Compared to the gaudy, almost pillage-worthy splendor of the adjacent Celestial Path, the Ice God Palace was not excessively luxurious—it was starkly simple.

Amidst ice mountains towering ten thousand li high, there lay a flat expanse of ice and snow a thousand li in diameter. Hovering a hundred zhang above the ground was a single chamber, forged from the purest essence of ice and snow. A plaque above the door, bearing the hastily brushed characters “Ice God Palace,” announced this as the residence of the Primordial-level existence, the True Lord of Great Yin.

The single room, perhaps only a few dozen zhang square, contained nothing but a few simple prayer cushions woven from seaweed—its entire furnishing.

Before the Ice God Palace, scattered across the thousand-li plain, rose thousands of ice pillars of varying heights, their diameters ranging from several chi to several zhang. These pillars were perfectly transparent, each encapsulating one, several, or even dozens of artifacts glowing with multicolored light. Every artifact within surpassed the quality of the top-tier Immortal Instruments; some even possessed power comparable to ordinary Innate Treasures.

This was the Ice God Palace, and these ice pillars were the seats where ancient Immortals, having offered vast heavenly materials and earthly treasures and gained the True Lord of Great Yin’s permission, came to listen to his teachings. After gaining enlightenment from the Great Dao preached by the True Lord, these ancient Immortals customarily refined new artifacts more suited to their needs on the spot, leaving behind their previous instruments within these pillars.

This act symbolized the Immortals' respect for the True Lord of Great Yin, and simultaneously marked their rebirth through his teachings—a farewell to their former selves. Among these sealed artifacts were even Innate Supreme Treasures, such as the companion sacred artifacts of the Demon Splitting Dragon, yet their original owners had left them here.

This revealed the profound significance of the True Lord of Great Yin’s sermon, offered once per Yuanhui cycle. Even powerful beings who were themselves Innate Creatures had their realms transcended beyond their original trajectories after receiving guidance from the True Lord, ascending to higher planes of existence.

Gazing upon the thousands of ice pillars, Gu Xiechen nodded slowly. This was the primary purpose of his visit to the Ice God Palace.

All these sealed artifacts—their original owners no longer needed them—were exactly what Gu Xiechen desperately required. With more disciples and followers gathering around him, how could he contend with others without sufficient high-grade artifacts?

Conversely, the flowery and superficially impressive heavenly materials along the Celestial Path held little immediate value for the current Gu Xiechen. Ordinary materials he could refine himself, and he possessed means to massively mine required innate materials in the lower realms; as for materials that were exceptionally rare—like the eighteen tortoise shells and the bodies of the thirty-six divine dragons—though extraordinarily precious, they were beyond his current capability to refine.

Of course, besides the treasures sealed within these ice pillars, there were several other items in the Ice God Palace that he had long coveted.

Instructing Peng Hua and the others to shatter the ice pillars and retrieve all the artifacts inside—allowing them to pick out a few prized items for themselves to refine and use as protection—Gu Xiechen then led Fuya Ming with solemn reverence toward the Ice God Palace itself.

The small Ice God Palace floated silently in the air. Although many, many years had passed since the True Lord of Great Yin last departed, this empty little room remained utterly unchanged. Gu Xiechen looked at this simple structure, condensed from the essence of ice and snow, and understood that this was where the True Lord of Great Yin’s Great Dao resided. That Profound Ice Celestial Path was merely for outside observation; but this Ice God Palace, built painstakingly by hand, piece by piece, using only the essence of ice and snow—without expending any divine arts—was what concentrated all the Great Dao the True Lord had comprehended.

However, the Great Dao contained within the Ice God Palace held no meaning for Gu Xiechen. All the Dao of the True Lord was already imprinted within his mind.

Looking at the faint finger impressions of the True Lord of Great Yin still visible on the outer wall of the Ice God Palace, Gu Xiechen nodded once. With a single palm strike, he shattered the Ice God Palace into dust.

