A few moments later the oppressive energy around the group lifted.

The cold winds eased, and for the first time since they had arrived, the steppe felt alive again.

Meng Bai exhaled shakily, finally relaxing. "That... was terrifying."

Cattaleya placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You held up well enough. Next time, just make sure to keep your Qi steadier."

Elyon gave a low whistle. "If this is what was buried in just one of these places, I fear what we’ll find in the others."

Lin Mu looked at the fading dust of the destroyed relic, his expression unreadable. "We will find out," he said quietly. "Whatever this is, it is spreading. And we cannot allow it to continue."

The group exchanged solemn nods. The battle might have ended, but it was clear this was only the beginning of a greater mystery buried across the Darkhan Dynasty.

The group stood silently around the fading remnants of the foul mass, the blackened traces of its energy still lingering faintly in the air. The snow that had once blanketed the area was beginning to melt, the frost losing its grip on the stones and trees.

A faint hiss echoed as droplets of water trickled down from once-frozen branches, falling onto the churned soil of the newly formed crater. The silence that followed was heavy, filled with a mixture of unease and contemplation.

Daoist Chu was the first to break that silence. His long sleeves swayed slightly as he crouched, examining the edges of the crater where the soil had been torn open by Cattaleya’s powerful strike.

"This is strange," he murmured, his tone carrying a note of confusion. "There are no signs of disturbance beneath the surface. No evidence that the ground had been dug or shifted at all. It does not seem like this thing was buried here by someone."

Monk Hushu’s brows furrowed deeply as he stroked his prayer beads. "I agree," he said solemnly. "The earth here is compact, untouched by mortal or immortal tools. It is more likely that this mass grew here naturally, though ’naturally’ might not be the correct word for such a foul phenomenon."

His voice lowered as he looked around. "Its removal seems to have eased the chill in the air as well. Look around you. The snow and frost are dissolving faster than expected."

The others followed his gaze. Indeed, the landscape that had once seemed locked in perpetual winter was softening.

The edges of the ice that coated the rocks were melting into rivulets of water, and the white sheen of frost on the ground was fading away. The oppressive cold that had weighed down their immortal senses was vanishing, replaced by a more natural coolness.

Lin Mu spread his immortal sense across the land.

His spiritual perception expanded outward in a wave that washed over the nearby terrain, stretching over ten kilometers in all directions. The sensation of the world within that domain became clear to him; every shift of air, every faint resonance of energy, and every heartbeat of life.

After a moment, his expression eased slightly. "There is no more cold lingering anywhere," he said. "The land is returning to normal."

This confirmation brought a shared understanding to the group. Whatever that strange mass had been, it was undeniably the source of the corruption and chill that had overtaken the area.

Meng Bai crossed his arms, his youthful face still pale from the earlier wail. "Do you think we missed something similar in the Eastern Ravines, Master?" he asked quietly. "Could there have been another one of these masses hidden deeper underground that we did not uncover?"

Lin Mu frowned slightly, thinking back to their previous expedition.

He had been meticulous during their investigation of the ravines, examining both the surface and the sublayers of the terrain with his immortal sense.

"I checked the ground before," he said slowly. "There was nothing like this there. If there had been, I would have noticed it. Whatever this is, it may not appear in the same way each time."

Cattaleya tilted her head thoughtfully, her crimson hair shifting as the wind brushed past.

"Wait," she said, her tone sharp with realization. "Elyon, when did the snowfall begin in the steppes compared to the ravines? Which one came first?"

Elyon, who had been quietly observing the mass’s remains dissolve into the soil, turned toward her. "The steppes were first," he replied without hesitation. "The snowfall here began weeks before it started the ravines. But if we are comparing across the entire dynasty as a whole, there were other places that experienced unnatural snow even earlier."

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed. "So there’s a sequence," he muttered. "Perhaps the duration of the snowfall corresponds to how long one of these masses has been forming underground."

"That is possible," Cattaleya said. "If this corruption accumulates over time, the longer the snowfall persists, the larger and more dangerous the manifestation could be."

Monk Hushu clasped his hands together, his expression grim. "If that is true, then there might be a deeper connection to the disappearances," he said slowly. "The missing people may not have been taken randomly.

They could have been used as sacrifices. After all, not a single corpse of the missing has ever been found. It would explain why this mass possessed such potent malevolence, it may have been nourished by human lives."

A heavy silence followed his words. The implication was too dark to ignore.

Lin Mu’s thoughts turned to the Ephemera Sect. He recalled the evidence they had already uncovered; their cruel experiments, their twisted rituals, and their unholy alliances.

"It would fit with their methods," he said grimly. "They and their allies have been gathering people for sacrifices. We know that even the two High Elders from the Xian Sword Sect were kept alive to serve as catalysts for their schemes."

Daoist Chu nodded slowly, scanning the surroundings once again. "If this was a ritual site, we should find traces of an array or formation somewhere nearby," he said.