The ancient ape cut an imposing figure — massive in stature, its fur as white and lustrous as snow crystals. It sat cross-legged in meditation, sealed within a column of dark ice, appearing so lifelike it seemed to have merged with the Great Dao itself, as though life still coursed through it.

In ages long past, this ancient ape had walked the world with unmatched arrogance, gazing down upon all beneath heaven, capable of contending with the great holy lands. Yet in the end, it had sat frozen in dark ice, unable to escape the finality of death, passing quietly into stillness.

The ancient well sealed by the dark ice was bottomless, with wisps of dragon qi continuously seeping out. The group studied it for a while, debating whether to move the dark ice aside.

Ye Fan said, “We cannot enter from here. The ancient ape sealed this place, and given its once heaven-piercing, earth-shattering abilities, it most likely left countermeasures behind.”

The Great Black Dog had the most authority to speak on such matters, as its mastery of Dao patterns ran extraordinarily deep. It examined the well carefully, furrowed its brow, and said, “There are far too many restrictive formations here. Breaking through them would be an enormous headache.”

The group decisively withdrew. They had no time to break through the formations — the snow apes would soon return, and if they were trapped here, it would certainly alarm the Ice and Snow Palace.

Sure enough, not long after they retreated, several hundred snow apes came howling back, leaping from one mountain peak to another. Their bodies were agile and their strength immeasurable — they were natural demon beasts.

“All six source dragon fruits were picked — what a shame!” The Great Black Dog expressed its deep regret.

In the snow valley, all six verdant plants had withered away, their spiritual energy completely exhausted, crumbling apart in the cold wind.

“The dragon qi seeping up from underground nourished this source dragon grass,” Ye Fan said. “If we go deeper from here, we should definitely be able to reach the dragon vein.”

The group immediately set to work, carving open a passage through the ice and descending into the depths. But after going down only several dozen meters, they were stopped cold.

There were array patterns underground. Everything deep within the earth’s layers had been thoroughly sealed — utterly impenetrable, locked fast beyond measure.

Ye Fan said in surprise, “Someone discovered this dragon vein long ago and sealed it beneath the earth. There must be something extraordinary down there.”

“The array patterns here have existed for tens of thousands of years and are profoundly arcane. Even I would find it quite strenuous to break through them,” declared the Great Black Dog — an expert’s assessment.

“I understand now — this must be the ruins left behind by that ancient holy land!” Tu Fei said, simultaneously startled and overjoyed.

“Does that mean there might be a great opportunity waiting for us?” Pang Bo broke into laughter.

“It truly may be a fleeting opportunity,” Ye Fan speculated using his source arts — something had changed underground, causing the dragon qi to seep out.

Such a terrain formation was called the True Dragon Nirvana, involving the interplay of yin and yang and the cycles of life and death. Once the dragon qi receded inward, it would become exceedingly difficult to pin down again.

After careful contemplation, Ye Fan said, “The dragon vein is undergoing nirvana — something that may not happen once in tens of thousands of years. It should complete within the next few days.”

Upon hearing this, the Great Black Dog perked up as though energized, its spirit roused. “Let this Emperor try to see if the formations can be broken.”

After a full day and night, it was as exhausted as a dead dog, sprawled flat on the ground, panting with its tongue lolling out. Only after tossing a divine source bean into its mouth did it recover its vitality and vigor.

“These are definitely the array patterns of the ancient holy land. Under normal circumstances they’re nearly unbreakable, but they’ve existed so long that cracks have finally appeared — we should be able to get in.”

Upon hearing this conclusion, everyone’s spirits lifted. This was very likely the underground palace left behind by the holy land that had existed seventy or eighty thousand years ago.

The so-called crack was where the dragon qi seeped out — the array patterns there had deteriorated. The Great Black Dog wore an expression of intense concentration as it walked at the front, continuously carving and rewriting the Dao patterns.

It took a full day before they finally penetrated deep into the earth’s layers, tumbling down into a vast underground palace.

“Someone sealed the dragon vein underground — clearly someone had discovered it long ago!”

This was a construction of immense scale, built with endless human effort, stretching so broadly that the eye could not find its end.

