The extreme duality is split; Yin and Yang arise in opposition, the extreme of Yin begets Yang. The ancient and evil Chen sat cross-legged within boundless, solidified chilling energy, his body already transformed into a vague, ethereal phantom. His true form could no longer be discerned.

The limitless, boundless solidified chilling energy continuously poured into his body, flowing into the Great Yin Profound Pearl, the Chaos Bell, and even the Great Yang Profound Pearl.

Within the Great Yin Profound Pearl, solidified chilling energy equivalent to an entire continent had already condensed. The Chaos Bell radiated piercing coldness all around it, faintly sending out vast swathes of snow-crystal fragments. Inside the Great Yang Profound Pearl, the Fire Crows, leading countless Fire Spirit Birds and Spirit Beasts naturally born from the Solar Space, flew chaotically in the sky, swallowing the drops of solidified chilling energy that drifted down, refining them slowly with pure Yang supreme fire. Aided by the solidified chilling energy, these spirit birds and fierce beasts, composed purely of fire-attribute spiritual energy, **gradually condensed and solidified, slowly transforming toward true flesh and blood. Their formerly restless spiritual bodies became like iron chains being constantly compressed by a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press, growing ever more stable and formidable.

In the Great Yin Space, which had only been continuously refining vast amounts of Great Yang Crystal Essence, now, with the aid of the solidified chilling energy, countless rare gemstones, thumb-sized and possessing both Yin and Yang energies along with slight Chaos attributes, began to appear.

These rare gemstones faintly possessed the wondrous attribute of subtly guiding the genesis of life, their inner mysteries immeasurable. Within them, the illusory shadows of flowers, plants, insects, and fish were visible to the naked eye—truly divine and unusual.

This state was already similar to the celestial bodies that had nurtured the Innate Great Sages, possessing the miraculous ability to breed innate life forms. Once these beings acquired sufficient spiritual energy for nourishment and transformation, their innate divine abilities and attributes would be a hundred times more potent than those purely fire-attributed spirit birds and beasts.

Similar gemstones with comparable attributes were also condensing within the Chaos Bell and the Great Yin Profound Pearl. Within Gu Xiechen’s body, a fire lotus forged from his destined True Fire, working in conjunction with boundless Yellow-Black Qi, continuously incinerated and refined a large heap of gemstones, extracted from the Great Yin Profound Pearl, Great Yang Profound Pearl, and Chaos Bell, which contained both Yin and Yang attributes, while continuously injecting massive amounts of solidified chilling energy into them.

These gemstones had melted into a viscous liquid, gradually congealing into the shape of a staff. Countless Great Yin, Great Yang divine script characters, and the Chaos divine script from the Chaos Bell floated into it, stirring up myriad dazzling rays of light. A fearful yet obscure and incomprehensible aura gradually emanated from the staff.

Gu Xiechen’s hands moved as if in a clasp, continuously circling the staff’s head while slowly waving, summoning countless currents of Chaos Qi to flow into it. The vast majority of his vital essence, spirit, and consciousness were poured into the staff, meticulously grasping the thread of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth that was naturally forming within it.

He released only a small fraction of his divine sense. Gently spreading it across the entire Icy Hell, he surveyed every movement within the icy prison like a high and mighty deity. Naturally, led by the six Red-Tooth Brothers, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden, who was flying swiftly toward Iron Ridge Mountain, could not escape his divine scrutiny.

The Innate Divine Sense, like a light breeze, merged into the boundless gale of the Icy Hell, formless and traceless, leaving no mark. Ordinary Immortals could never perceive the existence of Gu Xiechen’s divine sense.

Ancestor Black Stone originated from the Primordial Chaos; he could have detected the presence of Gu Xiechen’s divine sense. However, in recent years, he had integrated too much of the Void Flames Gu Xiechen had given him. It was like adding ink to clear water; dropping in one more drop of ink would still render things indistinct.

