Chapter 1705: The Water of the Dark Moon

Fallen Immortal Lake is the first dangerous pass in the Demon Burying Ice Plain. Its water is not ordinary; it's Nethermoon Water, a substance unique to the Tianlan Realm. This water is incredibly cold and cannot be contained by regular vessels. Even ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators are completely unable to cross Fallen Immortal Lake.

The cultivators of the Tianlan Sect merely guarded the entrance to the Demon Burying Ice Plain and did not operate within this area, indicating their considerable apprehension toward Fallen Immortal Lake.

Wang Qiuming released two entirely black flying eagle puppet beasts and controlled them to fly towards Fallen Immortal Lake.

As soon as the flying eagle puppet beasts appeared over Fallen Immortal Lake, they lost control and plummeted rapidly before flying even ten zhang.

Wang Qiuming frowned. With a single grab, the two puppet beasts flew back to him.

He could clearly see that the puppet beasts' surfaces were covered in black ice.

"Don't touch it with your hands," Wang Ruyan warned. "This isn't ordinary ice; it's Nether Ice. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would face significant trouble if they came into contact with it." She wouldn't have known how terrifying Fallen Immortal Lake was if she hadn't examined the jade slips found on the Tianlan Sect cultivators.

Wang Qiuming withdrew his hand, and the two flying eagle puppet beasts quickly fell onto the snowy ground.

With dull thuds, the two flying eagle puppet beasts shattered into pieces upon impact.

"Nethermoon Water, how interesting," Huang Fugui said excitedly, seeing a business opportunity. "If we could collect it, it could be refined into a powerful treasure to harm enemies."

He conjured a palm-sized yellow jade bottle. After striking a magic seal into it, the bottle immediately expanded, its mouth facing downward. It sprayed a large swathe of yellow mist, covering a section of the lake surface.

A large amount of Nethermoon Water poured into the yellow jade bottle, but it wasn't long before the bottle's spiritual light dimmed, and fine cracks appeared on its surface.

With a "crack," the yellow jade bottle shattered into pieces and fell into the lake, along with a large amount of Nethermoon Water. The splashes landed on the snow, causing it to rapidly freeze. The ice layer continuously expanded, spreading for hundreds of zhang and turning all the accumulated snow into massive black ice blocks.

Wang Changsheng frowned. With one hand, he made a grasping motion towards the lake below, causing the void to ripple. A blue hand, over a hundred zhang in size, appeared out of nowhere. Like trying to scoop the moon from the bottom of the sea, it reached for the Nethermoon Water.

The blue hand grasped a large amount of Nethermoon Water, but very quickly, it froze at a visible rate, turning into a massive black ice block that fell into the lake.

"According to the jade slips," Wang Ruyan said with a frown and a solemn expression, "over a hundred thousand years ago, several Demon Race cultivators in the Spirit Transformation stage invaded the Tianlan Realm. Nethermoon Water was brought by them from the Demon Realm. Strictly speaking, the Demon Burying Ice Plain is an ancient battlefield, though the Demon Race has long since perished. Even the Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Tianlan Sect who tried to collect Nethermoon Water all failed; even spirit treasures would be damaged upon contact with it."

Wang Changsheng's heart stirred, and he thought of the Azure Lotus Cauldron. The Azure Lotus Cauldron could purify crafting materials, and its grade was definitely above that of spirit treasures. However, judging by its spiritual energy fluctuations, it did not seem like a Sky-reaching Spirit Treasure. The Sea Suppressing Token was the same; merely from its spiritual energy fluctuations, no abnormality could be discerned.

He lacked a powerful killing weapon and could only flee when facing Spirit Transformation cultivators. If he could refine a powerful treasure using Nethermoon Water, that would be ideal.

Lunar Divine Crystal would be a good vessel; perhaps it could contain Nethermoon Water.

After a slight contemplation, he decided against using the Azure Lotus Cauldron to collect Nethermoon Water. If he wanted to refine it, he could do so directly here; there was no need to use the cauldron to collect the water. If the Azure Lotus Cauldron were damaged, it would be a huge loss.

Wang Changsheng conjured a snow-white flying boat. Its surface was inscribed with countless enigmatic runes, emitting a soft white glow.

This was the Flying Snow Boat, a flying magic treasure refined from special materials that could weaken the power of Nethermoon Water. Fan Xue had used this very treasure to cross Fallen Immortal Lake.

