Sealed by Immortal Power

The moment he jumped, Nan Feng sensed something was wrong.

The crack didn't look wide at first glance, but when you cut vertically down, you realized it was like a funnel at the bottom. It narrowed as you went down, and the thick, murky air gushing out from the depths was as black as ink, completely enveloping him.

The Purification Power of the eighth floor of the tower was fully activated. The milky-white light shield stretched outward, forcing the turbid air back half a foot.

The surface of the photomask was scorching hot from the stale air, just like ice water being poured onto a red-hot iron plate.

Old Huai's voice deepened.

"This concentration is at least three times thicker than under the Jialing Pass. If you go down, the light shield won't last long; we'll have to find another way."

The Nan Feng didn't rush to sink.

He gripped the icicles on the crack wall with one hand, while holding the phantom of the nine-story Bronze Tower in his palm with the other. The azure-gold Immortal Mark on the pagoda's body lit up, and the power of the Tower Suppression poured down the crack wall.

After filling a depth of about ten zhang, the turbid air below pushed upwards, causing the tower's shadow to sway.

Nan Feng pressed down with his right hand. The Power of Mountain Suppression sank down, flattening the upward force. Only then did he release the icicle and continue downward.

The deeper you go, the more strange the colors on the ice walls become.

The ice layer above was still a deep blue color for several meters. Ten meters down, it began to turn black, with purplish-black veins embedded in the ice wall, growing down the ice layer like tree roots.

Nan Feng scanned the area with his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light. Those veins were all channels from the earth's veins, densely packed with turbid Abyss energy seeping out. There were at least dozens of them, and each one was emitting black energy.

No wonder we couldn't seal it last time.

The Nan Feng stopped at waist-deep and looked around.

"The turbid air travels through the fissures in the earth's veins, spreading everywhere like tree roots. Last time, I only blocked the main fissure, but these capillary branches seep in from the sides, blocking one end only to have them pop out the next."

The Old Huai peeked half its face out from inside the tower.

"Then we'll have to seal off both the main vein and the branches. Go down to the bottom, find the source of the turbid energy, and infuse it with Immortal Power from the root, welding all the branches shut at once."

The Nan Feng continued to sink.

When they reached the bottom of the crevice, their feet touched solid ground—a huge ice platform.

In the very center of the ice platform was a hole the size of a washbasin, from which blackish-purple stale gas billowed out, like boiling ink.

The ice surface around the hole was covered with cracks, and foul air was seeping out of each crack, looking like a spider web.

Nan Feng crouched down and peered into the hole.

The hole was very deep. The Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light probed downwards and found it was still several tens of feet deep. At the very bottom, a layer of dark red light pulsed, and that light occasionally exhaled a breath of stale air.

Old Huai's voice rose half an octave.

"That layer of red light below is the crack in the gate to the Abyssal Outer Domain. I've seen the gate to Jialing Pass; it's the main gate, large, but closed. This is a side gate, small, but it doesn't close tightly and keeps leaking."

Is there something behind the door?

"Yes." Old Huai paused for two breaths. "It's not big, but it's the same kind as the watchdog in the Far North rift; both are guard dogs raised in the Abyss. It will definitely wake up when you go down and channel your Immortal Power into it."

Nan Feng took out the Far North Cold Marrow given to him by the Ice Empress from the Tower Spirit Space and clenched it in his hand.

The Cold Marrow Bead was so cold it felt prickly to the touch, and the Far North Origin inside was pulsating, like a heartbeat.

He put the cold marrow back in his pocket, took a deep breath, and sank his right hand, the pagoda shadow, into the hole. He poured in the Power of Mountain Suppression to temporarily suppress the surging turbid air.

"I'll seal off the branch veins first, then block the main vein. Old Huai, keep an eye on things down there; call for me as soon as that thing wakes up."

"Do you need to tell me?"

