A blast of searing heat struck the elder’s face; the ghostly white shadow erupting from his brow was instantly devoured by Peng Hua’s maw.

The elder started, struck by a sudden terror: the magical fluctuations emanating from Peng Hua, whose aura was completely unleashed, were no lower than his own. Because Peng Hua’s power was far greater than his own, he knew Peng Hua was stronger, but he couldn't gauge just how much stronger.

Bai Changsheng also sensed something gravely wrong. That ghostly white shadow was the ‘Yin Sha,’ a secret immortal art of the Xuanlang Palace from Mount Lan Yu, refined by an immortal fusing their own divine soul essence with the purest Yin energy. It was designed to ruin the physical body and destroy the foundation of one's immortal soul.

Peng Hua swallowed the Yin Sha in one gulp. His power was evidently thousands of times greater than the four figures backing the elder.

With a cry of alarm, Bai Changsheng urgently called out, “A misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding!”

A flash of white light sliced in from the side. Siren, wreathed in rising black flames and wearing a sinister grin, pierced Bai Changsheng’s brow with a single sword strike. The Flame of Dark Annihilation slowly scorched Bai Changsheng’s body, turning him and his immortal soul to ash, inch by inch. This agonizing process lasted for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, during which Bai Changsheng trembled and emitted screams that stretched just as long.

The hundreds of immortals behind Bai Changsheng were paralyzed with fear, as was the elder whose soul-bound Yin Sha had been consumed by Peng Hua.

A long silence followed, until Bai Changsheng’s body had completely turned to dust before their eyes. Only then did a delicate handmaiden stiffly point a finger at Gu Xiechen, trembling as she stammered, “You—you dare to kill the Young Palace Master of our Xuanlang Palace!”

Gu Xiechen sifted through the memories from the Great Sage of Inspiration, frowning as he shook his head. “Is Xuanlang Palace famous? It must be a minor power if even the Great Sage of Inspiration doesn’t know of it. A mere Young Palace Master—if he’s killed, so be it!”

He rubbed his hands together, and a sheet of deep blue, shimmering water light sprayed from his palms, instantly transforming into hundreds of bolts of Yin Lightning that slammed down upon the immortals. Not a single one escaped Gu Xiechen’s casual strike, including the four Taiyi Golden Immortals.

With a deep rumble of thunder, the hundreds of immortals were instantly pulverized into fine dust.

The Heavenly Dao is boundless. The higher one ascends through the thirty-three heavens, the greater the disparity in power becomes. At Gu Xiechen’s current cultivation level, those beneath the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal were no more than ants, their survival resting upon the wave of his hand.

This was merely the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal. Above lay the realm of Daluo Golden Immortal, and beyond that, the Grandmist Realm.

If one could break free of the Grandmist, advance to become a Saint sheltered by the Heavenly Dao, or even transcend sainthood to take that final step glimpsed by the True Monarch of the Great Yin—a step that spanned immeasurable eons but ultimately ended in failure—what would that feeling be like? The life and death of billions of beings across the Three Realms, the Nine Heavens, and the Ten Earths would hinge on a single thought! At that level, at that peak, one could not tolerate any existence potentially standing as high as oneself, could one?

Suddenly, Gu Xiechen understood the mindset of the ancient Sacred Ones. Their war against the Sacred Ones of the new universe was not just about advancing further; more significantly, they could not bear the existence of anyone standing as high as they did.

This was the pride of the powerful within the Three Realms. Perhaps only by truly integrating this pride could Gu Xiechen hope to grow into such a being.

Gu Xiechen suddenly grasped why figures like the Venerable Tian Luo, at the peak of Daluo Golden Immortal, never broke through that final barrier. Aside from innate foundation, cultivation methods, and fortuitous encounters, the greater reason was their lack of the right mindset for further ascent!

A subtle divine light rotated within Gu Xiechen’s eyes, yet his mental state underwent a minute shift. A haze of imposing aura began to spread from within him, vast and profound, ancient and majestic. The observers vaguely felt that Gu Xiechen before them was no longer a living person, but an ancient, magnificent tripod carved from colossal stones of Xuan and Huang.

A tripod that reached the heavens, standing between Heaven and Earth, capable of suppressing all creation.

The three Kongsang brothers showed a flicker of delight. This aura was strikingly similar to that of the Haotian God whom they had once served.

Only with such an aura was it possible to become the Master of the Three Realms. Possessing this aura signified that the Indestructible Body of Xuan and Huang had transcended the stage of body forging and entered the realm of heart tempering. Without a supreme and steadfast heart, how could one possibly become a supreme being?

