Chapter 512 The Ice Palace at the Bottom of the Lake and the Ninefold Mysterious Ice Lotus

"Um?"

Yu Tangtang's eyes immediately lit up, and her mind quickly calmed down. However, you could tell from her eager little face that she was a little uneasy.

The group continued on their way.

Wang Yu had originally planned to lay an ambush and earn some resources for refining Blood Infant Pills, but then the Fangbei Demon Clan's team also entered the range of his divine sense.

He then abandoned the idea of ​​taking action.

The disappearance of the Five-Colored Holy Lord particularly attracted his attention. Furthermore, apart from the risks brought by the environment, there seemed to be no other traps on the road to the Extreme Cold Hell.

In addition, the environment here was not very suitable for fighting, so after thinking for a moment, he gave up the idea of ​​collecting alchemy resources.

They accelerated their advance using the Aurora Escape Technique.

However, shortly after entering the second half of the journey, as the dazzling aurora swept past, the calm lake waters on both sides cascaded down towards the sky like waterfalls.

In the blink of an eye, an inverted water shield was formed.

Knowing full well the extreme cold and terror within, Wang Yu did not rush directly into it, but instead narrowly stopped at the edge of the water curtain.

There has been no response yet.

Tentacles formed from water swarmed in from all directions, numbering in the thousands, leaving no room to dodge.

Wang Yu's expression turned solemn, and his aura became filled with killing intent!

His natal magic treasure, the Glazed Pagoda, flew out from his dantian, hovering above his head and spinning rapidly. A light curtain hanging from the bottom of the pagoda formed a solid protective spiritual shield.

At the same time, two beams of icy divine light shot out from the jewel at the top of the tower.

He reached out and grabbed the Ice Soul Divine Light, which was like dough in his hand, allowing him to knead and manipulate it at will. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into two high-speed rotating light wheels.

He pushed it outwards... Instantly, the thousands of watery tentacles were like meat grinders, with countless extremely cold liquids splashing out like two giant windmills, forcibly squeezing out room to dodge in the narrow space.

The aurora darted left and right, rapidly approaching the water curtain dome, but the Ice Dragon Flame suddenly appeared on his shoulder, sensing the emotions revealed by the spirituality within it.

Wang Yu stopped resisting, his body engulfed in icy flames as he allowed the watery tentacles to drag him to the bottom of the lake. Soon, the area returned to calm.

Not long after.

Yan Ling and the others entered this area without being aware of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

Yu Tangtang pouted and sent a disgruntled message through her divine sense.

"Sister Yanling, why didn't Wang Yu save us? Has he changed his mind? Does he not want to stay with Tangtang anymore?"

Yan Ling: "..."

It's hard to imagine that a mid-stage Nascent Soul expert still has the mentality of a child. She could guess that Yu Tangtang was hiding a big secret, but now was not the time to talk about it.

"Senior Brother Wang must have his own considerations. For now, it's relatively safe. If you really encounter danger, remember to stay close to me."

"Oh~"

Possessing the true mark of the Ice Phoenix soul, Yan Ling, though unable to see through the tricks of the Extreme Cold Hell Road, relied on her affinity for ice-type spiritual energy.

She could roughly sense the terrifying chill hidden in the lake, but this chill was not enough to harm her. If they encountered danger, jumping into the lake with Yu Tangtang in her arms would be the best solution.

Therefore, even though Wang Yu did not offer any assistance.

She wasn't in a hurry, at least not as anxious as when she first entered the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm and encountered the critical situation at the starting point of the Hell Road.

Deep down, she still hoped that the soul mark could play a real role, at least here, in the secret realm, and truly make her the center of attention.

"—Boom!"

Just as she was lost in thought, the water tentacle attack that Wang Yu had just encountered reappeared. This time, the water curtain covered an even larger area, enveloping the two women who were exploring the way, as well as the Hehuan demonic cultivator and the overseas Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Another trap?!"

Yan Ling's worry had barely begun when she quickly regained her composure. She took Yu Tangtang's small hand, and ice crystals automatically condensed on her body to protect the two of them.

Pulled by a tentacle, it sank to the bottom of the water in the blink of an eye.

Wang Yushan of the Tianhai Ancient Sect widened his eyes: "Those two didn't resist, could there be other reasons?"

The Ancient Beast True Monarch spoke with a solemn expression.

"Could it be that they didn't react in time..."

As he spoke, a low-key yet luxurious black and gold bracelet on his right hand suddenly lit up with a spiritual light, and a giant horned frog with a deep blue body and emanating a cold aura appeared in front of him.

With a single inhale, the extreme cold power hidden within its tentacles vanished completely, like a mud ox sinking into the sea, swallowed whole by the Frost Horned Frog beast.

This obvious change immediately put the other three on alert.

"There's something wrong with the lake water; it contains even more cold air than the road surface... Fortunately, fellow Daoist's methods are amazing, just enough to counteract the environment here."

