Heaven-Dominating Martial Emperor

Since he was idle anyway, he decided he would find the Spiritual Object hidden within Kunlun Mountain, even if he had to dig three feet deep to do it!

After all, for the Yin Evil Qi to be dense enough to grow Profound Ice Grass, this Spiritual Object's origins had to be anything but simple!

Without alerting anyone else, Ye Chen soon arrived at the location where he had discovered the Profound Ice Grass.

It was a small pool, its surface rippling gently like a clear, flawless mirror, reflecting the radiant sky.

'If I start here and keep searching downward, I should be able to find some clues.'

Ye Chen, lost in thought, quickly made up his mind.

Of course, he wasn't going to literally start digging three feet deep. Instead, he carefully sensed the flow of the faint Yin Evil Qi within the pool and then started walking down the mountain.

'This is it!'

Before long, Ye Chen discovered a cave along the way.

The cave was not large. It was pitch-black and looked somewhat eerie.

Since the cave's location wasn't on his path up the mountain, and he had been in a hurry to open the secret realm at the time, Ye Chen had overlooked the possibility that there might be other places on Kunlun Mountain full of profound secrets.

This cave, for example, looked highly unusual at a glance!

Just standing at the entrance, he could feel gusts of cold wind blowing out, like the bone-chilling gales of the harshest winter days, enough to make one tremble all over.

Ye Chen composed himself and strode into the cave.

With his current cultivation level, there was nothing on Kunlun Mountain that could threaten him. Even if some terrifying demonic beast was hiding inside the cave, he would not be afraid.

The cave was dark and narrow, winding and twisting as it led ever downward.

Before long, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a vast, open space.

A rushing underground Dark River flowed before Ye Chen. From time to time, water splashed and burst against the rock walls, and a dense aura of Yin Evil Qi filled the air, chilling him to the bone.

'This underground Dark River seems to contain an extremely dense Yin Evil Qi?'

'Could it be that the source of this river holds another secret?'

Ye Chen followed the Dark River upstream.

The river channel twisted and turned like a disorienting maze, making it difficult to keep one's bearings.

It wasn't hard to tell that Ye Chen had now arrived in a space deep beneath Kunlun Mountain.

Incredible that from such a great distance, the Yin Evil Qi could still affect the area up on Kunlun Mountain, allowing Profound Ice Grass to grow there.

One could only imagine how terrifying the source of this Yin Evil Qi must be.

As he continued forward, the Yin Evil Qi grew more turbulent and frightening. Great swathes of ice-blue mist drifted over the river ahead, and the slightest contact with it felt like it could freeze a Cultivator's Divine Soul solid, making it impossible to advance.

The Yin Evil Qi here was already on the verge of condensing into a tangible form.

Even an ordinary Primordial Mansion Realm Cultivator would find it extremely difficult to press on.

As for a Divinity Transformation Realm Great Power, advancing wasn't impossible, but they would have to be extremely careful, lest a single misstep lead to eternal regret.

Blazing streams of green radiance erupted from Ye Chen's body. Azure, glittering scales materialized to cover his skin, warding off the external Yin Evil Qi.

It was worth noting that Ye Chen had not even activated his True Dragon Jade Emperor Sutra, yet the azure dragon scales had still manifested on their own.

This just went to show that even with Ye Chen's durable physical body, he was still being deeply affected and threatened by this environment.

Soon, Ye Chen followed the Dark River all the way to its source.

The source of the Dark River turned out to be a small pool.

In the center of the pool, intricate and ancient secret runes were carved, emanating a breathtaking, primordial aura from a bygone era.

A length of cold marrow, sparkling and translucent like a small white jade snake, swam back and forth in the pool with a lively, Spiritual nature.

'This is... Yin Evil Marrow?'

Ye Chen's eyes lit up as he recognized the origin of this "little white jade snake."

Yin Evil Marrow was born from the condensation of the world's most extreme cold energy. It could be used to refine high-grade pills or to temper the physical body.

If used well, some exceptionally talented Cultivators had even managed to use the power of Yin Evil Marrow to generate a sliver of Taiyin Power within their own Spiritual Power!

Taiyin Power was a primordial force from the initial separation of yin and yang. Once successfully cultivated, it would cause a Cultivator's combat prowess to skyrocket.

Every single move would carry the extreme cold of Taiyin Power, enough to obstruct an enemy's qi and blood flow and block their Spiritual Power during a fight, creating a stunningly effective advantage!

Ye Chen never would have imagined that a strand of Yin Evil Marrow would be hidden deep beneath Kunlun Mountain. This was truly a delightful surprise.

'Kunlun Mountain is shrouded in legend, yet countless predecessors who roamed its slopes found nothing.'

'They probably never imagined that the real treasure was hidden deep beneath the mountain's base!'

Ye Chen sighed with emotion.

If not for the Profound Ice Grass that had coincidentally grown in the pool up on the mountain, even he would have never noticed the anomaly deep underground.

Just as Ye Chen was about to collect the Yin Evil Marrow from the pool.

Suddenly, a piercing cold glint flashed from the shadows. In an instant, an aura of extreme, icy cold swept out like a storm!

"Hm?"

Ye Chen's brow furrowed slightly. With a casual lift of his hand, a dense azure light transformed into a shield, seemingly covered with countless azure dragon scales, blocking the assault of the icy aura.

Ye Chen's cultivation of the True Dragon Jade Emperor Sutra was becoming increasingly profound, and he could now use some moves he had never used before.

The icy aura dispersed, and a snow-white fox darted out from the shadows, its intimidating gaze fixed on Ye Chen.

'A Snow Jade White Fox?'

Ye Chen was startled, a little surprised.

'It's true what they say,' he thought. 'There's almost always a demonic beast lurking near a natural Spiritual Treasure.'

And this Snow Jade White Fox was no ordinary demonic beast!

Its origins were astonishing, and its growth potential was extremely high. Its fur, as white as jade, even had the effect of making one impervious to all illnesses and warding off evil spirits.

"If you plan on stopping me, you'd better think it through."

Ye Chen glanced at the Snow Jade White Fox and gave a faint smile.

This Snow Jade White Fox before him was clearly a Divinity Transformation Realm Great Demon, powerful enough to dominate this part of Kunlun Mountain and intimidate all in its territory.

An ordinary Divinity Transformation Realm Cultivator who ran into such a Great Demon would likely be in for a world of trouble.

For Ye Chen, however, it was clearly not something to be wary of.

The Snow Jade White Fox stared intently at Ye Chen, anger surging in its ice-blue pupils.

It had clearly sensed Ye Chen's provocation. It snarled and bared its fangs at him, and as its powerful aura spread, the water of the nearby Dark River began to surge and roil, its surface churning with waves.

The surrounding temperature also dropped significantly in that moment, as if the harshest day of winter had suddenly arrived, catching him completely off guard.