Yun Che steadied his mind. His right hand formed a seal, guiding the ice-blue spiritual mist that had fused the three portions of Teng San’s spiritual roots.

  The mist suddenly churned and expanded!

  The blood-colored sphere shot into the mist first, dissolving rapidly. Immediately after, the flesh sphere and bone sphere followed, merging one after another. The spiritual mist violently compressed and reshaped, eventually condensing into an ice-crystal ring that emitted a gentle white glow, hovering quietly in midair.

  “The final step of foundation seizing…”

  Yun Che took a deep breath, calmed his thoughts, and carefully guided the last Soul Pearl toward the ring.

  The instant the Soul Pearl touched it—

  “Woooong—!!!”

  A dazzling ice-blue radiance shot skyward! The ring trembled violently as an overwhelming pressure exploded outward. Across the ice plains for hundreds of miles, all living beings shuddered in terror, instinctively prostrating themselves.

  Several powerful auras awakened deep within the Severing Blade Mountain Range and rushed rapidly toward the source!

  A cold glint flashed in Yun Che’s eyes. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the ring!

  “Hiss—!”

  The blood mist evaporated, fully absorbed by the ring. Its trembling intensified before the light abruptly converged, transforming into a streak of radiance that shot straight into Yun Che’s chest.

  “Boom!”

  A tidal wave of spiritual power detonated within his body! Yun Che’s face flushed crimson, his bones cracking loudly as thick, foul-smelling black impurities poured out from every pore.

  Without hesitation, he shot out of the ice cave like lightning, vanishing into the endless snow fog after several flashes.

  Moments later, a colossal python covered in icy scales and bearing a single horn smashed through the ice wall. Its massive head thrust into the cave, scarlet tongue flickering as it probed about. Confusion flickered in its eyes before it slowly withdrew.

  Soon after, a towering ice ape—over six meters tall, its white fur as stiff as steel needles—roared its way in, rummaged through the cave fruitlessly, beat its chest in fury, and departed unwillingly.

  More ice-attribute ferocious beasts with strength comparable to late-stage Foundation Establishment arrived one after another, yet all returned empty-handed.

  …

  Yun Che raced through narrow ice fissures, spiritual power surging like a raging tide within him, waves of tearing pain washing over his body. He suddenly halted, scanning his surroundings, then pressed both palms downward—

  “Minor Lure Art · Open!”

  The ice layer beneath him shattered with a thunderous roar. Thick, profound ice was pushed aside as if by an invisible giant hand, revealing an ice shaft dozens of meters deep.

  Yun Che leapt in. The ice sealed shut above him, restoring the surface to its original state.

  Sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the shaft, he closed his eyes and fully circulated the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art, guiding the violent spiritual power back into his dantian to reconstruct his foundation.

  Impurities continued seeping from beneath his skin, freezing in the extreme cold before flaking away. A Foundation Establishment body was undergoing complete rebirth.

  The ice plains remained silent as time flowed on.

  The third seclusion began.

  …

  Three years later.

  The surface above the ice shaft was buried beneath thick layers of snow, indistinguishable from the surrounding plains.

  On this day, the ground suddenly trembled!

  “Crack—!”

  The ice split apart, snow exploded outward, and a figure burst forth, landing steadily atop the snow.

  Long hair cascaded down his back. His features were refined, his eyes deep as an ancient frozen abyss. His aura was profound and restrained, icy spiritual energy flowing naturally around him, faint traces of wind and thunder hidden in every movement.

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  Foundation Establishment—fully stabilized!

  It was Yun Che, emerging after three years of closed cultivation.

  He exhaled lightly, and a dark-green sword light flew out—

  the Blood Fiend Sword hovered before him. Most of the cracks on its blade had been restored, blood patterns flowing faintly as its baleful aura turned inward, making it even sharper.

  With a thought, a pitch-black sword sheath flew from his storage pouch. Its surface was ancient and simple, the twisted patterns upon it seeming to breathe slowly.

  “After three years of nurturing, the sword sheath has been preliminarily refined,” Yun Che murmured.

  “When used together with the Blood Fiend Sword, its power should increase by at least thirty percent.”

  After stowing both sword and sheath, his hand brushed the stone bead on his chest, his expression turning solemn.

  “To conceal the Bloodline Curse Seal, Elder Li exhausted his last soul power… He has been asleep for over two years now.” Yun Che sighed softly.

  “Fortunately, I have fully memorized the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art. My priority now is to locate the ‘Nine Nether Cold Vein’ and cultivate the subsequent techniques.”

  Having made his decision, Yun Che spread out his divine sense and headed north. Soon, he found an ice spring, carefully washed away the impurities, changed into a clean gray robe, and felt refreshed both in body and spirit.

  Sitting on an icy rock by the spring, he recalled recent events, his emotions tangled.

  Zhang Mingyuan’s fate remained unknown. Cold Crow City was rife with danger. The curse of the Teng clan ancestor hung overhead like a blade…

  The path ahead was perilous—only strength could carve a way forward.

  Suppressing his thoughts, Yun Che formed seals with his right hand and released a beam of white light, following the “Yin-Seeking Method” mentioned by Li Han before his slumber.