Unexpectedly, the ancient beast shook its head.

"The Frost Horned Frog's ability to devour is limited. If we cannot quickly break free from the confinement of this water curtain, we are afraid that we will all be pulled to the bottom of the water by these tentacles and turned into eternal ice crystals."

These threatening words prompted Yu Hongchen and Ji Changjing to take immediate action. The two of them joined forces and struck upwards with a palm, which formed a huge skull from the red and pink spiritual light.

It suddenly smashed through countless tentacles, finally tearing a large hole in the water curtain diagonally above everyone's heads.

"--Walk!"

The surging water became even more ferocious, and with the sudden increase in water volume, it was as if a celestial river was pouring down, with more extremely cold liquid condensing into even larger tentacles.

Facing the assembled cultivators head-on, the Ancient Beast True Monarch stood on the back of the Frost Horned Frog, which had been specially prepared for the journey to the secret realm. Ice crystals condensed out of thin air, allowing the horned frog to use its strength to change the direction of its flight.

After dodging the blow from the giant tentacle, he was the first to escape the water curtain prison and immediately moved away from the area without saying a word.

Following closely behind were the two cultivators from the Hehuan Sect who appeared as pink smoke. The two were not only cultivation partners but also practiced a combined attack technique. The speed they unleashed when they cooperated was truly astonishing.

In a group of four, there's always one unlucky one.

Wang Yushan, from the Tianhai Ancient Sect, was one of the slowest among his peers. He couldn't dodge in time and was slammed down by the extremely cold tentacles.

It fell directly into the lake.

"hiss!"

The extreme cold made him gasp.

He immediately activated the body-refining technique, "Dragon Soaring Through the Clouds True Skill," which was the authentic upgraded version of the first-tier body-refining technique "Dragon Strength" that Wang Yu obtained back then.

An ancient body-refining tradition from the Tianhai Ancient Sect.

The rapid flow of qi and blood within his body caused Wang Yushan's body temperature to rise rapidly, like a furnace, the moment it came into contact with the low-temperature cold air.

Massive amounts of steam surged up from the bottom of the water, making it look as if the lake water was boiling. Under the constant conflict between high temperature and cold, Wang Yushan was swept away by the water flow and went lower and lower.

Not far away, the two from the Hehuan Sect met up with the Ancient Beast True Monarch.

The three of them stared at each other, speechless for a long time.

After a while, the Ancient Beast True Lord spoke.

"The Northern Demon Clan's forces are still behind us. Now is the perfect opportunity to break free from their control... Shall we go ahead?"

Luo Tianji's suggestion was reasonable, but the danger of the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm made Yu Hongchen hesitate slightly. However, as she looked at her Daoist partner, she suddenly felt certain.

The three of them are inseparable; the other two are one entity.

This person could be put to good use.

Therefore, he readily agreed.

"--good!"

…………

…………

At the bottom of the lake, Wang Yu was the first to be brought down by the extreme cold tentacles. After realizing that the source of the Ice Dragon Flame was here, he simply went with the flow.

Although the extreme cold in the lake was even greater than above, with the fifth-order ice flame protecting him, he could endure it for a long time with only a little more magic energy.

That was enough for him to explore the secrets hidden at the bottom of the lake.

Therefore, when he was frozen into an ice block by the extremely cold liquid, those tentacles disappeared spontaneously, as if they had determined that he could not unfreeze on his own.

After waiting a moment, pale blue ice flames surged from his body, quickly dissolving the ice crystals on his body surface. Wang Yu then stood on the rocks at the bottom of the lake.

His eyes lit up with the mark of a crescent moon, quickly locking onto the area where the coldest energy was strongest.

Although a cultivator's divine sense is a versatile ability.

However, there are also many forces that can restrict divine sense. The extreme cold at the bottom of the lake can freeze divine sense into ice shards, and cultivators here can only rely on their own eyes to see.

Like a blind person, their spiritual senses were weakened by half.

For Wang, who had cultivated a modified pupil technique, the impact was not particularly significant. His eyes were extraordinary, resembling two small moons.

They can do all sorts of incredible things.

The underwater environment made movement difficult, so he activated his Heavenly Demon Transformation ability, transforming into the form of an extremely Yin dragon, and quickly headed towards the area with the densest Yin energy.

A moment later.

A lake-bottom ice palace came into view, with huge ice spikes rising from the ground like blooming lotus flowers. In the center was the mysterious ice palace that looked small from afar but was enormous up close.

A statue of an ice phoenix stands at the entrance, poised to take flight.

When Wang Yu arrived here, the throbbing of the Ice Dragon Flame became even more intense, almost impatiently surging out of his body, transforming into a long tongue of flame that rushed directly into the palace entrance.

The ice palace was empty except for the pillars.

Only the central, seemingly ordinary pool of water held a spiritual object that resembled a nine-tiered lotus tower, which deeply attracted his attention.

