“Ah—pfft!!!” Ye Junfan’s eyes turned bloodshot for no reason, and violent, chaotic emotions surged through his mind.
He roared inwardly, Is the Heavenly Dao trying to destroy me? Ahhh… why, you damnable Heavenly Dao! No… no, don’t annihilate me… I am the Archaic Sacred Body, destined to save the world—what right do you have to wipe me out!
Ye Junfan’s expression shifted erratically—joy, rage, sorrow, fear—all in rapid succession. Combined with the second surge of internal injuries, his mental state wavered violently, and he nearly stopped breathing from the strain.
…
Amidst endless white snow and the colorless ridges between heaven and earth, Chu Ying’s expression grew solemn.
“As expected of Everfrost Ridge, this temperature is completely unsuitable for cultivators to survive. Even a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator wouldn’t last long in this freezing cold.”
Fortunately, Chu Ying had cultivated the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Technique, significantly strengthening his body and greatly enhancing his resistance.
He had never set foot here before and had to explore step by step. The Frostjade Ginseng, a Profound Grade spiritual herb, generally grew in places of extreme cold and extreme yin within Everfrost Ridge.
“This place is already bitterly cold, but as for extreme yin…” Chu Ying sighed, “You might as well ask me to dig up the Snow Apes’ ancestral tomb!”
Half an hour later, he had ventured deep into Everfrost Ridge.
Soon, he sensed something was off.
Pairs of hidden eyes emerged in the surrounding snow without him realizing it.
Then he understood—these were Snow Apes!
Their white fur blended seamlessly into the snow, making them nearly invisible in the environment.
Previously, Chu Ying had used the Azure Phoenix Divine Art to move quickly, so he hadn’t encountered them—or perhaps he had, but the isolated Snow Apes couldn’t catch up to him.
In an instant, the hairs on his body stood on end.
A Snow Ape suddenly appeared behind him, its massive palm swinging down.
If that hit landed, half of his bones would be shattered at the very least!
In the nick of time, Chu Ying burst forth with his 1st stage Cave Heaven Realm aura. A blue, glass-like Azure Phoenix screeched as it tore through the sky!
He narrowly dodged, then immediately bolted.
“I’m not here to fight, okay? Don’t think you can gang up on me—I’m not falling for it!”
Yet the direction he fled toward was even deeper inside!
The Snow Apes behind him were both shocked and furious. Camouflaged in the snow, they surged forward like a flood to chase him down.
But soon, they lost track of his presence.
At that moment, Chu Ying moved swiftly, cloaked in a mantle of snow. The surroundings grew colder and colder.
He could feel his meridians freezing over, and the flow of True Qi in his Dantian became extremely sluggish.
“Forget being just 1st stage Cave Heaven Realm—even a high-level cultivator of the same realm would need pure luck to find even one Frostjade Ginseng in Everfrost Ridge!”
Suddenly, a chilling aura charged straight into his soul, making him tremble violently.
But when he looked closely, it wasn’t a powerful Snow Ape that appeared—it was a pure white cold pool ahead!
Yet the whiteness was odd—more like lime than snow.
At the same time, his vision locked onto a mysterious herb shaped like ginseng!
Its body was like white jade, crystal clear. It resembled ginseng, but with blossoms blooming upon it. The petals looked like falling snow, emitting a rich and fragrant aroma.
Frostjade Ginseng!
Looking around, massive snow-white ridges loomed like reclining Buddhas.
Chu Ying shivered. Had he actually stumbled into the Snow Apes’ ancestral grave?
“No matter, I’m taking the herbs first!”
His eyes gleamed—for there weren’t just one, but two Frostjade Ginseng plants!
An unexpected harvest!
Clenching his teeth, he dashed forward with the Azure Phoenix Divine Art. In a blink, he appeared before the herbs and reached out to grab them.
At that moment, all the surrounding snow began to stir—and the enormous snowy ridge… stood up!
“Wo ni ma!” Chu Ying’s eyelids twitched wildly. Still, he grit his teeth and plucked both ginsengs.
Just as he turned to escape, a massive white palm descended from above.
“Not good!” Chu Ying roared. In that critical instant, he made a split-second decision and dove headfirst into the pure white cold pool.
The palm strike missed.
Sinking into the bottomless cold pool, Chu Ying curled up involuntarily from the freezing chill, his teeth chattering as he held his breath.
His body kept sinking—it hadn’t yet reached the bottom.
He quickly activated the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Technique. Being a fierce and domineering technique, it was able to dispel some of the cold.
“What is this cold pool? Could this really be the actual tomb?”
[Ding! Detected an extremely high-side-effect treasure. Requesting host to investigate.]
The system’s sudden, icy voice rang out.
Chu Ying froze, “What treasure? Let me see?”
A second later, a light screen appeared before his eyes, showing the bottom of the cold pool.
There were countless massive white bones, clearly the ancestral grave of the Snow Ape tribe.
However, amid the bones, one piece stood out—it was a half-forearm-long spine emitting black mist, skewered into the ground!
All the bones surrounding it seemed corroded, also tinged black.
Chu Ying’s eyes lit up.
Then what was he waiting for? Charge!
After landing at the bottom of the cold pool, Chu Ying realized he was standing on bones.
Wasting no time, he dashed straight toward the black spine—a bone that clearly wasn’t from a human.
Though the Glutton Fiend Demon Bone was corrupted and cursed, mysterious runes could still be seen etched upon it.
The inherited divine art of the Glutton Fiend Clan!
“Refine! I must refine it!”
Strangely, as he got closer to the Glutton Fiend Demon Bone, the chill in the air diminished.
After a brief pause, Chu Ying decided to refine the Glutton Fiend Demon Bone right here.
First, enhance his strength—then fight his way out!
[Cursed and Corroded Glutton Fiend Demon Bone: Contains the inherited divine art of the Glutton Fiend Clan. Ancient curse power corrodes the five internal organs and life essence. Its devouring and annihilating demonic nature severely affects sanity.]
“What wonderful side effects—corroding my life essence? Tsk tsk!” Chu Ying couldn’t suppress his grin.
The Archaic Sacred Body is supposed to be unkillable like a cockroach, right?
Such trivial side effects… to the Archaic Sacred Body, it might just feel like a mild itch?
Refining one Glutton Fiend Demon Bone to slightly increase the difficulty of cultivating the Archaic Sacred Body wasn’t too much, was it?
Fifteen minutes later—
Chu Ying had refined the Glutton Fiend Demon Bone into his second Cave Heaven.
Condensing a Dharma Image was best done when opening or sublimating a Cave Heaven, to harness the power of nature and creation.
Even if not, one could still condense it—just much harder.
The number and grade of Dharma Images determined a cultivator’s combat strength.
But the number of Cave Heavens determined not only battle prowess, but also future potential and ceiling.
“Roar!”
A strange beastly roar echoed from within Chu Ying’s body.
In the vast starry sky, the Glutton Fiend may not have been one of the Ten Ancient Fiends, but it was still a terrifying primordial beast—no weaker than the Fiends.
Within Chu Ying’s second Cave Heaven…
A ferocious beast roared. Though savage in appearance, it exuded awe-inspiring might and made one’s heart tremble in fear.
The Glutton Fiend Dharma Image!
A Dharma Image of transcendent grade!