Abruptly, a strange whistle echoed from the ashes that were once Bai Changsheng. A beam of white light shot toward the southeast and fled instantly. Everyone present was held captive by the strange might emanating from Gu Xiechen and failed to intercept the light.

Gu Xiechen frowned slightly, remarking calmly, “It’s nothing, just a common pre-emptive warning formation. Heh, so what if the Xuanlang Palace learns we killed Bai Changsheng?”

Peng Hua licked his lips and patted his satisfied belly. “Bai Changsheng—a poor name. Living a white life, doesn't that just mean you die in the end? Alas, what kind of garbage was this old fellow cultivating? Swallowing it whole was a great boost to my vital energy!”

Devouring the elder’s painstakingly refined Yin Sha had slightly enhanced Peng Hua’s divine sense, a feat he was rather proud of as it saved him significant cultivation effort. Siren, slightly envious, clung to him, begging him to let her have such an opportunity next time.

Gu Xiechen, however, had already leaped down into the crater. He scanned the surroundings, then cast a beam of spiritual light into the violently churning lava below. As the spell was cast, the crimson lava instantly calmed, becoming as clear as ice in the blink of an eye, spreading out like a massive red mirror at the bottom of the volcano. Specks of white light rose from beneath the mirror, and soon, a towering, bone-white archway, emitting oppressive cold, emerged from the magma. The archway stood about a hundred zhang tall, with simple, ancient lines—even appearing somewhat crude at first glance. Yet, the chilling aura it radiated was not to be trifled with. Peng Hua, Siren, and Aredia, all bearing the innate holy blood of the Sun God, possessed attributes leaning toward fire; a distant gust of cold from the archway nearly froze them stiff.

Even Yang Jian and Monkey, despite having various divine abilities for protection, found their lips turning pale and their teeth chattering uncontrollably. The three Kongsang brothers stared at the archway in horror, stammering out in shock, “What an incredibly powerful Grand Yin Secret Curse!”

Gu Xiechen nodded. He formed a mudra and began striking the archway with successive Grand Yin talismans while explaining, “It is indeed the Grand Yin Secret Curse. This archway was once used by the True Monarch of the Great Yin to test the strength of contributing immortals. Without Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation, no one could enter the Profound Ice Path. Were it not for being an innate magical artifact, ordinary spiritual treasures would shatter upon contact with the cold aura released by this archway.”

Several streams of light landed on the archway. Vast swathes of Grand Yin divine script flashed and vanished within it. The oppressive cold aura from the archway gradually dissipated, and the sound of chimes and drums echoed from within. A procession of nearly a hundred male and female Daoist acolytes, clad in robes woven from ice silkworm silk, carrying ritual implements like golden bells and jade cymbals, emerged. Their steps were ethereal as they formed a wild goose formation, parting to the left and right.

“Not living beings?” Monkey swept his Fiery Eyes over the acolytes and asked in surprise.

Gu Xiechen shook his head. These boys and girls were far more than just non-living; they weren’t even considered spirits. The True Monarch of the Great Yin was reclusive and despised noise; how could he place a group of living creatures where they would be an eyesore in his Ice God Palace? These small acolytes were puppets crafted from the essence of profound ice, their actions and speech entirely driven by the restrictions of the Profound Ice Path.

However, despite being mere puppets, each possessed the strength equivalent to an early-stage Daluo Golden Immortal. After all, they were ceremonial guards personally crafted by the True Monarch of the Great Yin; it would be impossible for their strength to be weak.

Unfortunately, these puppets could only move within the boundaries of the archway and the Profound Ice Path. Once they left the restriction field of the Profound Ice Path, they would instantly dissolve into icy water. Nearly a hundred puppets at the early Daluo Golden Immortal level—if this force could be freely taken out to roam the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, it would certainly terrify many.

Five-colored streams of energy surged up from above Gu Xiechen’s head, and the Grand Yin Profound Pearl rose slowly, emitting ten thousand feet of brilliant white light.

Nearly a hundred puppets simultaneously knelt down, performing a full prostration toward Gu Xiechen, shouting in unison, “We welcome the Master back to the Palace!”

Gu Xiechen drew Fuya Ming close and pointed at her. “She is your Mistress.”

The puppets simultaneously raised their heads. A strange white light flashed in their eyes, and Fuya Ming felt an icy chill instantly penetrate her entire body. Her appearance, magical fluctuations, and even the aura of her soul’s origin were instantly recorded by these puppets. From that moment on, she possessed the right of free entry and exit.

He then gestured toward Peng Hua and the others. Gu Xiechen said lightly, “These are my friends!”

The puppets’ eyes flashed white again, logging the characteristics of Peng Hua and the rest.

