86: Chapter 86 Ancient Emperor

The Far North Icefield. Wind and snow roared together.

The purple-gold flying boat pierced through the clouds, its outer defensive Formation letting out a piercing screech as it scraped against the astral winds.

Gu Sheng pulled his cloak tighter and sat by a small red clay stove on the deck, warming his wine.

Luo Qingxue sat opposite him, cradling the nine nether soul-suppressing zither. As an Ice Spirit Body, this extreme cold was actually a cultivation paradise for her.

"Ahead is the outer perimeter of Heaven Burial Island." Luo Qingxue plucked a string, the sound wave shattering the incoming hailstones. "The coordinates Senior Brother gave me show that the Ancient Ice Palace is in the heart of the island."

Gu Sheng poured a cup of warm wine and handed it to Luo Qingxue.

"What did Jun Wu Dao ask you to find?"

"The Legacy of the first generation of Xuanming Hall." Luo Qingxue took the cup. "The Ice Palace was once the ancestral land of Xuanming Hall, but it was later forcibly occupied by the Ancient Emperor of Burial Heaven Island."

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Stealing someone else's ancestral land; this Ancient Emperor is quite overbearing.

The System popped up a notification.

[Host detected entering the core area of the Northlands. Extreme Deep Cold environment triggered.]

[High-energy warning ahead: Burial Heaven Island Deathguards are gathering.]

Below the flying boat, the once flat glacier split open into countless abysses.

Dense black shadows crawled out of the rifts. They were all clad in tattered black iron heavy armor, carrying rusted halberds in their hands.

Death Qi surged to the heavens.

Leading them was a Headless Knight riding a skeletal warhorse, with eerie green soul fire burning in its chest cavity.

"Those who trespass on Heaven Burial Island shall be killed without mercy." The Headless Knight spoke through ventriloquism, the sound waves shaking the snow off the surrounding icy mountains.

Gu Sheng set down his wine cup.

"Are you being reasonable? We can't even pass through?"

The Headless Knight raised his halberd. Thousands of deathguards roared at the sky simultaneously, their collective energy forming a visible black Evil Qi that lunged straight at the flying boat in mid-air.

Luo Qingxue stood up, the nine nether soul-suppressing zither held horizontally before her. Her ten fingers moved in rapid succession.

The zither's notes transformed into a sky full of ice blades, meeting the black Evil Qi head-on.

The two collided with a rending sound. The Evil Qi was forcibly suppressed by the zither music, and a large number of deathguards were sliced into pieces by the ice blades.

But these deathguards felt no pain; their shattered limbs quickly reassembled under the nourishment of the Death Qi.

"They can't be killed off." Luo Qingxue stopped. "The ley lines of Heaven Burial Island are connected to the Nine Netherworld Styx Spring. As long as the Death Qi persists, they are immortal."

Gu Sheng opened his folding fan.

"Immortal? That's just because the firepower isn't enough."

He brought up the System panel and glanced at the newly refreshed shop.

Nine Nether Underworld Spring Water: 300,000 destiny points.

"I'll buy some Nine Nether Underworld Spring Water to fight poison with poison."

[300,000 destiny points deducted. Exchange successful.]

A black jade pure bottle appeared in Gu Sheng's hand.

He uncorked the bottle and poured it downward.

A single drop of ink-like water fell.

The water drop swelled in the wind, transforming into a black river that poured directly onto the heads of the deathguard army.

It was the same Nine Nether Death Qi, but the water in the jade pure bottle was of a much higher grade.

The deathguards hit by the black water didn't even get a chance to reassemble; they were directly reduced to nothingness. Even the Headless Knight's soul fire was completely extinguished.

A bottomless trench was corroded into the glacier.

The world fell silent.

[Ding! Host has transcended the Burial Heaven Island Deathguards, gaining 100,000 destiny points.]

Gu Sheng put away the jade pure bottle.

"Let's go. Let's go meet that Ancient Emperor."

The flying boat continued deeper.

The heart of Heaven Burial Island.

A palace carved entirely from ten-thousand-year profound ice stood tall in the wind and snow.

On the square in front of the Ice Palace, several people were standing.

With the opening of the Great Era, it wasn't just the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion that had come to the Northlands to try their luck.

The Nether Ancestor of the West Barrens' Nine Nether Magic Sect, along with several demon generals, was staring at the Ice Palace gates.

Several Great Yao from the South Border's Yao Race were also perched nearby.

Everyone was waiting.

There was a layer of pale gold Restriction around the Ice Palace, a Formation left behind by the Ancient Emperor.

"Nether Ancestor, is your Blood Refining Great Method useful or not?" a double-horned Yao King asked impatiently.

