62: Xuanbing Altar and Xiao Clan Heritage

Deep within the Myriad Year Profound Ice Sea, amidst extreme cold and deathly silence, Xiao Chen circulated the Myriad Souls Returning Flow Art and the faint trace of Origin Qi within his body, arduously resisting the pervasive Profound Ice Cold Qi as he delved towards the direction of the strongest bloodline resonance.

The pressure around him grew steadily, and ancient creature remains, eternally frozen within the ice layers, began to appear, emitting unsettling fluctuations.

After several days of arduous travel, Xiao Chen finally reached his destination.

Before him, a vast underground ice cavern opened up.

In the center of the ice cavern, a colossal altar, entirely constructed from Myriad Year Profound Ice Marrow, stood tall!

The altar was nonagonal, with each corner carved with a totem of an ancient exotic beast.

The surface of the altar was covered in incredibly complex runes, which were not carved but naturally formed within the Profound Ice Marrow, circulating with a faint blue glow and exuding an ancient and majestic aura.

Directly above the altar, a constantly shifting deep blue flame hovered!

This flame had no temperature; instead, it emitted an extreme chill.

At the heart of the flame, a drop of dark golden blood could vaguely be seen slowly rising and falling, and it was this drop of blood that resonated strongly with the Xiao Clan bloodline within Xiao Chen!

“This is… Profound Ice Flame! And… Ancestral Essence Blood!” Xiao Chen’s heart was greatly shaken.

The Profound Ice Flame was an extremely rare Heavenly Exotic Flame, ranking high on the Exotic Flame List.

It was extremely cold, capable of freezing souls and all things.

The energy and bloodline pressure contained within that drop of dark golden blood far surpassed any source he had absorbed before!

When Xiao Chen attempted to approach the altar, the runes around the altar suddenly lit up, and a cold, emotionless thought entered his mind:

“Descendant of the Xiao Clan, to obtain the inheritance, you must pass three trials.”

“First trial, Ice Heart: Resist the aftershocks of the Profound Ice Flame and maintain your original heart for the duration of one incense stick.”

Before the words finished, a wisp of tiny flame separated from the hovering Profound Ice Flame and drifted towards Xiao Chen.

Before the flame even arrived, an extreme chill, enough to freeze the soul, had already descended!

Xiao Chen felt his thoughts were about to be frozen stiff, and frost began to condense on the surface of his soul ocean.

“Hold on!” Xiao Chen roared softly, his Spirit Realm Great Perfection soul power fully erupting.

The soul-guarding technique from the Soul Emperor Canon was pushed to its limit, his clan mark on his forehead shimmered with golden light, and together with that trace of Origin Qi, they constructed a solid soul barrier.

At the same time, he recalled his past hardships, his Dao Heart as firm as iron.

The duration of one incense stick felt as long as ten thousand years; when the flame dissipated, Xiao Chen, though pale, still had clear eyes, successfully passing the first trial.

“Second trial, Soul Tempering: Draw a trace of the Profound Ice Flame’s origin to temper impurities from the soul.”

This time, an even more condensed wisp of Profound Ice Flame directly entered Xiao Chen’s glabella!

The bone-chilling cold instantly swept through his entire sea of consciousness.

His soul felt as if it had been thrown into an absolute zero ice prison; countless deeply hidden distracting thoughts and negative emotions were frozen, stripped away, and shattered!

This pain far surpassed physical torture; Xiao Chen trembled all over, almost collapsing.

But he gritted his teeth and persevered, guiding this wisp of flame to meticulously burn every inch of his soul.

After an unknown period, the wisp of flame was exhausted.

Although Xiao Chen’s soul was weak, it became purer and more condensed than ever before, even faintly taking on a trace of ice-blue luster, greatly increasing his resistance and affinity to ice attributes.

“Third trial, Blood Fusion: Fuse the Ancestral Essence Blood and endure the pain of bloodline sublimation.”

The drop of dark golden blood on the altar flew towards Xiao Chen, directly merging into his heart!

Boom!

Like a volcano erupting within his body, the vast and boundless bloodline energy instantly shattered Xiao Chen’s meridians!

