Cold Ice Secret Realm

For the next two days, the Abyssal Demon tide grew fiercer with each passing night.

On the second night, the incoming Abyssal Demons began to include a large number of elite Nascent Soul stage variants.

They were larger, their carapaces harder, and their attacks were accompanied by corrosive black energy.

Yellow Earth City's defensive formation was completely torn apart at midnight. The cultivators were forced to retreat to the inner city, engaging in street fighting amidst the alleyways.

That night, over a hundred people died.

Bodies piled up like mountains beneath the city walls, their blood staining the yellow earth a dark red.

At dawn, the Crimson Flame Sect had to use fire-elemental spells to burn the corpses, otherwise the Abyssal Demons would devour their fallen comrades and evolve.

On the third night, the Abyssal Demon tide even featured three "General-grade" monsters, each at the late Nascent Soul stage.

Yan Lie personally intervened, battling the strongest General-grade Abyssal Demon for half an hour. He ultimately killed it at the cost of severe injuries. The young man in white lost an arm, and the burly man with twin sabers had his chest and abdomen pierced, nearly perishing.

The cultivators from various sects suffered even heavier casualties. Of the more than three hundred defenders, fewer than two hundred remained after two nights. Many began to regret entering the Hundred Sects Battlefield—no matter how good the opportunities, one needed to be alive to claim them.

However, Qin Yuan's side remained unfazed.

On the second night, he casually rescued three trapped cultivators during the street fighting, one of whom was the missing Han Bing. Han Bing was already on the brink of death; if Qin Yuan hadn't arrived in time, he would have likely become food for the Abyssal Demons.

On the third night, Qin Yuan even took the initiative to leave the city, hunting down over a dozen elite Abyssal Demons at the edge of the tide. This included a newly promoted General-grade monster—though only at the early Nascent Soul stage, it was worth five thousand points.

After two nights, his points had surpassed the twenty thousand mark, reaching 21,800, firmly securing his position at the top of Yellow Earth City's points leaderboard.

This achievement left everyone stunned.

"Just who is that guy?!"

"Xuan Yuan Sect... never heard of it?"

"Could he be a hidden genius from some major sect, deliberately using a minor sect's identity for training?"

Amidst the murmurs, Qin Yuan's name spread throughout Yellow Earth City.

Even Yan Lie sought him out once, his attitude much more polite than before: "Fellow Daoist Qin's strength is astonishing. Are you interested in joining my Crimson Flame Sect? After the Hundred Sects Battle concludes, I can recommend you to become a True Disciple directly."

Qin Yuan politely declined.

On the morning of the third day, the Abyssal Demon tide receded.

Qin Yuan arrived at the agreed-upon location thirty li east of the city as promised.

It was a dried riverbed, with several massive stone pillars standing tall, resembling the remnants of an ancient ruin. When Qin Yuan arrived, four people were already waiting there.

Besides the inviter, Li Qingfeng, there were three others.

One was a powerfully built man in animal skins, his muscles bulging, carrying a great axe taller than himself. He exuded a ferocious aura and was Tuoba Shan of the Savage King Sect.

The second was a woman in a purple dress, her face alluring, her eyes carrying a chilling glint as she toyed with a long purple whip. She was Su Mei'er of the Hundred Flowers Valley.

The last was a pale, black-robed youth, surrounded by a faint aura of death. Several skulls hung from his waist. He was Yin Jiuyou of the Corpse Yin Sect.

All four were at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, their auras solid, clearly geniuses from their respective sects.

Upon seeing Qin Yuan, Li Qingfeng smiled and stepped forward: "Fellow Daoist Qin is indeed a man of his word. Come, let me introduce you..."

He introduced them one by one, and the three scrutinized Qin Yuan.

Tuoba Shan rumbled, "Brother Li, are you sure you haven't mistaken him?"

Su Mei'er chuckled, covering her mouth, "Little brother is quite handsome, but I wonder about his strength~"

Yin Jiuyou remained silent, merely staring at Qin Yuan, a flicker of confusion in his eyes—he couldn't discern the depth of this Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

Li Qingfeng said seriously, "Everyone, please don't underestimate Fellow Daoist Qin. During the Abyssal Demon tides the past two nights, he single-handedly killed a General-grade Abyssal Demon and his points have already surpassed twenty thousand."

At these words, the three men's expressions changed.

A General-grade Abyssal Demon? Twenty thousand points?

Even if the four of them joined forces, killing a General-grade Abyssal Demon would come at a considerable cost. And this grey-robed youth before them managed to do it alone?

"Since Brother Li says so, then I have no objections." Tuoba Shan dropped his dismissive attitude.

Su Mei'er's eyes flickered, "Little brother, you'll have to protect big sister when we enter the secret realm later, okay~"

Yin Jiuyou remained silent but nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Li Qingfeng began to explain the situation: "According to my sect's ancient records, this secret realm is called the 'Cold Ice Secret Realm,' the cave dwelling of an ancient powerful ice-elemental cultivator. The cave dwelling is protected by formations, and requires at least five cultivators at the mid-Nascent Soul stage or above to jointly open it."

He paused and added, "Deep within the secret realm, there might be the remains and inheritance of that powerful cultivator. However, it is fraught with peril. Besides the formations and restrictions, we might encounter ice-elemental demonic beasts, or even... Ice Corpses."

"Ice Corpses?" Su Mei'er frowned.

"After that powerful cultivator perished, the ice-elemental spiritual energy they emitted froze everything around them. Some beings, frozen at the moment of death, transformed into Ice Corpses. Though they lack intelligence, they retain some of their former strength and are extremely difficult to deal with," Li Qingfeng explained.

Qin Yuan listened, but a sense of doubt arose in his heart.

Li Qingfeng was a disciple of the Book Sword Sect, ranked fifteenth, and not weak. Logically, he could have recruited teammates in a city controlled by his own sect. Why did he specifically come to Yellow Earth City, controlled by the Crimson Flame Sect?

And why did he specifically seek out a disciple from a bottom-ranked sect like himself?

"Fellow Daoist Li," Qin Yuan spoke, "The 'Bluestone City' controlled by the Book Sword Sect is not far from here. Why didn't you recruit teammates there?"

Li Qingfeng's expression remained unchanged, and he smiled faintly, "I have already recruited two fellow Daoists in Bluestone City. But I still needed one more person, and hearing of a remarkably strong Fellow Daoist Qin in Yellow Earth City, I came here specifically."

The words were watertight, but Qin Yuan felt something was off.

However, he didn't care.

With strength in hand, schemes and tricks were all in vain.

"Let's go," he said calmly.

The five of them traveled along the riverbed for a hundred miles, arriving before a frozen mountain valley.

The valley entrance was covered by a thick layer of ice, etched with complex array patterns that exuded a bone-chilling cold. The temperature here was dozens of degrees lower than outside, and their exhaled breaths instantly condensed into ice crystals.

"This is it," Li Qingfeng took out five Jade Talismans and distributed them to everyone. "According to ancient texts, if five people simultaneously inject spiritual energy into the Jade Talismans and stand in the five elements' directions, the entrance can be opened."

Everyone followed his instructions.

Five streams of spiritual energy were injected into the Jade Talismans, which then lit up with different colored glows. The five people stood in the directions of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, pressing the Jade Talismans against the ice layer.

"Buzz--!!"

The ice layer trembled violently, and the array patterns lit up one by one. After a moment, a crack appeared in the center of the ice layer, which widened and transformed into a three-zhang-high ice gate.

Inside the gate was a world of white ice and snow.

"Enter!" Li Qingfeng stepped in first.

Qin Yuan followed closely behind.