Chapter 317: Exchange for Frozen Demon Path and Netherworld Demon Sword

In the past, things were different; he had nothing to lose, so he dared to sign any terms. Now that his influence has grown and he has made substantial progress in his cultivation, it's a different story. Naturally, he doesn't want such a contract to exist, as his life is the most precious thing, invaluable and beyond quantification by any resources.

While waiting for the three brothers to gather, Wang Yu took advantage of his free time, as it wasn't convenient for him to enter seclusion. He 'donated' one-fifth of his wealth, a staggering three million spirit stones, to Cold Blood Peak, in exchange for a complete inheritance of the Ten Directions Ice Demon Path. He had this idea as soon as he returned to the sect. At that time, he had first acquired the Ice Soul Sacred Demonic Scripture, intending to make it his primary cultivation. However, the Ten Directions Ice Demon Path also suited him very well. While three million low-grade spirit stones seemed expensive, the attached divine abilities alone were worth far more than that. He was able to acquire it, partly due to his status as a candidate for the Twelve Elders, and partly because news of his battle with Lu Chenzhou gradually spread. Regardless of whether his opponent fought with full strength at the time, it was a fact that Wang Yu had suppressed him with physical power for a period. Ordinary disciples, however, couldn't discern the underlying intricacies. Rumors spread as a result, hailing him as another rising star of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect and sparking much discussion centered around the upcoming Blood Abyss trials.

Wang Yu didn't pay too much attention to external news. As soon as he obtained the scriptures of the Ten Directions Ice Demon Path, he eagerly began to study them. This inheritance had a long history and shared the same origin as another Nascent Soul inheritance from Cold Blood Peak. Furthermore, it had the effect of tempering the body, incorporating the marvelous effects of body refinement techniques; it could be considered a semi-body refinement method, lacking only the process of condensing marrow.

However, once he truly acquired the inheritance, Wang Yu was astonished to discover that the introduction to the Ten Directions Ice Demon Path contained too little information; the true core essence of the cultivation method was actually an entirely different concept! While the Frozen Demonic Qi appeared cold and biting, it actually represented yin giving birth to yang, with yang controlling yin. The hotter and more vigorous the internal magic power, the more intensely icy the external manifestation. The magic power could burst multiple times, was highly adept at nullifying different types of magic power, and was an extremely powerful characteristic when applied in combat.

'Unexpectedly,' he thought, 'it follows the path of yin-yang opposition and extreme reversal. This means this cultivation method is actually more suitable for geniuses with Fire Spirit Roots, Yang Spirit Roots, and similar attributes.' Of course, Wang Yu possessed the Profound Origin Demonic Embryo, which should allow him to ignore such specific requirements. As long as it was a demonic cultivation method, he had the talent comparable to a Heavenly Spirit Root when cultivating it.

After a quick scan, he temporarily set aside the core principles of the cultivation method. When he reached the chapter on artifacts, his heart stirred. This inheritance contained three types of artifacts that could be refined into Natal Magical Treasures.

The Frozen Demonic Wheel, shaped like a crescent moon and resembling a flying disc, possessed extreme speed and potent offensive power, excelling at shattering shields.

The Heaven Frost Blood Halberd was a heavy weapon. When combined with the formidable physique cultivated through the Ice Demon Path, it focused on close-quarters combat and could shatter mountains with a single swing! This was a special type of magical treasure, likely developed by combining a body cultivator's bloodline true artifact. It wasn't suitable for every cultivator, but it was exceptionally suitable for Wang Yu. His brute strength was already formidable, and with the aid of a magical treasure of the same rank, it could likely reach another extreme.

The Ice Prison Scroll was a scroll-type magical treasure. Once unfurled and activated, it could dominate an area, turning it into a frozen hell, greatly weakening the enemy's power and entangling them with the Ice Prison's force. It had a hint of an 'ice domain' feel, and its practicality was extremely high.