The Nether Ancestor snorted coldly.

"If you're so capable, you do it. This Restriction carries Imperial Might; breaking it by force will cause a backlash."

As they spoke, the sound of something piercing the air came from above.

The purple-gold flying boat landed at the edge of the square.

Gu Sheng put away the flying boat and led Luo Qingxue into the area.

The Nether Ancestor's eyelid twitched.

At the West Barrens' Ten Thousand Buddha Dharma Assembly, he had personally witnessed Gu Sheng's methods. Even the Great Leiyin Temple's karma monument had been ruined by this man.

"Pavilion Master Gu." The Nether Ancestor cupped his hands. "It has been some time since we parted in the Central State. I hope you have been well."

The South Border Yao King did not recognize Gu Sheng; seeing a young man swaggering over, he looked displeased.

"Where did this brat come from? Do you know the rules?" The Yao King, holding a large white bone club, blocked Gu Sheng's path.

Gu Sheng stopped.

"Rules? You're setting rules for me?"

The Yao King grinned, revealing fangs.

"The South Border Yao Race claims thirty percent of the Northlands' opportunities. Who do you think you are, wanting a piece of the pie?"

Gu Sheng said nothing.

Luo Qingxue took a step forward, her Lunar Origin circulating as the surrounding temperature plummeted.

The Yao King shivered and was about to lash out.

Gu Sheng raised his hand to stop Luo Qingxue.

"No need for you to act. It's dirty."

He looked at the Yao King.

"I'm in a hurry. If you scram now, you might still leave behind a whole corpse."

The Yao King was furious and swung his white bone club down. His cultivation at the Dao Integration Peak was unleashed without reservation.

Gu Sheng stood in place without dodging.

The club stopped half a foot above Gu Sheng's head.

It wasn't that Gu Sheng had acted, but that the Yao King himself had stopped.

Starting from the hand holding the club, the Yao King's body gradually turned into an ice sculpture. Even the Yao Core inside him was frozen.

A cold wind blew past.

The Yao King turned into a sky full of ice shards and scattered onto the ground.

The entire field was deathly silent.

Even the Nether Ancestor took two steps back.

Instantly killing a Dao Integration Peak expert.

No one had even seen how Gu Sheng made his move.

In reality, Gu Sheng had just casually crushed an [Absolute Zero Trial Card] he had pulled from the card pool.

"Now, who else wants to teach me the rules?" Gu Sheng looked around.

The demon generals bowed their heads. The remaining Great Yao from the South Border didn't dare to make a sound.

Gu Sheng walked to the Ice Palace gates.

He looked at the layer of pale gold Restriction.

"Imperial Might?" Gu Sheng pressed his hand against the Restriction.

The System operated.

[Incomplete Emperor-grade Formation detected. Analyzing...]

[Analysis complete. Formation core found.]

Gu Sheng applied force with his fingertip, tapping a node at the bottom left of the Restriction.

Crack.

The pale gold Restriction shattered, dissipating into points of light.

The Ice Palace gates slowly opened.

An ancient and weathered aura rushed out.

"Enter." Gu Sheng took the first step.

Luo Qingxue followed closely behind.

The Nether Ancestor and several Great Yao looked at each other, gritted their teeth, and followed. With the Opportunity right before them, no one wanted to give up.

The interior of the Ice Palace was massive.

The ceiling was embedded with fist-sized night-luminescent pearls, illuminating the hall brightly.

In the center of the hall sat a transparent ice coffin.

A person lay inside the ice coffin.

Clad in dragon robes and wearing a flat-topped imperial crown.

It was precisely that Ancient Emperor of Burial Heaven who had forcibly occupied the ancestral land of Xuanming Hall.

With the opening of the Great Era, the Ancient Emperor had already awakened, yet he was currently lying in the coffin pretending to be dead.

Gu Sheng walked to the ice coffin and knocked on the lid.

"Stop pretending. I can hear your heartbeat from eight hundred miles away."

The Ancient Emperor inside the ice coffin opened his eyes.

Golden flames flickered within his eye sockets.

The coffin lid flew off, smashing several ice pillars in the distance.

The Ancient Emperor sat up and looked directly at Gu Sheng.

"Junior. You are very arrogant."

The pressure of a Saint King swept through the hall.

The Nether Ancestor and Great Yao who had followed were pressed down so hard they couldn't straighten their backs.

Gu Sheng pulled over an ice chair and sat down.

"Just averagely arrogant. You stole the ancestral land of Xuanming Hall; how should we settle this debt?"

The Ancient Emperor sneered.

"In the world of cultivation, strength is respected. Any place I set my eyes on is mine."