Destroying the Ice God Palace and collecting the Profound Ice Celestial Path, the very last trace of the True Lord of Great Yin in the heavens and earth vanished without a ripple. From this day forward, there was no more True Lord of Great Yin, only Gu Xiechen, who inherited his entire legacy. As the ice dust that was the Ice God Palace gradually merged into the ice plain beneath his feet, Gu Xiechen suddenly felt a heavy burden lift, and his vitality and spirit soared dramatically.

From this day, he began to forget the True Lord of Great Yin, to forget everything the True Lord had left him. All his insights, everything he possessed, had no connection to that unlucky wretch who once coveted his physical body.

When the Ice God Palace completely collapsed, a pure white urn, four chi and nine cun tall, materialized before Gu Xiechen. This urn was hazy, as if condensed from a single wisp of frigid air, fluctuating and ethereal, seeming as if a gust of wind could scatter it. Yet, this wisp of frigid air was exceptionally tough; despite the fierce winds howling around it, it remained utterly unmoved.

Indeed, the reason the Great Yin Profound Pearl Gu Xiechen possessed had lost more than half its power and had not fully recovered even to this day was not only because the True Lord of Great Yin had expended too much fundamental power when suddenly encountering a powerful enemy, but also because forty percent of the Great Yin Profound Pearl’s origin essence had been condensed into this urn and left behind in the Ice God Palace.

The Great Yin Profound Pearl slowly erupted from above his head, immediately followed by the pitch-black Sun Profound Pearl.

The urn, which had been as tranquil as still water, suddenly began to fluctuate, fine wisps of cold air spreading out visibly like mist.

With a flick of his finger, the urn disintegrated. A vast amount of Great Yin essence, accompanied by a sharp, air-tearing sound, surged joyfully into the Great Yin Profound Pearl. A grayish-white cold light sprayed out from within the Pearl. This intense light pierced through the thick, leaden clouds high in the sky. The dense cloud cover, condensed over untold millennia, was shattered by the cold light. Gale-force winds, carrying countless razor-sharp snowflakes, roared down from above, cleaving the ice mountains on the ground into…

The plain where the Ice God Palace stood was protected by the Great Yin Taboo Law; heedless of the howling gales and flying ice shards, it remained unharmed. But the area covered by the cold light erupting from the Great Yin Profound Pearl grew larger and larger. The shattered clouds expanded, and the cold wind, like countless maddened flood dragons, swept down from the heavens. The black, cold wind stirred up countless grayish-white glints of light, sweeping across all directions. Heaven and earth became a chaotic blur; the Eternal Bright Domain was instantly transformed into a desolate land.

Gradually, the storm’s reach expanded, triggering chain reactions throughout the Eternal Bright Domain. After several days, the gale swept across the entire Little North Pole Eternal Bright Domain. The fierce winds lifted massive icebergs, shattering them; the exploded ice mountains released countless sharp ice fragments that swept everywhere, each possessing power comparable to the full might of a high-grade Immortal casting a sword technique.

Numerous Immortals who had ventured to the periphery of the Eternal Bright Domain, relying on their superior immortal arts to gather cold-attribute spirit herbs or survey mineral deposits, met with disaster. Nearly half of them were swept into the storm, their bodies minced beyond recognition by the myriad ice shards. The other half, luckier, managed to flee the Eternal Bright Domain in time, fearfully inquiring about the cause of the celestial anomaly.

The Great Yin Profound Pearl let out a joyous cry, having reclaimed these forty percent of its original source essence. The tens of thousands of massive spirit veins Gu Xiechen had fed into the Great Yin Profound Pearl over the years were instantly digested. Vast, pure Great Yin essence filled the entire Pearl. A faint Primordial spiritual pressure gradually began to radiate outwards. The Great Yin Profound Pearl suddenly gave the impression that it had truly awakened.

The Corpse Emperor, who was cultivating within the Great Yin energy inside the Pearl, suddenly groaned. The pressure surrounding his body surged instantaneously. Even possessing the Luo Yu True Body now, his formidable physique was compressed by the immense pressure to a mere zhang in height.

Struggling to move his arm to wave it off, he discovered with frustration that his arm was nearly crushed. The Corpse Emperor could only sit down cross-legged with a grimace, passively watching the massive influx of Great Yin essence pour into his body.

