Time lost all meaning in the shadowy Dragon Palace's main hall.
Lu Chen had no idea how much time had passed.
The ground around him was already piled with a thick layer of gray-white stone dust.
It was the dregs of Netherworld Stones drained of their Yin Fiend Qi.
There were well over a hundred of them!
If the warriors outside saw this, they would probably be heartbroken enough to cough up blood.
Every Netherworld Stone was priceless, yet Lu Chen had consumed so many of them in one go, as if they were candy beans.
But the results were astonishing.
At that moment, Lu Chen's appearance was terrifying.
His skin was no longer the dark iron color it had been before. Instead, it had turned a bizarre, deathly pale, like the corpse of someone who had been dead for a long time.
Yet beneath that pallid skin, a layer of blue-black light shimmered faintly.
It was a sign that his Yin Fiend Qi had reached its utmost concentration.
The chill in the hall seemed to have found an outlet. It surged frantically into Lu Chen's body.
A small vortex of cold formed around him.
"Hss..."
Lu Chen drew in a breath of cold air.
It didn't turn into a warm current in his belly. Instead, it was like a thread of ice, plunging straight into his dantian.
Deep within his dantian, there had originally been a blazing furnace of blood and qi.
But now, at the center of that furnace, there was a black ice crystal the size of a grain of rice.
Though tiny, it radiated a pulse that made the heart tremble.
It spun and devoured.
With each rotation, it compressed and refined the Yin Fiend Qi surging toward it, then transformed it into wisps of black vapor visible to the naked eye.
Profound Nether Cold Qi!
This was the core power of Profound Nether Hand!
Unlike ordinary blood-and-qi power, this was energy of a higher order.
It not only possessed physical destructive power, but also carried the properties of "freezing" and "corrosion."
Lu Chen tried to channel that wisp of Profound Nether Cold Qi.
It flowed along his meridians into his right palm.
In an instant, his right palm turned pitch-black.
It wasn't the blood-swollen blackness from practicing Stone Crushing Palm. It was a deep darkness that seemed capable of swallowing light.
A terrifying chill radiated from his palm.
Lu Chen casually slapped the Cold Jade Chair beside him.
A soft thump.
The armrest, made of extraordinarily hard Cold Jade, was smashed to powder by the light blow.
And the powder didn't scatter. It froze instantly into a lump of black ice.
"What overbearing power!"
A flicker of shock crossed Lu Chen's eyes.
He had tested the Cold Jade Chair's hardness before. Even his Hundred Refinements Steel Saber had only left a white mark on it.
Now, a casual palm strike had smashed it to pieces and frozen it?
Was this the power of a Spirit Tier technique?
And this was only the very beginning. He had just condensed his first wisp of cold qi.
If he mastered the technique, what would it look like to freeze a thousand miles with one palm?
Lu Chen suppressed his excitement and looked at the panel.
[Name: Lu Chen] [Realm: Body Tempering Realm (Flesh Refining Stage complete ＞ near Bone Refining)] [Martial Arts: Stone Crushing Palm (3rd Realm, Mastery 60%), Iron Cloth Shirt (3rd Realm, Mastery 15%), Profound Nether Hand (1st Realm, First Glimpse 5%)] [Traits: Thick Skin (Complete), Force Dissipation (Basic), Profound Nether Cold Qi (Basic ＞ NEW!)] [Profound Nether Cold Qi: Spirit Tier trait. Attacks carry an extreme-cold property and can ignore some protective blood and qi, directly freezing an enemy's meridians and blood. Has a deterrent effect on evil spirits and ghosts.]
He had finally mastered it!
Moreover, because he had practiced a Spirit Tier technique, his realm had loosened as well. He was only one step away from truly entering the Bone Refining Realm.
Though his physical strength hadn't surged, his killing power had risen by more than a whole level.
With this Profound Nether Cold Qi, he finally had a way to break through defenses!
"It's time to go out."
Lu Chen rose to his feet and worked the stiffness out of his body.
Crack, crackle.
His bones popped all over.
He glanced toward the hall's entrance.
The Stone Gate had been battered out of shape. It was covered in cracks and looked ready to collapse.
The impacts from outside were growing more and more violent.
Clearly, the Water Ghost King had run out of patience.
It could sense that the "food" inside was growing stronger and stronger, to the point that it felt a trace of unease.
So it had grown frantic, hoping to kill Lu Chen before he could grow any stronger.
"Heh. Getting impatient?"
Lu Chen sneered and tightened his grip on the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber.
The blade was cold, but his heart burned.
Three days.
He had spent three full days in seclusion in this lightless, haunted place.