Consequently, Ancestor Black Stone remained completely unaware of Gu Xiechen's presence.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden was born from the Sea of Milk; she too was an elemental spirit generated by Heaven and Earth, the spiritual essence refined from the wonders of creation. However, the twenty-four Mixed Yang Pearls encircled her, emitting boundless light and heat that shielded her body. Under this radiance and heat, Gu Xiechen’s sliver of divine sense became like a single drop of water in a vast ocean; no matter how profound her attainment in creation, she could not detect his presence.

Under Gu Xiechen’s surveillance, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden proceeded, smiling sweetly as she guided the Red-Tooth Brothers and a few others, instructing them on cultivation subtleties and pointing out profound insights of the Great Dao. They followed her to Iron Ridge Mountain.

The Red-Tooth Brothers were merely minor demons native to the Icy Hell. In the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s view, they were truly simple-minded bumpkins who understood nothing. Led astray by a few pleasant words from her, they eagerly revealed the secret of Iron Ridge Mountain: Dao Lord Potian, the Grand Consecrated Elder of the Heavenly Wolf Palace, had discovered a primordial Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land beneath Iron Ridge Mountain, containing countless profound mysteries.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden happily led the Red-Tooth Brothers to Iron Ridge Mountain, entirely focused on whether she could gain further benefits from it.

Iron Ridge Mountain remained unchanged from when Gu Xiechen had last seen it—its dusky peaks showed no abnormality. Squads of hardened demon immortals and devils roared and drilled everywhere, creating an atmosphere thick with battle clouds and surging killing intent. Judging by this scene, the number of demon immortals and devils directly under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Wolf Palace surrounding Iron Ridge Mountain numbered at least tens of millions, making their current display a hundred times grander than before!

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden did not alert these minor demons. With a wave of her hand, she scattered a spiritual light, taking the six Red-Tooth Brothers deep into the heart of Iron Ridge Mountain, directly into the cultivation secret abode that Gu Xiechen had established—the so-called primordial Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land mentioned by the Red-Tooth Brothers.

In the void, the sun and moon were distinct, and immense stellar energy poured down continuously. On the ground, spiritual energy condensed into a mist, surging everywhere. All manner of strange herbs and spiritual medicines lay scattered about, and every stalk and branch was incredibly lush. Among them were several dozens of supreme-grade spiritual herbs that, judging by their maturity, were at least tens of Yuanhui old. The massive spiritual energy fluctuations emitted by these herbs made the corners of the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s eyes twitch involuntarily.

These supreme-grade spiritual herbs, taken from the Myriad Splendor Nether Fan, possessing ancient origins and long lifespans, truly lent the aspect of a primordial Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land to this abode. Especially among them were several rare treasures seldom seen in the Three Realms, such as the Twin-Hearted Purple-Backed Heaven Fungus—rarities the Auspicious Celestial Maiden had never even encountered in ancient times.

“It truly is a primordial secret abode, so rare and extraordinary!”

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden gracefully circled the void. Her silken sleeves fluttered, appearing as ethereal as a celestial being, and she smiled sweetly, her beauty rivaling that of spring flowers. The Red-Tooth Brothers immediately stared until their eyes glazed over, nearly drooling from their mouths.

Satisfied with the performance of the Red-Tooth Brothers, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden resumed her majestic, solemn expression. She casually shot dozens of streams of spiritual light toward all directions of the cave mansion. The spiritual lights, dotted with stellar gleams, flew far away, followed by ripples passing through the void, and the spiritual lights vanished without a trace.

“Eh?”

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden exclaimed in surprise. This spiritual light was her innate divine ability; few things in the Three Realms could withstand an attack from it.

Even restraints personally laid down by ancient Buddhas, unless they were personally presiding over them, would reveal their true nature under this spiritual light attack. Yet, the restrictions within this Grotto-Heaven were so wondrous that her innate divine ability failed to reveal the true form of the dwelling’s constraints. The surprised Auspicious Celestial Maiden paused, then suddenly burst into triumphant laughter.

