A clear image gradually formed in Yun Che’s mind.

  In some distant era, this Ice Ruins had once been a flourishing cultivation city. Then, catastrophe struck without warning—perhaps a spatial rift tore open, or an ancient grand formation spiraled out of control. Before the countless cultivators within could even react, the entire city was frozen in an instant, transformed into an eternal ruin.

  Now, as night deepened, strands of bone-chilling yin-cold aura seeped from the depths of the ruins. Growing denser by the moment, they eventually condensed into visible gray-blue cold mist, flowing slowly among the shattered walls.

  “Countless lives perished in an instant, death qi entwined with extreme cold…”

  Yun Che recalled the knowledge Li Han had imparted before falling into slumber.

  “This is precisely a ‘Yellow-tier’ Nine Nether Cold Vein required by the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art.”

  The cold veins required for cultivating the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art were divided by quality into four tiers: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.

  Yellow-tier veins were the easiest to obtain—formed when large numbers of living beings perished in extreme cold, allowing death qi and cold qi to merge over long years. The more deaths and the heavier the cold, the higher the quality.

  Profound-tier veins required naturally formed extreme cold zones, such as the “Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cavern” or a “Nine Yin Leyline Eye.”

  Earth-tier veins were even rarer, often born deep within nether fissures beneath the earth or at the source of ancient cold veins—encountered only through great fortune.

  As for Heaven-tier…

  They required the coexistence of Earth-, Profound-, and Yellow-tier cold veins within a single location, transformed by unique terrain over tens of thousands of years. Even then, their formation was exceedingly unlikely. Once revealed, they were enough to trigger life-and-death struggles among Nascent Soul old monsters.

  The higher the quality of the cold vein, the better the cultivation effects of the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art, and the higher the quality of the resulting Nine Nether Cold Pill.

  Without hesitation, Yun Che formed seals with his right hand and softly chanted the “Yin-Testing Incantation” taught by Li Han.

  Specks of ice-blue light appeared from the void, gathering before him into a crystal-clear orb the size of a fist.

  The Yin-Testing Orb could display four colors:

  Purple for Heaven-tier, Blue for Earth-tier, Silver for Profound-tier, and White for Yellow-tier.

  Each tier was further divided into Low, Mid, High, and Supreme grades, and each grade into nine levels.

  Generally speaking, Yellow-tier Low Grade Level Three was sufficient for cultivation. At Mid Grade Level One, cultivation speed increased by thirty percent. If it reached High Grade, there was even a chance to trigger a Nine Nether Phenomenon during cold pill formation.

  The instant the orb took shape, it erupted with blinding white light!

  The white light flashed seven times.

  “Yellow-tier High Grade, Level Seven.” Yun Che’s gaze sharpened.

  “This is merely the outer edge of the ruins, yet the quality is already this high…”

  He guided the orb and slowly advanced deeper into the ruins.

  The further he went, the heavier the yin-cold aura became. At first it felt like walking through icy mist. After a hundred meters, the cold fog grew thick like slurry. At three hundred meters, Yun Che’s breathing turned labored, and the circulation of his spiritual power slowed noticeably.

  The orb’s white glow intensified as its rank climbed rapidly—

  Yellow-tier Supreme Grade Level One… Two… Three…

  At five hundred meters, it stabilized at Yellow-tier Supreme Grade Level Nine!

  “Before even reaching the ice crystal tower, it has already reached the pinnacle of Yellow-tier Supreme…” Yun Che was shaken, yet continued forward.

  After another two hundred meters, upon reaching the base of the tower, he could advance no further.

  The cold had condensed into tangible ice-blue threads, wrapping around his body and drilling madly into his pores. His meridians felt as though pierced by icy needles, and his spiritual power was nearly frozen solid.

  “Bang!”

  The orb suddenly split into two and flickered violently—

  Profound-tier Low Grade, Level One!