The majestic underground palace radiated an aura of great antiquity, as though draped in a layer of dust. Stone chambers, stone halls — everything bore the markings of ages upon ages.

Yet the underground was not particularly dark. A small number of peculiar stones flickered with radiance, allowing everything to be seen clearly.

Moreover, dragon qi surged like rivers, churning underground. To bathe in it filled one with a sense of mental clarity and bodily ease.

“The breath of divine source!”

Ye Fan’s expression shifted. Within the surging dragon qi, the vital essence of divine source overflowed in abundance — clearly, peerless sacred sources were stored somewhere deep within the underground palace.

“Have we wandered into the divine treasury of the ancient holy land?” Pang Bo was equally astonished.

“Damn it — that wretched dog is trying to take it all for himself, don’t let it run!” Tu Fei shouted.

The Great Black Dog said nothing, having already bolted forward like a bolt of black lightning, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

“That wretched dog is admirable in every way except its greed — it lunges for treasure the moment it appears,” the three of them said as they gave chase.

The vast underground palace seemed to have no end. It was as silent as death — not a single sound.

None of them stopped to linger. They headed straight toward the source of the dragon qi. The presence of divine source essence came from the same direction, and the further they pressed forward, the more potently they could feel that primordial vital energy.

“This underground palace is enormous!”

They ran for a full several dozen li without reaching their destination. The ancient underground palace seemed to stretch on forever.

“Something feels off to me,” Pang Bo said with suspicion. “Was this truly built by that holy land?”

Passing through stone hall after stone hall, they finally drew near the source of the dragon qi. The Great Black Dog was the first to stop.

The way ahead was blocked. A massive abyss stretched across their path, with the underground palace behind them perched above it like a cliff’s edge.

Such an immense abyss left them speechless. Below was an inky darkness through which nothing could be seen — a sight that made the hair stand on end.

Endless dragon qi along with the presence of divine source surged upward from within the great abyss, filled with mystery and an eerie strangeness.

The Great Black Dog had seen much and experienced much, yet it was still transfixed. Its mouth hung open as it stared blankly.

Such a colossal abyss, like a bottomless pit, seemed capable of swallowing one’s mind and soul, pulling a person into its depths.

“Something makes me feel a chill down my spine. This place is saturated with a sinister and demonic power,” Tu Fei said with a shudder.

The abyss was vastly empty and silent, as though it connected to the underworld, making their hearts tremble.

“I was wrong in my reading of this place. This is far more terrifying than the True Dragon Nirvana. This must be one of the most powerful terrain formations in all the world!” Ye Fan felt a surge of alarm.

Pang Bo and Tu Fei felt their hearts pounding upon hearing his words. Even the Great Black Dog, with its thick nerves, was a little unnerved. It muttered, “Just what kind of godforsaken place is this?”

“The True Dragon Nirvana was merely the surface appearance — the mountains and rivers visible near the surface. Down here is another story entirely. There is not just one dragon!”

A wave of cold dread washed over Ye Fan as well. He had never anticipated a terrain formation so bizarre and so terrifying. He studied it carefully.

In the depths of the dark and endless abyss, dragon qi surged like a tide. Occasionally, flashes of divine light burst forth, carrying a few particles of divine source upward — crystalline and translucent, gleaming with brilliance.

Tu Fei said, “This is completely unreal — even particles of divine source are being pushed up. There must be more than one piece of peerless divine source down there!”

“Young man, can you see through it or not — can we go in? There must be a peerless divine treasury below!” The Great Black Dog was growing restless.

“This must be the legendary ‘Myriad Dragon Nest.’ Unbelievable — how can such a terrain formation truly exist?!” Ye Fan murmured to himself, his expression frozen, overwhelmed with shock.

He had already been greatly startled when he ruled out the True Dragon Nirvana, thinking he had overlooked other dragon veins. But upon careful observation, once the truth became clear, he was utterly dumbfounded.

This was the legendary Myriad Dragon Nest. Even in the Heavenly Source Tome it was only recorded — with no method of deciphering it given. It was counted among the most terrifying forbidden grounds in existence.

The so-called Myriad Dragon Nest could birth dragon veins — not one or two, but many. According to the speculations of source arts masters, in the immeasurable ages before, this may very well have been the true nesting ground of real dragons.

