C558 The Suppression of the Great Way
An ice-blue silhouette burst forth from the cauldron.
The figure was a chilling fusion of a human woman's upper body and a scorpion's lower half, known as the Demon Fiend. Her entire form shimmered with an icy luminescence, as if meticulously sculpted from a single block of ice-blue crystal.
Boom!
A cold, ethereal blue flame ignited from within her crystalline body.
Beneath the colorful miasma cloud, the rich Spiritual Qi was drawn into the cauldron, fueled by her commanding power.
This woman, with her icy demeanor and eyes devoid of any human warmth, was propelled outward by the guiding force of the cauldron soul.
Yu Yuan, with one hand firmly on the cauldron, gazed up at the colorful miasma cloud and bellowed, "Open!"
At his command, the dense miasma that enshrouded the island obediently tore open a hole!
Through this gap, the frosty Demon Fiend made her passage.
Qin Yun watched, wide-eyed and astounded, crying out, "Young Master!"
Yu Yuan remained unfazed, "This lake and island resonate perfectly with Yu Zhu's Qi. The island's mysterious power draws the miasma continuously. I've contributed significantly to its formation."
He had chosen this location deliberately when he first ventured into the Absence Relic with Yu Zhu, after exploring numerous places.
He had planted various herbs in the vicinity and introduced Void Spiritual Plants on the mid-lake island.
His preparations had been laid in secret.
Even the lethal formation he had constructed in Chilly Wind Valley within the Jade Peak mountains had been later relocated by Yu Zhu, serving as an additional defense for the island.
His audacity in wielding the "Evil Cauldron" to enter this place was not solely due to the cauldron itself.
His true confidence stemmed from his intimate knowledge of the area's venomous miasma and the intricacies of the formation.
Moreover, before Yu Zhu departed for the Demon Palace, she had left behind a safeguard.
His ability to command the formation to open and his boldness in refining pills and cultivating on this island were rooted in his mastery over this domain.
"Continue to purge the Yin God and the chilling fog!"
Before Qin Yun could inquire further, Yu Yuan commanded sternly, refocusing his attention.
The encroaching frost on Qin Yun's Yin God was indeed a cause for concern, hinting at complications ahead.
In the next instant, as the "Evil Demon" took to the sky, Qin Yun was overcome with a sudden sense of relief.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Above the colorful miasma cloud, the aloof female Evil Demon hovered beneath a blanket of stars, illuminated by the crescent moon's glow.
The tall, icy figure of the foreign woman burst into flames, her body igniting with an ice-blue fire that swiftly enveloped her.
In that moment, she resembled Lim Zhuyun at the bottom of the Ember Waters, when first possessed by the Devaputra, wrapped in green flames and wreaking havoc.
Both the ice-blue and green flames shared a bone-chilling coldness capable of freezing the soul itself.
With a flick of her scorpion tail, the tall, ghostly woman shot forward like a streak of cold lightning.
Clusters of ice-blue flames burst from her, instantly morphing into a barrage of ice storms that rained down upon the tranquil lake.
The ice storms, initially no larger than fists, voraciously consumed the spiritual energy of the area, swelling to hundreds of times their size in the blink of an eye.
Those below who dared to look up would witness a maelstrom of ice spanning dozens of acres, with explosive spiritual energy, ice shards, and blades swirling within, all driven by the central ice-blue flames, as if intent on grinding all to dust in a vortex of despair.
The very rules of this realm appeared to echo the Fiend Demon's call, drawing spiritual energy from miles around in an unending stream.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The ice storms, like the collapsing heavens, made the air itself snap as the earth thundered ominously, threatening an apocalyptic upheaval.
"Master, Uncle Master! I-I can't hold on!"
Fifteen miles west of the lake, a Penetrating Stage practitioner from the Cold Yin Sect, fresh from a skirmish with a cold serpent and yet to claim his spoils, shuddered uncontrollably.
The Yellow Court Little World within him was in complete disarray.
Pu!
A small shard of ice, no bigger than a fingernail, burst from his lower dantian, piercing through his acupoints.
Upon closer inspection, this tiny crystal was found to be shot through with dozens of slender, icy beams.
"Ah!"
He doubled over, clutching his lower abdomen, his cries piercing the sky.
"Uncle-Master!"
The other two practitioners from the Cold Yin Sect were locked in fierce combat with a Demonic Beast when they suddenly felt the energy in their Yellow Court dantian and the Qi and Blood Mystic Technique in their middle dantian spiral out of control.
Seizing the moment, a gold-stripped beast burst forth with dazzling golden patterns.
The beast's size swelled to nearly twice its original, and as the Cold Yin Sect disciple scrambled to regain control of his spiritual power and vital energies, the beast clamped its jaws around his neck, severing it.
The third disciple took to the air, only to be engulfed by a descending ice storm.
Crack!
The chilling sound of bones breaking, mingled with his dying screams, erupted from the heart of the storm.
Weixian, who was a short distance from the three disciples, heard their desperate cries and moved to assist, but found himself ensnared by another massive ice storm.
