591: Fourth level of the Profound Venerable Realm

Di Juetian followed the aura of the Ice Origin and arrived beneath a piece of eternal profound ice. Hidden beneath the profound ice was a strange world.

It was a massive underground ice cave, over a hundred zhang high, with countless sharp icicles hanging upside down like the fangs of a giant beast, emitting a faint, cold light.

In the center of the ice cave was a vast ice lake!

Right at the edge of this ice lake, on a natural ice platform near the domed ice wall, thirty Ice Snow Lotuses bloomed quietly.

They were of different shapes and sizes, but every single one was crystal clear.

Three of them were particularly eye-catching; they were nearly twice the size of the other snow lotuses, with more complex and profound patterns on their petals, swirling with a faint halo. These were thousand-year Ice Snow Lotuses that had reached four thousand years of age!

Di Juetian's figure appeared at the edge of the ice platform.

“Thirty flowers... three that are four thousand years old...” Even with Di Juetian's cold Heart-Nature, a trace of heat flickered in his eyes.

This ice lake was simply a dream-like treasure land!

Others might exhaust themselves just to find a single Ice Snow Lotus, yet he had suddenly found thirty. Combined with the three from before, that made thirty-three.

He could clearly feel the Ice God Power within his body cheering, longing for the nourishment of these same-Origin essences.

Without the slightest hesitation, Di Juetian sat down cross-legged. The ice emperor sword floated before him, emitting a chilling Sword Intent that served as both a warning and a suppression of the cold spirits in this place.

He guided with his hands, and the power of miniature space enveloped the entire ice platform to prevent any aura from leaking out. Then, he opened his mouth and inhaled!

“Whoosh—!”

Like a whale swallowing water, the thirty-three Ice Snow Lotuses, along with their leaves and roots, turned into thirty-three condensed ice-blue streams of light. Drawn by an invisible force, they instantly vanished into Di Juetian's mouth!

Boom—!

An indescribable, terrifying cold current exploded within his body!

It wasn't just simple cold; it was a torrent containing a majestic, pure life Origin and the Law of ice!

This power was incredibly violent, enough to instantly freeze the Meridians, Dantian, and even the Divine Soul of a Profound Venerable expert!

Di Juetian let out a muffled groan as the silver-blue patterns on his skin suddenly erupted with a piercing light, like burning ice-blue flames!

His entire body's blood, bones, Meridians, and even every cell groaned under the unbearable burden at this moment. His surface was instantly covered in a thick layer of ice crystals; he looked as if he were about to turn into an ice sculpture.

“Extreme Cold Ice God Art, Refine!” Di Juetian shouted in his heart. His consciousness sank into his Dantian as he frantically circulated his Cultivation Technique.

The moment the technique began to run, the Extreme Cold Ice God Body within him seemed to transform into a bottomless black hole vortex, erupting with a terrifying suction force!

The ice torrent that was enough to destroy everything met the Ice God Body's Origin; like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, its violent momentum was forcibly suppressed!

The incredibly pure Ice Origin power was greedily devoured.

This was an extremely painful yet incredibly exhilarating process.

His Physical Body was repeatedly tempered in the extreme cold and then rapidly healed under the Ice God Origin. With every cycle, his Physical Body became more crystal clear, and its strength soared.

Time within the ice cave seemed to stretch.

Di Juetian was like an ancient ice sculpture, motionless. Only the steaming gray-white cold air on his surface and the ever-growing ice-blue divine light—which almost pierced through the dome—indicated the earth-shaking changes occurring within him.

An unknown amount of time passed.

“Crack... Crack...”

The thick ice crystals on Di Juetian's surface suddenly became covered in cracks and then exploded!

An aura several times stronger than before rose into the sky like a dormant ice Dragon waking up!

Countless icicles on the cave's dome snapped and fell under the impact of this aura, crashing into the ice lake and splashing huge blue waves.

Fourth Level Profound Venerable Realm!

Di Juetian suddenly opened his eyes. Two substantial ice-blue divine lights shot out, instantly piercing through the several-zhang-thick ice wall ahead!