Such profound restrictions she had only witnessed in the mansions of ancient Sages and those transcendent Primordial Chaos level experts who were only slightly inferior to Sages. To find restrictions of this caliber in the present dwelling indicated how extraordinary its former master must have been; the exotic treasures he left behind surely were not simple.

With a delicate flick of her hand across a Mixed Yang Pearl, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden pouted her rosy lips and gave the pearl a kiss. She chuckled happily, “It seems Dao Lord Potian didn’t obtain the truly precious treasures of this Grotto-Heaven either, hehe. Let’s see how lucky I am today.”

Smiling, she glanced at the six Red-Tooth Brothers standing nearby, drooling. The Auspicious Celestial Maiden swept them out of the cave mansion with a casual sleeve. Her soft, delicate voice lingered in their ears, telling them to immediately lead all their subordinates away from Iron Ridge Mountain. She was about to deploy a great divine ability to break the formation, and feared the restrictions might be too powerful and accidentally harm the subordinates of the Heavenly Wolf Palace.

Red-Tooth dared not delay. He quickly waved the Demon Summoning Banner and beat the Call-to-Arms Drum, summoning the tens of millions of demons inside and outside Iron Ridge Mountain. They mounted demon clouds and fled en masse into the distance.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden squinted, monitoring the Red-Tooth group until they were far away. Only then did she nod contentedly and suddenly shed all her garments.

A body of exquisite curves, incomparably beautiful, suddenly appeared “in sight.” Gu Xiechen, whose main focus was refining his magic artifact, jolted, nearly spitting blood from his nose. The Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s physique was vastly different from Fu Ya’s. Fu Ya was like a towering pine on a cliffside; even during intimacy with Gu Xiechen, she carried a stern aura.

But the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s body had condensed all the beauty of the Three Thousand Worlds. Every inch of her skin carried a terrifying seductive power capable of shattering the souls of opposite-sex cultivators. If Gu Xiechen had not completely inherited the cultivation and insight of the Great Yin True Monarch, and if his current cultivation level had not reached that stage, even this mere glimpse would have shattered his internal organs, and his Nascent Soul would have been incinerated by demonic flames.

“Great Auspicious Heavenly Ruyi Bright Light Mantra!” The Auspicious Celestial Maiden slowly stretched her body, beginning a graceful dance in mid-air. Her dance movements were soft and enchanting; any dance of heavenly demons or seduction of fiends seemed like worthless tissue paper before her movements. The sun, moon, and stars within the cave mansion shone brightly, and boundless starlight illuminated her exquisite body. Dancing alone, she eclipsed all the light in the Three Realms.

A surge of vexation struck Gu Xiechen. He dared not look further; hurriedly gathering his thoughts, he slowly recited the Diamond Sutra, relying solely on the Buddhist scriptures to suppress his restless mind.

Boundless bright light shot out from the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s hair and pores. The light sprinkled down like continuous spring rain, densely filling the cave mansion spanning thousands of miles with this gentle yet piercing radiance. Everything inside the mansion became semi-transparent; even Iron Ridge Mountain seemed to transform into a projection of light and shadow, trembling slightly as it floated in the air of the Icy Hell.

With a delicate cry, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s jade body trembled a few times. The three lights of the sun, moon, and stars in the vast cave mansion suddenly converged. Dozens of red suns erupted from underground, rushing toward the sky with a tremendous roar. For a moment, the sky was filled with red light, drawing in the radiance emitted by the twenty-four Mixed Yang Pearls around the Auspicious Celestial Maiden, making the vast cave mansion seem as if it were burning.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden spun rapidly. As she spun, she softly chanted an arcane and profound mantra. The void faintly trembled, and the myriad lights shook violently with her rotation. Layers of mirror-like light screens appeared in the void, and as the sky filled with trembling light, they shattered one by one.