He had been focusing his efforts through the Yin God to manipulate the Yin Marks he'd released earlier when his body abruptly seized up.
As the ice storm bore down on him, Weixian caught sight of an ice-blue specter darting from the colorful miasma cloud above the mid-lake island.
He was about to probe with his soul consciousness when a wave of discomfort washed over him, leaving him feeling bound and helpless.
It was as though the entire Absence Relic, the surrounding lakes, islands, and forests, were repelling him, singling him out for attack.
"The Great Dao is suppressing me!"
Weixian's face drained of color as the ice-blue figure drew near, a flicker of panic crossing his features. "Could it be her? No, that's impossible. According to the Spirit Void Sect and the Babel Chamber of Commerce, she was clearly summoned to the Quietus Continent by the Demon Palace!"
Weixian had assumed the ice-blue apparition emerging from the miasma was Yu Zhu, the ruler of the Absence Relic.
Only she, as the sovereign, could resonate with the entire realm, wielding the world's power to exert overwhelming pressure with the natural laws of this microcosm.
His understanding of the Yin Dao and the secret arts he had mastered were being countered at every turn.
The presence of the ice-blue figure now seemed to embody the Great Dao of the relic itself.
Although it was merely one type of Great Dao, it had the power to suppress him, leaving him feeling uncomfortable and off-kilter, as if he were bound and unable to fully unleash his secret arts. This particular Great Dao was of the Yin attribute, the very essence of the secret arts he had devoted his life to mastering.
"If this were the work of Yu Zhu..."
As Weixian's expression shifted subtly, the three sect disciples he was responsible for were slain.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Weixian unleashed soul lights as fine as ice needles, targeting the icy blue silhouette.
Simultaneously, a seal crafted from Ice Soul Crystal ascended like a luminous moon, releasing the souls of Yin attribute alien beasts.
"Frost Beast Soul Freeze!"
Dozens of Frost Beasts, of both sixth and seventh levels, combined their soul power to form a seal.
With the seal's completion, the domain of the Fiend Demon was momentarily encased in ice, time and space constricted.
Whoosh!
The Fiend Demon shrugged off the frozen domain with ease, undeterred by the ice needle assault, and swiftly broke free, advancing towards Weixian.
In contrast, an ice storm abruptly engulfed the seal.
Crack! Snap! Pop!
Countless ice blades, beams, and edges enveloped the seal, wrought from millennia-old Ice Soul Crystal, grinding against the trapped beast souls within.
Weixian grunted, wounded in the blink of an eye.
His face paled, and without hesitation, he expelled a mouthful of blood, wrapping it in a burst of icy light, and swiftly executed a Spiritual Spell.
"Blood Transposition!"
The icy light flared, and his vital essence rapidly depleted.
Whoosh!
The ice seal, meticulously refined by Weixian, defied spatial barriers and materialized within the light.
Grasping the seal tightly, Weixian called out, "I wonder if Miss Yu Zhu is still within the relic. I, Weixian of the Cold Yin Sect, have intruded upon you. Please accept my apologies!"
With those words, he dared not linger, transforming into a streak of ice light and speeding towards Spider City, leaving the bodies of the three disciples unattended.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The ferocious ice storm continued to rage, sweeping up the corpses of the Cold Yin Sect disciples and any demonic beasts caught in its path, alive or dead.
Eighty miles east of the lake, a magnificent man with a beast's horn on his forehead and long brown hair cascading to his waist stood suspended in the air, surrounded by a thick aura of demonic energy and perched atop a sphere of lightning.
It was evident that the man was a Demonic Beast in human guise.
He observed Weixian's departure and the havoc of the ice storm. After a moment's hesitation, he made his way toward the lake at a leisurely pace.
His approach was unhurried, as though he was biding his time for the storm to abate.
To the north of the lake, beyond a hundred miles, a fire dragon, dozens of feet in length, abruptly transformed into a dashing young man with fiery red hair, who strode towards the lake with a carefree laugh.
In the depths of a mountain stream, a peculiar green fish shrank into a speck of light.
The light swelled wildly, taking on a miraculous form, and sculpted itself into a young maiden.
The maiden emerged from the pond with deliberate steps. Her pace was slow, and as she ascended, the once-deep waters began to recede.
It seemed as though the pond's water was being drawn into her, absorbed completely during her ascent.
She chuckled softly, making her way toward the lake shrouded in a rainbow miasma, all the while murmuring to herself in a melodic yet slightly stilted human tongue.
Being new to this place, she had no prior need to transform or converse in the language of humans. To acclimate and ensure smooth communication later, she practiced the language as she walked, gradually becoming more adept.
The massive ice storms that had churned around the lake began to wane, eventually fading away.
The vicinity of the lake bore the scars of a cataclysmic assault. The earth was fissured, vegetation obliterated, and the remains of humans and Demonic Beasts were strewn about.
A figure in ice-blue attire returned to the sky, cutting through the colorful miasma to alight upon the island at the heart of the lake.
"A formidable demon draws near!"
