Third Person’s POV

There was something strangely unreal about him.

Even in such a miserable and frozen condition, his appearance carried an eerie beauty that unconsciously drew one’s gaze toward him.

The green-eyed wood elf woman even revealed a faint expression of pity upon seeing the young man’s current state, as if she felt regret that someone possessing such an appearance had ended up sealed inside a coffin beneath frozen mountains.

But neither of them knew that this crystallized young man was none other than Ethan, the disciple of Nyx, who had been sealed beneath the Twin Fang Mountains by his master nearly a year ago.

Slowly, Erius and the wood elf woman Elis stepped closer toward the coffin in order to examine him from nearby.

Erius had already assumed completely that the young man was dead.

After all, he could not sense even the slightest fluctuation of life from him.

There was no visible breathing in his chest, no warmth that a living being should have, and no heartbeat that he could detect from his position.

He resembled an exquisitely preserved corpse more than a living being.

But it was at that moment that Elis suddenly widened her beautiful green eyes and whispered in shock,

"He is alive!!"

The sudden statement startled Erius badly.

His eyes widened instantly as he looked back toward Ethan with disbelief filling his face.

Instinctively, he attempted to spread his soul sense toward the young man’s body in order to verify her claim personally.

But just before his soul sense could touch Ethan, Ivan’s cold voice suddenly sounded sharply beside him.

"Stop!!"

The atmosphere inside the hall instantly stiffened.

Ivan turned toward Erius with genuine anger burning within his icy blue eyes as he rebuked him in a low but heavy voice,

"Have I not taught you never to recklessly inspect unknown relics, objects, creatures, or individuals whose origins and strength you cannot comprehend with your soul sense?"

His expression grew darker as he continued,

"Have you already forgotten my teachings, or has your arrogance increased so much that you don’t see the need to take anyone seriously now?"

Seeing the seriousness and fury present within his grandfather’s eyes, Erius immediately felt a chill crawl down his spine.

Embarrassment and fear surged within him simultaneously.

He hurriedly lowered his head and apologized respectfully,

"I am sorry, Grandfather. I will never repeat such a mistake again."

Though he was outwardly obedient, inwardly, Erius could not help but curse Arlene bitterly in his heart.

Out of all the treasures hidden beneath the Twin Fang Mountains, she had somehow unearthed such a bizarre and mysterious existence instead of some precious magical herb, powerful ancient artifact, or ancient weapon that he could directly use.

Seeing the fear and sincerity in Erius’s expression gradually calmed Ivan’s anger somewhat.

He turned his attention back toward Ethan once again, his expression growing solemn and thoughtful.

The fact that the young man was alive did not shock him excessively.

However, the strange warning his instincts continuously gave him whenever he looked at Ethan made him extremely vigilant.

At this moment, even Ivan himself was wondering exactly what kind of existence Arlene had unknowingly discovered beneath those frozen mountains.

When he had first seen the chained coffin inside the Ghost Pine Woods, he had initially assumed that some powerful corpse puppet, ancient cold corpse king, or terrifying ancient being rested within it.

In his mind, such a thing could have eventually become an extraordinary trump card for his grandson.

Yet now, the young man before him appeared far too young.

And more importantly, there were no terrifying fluctuations emanating from his body that would immediately reveal him as some heaven-defying existence.

That contradiction alone made Ivan even more cautious.

After thinking silently for several moments, Ivan finally reached into his storage ring once more and withdrew a magical glove treasure covered in tiny silver inscriptions.

He slowly put on the gloves over his hands, but even after doing that, he still did not seem fully satisfied.

A layer of icy blue mana soon spread over the gloves themselves as he further reinforced them with protective mana before finally reaching toward Ethan carefully.

The moment Ivan’s hand touched Ethan’s body, a biting coldness spread instantly through the gloves and even into his hands protected inside the magical glove.

As expected, the young man’s skin was completely ice cold.

However, the next moment, something finally surprised Ivan slightly.

Ethan’s body was unbelievably hard.

It did not feel like the flesh and bones of a human at all.

Instead, it resembled some ancient ice-forged puppet or crystallized magical construct.

Ivan slowly increased the strength in his grip, little by little, attempting to test the durability of Ethan’s body.

Yet no matter how much force he applied, Ethan’s skin and flesh did not tremble, dent, or compress even slightly.

It was as if his entire body had transformed into some unknown crystalline material.

All throughout this process, Ivan continuously observed Ethan’s expression carefully.

Yet the unconscious young man remained completely motionless and expressionless, as if incapable of sensing pain or external stimulation.

Ivan continued conducting various cautious experiments upon Ethan’s body for quite some time.

Yet throughout the entire process, he absolutely refused to extend his soul sense inside Ethan’s body.

The instinctive warning signals within his mind had not weakened even slightly.

And Ivan Froststar trusted his instincts deeply.

After silently contemplating Ethan’s strange state and possible reasons for his unconsciousness for a long while, Ivan finally formed a vague conclusion in his mind.

At the same time, he also thought of an appropriate method to temporarily control the situation.

Without hesitation, he spread his mana across Ethan’s entire body and began planting extremely small mana restriction seals throughout his mana veins.

One after another, tiny invisible seals embedded themselves into Ethan’s body silently.

By the time Ivan finished, he had placed a total of seventy-two separate mana restriction seals throughout Ethan’s mana circulation system.

Only after completing all seventy-two restrictions did Ivan finally seem somewhat satisfied.