Chapter 586: Practice Essence, Aftermath of Crushing Defeat, Frozen Demon Tools

Yu Tangtang, Yan Ling, Dou Zhao, and others were taken away by the phantom of the Wutong Immortal Wood, but he wasn't entirely clear how many had gone.

The Phoenix clan's Wutong Realm seemed like a good destination. However, that was only true for Yan Ling. The situation of the human cultivators who went with them was difficult to ascertain, but since things had come to this, simply being alive was the greatest achievement. If they unfortunately perished, he had nothing more to say. He had done his utmost.

There was also Xue Yu, the snow fox he had raised since his Qi Condensation stage. Initially, she could provide some help, but after years, she had completely become a freeloader. Nevertheless, the exquisite physical sensation of a fox demoness was truly exceptional; she had helped him release pressure more than once. She had previously stayed in Jinchen City for cultivation and was not with him. He wondered if she had gone with Yan Ling.

"Sigh..." Wang Yu let out a long sigh, but quickly regained his composure. His hatred for Daoist Kongkong had reached its peak. "If I achieve the Dao, I will surely bathe the Void Dharma Lineage in blood and utterly destroy your orthodoxy!" he vowed in his heart.

This gave Wang Yu new motivation and a goal. Since the Blood Demon had already been captured, it wouldn't take long to apprehend the Life Demon. Immortal rules were like the grand Dao's guillotine. Even a powerful ancient demon body could only exert the strength of a Soul Transformation peak, and though extremely troublesome, it would never be a match for a Dao Integration grandmaster. It wouldn't be long before Daoist Kongkong would be free. He would personally search for Wang Yu's location, root him out, and utterly destroy the cultivation lineages of this realm, ensuring stability in the Demon Prison for a thousand years without issue. This was his method of atoning for his mistakes. If it weren't impossible to completely destroy cultivation methods, he would have done so long ago.

At first glance, the existence of Ice Prison cultivators seemed to have no conflict with sealing the ancient demons. So why was their path to ascension forbidden by the Immortal Palace? This brings us to the essence of cultivators. The path to immortality is essentially a form of plunder. It involves seizing the fortune of heaven and earth to achieve self-perfection.

And no matter how vast a world is, it has its limits. No matter how profound its origin, it has an upper bound. Imagine a sealed sphere filled with water. One by one, ants drink their fill and leave the sphere; eventually, the water will dry up. If water is seen as the world's origin, then the spiritual energy of heaven and earth derived from it is what cultivators absorb and refine to seek immortality. That's why heavenly tribulations descend during Core Formation. That is the innate mechanism of the Heavenly Dao to maintain natural order and ensure cycles.

Immortals, by nature, go against the grain! The path to immortality violates the Heavenly Dao's order, and thus calamities descend to strike you back to your original form. One could say that from Core Formation onwards, you are regarded as a "parasite" by the Heavenly Dao of that realm. In a Grand World like the True Spirit Realm, the origin is even more profound. Perhaps heavenly lightning tribulations only descend at the Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation stage, but essentially, it is the Heavenly Dao's judgment against transgressors. It can be delayed, but not avoided. Water without a source will eventually run dry.

As those "fed" ants ascend and depart, the world will progressively weaken due to the loss of its origin, leading to concepts like the Age of Dharma Decline and Golden Ages. The Ice Prison Realm's essence might not be inferior to a Grand World, but its origin is utilized by immortals to forge rules and suppress ancient demon bodies. If too many cultivators ascend, the world's level would decrease, essentially weakening the seal. Therefore, cultivators in the Demon Prison are forbidden from ascending! This is the root of the conflict.

One might then ask, if this continues, won't cultivators be world destroyers? No matter how you look at it, eventually, all worlds will fall into annihilation due to an increasing number of Eternal True Immortals. Spiritual energy gone, all magic extinguished. The Great Dao hidden, no more chances for immortality. All things will eventually head towards destruction. If so, wouldn't it be better for the Heavenly Dao to eliminate cultivators from the start? The Heavenly Dao is merciless, treating all beings as straw dogs; such a deed is not beyond its capacity.

This brings us to the beneficial aspect of cultivators' existence for the world. Cultivators comprehend nature and draw power from it. Those who achieve immortality are ultimately a minority. Some worlds might indeed be completely annihilated due to an increasing number of ascenders, but ascended cultivators don't just disappear into the cosmic sea. Instead, they carry a portion of this origin to more powerful worlds, the so-called Grand Worlds. The Heavenly Dao of Grand Worlds naturally welcomes these newcomers with their "startup capital," even showing exceptional enthusiasm, which makes the world progressively stronger. After all, ninety-nine percent of cultivators will die, and their cultivation will naturally return to heaven and earth.