When the last light screen dissolved into nothingness, a pagoda, ninety-nine stories high, each layer several miles tall, condensed entirely from brilliant golden flames, upon which were countless visions of rare primordial desolation scenes, silently materialized in the center of the vast cave mansion.

As the pagoda appeared, the hundreds of gates and windows on its eighty-one tiers simultaneously spewed boundless auspicious energy, transforming into vast swarms of red lotus flowers dancing in the sky. Within, countless divine beings and heavenly generals, each holding various weapons, surged toward the Auspicious Celestial Maiden.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden merely smiled. This method of conjuring heavenly soldiers and generals was the specialty of Buddhism. As a paramount figure among the Protector Devas, such restraints could hardly impede her. With a mere flick of her finger, a large swath of bright light scattered, and these red lotuses, divine men, and generals transformed into showers of light rain, sprinkling down.

“Heh heh heh, restraints like these are not…”

Having easily broken the restraints, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden was triumphantly laughing toward the sky when suddenly a fierce gust of wind erupted from behind her head. Three golden-armored generals wielding Fang Tian Hua Halberds roared angrily and fiercely struck toward her heart with their weapons.

Her beautiful smiling face froze abruptly. The Auspicious Celestial Maiden flashed forward several miles; the streaks of light trailing the three halberds nearly grazed her body. The three golden-armored generals snorted coldly, simultaneously retracting their weapons. They thrust their left palms forward fiercely, unleashing three hundred-foot-long lightning bolts that erupted with a massive roar, shooting straight toward the center of the Auspicious Celestial Maiden.

With a cold snort, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden tapped her toes, and three pale golden, transparent heavenly flowers quietly floated up, precisely blocking the path of the lightning bolts. The lightning and the flowers annihilated each other simultaneously. The Auspicious Celestial Maiden glared at the three golden-armored generals, muttering in confusion, “How can they be true beings? Not illusions?”

Shaking her head in bewilderment, a Mixed Yang Pearl shot out rapidly from beside the Auspicious Celestial Maiden and slammed into the three golden-armored generals. Their armor shattered, and their physical bodies were reduced to wisps of green smoke by the pure Yang supreme fire, leaving only the three halberds slowly falling to the ground.

“Eh? They are actually supreme-grade Immortal Artifacts? And inscribed with ancient divine script! Their power is far greater than supreme-grade Immortal Artifacts forged by ordinary Great Overarching Golden Immortals!”

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden was surprised to discover that the three halberds were supreme-grade Immortal Artifacts, and their might far surpassed the supreme-grade Immortal Artifacts currently circulating in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. She happily seized the three halberds, admired them for a moment with a smile, and then casually stored them in the Lesser Thousand World she had created.

With a “Dong” sound, the beating of a war drum suddenly echoed throughout the entire cave mansion.

Under the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s astonished and puzzled gaze, large formations of golden-armored generals marched out in perfect order from the hundreds of portals of the golden pagoda. They evenly stepped onto the clouds and flew up, one group to the left and one to the right, rapidly forming a magnificent array of brilliant light in the void.

The formation resembled a Golden Crow. Once formed, the stellar and lunar lights of the cosmos all transformed into crimson sunlight, spurting down to attach themselves to the golden-armored generals, making them appear peerlessly mighty. The array then transformed into a sun a thousand miles in diameter, illuminating ten thousand miles, with waves of heat surging in all directions, forcing the Auspicious Celestial Maiden to involuntarily retreat a few steps.

In total, there were three hundred and sixty thousand golden-armored generals, who formed the Innate Supreme Yang Grand Array in the shape of a Golden Crow. Its momentum was like ten suns appearing simultaneously, possessing terrifying power capable of destroying everything.

