Ice Snow Palace was a great sect of the Northern Region, with a lineage stretching back far — more than ten thousand years — its strength second only to the Sacred Grounds.
Legend had it that the founding patriarch of this sect was not a human being, but a snow ape. Having achieved mastery approaching the realm of the Great Dao, it had been able, ten thousand years ago, to stand as an equal against the various Sacred Grounds.
However magnificent a lineage, there comes a time when it decays and perishes; however powerful a being, there comes a moment when it passes from this world in meditation. Nothing lasts forever.
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Tu Fei, and the Big Black Dog set out across a stretch of frozen plain, beginning their plan to kill holy sons and capture holy maidens.
Yao Guang’s candidate holy son had entered Ice Snow Palace and had not come out since. The four of them had come to this region with him squarely in their sights.
This stretch of land sat at an extremely high elevation — more than eight thousand meters. Even in summer it was a world of ice and snow, with howling cold winds, just as it had been since the ancient past.
In ages long past, during the darkest and most chaotic years of upheaval, a world-shaking battle had once taken place here. What had once been the sacred territory of a Sacred Ground was utterly destroyed. The supreme powerhouses of that age had punched through the heavens, swept away the endless snow mountains, and left in their wake an endless frozen plain.
Ice Snow Palace was merely the great power that had moved in and established itself here in later times. In more distant ages, there had been even older and more glorious lineages on this frozen plain.
“Who destroyed an entire Sacred Ground?” Ye Fan felt greatly shocked when he heard Tu Fei recount this.
“It’s not entirely clear. That was something that happened seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago — the darkest era after the archaic age, a time of the most terrible upheaval, and many Sacred Grounds participated in the conflict.” Tu Fei shook his head.
“What kind of power would it take to destroy an entire Sacred Ground?” Pang Bo was also greatly astonished.
“Somehow this feels to me like… a forbidden zone’s upheaval…” The Big Black Dog said with some hesitation.
“Do you know something about it?” Ye Fan’s heart stirred. The Big Black Dog’s origins were extraordinary — the more ancient an event, the more clearly it seemed to understand it.
“The Eastern Wastelands have seven great life forbidden zones, each one terrifying beyond imagination — even a Great Emperor could not level them. One hundred and ninety thousand years ago, the Ancient Dark Upheaval of the Primordial Ancient Mine took place, and blood flowed across the land. One hundred and fifty thousand years ago, the Dark Upheaval of the Undying Mountain took place, and countless living beings were slaughtered.”
Everyone was astonished and turned to look at the Big Black Dog. The Primordial Ancient Mine and the Undying Mountain were terrifying forbidden zones in the Northern Region and central area of the Eastern Wastelands respectively.
None of them had ever heard it said that the life forbidden zones had ever set off dark upheavals — it seemed to have been something of extreme horror, sweeping across the land and leaving rivers of blood in its wake.
“Seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago — called the darkest era after the archaic age. Countless were killed and wounded in that great upheaval. It seems to have been a man-made disaster.” Tu Fei spoke up, looking out at the endless expanse of the frozen plain. “I vaguely heard it said that a peerless Divine King of the Jiang Family used an extreme Dao weapon to sweep this entire place flat.”
“Ss—!”
Everyone drew a sharp breath. Just how great was the might of an extreme Dao sacred artifact? That was hard to put into words — but legend said that if enough power of the Dao were channeled into it, it was the equal of a Great Emperor reborn.
“Sacred Grounds truly do differ in strength from one another.” Ye Fan said with feeling.
The Black Emperor spoke with deep gravity: “That’s only natural. Sacred Grounds that have produced Great Emperors and possess extreme Dao weapons have the most solid foundation — they fear nothing under heaven.”
What it said was the truth. Looking back over the past hundred thousand years or more, there had once been far more Sacred Grounds than now. Half of them had faded away into history.
Thinking carefully about it — every lineage that had been destroyed had been a great power that had never produced a Great Emperor and possessed no extreme Dao weapon. In short, their foundation was insufficient.
