The legendary Realm Master, frozen into an ice sculpture, floated at the edge of the vortex, his entire body covered in three feet of Profound Ice, his face contorted in agony, as if enduring extreme pain.
"It's not a connection to some Nether Ice Hell, but a passage sealed by someone."
Chaos Qi flowed in Li Mu's eyes, seeing through the essence of the vortex. The dark center was not the Void Realm, but a thin spatial barrier, beyond which countless ice-crystal-like light points could be vaguely seen slowly pulsating, like sleeping stars.
He summoned the Chaos Giant Axe, and with a light swing of its blade, a wisp of Chaos Qi cut through the vortex. The spatial barrier split open instantly, and a cold current, far exceeding the deathly chill from before, surged out, freezing the surrounding water into ice!
At the end of the passage, a ten-foot-tall ice crystal floated in the Void Realm.
Inside the ice crystal, a fist-sized rhomboid crystal was sealed. Liquid brilliance flowed on the crystal's surface, and each pulsation emitted a chill that made space tremble.
The aura emanating from the crystal was identical to the Profound Ice that covered the frozen Realm Master-level figure.
The moment the spatial barrier cracked open, Chaos Qi automatically circulated around Li Mu, forming an invisible protective shield.
The cold current, capable of freezing Cultivators at the Extreme Dao Realm, struck the shield with crisp "crackling" sounds, yet failed to penetrate in the slightest. After striking the shield, the cold current transformed into wisps of steam with the crisp sounds.
"Such an impact force is definitely not ordinary."
Li Mu stepped into the passage, and the Profound Yin True Water behind him instantly froze, forming a crystalline ice wall. The spatial barrier that Li Mu had just broken through also re-sealed.
At this moment, the Cold Water Realm seemed to have fallen into Hell. Originally, the Cold Water Clan could adapt to the biting cold of the Profound Yin True Water; even newborn infants possessed a Physique capable of resisting this cold. However, just now, the Profound Yin True Water, which had posed no threat to them, suddenly became even colder for some unknown reason.
The remaining high-level Cultivators of the Cold Water Realm were all gathered together at this moment.
"Clan Chief, what's going on? Why did the Profound Yin True Water suddenly go berserk?"
"This rampage is dozens, even hundreds of times greater than before. If this continues for a long time, our Cold Water Clan's younger generation will face a discontinuity!"
"There has never been such a strong burst of cold Qi. The intensity this time even surpasses the sum of countless Years past."
Everyone spoke one after another, arguing incessantly within the Cold Water Clan's palace, while the Cold Water Realm Master sat on the main seat, silent, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Clan Chief, please say something."
As an elder of the clan spoke these words, the palace gradually quieted down. Everyone's gaze turned towards the Cold Water Realm Master, their eyes filled with anticipation.
However, the Cold Water Realm Master remained silent.
What the crowd didn't know was that the disaster they spoke of, which might lead to their clan's generational gap and a discontinuity in the younger generation, was merely some deathly cold Qi that surged out of the passage when Li Mu broke through the spatial barrier.
Li Mu, the instigator of all this, was currently observing everything in the passage with great interest.
The inner wall of the passage was composed of layers of ice crystals, every inch of which condensed intricate Law runes, identical to the spatial fluctuations emanating from it.
The entire passage was like a long corridor, empty except for the ten-foot ice crystal quietly suspended at its end.
After breaking through the spatial barrier, Li Mu could more clearly feel the rhomboid crystal inside the ice crystal slowly pulsating, like a beating heart.
The liquid brilliance flowing on the crystal's surface was actually countless tiny ice threads rapidly circulating, each thread containing an absolute power of deathly cold ice.
With the help of the Heavenly Talent—Myriad Spirit Identification, the information of the ice crystal appeared vividly before Li Mu's eyes.
【Eternal Silence Ice Soul】
【Rank: nine-rank divine object】
【Characteristic: Deathly Silence】
【Feature: As an anchor point of the Death Realm, it is placed in the spatial passage between the Cold Water Realm and the Death Realm to stabilize the passage.】
【The Eternal Silence Ice Soul is the Origin crystal condensed from the core of the Death Realm, containing the ultimate Deathly Silence Law, which can make a Cultivator's spiritual power and Divine Soul fall into deathly silence, like being frozen. As the core of the Death Realm, it can stop time.】
A nine-rank divine object, and not just an ordinary one. Among all the nine-rank divine objects Li Mu had seen, the Eternal Silence Ice Soul was definitely one of the top few. And this was merely a crystal condensed from the core of the Death Realm. What level then, must the Death Realm core be?