What world-shattering deed had his precious apprentice accomplished this time? But it seemed to be a good thing!

The Corpse Emperor narrowed his eyes, watching the surface area of the Great Yin Continent ahead expand rapidly.

Suddenly, the Corpse Emperor recalled a strange question: "Why doesn't Xiechen allow Baishui and Hecran to enter the Great Yin Profound Pearl to cultivate as well?"

The two Sect Masters, Baishui and Hecran, possessed the physical bodies of two ancient Great Sages and could utilize the Great Yin energy. If they could cultivate in the Great Yin Profound Pearl, their progress would not be slow. Yet, Gu Xiechen intentionally concealed the existence of the Pearl from them. Why?

The Corpse Emperor rested his chin on his hands, sinking deep into thought.

The Eternal Bright Domain suddenly convulsed, trembling across billions of li. Almost simultaneously, all the ice mountains disintegrated. Vast amounts of supreme Yin cold energy surged forth from beneath the earth, transforming into white dragons that rushed toward the Great Yin Profound Pearl.

Gu Xiechen sensed the information flowing from the Great Yin Profound Pearl, smiling and nodding repeatedly: "You want to recall all the power you released over the years? Then do as you wish! If the Little North Pole Eternal Bright Domain ceases to exist, so be it!"

The Great Yin Profound Pearl let out a joyful shout and plunged straight into the ground, frantically drawing up the subterranean Yin cold earth-vein energy.

Gu Xiechen then turned his gaze toward a leaping black flame ahead—a flame no larger than an infant's fist, yet giving the illusion that it could incinerate everything in existence, completely devoid of any reflection.

A seal, a stone, a mirror, a whisk, a cushion, a bell-chain, and a tray—seven artifacts, all emitting a faint white light, encircled this mass of black flame, but they were already dimmed by the black flame's corrosion, appearing as if they might disintegrate at any moment.

"The Seven Treasures of Great Yin—how did they end up like this?" Gu Xiechen was stunned. These Seven Treasures of Great Yin were the personal possessions of the True Lord of Great Yin back in the day. While the Great Yin Profound Pearl was his natal artifact and rarely shown, these seven were the implements he used daily.

All seven artifacts of Great Yin were tempered within the Great Yin Profound Pearl; they were all Innate Artifacts of extraordinary quality. Yet, they were now burned by this black flame to the verge of becoming a pile of scrap metal. This offered a clear indication of the black flame's origin. "Five-tenths of the origin essence of the Sun Profound Pearl, the natal artifact of the True Lord of the Sun, the eternal nemesis of the True Lord of Great Yin?" Gu Xiechen took a deep breath. "It was worth it. Trading the Seven Treasures of Great Yin for this five-tenths portion of the genuine Sun Profound Pearl essence—it's no loss!"

The True Lord of the Sun was the destined rival of the True Lord of Great Yin. The two fought viciously in the Primordial Chaos even before they took form, each desiring to devour the other to attain both Yin and Yang energies, thereby evolving the Primordial Chaos and earning the qualification to ascend to the Heavenly Dao.

But as they originated from the same source, neither was stronger than the other. They fought for immeasurable eons, without a victor even after Pangu cleaved open the heavens and earth.

After Pangu created the world and the Heavenly Court was established, and the myriad Sages carved out the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, forcing these Primordial Immortal Sages to retreat into the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the two remained sworn enemies, occasionally engaging in great battles that disturbed the living beings.

Just before they left the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths to participate in that great celestial catastrophe, they fought one last time.

This time, the True Lord of Great Yin was fortunate. For some unknown reason, the True Lord of the Sun had suffered a severe depletion of vitality, allowing the True Lord of Great Yin to gain a major advantage. In a head-on clash between the Great Yin Profound Pearl and the Sun Profound Pearl, he managed to forcibly extract five-tenths of the Sun Profound Pearl's origin essence. Overjoyed, the True Lord of Great Yin used the Seven Treasures of Great Yin, along with forty percent of the Great Yin Profound Pearl’s origin essence, to firmly trap this mass of Sun essence.

