Chapter 374: Prisoner?

Although the Snow Fox Garment couldn't transform into a shovel, its sword form was well-suited for digging. It could cleanly cut out square blocks of earth, which could then be easily removed. Its efficiency was undoubtedly high.

Her innate demonic treasure was also quite remarkable. When combined with the Five Heavenly Fox Transformations, a divine ability inherited through her bloodline, it granted her five distinct sets of abilities. This was enough to handle any situation. By focusing on mastering just one divine ability, she could achieve the equivalent of five, making it incredibly versatile and useful without requiring excessive time or effort.

The little fox, acting as a laborer, dug diligently. Wang Yu didn't rest either. After determining the direction, he dug towards the Scripture Pavilion. He wanted to examine the black stele, as the information inscribed on it truly piqued his curiosity. The Yin-Moon Pupils were already an outstanding power. Obtaining another top-tier divine ability inheritance would be even more gratifying.

Half a day later, he had dug out a passage, and the underground Scripture Pavilion space was now completely cleared. The old rocking chair at the entrance had long since decayed into dust. He entered through the front door. After many years, the black stele once again appeared before his eyes.

"'Left by Zhu Qifeng of the Taiyin Sect?'" It was indeed the Taiyin Sect. Wang Yu easily recognized the first few characters, but as he deciphered more information, he realized it wasn't a secret divine ability technique. Instead, it was a pure record of information, seemingly left specifically for future generations. The content inscribed on the stele astonished him even further.

"'In ancient times, the world was a vast ice plain? Were the Ice Tribe the rulers of this land?'" The "ancient times" mentioned on the stele referred to that specific era; in the present day, it would be considered the primordial epoch, a distant age about which almost nothing was known. Wang Yu suppressed his wandering thoughts and continued reading with curiosity.

In the information left by Zhu Qifeng, these details were mentioned only briefly, with extensive text dedicated to the founding of the Immortal Dynasty. According to his account, humanity was not native to this world but originated from beyond its borders. Emissaries from the Immortal Palace brought people and settled in the Heavenly Origin of the Ice Hell Realm. This marked the beginning of the Primordial Immortal Dynasty.

Over countless years, humanity proliferated and grew strong. Ancient Demons from outside this world were one by one sealed within the Ice Hell Realm by powerful beings. These scattered sealing locations caused humanity to divide and spread across the entire world. Various tribes thus separated, gradually forming distinct customs. The transformation of the Ice Hell Realm's laws also began at this time, causing the ice plains that covered the entire world to recede northwards. The Ice Tribe was also driven inwards. They could not adapt to the world as modified by humanity's powerful beings and could only survive in their original territories, fundamentally due to the shift in the world's laws.

Wang Yu absorbed all of this shocking information. For a moment, he was speechless. So, this world was called the Ice Hell Realm, and the Ancient Demons were intentionally captured and sealed here by powerful beings from outside, precisely validating the realm's name. It truly was a prison! If it was a prison, then the Primordial Immortal Dynasty, the initial dominant power, must have been the jailers? No wonder even Soul Transformation Venerables couldn't directly break the Ancient Demon seals, only slowly prying them open with sacrificial rituals. Over time, demonic cultivation traditions began to flourish in the Ice Hell Realm.

Amidst his contemplation, Wang Yu continued reading. The stele recorded the reasons for the Primordial Immortal Dynasty's demise, attributing the root cause to human nature. After the Immortal Palace emissaries constructed this world-scale prison, they left behind sufficient personnel and departed. The descendants of these people lived their entire lives within the Ice Hell Realm and naturally heard their ancestors' descriptions of the world beyond. They naturally developed a longing for it.

Consequently, a shift occurred in the "jailers'" mindset. A group of them desired to leave the Ice Hell Realm and experience the true vastness of the world. Rumors of ascension spread throughout this realm. Attracting more like-minded individuals, their chosen method was to continuously sacrifice living beings to release Ancient Demons, hoping the demons' power could break the world's seals. The earliest legends of immortals descending to the lower realm originated from this very act.

The fall of the Immortal Dynasty was due to the Ancient Demon—"Kill!" This connected with the situation of Asura Sword Venerable and Rakshasa Demon Venerable. It was nothing more than an earth-shattering war, after which "Kill" was sealed back in the Barren Ancient Plains. After the Immortal Dynasty's collapse, the cultivation world experienced a direct generational gap.

Subsequently, the Taiyin Sect rose to prominence. They initially did not know the truth of the world. Through gradual exploration, they slowly realized the situation, understanding that releasing Ancient Demons would summon immortals to the lower realm. So, they pondered other methods. For example… the Yin-Moon Star! As one of the supreme stars among all constellations, it projected countless worlds. The Taiyin Sect sought to use the Yin-Moon Star as a conduit to directly teleport themselves to other worlds that had moons. This was undoubtedly a brilliant move. The jailers had no key and dared not release the prisoners. "Resigning and leaving" seemed to be a clear path, and the Yin-Moon Pupils were this key. This divine ability's faint connection to the Yin-Moon Star, along with its teleportation eye technique, were all aimed at achieving the goal of escaping the Ice Hell Realm.