Countless fine lines appeared on the surface of his body; golden blood seeped out and was then rapidly frozen.

A pain far more intense than any previous experience overwhelmed him—it was the tearing sensation brought by the forced leap in life level.

Xiao Chen curled up on the altar, his consciousness blurry, relying solely on an indomitable will to sustain him.

The ancestral stone sensed the danger, automatically emerged, and emitted a gentle light to protect his heart pulse.

The reserves in the system’s energy pool were also rapidly depleting, repairing his damaged body.

When the intense pain receded like a tide, Xiao Chen felt reborn.

He looked within himself, shocked to discover:

Bloodline Transformation: His blood had completely transformed into a pale golden color, flowing like mercury, containing terrifying power.

The clan mark on his forehead became more complex, with an additional ice-blue dot in the center.

His physical strength surged, comparable to a top-tier seventh-rank magical beast (Peak Dou Zong)!

More importantly, the trace of Origin Qi in his bloodline had grown several times stronger and become more active.

Soul Sublimation: After being tempered by the Profound Ice Flame, although his soul realm did not break through to the Heaven Realm, its foundation was incredibly solid and of extremely high quality.

His control over energy reached a meticulous level; within the Spirit Realm, he was practically invincible.

Moreover, he unexpectedly gained control over that trace of the Profound Ice Flame’s origin.

Although he was far from being able to summon the true Profound Ice Flame, he could already unleash soul attacks with extreme cold attributes.

Information Inheritance: The altar runes transformed into a stream of light, surging into Xiao Chen’s mind.

This was a portion of the ancient Xiao Clan’s secrets, as well as an entry-level Heavenly Rank Low-Grade Dou Technique suitable for his current bloodline cultivation (which truly required the Dou Zong (Fighting Sect) Rank to fully unleash)—the “Ninefold Star Shattering Fist,” and a soul combat technique utilizing extreme cold power—the “Ice Soul Lock.”

Just as Xiao Chen was immersed in his gains, his powerful soul perception suddenly sounded an alarm!

Outside the ice cavern where the altar was located, several powerful energy fluctuations filled with cold, deathly aura were detected!

“People from the Soul Hall… they actually tracked me here?!” Xiao Chen’s eyes narrowed.

It seemed the commotion from him activating the altar was still noticed by the outside world.

Judging from the aura, there were at least three Dou Venerates among the newcomers, and one of their auras was exceptionally obscure, probably even surpassing Bone You Heavenly Venerate!

“This is not a place to linger!” Xiao Chen did not hesitate, immediately using the extreme cold power he had just mastered and his preliminary understanding of the altar’s runes to activate a hidden function of the altar—short-distance random teleportation!

Buzz!

The altar glowed intensely blue, and space twisted.

The moment the Soul Hall powerhouses broke through the ice cavern’s restriction, Xiao Chen’s figure vanished from atop the altar.

The next moment, Xiao Chen appeared in another unfamiliar area of the Myriad Year Profound Ice Sea.

He had no time to catch his breath, immediately concealed all his aura, and like a speck of dust on the ice plain, he stealthily moved towards the edge of the ice sea.

He knew that while fusing with the Ancestral Essence Blood greatly increased his strength, it also meant that the Xiao clan mark on him was more pronounced, increasing his appeal to the Soul Hall.

The road ahead would be even more dangerous.

He had to leave the Northern Region as soon as possible and find another place that could enhance his strength and was relatively safe.

Perhaps, it was time to try his luck in the ancient battlefield known as the “Ruins of the Fallen” in the southwest of the Central Plains?

It was said that the space there was chaotic, with opportunities and dangers coexisting, making it a good place to escape pursuit and search for ancient treasures.

Xiao Chen’s figure disappeared into the vast snowstorm.

The fortuitous encounter in the Profound Ice Sea gave him the confidence to face stronger storms, but it also pushed him into the center of a larger vortex.

(The Northern Region Ice Plain Arc concludes.

Next, the story will enter the more chaotic and dangerous “Ruins of the Fallen” Arc.)