Gently pressing his hand against the slowly rotating azure vortex within his dantian, Yun Che murmured to himself,

  “The Nine Nether Cold Prison Art… I finally understand the true meaning of the words ‘Nine Nether.’”

  The so-called “Nine Nether” referred to a cultivation state where one must push the physical body to the brink of the underworld itself—heartbeats reduced to near cessation, blood flow slowed to its absolute limit, as if one foot had already stepped into the realm of death. Only under such conditions could the body fully resonate with the Nine Nether Cold Veins and absorb yin-cold energy to the utmost.

  But this method was incomparably dangerous. One misstep, and feigned death would become true death, with the soul forever condemned to the frozen nether prison.

  Even among the “ancient great sects” spoken of by Li Han, The Nine Nether Cold Prison Art was a forbidden cultivation method that few dared to practice. Successes were rare, and failures… all had become eternal ice statues buried within the frozen ruins. Because of its bizarre process and unpredictable fortune, it was secretly known as the “Netherworld Deviant Path.”

  From that day onward, Yun Che settled down in the ice ruins.

  Each night, he absorbed the yin-cold energy of the cold veins; by day, he deduced formations and nurtured his magical artifacts. In the blink of an eye, one month passed.

  During this month, he made an important discovery: the mysterious stone bead on his chest could also condense “dew” in this place. However, this dew did not contain spiritual energy—it was pure Nine Nether cold force.

  This deepened Yun Che’s understanding of the stone bead. It could adapt to its environment and condense energy of the corresponding attribute.

  He began deliberately accumulating Nine Nether Cold Dew, especially at midnight when yin-cold energy was at its peak. At those times, frost mist gathered on the bead’s surface, and dew formed with exceptional ease.

  After consuming the cold dew, Yun Che discovered that although the cold force within was extremely pure, its quantity was far inferior to the spiritual dew he had obtained in the past. If Nine Nether cold force and Heaven-and-Earth Qi were considered equivalent-grade energies, then the effect of this cold dew was roughly on par with mid-grade spirit liquid.

  “The foundation of The Nine Nether Cold Prison Art lies in accumulating cold force,” Yun Che grasped the essence. “The denser the cold force, the greater the power of the art, and the higher the success rate when breaking through the apertures.”

  Thus, his cultivation settled into a fixed rhythm:

  By day, he entered the stone bead space and used cold dew to accelerate his progress; by night, he remained in the ice ruins, directly drawing upon the cold veins.

  Day after day, the Nine Nether dark force within his body grew increasingly abundant. With each cycle of breathing, every pore of his body merged with the surrounding frost mist, indistinguishable from it. His heartbeat slowed accordingly, eventually weakening to the faintest thread.

  On several occasions, his heart nearly stopped entirely, sustained only by a single strand of refined cold force. After repeatedly brushing against death, his understanding of “near-death cultivation” grew ever deeper.

  This morning, Yun Che awoke from meditation and sensed the surging cold force within his dantian. A trace of resolve flashed through his eyes.

  “The accumulation of cold force is sufficient… I can attempt my first aperture breakthrough.”

  Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he stared toward the outer edge of the icy fog formed by the formations.

  With a single hand seal, the fog parted, revealing a passage.

  Yun Che stepped out of the formation and lowered his gaze to the ground—several deep drag marks stretched and twisted toward the depths of the ruins. He clearly remembered that yesterday, several heavily injured icefield wolves had died here after failing to wait for the healing light pillar.

  Now, their corpses were gone.

  “There’s… something alive in the depths of these ruins?” A chill crawled up his spine. The fact that the bodies had been dragged away during the night without him sensing anything was deeply unsettling.

  His expression darkened as he swiftly inspected the surroundings of the ice hall. All three layers of formations were intact, untouched.

  “To drag corpses away silently under my spiritual sense…” His thoughts raced as his figure flickered and he darted into the outer snow forest.

  Moments later, he returned carrying the freshly slain bodies of two Frostclaw Bears, placing them conspicuously outside the formations. He then retreated into the hall and rapidly formed seals.

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  “Cold Spike Formation — Triple Overlap!”

  The icy fog instantly thickened threefold, with sharp ice spikes faintly visible within, radiating bone-chilling cold.

  Even so, the unease in Yun Che’s heart did not dissipate. He sat cross-legged, spreading his spiritual sense to its limit, enveloping a hundred-zhang radius. While slowly refining cold dew, he remained fully alert.

  That night, he did not absorb cold force at all—his entire focus was on vigilance.

  Especially the location of the two bear corpses.

  As midnight approached, yin-cold energy reached its peak.

  Within the range of his spiritual sense, everything was deathly silent. The bear corpses were covered in frost, and the snow forest beyond the ruins was utterly still—no beast roars, no insect sounds.

  This was completely different from before. Alarm bells rang loudly in Yun Che’s mind.

  Suddenly, his expression changed drastically!

  In his spiritual perception, the frost mist deep within the ruins began to churn violently like boiling water!

  A black shadow shot out of the mist at near-teleportation speed! His spiritual sense barely caught a blurred trace—and the bear corpses on the ground vanished!

