A month ago, the frigid northern lake of the Golden Core Avenue had erupted. It wasn't a conventional explosion of fire and rock, but a silent, terrifying surge of power that flooded the atmosphere like a tidal wave of crystalline glass. The temperature across the entire Golden Core Avenue plummeted by over ten degrees in a single day, causing the very clouds to crystallize and fall as jagged shards of ice.
Such a drastic disturbance acted like a beacon, drawing countless cultivators who gathered like moths to a dying flame. They flocked in groups, their eyes gleaming with avarice that even the biting wind couldn't chill. 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 before the gates could even fully stabilize.
And then, tragedy struck.
Many didn't even make it inside the secret realm's entrance before they started shivering uncontrollably, their spiritual energy seizing up in their meridians. 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. His hand was still outstretched, reaching for a phantom treasure that existed only in his mind.
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. The only noise was the occasional crack of stone splitting under the pressure of the frost. Now, two figures stood alone in this desolate expanse, their boots crunching on the brittle, white earth.
"It's so cold," Su Min murmured. She shuddered as her Nanming Lihuo flared to life within her core, providing a thin, pulsating layer of warmth that shimmered around her like a crimson veil. "There's a strange energy in the air. Taiyin Qi. This place is saturated with it."
Now she understood. This was why Xie Yingying hadn't been in a hurry to come, and why she had said that Su Min, armed with only Nanming Lihuo, wouldn't 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 wasn't the cold itself. It was the Taiyin Qi that saturated every molecule of the air, a force so dense and invasive it couldn't freeze spiritual energy solid. It felt like breathing in needles that tried to stitch one's lungs shut.
Without the protection of her divine flame, Su Min would never have dared to come. And even with the flame alone, she wouldn't have been safe without the stabilizing, life-giving energy of the Eastern Azure Wood to support it. Xie Yingying hadn't exaggerated in the slightest.
"Under normal circumstances, no matter how harsh the environment, there's always some form of life," Xie Yingying explained. Her voice was calm, undisturbed by the freezing gale. "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's a different story."
If it were only the cold, Golden Core cultivators could've endured it with their physical strength alone. But this Taiyin Qi actively drained their spiritual energy, siphoning it away like a parasite. 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 didn't grow here. Only death remained, etched into the very soil.
"Yet as the saying goes, at the depth of misfortune lies fortune," Xie Yingying continued. Her gaze pierced 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 can't 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's go," Su Min said, her mind made up.
She didn't 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 Divine Transformation realm.
She wasn't delusional. It wasn't 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 wasn't just the Five Elements Holy Body.
That was the real reason she had insisted on coming here, no matter the cost. Her fingers twitched at her sides, the heat within her blood pulsing in a rhythm that didn't match the environment.
"If you feel like you can't 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 don't hesitate to take the pills when needed."
"I know. Besides, I'm 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. The crimson flames licked at the frozen air with a hungry crackle. 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 that looked like moonlight reflected on still water. The chaotic, impure Taiyin Qi here couldn't 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 behind a foot of solid, clouded ice.
"This group… they are from the Heavenly Flame Pavilion of the Great Luo Tian. I even refined pills for them once. And now they're all frozen here. Truly, greed swallows the snake whole."
Su Min sighed. The secret realm itself wasn't 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, her fingers surprisingly nimble despite the cold.
"We didn't 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. The rings made a soft clinking sound as she dropped them into her palm.
"Let's go. It's too cold here. If I take out the herbs now, they will freeze and be ruined. I will check what's inside when we reach the depths."
Xie Yingying shook her head slightly but didn't stop her. Those spatial rings weren't high quality enough to fully resist the pervasive Taiyin Qi, and most of the treasures inside were probably already ruined by the cold. 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's 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. Don't waste energy. As for the way back, don't 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 wasn't designed for indiscriminate slaughter, only to test the limits of one's endurance.
"What a pain. Let's 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 couldn't 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, pushing back the encroaching chill. 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 weren't in a hurry."
"Also, control your heartbeat. Don't rush," Xie Yingying advised. Her own breath came in a steady, slow rhythm. "Even my energy consumption is doubled here. We are almost there."
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. The scent of blooming white lotus and fresh earth filled the air. The energy was 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 wasn't 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. Her skin began to glow with a faint, golden radiance that pushed back the dim shadows of the cave.
"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. It was a contradiction that defied every law she knew.
But before she could think on it further, the air shimmered. The legacy of the Lunar Sovereign Ancient Emperor manifested before them, a towering figure of light and shadow that cut short all her questions.
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Hehe, you finally notice the 'hint', And aren't you began doting on Su Min???