Now that Gu Xiechen had arrived, this mass of Sun essence was exactly what he had coveted for a long time. It finally met his desires.

The Sun Profound Pearl, which Gu Xiechen had painstakingly refined over several hundred years, rushed forward impatiently, swallowing the black flame in one gulp. With a flash of dark light, the Solar Blazing Flame soared up. The Seven Treasures of Great Yin, already softened by the scorching, let out a mournful cry and were finally annihilated within the black flame. Gu Xiechen felt a pang of heartache, but there was nothing he could do.

Helplessly recalling the Sun Profound Pearl, Gu Xiechen stroked its body and sighed: "You’ve had your fill this time. Quickly digest it; I'll need to rely on you later." The Sun Profound Pearl emitted a human-like cheerful cry, joyfully hopping a few times in Gu Xiechen's palm.

The Eternal Bright Domain vibrated violently. The Great Yin Profound Pearl spent a full day and night drawing up all the subterranean Great Yin earth veins.

Countless ice mountains melted away overnight, and the rolling leaden clouds in the high heavens vanished without a trace. The Great Yin Profound Pearl, finally satiated, contentedly returned to Gu Xiechen's hand.

Peng Hua and the others had long since collected all the artifacts. They had even slain a few ice... Glancing at Peng Hua and the others with a smile, Gu Xiechen pressed and lifted toward the location of the Profound Ice Celestial Path. A massive rift suddenly tore open in the earth. The Profound Ice Celestial Path, eighteen hundred li long, a hundred li wide, and ten li high, roared up into the sky, soaring like a white flood dragon for several circles before rapidly shrinking in volume and falling into Gu Xiechen’s palm.

The massive Profound Ice Celestial Path had now transformed into a rope, eighteen zhang long and as thick as a thumb. The pristine, pure white rope twisted like a living thing in Gu Xiechen's palm. A faint layer of icy mist wavered around it, and the countless Great Yin divine runes within the rope pulsed with a faint white light.

Nodding with satisfaction, Gu Xiechen brought the rope close to the Great Yin Profound Pearl. The myriad heavenly materials and earthly treasures contained within the eighteen-hundred-million-li Profound Ice Celestial Path poured into the Great Yin Profound Pearl, piling up on the Great Yin Continent. With a hand seal of the Great Yin divine art, he pointed at the rope, which emitted a soft chime. Brilliant white light swirled around it for a moment, and the rope transformed into an ordinary white sash.

Casually tying the sash around his waist, Gu Xiechen praised: "Another fine treasure, giving me one more means of contention in battle."

The Profound Ice Celestial Path was personally refined by the True Lord of Great Yin. It contained eighteen hundred puppets, each with a cultivation base at least equivalent to the early stage of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal. When compressed into a rope form, these eighteen hundred puppets became the array nodes of the rope, capable of autonomously absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making the rope increasingly powerful.

The body of the Celestial Path was a spirit vein spanning trillions of li beneath the Eternal Bright Domain. The True Lord of Great Yin extracted its essence and materialized it, forming the taboo core of the Path. As for the main components of the Path, they were forged from countless ice mountains of various sizes. Refining one Primordial ice mountain, ten thousand li in length, width, and height, using the Great Yin Profound Pearl's essence, yielded only a tiny, millet-sized sliver of ice.

Every thirty-six thousand such ice slivers, forged from Primordial ice mountains, constituted a large ice-snow dragon scale. It took untold numbers of these scales to forge this one Profound Ice Celestial Path. It was only because the True Lord of Great Yin was the source of all supreme Yin energy in heaven and earth that he possessed so many ice mountains and so much frigid energy to waste.

This Profound Ice Celestial Path was classified as Acquired, yet its might surpassed that of most Innate Supreme Treasures. If used to whip someone, a single strike would be equivalent to hundreds of millions of Primordial ice mountains crushing down—the gravity alone would shatter bones and tendons.