The rules of ascension are thus tolerated by the Heavenly Dao of various realms. The Heavenly Dao of Minor Worlds is constrained by stronger worlds, much like an elder to a junior, but there's also a slight chance for them to ascend in level and become Grand Worlds. How similar is this hierarchy to the difference in cultivation realms? This is the essence of cultivation.

As for True Immortals, their lifespan is virtually eternal, and their existence also benefits the world by continuously expanding the upper limit and breadth of the origin Dao laws. This allows Grand Worlds to grow, as they can draw various energies from the cosmic sea that cultivators cannot utilize, thereby strengthening their own origin. The origin Dao laws can be seen as fishing tools. The stronger they are, the faster they grow. This aligns with the Heavenly Dao's innate mechanism, so True Immortals are also accepted by the Heavenly Dao. However, if they fail to make fundamental contributions, after tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, and still provide no benefit to the origin Dao laws, then a True Immortal Tribulation will descend, clearing out the "parasites," ensuring that the strong remain strong and the weak return to oblivion. This is why there are no weak individuals among True Immortals.

Such records were all racial memories contained within the Ice Phoenix bloodline. When Wang Yu learned of them, he felt that cultivators were essentially born to be "toiling laborers," and even upon achieving True Immortality, they were still fundamentally workers, only their employer was the Heavenly Dao.

Immortals, by nature, go against the grain! Having a rebellious spirit is the essence of every cultivator, and defying the heavens is also the cultivation method of True Immortals, who seek true transcendence. Even in the Phoenix clan's inherited memories, this information is not extensively detailed, and Wang Yu did not understand much about it. However, the increase in vast, hidden knowledge allowed him to truly comprehend the essence of the world and cultivation.

To think too much now would only invite ridicule. These things were still too far beyond him. Reaching the highest point step by step was what he should focus on.

The most pressing matter was figuring out how to escape Daoist Kongkong's pursuit. "I need to retrieve the drops of essence blood I left in various places, lest Daoist Kongkong obtains them and uses secret techniques to pinpoint my location, or casts curses. These are risks I cannot afford." While his body was being completely reshaped, Wang Yu also calculated his future plans.

If he truly reached a dead end, he could transform into the Myriad Forms Ice Phoenix body and use the Wutong Immortal Wood's guidance method to also travel to the Phoenix clan's world. However, the risk was considerable, with a possibility of being exposed. That's why he hadn't considered hitching a ride before; not wanting to be controlled by others was one aspect, and being able to "drive" himself was the second reason. As the saying goes, he would not willingly be controlled by others unless absolutely necessary.

However, after realizing the deeper essence of the entire situation, escaping the Ice Prison's confines indeed posed a very high degree of difficulty. He could only try his best. Success or failure depended entirely on luck.

Wang Yu didn't have many essence blood backups left in various places. The current Gatekeeper's ruins counted as one, and another was in the Lust Demon's sealed area, inside the Black Mountain Demon Land. He had left it there on a whim when he was collecting the Five Enlightenment Methods years ago. The third location was in the Savage Ancient Plains. These were all the places he had set up. The essence blood in the Lust Demon's sealed area absolutely had to be retrieved.

The one in the Savage Ancient Plains, however, might not be necessary. This place was considered the top forbidden zone in the Ice Prison Realm. Ever since the Slaughter Demon's body was sealed in the Ancient Plains, historical records show that even those powerful individuals from the Lower Realms had no records of entering. This suggests there are secrets behind it that even Dao Integration cultivators fear. The Savage Ancient Plains was actually a good hiding place. Unfortunately, there had been no news from Xie Xie'an since he went to retrieve the Three Blood Nether Treasures. If he could guide the way, this would be Wang Yu's preferred sanctuary. But for now, he needed to consider it further before making a decision.

"Given the Life Demon's cunning and its countless seemingly real flesh-and-blood clones — the linen-robed youths distributed almost everywhere in the Ice Prison Realm — even with Daoist Kongkong's formidable abilities, it will take time to seal it." This would precisely buy him time to move.

Secondly, he needed to recover his strength as quickly as possible. Body cultivation could wait, but his Soul Transformation magic power had to be accumulated quickly; otherwise, he would have difficulty dealing with Core Formation or Nascent Soul cultivators. With the chaotic situation outside, which was not far from an apocalypse, going out without strength was too risky. The incompleteness of his primordial spirit was also unbearable.

Three days later, as Wang Yu's new body was successfully reshaped, his pale, handsome face revealed a pair of slightly dim eyes that opened. Feeling the weakness of his body, his mood was somewhat low. "Just you wait. The hatred for taking my life will never be forgotten."

After three days of contemplation, Wang Yu had a complete plan. His current strength was too weak; even if he found Xie Xie'an to guide him, he lacked a sense of security. Therefore, he rejected the path of the Savage Ancient Plains.

He recalled the method of avoiding calamity that the demon race had mentioned earlier: finding a secret realm unknown to anyone. No matter how strong a Dao Integration cultivator was, while monitoring a realm, it was impossible to search every large and small secret realm space in the entire world. That was unrealistic. Dao Integration cultivators were still far from invincible; it didn't make sense for them to be so omnipotent.

