The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Once this exploration is over, she will definitely study the fire of that "Beast of Life" carefully!

　And the "Heart of the Beast God" in her possession also needs to be transformed into results as soon as possible.

Chapter 1702 Darkdemon is Fifteen Years Old (5k)

　Although the [Magic Kingdom] currently only has a foundation, its future potential is already clearly visible.

　The successful cultivation of the Beast of Life has solved the biggest problem in developing the Magic Kingdom; now it's time to develop at full speed.

　Dark has even planned to independently develop the ultimate skill card for the [Gate of Heaven] once the technology matures, as a key to open the gate that can be used anytime, anywhere.

　However, the biggest limitation of special move cards is that they cannot be used interchangeably; regular special move cards can only be used by the magical spirit that possesses that special move.

　Even if Dark researched the [Great Sin Type Ultimate Skill Card] on his own, it only expanded the usability to magical spirits that possess the corresponding Great Sin power. In addition, he himself could also use it.

　Therefore, the ultimate skill card of [Gate of Heaven] can only serve as a temporary personal key. What he ultimately wants to do is to project a small part of [Magic Heaven] into the real world, referencing [Kukuku's] Temple of Life, thereby creating a connection point with the real world and establishing a [Gate] that can be used for long-term passage. He has already planned to set up the first [Gate] within [Magic City], and then use [Magic City] as a transit station for [Magic Heaven].

　In short, start with the planning first, and then proceed gradually.

　Dark led Aylvit, Claire, and the others on a tour of the ecological laboratory in "Magic Heaven" before leaving.

　After all, there's really not much in the current "Magic Kingdom," so once you've seen it, that's enough.

　He then placed the "Orb of Truth," which sealed the "Ice Statue" and the "Divine Body," into the "Magic Heaven." Within the "Magic Heaven," he then created a "Homestead," summoning magical spirits to move and arrange the "Ice Statue" and the "Divine Body" neatly.

　The "Gates of Heaven" cannot be left open for long, and it's not appropriate to have the maids work inside at this time, so the magical spirits have to take over. Moreover, for the magical spirits, being able to move around in the "Magical Heaven" is better than staying in hibernation in the magic cards.

　They have their own rooms in the "Magic Kingdom", which are fully equipped with all kinds of books and items. After finishing their work, they can read books and chat, which is quite relaxing.

　Meanwhile, Dark and the others, who had left "Magic Heaven", quickly ate their meal and discussed their next course of action.

　The mass resurrection and increased strength of the "ice statues" served as a stark warning to them.

　This means that the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" has changed from "static" to "dynamic," and various changes have followed, so many things can no longer be examined using past experience.

　This raid by a squad was a misjudgment of the changing situation, which led Aquinita and Angrey's team into an unexpected crisis.

　However, by learning from this experience and reanalyzing the existing intelligence, it can be concluded that although the changes to the "Snow Mountain Goddess Temple" are significant, they are still within a controllable range.

　The next operation must be more cautious, and it is necessary to sweep away and remove all the "ice statues" that are most likely to change.

　The mass resurrection of the "ice statues" is indeed a warning sign.

　This made Dark and others realize again that if the temple consciousness intentionally stimulated the "ice statue" to revive, and had control over it, the "water statue" could become a powerful force.

　All the abilities of the "ice image" will inevitably lead to a qualitative change due to quantitative change.

　Even the "Valkyrie" is a combined attack of the i2-s.

　So the plan was scaled back, and the exploration became more cautious.

　……

　The fourth day of June, Friday.

　The investigation team set off again, following Dark's route from yesterday to enter the temple. They first passed by the palace that housed the angel's "divine body," allowing Alvett, Claire, and the others to catch a glimpse of it, before continuing on to the entrance to the "divine kingdom" and entering.

　Upon returning to the "divine kingdom," the team immediately became extremely alert and rushed to the temple's residence at top speed.

　The investigation team sped along and soon arrived at the temple's residence.

　Only after seeing that there were no signs of damage to the defensive fortifications around the camp did everyone quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

　Since the "ice statues" have been revived in large numbers, it's hard not to think about the safety of the base.

