A vast and boundless expanse of ice stretched to the horizon in every direction, a blanket of white as far as the eye could see. Glaciers spread endlessly in every direction, the cold piercing to the bone — every breath expelled would instantly freeze into ice crystals.
It was nearly impossible to find any living creature in this place. This was the farthest north, a land of bitter cold: beyond the pale of snow and the vast, unbroken sweep of towering glaciers, nothing else existed.
Ye Fan traveled on foot. With his current level of cultivation, he no longer needed to be as cautious as in the past — he could advance in a straight line, without worry, all the way through.
Along the road, he passed a number of enormous ruins and ice palaces that held no interest for him. He proceeded directly to the heart of the ice plain — the North Pole. This was a terrifying region: space was warped and distorted, various colorful mists billowed through, and radiance intermingled in dazzling patterns.
This particular “zone” was not small — its radius spanned several hundred li. In years past, after reaching this place, Ye Fan had been forced to stop. To take another step forward would have been to court death, his golden body shattered and ground to powder.
Now, however, with his cultivation nearly reaching the pivotal step of becoming a Great Sage, this zone could no longer hold him. He could walk into it with ease.
Mists spread and formed into a massive vortex that spun without ceasing. Boulders and rocks that tumbled down from distant snowy mountains were reduced to fine powder the instant they fell into its depths.
Ye Fan remained calm and composed. His long sleeves billowed around him. The immortal sword rested at his back. His mind and body were clear and at peace. He arrived at the innermost forbidden ground of the North Pole, stepping into the most mysterious ancient land upon this expanse of ice.
“Woooooo…”
Strange howling sounds emanated throughout. Among the mist-filled vortex spun fragments of shattered bone, stone tablets, and broken weapons — relics of powerful figures from the past, set in motion by the powerful forces of the zone.
For others, these things might pose considerable trouble. But for Ye Fan, whose physical constitution was inherently extraordinary, the fine threads of colored light shot from the zone that struck his body produced only a metallic ring — unable to harm him in the slightest.
In the end, he arrived at his destination without encountering any accidents.
There was a great well — wide and deep, its bottom impossible to see, vast and expansive. A chaotic mass of light revolved around it — this was the eye of the vortex.
Ice fragments flew in all directions, shimmering in five colors. Waves of terrifying and mysterious fluctuations radiated outward — dozens to hundreds of times stronger than the outside — bursting forth from deep within the well in blazing shafts of dazzling light, rising in wisps of luminous mist.
This was the ancient immortal land from which the North Pole Immortal Light was born. In ten thousand years, a single strand might streak skyward — nearly impossible to capture.
Ye Fan furrowed his brows. He saw neither Tu Fei here, nor the old woman who had existed in the same era as the old madman. The immortal light within the ancient well blazed even more intensely than before — the terrifying True Yin essence and magnetic light gushed forth like rivers and seas. Any ordinary powerful figure who entered would be instantly reduced to powder.
Ancient stone tablets within the forbidden zone bore warnings: none below the level of a Saint may enter.
Ye Fan had already made it this far. Reaching the deep well, there was naturally no reason to pull back. He lifted his foot and stepped into the well, plunging downward.
Within the ice cavern, colors were vivid and dazzling. Luminous energy rose like water vapor. The cold was piercing to the bone. Hundreds, even thousands of corpses floated and sank within — most already frozen solid, shattered into fragments, spinning alongside the vortex.
The garments these people wore were ancient — from different eras — nearly all of them figures from antiquity, having died an untold number of ten-thousand-year cycles ago.
A good many were Saints. The sight caused Ye Fan to furrow his brows.
He descended three thousand zhang straight down, plunging into the depths of the great well. The various vital energies surged like rivers and great seas, the fluctuations growing ever more violent — and still, he had not reached the bottom.
Only after diving ten thousand zhang did he finally land upon an open expanse of ground.
The underground world was not dark. It was illuminated throughout by the various swirling lights that filled it, as bright as a realm of the divine.