  Yun Che’s pupils contracted. In that fleeting instant, he clearly saw the thing’s appearance—

  It was a humanoid creature, its entire body covered in eerie ice-blue skin. Dense, writhing dark-gold runes blanketed its surface. Even more horrifying was that on its forehead, chest, and joints—nine vital points in total—were affixed palm-sized, dark-yellow talismans with charred edges!

  The grotesque sight shook Yun Che to his core.

  The ice-blue monster appeared again, stopping outside the icy fog of the formation. Tilting its head, it stared at the mist with a puzzled expression.

  It took a few steps back and circled the ice hall, seemingly observing something.

  Yun Che remained fully alert, refraining from attacking—he needed to understand this creature first.

  After completing a circuit, the monster’s curiosity deepened. Suddenly, it lunged straight into the fog!

  Now!

  Cold light exploded in Yun Che’s eyes as he slammed his hand down.

  “Formation Activate — Thousand-Spike Grind!”

  “Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!”

  Ice spikes shot forth like a torrential storm! Simultaneously, all three layers of formations triggered in succession: the frost fog solidified like glue, ice spikes regenerated and split apart, and countless ice lances burst from the ground!

  “Bang bang bang bang—!”

  Explosive cracking sounds rang out! Ice spikes and lances shattered against the monster’s body, leaving only shallow white marks on its surface.

  The monster roared in fury and violently flung its arms outward!

  “Boom—!!!”

  A circular shockwave erupted! The fog dispersed, the spikes shattered, and the ground lances snapped at their roots. The triple formations were destroyed in an instant!

  As the mist cleared, the monster grinned savagely at Yun Che, blood-red light flashing in its eyes as it stepped forward.

  Yun Che’s expression remained unchanged. With a thought—

  The Blood Fiend Sword shot out from his mouth, green light flashing as it instantly appeared behind the monster, stabbing straight toward its heart!

  Puchi!

  The sword pierced through its chest, spraying ice-blue blood that instantly froze into beads upon leaving the body.

  The monster let out a muffled groan and staggered back, fear appearing on its face for the first time.

  Yun Che’s heart sank—

  A pierced heart, and it could still move!

  Without hesitation, he slapped his storage pouch. The pitch-black sword sheath flew out!

  The Blood Fiend Sword flashed green and returned to the sheath, sinking to one-third of its length—this was the maximum he could currently control. The sword’s color rapidly changed: dark green → deep blue → jet black!

  Clang—!

  The jet-black blade shot out, slashing straight toward the monster’s neck!

  The monster tried to dodge in terror, but the blade was too fast!

  Clang—!!!

  A thunderous metallic clash echoed! The sword struck the monster’s neck as if chopping refined steel, sparks flying everywhere. The attached yin-cold killing aura exploded violently, blasting the monster far away!

  However, once the blade was stained with blue blood, it became as if trapped in mud, sticking to the monster’s body! No matter how Yun Che urged it, the sword would not move—he could not even activate its teleportation!

  “This blood is strange!” Yun Che’s expression turned grave. In that instant of impact, he had clearly seen all the runes on the monster’s body light up simultaneously, forming an invisible barrier!

  He no longer held back. Slapping his storage pouch, he produced his final life-saving talisman—

  Profound Yang Demon-Breaking Talisman!

  This talisman was pure yang and extremely fierce, designed specifically to counter yin and evil.

  The talisman ignited without wind, transforming into a blazing white streak that instantly caught up to the flying monster and shot directly into the wound on its chest!

  “ROAR—!!!”

  A piercing, miserable howl echoed through the ice ruins! A bowl-sized hole was burned through the monster’s chest, its edges charred black. The Blood Fiend Sword flashed with dark light and finally broke free, flying back to Yun Che’s side.

  “Still not dead after that?” Yun Che was shaken. But what reassured him slightly was that after the Profound Yang strike, the runes around the monster’s wound had visibly dimmed.

  The monster struggled to its feet, eyes flashing with vicious hatred. It suddenly raised its hand and tore off one of the scorched yellow talismans on its chest!

  The instant the talisman detached—

  Buzz—!!!

  Green-gray yin-sha energy erupted wildly from every pore of its body, cocooning it completely! The wound began to squirm and heal at a visible speed!

  Killing intent surged in Yun Che’s eyes as he pointed at the sword sheath!

  The Blood Fiend Sword returned to the sheath once more. This time, he bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the sheath!

  “Sink… for me!”

  The sword trembled violently, forcibly sinking to two-fifths of the sheath! Its color shifted from jet black to dark red, bloodlines writhing across the blade like living creatures!

  This was Yun Che’s absolute limit—comparable to a full-strength strike from a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

  At the same time, the monster’s green-gray cocoon rapidly shrank and re-entered its body. When it reappeared, the wound on its chest had completely healed, leaving only a faint white mark.

  It stared at Yun Che with venomous hatred, yet when its gaze landed on the dark-red flying sword, unmistakable fear flickered in its eyes.

  Yun Che did not attack immediately. His voice was cold as ice as he asked:

  “What… are you?”

  2?? A failed product of Nine Nether cultivation?

  3?? A strange lifeform born from the ice ruins themselves?

  finish this creature at all costs, or withdraw and uncover the truth first?