The words Lu Yuan uttered while seated atop the massive gate of the Xuanming Ice Palace were far from simple. The Xuanming Immortal Sect—what kind of sect was that?

It was a sect that once held sway in the capital of the Great Yong Kingdom. Though it had fallen into decline, it remained, nonetheless, one of the ten mid-tier immortal sects.

The State of Jin boasted a population reaching ten billion, yet from such a massive populace, only five upper-tier immortal sects and ten mid-tier immortal sects had ever emerged. This stark reality underscored the formidable power of a single mid-tier sect. To hear that such a sect had been utterly annihilated—this news struck everyone like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, leaving them utterly unable to process it.

No, wait!

There was also Xuan Huazi. Xuan Huazi possessed the strength of the Grand Dao Realm. Even though the Xuanming Ice Palace now belonged to Lu Yuan, a cultivator of his Grand Dao strength was more than qualified to re-establish the Xuanming Immortal Sect. How could the sect simply be erased from existence?

Responding to the murmurs of doubt, Lu Yuan tilted his head back and took a long drink. “Xuan Huazi,” he stated, his voice cutting through the air, “died at my hands not long ago.” A devastating revelation!

This was news that could not possibly cause a greater shock; it was utterly seismic.

No one had ever conceived that the two figures of the Grand Dao Realm, Xuan Huazi and Ming Daozi, would both have perished beneath Lu Yuan’s blade.

If that were the case, did it not mean the Xuanming Immortal Sect was officially struck from the rolls?

Lu Yuan sat perched on the massive ice gate, letting the chilling sea breeze whip against his cheeks. A wave of melancholy washed over him. Indeed. The Xuanming Immortal Sect, one of the ten great mid-tier immortal sects, a lineage boasting seven thousand years of history, erased in a single stroke by his hand. How could one not feel the weight of history?

For a moment, Lu Yuan couldn't quite place his own emotions, unsure of the exact nature of his profound sentiment.

History!

Time!

And countless other things, all sweeping past in a torrent.

Forget it. Time to sift through the spoils of war. As a mid-tier immortal sect, its treasury must be incredibly rich. Lu Yuan needed to see just how vast the plunder was.

He would combine the spoils from Ming Daozi and the Xuanming Immortal Sect. Ming Daozi himself had been successfully refined into a puppet. Lu Yuan desperately needed a Grand Dao level puppet capable of wielding the power of that realm; without one, he admitted his own true strength was no match for a Grand Dao master. With two Grand Dao puppets—Xuan Huazi and Ming Daozi—in hand, any single strike he delivered would pack significantly more arcane force than before. However, he could not sustain prolonged combat. His current physical body remained merely at the tenth level of the Longevity Realm, and overusing the power of the Grand Dao might lead only to his physical form collapsing first.

As for the other spoils, they were too numerous to count accurately.

One Transcendent Beast-grade spirit beast. One hundred and thirty-five Giant Beast-grade spirit beasts. This count was primarily because the Transcendent Beast-grade creatures were all possessed by the two Sect Masters, Xuan Huazi and Ming Daozi. The Giant Beast-grade ones were found in the vault, totaling one hundred and thirty-five—a number so large it made one's eyes widen.

Mid-grade spirit stones: one hundred and eighty in total. This was significantly more than what Xuan Huazi had on his person, but this represented the treasury of an entire sect, so such a figure was normal.

The Eternal Flame: enough to fill an entire room.

The Pure Celestial Water: enough to fill two rooms. These two treasures, exquisitely precious in the cultivation world, lay here as if they were common dirt.

These were Immortal Spirit Stones! Two of them! Rumored to contain immense spiritual energy, they were absolutely essential for forging a Spirit Sword toward the level of an Immortal Sword. However, crafting an Immortal Sword was vastly more arduous than an ordinary Spirit Sword, and very few were ever qualified to wield one.

Insight Stones! Stones capable of granting a ten percent chance of comprehending the intent of the Sword. There were six of these, clearly intended as rewards for meritorious subordinates.

Thousand-Year Condensed Ice, entirely cyan in hue. This material was immensely beneficial to those cultivating ice-attribute powers. On the outside world, it could command an extremely high price.

Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. Recovered from the seabed, this material possessed unparalleled tenacity. There were at least ten thousand jin of it.

This was the Extreme of Yin, perfectly complementary to the Extreme of Profound. This was clearly intended for a cultivation manual. Lu Yuan pocketed the manual, The Extreme of Yin, planning to practice it later.

The Spirit-Communicating Flower! Lu Yuan stared at the bloom in his hand, genuinely surprised. It was a Spirit-Communicating Flower. What was it, you ask? It was a substance nurtured by the world's utmost Yin energy, and its primary function was facial preservation. Cultivators in times of peace and prosperity had a habit of spending lavishly on luxuries. This flower, with its youth-restoring prowess, was the only known remedy in the State of Jin for that purpose. On the surface, it held no direct use for Lu Yuan, but in the cultivation world, it sold for astronomical prices. This high value was naturally due to its rarity, yet bafflingly, the Xuanming Immortal Sect possessed twenty-five stalks. Did the Southern Sea also yield Spirit-Communicating Flowers?