Wang Yu was deeply tempted by all three artifact refinement methods. Unfortunately, the spot for his Natal Magical Treasure was already occupied by the Glazed Ice Heart Pagoda. If these magical treasures were refined, they wouldn't have the growth potential of a Natal Magical Treasure. It was truly a pity.

However, after calculating his wealth and considering various Yin and Ice-attributed spiritual materials, Wang Yu decided he could choose one of them and commission a master artifact refiner from Cold Blood Peak to create it. He still didn't have a suitable weapon. The Ghost Wail Flute's combat style didn't quite suit him, and inheritances for soul and sound arts were too difficult to find; he hadn't been able to find replacements for spells like Mind-Controlling Demonic Sound. Perhaps in the future, he could use the deduction power of the placement bar to upgrade the rank of his spells, but currently, the slots were simply not enough, making it impossible to use for this purpose. Once he got through this period, he wouldn't actually need the power of one or two third-tier spells anymore, making them somewhat redundant.

After the artifact chapter came the chapter on divine abilities and spells.

The Heaven Frost Halberd Art was similar to the Demonic Dragon Fist combat method. It contained a complete set of halberd combat profound principles, with its ultimate moves being divine abilities. The difference was that its moves focused more on the application of magic power. This was very different from the Demonic Dragon Fist, which emphasized physical might. Wang Yu silently added it to the end of his placement plan. This divine combat method required the Heaven Frost Blood Halberd to unleash its maximum power. Furthermore, it seemed capable of combining with magical treasures to produce a unique form of growth, which he didn't quite understand yet.

The Wind and Snow Mountain-Shattering Steps was a half-step offensive art combining movement techniques, escape techniques, and leg techniques. It was considered 'half-step' because it pushed kicking techniques to their extreme. All its profound mysteries were designed for a single, immensely powerful, and fatal kick! In terms of speed, it was far inferior to the Aurora Escape Method, but it had its merits. Wang Yu looked it over and felt that practicing the entire technique wasn't quite suitable. If he could extract just the Mountain-Shattering Kick, it would be very suitable for him.

The final divine ability was named the Ten Directions Ice Demon Fist! Its name indicated it was the core of this inheritance. Wang Yu liked fist techniques, and after a brief review, he decisively added it to the middle section of his placement plan, ranking it only after the Ice Soul Divine Light. This divine ability was quite unique; it could accommodate ten divine abilities of Yin and Ice attributes. There were three perfect combination methods: one could choose all ten Yin abilities, all ten Ice abilities, or a mix of five Yin and five Ice. When mastered and unleashed, it would integrate the power of ten divine abilities, controlled by the Ice Demon Path, into one. It would unleash extremely terrifying destructive power.

'So, this is the meaning of 'Ten Directions'?' The more Wang Yu looked at it, the more he liked it, but unleashing its full power was not something an ordinary person could achieve. Gathering ten divine abilities was almost an impossible task for a rogue cultivator. However, Wang Yu had the backing of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect and access to a sacred ground for ice-attributed cultivators like Cold Blood Peak. So, gathering them wasn't particularly difficult for him. The challenge was successfully cultivating all ten divine abilities, and his mastery of the Ten Directions Ice Demon Fist itself couldn't be low. Otherwise, if he failed to control them, Wang Yu himself would be the first to suffer severe damage. But if the divine abilities he controlled were powerful enough and his cultivation reached the perfected realm, then wielding this fist at that point might allow him to reach a level even the creators of the divine ability could not rival. Its potential was truly terrifying!

As a top-tier divine ability, it naturally had a growth method: absorbing the essence of the ten divine abilities it controlled, integrating diverse knowledge, and transforming it into a fist technique, ultimately unleashing an earth-shattering punch! This had little impact on the controlled divine abilities themselves. This unique method of advancement made Wang Yu realize that it primarily relied on the cultivator's own comprehension. Divine abilities were inanimate; they could only provide a direction for fist techniques, but the actual execution required the cultivator's personal effort. This was remarkably similar to the deduction ability of the placement bar. However, based on the potential of the original cultivation methods and secret arts, the placement bar could only elevate them by one major rank. As for the potential of divine abilities, Wang Yu's knowledge was far from enough to see its limits. What wondrous reactions would occur if these two were combined?

