Yun Che watched the Corpse Wraith return in haste, its expression anxious. His guard lowered slightly—but never fully.

  The Corpse Wraith pointed urgently toward the path it had come from, then at Yun Che, repeatedly gesturing for him to follow, impatience and warning clear in its eyes.

  After a brief moment of thought, Yun Che nodded. He needed a higher-grade cold vein to continue cultivating anyway, and this creature was uncannily familiar with the Ice Ruins—perhaps it could lead him to the crystal tower he had sensed before.

  Seeing his agreement, a flicker of complicated emotion crossed the Corpse Wraith’s face. It turned and shot forward at full speed. Yun Che followed closely, the two figures vanishing into the depths of the ruins.

  The Corpse Wraith’s knowledge of the terrain proved astonishing. It skirted bottomless ice fissures, bypassed several areas warped by eerie suction—so-called cold mist vortices—and even guided Yun Che through a hidden subterranean ice passage. When they emerged again, they had already crossed a hundred-li stretch of the Spirit-Devouring Marsh, a lethal zone even Golden Core cultivators avoided.

  Three days later, at dusk, they reached the northwestern corner of the ruins.

  Before a half-collapsed ice crystal hall, the Corpse Wraith halted. It raised its head toward the shattered dome, where a massive Spectral Azure Ice Orb, over a zhang in diameter, was embedded. Natural runic patterns covered its surface as it steadily absorbed the surrounding cold mist.

  “Is this… an array node?” Yun Che’s gaze sharpened.

  The Corpse Wraith nodded, leapt onto the roof, and formed strange hand seals. As the seals shifted, the nine yellowed talismans covering its body fluttered violently. Wisps of blue-gray energy seeped out, flowing into the ice orb.

  Humm—!

  The orb trembled violently, then erupted with blinding blue light. A thick Spectral Azure beam shot skyward, piercing straight toward the heart of the ruins!

  After finishing, the Corpse Wraith jumped down, waved at Yun Che, and pressed onward.

  Over the next five days, it led Yun Che through the ruins, locating eight such halls in total. Six were completely collapsed, yet every ice orb remained intact. Each activation sent another beam toward the center.

  Yun Che observed in silence. The placement of these orbs aligned with an ancient formation. Where the eight beams converged—that had to be the array core, and the true source of the Ice Ruins’ cold veins.

  When the final orb was activated, change came abruptly.

  The eight beams intertwined above the ruins, weaving a vast Spectral Azure net. The cold mist across the Ice Ruins began to flow in rhythmic patterns, as if a mechanism dormant for countless ages… had awakened.

  A mixture of reverence and terror appeared on the Corpse Wraith’s face. It accelerated, leading Yun Che in a headlong sprint toward the center.

  At noon on the seventh day, they arrived.

  At the core of the ruins lay a circular plaza over a thousand zhang wide. The ground was paved entirely with Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade, still smooth as a mirror despite endless ages.

  Eight beams converged overhead into a single point. Beneath it stood a towering ice sculpture, over a hundred zhang tall.

  No—this was no ordinary sculpture.

  Its material was a translucent Nether-Abyss Crystal, refracting profound幽光 under the beams. The figure depicted a middle-aged man with flowing hair and ancient features, clad in a star-patterned dao robe, gripping a broken spear. Though motionless, he radiated a domineering aura—one that seemed to command the netherworld and look down upon heaven and earth alike.

  Coiled at his feet was a lifelike Nether Dragon, each scale exquisitely detailed. Its head was raised, jaws agape, as if ready to shatter the crystal and devour all things.

  What shook Yun Che to his core was this—

  The statue’s face bore a seven-tenths resemblance to the mysterious statue within the stone bead space on his chest!

  “Jiu… You…”

  The Corpse Wraith prostrated itself, uttering harsh, ancient syllables. Yun Che understood only those two words.

  As the chant continued, the statue’s eyes suddenly ignited with Spectral Azure light. At the same time, energy from the eight beams surged wildly. The Nether Dragon at the statue’s base appeared to stir—an illusion of shifting light, yet terrifying all the same.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The Corpse Wraith stopped chanting, stood, and urgently pointed at the dragon’s crown.

  Yun Che understood instantly.

  That was the highest-grade cultivation position of the cold vein.

  He leapt onto the dragon without hesitation. In mere bounds, he reached its head. The moment his feet touched down, an incomparably pure surge of Nine Nether Cold Force rushed upward, nearly bursting his meridians!

  “This quality…”

  He immediately took out the Yin-Measuring Pearl.

  The ice-blue orb had barely appeared when it split—into two, four, eight! Eight orbs circled wildly, shifting from ice blue to silver, then to deep幽蓝, until they ignited simultaneously with Spectral Azure flame!

  “Earth-grade… high rank! No—this aura is already brushing the threshold of Heaven-grade!”

  Yun Che was shaken to the core. He sat cross-legged at once and began circulating the fifth layer of the Nine Nether Frost Prison Art.

  This time, he carefully restrained his absorption rate. Even so, the cold force flooding into his body was vast as an ocean, battering the Sea of Qi aperture to the brink of collapse!

  Time passed. Yun Che became completely immersed in cultivation.

  Day One: Cracks appeared in the Sea of Qi barrier.

  Day Two: The cracks spread like a spiderweb.

