Chapter 505: Five-Level Ice Flame, The Final Seclusion

Wang Yu's cave dwelling on Cold Blood Peak, within the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect.

After the events in the Heavenly Demon Bone Forest concluded, Wang Yu promptly returned to his sect to officially begin his seclusion.

Currently, in the center of the frost-covered cave dwelling, a frigid pool continuously emanated white mist. This was a Tier 4 cold pool, personally concocted by Wang Yu using alchemical principles. As the culmination of immense time, effort, and a vast quantity of top-grade spiritual herbs with chilling properties, the Ice Flame Butterflies' metamorphosis was underway.

A Tier 4 Ice Gu Pot lay tilted on its side. Ice-blue butterflies, their wings beating with accompanying ice flames, fluttered around the cold pool. In the frigid pool water, the Ice Flame Butterfly Monarch had re-cocooned itself. It quietly soaked within, continuously absorbing the extreme cold energy contained in the pool water. During this process, Wang Yu was also constantly releasing the primordial fire seed of the Ice Chi Elixir Flame nearby, allowing the Ice Flame Butterfly Monarch to adapt to this power, which was also a type of flame. It could even perform simple absorption and refinement. This technique was a secret method he had learned from the Myriad Treasure Artifact Spirit, where two ice flames partially consumed each other's power. This would significantly reduce potential conflicts during the actual fusion. The fusion would, of course, be primarily led by the Ice Chi Elixir Flame.

The path of Gu insects was merely supplementary, ultimately not Wang Yu's primary cultivation method. Integrating the Ice Chi Elixir Flame into himself would provide greater benefits, aiding in cultivation techniques such as alchemy and artifact refinement. The same applied to his corpse refining and puppet arts. His Thunder Corpse was growing too slowly, and the Netherworld Puppet's development had reached its limit. Unless he specialized in puppet cultivation techniques, further improvement would be difficult. When facing cultivators at the late Nascent Soul stage, these two had little effect. Wang Yu could easily overwhelm such opponents with his own methods, and the same applied to cultivators at the Great Perfection stage. Against Soul Formation Venerables, the Thunder Corpse and puppets were almost useless. Their value for continued cultivation was diminishing, and sooner or later, he would convert them into resources.

Top-tier resources in the Ice Prison Realm were exceedingly scarce. Wang Yu felt it was unrealistic to cultivate his Thunder Corpse into a Thunder Hound. He also had a fox companion to raise; Xue Yu had been engrossed in the cultivation of the Human Desire Art in recent years. She would not cease her demands until her bloodline rank reached the Heavenly Grade limit. Even with the Human Desire Art being refined and upgraded through the placement panel, its limits were apparent. Above the Heavenly Grade bloodline for demon beasts were primordial relics, also known as fierce beast bloodlines. This level of bloodline was extremely close to that of true spirits. Many were even descendants of crossbreeding between true spirits and fierce beast bloodlines, hence the name "primordial relics." In the Ice Prison Realm, only two known fierce beast bloodlines existed: namely, the Azure Dragon and White Tiger Demon Venerables! Upon reaching adulthood, they possessed Soul Formation cultivation, and had a significant chance of breaking through to the Tier 6 Void Refinement stage. It was rumored that one was a descendant of a true dragon and the other of a white tiger, but their bloodlines were not pure enough; otherwise, they might have possessed true spirit bloodlines.

Returning to the main topic.

As Wang Yu's gaze shifted away from Xue Yu, who was sound asleep in a corner of the cave dwelling, the frigid pool suddenly began to boil without warning. The time had come. Wang Yu decisively took out the Nine Revolutions Gu God's Tear and tossed it directly into the cocoon formed by the Ice Flame Butterfly Monarch. A peculiar buzzing sound gradually began to emanate. Blood-red light enveloped the cocoon, and its aura rapidly surged! Mid-Tier 4... Late-Tier 4... Peak-Tier 4! The primordial power of the Ancient Gu Devil was like a golden bounty from heaven for Gu insects, allowing them to rapidly grow strong. Since the Ice Flame Butterflies were a swarm Gu, to some extent, the entire Gu swarm could be regarded as a single entity. Once the Butterfly Monarch's cultivation reached its limit, the power of the Gu Devil immediately diverged from the cocoon. The strength of many Ice Flame Butterflies began to soar.

