Arrival at the Ice Mist Valley

Gu Changyuan was not surprised by the almost sluggish shock of his two disciples.

In this Nine Heavens Realm where the path to immortality was severed, a "Half-Immortal" was already the pinnacle of their understanding. It was merely a limitation of their horizons that they could not imagine a higher level of power.

In the future, when he led them to ascend to the broader Immortal Realm and they witnessed true immortal and divine methods, their understanding would naturally elevate.

"The trouble has been resolved. I'll leave these things for you to take back to the Holy Land."

As Gu Changyuan spoke, he took out the information coordinates of Ice Mist Valley from the ring. With a slight movement of his divine sense, he read the detailed location and general intelligence of Ice Mist Valley.

After learning the other party's location, he handed the ring to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu and Fang Yuwei suddenly snapped back to reality and received the ring with both hands. The look in their eyes as they gazed at their Master, aside from their original respect and adoration, now held a reverence and fanaticism akin to looking up at a god.

"Yes! Master! We disciples will definitely not fail your trust!"

The two replied in unison.

Gu Changyuan nodded slightly and raised his right hand again. With a flash of light in his palm, two pieces of bone emerged and slowly flew in front of Qin Yu and Fang Yuwei.

"These are Saint Bones, even more rare and precious than Supreme Bones."

He briefly explained.

"They contain complete fragments of the Great Dao laws. Refining them will help you directly comprehend the corresponding laws.

Once you return to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, find a safe and quiet room. One person will absorb it while the other stands guard.

The specific refining techniques and precautions have been left in the imprints within the Saint Bones. You will naturally know them when you begin to absorb."

After bestowing the Saint Bones upon the two, Gu Changyuan said no more, finally adding:

"Alright, it is time for us to continue north. We shall meet again at the Holy Land later."

As his voice fell, Gu Changyuan took Bai Ling'er and Gu Xing'er beside him and disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Qin Yu and Fang Yuwei stood in the air, gazing for a long time in the direction their Master had disappeared, until the last speck of glimmer completely vanished.

Fang Yuwei gently nudged Qin Yu, who was still in a daze beside her, with a smile on the corners of her lips:

"Alright, stop staring blankly. It's time to go back and handle the aftermath. Since Master has returned, we will have plenty of time in the Holy Land in the future."

Qin Yu then snapped out of his daze and nodded heavily, a naive smile appearing on his face:

"Mhm!"

......

Today's Gu Changyuan not only possessed the vision to see through people's hearts and distinguish truth from falsehood, but also had an almost instinctive ability to observe qi and luck.

He could not only see the good and evil in an individual's character and the thickness of their luck, but also observe at a glance the overall momentum and qi formed by the convergence of all living beings in an area.

When he hovered in the air above the Profound Nether Sect, what he saw was not just mountains, rivers, buildings, and the auras of cultivators.

What he saw was a deep, turbid, dark gray sea of karma, in which various negative auras such as resentment, malice, greed, and tyranny intertwined and entangled.

This meant that from top to bottom, the sect's style of doing things leaned towards plundering, oppressing, and even massacring, having accumulated countless blood debts and grievances over a long period.

Perhaps there were also a few disciples among them who were forced by circumstances or whose conscience was not yet dead, but swept up in that overall turbid general trend, they either chose to join in the foulness or remained silent and numb.

Gu Changyuan had neither the time nor the interest to screen and save the possible minority one by one.

Destruction was the most direct and thorough way of cleaning up.

And at this moment, he was hovering above Ice Mist Valley.

Several massive, perennially unmelting mountain ranges of solid ice meandered and entrenched, guarding a giant valley in the center covered by crystal-clear profound ice.

Inside the valley were palace complexes and residential areas built with various materials, with the figures of many cultivators moving about or cultivating within them.

Looking at it as a whole, it was a peaceful and tranquil scene.

More importantly, in Gu Changyuan's eyes, the sky above Ice Mist Valley was enveloped in a clear, light blue halo.

Although there were a few mottled spots caused by disputes and selfishness within it, the main body was pure and peaceful, and there was even a light golden qi of merit circulating, accumulated from doing good deeds and protecting the region.

This was absolutely not the atmosphere a sect that bullied others and committed all sorts of evils should have.

Since this was the case, Gu Changyuan dismissed the thought of casually destroying the sect.

However, this did not mean that their involvement with the Profound Nether Sect could be written off.

But since they were implicated in the incident targeting the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Gu Changyuan would absolutely not let this matter simply pass.

With a thought, a terrifying coercion, vast as an abyss and heavy as a mountain, descended without warning, instantly enveloping the entire Ice Mist Valley!

Boom—!

It was as if the invisible sky had collapsed.

All the cultivators in the valley, regardless of their cultivation level or where they were, felt their bodies suddenly sink at the exact same time.

The perennial ice mist in the valley was instantly dispersed and emptied by this coercion, revealing the clear scene below.

The valley's protective grand array activated on its own, and layers of ice-blue light shields lit up, but they fluctuated violently under the coercion, emitting overwhelmed creaking sounds.

"Enemy attack—!"

"Who goes there? Why invade my Ice Mist Valley?!"

Fierce shouts and voice transmissions mixed with shock and anger rang out everywhere in the valley.

In the next instant, streaks of light shot up into the sky from the various peaks and palaces. Their speeds varied, but without exception, they were all bearing immense pressure.

A total of over twenty figures finally managed to hover reluctantly above Ice Mist Valley, forming an array. Each of them had a solemn expression, their auras erupting at full strength as they stared fixedly at the three figures standing in the air above.

Although these people were shocked and angry, they had not lost their minds.

For the other party to approach silently and release such terrifying coercion, their strength was absolutely far beyond imagination.

A rash attack would likely invite a catastrophic disaster.

"May I ask who Your Excellency is? Why have you suddenly descended upon my Ice Mist Valley and imposed such coercion?

If someone in my valley has inadvertently offended Your Excellency, I, Bai Ning, am willing to apologize to Your Excellency on behalf of the entire valley and do my utmost to make amends."

Right at this moment, an old yet exceptionally peaceful and clear female voice resounded through heaven and earth, faintly neutralizing a portion of that suffocating coercion.

Accompanied by the voice, a monstrous blizzard suddenly erupted from the highest and oldest profound ice palace in the deepest part of the valley.

That was not a natural blizzard, but the manifestation of majestic spiritual power pure to the extreme.

The blizzard howled and spiraled, instantly condensing into an ice and snow tornado that connected heaven and earth, and then rapidly converged and collapsed inwards.

When the wind and snow dispersed, an old woman dressed in a plain white ice silkworm robe, leaning on a completely crystal-clear ice dragon-head cane, had already silently appeared at the very front of the Ice Mist Valley cultivators, facing Gu Changyuan from afar.

The old woman had a kindly face, covered with the ravines of time, yet her eyes were clear and bright.

Her figure was somewhat hunched, but standing there, she seemed to be the core and pillar of the entire Ice Mist Valley.

Ordinary mortals might only feel that she was an amiable old granny.

But anyone with a slight bit of cultivation could sense the terrifying cultivation within her body, as vast and silent as a glacier, yet capable of erupting with destructive power at any moment.