284: Chapter 283 Late Bloomers, Seventh Stage

Three days after the Black Witch Cult headquarters was destroyed, Jiang Hanzhou stood before the mountain gate of Ice Sword Mountain, gazing up at this number one Sect of the North.

Ice Sword Mountain was not just a single mountain, but a mountain range. The main peak pierced into the clouds, its summit covered in eternal, unmelting ice and snow that reflected a piercing silver-white light under the sun. Countless palaces and pavilions were built along the slopes of the peak, each one engraved with dense runes. Those runes shared the same origin as the Formation runes of the East Sea's Dragon Abyss Palace, yet they were more ancient and profound. Halfway up the mountain, a waterfall cascaded from a rock wall, its flow freezing into ice mid-air to form a hundred-zhang-high ice curtain. On the curtain, countless sword marks could be faintly seen shifting, each one containing an inexpressible Sword Intent.

Teng Qinghan walked ahead, her white robes snapping in the wind. Her steps were light, making almost no sound on the ice stairs. Jiang Hanzhou followed behind her, the tiger soul saber hanging at his waist, its dark gold patterns flickering slightly under the pull of Ice Sword Mountain's spiritual energy.

After returning from the Permafrost Mountains, they did not go back to the White Deer Tribe. Jiang Hanzhou informed Tuerdan via a communication talisman that he was going to Ice Sword Mountain and told the old shaman not to worry. Teng Qinghan, through the Mystic Ice Sword Sect's transmission Formation, sent word back to the Sect in advance. Upon hearing that a Disciple of the East Sea's Dragon Abyss Palace had arrived with the secrets of the Dragon Slaying True Person, the Sect Master immediately ordered Teng Qinghan to bring Jiang Hanzhou directly up the mountain.

The two walked along the ice stairs for about half an hour before arriving in front of a massive palace. A plaque hung above the main gate with three large characters: "Mystic Ice Hall." The handwriting was cold and sharp, each stroke resembling an unsheathed sharp sword. The hall doors were wide open, and the interior was brightly lit.

In the center of the hall, a middle-aged woman stood with her hands behind her back. She wore a white Daoist robe, her long hair held up by an ice-blue jade hairpin, her face cold and elegant like a painting. A thin layer of ice-blue light swirled around her; it wasn't dazzling, yet it contained an inexpressible chill. An ice-blue longsword hung at her waist, its scabbard engraved with two ancient characters: Xuan Ice.

Sect Master of the Mystic Ice Sword Sect, Perfected Lord Bingxuan.

Beside her stood three white-haired Elders, all possessing a cultivation in the Spirit Communication Realm, equivalent to the Dragon-Elephant Intersection Realm of the East Sea. The gazes of the three fell upon Jiang Hanzhou, filled with curiosity, scrutiny, and a trace of indiscernible vigilance.

“Disciple Teng Qinghan pays respects to the Sect Master.” Teng Qinghan knelt on one knee and cupped her fists in salute.

Perfected Lord Bingxuan nodded, her gaze moving past Teng Qinghan to land on Jiang Hanzhou: “You are Jiang Hanzhou? The Disciple of Master Xue Mu from Dragon Abyss Palace?”

Jiang Hanzhou knelt on one knee and cupped his fists in salute: “Red Fire Peak Disciple of Dragon Abyss Palace, Jiang Hanzhou, pays respects to Perfected Lord Bingxuan.”

Perfected Lord Bingxuan did not tell him to rise, merely looking at him in silence for three breaths. Then, she spoke slowly: “You carry the Golden Sharpness True Intent of the Dragon Slaying True Person, the dragon essence and dragon blood of the Flood Dragon Clan, and a Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu Mother. Teng Qinghan has already told me of your origin. However, there are some words I must ask you personally.”

Jiang Hanzhou raised his head, his gaze calm: “Please ask, Immortal Master.”

“What did you see in the Dragon Slaying True Person's cave in the East Sea?” Perfected Lord Bingxuan's voice was calm, yet it contained an inexpressible solemnity. “How much do you know regarding the complete layout of the Dragon Slaying True Person?”

Jiang Hanzhou remained silent for a breath before taking out the dragon soul bead, the sacred object of the Flood Dragon Clan, from his sumeru pouch, as well as several Jade Slips recovered from the Black Witch Cult headquarters. He held the dragon soul bead in his palm and placed the Jade Slips on the ground.

“This is the Flood Dragon Clan's sacred object, the dragon soul bead, which the Ice Flood Dragon King asked me to reclaim from the Black Witch Cult headquarters,” his voice was steady. “These Jade Slips are records I recovered from the Black Witch Cult headquarters, documenting the complete information of the Dragon Slaying True Person's layout in the North.”