  The moment the light left his hand, its color changed—

  from white to gray, deepening steadily as it shot toward the northwest!

  “It reacted!” Yun Che’s eyes lit up as he followed closely.

  The gray light streaked across the ice plains, growing darker until it turned pitch black—then suddenly exploded!

  Yun Che halted, lifting his gaze as his pupils shrank sharply.

  Before him lay an endless frozen ruin.

  Collapsed walls and shattered structures were sealed in eternal ice. Towering ice-crystal pillars lay broken and tilted. The domes of grand palaces had caved in, shattered beyond recognition. Countless ice spikes hung like inverted swords, reflecting chilling light beneath the pale sky.

  Entwined throughout the ruins were deathly gray-blue vines—not plants, but “Ice Marrow Vines” condensed from extreme cold. Ordinary cultivators would be frozen instantly upon contact.

  Deep ice chasms split the ground, frigid mist rising endlessly. Occasionally, ice-plain wolves and snow martens darted through the ruins, their cries echoing hollowly.

  The entire ruin was shrouded in desolation and despair, as though silently recounting the abrupt end of a once-glorious civilization.

  Yun Che inhaled deeply, suppressing the shock in his heart.

  At that moment, atop a half-collapsed ice-crystal tower at the center of the ruins, a speck of deep blue light suddenly ignited!

  “Whoosh—!”

  A pillar of ice-blue light as thick as a bowl shot downward from the tower’s peak, illuminating an icy platform below.

  Yun Che’s expression shifted as he glanced toward a nearby snow slope.

  A Frostblade Leopard—its right hind leg broken, its body soaked in blood—was struggling forward toward the light. A long blood trail stretched behind it, glaring against the white snow.

  After crawling for the time it took to burn a stick of incense, it finally reached the light.

  A miracle occurred—

  The broken bone reconnected at a visible speed, wounds sealing rapidly. In just three breaths, the Frostblade Leopard was fully restored. With a low roar, it bounded into the depths of the ruins.

  The light pillar lasted ten breaths before slowly dissipating.

  Yun Che’s gaze burned as he stared at the tower peak in contemplation.

  For the next half day, he concealed himself and observed. The light pillar appeared once every hour, lasting ten breaths each time. Seven injured ice-attribute beasts arrived to heal, all with immediate results.

  “This pillar… isn’t spiritual power, but an extremely pure form of ‘vital cold energy’,” Yun Che muttered.

  “Though the ruins are destroyed, certain ancient formations are still operating, absorbing celestial light and converting it into healing energy.”

  As night approached and the final pillar was about to appear, Yun Che no longer hesitated and flashed to the landing point.

  Instead of reaching out directly, he suspended a spare fragment of a flying sword within the pillar.

  Frost on the fragment melted rapidly, and a tiny crack slowly healed!

  “As expected… it has restorative effects.”

  Only then did Yun Che extend his left hand into the light.

  A surge of energy flowed in—not warmth, but a vibrant, life-filled cold. It permeated his arm, nourishing his meridians and bringing faint comfort.

  He formed a sword with his fingers, sliced a shallow wound on his arm, and extended it again.

  The wound healed instantly, leaving not even a scar.

  “What astonishing cold energy!” Yun Che was shaken. Without delay, he shot toward the central ice-crystal tower.

  The tower stood over thirty meters tall, formed entirely of semi-transparent “Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Crystal.” Even after countless years, it still refracted dazzling blue light.

  The tower was broken at its midsection, its upper half leaning against two colossal ice statues of spear-wielding giants, forming a breathtakingly precarious structure.

  At the tower’s peak, a deep blue ice sphere over three meters in diameter rotated slowly—the source of the light pillar.

  “This… should be the core array eye of an ancient sect’s ‘Spirit-Gathering Healing Formation’.”

  Yun Che circled the sphere, frowning slightly.

  “It’s too large and deeply linked to the ruins’ ley lines. Forcibly removing it could destroy its function.”

  After a moment’s thought, he refrained from acting rashly and instead explored deeper into the ruins.

  Passing fallen ice corridors and frozen bridge remnants, he entered a relatively intact ice hall.

  The hall was sparsely furnished—several ice tables and chairs. Scattered ice vessels lay on the floor. In some bowls, traces of pitch-black solidified material remained.

  Yun Che probed with his divine sense, his expression darkening.

  “This black substance… contains extreme yin death energy, mixed with an ancient bloodline aura. Could the cultivators here have used special blood mixed with yin-cold materials for cultivation?”

  Night had fully fallen, and the ice plains were fraught with danger. Yun Che did not linger, swiftly withdrawing from the ruins.

  Standing at the edge, he looked back at the ancient relic slumbering beneath eternal ice, light flickering in his eyes.

  “This place holds healing light, cultivation remnants… Deeper within, there must be even more secrets.”

  “Perhaps… this is the Nine Nether Cold Vein I’ve been searching for?”

  Ice Ruins Arc.

  Do you think these frozen ruins were once an ancient sect’s stronghold, or the remains of a fallen civilization?

  Could the mysterious blue healing light become a major opportunity for Yun Che in the future?

  Leave a comment and share your thoughts on the Nine Nether Cold Vein!