Months later, the first wave of metamorphosis concluded. After evolving with top-tier treasures, the Ice Flame Butterfly swarm's bloodline collectively advanced by a notch, and its overall strength reached the limit of Tier 4. Wang Yu used the Tier 4 magical artifact, the Ice Gu Pot, as the venue for the secret technique, throwing in the Red Rust Worm swarm, the Sky Poison Scorpion swarm, and the Ghost Ant swarm. Even though the caster could not use external force to help a specific Gu insect win during the execution of the Weeping Blood Evil Gu Art, the environment for mutual combat could be chosen. The extreme cold environment and icy mountain terrain within the Ice Gu Pot were highly suitable for the Ice Flame Butterflies to exert their strength. Furthermore, Wang Yu also introduced the Ice Chi Elixir Flame, causing the interior of the Ice Pot to be constantly ignited by ice flames. With so many preliminary advantages, if the Ice Flame Butterflies still couldn't secure the final victory and ascend to Tier 5 through the secret art's power, then Wang Yu would be out of options. One could only say it was fate.

Of course, this possibility was minuscule. It would be extremely difficult for Wang Yu to control a Tier 5 Ice Flame Butterfly swarm at will with his Gu arts. Therefore, feeding it to the Ice Chi Elixir Flame for ascension was the best choice. The latter had long been integrated with him; it was a special spiritual flame cultivated since the Qi Condensation stage. Its innate compatibility and intimate connection ensured that even if it successfully ascended, it would not defy Wang Yu's will. The Ice Flame Butterfly swarm, however, was different. Wang Yu had already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage when he subdued them, and he controlled them only with the Gu Dao secret techniques from the Five Poisons Classic, which at most could control Tier 4 Gu insects.

As the battlefield opened, the four Gu swarms began to battle. While observing intently, Wang Yu's primary focus was on comprehending Dharma Intents. Throughout his cultivation, he had comprehended three types of Dharma Intents. The Asura Dharma Intent was complete, and both the Netherworld and Aurora Dharma Intents had reached minor accomplishment. Yet, his primary cultivation path, the Way of Ice, lacked a dominant Dharma Intent to preside over it. This was clearly abnormal. With Wang Yu's comprehension and the advantage of the placement panel, comprehending the Extreme Cold Dharma Intent would be easy. However, his ambition was greater; he desired not only extreme cold but also a Dharma Intent related to Lunar Yin. The comprehension gained from fusing two Dharma Intents would undoubtedly be far more potent than a single one. Over time, he had become stuck at a critical juncture, just one step away from success. For ordinary people, comprehending more Dharma Intents was not necessarily better. However, for a genius, this was not the case.

One of the core aspects of Soul Formation stage cultivation was the comprehension of "Intent Realm" power. Cultivators observed the natural world, merging their own Dharma Intents with the external environment, thus comprehending their unique "Intent Realm." Such an Intent could reverse life and death, overturn the sun and moon, and manipulate the cosmos! Further progression would allow them to grasp the rules and principles governing the heavens and earth, achieving all sorts of incredible feats. This path of comprehension was a viable one with sequential advancements. It was also the Great Dao of Longevity pursued by all beings. According to the secret records of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect, the potency of a Soul Formation Intent Realm was closely related to the Dharma Intents a cultivator comprehended. Therefore, Wang Yu's goal was to lay a sufficiently solid foundation. In the future, he would merge five types of Dharma Intents to forge his own Soul Formation Intent Realm.

