Chapter 0460: The Ice Mirror Lake Unlocked

Huang Long retracted the Five Pits Divine Cauldron, while the eighteen divine artifacts he had forged floated side by side in midair.
All the godly warriors’ gazes were fixed on these eighteen artifacts.
Each of the artifacts emitted a faint glow, with similar auras, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that each had its own unique aura.
No one spoke.
No one broke the silence; it seemed as though time had stopped, as if everything was frozen in that moment.
After retrieving the Five Pits Divine Cauldron, Huang Long also remained silent, standing on the competition platform.
After a long while, Donaxiu and the others finally realized what was happening. Once they did, Donaxiu waved his hands, and the eighteen artifacts, as if pulled by an invisible force, returned to their original positions in front of him. Then, Donaxiu expanded his divine senses and channeled his inner divine power to assess the rank of these eighteen artifacts.
Donaxiu said nothing, but it was obvious to everyone that he was nervous.
The head of the Akro family, one of the eight major hellish families, a supreme god at the highest level—was he nervous?!
When Donaxiu reached for the first artifact, just as Bartley had done when testing Huang Long’s sword during the rematch, the spear emitted a intense glow.
After grasping the spear, Donaxiu swung it, creating multiple shadows that warped the space. Then, he thrust the spear forward, sending out flashes of cold light, with explosions echoing in the distance and spatial distortions becoming visible.
“A top-tier eighth-grade intermediate sequential array divine artifact!” Donaxiu said slowly, holding the spear, his mind filled with complexity.
The once silent competition site erupted in excitement once again.
A top-tier eighth-grade intermediate sequential array divine artifact!
Although the gods had guessed that this spear’s rank was higher than Huang Long’s sword during the rematch, hearing Donaxiu confirm it himself still filled them with shock and excitement!
A top-tier eighth-grade intermediate sequential array divine artifact!
After being shocked and excited, the gods turned their attention to the other seventeen artifacts. If this spear was a top-tier eighth-grade intermediate sequential array divine artifact, what about these seventeen?!
At that moment, after assessing the first spear, Donaxiu took a deep breath, suppressed his thoughts, and then reached for the second artifact—a giant axe.
The excited and astonished gods fell silent, watching Donaxiu nervously.
“Another top-tier eighth-grade intermediate sequential array divine artifact!” After assessing the giant axe, Donaxiu announced the result to the gods.
The silent competition site erupted in more exclamations of surprise.
After the second, came the third artifact—a long sword.

“A top-grade eighth-tier intermediate chain formation artifact!”
The fourth one… the fifth, the eighteenth—after Tang Naixiu and the others evaluated each of the eighteen artifacts crafted by Huang Long, the entire competition venue erupted in equal turmoil as when Huang Long and the others arrived for the contest.
“Lord Huang Long!”
“Lord Huang Long!”
The gods present could hardly contain their excitement and shouted loudly. Seeing their fervent reactions, both the Main God’s army and the eight great families of hell hurriedly strengthened their order defenses. It was precisely because of these preemptive measures that the competition venue avoided the uncontrollable chaos that had occurred earlier.
Tang Naixiu and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.
“Since the family heads have evaluated the artifacts’ grades, Huang Long will return to wait for the results,” said Huang Long after Tang Naixiu and the others finished assessing all eighteen artifacts. With the crafting complete, there was no need for him to stay. Moreover, with the gods around him staring at him eagerly, it was not appropriate for him to linger.
Tang Naixiu and the others bowed and quickly asked Bartley and the others to see Huang Long off.
Accompanied by Bartley and the others, who acted as his escorts, Huang Long and his group successfully made their way through the crowd and returned to the villa. There, just like in the semifinals, Huang Long meditated in silence, waiting for the results.
Since the deadline for the finals was ten days to craft a top-grade eighth-tier artifact, the results would not be known until ten days later.
During those ten days, before the results came out, news of Huang Long’s participation in the finals had already spread like wildfire throughout the city and gradually reached some surrounding towns.
Ten days later, the results were finally announced!
Out of the three spots, true to the expectations of the gods, Huang Long came in first.
Second was El, the head of the Joey family, and third was Jera, the supreme elder of the Bunier family.
The Bunier family was also highly respected in hell, ranking only below the eight great families.
However, compared to Huang Long, El and Jera seemed rather low-key.
There were three spots, but almost all the discussions among the gods revolved around Huang Long. In contrast, El, the head of the Joey family, and Jera, the supreme elder of the Bunier family, despite being peerless strongmen, received little attention.
Some even-only knew that Huang Long had secured a spot but were unaware of who the other two were.
Ten days later, the results were out, but with two days left before the Ice Mirror Lake opened, Huang Long and his group waited at the villa for that day to arrive.

