Chapter 812: Chapter 811: After the Great Battle
Ice Crystal Lake, the cold tide surged to the heavens, like a great fog spreading.
This was a famous forbidden land in the Kunlun Realm—birds ceased to fly, vitality was sealed. All the small islands were shrouded beneath thick layers of ice; wherever the eye could see, it was a world of ice and snow.
Even a Human Immortal would not dare set foot within.
And at this moment.
There was a lone figure standing there.
That man’s silver hair was like snow, his blue robe fluttered, light flickered in his eyes. His fleshly body was like a piece of Glazed Jade, his vast Qi Blood and True Qi churned like rolling magma; the terrifying cold tide within Ice Crystal Lake approached his side and instantly boiled as if brought to a furious boil.
"As expected of an Earth Immortal—wanting to kill him is not so easy! His strength is dozens of times greater than Yu Zhenhai’s... To actually lure me here, intending to borrow the great momentum of Ice Crystal Lake to grind me to death!"
This figure was precisely Ye Qingchen.
When Luo Yunfei detonated the cold tide back then, he had already sensed something; seeing that the situation was irreparable, he immediately cast life aside and plunged into Ice Crystal Lake. Only then did he slip past the other party’s eyelids and evade that vast cold tide.
Even separated by the lake water, Ye Qingchen could still feel that cold tide capable of freezing heaven and earth.
After all.
This was the cold tide which the entire Ice Crystal Lake had accumulated for countless years. Once it surged, it would rush forth like a flood bursting through a dam! Even an Earth Immortal might not be able to retreat wholly intact before this cold tide!
Thinking of that earlier perilous scene, Ye Qingchen couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
"In the end, I still underestimated him! He is, after all, an Earth Immortal, not some half‑baked existence like Yu Zhenhai can compare to... Though I dodged that cold tide, I’ve fallen into this place instead!"
Ye Qingchen narrowed his eyes, surveying his surroundings.
The entire heaven and earth were wrapped by the cold tide; coupled with the billowing fog, it was like a natural prison, trapping him within this patch of heaven and earth. Not only was there this omnipresent cold tide, but also this seemingly tranquil yet actually peril‑ridden Ice Crystal Lake.
Thinking of this.
Ye Qingchen’s gaze slowly fell upon the stretch of waters from which he had just departed.
"Splash!"
At the very instant his gaze swept over.
Suddenly, a pillar of water shot skyward, and a dark shadow leaped out like lightning.
It was a ferocious‑looking white carp, bearing saw‑toothed fangs, its entire body boiling with demonic aura, hundreds of zhang in length, actually possessing the cultivation of a Human Immortal.
Almost the instant it burst from the water, it violently opened its great maw and lunged fiercely toward Ye Qingchen!
"Hmph!"
Ye Qingchen let out a cold snort and casually swung a light sword slash.
"Tear!"
The void was rent; sword light burst forth, sweeping across in an instant, skimming past the creature’s body. That white carp’s body shuddered, and it was cleaved cleanly in two at the waist on the spot.
Splash!
A Blood Spring erupted.
The severed corpse crashed down, falling into the water and sending up a heaven‑shocking wave.
At this scene.
The depths of the lake fell suddenly silent; faintly, countless shadows could be seen scrambling to flee in haste. Clearly, these were the Water Demonic Beasts lurking within the lake; once an ordinary person fell into their midst, they would likely be torn to pieces by the horde at once.
The reason he had emerged so slowly just now was precisely to shake off these pursuing beasts!
"The urgent task now is to first find a way out!"
With a flick of his fingers, the Star Sword quietly returned to its scabbard. Without another glance at that lake which had already gone utterly still, Ye Qingchen slowly turned and departed.
...
Taotian Palace, Heaven-Shocking Peak.
Han Buxiu stood beneath Rain Listening Tower, slowly recounting the events that had taken place within Ice Crystal Lake. When he spoke of Ye Qingchen being engulfed by the cold tide and his life-and-death unknown, Heaven-Shocking Peak fell abruptly silent.
"How is that possible?"
Lu Yanwu covered her mouth, tears silently slipping from the corners of her eyes.
Lin Shifei and Zhou Hai stared wide‑eyed, unable to believe it.
Zheng Jiuling stood to the side without a word; even though so much time had passed, whenever Ice Crystal Lake was mentioned, he still refused to accept it. How could that young man, like a Divine Demon, possibly have died just like that?
Atop the small tower.
Su Moran gazed into the void, her expression neither sorrowful nor joyful; only after a moment did she speak faintly:
"Ye Qingchen is dead. Why have you returned?"
"I will stand in for Mr. Ye and Ye Xuan in battle! I will kill Ye Xuan, execute Ye Xu Kong, and annihilate Taotian Palace!" Han Buxiu stood proudly upright, baring his heart completely.
"Good! I will lend you a hand!"
Su Moran looked at the clear wine in her hand and drained it in one swallow.