Pang Bo said, “Looking at it now, the surviving Sacred Grounds almost certainly don’t rely on just one ancient scripture of their own. They should be even more powerful than the world imagines.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. The deeper one looked into the matter, the more the Sacred Grounds seemed unfathomably deep and terrifyingly formidable.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the deepest part of the frozen plain and saw a range of great snow mountains that soared into the clouds and touched the heavens — a vast expanse of white.
Tu Fei explained: “It is said that seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago, there was no frozen plain at all here — only endless, unbroken snow mountains. There are vague accounts that the Divine King of the Jiang Family, wielding an extreme Dao weapon, swept it all flat — which is ultimately why it looks the way it does now, with only this stretch of mountains remaining, no more than a hundred miles across, preserved as a relic.”
The great mountains were so tall their peaks could not be seen — towering into the clouds above, and atop them sat Ice Snow Palace. On every great snow mountain, magnificent ice palaces had been built.
Ye Fan said, “The old ape who founded this great sect truly had fine judgment to choose this location. These vast, towering mountains are clearly quite extraordinary at a glance.”
Tu Fei nodded. “That’s so. That old ape had achieved mastery approaching the Great Dao and was a match for the Sacred Grounds — it left behind countless legends. Some say it was born within these snow mountains. There are even those who say the techniques it cultivated were the Daoist heritage of the Sacred Ground that was destroyed seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago, and that by founding Ice Snow Palace it was as though that Sacred Ground had been reborn.”
“I’ve sensed it — Yao Guang’s candidate holy son is on the great snow mountain ahead.” Pang Bo spoke up.
Having cultivated the Demon Emperor’s Ancient Scripture, his methods were exceptional. When hunting Yao Guang’s candidate holy son, he had branded him with a demon emperor divine technique, which allowed him to sense the target’s presence within a certain range.
If the target hadn’t fled into Ice Snow Palace, he absolutely would have been cut down — there would have been no possibility of escape.
Ye Fan said, “Then let’s sit and wait for our prey to come to us. Ice Snow Palace as a great sect is far too powerful — we certainly can’t afford to provoke it, so we can only wait outside.”
Within this hundred-mile stretch, the towering mountains reached into the clouds — all of it Ice Snow Palace’s territory. Through the falling snow, one could vaguely make out countless glittering and gleaming structures on many of the mountains: magnificent ice palaces.
“I estimate that for him to recover from his injuries, he’ll need at minimum seven days. After being struck by the Demon Emperor’s Nine Strikes — ‘Form Obliteration’ — simply surviving already makes him extraordinarily lucky.” Pang Bo said.
Just how terrifying the Demon Emperor’s Nine Strikes was, Ye Fan knew from personal experience — on that day in the Deathless Hall during the great battle against the Azure Lotus Elderly Fiend, he and the Black Emperor together had nearly come to grief.
At this moment, hearing the words “Demon Emperor’s Nine Strikes,” the Black Emperor’s eyes immediately blazed with heat. It very much wanted to pounce on Pang Bo and force him to reveal the ancient scripture.
“We don’t have to wait idly, either. I’ve received intelligence that the holy maiden of the Purple Mansion is planning to visit Ice Snow Palace and then proceed to the Sacred City — we might be able to seize her before she arrives.”
Pang Bo now held a special position — one of no small consequence within the demon race. Though he could not command the various demon clans, obtaining intelligence through connections was quite easy.
“That’s good news!” Tu Fei immediately perked up.
The Black Emperor also spoke up: “So it’s that woman. Last time she was hunting this Emperor down — if I hadn’t crossed the void in a hurry, it would have been genuinely dangerous.”
“Ha ha ha — I look forward to hunting the holy maiden. I hope we succeed.” Tu Fei laughed heartily.
Ye Fan began walking around the great snow mountains, rubbing his chin and thinking carefully. “The more I look at this place, the more unusual it seems. There’s very likely a dragon vein concealed here, with great blocks of peerless divine ore.”
He needed tens of millions of catties of pure ore above all else — only with that could he break through the constraints of the Dao Palace Secret Realm, shatter the restrictions binding him, and enter the Four Extremes Secret Realm. That was an astronomical figure.