Wang Changsheng and the others successively flew onto the Flying Snow Boat. It then emitted a dazzling white light, enveloping everyone, and transformed into a white rainbow, flying towards Fallen Immortal Lake.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Flying Snow Boat crossed Fallen Immortal Lake. A desolate white snow plain appeared before them, with white snowflakes continuously falling from high above and gusts of cold wind sweeping through, swirling countless white snowflakes.

Wang Changsheng performed a magic seal, and the Flying Snow Boat's light intensified as it accelerated.

Three days later, they appeared over a white mountain range stretching for a million li. Both large trees and stones were frozen solid, as if they were ice sculptures, and they could even see some existing ice sculptures.

"A peculiar cold wind erupts here," Wang Ruyan said, her willow brows tightly furrowed. "Whether it's cultivators or magic treasures, anything that touches this cold wind will be frozen." This was the most difficult pass. Tianlan Sect cultivators suffered heavy casualties when exploring the Demon Burying Ice Plain precisely here; it would be very difficult to cross without flying spirit treasures.

Wang Changsheng's mind stirred, and Wang Xin transformed into a golden streak of light, flying towards the mountain range.

Before he had flown a thousand zhang, a strong wind suddenly arose, and over a dozen streaks of white, misty cold wind attacked from all directions. Wang Xin performed a magic seal, and his body glowed with a brilliant golden light. A deafening dragon's roar resounded as a golden flood dragon, over a hundred zhang long—his unique divine ability, the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon—flew out from him.

The golden flood dragon lunged at the white strong wind. As soon as it touched the wind, its body suddenly froze, turning into a massive ice sculpture.

Wang Xin could not dodge in time; his left shoulder was struck by the white cold wind, and his body froze at a visible rate, instantly turning into an ice sculpture.

Wang Changsheng quickly opened his mouth and spat out a light blue flame. It struck Wang Xin's body, and the ice layer rapidly melted, allowing Wang Xin to fly back to Wang Changsheng's side.

"Fellow Daoist Huang," Wang Changsheng asked casually, "do you have any way to cross this place?"

Huang Fugui hesitated slightly, then nodded and said, "I have a Wind-Avoiding Banner; perhaps it can get us through here. I'll try it first."

He flipped his hand and took out a shimmering yellow banner. Its flagpole was covered in enigmatic runes, and the flag surface bore a tornado pattern.

He gently waved the Wind-Avoiding Banner. A hazy yellow mist swept out, enveloping Huang Fugui, who then transformed into a yellow streak of light and flew towards the white mountain range.

A hint of surprise flashed in Wang Changsheng's eyes. Huang Fugui's escape speed was no slower than his own, even though Huang Fugui was only at the Mid-Nascent Soul stage. Without a flying spirit treasure, even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to catch up to him!

As soon as Huang Fugui appeared over the white mountain range, dozens of white, misty cold winds suddenly arose, striking towards him.

Strangely, when the dozens of white cold winds touched the yellow mist, they all avoided it, allowing Huang Fugui to move freely.

Huang Fugui circled above the mountain range, and the white cold winds could do nothing to him.

"No problem now," Huang Fugui said with a smile as he flew back to Wang Changsheng's side. "With the Wind-Avoiding Banner, we can safely cross this place."

He suddenly shook the Wind-Avoiding Banner, and a large swathe of yellow mist flew out, enveloping everyone. Enveloped by the yellow mist, they flew towards the sky.

Within the mountain range, white, misty cold winds occasionally arose, but when they encountered the yellow mist, they simply avoided it.

An hour later, they crossed the white mountain range and appeared over a snow-capped mountain over a thousand zhang high. Many white trees grew on the snow mountain, and the white cold winds no longer blew here.

They flew for another two hundred thousand li without triggering any restrictions, then landed on a steep snow mountain. Centered on this mountain, an open area stretched for a hundred li in every direction. To the east was a massive blue ice lake; to the south, an endless white dense forest; to the west, their path of arrival; and to the north, the deeper part of the Demon Burying Ice Plain.

"Let's stay here for a while," Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice. "It would be quite difficult for the Tianlan Sect cultivators to track us down here." The geographical location here was good, and he intended to attempt breaking through to the Spirit Transformation stage here.

Huang Fugui shivered. Even as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he felt somewhat uncomfortable, but from another perspective, this was indeed an excellent hiding spot.

"I won't disturb Fellow Daoist Wang," Huang Fugui said discreetly as he left. "I'll cultivate over there." He departed, flying north. If powerful enemies attacked, he could escape into the depths of the Demon Burying Ice Plain, offering both the option to advance or retreat.