The Old Huai locust tree's branches stretched out from the tower, wrapped around Nan Feng's waist, and stuck into the ice wall to hold them in place.

"I'll tie you around the waist as you walk down. That way, if that thing below pulls you down, at least I can hold you back."

Nan Feng chuckled, said nothing more, and jumped into the hole.

The bottom of the hole was much narrower than the top. Nan Feng's shoulders almost brushed against the ice wall as he slid down.

After sliding down about twenty feet, the dark red light below suddenly shone brightly for a moment. Immediately afterwards, a huge suction force pulled it upwards from below, and Nan Feng's descent speed suddenly increased.

The Old Huai locust tree's branches straightened and were pulled sharply.

Nan Feng pressed down on the tower shadow with his right hand, and the Power of Mountain Suppression cut off the suction, and he stepped firmly to the ground.

At the bottom of the hole was a small ice cavity. In the center of the ice cavity was a vertical crack, from which dark red light shone through. The crack was about two fingers wide.

Coiled beside the seam was a dark purple creature, not much bigger than a house cat, resembling a hybrid of a toad and a scorpion, its back covered in bumps, and its tail hook dripping with purplish-black venom.

Seeing Nan Feng descend, it cried out and swung its tail, lunging at Nan Feng's face.

Nan Feng dodged to the side, then pressed down with his right hand, the Tower Suppression. The creature was pinned to the ice, unable to move, its four legs kicking wildly, splattering venom from its tail everywhere.

Nan Feng ignored it, placed his left hand on the vertical crack, and poured his Primordial World Immortal Power directly into it.

The dark red light from the crevice collided with the Immortal Power, exploding into a shower of sparks that burned Nan Feng's hand.

A muffled thud came from below, as if something had bumped into the back of the seam.

Nan Feng continued to pour his Immortal Power into the crack without stopping. The layer of dark red light was pressed down layer by layer by the cyan-gold Immortal Power, and the width of the crack visibly shrank.

When they were halfway through pressing, something behind the seam bumped into them again. This time the impact was harder than the last, and Nan Feng's hand went numb from the shock.

The combined power of the Tower Suppression deflected the impact onto the ice cavity walls.

The Old Huai's voice came from above.

"Press down quickly! That thing is gathering its strength for a third impact; the third impact might force the crack open!"

Nan Feng steeled his resolve, continuing to channel Immortal Power into his left hand while his right hand retrieved the Far North Cold Marrow from the Tower Spirit Space and crushed it in his hand.

The moment the icy marrow shattered, a surge of Far North Origin flowed into the meridians. Nan Feng doubled the output of his Immortal Power in his left hand, and the cyan-gold light enveloped the entire vertical crevice, while the dark red light was suppressed to a thin line.

The thing behind the seam rammed into it a third time. This time, the entire ice cavity trembled, but the vertical seam had already been welded shut by the Immortal Power, leaving only a hair-thin crack.

The Nan Feng freed its right hand, Nine-Layer Tower pressed down on the seam.

"Seal up!"

The moment the tower's shadow pressed down, the vertical seams closed. The dark red light was permeated from the inside out by the azure-gold Immortal Power, and the color changed from dark red to light purple, and then from light purple to the same deep blue as the ice cavity walls.

The thing below let out a sharp, piercing scream, which grew fainter and fainter until it fell silent.

Nan Feng didn't dare let go. He squatted in front of the crevice and waited for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, making sure that the thing behind the crevice had fallen asleep, before withdrawing his Immortal Power.

The Immortal Power he poured into the ice cavity wall condensed into a layer of cyan-gold patterns, which merged with the ice layer to form a new sealing layer.

"The branch veins aren't completely blocked yet."

Nan Feng straightened up and picked up the purple toad that he had been pressing onto the ice, examining it closely. The creature had already fainted, its tail drooping limply.

He casually stuffed it into the Tower Spirit Space, and later asked Shifang to see if he could roast it and eat it.