His gaze was distant, stretching far away.
Staring dazedly at the surging sea of clouds in the distance, a thousand words and ten thousand thoughts in the end all dissolved into a single long sigh.
...
Ice City, Luo Family Ancestral Land.
Luo Yunfei sat cross-legged, his face deathly pale as he looked at the few people before him, his expression already sunk to the extreme. The few standing in front of him, although all possessed the cultivation of Half-Step Earth Immortal, were at this moment hanging their heads, not daring to utter a single word.
"So many of you, and you still couldn’t find it?" Luo Yunfei narrowed his eyes, unable to hide his anger.
A few days earlier.
He had returned from within Ice Crystal Lake, originally thinking that he only needed a few days to recover from his injuries. But who could have expected that the chest pierced through by that streak of cyan light was actually far more severely damaged than he had imagined.
The time consumed to heal was even longer than he had anticipated.
Thus, he sent out several of the family’s Half-Step Earth Immortals to retrieve that bracelet.
Yet unexpectedly, their efforts had been fruitless all along.
"Patriarch, the area of Ice Crystal Lake is vast, and its terrain incomparably complex. We have already searched for several days in the region you specified, but have found no trace of Ye Qingchen, nor any sign of the magic treasure you spoke of..." one Half-Step Earth Immortal said apologetically.
Hearing this, Luo Yunfei’s face grew even darker.
"Patriarch, we also discovered a slain demonic beast at one place in Ice Crystal Lake. But by the time we rushed over, the other party had already left for a long while, and that area of traces had been destroyed. We could not track them..."
After a long time, that man finally said haltingly, "Do you think that Ye Qingchen... might not be dead?"
Boom!
As soon as the words fell.
The entire great hall fell into deathly silence, and even Luo Yunfei’s pupils involuntarily shrank.
It must be known.
Even Ye Xu Kong was wary of this young man’s potential and aptitude, let alone them. If Ye Qingchen truly wasn’t dead, the Luo Family would very likely face immeasurable retaliation!
Thinking of this, he cast a distant look toward Ice Crystal Lake, his face suddenly turning ashen, and for a long time he did not say another word.
...
While undercurrents were surging in the outside world.
Ye Qingchen had already spent several days within Ice Crystal Lake; perhaps because human presence was rare, he had instead found quite a few Heavenly and Earthly Treasures in this Ice Crystal Lake.
Of course, the terrifying degree of danger here had likewise exceeded his expectations. Everywhere, fearsome demonic beasts lay concealed, like venomous snakes lurking in the dark, ready to strike at any time.
There were even.
Some demonic beasts whose strength had already stepped into the Earth Immortal ranks.
Even Ye Qingchen, when facing these beasts, had no choice but to treat them with utmost caution.
Three days later.
Ye Qingchen directly counter-killed an Ice Python that had chased him for half a day, its cultivation at the Half-Step Earth Immortal level.
No one knew how many years this Ice Python had lived; the outward appearance of its flood-dragon-like body had already shed away for the most part, faintly revealing a draconic form. Even within Ice Crystal Lake, it could be counted as a hegemon suppressing one side.
Seven days later.
Ye Qingchen engaged in a fierce battle with three Half-Step Earth Immortal Dragon Turtles, directly killing one, crippling another, and forcing the last to flee.
But who would have thought.
That Dragon Turtle, under heavy injury, erupted with potential far beyond imagination. Its massive body skimmed rapidly across the lake’s surface, raising a long, white wake, like a flood dragon bursting from the water, riding the wind and cleaving the waves!
The demonic beasts of Ice Crystal Lake possessed incomparably vast Qi Blood, all the more so at Half-Step Earth Immortal cultivation. For his cultivation of the Ancient Dragon Elephant Technique, they were of immense benefit; Ye Qingchen had no intention of letting it go.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Man and beast continued rushing forward.
Unknowingly, they had already run for several hundred li.
However.
No matter how fast it was, how could it escape from Ye Qingchen’s palm?
Seeing that there was no road left to flee, the Dragon Turtle let out a series of roars and turned its head to spew out a mouthful of frigid mist.
"Haha, you think that alone can stop me?"
Ye Qingchen laughed loudly, the Star Sword cleaving down from midair, directly splitting that surging wave of cold in two, and, under the Dragon Turtle’s terrified gaze, hacking it from head to tail, forcibly cleaving it into two halves!
Splash!
The Dragon Turtle’s huge corpse crashed heavily onto the lake’s surface, sending up towering columns of water.
"Haha, you still wanted to resist? With this Dragon Turtle, plus the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures I collected earlier, I can refine a furnace of great medicine to replenish Qi Blood perfectly!"
Cheerfully stowing away the turtle corpse, Ye Qingchen was just about to leave when his gaze swept across a small island ahead, and his pupils suddenly contracted as he let out a soft exclamation of astonishment.