Unfortunately, they ultimately failed. This eye technique divine ability was discovered by those secretly monitoring the realm before it could be developed to the fifth tier. The stele's record ended here. The last sentence warned: "Beware the Heavenly Eye Thieves!"

Wang Yu could guess the final outcome without needing to read further: the Taiyin Sect was annihilated silently, and the Void-Phase Sacred Sect took their place as the dominant power in the Ice Hell Realm. Countless years later, they too were destroyed, though the specifics were unknown. Then came the ancient era. By this time, there was no single, overwhelmingly powerful ruler unifying the Ice Hell Realm. Instead, it had split into Taihu and Chiyuan, clearly delineating the righteous and demonic cultivation lineages.

As he pondered, Wang Yu gradually pieced together the history of this realm. Although there were still many gaps, he now knew the most crucial points. The entire process could only be described as simple. Indeed, the more attempts made by predecessors and sages, the more traces were left behind, and the easier it became for successive generations to uncover the truth.

According to this theory, the top cultivators of the Five Demonic Sects and Seven Righteous Sects should all be aware of this hidden truth. It was no wonder that every Core Formation cultivator in the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect had a fixed quota for exploring ancient mysteries. This was specifically for gathering information left by ancient sages. Since the most crucial parts were already known, slowly piecing together the complete truth of each era was acceptable, as there was no longer such urgency.

At this thought, Wang Yu's mind shifted. Were they also trying to break through the shackles of the rules? Since ascension was a lie, those old monsters who didn't want to remain stuck at the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation stages for life would certainly find a way to break through. The "liberal faction" of the Immortal Dynasty chose the extreme method of releasing Ancient Demons. This method was proven wrong, yet the Bloodfiend Rebellion still erupted at the end of the ancient era, indicating that they were truly desperate and threw caution to the wind. After the Bloodfiend Rebellion, the cultivation world experienced another generational gap. The current cultivation world was built upon the ruins of ancient times. After so many generations of attempts, what method would people choose now?

He thought of Xie Xiean. Could the Bloody Netherworld Three Demons' plan involve releasing the Ancient Demon "Kill"? The problem was, they hadn't reached Soul Transformation, so they shouldn't be contemplating such an idea. What was worth paying attention to was the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect! They were the ones who instigated battle after battle between the righteous and demonic factions, their target directly being the Ancient Demon "Life" suppressed beneath the Void Heaven Sword Sect's main gate. This entity might be particularly special. Otherwise, the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect wouldn't be so persistent.

And what about the Yellow Spring Temple? What impressed Wang Yu most about them was their creation of the Dead Silence Desert, a place utterly devoid of spiritual energy, with no sign of stopping. Could it be that they wanted to destroy the Ice Hell Realm? Without fundamental elements like spiritual energy, the laws established by the immortals might lose their foundation and collapse. Wang Yu's idea was just a wild guess. After all, no matter how extreme someone was, they wouldn't go to such lengths, would they?

And the Yin-Moon Pupils. If this small branch could leave behind information and inheritance, couldn't the main Taiyin Sect and other branches leave even more? However, Wang Yu had never heard of anyone else using the Yin-Moon Pupils, and he himself had used them openly more than once. If the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect Ancestor knew this information, they would surely have spoken to him, but they hadn't. This made him feel that the Taiyin Sect might have been completely eradicated. The reason? Had they found the right key?! This answer might be difficult for others to find, but for him, by placing it in his 'incubation slot' and allowing it to upgrade over time, he would certainly unravel it in his lifetime.

This black stele provided too much information. The resulting thoughts and conjectures gave Wang Yu a terrible headache, leading to a feeling of utter exhaustion. This truth was even more despair-inducing than when he was forced to become a spirit slave.

Furthermore, the "Heavenly Eye Thieves" mentioned on the stele immediately made him think of the 'Thousand-Mile Eyes' and 'Wind-Attuned Ears' from his past life's myths. If there were even more powerful "jailers" constantly observing the Ice Hell Realm from beyond its borders, how could they break free? He had no immediate clue. Just the fact that he had been cultivating in a prison all along made Wang Yu unable to describe his current feelings. "The undying Ancient Demons are prisoners, and the beings of this realm are also prisoners!"

As a man-made key, the Yin-Moon Pupils might be useful or they might not. Wang Yu couldn't place all his hopes on it, especially since the entire technique hadn't been unlocked yet. This thing needed to be used sparingly; if the "Heavenly Eye Thieves" discovered it, he would surely be doomed. If he were a jailer, his attention would certainly be on the Soul Transformation Venerables who had a chance to break free, not on a minor Core Formation character.

