A month ago, the frigid northern lake of the Golden Core Avenue had erupted. It was not an explosion of fire and rock, but a silent, terrifying surge of power that flooded the atmosphere. The temperature across the entire Golden Core Avenue plummeted by over ten degrees in a single day.
Such a drastic disturbance acted like a beacon, drawing countless cultivators. They flocked in groups, their eyes gleaming with avarice. Conventional wisdom was simple: the greater the commotion, the more valuable the secret realm. If the entire Avenue was affected, this had to be an inheritance of unimaginable value. So, without a second thought, swarms of people rushed north, desperate to seize the first opportunity.
And then, tragedy struck.
Many did not even make it inside the secret realm's entrance before they started shivering uncontrollably, their spiritual energy seizing up. One renowned sect, its judgment blinded by greed, pushed deeper than the rest. Their Holy Son, a celebrated prodigy who had proudly survived the Nine Nine Heavenly Tribulation, was instantly frozen into a perfect, lifeless ice statue.
In less than a week, the once bustling region was transformed into a lifeless wasteland. The place was unnaturally quiet, stripped of all vitality and sound. Now, two figures stood alone in this desolate expanse.
"It is so cold," Su Min muttered, shuddering as her Nanming Lihuo flared to life within her core, providing a thin layer of warmth. "There is a strange energy in the air. Taiyin Qi. This place is saturated with it."
Now she understood. This was why Xie Yingying had not been in a hurry to come, and why she had said that Su Min, armed with only Nanming Lihuo, would not have been qualified to enter.
If one simply measured the temperature, it might only be a few dozen degrees below zero, something Earth's polar regions could match. But what made this place truly lifeless was not the cold itself. It was the Taiyin Qi that saturated every molecule of the air, a force so dense and invasive it could freeze spiritual energy solid.
Without the protection of her divine flame, Su Min would never have dared to come. And even with the flame alone, she would not have been safe without the stabilizing, life giving energy of the Eastern Azure Wood to support it. Xie Yingying had not exaggerated in the slightest.
"Under normal circumstances, no matter how harsh the environment, there is always some form of life," Xie Yingying explained, her voice calm. "Many rare herbs and ores only grow in the most extreme conditions. What makes this place truly barren is the energy in the air. Otherwise, Golden Core cultivators could easily withstand the temperature. But with this annihilating Taiyin Qi, it is a different story."
If it were only the cold, Golden Core cultivators could have endured it with their physical strength alone. But this Taiyin Qi actively drained their spiritual energy. Once their reserves ran dry, their meridians, their blood, their heart, and even their Golden Core would freeze solid.
That was why not even cold resistant heavenly treasures grew here. Only death remained.
"Yet as the saying goes, at the depth of misfortune lies fortune," Xie Yingying continued, her gaze piercing the grey haze ahead. "Just like the eye of a storm, there must be calm within the destruction. For this secret realm to remain stable, it cannot be pure Yin. There has to be balance, Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign. So deep inside, there must be a place filled with Taiyang Qi. You may not have the Solar Sovereign Physique, but with Nanming Lihuo and the Eastern Azure Wood, that place will be perfect for you to cultivate and temper your body."
"Let us go," Su Min said, her mind made up.
She did not argue. She still remembered the words etched on her status panel:
[Taiyang Qi: Unawakened]
Her essence blood had acted as a potent catalyst, triggering an extreme transformation in the little Golden Crow. Otherwise, the bird should have awakened naturally at the Golden Core stage, not jumped straight to the Spirit Transformation realm.
She was not delusional. It was not that her blood was that potent on its own; she had simply been the key that activated the Golden Crow's latent bloodline and its deep connection to the Fusang Divine Tree. But even so, the power required to do that was terrifying.
Which meant one thing. Her physique was not just the Five Elements Holy Body.
That was the real reason she had insisted on coming here, no matter the cost.
"If you feel like you cannot hold on, take the Flame Sun Spirit Pill I asked you to refine earlier," Xie Yingying instructed. "It will generate a gentle flame inside your body, so even if you drop your spiritual barrier, you will stay safe for a while. Just manage your energy carefully, and do not hesitate to take the pills when needed."
"I know. Besides, I am an alchemist. When have I ever hesitated to take pills?" Su Min waved off the concern. As an alchemist, she never skimped on elixirs when her life was on the line. In theory, she had infinite wealth at her disposal.
Sure enough, the moment they stepped across the threshold into the secret realm proper, Su Min's Nanming Lihuo instinctively surged. With the Eastern Azure Wood supporting it, the flame burned stronger and more efficiently, making the arduous journey just barely manageable.
Xie Yingying's method was even simpler. She coated herself in a thin, shimmering layer of spiritual energy. The chaotic, impure Taiyin Qi here could not be absorbed by anyone, but as a true Lunar Sovereign Physique wielder, she possessed a natural and powerful resistance to it.