　But now it seems that those "ice statues" do indeed have limited intelligence and only wander in open areas.

　Upon entering the camp, the group quickly checked it over and confirmed that everything was in good condition.

　Arvit then gathered the people and described the changes to the temple, instructing everyone to be more cautious.

　After resting at the temple's base until noon, the survey team embarked on a new journey of exploration.

　This time, the exploration will no longer have a "goal" set, but will proceed in a "Z" shaped route to explore the entire temple and collect as many of the "ice statues" that have not yet awakened as possible inside the temple.

　Once you encounter a "frozen statue" that has been resurrected, eliminate them all without exception!

　Only in this way can the possibility of being attacked by a large number of "ice statues" at the same time be eliminated.

　Since this was the first official exploration after Ergani's arrival, the survey team was still simply assembled as a single group.

　As the team advanced, it became increasingly clear that their combat strength had increased significantly.

　But it's also easier

　After a day of exploration, the team returned to their camp in the temple to prepare for the next day's exploration.

　Through this day of exploration, they gained a deeper understanding of the changes in the temple. In particular, their understanding of the changes in the "Ice Statue's" strength became much clearer.

　First, the strength of those "ice statues" has indeed increased, but the increase is actually limited.

　Moreover, the growth rate of different "ice statues" varies.

　Claire believes that such "growth" should be called "recovery," as they are simply gradually returning to their original strength.

　However, due to the inherent "defects" of the "ice statues," they can only be restored to a level that is infinitely close to that of "gods," and it is almost impossible for them to break through to the realm of "gods."

　Although the "ice statue" and the "divine body" are the same entity, it is obvious to anyone with eyes that the "ice statue" is not a complete entity at all.

　After careful observation, Ergane guessed that the "ice image" was likely a projection.

　Combining the "time inference" of Dark et al., it is said that the "ice image" should refer to the reflection of a certain deity on different timelines.

　This also explains why, although the "ice statue" and the "divine body" are the same entity, there is a distinction between primary and secondary elements.

　Because the "divine body" is the true entity on the main timeline, while the "ice statue" is merely a reflection on the sub-timeline.

　Of course, this inference is not necessarily entirely correct; it can only be described as a reasonable speculation.

　But at least we have a seemingly feasible explanation.

　……

　The next day, June 5th, the survey team set off again. This time, in order to speed up the exploration, the team was divided into two groups.

　Team One was led by Arvit, Claire, and Serena.

　The other team was led by Dark, Ergani, Angry, and Aquinita.

　Both teams possess both martial prowess and strategic acumen, and each has a "true god" in charge, so there are no major issues in terms of personnel allocation.

　The team led by Dark is relatively inexperienced, but with Aquinita and Angry on the team, they can make up for that.

　The two teams are relatively evenly matched. In terms of exploration route planning, they follow a zigzag route "from left to right" and "from right to left" to cover as much exploration area as possible, and to cover the unexplored central area multiple times in order to deepen the exploration.

　Furthermore, Dark and Serena can communicate remotely using the "Lunar Armor," thus establishing a connection between the two teams.

　If one team encounters an insurmountable danger or problem, it can immediately summon another team to provide assistance.

　This greatly increases security.

　On June 6th, Dak received birthday gifts from Ylvette and Claire.

　Claire sent one of the "Moonstones." Alvette sent one of the "Phoenix Stones."

　Ergani stated that the "Original Life Embryo" was her birthday present. Serena stated that she herself was the birthday present.

　Then Angry, Aquinita, and the other maids also wished him a happy birthday.

　They've been busy exploring these past few months, so they haven't had the energy or time to prepare any birthday gifts.

　Moreover, Dark was already very happy just to receive birthday wishes. He had even forgotten it was his birthday before hearing the first birthday greeting.

　That evening, they shared a huge birthday cake at their camp.

　Dak's birthday this year passed simply in this unpretentious yet warm setting.

　At this point, Dakdimon was fifteen years old.

　Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

　June 10th, evening.

　The survey team met at the deepest part of the central region and finally saw the core area of ​​the temple.

　That is, the palace of the "Snow Mountain Goddess"!

　However, the group did not enter the palace to explore; instead, after observing it from a distance for a while, they quietly withdrew.

　For the past six days.

　With the help of the two "true gods", the investigation team almost swept through all areas outside the "Snow Mountain Goddess Palace" and moved all the currently visible "ice statues" into the "Magic Heaven".

　After most of the ice statues and strange creatures in the temple were cleared away, the investigation team mobilized more members to enter the "divine kingdom" and begin excavating the ice coffins and excavating the "divine body".

　The goal is to move all the "divine bodies" into the "Magic Heaven"! To date, a large number of "divine bodies" have already been moved into the "Magic Heaven".

　Furthermore, after discovering the correspondence between the "divine body" and the "ice statue," their timelines were merged and unified to make them complete.

　Dak divided the "divine body" that had merged with the "ice statue" into two parts, and placed them separately from the "divine body" that had not merged with the "ice statue".

　At this moment, the "Magic Kingdom" was filled with countless "divine bodies" and "ice statues." At first glance, it resembled the "Terracotta Army."

　However, the excavation of the "divine body" is slow and will require more time.

　After leaving the palace, the investigation team returned to their residence in the palace and held a meeting to discuss the matter.

　The exploration has progressed faster than expected in just six days. Serena and Ergani's assistance has been indispensable.

　By tonight, all the temple areas except for the palace have been thoroughly explored.

　The remaining, incompletely cracked areas have been marked, and they can be conquered one by one.

　In addition, the most dangerous thing in this temple, besides the palace area, is that giant beast lurking under the snow.

　When Dark saw the beast again, he noticed it had changed its position, but was still in a deep sleep...

　So they set up a ring of alarm devices around the place where the giant beast slept.

　An alarm will be triggered once the behemoth awakens or leaves the area. While this alarm system might backfire if the behemoth were to actually awaken, it's impossible to simply leave it unattended.

　After all, since it has already awakened once, it will do it again, so we have to be more vigilant.

　The investigation of the temple did not end there.

　In the time that follows, the team will set three objectives.

　One approach was to conduct one or two thorough cleanings of the entire temple, excluding the palace, at a relatively fast pace, to eliminate any remaining dangers.

　Secondly, we will tackle the unsolved areas one by one.

　Thirdly, all the "divine bodies" were excavated and moved away. And after that...

　The team will first head to the "Snow Mountain Goddess Palace" and set up a barrier outside the palace to completely seal it off!

　Both Ergani and Serena sensed the presence of a "god" within that palace.

　This means that even if there is no "Snow Mountain Goddess" within the palace, there must be other "gods" present.

　If one chooses to break into the palace, there is a high chance that the gods inside will awaken.

　This is a possibility that the investigation team has been trying to avoid.

　The exploration, which had become easier in the past few days with the help of Serena and Ergani, had not made them blind.

　Ergane's current divine power level is relatively high, but Serena is still just a nascent god.

　They were invincible against non-divine beings.

　However, if they encounter a true god of middling strength, then it's hard to say.

　Therefore, exploring the palace now would be a very unwise move.

　The meeting proceeded without much disagreement; everyone present, except for Serena, was incredibly rational and reached an agreement without much further discussion.

　After the meeting ended, Dak completed his tenth "Great Sin" extraction of the month while he was alone.

　This month, Dark also put in a lot of hard work to meet the demand for "Great Sin" draws.

　He ultimately drew "Pride" eight times and "Greed" twice, gaining a total of 52 points of "Pride" and 13 points of "Greed." This brought his "Pride" reserves to 111.5 points and his "Greed" reserves to 25 points.

　After "Pride V" comes "Greed V", so it's definitely time to start stocking up in advance.

　After completing the final extraction of "Great Sin", Dak felt a small stone in his heart gently fall to the ground.

　For the next two weeks, he was finally able to devote himself fully to the subsequent exploration of the temple.