Perfected Lord Bingxuan's pupils contracted slightly. She raised her right hand and gave a light wave, and the Jade Slips on the ground flew into her hand. As she probed the Jade Slips with her Divine Sense, her expression grew increasingly grim, and the coldness in her eyes intensified.

Three breaths later, she lowered the Jade Slips and looked at Jiang Hanzhou, her voice carrying a trace of undisguised shock: “Master Kurong is dead? You killed him?”

Jiang Hanzhou nodded: “I killed him. He trapped Senior Sister Teng and me with the Ten Thousand Gu Grand Formation. I used the Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu Mother to trigger a backlash against his life gu and shattered his dao seed with Dao-Slaying Blade Intent.”

Perfected Lord Bingxuan was silent for a long time. Then, she turned and walked toward the back of the hall: “Follow me.”

Jiang Hanzhou stood up and followed behind Perfected Lord Bingxuan. Teng Qinghan and the three Elders followed as well. The group passed through the Mystic Ice Hall and followed a narrow mountain path to an Immortal Cave deep within Ice Sword Mountain.

Five ancient characters were engraved on the stone door of the cave: Innate One Qi Sect Scripture Pavilion.

Perfected Lord Bingxuan raised her hand and pressed her palm against the stone door. Ice-blue light surged from her palm, spreading in all directions along the runes on the stone door. The runes lit up, emitting a low hum, and then the stone door slowly opened.

The interior of the cave was even more vast than Jiang Hanzhou had imagined. The cave was about a hundred zhang wide and ten zhang high, with countless stone alcoves set into the surrounding walls, each containing a Jade Slip. Some of those Jade Slips were pure white, some were pale gold, and some shimmered with five-colored radiance, each emitting inexpressible fluctuations of spiritual energy.

“This is the Scripture Pavilion left in the North by the Innate One Qi Sect,” Perfected Lord Bingxuan's voice echoed in the cave. “Three thousand years ago, when the Elders of the Innate One Qi Sect moved north to establish the Mystic Ice Sword Sect, they brought half of the Sect's records here. Among them are ancient Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, Formations, Alchemy, and smithing arts, as well as the notes and insights of successive Sect Masters.”

She turned around and looked at Jiang Hanzhou: “You may browse through the Scripture Pavilion at will. Take whatever Cultivation Technique you need. Stay as long as you need. But there is one condition.”

Jiang Hanzhou's brow twitched slightly: “What condition?”

“Make a copy of every memory fragment you obtained from the Dragon Slaying True Person's cave and give it to the Mystic Ice Sword Sect.” Perfected Lord Bingxuan's gaze was like a torch. “Among those fragments are the Dragon Slaying True Person's Martial Arts Comprehension, his understanding of the Five Elements True Intent, and all the details of the Dao-Severing Rebirth layout he set. The Mystic Ice Sword Sect has guarded the dao seed source for a thousand years, always searching for a way to break it, but we have always lacked the most critical information. The fragments you brought might be the key.”

Jiang Hanzhou was silent for a moment, then he nodded: “Fine.”

He probed into his Sea of Consciousness with his Divine Sense, extracting the memory fragments he had absorbed from the Dragon Slaying True Person's cave one by one, using the power of his Divine Soul to copy them into a blank Jade Slip. The entire process lasted for a full hour. When he handed the Jade Slip to Perfected Lord Bingxuan, his face was somewhat pale, but his eyes were full of determination.

Perfected Lord Bingxuan took the Jade Slip and probed it with her Divine Sense, remaining silent for a long time. Then, she tucked the Jade Slip into her sleeve and bowed deeply to Jiang Hanzhou: “Nephew-Disciple Jiang, the Mystic Ice Sword Sect owes you a favor.”

Jiang Hanzhou stepped aside, not accepting her bow: “Immortal Master, you overstate it. The Dragon Slaying True Person is the enemy of the entire world, not someone I can deal with alone.”

Perfected Lord Bingxuan straightened up and nodded: “You are right. Therefore, you need to become stronger. The Cultivation Techniques and records in the Scripture Pavilion are yours to use. I will have Teng Qinghan bring you food and Medicinal Pills every day. Stay as long as you need.”

She turned and walked out of the cave. The three Elders followed behind her. Teng Qinghan glanced at Jiang Hanzhou, nodded, and also followed them out.

The stone door slowly closed behind them.

Only Jiang Hanzhou remained in the cave.

He stood in the center of the Scripture Pavilion, his gaze sweeping over the dense stone alcoves, and took a deep breath. Then, he walked to the nearest alcove, took out a Jade Slip, and probed it with his Divine Sense.

