The affinity of the Ice Drakes with the Ice Dao was deep, and their blood contained innate spiritual resonance that could condense frost qi for hundreds of miles.

To hunt one was not bravery. It was folly.

"You were ordered to hunt Ice Drakes?" Daoist Chu asked in disbelief. "By whom? Such a task would be suicidal for your cult, even at its peak."

Lame Yu nodded weakly. "I know. When we heard the order, we thought the same thing. Many of our elders argued against it, but refusal was impossible. The order came from above, directly through one of the intermediaries from the Ephemera Sect.

We were told the target was not a full-grown Drake, but a group of juveniles nesting in a frozen canyon somewhere in the South Western Glacial Range."

Lin Mu's gaze hardened. "A group of juveniles? That is still enough to wipe out your entire sect if the parents found out."

"I know!" Lame Yu cried, trembling again. "But they said they had ways to divert the elder Drakes' attention. They assured us that powerful individuals would assist from the shadows. We were simply to capture as many juveniles as possible and deliver them alive."

He hesitated, his expression twisting with old fear. "But even that was madness. Ice Drakes are intelligent and fiercely territorial. While I myself didn't join that mission, I did learn that we lost half our numbers in the first attempt. The others vanished without trace."

Lin Mu remained silent, his mind already spinning through possibilities.

If what Lame Yu said was true, then the cult and its allies had been part of something much larger. The capture of Ice Drakes could only have one purpose... to extract their flesh, blood essence, or bloodline energy. Such things could, theoretically, serve as a catalyst for powerful ice-based rituals or even the creation of Elementals.

He looked at Daoist Chu, who was already frowning deeply, his hand rubbing his chin. "That kind of material, Daoist Chu said, "could easily serve as the foundation for an artificial Greater Elemental if processed correctly. But the amount of energy required... and the cruelty of such a ritual..."

"Would be immense," Lin Mu finished quietly.

He turned back toward the projection. "What happened after the mission? Did your cult succeed?"

Lame Yu hesitated, the faint light of the array reflecting in his frightened eyes. "We... captured one," he said slowly. "A juvenile Ice Drake. We lost hundreds of men, but one was brought back alive... Heavily injured but alive. After that, it was taken away by a different group. We were never told what became of it."

Lin Mu's gaze darkened, the shadows around his figure deepening as the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

This was no longer speculation. The threads were beginning to connect and the truth behind the Greater Ice Elemental might be far darker than anyone had imagined.

Lin Mu stared at the projection of Lame Yu, his expression unreadable.

The dim glow that had illuminated the room flickered and went out, leaving behind only the faint light of the lanterns burning along the walls.

For a few moments, Lin Mu did not speak.

He merely stood still, his gaze fixed on the empty space where the image of the prisoner had been. The air felt thick with residual tension. Even though the conversation was over, the implications of what he had just heard were far from settled.

The Ice Drakes.

His mind churned with the weight of those words.

Ice Drakes were not ordinary beasts. They were the kind of beings whose very presence commanded reverence. They carried within them the diluted essence of True Dragons, and their existence alone shaped the balance of nature in their region.

For the Ephemera Sect or anyone to capture one for experimentation or ritual was not only reckless but suicidal. The entire Darkhan Dynasty could be endangered if the Ice Drakes decided to retaliate.

Lin Mu turned his attention back to the communication array. His voice was low, cold, and deliberate. "Your words had better be true, Lame Yu."

The faintest tremor ran through the shackled man on the other side of the connection. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Lin Mu continued speaking, his tone carrying an edge that made the entire chamber feel several degrees colder.

"If I find that you are lying," he said slowly, "I will rip your soul from your body myself. Then I will see the truth within with my own eyes."

For just a moment, something flickered within Lin Mu's gaze... a pulse of light, dark and violet, deep as the void.

It was gone in an instant, but not before Lame Yu saw it. His eyes went wide, his breath caught in his throat, and his body seized up as if invisible claws had wrapped around his spirit. He felt something primal, a presence that transcended the mortal fear of pain.

It was as if his soul recognized that the man before him was capable of doing exactly as he said.

By the time the array flickered off completely, Lame Yu was left trembling, his body collapsing to the cold stone floor of his prison cell.

Daoist Chu broke the silence first. "You certainly left an impression on him."

Lin Mu exhaled quietly. "If fear is what keeps him honest, then so be it. That man has survived by selling information. I doubt truth is something he values highly."

Daoist Chu gave a small nod and adjusted the spiritual slips stacked before him. "Even so, what he said carries weight. If his account is true, then the Ephemera Sect somehow acquired a juvenile Ice Drake years ago. If they managed to use its vitality, or worse, its bloodline energy, then the Greater Ice Elemental might be a result of that very experiment."

"That would mean," Lin Mu said grimly, "that the sect has found a way to exploit draconic blood."

"Or at least imitate it," Daoist Chu added.