  Yun Che gazed toward the boundless ruins ahead. Beneath the night sky, faint幽蓝 light flowed deeper within—cold so dense it exceeded even his perception.

  “This ruin is vast beyond measure. Where I stand now likely doesn’t even account for one ten-thousandth of it…”

  He swallowed lightly.

  “Deeper within, the quality must be at least Earth-tier… perhaps even higher.”

  He dared not think further.

  Slowly retreating to the initial Yellow-tier High Grade Level Seven location, Yun Che sat down cross-legged.

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  “Cultivating within cold veins must proceed step by step.”

  Li Han’s warning echoed in his ears.

  “Just after entering Foundation Establishment, your body and meridians have yet to fully adapt to yin-cold power. Rashly entering higher-tier cold veins—at best your meridians freeze and suffer damage; at worst, you become an ice corpse.”

  After careful analysis, this location was the optimal starting point for his current realm.

  He closed his eyes, and the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art flowed through his mind.

  The technique consisted of nine layers. Every three layers completed allowed the condensation of one Nine Nether Cold Pill within the body. Once three pills were formed, if one could trigger Three Pills Returning to One, there was a fifty percent chance of directly entering the Core Formation realm!

  This was the primary reason Yun Che chose this technique—

  and also the fastest progression method known to Li Nan that best suited an ice spiritual root cultivator.

  Of course, there were faster demonic arts, such as the “Pill-Seizing Soul-Refining Technique.”

  But capturing a Core Formation cultivator alive… for Yun Che now, that was no different from suicide.

  To condense cold pills, the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art required breaking through three major Yin Apertures:

  the Dantian, the Qi Sea, and the Ancestral Aperture.

  Each aperture broken formed one pill. Upon pill formation, all spiritual power within the body would be completely transformed into Nine Nether Netherforce, vastly surpassing ordinary ice-attribute spiritual energy.

  The success rate of aperture-breaking and the quality of the cold pills were directly tied to the grade of the cold vein used for cultivation.

  Time passed, and dawn gradually approached.

  The yin-cold aura within the ruins receded like a tide. When the first ray of sunlight pierced the icy mist, the cold had vanished completely.

  Yun Che rose to his feet. Since he had decided to cultivate here, he needed a foothold.

  Sweeping his gaze around, he settled on a partially collapsed ice hall not far away. Though the roof had caved in, most of the surrounding ice walls remained, sufficient to block wind and snow.

  He pressed his right hand down lightly—

  “Minor Lure Art!”

  Collapsed ice pillars and shattered fragments floated up, stacking neatly against the walls. Moments later, a clear space three meters square was cleared within the hall.

  Yun Che sat cross-legged at the center and retrieved the scroll Introductory Explanation of Ice Pattern Restrictions from his storage pouch, focusing intently.

  He had purchased this scroll in Cold Crow City three years ago but never had time to study it deeply. Now that he intended long-term cultivation here, defensive measures were essential.

  After committing the twelve basic ice-type restrictions recorded in the scroll to memory, he closed his eyes and began deducing them, his hands unconsciously sketching patterns in midair.

  A full day passed. By dusk, Yun Che opened his eyes and sighed softly.

  “The path of restrictions is truly profound. Even these basic restrictions require immense mental effort just to arrange and link spiritual power…”

  “Let alone higher-tier restrictions that demand precise calculations of spiritual nodes.”

  Abandoning thoughts of self-creation, he instead strictly followed the scroll, setting up three simple defensive restrictions:

  the Minor Ice Mist Formation, Cold Prism Array, and Condensed Frost Boundary.

  He etched formation lines into the ice with spiritual power, embedding several Ice Marrow Stones containing faint cold qi into specific array nodes.

  After fumbling for two full hours, he finally managed to barely complete all three restrictions.

  Yun Che formed seals with both hands and injected spiritual power—

  “Weng!”

  A thin layer of icy mist rose from the ground, enveloping the ice hall. Tiny ice prisms flickered faintly within the mist as the temperature plunged sharply.