It was only a pity that these three hundred and sixty thousand golden-armored generals were all at the peak Heavenly Immortal cultivation level, meaning they could not exert the full limit of the Innate Supreme Yang Grand Array’s power.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden stared blankly at these golden-armored generals. Her divine sense swept over their bodies; they were indeed flesh and blood, truly living people. But how could living people be used as ambushes within the ancient restrictions guarding a Grotto-Heaven?

Profound and unfathomable, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden felt a degree of apprehension toward these “ancient Grotto-Heaven” traps!

Gu Xiechen, meanwhile, was struggling not to laugh out loud. These restrictions were meticulously set up by him specifically targeting the Auspicious Celestial Maiden. These one hundred and sixty thousand Heavenly Immortals were all Heavenly Immortals cloned by Lilith. They possessed little power in direct combat, but they were certainly enough to startle and baffle an ancient divine sacred being like the Auspicious Celestial Maiden when deployed as restrictions.

Cautiously casting a spiritual light, she circled the array a few times, then frowned and angrily slapped the array with an open palm from mid-air. She roared, “Whatever tricks you have, bring them on! What’s the point of feigning mystery?”

In this palm strike, the Auspicious Celestial Maiden employed the essence of the Buddhist teachings she had cultivated. A gigantic golden palm spanning a thousand miles, carrying surging Buddhist flames, descended silently, possessing the might to overturn the cosmos with a single blow. The vast Supreme Yang Array was knocked to the ground by her palm strike. The three hundred and sixty thousand Heavenly Immortals only managed to issue one simultaneous strike before they were reduced to ash by the Buddhist flames.

However, this array was an Innate Spiritual Array comprehended by Gu Xiechen from the Great Yang Profound Pearl. Although the cultivators forming the array were insufficient in power, the simultaneous life-risking strike from three hundred and sixty thousand people still transformed into a roaring flame dragon, blasting a huge gap in the golden Buddhist palm. The escaping edge of the flame narrowly grazed the cheek of the Auspicious Celestial Maiden.

A few strands of her beautiful hair slowly drifted down and turned to ash in the void.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden stared blankly at her burning hair. Great flames suddenly erupted from her eyes—she was finally truly enraged! She flashed, transforming into a beam of spiritual light, and rapidly fled into the golden pagoda ahead.

Peals of thunder constantly sounded from within the pagoda. From bottom to top, the golden light gradually dimmed.

After a full seven days and seven nights, even the last trace of golden light at the very top of the pagoda shattered. The Auspicious Celestial Maiden flew out of the pagoda with a triumphant smile, throwing her head back and laughing proudly, “The relic of the True Monarch of the Sun, hehe, it turns out to be the private residence of the True Monarch of the Sun, who took form from the first wisp of Innate Solar Qi. My karmic destiny is truly enviable!”

Gu Xiechen also smiled, nodding repeatedly. “Your karmic destiny is indeed enviable, heh, hehe!”

Amidst Gu Xiechen’s strange laughter, the eighty-one-tiered golden pagoda instantly shattered. A delicate pagoda, twenty-four tiers high, slowly floated up amidst a sky full of flames. The twenty-four Mixed Yang Pearls soared into the sky, fitting perfectly into the pagoda, one pearl burning fiercely within each tier, illuminating the surroundings with boundless radiance.

Nearly a hundred divine weapons forged from Great Yang Crystal Essence hovered around the pagoda. Each weapon carried boundless flaming divine light, within which countless solar divine runes could faintly be seen flashing. Their power was terrifyingly immense.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden danced with joy, her eyes squinted into slits from laughing.

Ever since being subdued by Buddhism, the weapons of the Protector Devas had been replaced with Buddhist divine weapons. While their power was immense, their killing potential was always somewhat unsatisfactory.

More Protector Devas, such as Kamandalu, could only use weapons formed from their own mental power. Even for someone of the Auspicious Celestial Maiden’s status, her personal weapons were Buddhist artifacts forged from her own mental power. Though powerful, they seemed somewhat inferior when facing artifacts naturally formed by Heaven and Earth.

