Moonlit Pool, Ten Thousand Mountains Island.
Time flies, and a month has passed since Zhou Qing defeated the demon army.
During this period, Zhou Qing focused his main energy on improving the Golden Core level of his clone.
Zhou Qing had three clones enter Moonlit Pool. Two of these clones had already undergone significant transformation of their golden cores before facing the demon army.
He spent the last month improving the golden core of the remaining clone that had not yet used the " Waterflame Jindan Refining Technique ".
Once the Golden Core was refined, Zhou Qing prepared to head to the next island Thousand Stars Island.
However, before reaching Thousand Stars Island, he still needs to pass through a dangerous place— the Fiend Ice Valley.
Unlike the previous islands which had only one guard, the guards of Thousand Stars Island are the entire demon race.
These demons dwell in the Fiend Ice Valley, and the demon army previously led by the Fiend King was only a small part of them.
To reach Thousand Stars Island, one must pass through the Fiend Ice Valley, inhabited by countless demons.
There are two ways to get through the Fiend Ice Valley:
The first method is to kill a certain number of demons in the Fiend Ice Valley for a hundred years. If you can kill a certain number of demons within a hundred years, you can gain the recognition of the demon race and pass through the Fiend Ice Valley.
The second, and more difficult, method is to directly break through the Fiend Ice Valley with overwhelming power within a hundred years.
Of the two methods, the first one is easier to achieve. As long as one can master a fourth-level Primordial Power and hone one's combat skills, there is still hope of success.
In fact, all the Empyrean God have passed through the Moonlit Pool Fiend Ice Valley so far have relied on the first method.
The second option is almost impossible to achieve.
If there were no demons blocking the way, it would be fine; it wouldn't even take a hundred years. Empyrean God with fast escape speed could cross the Fiend Ice Valley in less than a year.
However, with countless demons lurking along the way, it might take more than a hundred years, or even a thousand or ten thousand years, to cross the Fiend Ice Valley.
However, the above discussion is limited to the native Empyrean God of the Three Realms and does not apply to Zhou Qing.
He had already figured out how to deal with the demons blocking his way.
When Zhou Qing told the Empyrean God of Ten Thousand Mountains Island about his upcoming adventure into the Fiend Ice Valley, many of Empyrean God immediately asked Zhou Qing to take them with him.
Zhou Qing accepted all offers of help.
He didn't even refuse some of the requests from the Empyrean God of the Seamless Gate.
The reason is, of course, quite simple.
Firstly, since the great calamity of the Three Realms has not yet erupted, Zhou Qing cannot use this excuse to refuse them.
Secondly, Zhou Qing had also dealt with Seamless Gate Empyrean God such as Empyrean God Zhenbu, and they were not actually vicious criminals.
However, to prevent them from joining forces with the Empyrean God Dameng and others on Thousand Stars Island, Zhou Qing planned to keep them temporarily in his own magical treasure cave.
Even before the Great Tribulation of the Three Realms ends, Zhou Qing has no intention of releasing them from the magical treasure of the cave, because for these Empyrean God of the Seamless Gate, returning to the Three Realms would most likely result in them turning to ashes during the Great Tribulation.
Having known them for a while, Zhou Qing didn't want them to end up like that.
Therefore, it would be better to wait until the great calamity of the Three Realms ends and everything settles down before releasing them.
After collecting many Empyrean God into his magical treasure cave, Zhou Qing arrived at the entrance to the Fiend Ice Valley.
Similar to the previous levels, this place is also separated by a floating wooden bridge that seems to have no end.
As soon as Zhou Qing stepped onto the floating wooden bridge, the Fiend Ice Valley began to stir.
Moments later, countless green-skinned monsters surged toward Zhou Qing from afar.
Heaven-Slaughtering Claw!
Seeing the demons rushing towards him in droves, Zhou Qing immediately lashed out with his claw.
Under the sweeping force of the violent spatial storm, countless demons were instantly reduced to dust.
However, compared to the massive demon tide, those just killed by Zhou Qing were merely a drop in the ocean.
This is just a drop in the ocean...
Witnessing this scene, Zhou Qing shook his head inwardly.
Even if he uses area-of-effect attacks, it's nothing more than a tickle to a demon of this size.
If his methods are limited to this, then Zhou Qing would probably have to rely on the first method mentioned earlier to get through the Fiend Ice Valley.
However, he is not just a reckless man who only knows how to "×××××".
The next moment, Zhou Qing's mind stirred.
Then, with a surge of magical energy, a vast illusion instantly descended.
As a result, the demons who were besieging Zhou Qing suddenly became dazed and then began to attack their companions frantically.
A smile appeared on Zhou Qing's lips as he took in the entire scene.
Illusion was his trump card against demons.
However, at this moment he was not using Heartforce to cast illusions, but rather using magical power.
The reason is that, under the same third-level Power of Illusion, the Second-Tier True Immortal's magical power, comparable to that of the Dao Ancestor, is much Heartforce.
In addition, magic power allows one to cast illusions for a longer period of time than Heartforce.
Furthermore, one can quickly replenish their magical power with elixirs when it is depleted, but Heartforce does not have this advantage.
Therefore, all things considered, using magic to cast illusions is more suitable for venturing into the Fiend Ice Valley.
Under the influence of the illusion, the demons were busy killing each other, so they couldn't stop Zhou Qing from piloting the flying boat.
For a time, Zhou Qing moved freely through the Fiend Ice Valley.
Driven by the magical power of Second-Tier True Immortal comparable to the Dao Ancestor, the flying boat traversed the sky above the Fiend Ice Valley at an extremely fast speed.
Soon, Zhou Qing had covered nearly half of the Fiend Ice Valley.
During this process, he gained a great deal of insight into the Power of Illusion by repeatedly using illusion magic.
In addition, he himself had a profound foundation, and unknowingly raised his Power of Illusion to the fourth level.
On a steep mountain peak on either side of the Fiend Ice Valley, the Fiend King and the guards from the islands ahead were observing Zhou Qing.
"The illusion is so powerful..."
Watching his demons, influenced by Zhou Qing, constantly kill each other, the Fiend King frowned deeply.
"It seems he's going to become the first Empyrean God to traverse the Fiend Ice Valley within a century." The Snowfiend groped for the staff in his hand and nodded slightly.
"Incredible..." the Purgatory God exclaimed in awe.
"His illusion skills have improved since our last encounter."
"I originally thought he was only exceptionally talented in Space Power, but I didn't expect his illusion techniques to have improved so quickly as well."
The Fiend King thought to himself: No, it seems I must take action myself.
Listening to the Snowfiend and the others talking back and forth, he finally couldn't sit still any longer.
After flying for several months in his flying boat, Zhou Qing was now just a stone's throw away from the exit of the Fiend Ice Valley.
Even with just his eyesight, he could already glimpse the vast ocean beyond the exit of the Fiend Ice Valley.
However, at that moment, eleven figures flew down from high in the sky.
Zhou Qing looked closely and saw that it was indeed the Fiend King and his ten demon generals.
The Giant Axe General and the Twin Hammers General whom he had previously killed were also among them.
" Fiend King, don't you know the difference in strength between us?"
Seeing the demons blocking his way, Zhou Qing waved his hand.
"Do you really think that fighting alongside demons makes you a match for me?"
Although the Fiend King and all the demon generals blocked his way, Zhou Qing remained completely calm.
Because after using the Ki Refining Path Technique, he could annihilate those ten demon generals with a wave of his hand.
As for the Fiend King, although he barely crossed the threshold of True God Dao Ancestor, the last attack by the demon army showed that he was still no match for Zhou Qing.