Their progress was smooth and uneventful until they stumbled upon a grim gallery of crystalline ice statues. The cultivators trapped within were long dead, their final expressions of shock and fear preserved forever.
"This group, they are from the Heavenly Flame Pavilion of the Great Luo Tian. I even refined pills for them once. And now they are all frozen here. Truly, greed swallows the snake whole."
Su Min sighed. The secret realm itself was not particularly dangerous. There were no complex mazes, no distorted spaces, no powerful guardians lying in wait. If these people had simply sensed the true danger and retreated, they would have lived. But they had chosen to push forward, draining their spiritual energy until there was nothing left, and were frozen solid mid step.
"This is the price of forcing your way into a Lunar Sovereign legacy site," Xie Yingying stated without pity. Then she noticed Su Min's movement. "What are you doing?"
She watched as Su Min crouched down and began fiddling with the frozen corpses.
"We did not kill them, and they are already dead. Their belongings are fair game."
With practiced ease, Su Min casually plucked the spatial rings from their stiff, frostbitten fingers.
"Let us go. It is too cold here. If I take out the herbs now, they will freeze and be ruined. I will check what is inside when we reach the depths."
Xie Yingying shook her head slightly but did not stop her. Those spatial rings were not high quality enough to fully resist the pervasive Taiyin Qi, and most of the treasures inside were probably already ruined. But if Su Min wanted to loot them, it was no concern of hers.
"How much further?" Su Min asked, her voice tight. "Even with the Eastern Azure Wood, the energy consumption is too high. And there is no way to recover here since the air is all Taiyin Qi."
"Take a pill," Xie Yingying directed. "Based on my calculations, reaching the depths will require at least three pills. One for me, two for you. Do not waste energy. As for the way back, do not worry. Once I obtain the legacy, this entire secret realm will collapse, and the Taiyin Qi will dissipate."
This place existed for one purpose only: to pass on the Lunar Sovereign legacy. It was not designed for indiscriminate slaughter.
"What a pain. Let us keep moving."
Su Min popped a Flame Sun Spirit Pill into her mouth. She had come prepared, and if things went truly wrong, she had a final escape plan. After all, she still carried the Alchemy and Artifact Manual, which recorded countless unique and strange artifacts.
Like the one currently resting in her spatial ring:
The Dual Polarity Triple Shield, a low tier Mystic Grade artifact.
Its effect was simple. She could stand on one shield to teleport to another she had placed elsewhere, but she could only do this once every three days. It had severe limitations. It could not pass through spatial barriers, and she had to remain completely motionless for a full minute during activation. In a battle, standing still for a minute was suicide, and any spatial interference would block it. But here, in this static, deadly environment, it was perfect.
If things went wrong, she could flee instantly. As the pill dissolved, a welcome warmth flooded her body. Her Nanming Lihuo dimmed to a low, sustaining flicker, and her spiritual energy began a slow recovery.
"Terrible environment. The recovery is so slow. No wonder those people froze to death. No wonder you were not in a hurry."
"Also, control your heartbeat. Do not rush," Xie Yingying advised. "Even my energy consumption is doubled here. We are almost there."
Not long after, even Xie Yingying had to drop her spiritual barrier and swallow a Flame Sun Spirit Pill. The path was not physically long, but with their recovery slowed to a crawl and their consumption doubled, they were forced to move at a snail's pace, like two elderly men taking a casual stroll through a park.
Finally, just as the effects of Su Min's second pill were about to wear off, the scenery around them changed.
The suffocating, heavy blanket of Taiyin Qi vanished, replaced by a vibrant, pulsing vitality. Warm, rich spiritual energy rushed back into their senses, so potent that it formed two swirling, visible vortexes around them as their bodies hungrily drank it in.
Just as Xie Yingying had predicted, within this land of extreme Yin, there was a pocket of perfect balance, a place lush and teeming with life.
But then, Xie Yingying's eyes widened in sheer shock.
Because Su Min was not just absorbing the ambient spiritual energy. She was actively, voraciously devouring the pure Taiyang Qi from the air, pulling it into her body like a starving beast finally presented with a feast.
"How is this possible?!" she exclaimed.
Ordinary people balanced Yin and Yang within their bodies. Only those with the Solar Sovereign or Lunar Sovereign Physiques could tip the internal scales so drastically, favoring one over the other to such an extreme.
Yet Su Min was female. Everything about her should align with Yin. How could she possibly have the Solar Sovereign Physique?
And if she did, Xie Yingying should have sensed it the moment they met. The two physiques were natural opposites, drawn together by fate yet inherently repelled by their very natures.
But before she could think on it further, the air shimmered. The legacy of the Lunar Sovereign Ancient Emperor manifested before them, cutting short all her questions.
===
Hehe, you finally notice the 'hint', And aren't you began doting on Su Min???