Additionally, the cultivation of the Heavenly Manifestation Art could also be put on the agenda. As one of the miraculous talents of this realm, Wang Yu could cultivate Dharma Idols ahead of time to lay a foundation for the future, but he was indeed stumped on what type of Dharma Idol to cultivate. He had few examples available for reference. For now, he could only rely on the placement panel to grasp and deduce, from which he would extract the necessary parts to independently comprehend a frost-type Dharma Idol.

However… there was a problem. The Dharma Idols he possessed were all from the Netherworld Dao and Blood Dao, lacking a core with ice attributes. For this, he could only look to the Ice Clan or the North Suppressing Pagoda. Both were leaders in the Way of Frost in this realm. It would be best to find a way to acquire a legacy of a frost Dharma Idol to serve as the foundation for his own deductions. Wang Yu already had initial ideas regarding this.

While awaiting the outcome of his Gu refining in seclusion, he would also refine elixirs for the sect to earn some high-tier rare resources. Concurrently, he would send a message to Chang Xi, the spy he had dispatched earlier, asking her to find a way to send over information on a core disciple of the North Suppressing Pagoda. As both were among the Seven Orthodox Sects, achieving this would not be difficult.

Additionally, years ago, the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect had completely taken over the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect's ruins. After years of exploration, they had essentially acquired all the remaining legacies. By virtue of his Grand Ancestor authority, Wang Yu could naturally review these secret technique legacies. Among them, he primarily focused on acquiring the advanced legacy of the Soul-Carving Evil Boat Curse: he obtained the Tier 4 Soul-Searching Evil Art! This art was inherited from the Soul-Carving Evil Boat Curse. With the perfected Evil Boat Curse as a foundation, learning it was not difficult. Then, utilizing the placement panel's deduction and ascension effect, he would upgrade it to Tier 5. This stage of deduction would require thirty years. He should be able to fully master it by the eve of the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm's opening. Once he truly entered the secret realm, he could use this exceptionally powerful soul-searching secret art to bypass core restrictions or complicated contractual methods placed within minds, directly obtaining the information he desired. It could be said that all of Wang Yu's next stage goals converged on the critical journey to the Saint Lord's Heavenly Palace.

Aside from these preparations, his main body's cultivation also didn't lag, but breaking through to the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage was exceedingly difficult, requiring a nearly exponential increase in demonic essence. Without the help of more Blood Infant Pills, achieving a breakthrough to the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage within thirty years was practically out of the question. This was slightly less ideal than his initial best-case scenario, but acceptable. Considering that he would be venturing deep into the Endless Ice Plains at that time, the innate talent of his Primordial Demonic Embryo Physique could also be fully utilized. He dispatched disciples from Cold Blood Peak to hunt ice-attribute demon beasts, extracting marrow and draining blood to gather materials for his Heavenly Demonic Myriad Transformations. This ability was theoretically very powerful, capable of perfectly mimicking the bloodline power of other races, transforming into their bodies, and even altering the nature of his energy. It was practically a divinely chosen physique for espionage.

Previously, Wang Yu only had two Myriad Transformation forms: the Dragon Blood Fey and the Extreme Yin Dragon Body. The former was negligible, but the latter was a very important means of enhancing physical strength, applicable throughout the Nascent Soul stage. If he could obtain a powerful ice-attribute demon beast bloodline, his home-field advantage in the Endless Ice Plains would be even more formidable. Advantages were accumulated little by little through such details, a testament to Wang Yu's oft-repeated strategy of "being fully prepared."

Actually, Xue Yu's bloodline would be very suitable. However, to use his favored concubine in such a way after nurturing her for so long would be too wasteful. Once her potential was fully unleashed, there was a chance she could advance to Soul Formation. As for the ice-attribute bloodline Wang Yu needed, reaching Tier 4 would be sufficient. Having other Nascent Soul cultivators from the sect help hunt for it would be perfectly adequate.

Thus, the final period of seclusion swiftly passed.

Thirty years later.