The Death Realm, like the Yin Realm, was also one of the Nine Great Royal Domains among the Three Thousand Realms. Its overall strength was quite a bit higher than the Yin Realm. If Li Mu were to touch the Eternal Silence Ice Soul, the Death Realm would surely know, and then he might be exposed.
However, Li Mu was not the kind of person who could resist taking a treasure when it was right in front of him. The protective shield automatically generated by the Chaos Qi around Li Mu suddenly expanded several times over, directly enveloping the Eternal Silence Ice Soul.
Subsequently, Li Mu's gaze fell on the base beneath the crystal. Intricate Formation patterns were engraved there, comparable in complexity to the Formation patterns of the Mist Hidden Realm's spiritual pearl, but the two sets of patterns were vastly different.
The Formation patterns of the Mist Hidden Realm were for a Seal, while the Formation patterns here were for guidance.
It was like a lighthouse in a dense fog, guiding the creatures within the fog.
Li Mu also understood why the low-level realms in this part of the Yin Realm Starfield, more or less, had some anomalies. These anomalies were not naturally formed by the low-level realms; if they could form naturally, then these realms would not be confined to the Rank of low-level realms.
This was clearly various anchor points left by other great realms here, serving as passages to connect various realms, or as coordinates left behind, so that they could arrive here the moment the Mist Hidden Realm's Seal was broken.
"A clever scheme." Li Mu's fingertip condensed Chaos Qi, and a smile played on his lips: "Unfortunately, you all miscalculated one step."
Li Mu flicked three wisps of Chaos Qi one after another.
The first wisp wrapped around the crystal, breaking the deathly silence Law covering its surface; the second wisp permeated the base, destroying the protective Formation runes; the third wisp transformed into a giant axe, striking the node connecting the passage to the Cold Water Realm.
The ice crystal cracked with fine lines but did not completely shatter. The freezing Law released by the Origin Crystal fiercely collided with the Chaos Qi transformed into an axe blade, and the entire passage trembled.
Li Mu formed a hand Seal with his left hand, activating the deathly silence true meaning of the Crystal of Returning to Emptiness, and pressed it onto the surface of the ice crystal: "Deathly silence against deathly silence, Returning to Emptiness!"
The cracks on the ice crystal's surface spread rapidly. The cold current released by the Origin Crystal was forcibly absorbed by the Returning to Emptiness true meaning, actually condensing a layer of pitch-black crystal on the outside of the ice crystal.
The Eternal Silence Ice Soul trembled violently, and its ice crystal shell shattered inch by inch. The moment the crystal was exposed, a deathly silence aura, far more powerful than before, erupted, and the ice walls of the entire passage actually began to melt.
The previously closed spatial barrier also opened at this moment, and a deathly cold current, countless times stronger than before, surged out and merged into the Profound Yin True Water.
The Profound Yin True Water, already in a berserk state due to the surging deathly cold current, now entered an even more violent rampage, its intensity a thousand or even ten thousand times stronger than before. In almost an instant, it swept across the entire Cold Water Realm, and the Profound Yin True Water, which was originally suitable for the Cold Water Clan's survival, now transformed into a deadly Sharp Weapon.
Wherever it passed, even Cold Water Clan Cultivators at the Void Realm Integration stage were instantly frozen. Some Body Integration Realm Cultivators with weaker physical strength were also affected by this cold current. Nearly eighty percent of the entire Cold Water Clan's Cultivators were affected to varying degrees, and even Mahayana Realm Cultivators could not completely avoid it.
In the passage, Li Mu reached out and grabbed, his Chaos Qi transforming into a large hand, firmly grasping the Eternal Silence Ice Soul.
The crystal struggled violently in his palm, attempting to freeze his Meridians, but it was enveloped by layers of Chaos Qi, eventually transforming into a pigeon-egg-sized ice bead, its surface flowing with a hazy gray luster.
With the Ice Soul in hand, even with the obstruction of Chaos Qi, Li Mu could feel the biting deathly silence. This was still the power of deathly silence after being devoured by the Crystal of Returning to Emptiness, yet it still gave Li Mu a feeling far exceeding that of the Crystal of Returning to Emptiness itself.
Losing the Ice Soul's support, the Formation patterns of the passage instantly collapsed. As Li Mu turned, the ice crystal corridor behind him had already begun to collapse, and countless ice shards transformed into streaks of light, pouring back into the Cold Water Realm through the passage's gap.
At the Returning to Emptiness Sea Eye of the Cold Water Realm, the vortex of Profound Yin True Water suddenly stopped. The Realm Master ice sculpture, which had been suspended at the edge of the Sea Eye for an unknown duration, emitted a crisp sound, completely shattering into dust, ending his wicked life.
