Chapter 498: Ice and Flame Fusion Opportunity, Birth of the Spiritual Treasure

After throwing the spiritual jade slip, which contained simple designs—or more accurately, "requests"—into the twilight sky beneath the vast cloud layers, Wang Yu waited quietly beside it.

About an incense stick's time later, Yan Ling finally arrived. After receiving the reward for passing the second stage, she looked towards Wang Yu. Since they were far ahead, Wang Yu also shared the trick Jin Miaoshan had told him, and Yan Ling quickly grasped it.

After waiting for a full three incense sticks' time, Bishop You Peng, the third to pass the stage, exclaimed with admiration, "Fellow Daoist Wang is incredibly fast; your speed is truly first-class among Nascent Soul cultivators."

"You flatter me, Brother You Peng. It's merely that the stage's test happened to suit me well."

"You can't say that. True skill is true skill, especially since you also brought along this... fellow Daoist."

Yan Ling's face was slightly flushed, but not from a healthy complexion. Instead, she was a bit embarrassed by Bishop You Peng's hesitant words. The Nascent Soul cultivators of the Nether Mountain Sect had entered the Ten Thousand Treasures Secret Realm many times, so the relevant information was well known. They had naturally prepared meticulously designed artifact refining diagrams.

After also casting his into the twilight sky beneath the clouds, the two began to chat casually about the situation on the righteous and demonic battlefield, discussing the war animatedly.

Not long after, a fourth person passed the Cloud Path Speed Race stage. This person was someone Wang Yu had long heard of: the Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch of the Joyful Union Demonic Sect. He was notoriously fond of women, skilled in corpse manipulation techniques, and illusionary divine abilities. His cultivation had reached the eighth layer of the Nascent Soul stage, making him one of Chiyuan's infamous great devils. He had reached a point where female cultivators would flee upon hearing his name, earning him the reputation of a lustful ghoul.

Lei Yao, Wang Yu's old friend from the Thunderfire Pavilion, had made it one of her lifelong vows to slay this devil. The grievances and entanglements between them had persisted for hundreds of years, and one of them was bound to die eventually.

After he reached the destination, his gaze naturally fixed on Yan Ling. Seeing this, Wang Yu frowned slightly and turned sideways, shielding Yan Ling behind him.

The Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch immediately displayed a friendly smile, walked off to the side, and cast his prepared artifact refining diagram into the dim yellow sky. Clearly, no matter how much he desired women, he had heard of Wang Yu's deeds. The moment Wang Yu displayed his protective intent, he immediately chose to back down, showing no inclination to conflict with him. As the saying goes, a wise person adapts to circumstances; this was precisely the case.

Wang Yu scrutinized the man. He had sparse grayish-white hair, with a layer of dead skin and wrinkled, grayish-black scalp visible beneath, also covered in cadaveric spots, giving him a look that was both lewd and repulsive. His eye sockets protruded, and his eyes were deeply sunken. His lower eyelids were a mass of layered wrinkles, displaying a pale pink hue, resembling a grotesque, layered pattern, which made him even more repulsive. This, combined with his inverted triangular eyes and crooked mouth and nose, painted a truly grotesque picture. He could be described as incredibly hideous; his ugliness was only slightly better than that of the Filthy Daoist from the Yellow Springs Temple, but he was even more repulsive. A lingering, putrid smell emanated from his entire body, as if maggots were growing on him, making him utterly foul-smelling. With such an appearance, it seemed even the most hardened prostitute wouldn't take his business without coercion.

However, Wang Yu vaguely remembered someone saying that this person was exceptionally handsome, a dashing male cultivator whom women would flock to. Now, it appeared his current appearance was an illusionary disguise. He also had several descendants, some dead, some still alive.

At this moment, the Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch suddenly spoke in a sinister tone. "Fellow Daoist Jifa, why are you staring at me so intently? Do you find me ugly?"

Wang Yu immediately sneered. "Ugly? That's an insult to the family name! How ugly must your father have been to sire a face like yours? You've single-handedly lowered the average attractiveness of Chiyuan cultivators. If I were your father, you should have choked to death in the bathtub when you were born."

Wang Yu's words were utterly aggressive. The Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch was stunned by the verbal assault. He had deliberately used a sinister tone to test Wang Yu, but never expected the other party to be completely fearless and even provoke him. The thought of Wang Yu's junior status made the Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch's body tremble with rage.

Bishop You Peng was also surprised by this situation. After a brief consideration, he immediately stood beside Wang Yu, dark demonic energy rising from his hand, adopting a stance that clearly stated: "If you dare to make a move, I will kill you." Yan Ling was also secretly touched, believing Wang Yu's words were meant to avenge her, as that disgusting stare earlier had made her deeply uncomfortable.

After a brief standoff, the Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch snorted coldly. He moved even further away and set up a sound-insulating barrier to block out external interference. This truly made Wang Yu laugh. It was as if four large characters were now carved all over him: "Secret Realm Bully!"

