Chapter 1576: Ice Layer Burial Ground

At this moment, Xu Yang was using his own body to resist the stirrings of thousands of life forces frozen beneath the ice, suppressing the urge of the remaining bodies to consume vital energy and revive.

This was a formidable power, a fusion of immense spiritual and life force!

Had Xu Yang not personally intervened, anyone else would likely have had their consciousness completely overwhelmed by this immense power, vast as a sea of purgatorial blood.

Yet, Xu Yang stood proudly beneath the glacier, his face impassive, calmly sensing the flow of all the surrounding forces.

"Strange," he thought, "I can clearly feel this life force flowing around. But why is its pulsating spiritual energy so fragmented?"

Puzzled, Xu Yang attempted to send a wisp of his spiritual consciousness through the layers of icy seals, merging it into one of the bodies. In a very short time, he swiftly took control of that being's originally hollow soul world.

Indeed, the soul space was utterly silent. However, Xu Yang discovered that the soul sea within this skeletal body was not shattered.

"Just as I suspected!" he mused. "The owners of these bodies here were forcibly drained of their souls to become like this. Could this, too, be the work of the Supreme God's will in the Kunlun Divine Path?"

Now, Xu Yang increasingly yearned to sweep through the entirety of Kunlun Mountain, ascend to its peak, and uncover how many secrets the so-called Supreme God's will truly held.

"If I were to forcibly release their seals now," he considered, "the primal urge of these bodies to devour would spiral out of control. Without souls to guide them, they would become a horde of bloodthirsty demons. It seems this secret must remain sealed for a while longer."

Having made this decision, Xu Yang continued to amplify the formidable protective energy within him, shielding hundreds of thousands of demon beings as they swiftly traversed the divided glacier region, moving closer to the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

Then, Xu Yang surged upwards. Just as he was about to ascend from beneath the glacier, an ancient and profound soul fluctuation suddenly reawakened and surged into his mind.

This sudden, instantaneous change deeply affected Xu Yang!

"Young one, might you descend for a moment?"

Xu Yang slowly turned his head. Only then did he notice two dark blue points of light flickering deep within the utterly silent ice-encased bodies. From above, they appeared more like two transparent, profound, deep-blue pupils, directing the most devout soul summons toward Xu Yang.

Upon this realization, Xu Yang did not hesitate. He immediately dove down, swiftly swimming towards the two deep blue eyes.

Using his Dao-rhyme aura to clear all surrounding obstructions, Xu Yang could then clearly see that what lay dormant here was an incredibly colossal human skull.

This elder, had his body been whole and at its peak, would undoubtedly have possessed the strength of the Boundless Grand Realm.

"I am Tai Jia, one of the eighteen ancient guardian gods of Kunlun Mountain, renowned for my protective abilities," the elder's voice echoed. "However, countless eons ago, the laws of the main continent changed, causing the cultivation system of the previous era to collapse entirely. The dawn of a new age allowed the so-called Supreme God's will to become the sovereign of all beings on the main continent."

Xu Yang had already gained a clear understanding of this matter, yet hearing the mysterious elder reiterate it brought various dormant questions to the forefront of his mind.

"What Senior said is correct," Xu Yang replied. "Could it be that the eighteen ancient Old Gods who once guarded this mountain also declined due to the rise of the Supreme God's will?"

"Precisely," Tai Jia affirmed. "After the Supreme God's will became the ruler of the Kunlun Divine Path, it used supreme divine laws to forcibly seal all the Old Gods within Kunlun Mountain. Furthermore, by its will, it transformed all of our collective power into the Nine-Vein Source of Life."

Hearing this, Xu Yang instantly comprehended the true origin of the Nine-Vein Kunlun Power!

"So that's it!" Xu Yang exclaimed. "The so-called Nine-Vein Power is actually the transformed life force of you former Kunlun inhabitants! Then what method can crush the Supreme God's will without jeopardizing the billions of beings within the Kunlun Divine Path?"

Tai Jia sighed with a hint of resignation. "A method exists, but the conditions are exceptionally stringent. I can reveal this to you: the dojos of the Six Elders of the Human Spirit Veins, who now guard the peak of Kunlun, are the six array cores of the most powerful formation sealing the inner space of Kunlun Mountain."

"To access the inner core of the mountain, all six dojos must be shattered. Only then will the statue representing the Supreme God's will on Kunlun Peak crumble, releasing the power of the Old Gods from within Kunlun Mountain. It is only then that the Supreme God's will can truly be threatened."

"Of course, with your transcendent strength, you could also directly crush the Supreme God's will using your own methods. However, doing so would cause the entire lineage and heritage of the Kunlun Divine Path to collapse."

Xu Yang nodded. "I understand. To overcome the Supreme God's will with minimal cost, I must first conquer the dojos of all Six Elders of the Human Spirit Veins. Then, I must enter the inner reaches of Kunlun Mountain, awaken the dormant souls of the Old Gods, and combine all their power to crush the Supreme God's will?"

Tai Jia nodded. "Indeed, you are truly a being blessed with immense destiny; the fate of all beings in the Kunlun Divine Path now rests in your hands. You are also the only one capable of integrating the Nine-Vein Kunlun Power into your being. Only by using your physical body as a vessel can all these powers be perfectly harmonized."

Xu Yang now thoroughly understood all his previous uncertainties. How he would lead the beast army to achieve his goal had become exceptionally clear.

Just as Xu Yang prepared to depart, the elder's deep blue pupils suddenly became clear and luminous, and two beams of light simultaneously converged on Xu Yang's chest.

A pure, boundless power, like an ocean, began to surge forth, rapidly absorbed by Xu Yang's body.

"This is a portion of the protective power unique to the Old Gods of Kunlun," the elder explained. "You can use it to enlist some of the old ones hidden within Kunlun Mountain. Once they sense this protective power, your identity as the leader of a beast army entering the mountain will no longer be an impediment to you."

In essence, this protective power served as both a formidable pass and a mark of recognition.

Xu Yang nodded gravely, gratefully accepting this gift of power.

However, he hadn't anticipated that once the power was fully transferred, the two profound gazes would dim.

"Tai Jia's mission is complete," the voice faded. "The future guardianship of Kunlun will now be decided by you, Xu Yang!"