"He's here."

What Amos didn't know was that every move he made inside the vault had been under the surveillance of the Winter Legion's leader.

Stepping out of the Portal, the very first thing the white dragon saw was a colossal divine statue. The face of this statue was completely identical to the four statues back on the trial platform.

Beneath the statue, an ice elemental with the appearance of a woman was staring at him expressionlessly. Her face carried absolutely no emotion; it was as if she was merely looking for the sake of looking.

Standing below the throne were three ice elementals of varying shapes and sizes.

One of them was his 'old friend'—Motznovi.

Another ice elemental had an inverted triangular body with no legs, and thick, sturdy arms growing from the two top corners of the triangle.

The third ice elemental, just like the one on the throne, took the form of a slender, beautiful woman. She wore clothes made entirely of ice crystals, which shifted naturally with her movements.

Amos looked at the group, momentarily stunned. No matter how he looked at it, this lineup seemed to be waiting specifically for him.

Seeing the white dragon step out of the Portal, Motznovi threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! Fernando! I found him first! Admit defeat and hand it over!"

Fernando slapped away Motznovi's outstretched hand.

"It's too early for that. He is merely the most promising candidate to accomplish that matter. The outcome hasn't been decided yet, so don't jump to conclusions."

Motznovi didn't get angry, merely grinning. "It's only a matter of time. Why be so stubborn? Don't tell me you just want to hold onto that treasure for a little while longer?!"

Fernando said no more, only turning his gaze toward the white dragon in the center of the hall.

The hall instantly went quiet as the ice elementals scrutinized the white dragon.

The White Dragon Lord was also observing the four ice elementals. To his horror, he realized that even though they were standing right in front of him, he could not sense a single trace of magical fluctuation from any of them.

One had to understand, even if Grand Duke Silver Dragon appeared in front of him, the current white dragon would absolutely be able to sense him.

For such a situation to occur meant that these four ice elementals were far beyond Grand Duke Silver Dragon. At the very least, they were existences on the exact same level as Nordhill's strongest Mage—Merlin Heavenly Principle.

Unlike the ice elementals, whose perception of time was exceptionally slow, the White Dragon Lord didn't have the patience to simply wait in silence. He took the initiative and spoke first.

"Good day, members of the Winter Legion."

The Winter Commander, Motznovi, spoke up in displeasure.

"Hmph! What do you mean 'members of the Winter Legion'? Little White Dragon, the moment you stepped out of that Portal, you became a part of the Winter Legion."