A beam of white light shot from the center of the archway. A large, several-zhang-long, sluggishly twisting cold carp opened its mouth lazily toward Gu Xiechen and nodded. Snowflakes shot from its deep blue eyes, condensing into several bolts of Grand Yin divine light that attached themselves to Peng Hua and the others.

Yang Jian and the others stared at the cold carp with mounting astonishment. This carp had grown a full set of sharp teeth, a pair of golden dragon horns on its head, and four pale silver, five-clawed dragon claws beneath its belly. Its scales were clearly true dragon scales that could open and close freely. It looked entirely qualified to shed its fish form and become a celestial dragon, yet they couldn't understand why it was guarding the gate here.

Seeing their puzzled looks, Gu Xiechen shook his head and pointed at the carp. “Pay it no mind. This fellow was born at the dawn of the Grandmist, making it older than these Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. But it is inherently lazy. For all these years, all its cultivation has come from sleeping.”

The cold carp squinted at Gu Xiechen, let out a huge yawn, and then lazily shrank back into the archway, its form becoming utterly indistinct.

Shaking his head, Gu Xiechen sighed deeply. “This fellow should have reincarnated as a tortoise; how did it end up as a carp? In any case, it’s the first carp born after Pangu separated Heaven and Earth, with seniority far exceeding any carp born since then. Hmph.”

Too bored to dwell on the absurdly lazy carp, Gu Xiechen led his group through the archway.

A faint white light emanated from the Profound Ice Archway, and it slowly sank into the flat, mirror-like crimson lava. As the archway vanished, the magma in the volcano began to churn violently again, sending oppressive waves of heat soaring high into the sky. Below the volcano, a deep roar sounded, and a pillar of black smoke burst through the magma seal, shooting straight upward.

At the volcano’s summit, the dust that had been the remains of Bai Changsheng’s accompanying immortals, blown up by the Yin Lightning, suddenly rose without wind, mingling with Bai Changsheng’s own burnt residue. The particles drifted upward, gradually forming a massive translocation array on the ground. Specks of crimson-gold blood seeped out from the ashes, dotting the array like gems. Soon, the array flared with intense light, and great crowds of figures burst forth.

A middle-aged man wearing a dark robe and carrying a jade-sheathed longsword stared blankly at the ashes scattered everywhere, suddenly roaring hoarsely, “Changsheng, my child! Who killed you? Who? Who!”

Furious, he drew his longsword and slashed the air, leveling all the mountains, large and small, within a radius of ten thousand li. The middle-aged man roared fiercely, “I will scour the highest heavens and track to the deepest depths! Whoever harmed my child, I will grind their bones to dust and annihilate their entire clan!”

Gritting his teeth, the middle-aged man snarled, “Bai Changsheng’s accompanying guards failed to protect him; execute their entire families!”

A multitude of immortals continued to pour out of the translocation array. Hearing the man’s command, ninety-nine percent of those present assented in unison. The remaining small fraction turned ashen-faced and suddenly took flight, trying to escape into the distance. But they were not allowed to flee; thousands of curse spells and sword lights slammed into them, instantly shattering their souls.

Gu Xiechen and his group had already descended deep underground, moving through a vertical, pure-white shaft that led straight to a corridor of unbelievable splendor and magnificence. Although Gu Xiechen had described this Profound Ice Path, which stretched for eighteen billion li, Fuya Ming and the others simultaneously gasped in shock upon truly witnessing this forbidden path personally carved by the True Monarch of the Great Yin. Even Yang Jian and the others, who had seen the countless immortal palaces and majestic sights across the Thirty-Three Heavens, were momentarily stunned, their eyes unsure where to focus.

The Jade Court of old was revered and supplied by the Three Realms, but it was, after all, the residence of the Heavenly Emperor; its palaces were designed only for grandeur and majesty.

This place, however, was the dwelling of a transcendent immortal of the Grandmist like the True Monarch of the Great Yin. The number of immortals who paid tribute to him was countless. In his seclusion here over immeasurable eons, one could only imagine the treasures offered. Every rare wonder of heaven and earth, after minimal refinement by the True Monarch, was casually inlaid into the Profound Ice Path.

Rare, magnificent, exquisite, yet simultaneously vast, spectacular, and imposing—words failed to describe this path.

To speak only of the entrance point to this Profound Ice Path, it was a hundred li wide, flanked on the left and right by two towering, ten-zhang-high peaks of emerald green. These two elegant peaks were constructed entirely of nearly transparent green jade. Beneath the jade layer, only about ten zhang thick, the solid jade mountains contained a core of viscous, paste-like jade marrow.

