The Man’s Decree

The moment Cloud was about to take action due to the other party's arrogance, Jared intervened and prevented him from doing so.

“What do you mean by offerings?” Jared asked.

“Since you've asked, there's no harm in sharing this information. After all, you all won't be leaving this place.” The man chuckled. “This is not where the treasure of Archaic Body cultivators is hidden. The ancestors of Archaic Body cultivators sealed the spirits of demons here. To create the treasure for Archaic Body cultivators, many demons perished, and numerous soul remnants were bound within this place. To break the seal, we require the blood essence of ice soul beasts. Obtaining the blood essence of these creatures is no easy task. Consequently, our ancestors devised a method to imprison five ice soul beasts within an ice coffin and slowly draw out their spiritual essence using the spiritual senses of human cultivators as bait. This way, the five ice soul beasts will continue to produce blood essence until the seal is undone. You thought they were absorbing the essence of the ice crystal, but they were actually ensnared in an illusion, which allowed their spiritual senses to be gradually consumed. Of course, you are not the first group, nor will you be the last. Our mission will be accomplished once the seal is broken.”
The moment Cloud was about to take action due to the other party's arrogance, Jared intervened and prevented him from doing so.

After listening to that, Jared finally understood the reason why those in the palace above couldn't hear anything during the fight earlier.

It turned out that they had fallen into an illusion. There was no blood in the ice coffin at first. It was only after these individuals absorbed the energy from the ice crystals that blood began to manifest within the ice coffin.

The blood essence of the ice soul beasts had stained the pattern red, creating the illusion that the seal was on the verge of breaking at any moment.

“Did you both open this cave deliberately and then exposed it to everyone?” Jared asked.

“That's right!” The man nodded.

Jared continued asking, “You also set up the traps so we would believe there is a treasure inside?”

The man nodded solemnly. “Everything was our doing. However, had you not been driven by greed, you wouldn't have fallen into our trap. In fact, every year, many individuals venture to the far north in search of treasures, only to become our offerings. This year, there are more people than usual, so even after trapping you here, we still have to venture out to lure others.”

Jared was surprised. “Why would the blood bring out the ice soul beast's soul remnant? If we couldn't kill the ice soul beast's soul remnant, wouldn't the blood essence cease to exist?”

“It was your actions that disrupted the process. The blood essence was meant to seep out of the ice coffin gradually and be absorbed by the seal. However, you forcefully extracted the blood essence, causing the soul remnant to emerge. You possess significant skills. If you come with us, you'll live. Otherwise, your fate will be sealed in this place.”