After a long moment, Wang Yu exhaled a cold breath, pulling his thoughts away from the divine abilities and magical treasures that filled his mind. His immediate priority was dealing with the Blood Abyss trials, and these divine abilities, difficult to achieve in the short term, were not within his current scope of consideration. Therefore, he still had to consider magical treasures. Among all his collections, the only one he could temporarily make use of was the fiend treasure obtained from the Buried Pit Secret Realm, resembling a rib – the Yellow Spring Fiend Root! He had initially looked at the artifact chapter of the Ice Demon Path with the intention of making good use of this item. Unfortunately, none of the three top-tier magical treasures were particularly compatible with it.

After much thought, Wang Yu still felt that a sword artifact would be more suitable for the Yellow Spring Fiend Root; a short sword would suffice. As a result, the only suitable artifact blueprint he had was for the Ice Soul Demonic Sword. This sword was originally meant to be used in conjunction with the Ice Soul Divine Light. It was said that Fairy Ice Soul, one of the four Nascent Soul cultivators of Cold Blood Peak, had used this divine ability and magical treasure as her Natal items, gradually advancing to the fourth tier and earning a formidable reputation, which demonstrated its high potential. Wang Yu didn't lack inheritances; he had always been busy seeking resources. Once the Blood Abyss trials concluded and Zhuo Shouqing's dispute settled, he would have ample time to dedicate himself and cultivate all these divine abilities, whether initiated or not, to perfection. At that time, in the Core Formation stage, he would truly be invincible!

For now, he could try using the Ice Soul Demonic Sword as a base, with the Yellow Spring Fiend Root as the primary material, to refine a Yellow Spring Demonic Sword. He had already figured out how to stir up trouble in the Blood Abyss.

And so, for the next half-month, he traveled back and forth between his own cultivation cave and the cave of a master artifact refiner from Cold Blood Peak, a person introduced by Elder Jade Scroll and through the connections of the Zuoqiu clan. He held a high position in the Artifact Refining Hall, and compared to the 'scum' artifact refiner named Lei Shu whom he had found years ago, he was more professional, or perhaps completely 'tamed' by the Zuoqiu clan. This individual was a Grand Cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage, a cousin of Old Man Lan Xin, affiliated with the Zuoqiu clan, and possessed a low-grade fourth-tier artifact refining skill, known as Heavenly Artifact Master! Previously, the upgrade of Wang Yu's Ghost Wail Flute had been performed by this master's senior disciple, who was over six hundred years old and had reached the peak of Core Formation cultivation. Possessing several supreme-grade unorthodox Golden Cores, his magic power was not inferior to that of an early Nascent Soul cultivator, which was also the fundamental reason he could refine fourth-tier magical treasures. Wang Yu's trips between the two locations were to discuss with Heavenly Artifact Master how to refine the Yellow Spring Demonic Sword. Primarily, Wang Yu made the requests, and Heavenly Artifact Master stated what materials were needed to achieve them. He would then go collect them, and for overly rare ones, he would seek Zhuo Shouqing's help. After much effort, the treasure was finally pushed into the refining process, and he would receive it in about half a year.

As for the Blood Abyss trials, though said to be starting soon, there were actually still over two years of preparation time. This allowed ample time for disciples cultivating outside to return. Before entering, the peak masters would privately hold a mobilization and arrange deployments and tasks. They also had tasks to complete upon entering the Blood Abyss, which were their true trial objectives. Completing them would bring rewards, while failing to do so incurred no penalties.

By the end of March, Yu Xing and Zuoqiu Ming, who had been rushing back from two different locations, finally returned.