The jade mountains and their marrow were astounding enough; though these jade mountains had stood for countless years, the refinement of the marrow was so potent it could drive observers mad. But what truly caused Yang Jian and Monkey’s eyes to bulge were the dozens of gracefully swaying spiritual objects embedded within the jade marrow of those two mountains.

Immortal Spirit Ganoderma, Violet-Patterned Spirit Peaches, Jade-Spotted Fire Dates, Azure Medicine Golden Lotuses, Supreme True Jade Food—and even three white, spiritual fruits floating in the marrow, shaped like plump infants with hands and feet gesturing playfully. Beside these three white, humanoid fruits stood a flourishing, three-zhang-tall tree bearing seven or eight withered, shriveled fruits the size of a thumb, resembling malnourished infants.

“Scraping the ground three feet deep!” Gu Xiechen sighed contentedly.

“More than three feet!” Yang Jian and Monkey’s eyes were fixed. They stared intently at the tree bearing the infant-shaped fruits, utterly refusing to believe that the True Monarch of the Great Yin could actually acquire such an impossible treasure.

There was only one Ginseng Fruit Tree in the world; this was common knowledge among the Sacred Ones of the Three Realms. What, then, was this tree growing in the jade marrow?

Gu Xiechen frowned, flipping through the memories of the True Monarch of the Great Yin, then suddenly laughed. “So that’s it. He won a bet against that contemporary Sovereign and managed to sever a branch from that tree, spending thirty eons cultivating this ‘bootleg’ Ginseng Fruit Tree.”

Monkey rolled his eyes, rolling them with such effort that his entire sockets turned pure white. He then said coldly, “He just leaves a treasure like this—even a bootleg version—sitting by the door?”

Gu Xiechen shook his head. “Why wouldn’t he? Think about it: if he places such a treasure at the entrance, would the immortals coming to pay tribute dare to enter if the treasures they brought were too shoddy?”

“This!” The group exchanged stunned glances for a moment before erupting into loud laughter.

Though the True Monarch of the Great Yin was somewhat aloof and cold, he possessed this kind of perverse sense of humor!

After admiring the spiritual objects in the two jade peaks, Gu Xiechen happily stroked the surfaces of the two mountains, and the party proceeded further into the path.

In the section of the path just beyond the two jade peaks, the ceiling was densely inlaid with hundreds of thousands of Jiao Pearls, each the size of a human head at minimum. Pity the Jiao Dragons; how many did those immortals slaughter to offer these to the True Monarch?

In the thick profound ice lining both sides of the path were eighteen perfectly arranged, colossal tortoise shells. The original owners of these shells clearly possessed the bloodline of the Black Tortoise divine beast, and the shells continuously emitted immensely potent elemental energies of Water and Earth. On the back of each shell rested a jade platter over a hundred li in diameter, piled high as if with garbage: Five Elements Essence, Spirit Wood Essence, and countless other heavenly materials. Who knew the sheer volume of treasures contained there.

Traveling further in, the inlaid pearls overhead transitioned to Fish Pearls. There were at least several hundred million Jiao Pearls, each the size of a thumb—this too was pitiable. Only the tears shed by Jiao people in utter despair could condense into pearls. To gather these hundreds of millions of purely decorative Jiao Pearls, how many Jiao people must those tribute-bearing immortals have beaten and extorted to force out so many tears?

And in the path walls on either side were the neatly coiled skeletons of thirty-six strange-species Jiao Dragons. Each skeleton exuded a powerful chaotic aura, clearly marking them as primal chaos entities. In this current age, every scale from such a congenital Jiao Dragon would be a heavenly treasure fought over ruthlessly by immortals, yet here they served merely as decorations in the path.

Advancing several dozen li further, the pearls overhead were replaced by the inner cores of the Fei Yi—ancient, powerful vipers endowed with innate divine abilities, now reduced to mere furnishings in the grotto-heaven.

The eighteen-billion-li long path was inlaid with rare treasures on every inch, valued in the trillions at every foot.

The True Monarch of the Great Yin had acted as an unfathomable landlord, carving up spoils in the Grotto of Primal Change many times over. Such a collection was genuinely staggering to the modern observer.

Luxurious, excessively luxurious. To a figure like the True Monarch of the Great Yin, this vast amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures held no practical value; they were perhaps collected merely for the sake of collection, the only thing he desired being the veneration of the immortals paying tribute.

Gu Xiechen guided the group through the eighteen-billion-li Profound Ice Path with practiced ease, encountering no perils. However, everything they witnessed along the way was shocking, causing Peng Hua and Siren to nearly drool onto the floor.

Stopping and starting along the way, pausing to admire and praise, the journey took half a month before the party finally arrived at the main palace of the Ice God Palace.

Gazing upon the Ice God Palace before them, everyone froze once more. 123Chinese.net[]