  “It might barely trap a Qi Condensation cultivator…” Yun Che shook his head with a wry smile.

  “But against Foundation Establishment… this is hardly anything. Still, better than nothing.”

  After some thought, he added two more identical layers to the perimeter.

  “With three layers stacked, it should buy me a bit more time.”

  Night fell once more.

  Gray-blue cold mist surged from the depths of the ruins, rapidly spreading outward.

  Yun Che sat cross-legged. The moment the cold touched his body, he formed seals on his knees and sank his mind into the breathing method of the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art.

  “Three inhales, one condensation.

  Nine circulations, return to origin.”

  This was the core breathing rhythm of the technique:

  three long inhalations drawing yin-cold qi into the body, circulating it through nine meridians for refinement, finally condensing it into a thread of pure Nine Nether Netherforce that returned to the dantian.

  Strictly speaking, this was his first true external breathing session since entering Foundation Establishment. During the past three years of seclusion, he had relied solely on internal cultivation using Cold Marrow Spirit Fluid.

  Yin-cold qi was essentially a special form of spiritual energy. Having practiced breathing techniques for years, Yun Che should have been at ease—but the moment he began, he sensed something amiss.

  Previously, when absorbing Heaven-and-Earth Qi, it was as if an invisible barrier existed—absorption was slow, and only two or three tenths of the energy could be retained.

  Now, that barrier seemed to have vanished!

  The instant he inhaled, yin-cold qi surged in like a breached floodgate. Even more astonishing, nearly sixty to seventy percent of it could be absorbed!

  Three possibilities flashed through Yun Che’s mind:

  First, the yin-cold qi perfectly matched his ice spiritual root.

  Second, his post-Foundation Establishment physique had transformed, naturally boosting efficiency.

  Third, seizing part of Teng San’s superior spiritual roots during foundation seizing had improved his aptitude.

  He did not dwell on it, fully immersing himself in cultivation.

  At first, the process was excruciating.

  As yin-cold qi entered his body, it felt like countless ice needles piercing his meridians. Blood nearly froze wherever it passed. This was the complete opposite of the gentle comfort of absorbing spiritual qi—this cold came from the depths of his organs, seeping into his bones.

  Yun Che’s body trembled violently, teeth clenched tight.

  As more cold qi poured in, his limbs turned numb, blood flow slowed drastically, and his heart rate dropped to thirty percent of normal. Frost formed on his eyebrows, hair tips, and even body hair.

  A pure yin-cold aura emanated from within him, blending seamlessly with the surrounding mist until the two were indistinguishable.

  Time passed slowly in the extreme cold.

  When the first ray of morning light tore through the night, the cold within the ruins rapidly dissipated.

  Yun Che’s eyelids trembled as he slowly opened his eyes.

  “Huff—”

  A stream of condensed white breath escaped his mouth, freezing into ice crystals midair before falling softly to the ground.

  After a night of breathing, deep within his dantian, a rice-grain-sized Spectral Azure Ice Arrows vortex had taken shape, slowly rotating.

  Each rotation released a thread of pure yin-cold aura—

  the embryonic form of the Nine Nether Cold Prison Art’s unique Nine Nether Netherforce.

  Meanwhile, his original Foundation Establishment ice spiritual power showed no rejection toward the vortex. The two coexisted distinctly, neither interfering with the other.

  Sensing that faint yet incomparably pure cold power within his dantian, a sharp gleam flashed through Yun Che’s eyes.

  “The first trace of the Nine Nether Cold Pill’s foundation…”

  “…is complete.”

  Nine Nether Cold Prison Art.

  Do you think the cold-vein tier system and the “Three Pills Returning to One” will intensify later realm conflicts?

  Could the depths of the Ice Ruins hide an Earth-tier—or even Heaven-tier—cold vein?

  Share your thoughts on the future evolution of the Nine Nether Cold Pill!