"Nine-fold Mystic Ice Lotus... a top-grade fifth-tier spiritual object, and an ancient legendary spiritual object that has already disappeared!"

Wang Yu muttered to himself.

They now understood why it could attract the Ice Dragon's Crimson Flame.

Legend has it that this item can help ice-element cultivators comprehend top-level magical intent, and can also awaken the wisdom and spirit of ice-attribute spiritual objects, especially the spirit of the Ice Dragon Flame.

With just a three-tiered lotus tower, its spirituality can be raised to the limit of the fifth rank, and Wang Yu can even use it to directly comprehend the Guanghan Dharma intent that he has been longing for.

This truly combines "extreme cold" and "yin".

He could even skip the entry level and directly reach the minor achievement level. At the same time, this item would also be of great benefit to his cultivation of Frozen Demon Essence. As long as he successfully devoured and refined it, he would gain at least five more Demon Essence Crystals.

Of course, the best way to use it is to refine it into an elixir and then consume it.

Unfortunately, Wang Yu did not have a pill formula that used this spiritual herb as the main ingredient. In order to avoid any unforeseen complications and to take advantage of the high-level opportunities that would come after the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm, he decided to postpone his plan.

The right thing to do is to digest it as soon as possible.

"So, the so-called Extreme Cold Hell Road is actually just a pool created to nourish this Nine-Layered Mystic Ice Lotus..."

With some uncertainty in his heart, Wang Yu quickly reached the edge of the pool, condensed a hand-like phantom from his demonic energy, and reached directly at the spirit object.

However, things did not go as planned.

Although the Ice Phoenix left behind many opportunities, they were all reserved for the Ice Clan. Those of lower rank were fine, but spiritual objects of the level of the Nine-Layer Profound Ice Lotus must have been equipped with death traps.

Wang Yu knew perfectly well that there were no traces left.

Then just reach out and touch it; any problems will come to light.

Now...it's here!

A ferocious armored puppet, three meters tall, humanoid in shape, with black ice spikes growing from its joints, suddenly burst out of the pool, even though its entire body bore the marks of decay from the passage of time.

The power it exuded also faintly reached the level of the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

"puppet?"

It's hard to imagine what level it is.

That's why this ancient armored puppet can still maintain such strength, and its extraordinary endurance is also unusual.

Wang Yu vaguely sensed that it might be related to the methods used to create this entire secret realm; perhaps this armored puppet itself was part of the secret realm's operation.

That's how it managed to be preserved, which makes sense.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the dark blue armored golem charged forward, unleashing a powerful punch accompanied by a small storm of shattered ice.

It was swiftly aimed at his jaw.

Puppets without spirits have difficulty mastering the power of magic, and their physical strength is often exaggerated, only slightly inferior to body cultivators of the same level. Moreover, their fighting style is extremely ferocious.

Every move they make is a life-or-death struggle.

As Wang Yu raised his hand to parry, the field of power compressed to its limit converged on his right fist, and the Silver Blood Divine Power erupted, forcing even the air to turn into a pancake.

The dark blue armored puppet raised its knee to block, attempting to force Wang Yu to abandon his attack with the black ice spikes on its knee, while simultaneously throwing a punch at his temple with its other hand.

but……

With a punch imbued with an accompanying energy field, Wang Yu's right hand, as if carrying an invisible weighted gauntlet, shattered the spikes with overwhelming force and rammed directly into the armored puppet's knee.

Piercing through the back of his legs, the hard armor plates were still quite fragile under Wang Yu's divine power.

At the same time.

Wang Yu grabbed the puppet's leg with his right hand, his whole body leaping into the air, dodging the puppet's punch aimed at his temple, and then spun around and swept his leg.

Like a war dance, his heel slammed hard into the side of the armored puppet's head.

The hard metal head was kicked flat, forming a horizontal "V" shape. Wang Yu then curled up and kicked, his feet landing on its jaw.

The entire armored puppet was propelled into the sky.

With a simple pull of his right hand, the Sun-Piercing Demon Bow and the Lunar Star Arrow instantly materialized.

"--call out!"

The enormous ice flower that exploded in the sky was the last image of the armored puppet left in the world.

Puppets, apart from human puppets, are a type of thing.

Other types of puppets already have significant limitations.

Furthermore, since there was no cultivator controlling it, even with a peak fourth-tier rank, it was rendered useless by Wang Yu's rich combat experience in just a few punches and kicks.

"It's a pity that my puppetry skills aren't up to par; otherwise, catching one of these would have been a considerable gain."

Having escaped the dangerous trap, Wang Yu finally succeeded in obtaining the Nine-Layered Profound Ice Lotus. Just as he had properly placed the treasure, he saw two figures, one large and one small, enter the Ice Palace.

It was Yan Ling and Yu Tangtang.

"—Yo~"

(End of this chapter)