As time passed, more and more Nascent Soul cultivators arrived at the third stage. Half a day later, when the last challenger threw their artifact refining diagram into the twilight sky, spatial ripples suddenly rose beneath the sea of clouds, as if a third dimension had opened. Wang Yu, Yan Ling, and two unknown early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators—a total of four people—were enveloped by the spatial ripples and instantly disappeared from everyone's sight.

The Yin-Yang Demonic Monarch furiously flicked his sleeve, scattering a large mass of clouds, and returned home, deeply frustrated. He was the fourth to pass the stage, but only the first three challengers received the Thousand Treasures Liquid. This trip was equivalent to using several top-grade spirit stones to buy two drops of Hundred Treasures Liquid – a catastrophic loss. Apart from the top three, the Nascent Soul participants not chosen by the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond's artifact spirit essentially suffered pure losses.

The view shifted. After the scene in their eyes blurred, a vividly colored treasure pond appeared before the four of them, with nine-colored flames burning above it. From it, a flame spirit leaped out. Its voice was childish, yet carried the powerful sense of authority of an attached Soul Transformation Venerable.

"Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow, Ice Lotus Sword, Sky Measuring Ruler, Mountain Herding Whip – your ideas are very good. Who wants to go first?"

Wang Yu tilted his head, signaling Yan Ling to go first, then turned to look at the other two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, whose bodies simultaneously trembled.

"Greetings, Demonic Monarch Jifa Xuandan. We are rogue cultivators from the South Sea, heavily hired by the Jinman Tower. This refining opportunity is not ours to use."

Hearing this, Wang Yu's enthusiastic eyes instantly lost their luster. So much for being a secret realm bully; as expected, Jinman Tower still secretly sent people. Given their immense wealth and sphere of influence, resorting to such petty tricks for just one Ten Thousand Treasures Secret Realm was truly a bit small-minded. Secretly thinking it was a pity, Wang Yu outwardly remained calm: "You've misunderstood. Since you're from Jinman Tower, you're not outsiders. You go first."

"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare. Please, Senior Jifa, you go first."

After much deferring, Wang Yu was temporarily placed in the second position. While it was a pity he couldn't seize two refining opportunities, he wasn't idle.

The nine-colored flames hovering above the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond were actually one with the pond itself, but the aura and characteristics revealed within them were far more than just one type. They didn't align with any of the various heavenly and earthly spiritual flames Wang Yu knew, seeming like a product of fusion. Wang Yu's heart stirred, and his spiritual sense began to perceive more carefully.

"Green flames full of vitality, white flames like thunder causing all evil to retreat, explosive red flames..." Nine colors, nine characteristics, incredibly, perfectly merged together, forming this top-grade fifth-tier spiritual treasure along with the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond itself.

Seeing Yan Ling provide her own materials, the artifact spirit, on its part, provided three top-grade fourth-tier materials for free, which made Wang Yu understand the mechanism of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond even better. The reward for reaching the third stage might be these freely provided materials.

"Three types... that should be enough."

Thus, after several months of quiet meditation, an extremely cold demonic sword, with a hilt like an ice lotus, suddenly shot out from the colorful treasure pond liquid. It was precisely the Ice Lotus Sword Yan Ling had requested.

"Top-grade fourth-tier, quite standard." This statement didn't mean the Ice Lotus Sword was ordinary, but rather that Yan Ling hadn't seized the opportunity, as this was clearly not the limit of the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit.

Yan Ling, however, was very satisfied. "This magic treasure can temporarily replace the effect of a natal magic treasure, and it's even enough for me to use for a lifetime." If one didn't have the potential to break through to Soul Transformation, this sword was indeed qualified enough, and it could also greatly enhance Yan Ling's combat strength, allowing her to barely contend with mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Having witnessed the capabilities of the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit, Wang Yu swept his hand across his Sea Heart Ring, and countless rare materials instantly filled the space above the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond. Without exception, their quality was at least fourth-tier.

The Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit's spirits lifted. Every material provided it with design ideas, and brilliant concepts continuously emerged like bamboo shoots after rain, as a small hand formed of nine-colored flames continuously absorbed them. Star Sand, Lunar Silver Marrow, Great Sun Gold Essence, Outer Heaven Profound Iron, Flowing Light Divine Silkworm Silk… the items it selected were, without exception, all top-grade fourth-tier. More importantly, Wang Yu also took out a batch of "junk" he had acquired from the ancient Human Emperor's secret vault. Though seemingly useless, these items could actually yield many rare, extinct materials if re-melted, making them perfectly suitable for supplementation.

All four could feel the excitement of the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit. After it finished selecting the materials provided by Wang Yu, with a flick of its small hand, it incredibly produced an extremely rare fifth-tier material: the Phoenix Parasol Tree Heart!

The parasol tree is also known as "phoenix wood," but not every parasol tree possesses such divine properties. True phoenix wood must have actual Phoenixes or Vermilion Birds dwelling on it year-round to develop its unique effects. The parasol wood flooring laid in the Immortal Official's herb treasury in Eastern Capital back then was genuine phoenix wood where a true spiritual Phoenix had briefly stayed! However, its quality was mainly third-tier, and only the flooring on the top level was fourth-tier phoenix wood. The fifth-tier Phoenix Parasol Tree Heart taken out now was clearly intended to be the main material for the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow. This also meant that a fifth-tier spiritual treasure was about to be born here.