“Could great blocks of peerless divine ore really be dug out here?” Both Pang Bo and Tu Fei knew he had cultivated the Source Celestial Scripture, and they had great confidence in his source arts.
Ye Fan shook his head. “Almost certainly impossible. Even if I could pin down the dragon vein, it would create a tremendous commotion — and this is Ice Snow Palace’s territory. We’d only end up doing them a favor.”
Tu Fei said, “Come on, let’s take a look first and then decide. Seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago, there was a Sacred Ground here. There might not just be great divine ore — there could be other rare treasures as well.”
Within this hundred-mile stretch, every mountain soared into the clouds, ice and snow without end.
Ye Fan used the Earth Observation Technique to peer intently, and became more and more convinced that this place was truly extraordinary — there was very likely a great dragon spirit vein here, harboring a superb block of divine ore of immense proportions.
“It seems to be in the back mountains — let’s go around.”
Goose-feather snowflakes filled the sky, nearly blinding the eye, and the cold within the snow mountains cut to the bone.
Pang Bo probed with a demon emperor divine technique. “There don’t seem to be any Ice Snow Palace people in the back mountains.”
“I understand now — the legends are true.” Tu Fei smiled. “The founding patriarch was a snow ape, and so this sect has always shown special care for snow apes as a species.”
Within this hundred-mile stretch of great snow mountains, there was more than enough space for Ice Snow Palace to build its cultivation grounds. It was said that the back mountains had been left for a colony of snow apes, with no disciples or followers stationed there to cultivate.
Upon learning this, everyone’s spirits rose greatly. They decided to venture deeper into the back mountains and explore thoroughly — if they could really dig out a great block of peerless divine ore, it would be an enormous blessing of fortune.
“There is absolutely a great dragon here!” Ye Fan was profoundly shaken.
They pressed deeper into the back mountains, moving through the snow-covered mountain peaks. Ye Fan deployed his source arts, piercing through all illusions and capturing the dragon energy.
“Beneath the ground there is an extremely powerful dragon energy — it must be a supreme dragon vein!”
Ye Fan gazed intently. One snow peak after another connected together like the spine of a great dragon — a posture of vast and overwhelming power.
“Then what are we waiting for — let’s start digging it out,” the Big Black Dog urged, its eyes glowing a faint green.
“I’m worried this dragon vein may have something unusual about it — it might even have an ancient royal clan sealed within it. And seven or eight tens of thousands of years ago, this was a Sacred Ground’s cultivation ground — there are likely many more things to consider.” Ye Fan pondered.
“Get a thorough look first — see it through clearly before we decide,” Tu Fei said.
They continued deeper, observing the great snow mountains without cease. Ye Fan became nearly certain that extraordinary divine objects lay beneath the ground.
“This terrain — it’s True Dragon Nirvana!” Ye Fan was startled. The Source Celestial Scripture contained a description of this kind of terrain — involving the principles of yin and yang and the boundary between life and death, profoundly mysterious.
“What does that mean?” Pang Bo asked.
“Abstruse and profound in the extreme. If there are no living creatures within, we might be able to obtain a supremely grand sacred cache.”
“And if there are ancient creatures?” Tu Fei asked.
“Then this would certainly be a supremely dangerous place — the royal nest of an ancient species. With what we have, we could absolutely do nothing about it!” Ye Fan’s expression was grave.
“What’s that smell — it’s so fragrant?” The Big Black Dog suddenly raised its head, an expression of astonishment crossing its face.
“Is there? I can’t smell anything.” Pang Bo was puzzled.
“Don’t try to compare with it — a dog’s nose is the sharpest there is, and this dead dog has a particularly remarkable background on top of that.” Tu Fei said.
“Woof!”
The Big Black Dog bared its teeth, but didn’t bite anyone. It twitched its nose and said, “Most likely some heaven-sent rare treasure is about to ripen.”
With that, it broke into a sprint through the snow mountains, charging forward.
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Tu Fei saw it go and immediately gave chase. After traveling a full dozen or more miles, they too caught the fragrance in the air.
“This dead dog’s nose is simply too keen — standing upwind, it can catch the scent of something dozens of miles away.” All three could not help but be astonished.