Therefore, Wang Yu chose this path, and coincidentally, he had a perfect secret realm—the Void Dao Repository! He possessed the Void Stele gifted by Old Daoist Taixu. The Void Dao Repository was of mysterious origin, a top-tier secret realm, absolutely suitable for him to hide in. A Dao Integration cultivator might not be able to forcibly enter it.

After choosing this retreat path, the first goal was to recover his strength. He also thought of a shortcut: the Frost Demon Qi shared the same origin as him, and during their last encounter, the Frost Demon had even demonstrated an empowerment technique. It was definitely the best choice for him to recover his cultivation. This idea had been brewing since he placed his essence blood here, but it was ultimately a risky move. After long consideration, he decided to go for it!

Furthermore, if he could release the Frost Demon as well, it would buy him more time to retrieve the essence blood backups from the other two locations. With his current weak physique, if he could be nourished by two drops of origin essence blood, it could greatly accelerate the recovery time of his immortal body.

A short while later, in front of the iceberg at the Frost Demon's sealed ground, the hideous demonic shadow within the transparent iceberg, upon discovering Wang Yu's arrival, eagerly moved to the edge. Their last transaction had allowed Wang Yu to see through its true nature, and he clearly knew that this creature couldn't perceive events in distant areas; its sensory abilities couldn't even reach the location of the Gatekeeper tribe's ruins. This demonstrated the weakness of its newly born consciousness, which gave Wang Yu the premise to deceive it: exploiting the information asymmetry!

"Chi Tian?" Yes, he had given the false name Chi Tian at the time. Wang Yu touched his cheek, feigning a sorrowful expression. "Senior Frost Demon, I'm afraid I cannot fulfill your request."

"What do you mean?" The Frost Demon had previously imparted to him the Nascent Soul level "Ten Directions Frost Demon Dao" to spread the inheritance within the Ice Clan and acquire a group of subordinates who could help him break the seal. The plan was simple and direct.

Now, Wang Yu said sorrowfully, "The Ice Clan has been completely annihilated by that external cultivator. The accidentally born individuals have limited intelligence and simply cannot learn such profound methods. It would take an unknown amount of time to cultivate to the Soul Transformation stage."

The Frost Demon's new consciousness fell silent. Although it felt something was amiss, it still believed him. The main reason was that it sensed Wang Yu had started cultivating the Ten Directions Frost Demon Dao. Thus, he would eventually be affected by its demonic corruption and completely become its servant. With this connection, it wanted to see what Wang Yu intended to do.

"Then why are you here now?"

"Naturally, to help you, venerable demon lord, break free from your seal."

"You cannot do it yet. At minimum, you need peak Soul Transformation cultivation, and you must find a rare heavenly treasure in the center of the ice plain—the Frost Sky Origin Blood—to be qualified to help this demon lord escape."

"Oh?" Wang Yu's eyes lit up. "What is special about this treasure?"

"It is likely an innate divine artifact conceived by the Ice Prison Realm. Although far inferior to the origin blood conceived in its prime, it can help ice path cultivators truly grasp this Dao."

"Grasp the ice and frost Dao? Comprehend true Dao laws?"

"Indeed."

Wang Yu's heart churned. Misfortune had brought good fortune. This great disaster had led him to learn of such a wondrous treasure. One must know that comprehending Dao laws usually required at least a Void Refinement cultivator, and even then, it was often due to rare opportunities where their realm's uniqueness gained favor from spatial Dao laws, not an opportunity everyone had. Void Refinement cultivators needed countless rare treasures to forge their Origin Cave Heavens and suffered greatly from the difficulty of comprehending Dao laws. Only by integrating with their Origin Cave Heaven one day could they achieve the best method of breaking through their realm. However, at this moment, he had no means to acquire this item. He could only think about it later.

"Junior is currently helpless regarding the Frost Sky Origin Blood, but my cultivation realm can certainly be elevated." Saying this, Wang Yu displayed his Frost Moon Intent. "Senior Demon Lord, if you could gather a large amount of Frost Demon Qi for me, as you did last time, it would greatly accelerate my accumulation of demonic essence, making a breakthrough to the late Soul Transformation stage not difficult."

His true intentions were laid bare! Yes, with the intent at his side, he only lacked the accumulation of demonic essence, which was the best leverage to persuade the Frost Demon's new consciousness. Of course, rapid breakthrough was just an excuse. He needed massive amounts of Yin-cold demonic qi to re-wash his body and quickly recover his strength. The Frost Demon would be an excellent aid.

"This..." The latter hesitated. The demonic qi around the iceberg emanated from its own body. Though countless years had passed, it still inherently belonged to it, retaining a faint connection. Giving it to Wang Yu meant the range of its influence would shrink again.