Great Perfection of the Golden Core

"Hmph, how dare such vile filth desecrate this sacred ground? Disciples of the Ice Profound Palace, form the formation!"

The elder watched as the soul-banner's chains lashed out like venomous serpents, yet his face showed no fear. His roar carried a biting chill, like shards of ice.

The surrounding elders and disciples moved in unison, their hand seals weaving rapidly as icy-blue spiritual energy surged like a tide. Within moments, a colossal ice lotus, hundreds of feet tall, materialized!

Layer upon layer of petals shimmered with an eerie cold, and at its core, visible ripples of spiritual power pulsed outward, shaking the nearby mountains with their oppressive force.

"Hum—"

The soul-banner's chains struck the ice lotus, only to recoil as if they had plunged into an abyss of glacial frost. The bone-chilling cold spread like wildfire along the chains, and in an instant, hundreds of obsidian links were encased in icy-blue crystals. Even the wails of the vengeful spirits at their tips were frozen mid-air, reduced to muffled echoes.

"Oh?"

Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. The Ice Profound Palace's formation was proving more troublesome than he had anticipated.

Cang Wu and Princess Ademi tensed, their hearts in their throats.

The immortal's methods had failed!

"Not bad, but not good enough."

Seeing his soul-banner rendered useless, Ye Chuan remained expressionless. With a light step, he appeared right before the ice lotus formation in the blink of an eye.

"Hum—"

The ice lotus erupted with a frigid blast, hurling a concentrated wave of spiritual energy at Ye Chuan—its power nearly rivaling that of a Nascent Soul cultivator!

"Suppress!"

The icy-blue energy engulfed Ye Chuan like a flood, freezing even the air in its wake.

"Trash will always be trash. If they had any brains, they wouldn’t have taken this path," the elder sneered, watching Ye Chuan get struck. "This is the fate of those who dare oppose the Ice Profound Palace—their souls sealed in eternal ice, never to reincarnate."

But his words soon died in his throat as a figure slowly emerged from the dissipating frost.

Ye Chuan hovered in the air, an enigmatic smile playing on his lips.

"Blah blah blah, what’s all this nonsense? This sorry excuse for an ice lotus can’t even scratch me."

"Th-this… how?!" The Ice Profound Palace elders and disciples gaped in disbelief.

Their shaken focus caused the ice lotus formation to waver, its translucent form flickering as if on the verge of collapse.

"You—you’re unaffected by the formation?!"

"Duh," Ye Chuan scoffed. "Seriously, is this the best you’ve got? One hit and you’re already spent? Maybe you should pop some blue pills or something."

"You—you insolent—!" The elder’s face flushed crimson with rage. "Full power, now!"

The ice lotus trembled as the disciples, incensed by Ye Chuan’s taunts, poured every last drop of their spiritual energy into it.

A terrifying aura condensed around the colossal lotus. The world seemed to darken for a moment before a glacial tsunami surged toward Ye Chuan!

"Tch."

Once again, Ye Chuan was swallowed by the icy-blue energy—but this time, his chaotic power devoured it whole.

[You have reached the peak of the Golden Core realm.]

Huh?

Ye Chuan hadn’t expected another breakthrough. Maybe taking an ice bath in their formation wasn’t so bad after all.

As the glacial torrent faded, the landscape behind him was now a frozen wasteland stretching for miles. Yet, Ye Chuan remained unharmed, floating calmly in place.

"H-how… impossible… no…" The elder’s spiritual energy was completely drained. Staring at Ye Chuan’s unscathed form, his eyes brimmed with disbelief.

The other disciples, too, were spent, unable to sustain the formation any longer.

"Crack… crack!" The ice lotus shattered like brittle glass, exploding into fragments.

"Ahh!"

The backlash sent the Ice Profound Palace disciples and elders tumbling to the ground.

In the distance, Cang Wu and Ademi were stunned. The immortal’s strength was beyond comprehension—he had single-handedly crushed an entire sect’s formation!

"Keh keh keh keh keh!" Ye Chuan whipped out his soul-banner again, cackling like a true villain. "Come, become nourishment for my Human Emperor Banner!"

Under his spiritual command, the banner’s chains shot forth, piercing the bodies of the Ice Profound Palace disciples one by one.

Their souls were sucked into the banner, their attributes stacking endlessly.

"Nice, nice. Almost time to break through to Nascent Soul."

Just as Ye Chuan was admiring his haul, a furious shout rang out from above.

"Stop!"

A massive ice-blue sword, dozens of feet long, materialized mid-air and slashed down at him!

"Hm?"

Ye Chuan didn’t even flinch. With a flick of his fingers, he chanted, "Azure Cloud Sword Art, go."

Dozens of spiritual swords soared upward, their blade light slicing the giant sword apart. It shattered into glimmering shards that drifted like snowflakes.

Looking up, Ye Chuan saw an enormous flying vessel descending slowly.

"Oh? This thing…" He’d seen something similar in the system’s exchange shop.

Sweet.

With this, could he just cruise around the skies?

As Ye Chuan eyed the flying ship, hundreds of figures stood atop it, glaring down at him.

"So you’re the demonic cultivator who dares oppose our Ice Profound Palace?" A portly man at the front—Bing San—glared at the fallen disciples and elders before bellowing, "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!"

"Just dropping by for a visit. What, you thought I came to settle grudges?" Ye Chuan snapped his fingers, and the flying ship lurched violently.

"What the—?!"

"Eh?" Even Ye Chuan blinked in surprise. "Can’t stash this in my inventory?"

He’d planned to swipe the ship outright, but it seemed the system had other ideas.

"Whatever, let’s try again."

Before Bing San could react, the entire ship lurched—and all several hundred people aboard plummeted straight down!

"The flying ship?!"

Some disciples managed to stabilize mid-air, but the slower ones face-planted into the snow like falling arrows.

"Lord Bing San, the ship—it’s gone!"

Bing San’s hefty frame landed with a thud. He scowled at Ye Chuan.

"What did you do to our ship? Where is it?!"

"Oh, I just pocketed it." Ye Chuan checked his inventory.

[Item: Flying Ship

A spiritual vessel capable of flight.]

Perfect. With this, he could probably travel from the Western Divine Continent all the way to the Donghua Divine Continent.

"You—you stole it?!" Bing San’s voice turned murderous. "Where is it now?!"

Ye Chuan smirked. "In your mom’s stomach, maybe."

"You’re dead!"