It was a Cultivation Technique named "Mystic Ice True Explanation," which recorded the insights of successive Sect Masters of the Mystic Ice Sword Sect regarding the ice-attribute True Intent. After Jiang Hanzhou's Tidal True Intent fused with the power of extreme cold, he had created the Mystic Ice Tidal Slash, but his understanding of ice-attribute power was still shallow. The "Mystic Ice True Explanation" gave him a brand-new perspective, showing him more possibilities for ice-attribute power.

He set down the Jade Slip and walked to the next alcove. A Jade Slip named "Ice Soul Sword Canon" recorded sword techniques centered around Ice Soul True Intent. Although he did not use a sword, the Concept and the way the True Intent circulated within the sword techniques provided inspiration for him to polish his Heavenly Fire True Intent and Pure Yang True Intent.

One slip, two slips, three slips.

He was like a parched sponge, frantically absorbing the knowledge within the Scripture Pavilion. Those Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, Formations, and Alchemy arts—each one deepened his understanding of the martial Dao. He compared the martial Dao True Intent of the East Sea with the Shamanic Martial system of the North, finding commonalities between the two as well as the possibility for Fusion.

Days passed one by one.

He browsed the Jade Slips by day and cultivated cross-legged by night. He fused the ice-attribute True Intent from the "Mystic Ice True Explanation" into his Tidal True Intent, increasing the power of the Mystic Ice Tidal Slash by thirty percent. He fused the Sword Intent from the "Ice Soul Sword Canon" into his Metal Sharpness True Intent, making the tiger soul saber's edge even more keen. He combined the Body Refining methods of the Northern Shamanic Martial arts with the Li Huo Golden Body Art, allowing his Physical Body's strength to break through once again in the extremely cold environment.

More importantly, he successively cultivated dozens of Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills to Perfection.

Not Minor Achievement, not Major Achievement, but Perfection. He repeatedly polished every single technique with the power of his fate until every detail was thoroughly mastered and every trace of True Intent was harmonious and without obstruction. Those perfected techniques and skills transformed into Martial Arts Comprehension, merging into his fate and causing the progress of [Late Bloomer] to grow at a flying pace.

One month later, he sat cross-legged in the Scripture Pavilion, the tiger soul saber resting across his knees, with four-colored radiance swirling around him. Tidal True Intent was ice-blue, Pure Yang True Intent was red-gold, Metal Sharpness True Intent was dark gold, and Heavenly Fire True Intent was purple. The four types of True Intent intertwined and wound around each other within a three-foot radius of him, forming a Small World independent of the heavens and earth.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the area of his lake of divine soul had recovered to its peak state, and the layer of Divine Soul Armor on the lake's surface shimmered with four-colored light. The Heart Blade hung above the Sea of Consciousness, the dark gold dragon patterns on its body clearly visible, and the dark gold halo at the blade's edge flowed slowly.

Deep within his Dantian, the inch-sized Dragon Fetus sat cross-legged, the four-colored radiance swirling around it even purer and more harmonious than before. Around the Dragon Fetus, those silver threads left behind by the remnants of spatial power had completely dissipated, the Seal being fully undone.

His cultivation had broken through to the Dragon Fetus Realm Late Stage.

He was only one step away from the Dragon-Elephant Intersection Realm.

But more important than the Breakthrough in cultivation was that his fate had promoted.

[Late Bloomer], Grade Seven.

The moment his fate promoted, his body gave a sudden jolt. An inexpressible power surged from his fate, flowing along his Meridians to his four limbs and hundred bones, and into his Dantian and Sea of Consciousness. That power was not spiritual energy, not True Intent, and not Divine Soul, but something deeper—it was talent, Comprehension Ability, and the ultimate Breakthrough of potential.

His Aptitude was rising, his Comprehension Ability was rising, and his Physical Body's strength was rising. Those martial Dao problems he couldn't figure out before were suddenly clear now. Those True Intent Fusions he couldn't control before were now as easy as moving his own arm.

He opened his eyes, a flash of five-colored light passing through them.

He raised his right hand, and with a slight thought, four types of True Intent surged from his palm, condensing into a four-colored flame in his hand. The flame flickered, not blazing hot and not freezing cold, but containing a perfect balance of the four True Intents.

He clenched his fist, drawing the flame back into his body.

Then, he took out those Jade Slips recovered from the Black Witch Cult headquarters and the dragon soul bead from his sumeru pouch. He had already browsed those Jade Slips countless times, but every time he looked, he would find something new. This time, after his fate promoted, his perception was several times sharper than before, and the information that was previously blurred and unclear now became crystal clear.

He probed his Divine Sense into a dark red Jade Slip; it was Master Kurong's notes, recording all the information he had obtained from Wei Wuya regarding the Dragon Slaying True Person's layout.