  Noon, Day Three—

  BOOM!

  An invisible explosion echoed within his body. The Sea of Qi aperture shattered completely! Torrents of latent human potential erupted, fusing madly with Earth-grade cold force.

  Gritting his teeth, Yun Che guided the newborn cold force to merge with the power of the first cold core in his dantian. The two homologous yet subtly different energies devoured and fused with one another…

  Dawn, Day Five.

  At the Sea of Qi position, a second cold core—slightly smaller than the first yet far denser and deeper—slowly took shape.

  The fifth layer of the Nine Nether Frost Prison Art—complete!

  With twin cores formed, a profound resonance arose between them, establishing a Spectral Azure circulation linking dantian and Sea of Qi. Yun Che clearly sensed that while his total cold force had not exploded in quantity, its quality and control precision had undergone a radical transformation.

  With a thought, he extended his index finger and gently tapped a scale beneath him.

  No light. No cold overflow.

  Yet the Nether Dragon’s scale—harder than refined divine metal—instantly transformed into a semi-transparent Spectral Azure crystal. Even more shocking, the change spread outward from his fingertip for several inches before slowly halting.

  “This… is true Nine Nether Extreme Cold Force.”

  Yun Che murmured. He could feel it—he had taken another step closer to the mysterious Extreme Realm.

  At that moment, a sudden change erupted!

  Cold mist around the plaza boiled violently. The eight beams in the sky twisted as if torn by an unseen force.

  A suffocating, terrifying pressure spread from deep within the ruins.

  The Corpse Wraith’s face turned deathly pale. It looked skyward as all nine talismans ignited with blue-gray flame—ready to fight to the death!

  Yun Che rose instantly. The Blood-Fiend Sword unsheathed itself, hovering before him. The black scabbard sank to three-fifths depth as dark red blood-light shimmered along the blade.

  BOOM—!!

  At the plaza’s edge, cold mist was ripped apart by brute force! A withered figure wrapped in violet-black lightning stepped through the air.

  The ancient existence—the Desiccated Corpse Man!

  His hollow gaze swept across the plaza, paused briefly on the statue, then fixed on Yun Che. His voice, like grinding metal, resounded through heaven and earth:

  “So… the Nine Nether Altar has been activated.”

  He turned his gaze to the Corpse Wraith, tone icy:

  “You claim… my master’s Nascent Soul is sealed within this statue?”

  The Corpse Wraith trembled violently yet stubbornly stood before the statue, emitting sharp “yi-ya” cries—half defense, half warning.

  The desiccated man snorted, ignoring it entirely, and raised his hand toward the statue.

  “Then this venerable one shall retrieve it personally.”

  A colossal palm woven of violet-black lightning materialized, grabbing toward the statue’s head!

  Yun Che’s pupils contracted violently. The power of this strike far surpassed Golden Core—stronger even than when it repelled Teng Huayuan!

  The Corpse Wraith shrieked. All nine talismans tore free and burned into nine blue-gray chains that lashed toward the palm—only to shatter upon contact with the lightning!

  Just as the palm was about to descend—

  HUM—!!!

  The statue’s eyes blazed with Spectral Azure brilliance! The phantom of the Nine Nether Venerable, spear in hand, stepped forth from the statue itself and thrust forward!

  Spear tip met giant palm.

  No sound. No explosion.

  Yet from the point of contact, space itself fractured like glass for a hundred zhang in all directions!

  Yun Che groaned as an invisible shockwave pierced his protective cold force and slammed into his soul. He staggered back seven steps, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

  The Corpse Wraith fared worse—hurled into a cold jade pillar at the plaza’s edge, most talismans extinguished.

  The desiccated man swayed slightly, solemnity appearing in his gaze for the first time.

  “A remnant will… still able to manifest?”

  The Nine Nether Venerable’s phantom stood silently, spear in hand, gazing at him—emotionless, yet exuding a majesty that suppressed the netherworld and governed reincarnation itself.

  After a moment of silence, the desiccated man suddenly turned to Yun Che, strange light flickering in his hollow eyes.

  “Boy. You cultivate the Nine Nether Frost Prison Art?”

  Yun Che’s heart tightened, his face calm.

  “So what if I do?”

  “Heh…”

  The man chuckled eerily.

  “Interesting. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator daring to touch the forbidden inheritance of the Nine Nether Sect. Even more interesting is this…”

  “You carry His aura.”

  He?

  Before Yun Che could think further, the man continued:

  “This venerable one offers you two choices.”

  “One—leave now, and I will pretend I never saw you.”

  “Two—remain here, and join me in uncovering the true secret of the Nine Nether Altar.”

  He pointed toward the statue.

  “Within this Nine Nether Venerable Statue lies not only my master’s Nascent Soul, but also one of the Nine Nether Sect’s three supreme inheritances—

  the Nine Nether Reincarnation Codex.”

  “Help me break the seal, and the inheritance… shall be shared with you.”

  Yun Che’s gaze flickered.

  At that instant, the Corpse Wraith struggled to its feet and shook its head wildly at Yun Che, eyes filled with urgency and… pleading.

  With the Nine Nether Venerable’s remnant will, the desiccated ancient being, and the Corpse Wraith pulling from different sides, Yun Che now stands at the center of a decisive choice.

  Nine Nether Reincarnation Codex?

  Share your thoughts below!