Wang Yu held his breath, concentrating. Seeing the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit control the nine-colored flames, separating green vitality flames and red explosive flames to begin initial material processing, Wang Yu also noted that the colorful liquid in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond was a top-grade cooling liquid. Amidst artifact refining hand seals resembling butterflies flitting through flowers, a demonic bow containing powerful fluctuations was gradually forming. Along the way, Wang Yu provided massive amounts of demonic essence, as well as his own blood and essence blood, as requested by the artifact spirit. Using some lost blood-refining method, it continuously increased the compatibility between Wang Yu and the spiritual treasure being forged, allowing the nascent spirit to naturally recognize Wang Yu as its master.

As time passed, Wang Yu's focused gaze suddenly sharpened. Although he couldn't steal the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit's refining methods, he keenly perceived the opportunity for the Ice Dragon Alchemy Flame's advancement from the separation and aggregation of the nine-colored spiritual flames. This alchemy flame technique itself was only third-tier. With the deduction from the cultivation panel, it had reached fourth-tier, its potential seemingly at its limit. However, Wang Yu, who had unexpectedly gained control of the strange heavenly and earthly Ice Flame Butterflies, once again glimpsed an opportunity for advancement. If he could integrate the ice flame power of the Gu insects, combining the two might allow it to break through to fifth-tier. As long as it broke through the major tier limitation, slowly nurturing it to the fifth-tier limit wouldn't be difficult. By absorbing extreme cold energy, it could be achieved simply by grinding away with time!

The only flaw was that the Ice Flame Butterflies were still too weak; they would need to be at least elevated to the peak of the fourth-tier as a group to have a chance at cultivating fifth-tier ice flames. After the Ten Thousand Treasures Secret Realm trip concludes, subsequent secret realm arrangements could be postponed, taking advantage of the thirty-plus years remaining for the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm. If he could master a fifth-tier ice flame in advance, he would be the strongest below Soul Transformation in the Endless Ice Plain, and it might even be possible to briefly contend with Soul Transformation cultivators, much like when the Yellow Springs Abbey Master dealt with the Scarlet Heaven Demonic Venerable. Reaching that level would be no problem at all. Moreover, with no obvious weaknesses and multiple advantages, he could perform even better than the Yellow Springs Abbey Master. This kind of advancement was more significant than the gains from the secret realm and definitely worth his time to strive for greater returns.

Several months later, after staying in the Ten Thousand Treasures Secret Realm for a full year, Wang Yu's longed-for magic treasure deficiency was finally filled, and the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow was officially forged by the artifact spirit.

At that time, above the Ten Thousand Treasures Pond, amidst the gradually dissipating nine-colored flames, a fiery red longbow revealed its true form. Its body reached half a zhang (1.6 meters), nearly human height. It was an undeniable great bow, with a phoenix spreading its wings totem appearing on its bow limbs, and eternal phoenix true flames burning upon it. This flame was considered a secondary spiritual flame nurtured by the parasol wood. It wasn't as terrifying as genuine phoenix true flames and was an endless flame lacking a source of fire, its decorative significance outweighing its practical use. Silvery-bright gems, like stars in the sky, adorned both the front and back of the bow's body, four in total, resembling phoenix eyes and emitting lunar cold energy.

Don't forget: From its initial design, the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow was a cold-attribute spiritual treasure, and during its refining, a large quantity of Yin-cold attribute materials were added. Therefore, despite its appearance as a flaming longbow, the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit had used a reverse artifact pattern capable of transforming high temperatures into cold energy. The higher the temperature, the more potent the cold energy.

Although there was some difference from Wang Yu's initial conception, it was still a very excellent offensive spiritual treasure, sufficient to become his new offensive method. The only drawback was its lost compatibility with his natal divine ability, the Twelve Phases of Guanghan. As the saying goes, 'every sip and peck is predetermined by fate,' so there was no need to pursue perfection in everything. Reaching the mid-grade fifth-tier level already made Wang Yu quite satisfied.

Just as he was about to take the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow and communicate with its spirit to recognize it as his master, the Ten Thousand Treasures artifact spirit flicked its small hand again, and a large quantity of colorful treasure liquid surged forth. It compressed into a drop of nine-colored treasure liquid at a visible speed and instantly merged into the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow.

"This is..." Wang Yu's eyes gleamed, surprised by the artifact spirit's generosity and marveling at his own good fortune. If he wasn't mistaken, that drop of nine-colored treasure liquid was precisely the Ten Thousand Treasures Liquid, a long-lost spiritual item that hadn't appeared in the Ten Thousand Treasures Secret Realm for thousands of years! Its effect, as deduced from the Hundred Treasures and Thousand Treasures Liquids obtained previously, was to raise a fifth-tier spiritual treasure by one grade without any side effects. When the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow landed in Wang Yu's hand, it had astonishingly reached the top-grade fifth-tier level—an absolute bargain!