“Young master, if you start building a faction now, it won’t take a hundred years to establish a family!” Inside the villa, Bog expressed his admiration for Huang Long.
He had seen and felt the gods’ obsession with Huang Long. If Huang Long were to form a faction, just as he did in the Hengyuan Realm by establishing the Four Seas Empire, those god-tier warriors would surely seek to join him, just like the people of the Hengyuan Realm.
With such god-tier warriors joining, Huang Long’s faction would quickly grow into a massive force, like mountains piling up one after another.
“Yes, yes, young master,” said Fat Lion, nodding his head with his fat flesh trembling.
Orcs like Nat also began discussing it eagerly.
Huang Long smiled secretly and shook his head. “Enough, enough. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s too early to talk about this now.”
It was indeed too early for Huang Long to form a faction—after all, his cultivation level was still weak, and such a faction would merely be a ragtag group. Even if he could unite the gods, he couldn’t truly subdue them without absolute strength.
Moreover, establishing a faction now was unnecessary.
When Huang Long merged with the body of the Chaos Dragon, Greg, the colorful coiling dragon of the Nether Sea, would truly submit to him, and his faction would naturally belong to Huang Long.
Greg was one of the powerful rulers of the Nether Sea, so his faction’s strength was unimaginable. Having ruled for dozens of eons, it was worlds apart from a faction built by Huang Long in a short time.
Seeing this, Bog and the others stopped talking.
In fact, they knew this too and were just talking casually.
Two days later, the day when Ice Mirror Lake opened finally arrived.
Huang Long and the others left the villa early, using secret techniques to avoid the gods surrounding it, then headed from Niga City toward Ice Mirror Lake.
After the finalists were determined, Huang Long’s villa was completely surrounded by the gods for those two days.
Soon after, Huang Long and the others arrived at Ice Mirror Lake. By then, the eight major families of the underworld, including the Bartley family, were already waiting. Upon seeing Huang Long and the others, they flew forward to greet them and led them to the castles built by the eight families around the lake.
“Brother Huang Long!” El, the head of the Joey family who had arrived earlier, greeted him with a smile.
The two could be considered “old acquaintances.”
Jera, the supreme elder of the Bunier family who had also arrived early, greeted him with a smile as well.
Huang Long didn’t act arrogantly and exchanged a few polite words with them.

“Haha, all three of you have arrived!” Not long after Huang Long arrived, a cheerful voice came from outside the grand hall, and soon Donaxiu and the others appeared before Huang Long and his companions. As Donaxiu and the rest approached, everyone greeted each other with smiles, creating a warm and friendly atmosphere. With Huang Long and his group there, Donaxiu and the others were not in a hurry to open Ice Mirror Lake. Instead, they chatted casually with Huang Long and his companions in the castle’s grand hall. Naturally, the conversation turned to Huang Long’s experiences in the preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds of the artifact refinement competition, prompting everyone to express their admiration. Two hours later, Donaxiu and the others got up and went with Huang Long and his group to Ice Mirror Lake to open it. Upon arriving, Huang Long couldn’t help but recall his previous visit to Ice Mirror Lake with Brad. The lake was just as it had been before—its surface shimmering with silver light, surrounded by layers of icy mist, with a piercing cold radiating from it, pressing down on everyone. At that moment, Donaxiu glanced at Huang Long, but seeing his calm expression, he nodded inwardly. Generally, only those with the strength of peerless warriors could withstand the cold from Ice Mirror Lake. When Donaxiu and Huang Long’s group arrived at the lake, it was already surrounded by countless divine-level warriors. Seeing them arrive, there was another wave of excitement. After arriving, the eight members of Donaxiu’s group flew up above the lake’s surface. Each of them produced a jade tablet resembling white jade, which, suspended in midair, emitted a dazzling light, forming an octagonal formation. Then, the light from the octagon was projected onto the lake’s surface. As the light hit the lake, it burst into a brilliant glow, with waves of energy spreading out in all directions. The gods watched closely as Donaxiu’s group and the lake’s surface changed. Huang Long knew that those eight jade tablets were the keys to unlocking the restrictions of Ice Mirror Lake’s formation. Now, the restrictions were gradually being lifted under the control of those eight tablets. The ripple-like energy on the lake’s surface continued for about half an hour before stopping. When it stopped, the icy mist over the entire lake seemed to be pulled away by an invisible hand, disappearing instantly. Afterwards, Donaxiu’s group retracted their jade tablets, their expressions relaxing as they flew back down. Ice Mirror Lake was finally open! “Everyone, Ice Mirror Lake is now open. Once we enter it, let me make one thing clear: no matter who obtains the Golden Fire Crystal, no one is allowed to fight over it. Otherwise, I, Donaxiu, will be the first to deal with them!” said Donaxiu.

Such rules are also for the well-being of Ice Mirror Lake. After all, if one fights over the Golden Fire Crystal inside it, with everyone’s current level of cultivation, it’s not impossible for the lake to be destroyed if things go wrong.