Heaven and earth converged here, with all things aligning secretly with heaven’s workings. Within the Myriad Dragon Nest, true dragons could even be born.

Tu Fei, Pang Bo, and the Great Black Dog were also somewhat dazed. This was a terrain formation that left even source arts masters helpless — naturally, they could not expect to gain anything from it.

“Wait,” Pang Bo said, “look at how vast this underground palace is. It was built directly above the Myriad Dragon Nest and yet coexists with it in peace, without being destroyed. It shouldn’t qualify as a forbidden ground.”

“Could it be… that the legend is true?” Tu Fei seemed to recall something, his expression turning incredulous.

“What legend?” Ye Fan asked.

“The ancient holy land of that era was called the Netherworld Divine Palace. It was rumored that their legacy did not originate from humanity.”

“You can’t mean it came from the Myriad Dragon Nest?” Pang Bo said, astonished.

Tu Fei said, “It’s not impossible. Some accounts say they received a certain mysterious and ancient inheritance from below the earth.”

“What is that?” The Great Black Dog’s eyes were very sharp. It involuntarily took several steps back.

There, at the deepest reaches of the endless dark abyss, in the most pitch-black depths, a faint crystalline glimmer flickered — indistinct, yet rising upward.

“Surely there isn’t some terrifying creature about to emerge?” Everyone’s expressions stiffened, none of them able to calm themselves.

The dragon qi surged torrentially, divine source essence wafted over them, and that crystalline glimmer in the dark abyss grew considerably clearer, gradually ascending.

“It’s being pushed up by the dragon qi!”

“It’s an ice palace!”

The dragon qi surged like a tide, crashing upward from the depths of the abyss. An ice palace drifted slowly up and down, gleaming and crystalline.

It was not very large — roughly the size of a house. Calling it a palace was a stretch, yet its shape was unmistakably that of one.

It was entirely transparent, completely translucent — an extraordinary sight in that subterranean world — with waves of spiritual energy seeping out from it.

“Netherworld Divine Palace!” Everyone was stunned. On the ice palace, they could make out those three ancient characters — the same name as the ancient holy land of old.

“Can it truly be that their legacy did indeed come from the Myriad Dragon Nest?!” None of them could settle their hearts.

“There’s someone inside!” Pang Bo cried out in alarm, pulling Ye Fan back several steps, his pupils contracting sharply.

At that moment, Tu Fei and the Great Black Dog saw it too. Inside the ice palace lay a person, formed of crystalline ice — their entire body snow white, nearly transparent, matching the color of the palace itself.

She lay within in stillness, draped in white gauze that covered her form. Her figure was of extraordinary beauty, truly living up to the saying of jade skin and ice bones. Her jet-black hair gleamed brightly, covering the better half of her face so that her true features could not be seen.

Yet there was no question about it — this had to be a woman of peerless, once-in-an-age beauty. She appeared to be in deep slumber, yet also resembled a cold and lifeless body.

“Surely she can’t still be alive?” The Great Black Dog’s eyes gleamed.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo were equally filled with doubt and uncertainty. This woman of unrivaled beauty was so lifelike, truly as though she slept in peaceful tranquility, radiating a serene and harmonious aura.

“She must have passed on long ago,” Tu Fei said, staring blankly. “After all, seventy or eighty thousand years have gone by.”

“Do you know who she is?” Pang Bo asked.

“There is a certain account — the invincible divine king of the Jiang Family swept through the endless mountains that pierced the clouds with an extreme Dao weapon, reducing the vast ranges to boundless plains. Of the ancient holy land of the Netherworld Divine Palace, only their female holy master managed to escape.”

“This is the female holy master of the ancient holy land?!” Ye Fan and Pang Bo were both astonished.

“Most likely it is her,” Tu Fei said with a nod.

At that very moment, the dragon qi surged and the Netherworld Divine Palace began slowly sinking back down, disappearing into the darkness of the Myriad Dragon Nest, drifting with the ebb and flow of the dragon qi.

Seeing this, Ye Fan’s heart stirred. “We may be able to enter the Myriad Dragon Nest!”