If used to bind someone, its utility was endless. The energy of Great Yin is the supreme Yin, supremely soft, and coupled with the immense weight of the rope’s core, ordinary beings could never break free. Not to mention that the True Lord of Great Yin spared no expense in laying countless layers of Great Yin restrictions upon it. This artifact was tens of thousands of times more formidable than the God-Sealing Supreme Treasures Gu Xiechen possessed, such as the Dragon-Binding Rope and the Immortal-Binding Cord.

Pleased, Gu Xiechen patted the sash around his waist, about to call Peng Hua and the others to depart, when he spotted a streak of rosy light rapidly approaching from the distance.

His spiritual sense swept over it swiftly, and Gu Xiechen immediately recognized a middle-aged man who bore a ninety percent resemblance to Bai Changsheng.

This middle-aged man was faintly shrouded in purple mist and possessed the cultivation of a mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal. As for the densely packed thousands of subordinates behind him, they were masters across the board—there were a hundred and fifty Taiyi Golden Immortals alone, and two early-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortals.

What formidable strength! The Azure Fields Orchid Islet Mountain, though little-known in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, possessed such might!

The Great Yin Profound Pearl had entirely drained the subterranean spirit veins of the Eternal Bright Domain, transforming what was once a perilous chasm into a clear path. It was no wonder that Bai Changsheng’s father had brought his subordinates here, given the immense commotion caused by Gu Xiechen collecting the Profound Ice Celestial Path.

With a cold laugh, Gu Xiechen casually plucked a few strands of his hair, chewed them into pulp, and spat them out with a burst of golden light. The Ghost Sage, the Scarlet Moon Divine Monarch, the Azure Sun Divine Monarch, the White Water Divine Monarch, Tianyuan Young Master, and several other Grand Luo Golden Immortals known to Gu Xiechen emerged from the golden light. They all appeared composed, chatting and laughing quietly with Gu Xiechen as if they were old friends.

The middle-aged man and his large contingent of subordinates rushed toward this location and suddenly saw Gu Xiechen. His eyes twitched violently.

"You villain! You killed my child! You killed my child! You are finished! You are absolutely finished!"

Gu Xiechen feigned shock, pulling Fuya Ming back a few steps, and hastily shouted towards Peng Hua: "The enemy has found us! The situation is tight—let's scram!"

Peng Hua and the others also "turned pale with shock," jumped up, hurriedly dropped the roasted meat they were holding, and quickly departed.

Gu Xiechen glanced at Peng Hua. In his "haste," two or three artifacts gleaming with strange light tumbled from Peng Hua’s sleeve.

The group hastily transformed into streaks of light and fled, while the figures conjured from Gu Xiechen’s hair flew to meet the middle-aged man.

The Ghost Sage shouted from afar: "Hey, junior! Stop right there! Do you recognize your Second Heart Ghost Sage Lord?"

The Scarlet Moon Divine Monarch and the others also shouted their titles from the Three Divine Palaces.

The middle-aged man and the multitude of Immortals behind him halted their light streaks, clearly stunned by the luxurious lineup before them.

The Scarlet Moon Divine Monarch sneered, glanced at the middle-aged man, and shook his head: "Forget it. A group of juniors; we won't bother with you. The Young Master has gone far; it’s time for us to leave too!"

The Second Heart Ghost Sage also said cheerfully: "Indeed. We don't know where the Young Master got the treasure map, but who would have thought the famous 'Grand Unity Earth Mother's' grotto-heaven was right here! Hahaha, it’s a pity all the artifacts and techniques aren't suited for the Young Master, so they fell into our laps!"

Amidst loud laughter, the Second Heart Ghost Sage and the others suddenly dissolved into wisps of black smoke that shot into the sky, disappearing into the gale in the void in the blink of an eye.

The middle-aged man's expression changed drastically. He lunged toward the few artifacts Peng Hua had "accidentally" dropped—every single one was a masterpiece!

"Grand Unity Earth Mother! How—how is this possible?"

The middle-aged man's eyes flickered for a moment, then he roared sharply: "Ghost Sage! Three Divine Palaces! Quickly relay this news to the Old Master!"

The Immortals of the Little Azure Fields Orchid Islet Mountain responded in unison and hastily transformed into streaks of light, speeding away.