Chapter 1704: Burial Demon Icefield

The Demon Buried Ice Plains are located in the northwestern part of the Tianlan Realm. It snows there year-round, and the area contains many powerful restrictions. It is rumored that monstrous beasts capable of killing Soul Transformation cultivators reside there. When Soul Transformation cultivators from the Tianlan Sect led an expedition to clear the Ice Plains, they suffered heavy losses and ultimately withdrew. Consequently, the Demon Buried Ice Plains became one of the Tianlan Realm's three most perilous regions.

Due to the unique environment of the Demon Buried Ice Plains, it is highly suitable for cultivating ice-attribute spiritual herbs. The Tianlan Sect established numerous spiritual fields on the outskirts of the Ice Plains for this purpose and deployed a group of disciples to guard them.

Fan Xue, who hails from a cultivation family, is an ice spiritual root cultivator. After four hundred years of cultivation, she has reached the late Nascent Soul stage. Her family holds significant influence within the Tianlan Sect, and the environment of the Demon Buried Ice Plains is highly conducive to her cultivation. Fan Xue has been stationed here for over three hundred years.

This particular branch outpost is garrisoned by three Nascent Soul cultivators and dozens of Core Formation cultivators. Even with the war escalating, the Tianlan Sect has not redeployed the cultivators from this location, allowing Fan Xue to cultivate peacefully.

The Demon Buried Ice Plains span over a hundred million li, culminating in the Windless Sea. Entering through the entrance guarded by Fan Xue is relatively safe.

The entrance is situated within a narrow valley, where snow piles up to over a person's height. Inside the valley stands a vast white manor. Beyond the manor stretches an endless plain, with large snowflakes continuously falling from the sky and a biting cold wind whipping up countless white snowdrifts.

Inside the council hall, Fan Xue was conversing with two fellow disciples.

"The cultivators from the Dongli Realm are causing too much trouble," Fan Xue said solemnly. "Several branch outposts have been attacked. We've heard of a Nascent Soul cultivator who controls corpse puppets, whom even Senior Martial Brother Shangguan couldn't defeat. The main headquarters has ordered us to increase our vigilance." The Senior Martial Brother Shangguan she referred to was Shangguan Ming, the great-great-grandson of Shangguan Tianhong.

Shangguan Ming is a dual wood and fire spiritual root cultivator with late Nascent Soul stage cultivation. His strength is comparable to cultivators at the perfected Nascent Soul stage, ranking him among the top five Nascent Soul cultivators in the Tianlan Sect.

"Controls corpse puppets? No way!" exclaimed a short, stout, benevolent-looking old man in white robes, somewhat surprised. "Senior Martial Brother Shangguan is Elder Shangguan's great-great-grandson; he possesses several spiritual treasures. And he still couldn't defeat this person?"

"This person's corpse puppets are unusual," Fan Xue explained. "They can cast magic spells and utilize Daoist magic abilities, making them effective in both offense and defense, unlike ordinary corpse puppets." Even Fan Xue found it hard to believe; corpse puppets typically give the impression of being rigid, relying on their powerful physical bodies for close-quarters combat, and are known to be vulnerable to thunder and fire-attribute Daoist magic. The idea of corpse puppets from the Dongli Realm being able to unleash Daoist magic abilities and possess both offensive and defensive capabilities was truly astonishing.

"There's no need to exaggerate their prowess," the white-robed elder said, "There are only a few truly powerful Nascent Soul cultivators in the Dongli Realm. Didn't Senior Martial Brother Zhao capture several Dongli Realm cultivators already? I believe all Dongli Realm cultivators will eventually be apprehended. We..." Before the white-robed elder could finish speaking, a melodious pipa melody filled the air, and alarms blared loudly.

"No, enemy attack!" Fan Xue's beautiful face changed, and she immediately flew out.

As they flew out of the council hall, they were astonished to find their disciples behaving abnormally. Some were dancing wildly, others laughing heartily, some weeping loudly, and still others looking furious. A commonality among them was their vacant stares, clearly indicating they were trapped in an illusion.

"Illusion! Shangguan Wei!" Fan Xue immediately thought of Shangguan Wei, who had used her illusionary arts to kill many Tianlan Sect cultivators and rarely encountered a match.

Outside the valley, Wang Ruyan sat on the ground, holding the Celestial Illusion Pipa with both hands, her fingers constantly plucking its strings, producing a series of melodious pipa sounds. Wang Changsheng stood beside her, his expression indifferent. Both he and Wang Ruyan were enveloped in a blue spiritual glow, and Wang Ruyan's aura had reached the level of an early Soul Transformation cultivator.