The alluring fragrance came from a snow valley. When they arrived, everyone was immediately taken aback — within the valley there were many humanoid creatures, their bodies covered all over in dense, snow-white long fur.
“These are snow apes — born with immense physical strength. From the time they are just born they can tear apart lions and tigers. They are undoubtedly all demon beasts. There are likely old apes who have cultivated to an extremely high level!” Tu Fei was shaken.
What shook them even more was that dragon energy coiled within the snow valley. At the valley’s center grew several spiritual grasses, exhaling auspicious light amid the ice and snow, green light shimmering — and on each plant hung a single golden-colored fruit.
“Dragon-shaped fruits — what kind of rare fruit is this?” Even the Big Black Dog could not recognize them.
There were six spiritual grasses in total, glowing with green light, each not much more than a foot tall. Every plant bore a single fruit — about half a foot long, golden and crystalline in color, shaped like a true dragon. They were quite extraordinary.
“These are Source Dragon Fruits!” Ye Fan exclaimed in astonishment, becoming even more certain that a great dragon lay beneath the ground.
“What are Source Dragon Fruits?”
“These are a type of rare grass that grows when nourished by dragon energy. The fruits they produce cannot compare to ancient divine herbs, but they are absolutely the finest tier of spirit medicine.”
Everyone quietly weighed the situation and felt it would be very difficult to pluck the spirit fruits — there were simply too many snow apes. If they were provoked, it would almost certainly alert Ice Snow Palace.
“Up ahead there’s a snow cave, and dragon energy is rising from it too!” Pang Bo’s eyes were sharp.
It was not very far — partway up one of the snow mountains was a large cavern, dark and gaping, with dragon energy drifting out from within.
“Let’s go take a look!”
Ye Fan took the lead and flew forward. Pang Bo and Tu Fei followed close behind. The Big Black Dog lingered, throwing one last longing look at the Source Dragon Fruits before turning and following as well.
They quickly reached the base of this snow mountain and descended, entering the cave.
Inside the cave, the space was vast and dry. There were some stone basins and stone bowls, as well as stone beds and the like.
The cave dwelling was expansive, extending deep into the mountain’s interior, and it was clean, with no strange odors.
“This seems to be the dwelling of those snow apes — let’s take a quick look and get out of here!”
They realized this was likely the snow apes’ nest. It was not a place to linger.
Tu Fei said, “Have a quick search. These snow apes may be the descendants of that old ape who founded Ice Snow Palace ten thousand years ago. There’s a chance the old ape left something behind.”
Pang Bo shook his head. “This group of snow apes obviously has no terrifying-level existence among them. I doubt there would be any treasures stored here.”
“Dragon energy is overflowing from this place — it’s probably connected to the supreme dragon vein underground.” Ye Fan said in a low voice. At the same time, he felt a sense that today might be a special day — on ordinary days, dragon energy probably would not be flowing out like this.
The Big Black Dog fell back into its greedy habits. “Maybe we could get into the underground from here — we might just be able to dig out peerless divine ore!”
Everyone was somewhat tempted by the idea. Following the direction from which the dragon energy was flowing, they went deeper, into the mountain’s belly.
“What is that?”
Deep within the mountain’s interior was a pit like a demonic well — dropping straight down into the depths below — but its opening was sealed shut by a block of transparent black ice.
“The dragon energy is rising from this well!”
“Look — there’s something in that black ice!”
Everyone looked in astonishment and discovered that within the transparent block of black ice sealing the well’s mouth sat an old ape, seated cross-legged in meditation, looking utterly lifelike.
It was tall and large in stature, its entire body covered in snow-white fur, its expression serene — as though it were still alive.
The more they examined it, the more astonished they became. This old ape actually carried an aura of the Great Dao — as though it had merged with heaven and earth itself — which was precisely why at first they had not detected it at all.
“Could this possibly be the old ape from ten thousand years ago — the one who founded Ice Snow Palace?”
“Did it pass from this world seated in meditation here?”
Everyone was greatly shocked. This old ape had sealed the well’s mouth with its own body. Whatever lay beneath must be something utterly out of the ordinary.