This was the Xuanming Formation Diagram. If he were to establish his own immortal sect, this diagram, once repaired sufficiently, could summon the Ice Flood Dragon once more—an unparalleled treasure for guarding a sect's gates, holding immense strategic value. Lu Yuan traced the tens of thousands of forbidden arrays etched onto the diagram, which subtly coalesced into the shadow of a coiling dragon, thinking to himself.

Beyond these, the Xuanming Immortal Sect’s treasury held countless other varieties of resources. There were simply too many to list the relatively less significant ones individually.

In truth, under normal circumstances, the Xuanming Immortal Sect’s resources should have been far greater. But this sect had been in decline for many years. Under Xuan Mingzi, there was a brief glimmer of revival, but he became too arrogant and was killed by Yan Cangtian, plunging the sect into deeper ruin. Then, Xuan Biweng and Ming Zhangke battled each other for centuries, during which the sect continued its descent.

Once Xuan Biweng and Ming Zhangke were gone, the rivalry between Xuan Huazi and Ming Daozi began—which was even more ludicrous. Various resources were constantly drained away. While they fought, their income dwindled. Otherwise, the treasury of the mighty Xuanming Immortal Sect would not be so meager; it utterly failed to match the stature of a mid-tier immortal sect, which should possess far richer reserves.

Lu Yuan finished his collection, exiting the Xuanming treasury and moving toward other areas. The treasury sat precisely in the center, and the Ice Palace was split in two: one half belonging to the Xuan faction, the other to the Ming faction, with drastically different decorative styles.

The Xuan side emphasized snow as its motif. Though icy cold, it possessed a certain softness in texture, evident in both the palaces and decorative elements like weeping willows. The Ming side, conversely, was dominated by ice itself—a cold, stark palette that radiated no warmth whatsoever, remaining utterly frigid from top to bottom.

In the very heart of the Ming faction’s area stood a structure resembling a slender tower—the legendary Bronze Sparrow Terrace. Upon entering the Xuanming Ice Palace, Lu Yuan had already transmitted the method for releasing the Terrace to Wu Zhao. Wu Zhao, accompanied by his wife Yun Meng, knelt before Lu Yuan. His wife, Yun Meng, possessed a delicate beauty: a small, exquisite melon-seed face, appearing fragile and reliant, inspiring an immediate urge to protect.

“Thank you, Benefactor, for saving our lives,” Wu Zhao and Yun Meng spoke in unison. “From this day forward, if Benefactor has any command, we shall not shrink from death.”

Lu Yuan smiled and waved a hand dismissively. “It was merely a casual matter; do not dwell on it.” Within the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, besides Yun Meng, were numerous other young and beautiful women. Counting them would easily reach several dozen, each possessing her own unique allure and charm—some pitiable and fragile, others curvaceous, some seductively enchanting, and others maintaining an air of untouchable, pure aloofness.

Ming Daozi truly was an ultimate connoisseur of married women. His Bronze Sparrow Terrace housed such an abundance of beauties; this Ming Daozi knew how to enjoy life.

Lu Yuan allowed himself a moment of reflection. After everyone else had departed the Xuanming Ice Palace, Lu Yuan returned to the main gate.

Flanking the massive doors were ice sculptures of two Ancient Ice Beasts.

Here lay the seven thousand years of glory of the Xuanming Immortal Sect.

Standing there, Lu Yuan sighed deeply, then brought his palm down in a strike.

This single palm blow harnessed the combined power of his two Grand Dao Realm puppets, blasting down with the might of Grand Dao spiritual energy. With a deafening crackle—kā—kā—PĒNG!—the final, shattering sound echoed as the massive gate of the Xuanming Ice Palace was utterly ruined.

A mid-tier immortal sect, extinguished by his own hands. A complex feeling of melancholy settled over him.

Life, time, and all the inevitable sorrows.

Lu Yuan settled upon a remote islet. Two days had passed since he left the Xuanming Ice Palace. He had secured the Formation Diagram of the Great Xuanming Array, and he had personally destroyed the Ice Palace’s main gate. All the formidable figures were dead by his hand. The remaining members of the Xuanming Immortal Sect were now preoccupied with plans for escape, for they had accumulated far too many enemies over the years.

The Xuanming Immortal Sect was officially defunct.

Lu Yuan sat on this remote islet, intending to begin practicing the Extreme of Yin.

The requirement for the Extreme of Yin was the Water-Element Spiritual Bone, as mentioned by Xuan Huazi. Because Lu Yuan had successfully cultivated the Water Emperor Sword Dao, practicing the Extreme of Yin would be effortless for him, unlike the Extreme of Profound, which Xuan Huazi and Ming Daozi could never master. He opened the Extreme of Yin manual. The opening lines read: “Xuanming’s deep shadow, dormant insects concealed.” These eight characters had appeared in the Extreme of Profound as well, yet their context here seemed subtly different, hinting at an underlying mystery.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but behind him, a tremendously long ice serpent began to materialize. It writhed with extreme agility, and scales were already beginning to form, overlapping one after another. This was the initial manifestation following the successful mastery of the Xuanming Serpent Transformation Art—the Xuanming Serpent Transformation phase.

If he reached the Half-Step Grandmaster Realm, this ice serpent would transform into an Ice Flood Dragon.

If he reached the Grandmaster Realm, it would become an Ice Dragon.

Furthermore, above his head, a sword light, as black as the Stygian waters of the Nine Hells, danced. The Black Emperor Sword Dao, part of the Five Emperors Sword Dao, was now complete!