When Fan Xue and her two companions flew out of the valley, they saw Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan and were greatly alarmed.

"The Azure Lotus Immortal Couple!" The moment they appeared, a seven-colored spiritual light shone in the sky above them. It was the Seven-Colored Glazed Bowl, a spiritual treasure that Wang Changsheng had previously sent flying but not destroyed. The Seven-Colored Glazed Bowl spun rapidly, emitting a seven-colored spiritual light that enveloped Fan Xue and her two companions.

Before Fan Xue and her companions could evade, a rapid ringing sound, from the Soul-Capturing Bell, echoed. Dazed and disoriented, they were still recovering their senses when they were trapped by the seven-colored spiritual light.

The pipa melody suddenly became frantic. Soon after, it turned stirring, then melodious again.

Fan Xue and her two companions looked dazed; their breathing quickened, and their bodies shone with bright spiritual light. They all summoned their magic treasures and attacked the seven-colored light barrier. A tremendous roar filled the air, but the seven-colored light barrier remained motionless.

Fan Xue took out a pale golden talisman from her sleeve, but before she could activate it, a sharp pain struck her spiritual sea. Her body trembled, and she almost fell from mid-air. Soon, their expressions turned manic. They each took out sharp weapons and severed their own heads.

A flash of spiritual light, and three miniature Nascent Souls flew out of their bodies. The moment they emerged, a hazy blue glow descended from the sky, sweeping the three miniature Nascent Souls into a shimmering blue giant pagoda. Simultaneously, all the cultivators within the valley committed suicide.

From the moment Wang Ruyan acted until she annihilated all the cultivators at this branch outpost, only ten breaths of time passed. Had it been Shangguan Wei, it would not have taken nearly as long; this was the difference between Earth-grade and Heaven-grade cultivation techniques. The difference was that Wang Ruyan's divine abilities included sound wave attacks, with illusionary arts being just one of them, whereas Shangguan Wei's divine abilities were primarily focused on illusions.

"If we both advance to the Soul Transformation stage and acquire a sound-based heaven-reaching spiritual treasure, annihilating an entire sect would be effortless for us," Wang Changsheng said, a hint of excitement in his voice. Wang Changsheng was quite excited, seeing how Wang Ruyan had effortlessly eliminated dozens of cultivators; she would undoubtedly be even more formidable once she reached the Soul Transformation stage.

Wang Ruyan smiled sweetly and said, "My dear husband, you pursue materialistic cultivation, while I pursue idealistic cultivation. Spiritual artifacts offer some aid, but my focus is more on my state of mind. Helping Qingzhi avenge himself has greatly perfected my mental state. This is an opportune moment for me to enter seclusion and strive to reach the perfected Nascent Soul stage."

Wang Changsheng nodded, took out a communication talisman, and threw it behind him. Not long after, Huang Fugui and others flew over.

Seeing all the buildings intact, Huang Fugui's face was filled with shock. It seemed the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple had effortlessly annihilated the cultivators at this branch outpost.

"Quickly clear the battlefield," Wang Changsheng instructed Wang Qiuming and the others, "then burn this place down to create the illusion of a robbery." Wang Changsheng explained that their previous attacks on other branch outposts, where they took many valuable items, were merely a ruse.

Wang Qiuming acknowledged the order and led his clansmen to clear the battlefield.

After about fifteen minutes, with a tremendous roar, the branch outpost erupted in a raging inferno, with flames soaring into the sky.

Wang Changsheng and his group then flew into the Demon Buried Ice Plains. Considering it was one of the Tianlan Realm's three most perilous regions, Wang Changsheng dared not be negligent and fully extended his spiritual sense. Wang Ruyan used her Dark Phoenix Eye, carefully observing the surrounding environment.

After passing through an open area, they arrived at an unending white mountain range, where many white trees over a hundred zhang tall could be seen.

Two days later, Wang Changsheng and his group stopped. Ahead of them was a lake spanning ten thousand mu. Strangely, despite the snow being over a person's height, the lake water remained unfrozen.

Wang Changsheng's spiritual sense penetrated the lake water, but it was blocked by some restriction a hundred zhang below the surface.

"This is Immortal Falling Lake," Wang Ruyan said, frowning as she held a blue jade slip. "According to records, even Nascent Soul cultivators would perish if they flew over this place. There must be some powerful restriction here. Only with a fire-attribute spiritual treasure or other special artifacts would it be possible to cross safely."