This information significantly broadened his perspective. It allowed Wang Yu to assess the current situation with a higher vantage point. There was no single king unifying the land, and each faction had its own agenda. He didn't consider himself exceptionally cunning or demonic in intellect. He was simply not foolish.

Standing still for a long time, Wang Yu regained his composure. Regardless of whether he could escape the Ice Hell Realm, strength was his top priority; improving it could never be wrong. He still had to proceed step by step. Having understood this, his spirit and energy returned, and he simply acted as if he had never seen the stele.

Immediately after, Wang Yu tried to burn the black stele with his Ice Dragon Core Flame. However, he didn't know what material it was made from, as even a Tier 4 spiritual flame couldn't damage it in the slightest. Yet, he didn't want information about the Yin-Moon Pupils to be seen by others. He walked closer, embraced the black stele, and pulled it out with force. Though it was only about a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) tall, it was incredibly heavy, like an ancient mountain. He placed it into the deepest part of his Sea Heart Ring. Only then did he feel relieved. From now on, unless absolutely necessary, he would no longer use overpowered eye techniques like the Moonfall Art. At most, he would use the Observation Moon and Illusion Moon abilities.

"Ooh! Master, come quickly!" Hearing Xueyu's call, Wang Yu flattened the entire Scripture Pavilion with a wave of his hand before quickly approaching her. What she had found was a completely dead corpse demon. It was the very one Wang Yu had encountered years ago. It lay dead right at the entrance of the Moon-Gazing Hall, the main chamber of the underground palace, without any visible injuries, simply sprawled out as if struck by a divine sense attack.

Wang Yu's gaze grew serious. Considering the group that entered the underground palace at the time, Situ Hong might have possessed an offensive divine sense secret technique. But the problem was, at that time, he was only at the Qi Condensation stage; how could he possibly use divine sense to kill a Foundation Establishment corpse demon? If he truly had such an ability, he would have long since claimed the greatest benefits of Mysterious Bone Mountain, and wouldn't have been afraid to touch even a Tier 2 Ferocious Bone Lion, fearing bad luck. Considering this, the probability that the "Heavenly Eye Thief" was responsible increased significantly. The corpse demon's revival... could this body be that of Zhu Qifeng, the one who left the message? If so, it must have been discovered relatively late. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to leave the underground palace alive. The "Heavenly Eye Jailer" was far beyond the Ice Hell Realm, and their actions must have unknown limitations. Considering this, Wang Yu put away the corpse and instructed Xueyu: "Continue cleaning. This underground palace must be completely restored."

"Understood." Noticing Wang Yu's change, Xueyu worked even harder to clean. After several days, this relatively small underground palace was finally cleared. Wang Yu inspected each building, but ultimately failed to find a second stele. So, under Xueyu's bewildered gaze, he personally destroyed the place with the Yellow Spring Great Hand Seal. After the underground palace disappeared, only a turbid yellow liquid, corroded and washed away, remained. Not a single square stone was left. He then re-compacted this underground space. Wang Yu clapped his hands as if nothing had happened. "Let's go, to the next destination." Xueyu jumped into Wang Yu's embrace. Watching Mysterious Bone Mountain gradually recede, she wisely asked nothing.

The journey to Mysterious Bone Mountain officially ended. Its impact on Wang Yu was immense; it was like another mountain being piled onto his already burdened shoulders, pushing his stress to the breaking point. At such times, the usual method would be relaxation and therapy. Unfortunately, his confidante was not by his side, and he was still in a state of escape, a situation that truly evoked lament.

He flew south along the map. This time, his destination was Fallen Dragon Valley. Battle could also help him relax. He planned to test the rumored Dragon Blood Vine Demon there, especially since his physical limits had been raised after encountering the Innate Demonic Embryo. His physique, in fact, still had growth potential within the Tier 3 range and hadn't reached its peak. Wang Yu intended to cultivate in Fallen Dragon Valley for some time. He had consumed numerous body-refining tonics, and his body still retained accumulated medicinal power. Digesting this through combat, gradually releasing his physical potential, was a good method. He had used this method during the Foundation Establishment stage, and he could certainly use it now. Moreover, the Dragon Blood Vine Demon, as its name suggested, was a dragon-type creature, and he hadn't yet tried secret medicines made from plant-based dragon blood. He might as well see its effects.

As he flew, he passed through a place called Qingyuan City. Wang Yu took a few extra glances; it was very close to the Northern Severed Mountain Range. There were likely traces of Demonic Luo activity there. He merely circled it, and finding nothing, he left. Until ten days later.

—Fallen Dragon Valley!