For this reason, generals such as Jiang Tao, Zhong Chunhua, and others all found Lord Chongwu and anxiously asked, "Lord Chongwu, what exactly is going on?"
"Is it true that His Majesty..."
Lord Chongwu answered with a darkened face, "Most of the intelligence from the Ice Plains is true. The Mount Tai ritual was just a cover. His Majesty has actually already entered the Ice Plains, and now... his life or death is uncertain."
These words were like a bolt from the blue, ringing in the hearts of Jiang Tao, Zhong Chunhua, and the others!
To be honest, this did align with His Majesty's usual style of action, but to them, their seemingly invincible emperor... could he really have died so easily in a foreign land?
However, the current situation seemed to leave no room for disbelief. After all, no matter how strong His Majesty was, he was still only one person. Facing a group of powerful beings from the Ice Plains, even a god could bleed...
"However, everyone, please don't panic. With His Majesty's strength, he wouldn't be defeated so easily. Please return to your homes and continue with your duties," Lord Chongwu continued, "In any case, the Yan Kingdom must not fall into chaos."
"Yes..."
These comforting words did not ease the minds of the generals, but they still left one by one with complicated expressions.
After the generals left, the room was empty except for Lord Chongwu, and then Fang Yuan's shadowy spirit slowly appeared behind him.
"Your Majesty, are you really okay?" Looking at Fang Yuan's appearance, Lord Chongwu immediately asked, his eyes full of anxiety. "You just gave me a body; don't lose yours now..."
"I'm fine, just encountering a rather troublesome problem." Fang Yuan's shadowy spirit responded. "To resolve it, it might take some time."
"For now, let's pretend that I've unfortunately died in battle."
Fang Yuan smiled, "This way, we can continue to deceive other countries and also properly test the loyalty of those in the newly established Xia Kingdom."
"Understood," Lord Chongwu nodded and responded, "I will act according to your instructions."
...
In the **Eternal Frozen Abyss**, Fang Yuan rubbed his brow, muttering to himself, "This feeling really isn't pleasant..."
He never expected that the time flow in the **Eternal Frozen Abyss** would be different from that of the real world—it was much faster!
This caused only a few minutes to pass here, while several days had passed outside!
Fang Yuan's shadowy spirit stayed in the real world, while his physical body was in the **Eternal Frozen Abyss**. Experiencing the time flow disparity between the two worlds gave him a strong sense of dissonance, as if his mind might split apart.
This was why every time Belobor entered the **Eternal Frozen Abyss**, he would fall into a period of weakness. The time disparity between the inside and outside would cause mental harm from frequent travel.
Fortunately, in Fang Yuan's case, all injuries could be measured by his health bar, so he only felt slight discomfort—nothing more.
"I need to investigate the situation in this **Eternal Frozen Abyss** quickly. That damn Belobor said there's a big boss he arranged here—where is it hiding?"
Fang Yuan frowned. This **Eternal Frozen Abyss** was as its name suggested—everywhere he looked, it was nothing but frost, with nothing else in sight.
Wait, no!
At this moment, a name suddenly appeared in Fang Yuan's vision in the distance:
**Queen of the Ice Plains: Aphrola**.
Looking in that direction, he saw a beautiful woman in a torn yellow robe, desperately running across the ice layer below.
Fang Yuan quickly searched through the data he had gathered on the Ice Plains, and yes, there was indeed a queen named Aphrola in the history of the Ice Plains.
However, according to the records, she had mysteriously disappeared over two hundred years ago. To his surprise, she was here now.
Was she the stronger being that Belobor mentioned? It didn't seem so. She looked more like him—sealed in this world by Belobor.
In any case, he decided to check the situation first. With this thought, Fang Yuan shot down from the sky like a shooting star.
"Who!"
Aphrola, who was running, instantly sensed the presence above her. She raised her head in alarm and saw a young man in white robes, his sleeves billowing, descending from the sky.
He had black hair and eyes, and his handsome face carried a few signs of frustration and coldness, clearly in a bad mood.
This was...
Before Aphrola could react, the young man in white had already reached her and slapped her with one hand!
Bang!
Aphrola was knocked into the air, her body like a cannonball, flying several dozen meters before crashing into an ice wall.
"Heh heh..."
Golden blood sprayed from Aphrola's mouth. She was already severely injured, and Fang Yuan's powerful slap only worsened her condition.
She painfully raised her head, her eyes filled with growing fear as she gazed at Fang Yuan.
With a swift motion, Fang Yuan appeared in front of the fallen Aphrola again, his calm black eyes staring at her. He gently advised, "Please stay calm. I'm not here to harm you."
Upon hearing this, Aphrola's face showed confusion and shock.
Is he speaking human language?
He wants me to stay calm? He's the one who slapped me first!
However, the young man before her was far too strong, and her life was hanging by a thread, so she could only timidly respond, "Sorry, senior, I was indeed impulsive just now..."
As for what exactly she had been impulsive about, she didn't even know. She just thought apologizing would suffice.
Fang Yuan nodded lightly, "That's more like it..."
At the moment Aphrola saw him, her name turned from blue to orange. It seemed she had triggered an alert, but since Fang Yuan had used his "slap technique" to calm her down, her name turned back to blue.
"You were sealed here by Belobor, weren't you?" Fang Yuan asked again.
"Yes." Aphrola nodded, and when she heard Belobor's name, a look of resentment appeared in her eyes.
"Belobor was originally not one of us Ice Plains people. He came from far away and sought refuge with us. My royal family treated him with respect and even gave him important roles. Who would have thought he..."
"Enough," Fang Yuan interrupted. "I'm not interested in your complaints. Just tell me, how long have you been here?"
"From my calculations, I should have been here for several dozen days," Aphrola quickly replied.
Several dozen days? Hadn't she disappeared over a hundred years ago?
Fang Yuan quickly realized that due to the time flow disparity, while a hundred years had passed outside, only several dozen days had passed inside this place.
This world really was strange. If the time flow had been slower, it might have been a good training ground.
Oh, but he didn't need a training ground.
"Alright, tell me everything you know about this place," Fang Yuan said again.