Now, with this Innate Prime Qi Supreme Yang Pagoda and the twenty-four Mixed Yang Pearls, her personal artifacts subtly surpassed those of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. If she were to integrate these nearly one hundred solar divine weapons with the divine weapons forged from her mental power and re-refine them, their power would increase by at least tenfold, placing her strength among the absolute top tier of the Protector Devas.

“Heh heh, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva! This is my fortune; it is not for you to envy!”

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden laughed so hard she bent over, eagerly manifesting a celestial maiden Dharma Aspect with three heads and eighteen arms. She beckoned, seizing eighteen solar divine weapons, and slowly began to merge her mentally condensed Buddhist artifacts with these solar divine weapons.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept through the void, and a mass of billowing black fog emerged. Ancestor Black Stone’s hoarse and unpleasant shriek echoed through the void.

“Celestial Maiden, have you forgotten my share, old ancestor?”

Accompanied by eerie cackles, Ancestor Black Stone imperiously shouted, “I don’t ask for anything else; this pagoda belongs to this old ancestor!”

A stream of black energy swept out, transforming into a large hand that fiercely grasped toward the golden pagoda.

Ancestor Black Stone was exceptionally discerning; he instantly recognized that this pagoda and the twenty-four Mixed Yang Pearls were condensed from the purest primordial solar energy, possessing infinite heat and the wondrous power to create countless living beings. For Ancestor Black Stone, who was trapped in his true body and urgently needed various spiritual flames to smelt it and reforge his human form, this pagoda was of immense significance.

With this pagoda, the speed of smelting his true body could increase by at least thirty percent. How could this not stir Ancestor Black Stone’s heart?

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden assumed an air of disregarding oaths, intending to keep everything for herself. In his haste, Ancestor Black Stone disregarded everything else. He hurriedly separated his primordial spirit incarnation from his true body, leaving the slowly smelting main body behind, rushing here to settle the score with the Auspicious Celestial Maiden.

The Auspicious Celestial Maiden felt a surge of indignation. A long bow, shining with dazzling golden light, suddenly appeared in her hand. A beam of red light shot out with a piercing roar, striking the great hand manifested by Ancestor Black Stone’s primordial spirit, shattering the hand into powder with one arrow.

Summoning the pagoda to his side with a wave, the Old Ancestor hastily spat out a mouthful of his vital essence blood onto the artifact. The Heavenly Maiden Jixiang cried out in fury, "Old Ancestor, you are too greedy! This Tower of Supreme Yang belongs to me. However, regarding these Solar Divine Weapons, if the Old Ancestor requires them, I can permit you to take fifteen or sixteen. I am not an overly stingy person!"

Nearly one hundred Solar Divine Weapons, yet Black Stone Old Ancestor was only allowed to take fifteen or sixteen away. Black Stone Old Ancestor was so enraged he leaped and roared, spitting out every unpleasant curse he could muster.

Heavenly Maiden Jixiang was not to be outdone, responding with venomous words and an exchange of foul curses with Black Stone Old Ancestor. Then, her eighteen arms moved swiftly, showering the space with boundless spiritual light. Countless layers of restrictive formations were laid throughout the cave dwelling.

Black Stone Old Ancestor's wrath intensified further. He roared toward the heavens, "Very well! Today, we settle this with a decisive battle—one life or death outcome!"

With a muffled roar like distant thunder, Black Stone Old Ancestor manifested a colossal incarnation: a towering black monolith, a thousand zhang high. Countless black lightning bolts shrieked as they lashed out toward the Heavenly Maiden Jixiang.

The surrounding void was sealed off by streaks of black, flowing light. Space and time turned sluggish, like quicksand, utterly shackled and immovable.

Jixiang gritted her teeth, a cold sneer on her face as she unleashed every strange and powerful technique. She engaged Black Stone Old Ancestor in a fierce melee.