Every moment of those three days, he had endured inhuman torment.
All for this moment!
Lu Chen walked to the Stone Gate and took a deep breath.
The wisp of Profound Nether Cold Qi within him flowed along his meridians, then spread across the edge of the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber.
The blade, once silver-white, was instantly veiled in black frost, gleaming with a ghostly light.
"Open!"
Lu Chen kicked the Stone Gate with all his might.
Rumble!
The Stone Gate had already been pushed past its limit. At last, it collapsed completely beneath that kick.
Fragments of stone flew everywhere.
The scene outside came into view at once.
The huge, dark-red figure was holding up its Bone Fork, ready to smash the gate again.
When it saw the door suddenly open, the Water Ghost King froze for a moment.
It hadn't expected the little bug inside to dare come out on its own.
"Roar!"
The Water Ghost King let out an excited bellow.
Its pair of deathly pale eyes brimmed with cruelty and greed.
Without a moment's hesitation, it thrust its Bone Fork at Lu Chen's head, the weapon howling through the water!
The attack was even faster and more violent than it had been three days ago!
If Lu Chen had faced this blow three days ago, he could only have dodged in a panic or taken the hit and been wounded.
But now...
Lu Chen stood his ground, neither dodging nor retreating.
He lifted his head, his deep eyes reflecting the Bone Fork as it rushed closer.
"Good!"
Lu Chen gave a low shout.
Instead of retreating, he charged at the Bone Fork.
The Hundred Refinements Steel Saber in his hand swept out with unstoppable momentum!
Mountain Splitting Saber Technique!
There was nothing fancy about this strike.
Only speed! Precision! And ruthlessness!
And... the lethal Profound Nether Cold Qi coating the blade!
CLANG!!!
A deafening crash rang out.
Saber and fork collided.
A terrifying shock wave exploded underwater, blasting away all the silt and rubble around them.
The Water Ghost King's massive body was actually forced back a step by the blow!
For the first time, shock appeared in its pale eyes.
How was this possible?
How had this little bug's strength suddenly grown so much?
But that wasn't what frightened it most.
It felt an intensely sinister, overbearing aura travel along the Bone Fork.
Crack, crackle.
A layer of black frost quickly formed over the extraordinarily hard Bone Fork!
And the frost kept spreading along the shaft toward its arm!
The chill was a hundred times more terrifying than the Yin Fiend Qi it had absorbed before!
It was like netherflame from the deepest hell, ready to freeze even its soul!
"Grr..."
The Water Ghost King let out a frightened growl and tried to throw away the Bone Fork.
But it was too late.
Lu Chen gave it no chance to catch its breath.
"Die!"
Killing intent surged in Lu Chen's eyes.
Using the force of the rebound, he rolled through the water and evaded the Water Ghost King's frantically swinging claws.
Then, like a black viper, he darted into the Water Ghost King's embrace.
His left hand formed a palm, black as ink.
Profound Nether Hand!
The palm landed squarely on the Water Ghost King's scale-covered chest.
Time seemed to stop in that instant.
The Water Ghost King froze.
It lowered its head, staring in disbelief at the small hand on its chest.
There was no spray of blood.
Only a ring of black ice crystals, centered on Lu Chen's palm, spreading madly in every direction.
Crack, crack, crack...
Its hard scales split with the frost, and its thick muscles froze solid.
That terrifying Profound Nether Cold Qi was like a sharp blade. It pierced through the Water Ghost King's heart in an instant and froze its blood!
The Water Ghost King opened its mouth, trying to roar, but no sound came out.
Its throat had frozen too.
Its massive body began to crumble from within.
The light of life quickly went out in its deathly pale eyes.
Lu Chen slowly withdrew his hand.
He looked at the enormous ice sculpture before him and sneered.
"A Meridian Connecting Realm demon?"
"Nothing special."
He reached out and lightly tapped the Water Ghost King on the forehead.
Crash!
The enormous Water Ghost King instantly shattered into countless pieces of black ice, scattering across the mud at the bottom of the river.
A dark-red bead rolled out from the ice fragments, gleaming enticingly.
A Demon Core!
Lu Chen snatched up the Demon Core. Feeling the vast blood-and-qi power contained within, a satisfied glint flashed in his eyes.
This was a real treasure.
With this, and the resources in the Dragon Palace, too,
the Meridian Connecting Realm was within reach!
He lifted his head and looked up at the pitch-black river water.
Three days had passed.
He wondered how his brothers up above were doing.
"It's time to go back."
Lu Chen pushed off with his foot, shooting toward the surface like an arrow.
This time, nothing could stop him.
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