Many ruins lay scattered below, among which a massive stone gate stood at the very center. It had been opened a crack, and from within streamed the True Yin essence, the magnetic light, and the rest.
Even Ye Fan endured a degree of pressure. He fixed his gaze upon the fluctuations that were capable of tearing apart a Saint and advanced step by step toward the stone gate, staring at this pair of immense doors.
“An Immortal Manor!”
He saw a plaque mounted above it, bearing those two characters. He was immediately stunned. He surveyed this underground complex of ancient architecture, and suddenly felt that the style was somewhat familiar.
After circling through the entire place and finding nothing of note, he returned once more to the gate. Slowly applying force, amid a series of clicking and grinding sounds, he pushed the great doors open and stepped inside.
The cold was bone-deep; the killing intent struck at the body. It was enough to freeze and destroy an ordinary Saint outright. What lay behind this great gate was terrifying beyond words. Beams of light interwove; divine essence surged and pulsed; spiritual energy filled the air like a sea. It was as though he had arrived in a zone of violent, untamed immortal energy.
Ye Fan pressed forward with great difficulty, bearing the immense pressure step by step. Only after pushing through for several dozen li did he emerge from it, letting out a long breath.
Contrary to his expectations, what lay ahead was no longer icy cold. There was no True Yin essence, no swirling lights — only silence and stillness, as though he had arrived before the opening of heaven and earth.
This was a gray, dim world. Before him: shattered mountains, fissured valleys, dried riverbeds… all dark and desolate, without a single trace of life.
One could see that this had once been a divine land, but it had suffered a catastrophe that had annihilated every living being within it, leaving behind only ruins.
“Boom!”
When Ye Fan stepped into one of the valleys, formation patterns blazed to life, hurling him backward. His body nearly ruptured, nearly exploding into oblivion — body and soul both.
What was this place?!
He could not help but be shaken. Powerful as he was — capable of suppressing early-stage Great Sages — in this place he had nearly perished. Even if word of it spread, no one would believe it.
This valley was perfectly ordinary — a ruined wasteland, devastated long ago by a fierce battle, its life drained from it. And yet precisely this was what had nearly caused Ye Fan to meet his end. A mere fragment of a broken and incomplete formation pattern left here from the past — just thinking about it was enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
Ye Fan came to a halt. In this place, he searched with care, examining every detail, for the formation pattern that had nearly cracked him open just now was far too strange.
The closer he looked, the more alarmed he became.
Only a single square meter of broken patterning, nearly worn smooth — dim, without luster. After wounding him, it was itself half-destroyed, and would have difficulty enduring much longer in this world.
“Great Emperor Formation Patterns!” Ye Fan muttered under his breath, arriving at this conclusion.
This was a fragment of incomplete patterning — and it had been a node of particular importance within a larger formation. It had survived to the present day and, despite being this severely damaged, could still wound a Great Sage!
What was this place, that it had once been densely covered in Great Emperor Formation Patterns — and yet had been reduced to scorched earth, with even such powerful divine patterns left nearly obliterated?
Looking out across the desolate expanse — barren wasteland stretching for ten thousand li, not a blade of grass, mountain peaks snapped clean, the earth rent asunder — even with the protection of Great Emperor Formation Patterns, it had still been reduced to this state. What manner of force could have done this?
Could it be that a clash between emperors had taken place here? That would be beyond astounding.
Ye Fan’s brows knit deeply. With a faint hum, a cauldron flew out from his brow, hovering above his head. It cast down cascading starlight like a river of stars, shielding him within, as a precaution.
He moved forward, probing this world, until at last he murmured: “If it were filled with living things, if it were lush and verdant with trees and grass, would it not look very much like the Immortal Manor world in the Central Region?”
In particular, those two characters “Immortal Manor” on the great gate outside — their style was even closer to that pure land in the Central Region.
What connection did the two share? Ye Fan’s heart drummed urgently. He felt as though he were dimly beginning to guess at the truth — the words “Immortal Manor” carried implications that ran deep.