While the Cold Water Realm Master was comforting the crowd in the palace, he suddenly felt his spiritual power stagnate, and then an incomparably fierce cold wave rushed towards him. The Profound Yin True Water at this moment was like sharp blades, constantly cutting through their bodies.
"Why is this happening? How could the Profound Yin True Water go berserk again in such a short time!"
"This isn't Profound Yin True Water. How could Profound Yin True Water be so cold? This is definitely not Profound Yin True Water!"
The Cold Water Realm Master, who had been sitting on the main seat, finally lost his composure and air of being in control, also falling into panic.
"Is this Heaven trying to destroy our Cold Water Clan!"
...
On the other side, Li Mu, who had already obtained the Deathly Silence Ice Soul, leisurely walked out of the Cold Water Realm. The Cold Water Realm was already in Chaos. He only needed to wait for the surviving Cultivators of the Cold Water Clan to evacuate the Cold Water Realm, and then he could collect the Origin power of the Cold Water Realm.
At that time, the Origin power of the Cold Water Realm would simply be ownerless, making it a simple matter to take it away.
With the treasure in hand, Li Mu did not intend to return to the Mist Hidden Realm immediately. Instead, he turned and headed towards the Night Shadow World.
A low-level realm sealing an ancient existence, according to his speculation, this so-called ancient existence might just be a coordinate left here by another realm, a lighthouse to guide people from other realms here when the Mist Hidden Realm's Seal is lifted.
To be able to lay out such a plan across Star Domains, and for such a long time, even if it wasn't one of the Nine Great Royal Realms, it must at least be an existence capable of contending with a Royal Realm. Otherwise, it wouldn't be qualified to participate in such matters.
And Li Mu's idea was much simpler: since they could lay out a plan across such a vast distance and for such a long time, then the treasures used must at least not be inferior, right? At the very least, they should be treasures on the same level as the Death Realm's Eternal Silence Ice Soul. If, besides the Yin Realm, the other eight Royal Realms each had such a treasure placed in this Star Domain, wouldn't he strike it rich?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but rub his hands excitedly. One Deathly Silence Ice Soul was already an unexpected surprise. What if he got seven or eight more?
Without any hesitation, even a second's delay would be disrespectful to the treasure. Li Mu appeared outside the Night Shadow World's World Wall in just a few flashes.
The World Walls of these low-level realms were like nothing to him, making no difference. As he stepped forward, the World Wall seemed to crack with a will of its own, and then re-sealed after he stepped inside.
Upon entering the Night Shadow World, Li Mu's first sensation was blackness. Not the kind of blackness one sees when closing one's eyes, which could still be called a color. The blackness of the Night Shadow World was an empty black, a deathly black.
After a slight adjustment, Li Mu gradually began to discern some sights. Here, his sight range became similar to that of an Extreme Dao Realm Cultivator, and his previous ability to directly see through illusions no longer existed.
This was also a way to judge a person's strength: the stronger the person, the less they would be affected upon entering. If a certain Realm King were here at this moment, they would probably be on the verge of collapse, because when a certain Realm King personally visited the Night Shadow World back then, he only had the sight range of a Body Integration Realm Cultivator, relying solely on his cultivation for perception otherwise.
After his vision returned, Li Mu gently waved his hand, attempting to touch the legendary strange light-devouring mist. When the mist touched Li Mu, it actually triggered the automatic protection of Chaos Qi, which made him even more interested in the legendary existence sealed in the Night Shadow World.
Some time after Li Mu took the Deathly Silence Ice Soul, in a desolate palace filled with Death Qi, an incredibly powerful existence opened his eyes. He had been sitting motionlessly for countless Years, never showing any unusual activity, but today he opened his eyes.
His dull, spiritless eyes looked towards the Cold Water Realm, his expression unreadable, unsure of what he was thinking.
Two Extreme Dao Realm Cultivators responsible for guarding him, upon sensing the anomaly, immediately entered the Death Qi palace.
"King, why have you suddenly awakened?"
The guardians spoke with a slight tremor, not daring to look directly at that existence.
After a long silence, the two guardians still dared not look up, because they had a rule: they could not look directly at the King.
After a long time, just when the two guardians thought disaster was imminent, a voice as hoarse as dry grass sounded.
"Yin Realm, anomaly."
After speaking these four words, that existence closed his eyes again. The two felt as if they had received a great pardon, stood up, bowed their heads, and walked backward out of the palace.
"Yin Realm anomaly?"
"Quickly report these four words to the King. All matters concerning the Old King shall be judged by the King."
One of them instantly transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into the sky.
Inside the Death Qi palace, the existence who had just closed his eyes opened them again. This time, his eyes held a hint of vitality. He muttered to himself, "I hope it won't be too long."
