At first, the fissure was extremely narrow, allowing passage only sideways for a single person. After several dozen steps, the space abruptly widened.

  Before him lay a vast subterranean ice cavern.

  Countless icicles hung inverted from the dome above—each at least several meters long. The largest resembled entire ice peaks suspended overhead, a sight that made one’s scalp prickle. The ground was covered by an immeasurably thick layer of profound ice, accumulated over untold tens of thousands of years. Beneath the translucent surface, faint blue veins of light flowed slowly, like the blood vessels of the earth itself.

  The cold here was several times heavier than outside.

  Yun Che had no choice but to fully circulate the power within him—the strength infused with void-born light specks—just to barely withstand it.

  “Three hundred zhang to the left, where the ice veins converge,” Li Han instructed.

  “That is where Ice Marrow should have condensed.”

  Yun Che followed the guidance. The ice beneath his feet was as hard as divine steel, yet his steps made almost no sound.

  Halfway through, he suddenly halted.

  Several corpses lay scattered across the ice ahead.

  Judging by their attire, they were disciples of the Frost Condensation Sect—both inner and outer sect members. Their bodies were long frozen stiff, yet the fatal wounds were unmistakable: some had been pierced clean through the chest by ice spikes; others had shattered skulls. One corpse was entirely encased in a strange, deep-blue crystal ice, as though frozen from the inside out.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Time of death… no more than twelve hours.

  “This is Profound Yin Ice Miasma,” Li Han said gravely.

  “The ice veins here have undergone some form of mutation, giving rise to ice-miasma energy. Once it invades a cultivator’s body, spiritual power freezes, the soul becomes sealed in ice—and death comes exactly like this.”

  Yun Che’s gaze flicked toward the storage pouches at the corpses’ waists—most of them intact.

  After a brief silence, he stepped forward and collected them one by one.

  When a cultivator dies, the Dao dissipates. Leaving these resources here would be nothing but waste. Taken now, they might serve a purpose in the future.

  Seven storage pouches in total.

  A cursory scan revealed spirit stones, pills, talismans, and materials. No supreme treasures, but enough to multiply the wealth of a low-level cultivator several times over.

  He pressed on.

  At the three-hundred-zhang mark, the cavern narrowed, forming a naturally enclosed ice chamber. At its center, three thick pale-blue ice pillars rose from the ground. At the point where their tips converged, a fist-sized mass of liquid hovered in midair—crystal-clear like glazed glass.

  The liquid circulated slowly on its own. Within it, flecks of golden light shimmered faintly, radiating a chilling purity that made the heart tremble.

  Ice Marrow.

  Before Yun Che even approached, he felt the circulation of his spiritual power slow by nearly thirty percent.

  “So pure…” Li Han exclaimed.

  “This Ice Marrow is more than sufficient for your Foundation Establishment. However—where Ice Marrow forms, guardians are inevitable.”

  Before the words fully fell—

  The four walls of the ice chamber suddenly flared with eerie blue light!

  Eight ice-blue silhouettes peeled themselves free from the walls. Their shapes were vaguely humanoid, yet clearly inhuman—entirely formed of ice, with ghostly flames flickering in their hollow eye sockets.

  “Ice Puppets,” Li Han said rapidly.

  “They were once cultivators who perished here. Their remnant souls were corroded by ice miasma and transformed. Their strength ranges from Qi Condensation Sixth to Eighth Layer—but here, they can draw power directly from the ice veins. They’re extremely troublesome.”

  The eight Ice Puppets turned their heads simultaneously, all fixing their gaze upon Yun Che.

  In the very next instant—

  The temperature of the chamber plunged violently.

  Ice Marrow has revealed itself—yet eight Ice Puppets stand guard.

  Do you think Yun Che should confront them head-on,

  or attempt to lure and eliminate them one by one?

  And did you notice—

  these Ice Puppets were once Frost Condensation Sect disciples?

  Could it be that the true danger of the Cold Abyss

  was never solely external?