He moved quickly forward, wanting to verify his suspicion. But ahead, a tide of primordial chaos surged, and he reached the edge of this small world: the path was cut off.
Clearly, some of the shattered mountains and great fissured chasms had been severed right here — cut off from what lay ahead — the path forward had once simply been destroyed. The original small realm had been obliterated.
“What a pity. The emperor-level conflict destroyed all the clues. Still, one can go to the Immortal Manor world in the Central Region to continue the search.”
Ye Fan searched carefully, unwilling to overlook a single corner. Finally, in a stretch of crumbling, fissured valley, he discovered a path leading straight into the depths of the primordial chaos.
He moved forward along it. This narrow, winding path brought him to a small hidden pocket realm, like a bubble in the primordial chaos — its circumference unlikely to exceed a few li.
This place was covered in dense formation patterns — layer upon layer, every path sealed shut. All of them were Great Sage-level formations. The slightest trigger would unleash the most violent of attacks.
Ye Fan held the immortal sword in hand and did not immediately hack his way through. Instead, he peered ahead, sensing something unusual — an aura of supreme sanctity and peace washing over him.
There was a mass of immortal light, faint and indistinct, cradling a person who floated within it — fused with the Grand Dao, the resonance of scriptures thundering and shaking the ears, stirring one to the depths of the soul.
“That is… North Pole Immortal Light!”
Ye Fan was astonished. It was said that a single strand emerged once every ten thousand years — yet what he now saw was far more than a single strand. At the very minimum, it exceeded ten strands, wrapping themselves around the silhouette of a person.
Each strand was like a living spirit-dragon, stretching for several zhang, soaring up and down, immortal energy rising in clouds, its aura world-shaking beyond measure.
“Tu Fei!”
Ye Fan called out softly. The person enveloped within was none other than Tu Fei. Though many years had passed, he was as he had always been — sealed within dark ice, motionless, being nourished by the immortal light.
Another pulse of life drew Ye Fan’s attention. This place was almost entirely a bubble of primordial chaos — carved open by human hands. Within the mists and vapors, another figure was indistinct and unclear.
It was an old woman. Her body also bore North Pole Immortal Light — though it seemed she had completely refined it into herself. Only wisps of radiance flowed along the surface of her body.
Above her head hovered a blue-gold pagoda, glimmering with light, fused with her and floating slowly in and out.
“It’s her — didn’t she undergo Dao dissolution?!”
This was the old woman who had existed in the same era as the old madman. When he had come here all those years ago, he had clearly seen that she seemed to be undergoing Dao dissolution — yet now she was still alive, her blood and vital energy surging like a sea, contained deep within her body.
“Young one, you have come again…” A divine consciousness transmission came through — unquestionably a pinnacle Great Sage in power, surging and vast as the ocean.
The old woman’s eyes remained closed, and she did not move. It seemed she was inconvenient to move, and could only transmit her voice in this manner.
“Greetings, Senior!” Ye Fan cupped his hands in salute.
“The pace of your advancement surprises me. At last, heaven and earth have shifted and changed again.” The old woman sighed, as though carrying with her an endless weight of feeling.
The old woman had not died. The blue-gold pagoda she had obtained was a damaged primordial ancestral artifact. In this round, both the person and the artifact had been nourished by the immortal light — the former’s lifespan extended, the latter gradually restored, moving ever closer to flawlessness.
According to legend, a single strand of immortal light emerged once in ten thousand years — yet they had been granted the most extraordinary fortune. In carving open this severed and mysterious place, they had chiseled out this narrow space and received more than twenty strands of immortal light.
“What is this place?” After a brief exchange, Ye Fan asked directly.
“This is a road. I have only excavated a portion of it.” The old woman said.
“A road — what kind of road?” Ye Fan was shaken, feeling ever more strongly that his guess was approaching the truth.
“This is the road to immortality from several million years ago. I am attempting to restore it and carve it open once more.” The old woman answered.