By the time Nan Feng climbed back to the bottom of the main fissure, his legs were trembling with exhaustion. He had less than 30% of his Immortal Power left in his meridians, and dozens of branch meridians around the main fissure were still spewing out turbid air.

He squatted on the ice platform of the main fissure and inserted the tower shadow into it. The power of the Tower Suppression spread outwards along the ice surface, first temporarily sealing the branch outlets, and then welding them shut one by one with Immortal Power.

When Nan Feng got to the twenty-third weld, his hands started to tremble.

The Old Huai locust tree's branches stretched down from above, wrapped around his waist, and lifted him up slightly.

"Only a few lines left, hang in there."

Nan Feng gritted his teeth and finished welding the remaining branches. When the last one was welded shut, he sat down on the ice platform, leaning against the ice wall and panting for a long time.

Ice Empress's shouts came from the direction of the Ice Valley, carrying down the crack in a muffled voice.

"Nan Feng! How is it?"

"It's sealed off!" Nan Feng shouted back.

Two heads peeked out from the crack.

Ice shards clung to Ice Empress's short, emerald-green hair, and his scorpion-like eyes were wide open.

"Come up here! What are you doing sitting down there!"

Snow Empress stood silently to the side, but a thin layer of ice had formed on her long, silvery-white hair, indicating that she had been guarding for quite some time.

Nan Feng, supporting himself against the tower's shadow, stood up, his feet pressing against the icy walls as he climbed upwards. The Old Huai locust tree's branches pulled him up, and it took him half an incense stick's time to finally peek out from the crack.

Ice Empress grabbed his arm and pulled him up, still cursing.

"Three days! You said three days! It's already the morning of the fourth day!"

Nan Feng lay sprawled on the ice, looking up at the sky.

The sky in the Far North was as leaden gray as usual, but the dark purple hue in the direction of the crack had completely disappeared.

The fishy, rusty smell in the air had dissipated.

Snow Empress walked over, squatted down to look at him, reached out and touched his pulse point, and frowned.

"Seventy percent of my Immortal Power has been used. Half of my meridians are empty."

"Once the blockage is cleared, that's it." Nan Feng waved his hand.

Ice Empress stood to the side, arms crossed, and snorted.

"Showing off."

But she pulled a small ice curling stone from her bosom and handed it to her.

"It's from a frigid spring in the Far North; drinking it will restore some of your Immortal Power."

Nan Feng took the ice water and gulped down two mouthfuls. The cold water went down his throat, and the empty space in his meridians regained some strength.

He pushed himself up on the ice and glanced back at the crack. The cyan-gold seal patterns shone on the ice wall, blending seamlessly with the surrounding dark blue ice.

"How long can this seal last?" Ice Empress asked.

"The main vein is welded shut, and all the branch veins are blocked. As long as no one tries to break it down from the outside, it should last for hundreds of years without any problem."

Nan Feng returned the curling stone to her.

"But if that watchdog in the Abyssal Outer Domain awakens again, the seal here will be broken from the inside. So I have to come and reinforce it regularly."

Ice Empress rolled their eyes.

"Regular visits? How often?"

"Ten years, I suppose," Nan Feng thought for a moment. "We might need to come more often in the first few years, but once every five years would be fine too."

Ice Empress's scorpion tail poked twice on the ice, but it didn't respond.

Snow Empress stood up beside her, patted the ice crystals off her clothes, and said something.

The Far North owes you a favor.

She paused, then added half a sentence.

"Let me know in advance next time you come, so I can make tea."

Ice Empress turned and glared at her.

All you know is how to brew tea!

Snow Empress's expression remained unchanged.

"Or should I stand at the valley entrance and wait for two hours like you?"

Ice Empress's ears turned red again.

Nan Feng chuckled beside him. The Old Huai clicked its tongue twice inside the tower, its immortal branches swayed, and then it retreated back into the tower.