A scroll slowly unfurled within his Sea of Consciousness.

It was not a map of the North, nor a map of the East Sea, but a map of the entire world. The five domains were clearly defined—East Sea, Southern Border, Western Desert, North, and Central Plains—with a blood-red point of light marked in each domain. Those points of light were precisely the five dao seed sources laid down by the Dragon Slaying True Person.

Beside the scroll were lines of blood-red text, each character like a sharp blade piercing into Jiang Hanzhou's eyes:

“The Dragon Slaying True Person's Dao-Severing Rebirth layout is not about Rebirth, but transcendence. He wants to use the dao seeds of the five domains as nourishment to devour the Dao Principles of the world's Cultivators, break through this world's Realm limit, and become the sole Dao Lord. At that time, the dao foundations of all Cultivators across the five domains will be covered by his Dao Principles. He does not want to resurrect; he wants to become a god.”

“Five cross-Realm teleportation arrays correspond to the five domains. The core of each teleportation array is a dao seed source. Collecting the cores of the five Formation Plates can completely close the Dragon Slaying True Person's Rebirth channel and also allow free travel between the five domains. This was the contingency left by the first Sect Master of the Innate One Qi Sect, the only variable the Dragon Slaying True Person failed to account for.”

“The cores of the five Formation Plates are hidden in the deepest parts of the five domains. The East Sea's core is at the bottom of Dragon Abyss Palace's Dragon-Locking Abyss; the North's core is beneath Ice Sword Mountain of the Mystic Ice Sword Sect; the Southern Border's core is at the Ten Thousand Gu Sect headquarters; the Western Desert's core is at the Esoteric Sect's Great Leiyin Temple; the Central Plains' core is at the Great Qi Imperial Dynasty's Imperial Ancestral Temple.”

Jiang Hanzhou withdrew his Divine Sense from the Jade Slip and remained silent for a long time.

A complete layout. Not Rebirth, but transcendence. Not resurrection, but becoming a god. The Dragon Slaying True Person wanted to devour the Dao Principles of all Cultivators in the five domains, break through the world's Realm limit, and become the sole Dao Lord.

He stood up and held the dragon soul bead in his palm. Within the bead, that ice-blue flood dragon was swimming slowly, its body stretching and its tail swaying. He probed his Divine Sense into the dragon soul bead to communicate with the dragon soul remnant of the Flood Dragon Clan's ancestor.

Within the dragon soul bead, a scene slowly emerged.

The Dragon Slaying True Person stood with his hands behind his back upon an ice plain, five-colored radiance swirling around him. Before him knelt five Cultivators dressed in different attire: a Sword Cultivator from the East Sea, a gu Cultivator from the Southern Border, a Buddhist Cultivator from the Western Desert, a Shamanic Martial artist from the North, and an Imperial Dynasty Cultivator from the Central Plains.

“The five teleportation arrays and five Formation Plate cores are given to you five for safekeeping,” the Dragon Slaying True Person's voice was calm, yet it contained an inexpressible authority. “When the thousand-year period arrives, if my Rebirth is successful, the Formation Plate cores will be of no further use. If my Rebirth fails, you shall use the Formation Plate cores to close the teleportation arrays and prevent my remnant soul from taking Possession. This is the dying wish of the Innate One Qi Sect's first Sect Master, and it is also my final safeguard.”

The scene dissipated.

Jiang Hanzhou opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them.

Five teleportation arrays, five Formation Plate cores. The East Sea's core was at the bottom of the Dragon-Locking Abyss; the Formation Plate he had seen before falling was only a part of the teleportation array, and the true core was still somewhere in the Dragon Abyss Palace. The North's core was beneath Ice Sword Mountain, right where he was standing now.

He needed to find the North's core, he needed to collect all five Formation Plate cores, and he needed to completely close the Dragon Slaying True Person's Rebirth channel.

But what he needed most right now was to become stronger.

Dragon Fetus Realm Late Stage was not enough. He needed to break through to the Dragon-Elephant Intersection Realm, he needed to raise his Dao-Slaying Blade Intent to a higher level, and he needed to prepare everything before the Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu Mother completed its final metamorphosis.

He put the dragon soul bead into his sumeru pouch, returned those Jade Slips to the stone alcoves, walked to the center of the Scripture Pavilion, and sat down cross-legged.

The tiger soul saber lay across his knees, its dark gold patterns flickering slightly under the pull of the spiritual energy. The sentience within the blade sent out a joyful emotion, as if celebrating his Breakthrough.

He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing.

fate Grade Seven, Dragon Fetus Realm Late Stage, Mystic Ice Tidal Slash, Dao-Slaying Blade Intent, Thousand Tribulations Nirvana Gu Mother.

He still needed more.