In the 143rd year, sixth month, of Grand Ancestor Wang Yu's cultivation life, a spiritual ice-blue flame suddenly ignited within his cave dwelling. From the completely shattered Ice Pot, countless insect corpses overflowed. There were corpses of Red Rust Worms, Sky Poison Scorpions, and Ghost Ants, but even more… were the corpses of Ice Flame Butterflies. After the Gu refining was complete, the butterfly swarm successfully achieved final victory. During his seclusion, they successfully ascended to Tier 5, and their symbiotic ice flame also advanced. Subsequently, Wang Yu entered a long process of absorption and refinement. Until now, the Ice Chi Elixir Flame completely devoured the insect flame, taking the lives of all Ice Flame Butterflies, and a streak of crimson color appeared within the ice-blue flame. This symbolized the bloody nature of this ascension, and its primordial power had partially changed.

Tier 5 Ice Chi Elixir Flame—this might be the second Tier 5 spiritual flame in the Ice Prison Realm; the other, of course, being the Heaven-Refining Demonic Flame. The ascension of such unique flames was similar to that of magical artifacts: a nascent spirituality was contained within, aiding Wang Yu in controlling the flame's power. The fiercely burning flame in his palm resembled a beating heart. He could faintly sense a feeling of joy. The spirituality of the Ice Chi Elixir Flame was currently not as strong as the Sun-Piercing Demonic Bow, but with continuous feeding of ice-attribute spiritual materials in the future, it would naturally ascend to Peak Tier 5, becoming another one of his trump cards for victory. With such an ice flame assisting him during the upcoming journey to the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm, the upper limit of his combat power would increase by another level.

Putting other things aside, if he were to face demon kings like the Five-Colored Saint Lord or Heavenly Peng King, he was absolutely confident in defeating one-on-one. Against two, he could only guarantee maintaining the upper hand. Against three or four… the outcome would be unknown. His only flaw lay in his demonic essence reserves; his divine abilities were excessively powerful, leading to unusually high consumption, which resulted in a sustainability weakness. For now, Wang Yu could only compensate for this weakness with recovery-type elixirs. In the future, he might be able to change this through secret arts or certain cultivation legacies, but currently, he truly had no extra time to find a solution.

The opening of the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm was approaching. All preparations were complete. It was time for him to leave the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect's mountain gate, head to the Northern Demon Clan, and join their ranks to travel north into the Endless Ice Plains.

After he organized his belongings and dispelled the formations' spiritual light within his cave dwelling, a spiritual talisman folded into the shape of a paper crane flew into the cave dwelling. Yan Lingkongji's serene and cool voice resounded:

“Brother Dao, Yan Ling has already rendezvoused with Junior Sister Yu. By the time you receive this transmission talisman, we will, in all likelihood, have already departed. The route map is as follows… The Heavenly Palace Secret Realm is the foremost grand event for the demon race. Many powerful demon cultivators without sacred decrees will set up ambushes at these locations. Please be cautious and do not place too much trust in the Northern Demon Clan.”

The message was brief, even including a concerned warning. Wang Yu naturally sensed the good intention. However, Yan Ling had underestimated him. The participants in the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm were generally Nascent Soul experts, and the demon race only possessed three Soul Formation Demon Venerables in total. The White Tiger Demon Venerable was in the Southern Rift Mountain Range and could not leave. The Poisonous Flood Dragon Demon Venerable was in the same situation. The Azure Dragon Demon Venerable, furthermore, was severely wounded and had entered seclusion to heal many years ago, hiding in an unknown area of the Northern Rift Mountain Range. This meant that for this secret realm journey, he was the strongest one present. His approach and attitude were naturally vastly different from before, summarized by five words: "I don't eat beef!"

He now considered the Soul Formation opportunity within the Saint Lord's Heavenly Palace to be his for the taking. No matter who competed with him, he would show absolutely no mercy. In fact, he wished for as many competitors as possible. He was currently lacking materials for refining Blood Infant Pills.