He slowly stood up and stretched his limbs. A roar like a surging ice river and colliding glaciers echoed from within his body.

The silver-blue patterns beneath his skin were deeper and more complex, with a faint divine radiance flowing through them.

Sensing its master's Breakthrough, the ice emperor sword let out a clear hum, and the cold air flowing on its blade became even more condensed and sharp.

“My power... has been purified several times over! My physical strength and comprehension of the Law of ice have reached a new level.”

Feeling the majestic power surging within him, a trace of satisfaction flashed in Di Juetian's cold eyes.

At this moment, although he was only at the fourth level of the Profound Venerable Realm, with his Minor Achievement in the Extreme Cold Ice God Body and the power of the ice emperor sword, he was confident he could face an Earth Venerable without being defeated!

Just as he was stabilizing his Realm and preparing to explore the depths of this strange ice lake, four undisguised auras carrying intense killing intent locked onto him!

“Outsider! Desecrating the Sacred Lake and stealing the Sacred Lotus! Death is the only sentence!” A raspy, piercing voice rang out, sounding like a venomous snake's hiss.

Along with the voice, four figures appeared at the edge of the ice lake like ghosts.

They were clad in leather armor tanned from some kind of dark green python skin, which was decorated with ferocious python head totems.

The leader was particularly tall, his aura having reached the Peak of the seventh level of the Profound Venerable Realm. In his hand, he held a curved hook polished from white bone, its edge glowing with a ghostly blue toxic light.

The other three were all at the sixth level of the Profound Venerable Realm, holding bone spears and surrounding Di Juetian on the ice platform in a fan shape.

The Cold Python Tribe! One of the six great tribes of the Extreme Cold Continent!

The leading python-tattooed warrior licked his lips, his slit pupils staring fixedly at Di Juetian. His greedy gaze swept over the aura of the ice emperor sword in Di Juetian's hand.

“Such pure Ice God power... and that divine sword! By devouring you and refining your Origin and divine sword, I, Duya, will surely break through to the Earth Venerable Realm and become a tribal Elder! Kill!”

“Hiss—!” With the order given, the four Cold Python warriors moved simultaneously!

There were no flashy Moves, only the most primitive and lethal pouncing strikes!

“Courting death.” Di Juetian's eyes were icy. Faced with the pincer attack, he didn't even raise the ice emperor sword.

With a slight thought.

Buzz!

With Di Juetian as the center, the space within a ten-zhang radius instantly solidified!

It was as if flowing water had turned into ten-thousand-year profound ice!

The figures of the four Cold Python warriors pouncing forward were frozen in time as if a pause button had been pressed, their ferocious expressions fixed in space!

In this small area where they were imprisoned, the flow of time suddenly accelerated a hundredfold! A single moment in the outside world felt like a hundred years to them!

“Ugh... Ah?!”

Duya's slit pupils were instantly filled with boundless terror! He felt his body become incredibly heavy, as if he had fallen into the deepest mire; moving even a finger felt like moving a mountain!

Even more terrifyingly, he could clearly feel his life force draining away at an inconceivable speed!

His skin lost its luster, shriveled, and wrinkled at a speed visible to the naked eye!

It was the ultimate horror of watching oneself rot while being completely powerless to stop it!

“No—!!” He wanted to roar and struggle, but in the solidified space and hundredfold time flow, his struggle was as weak as an ant's, and his roar was choked in his throat, unable to make even a sound.

He could see the same despair in his companions' eyes and see them aging rapidly as well.

Di Juetian watched the four people in the spatial cage—struggling in slow motion while aging and rotting at high speed—with indifference, as if watching four insects trapped in resin.

He slowly raised his right hand and pointed his fingers like a sword, a speck of ice-blue cold light flickering at his fingertips.

Ssh! Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

Four ice-blue light beams pierced the foreheads of the four Cold Python warriors.

The moment they were hit by the beams, the four bodies trembled violently, and the last light in their eyes was completely extinguished.

An instant kill! Absolute suppression! Di Juetian hadn't even moved a single step.