21: Ice-Clad Cliffs, Moon Key Gate

The three-hundred-mile Buried Bone Wasteland was pulled back by an invisible giant hand as Chen Feng ran at full speed. The dark golden stream of light tore through the haze, and beneath his feet, the soft bone fragments were gradually replaced by hard, smooth, deep blue ice crystals that emitted a bone-chilling cold. The air became viscous; each breath felt like inhaling countless tiny ice needles, pricking his lungs with pain. The pervasive violent fiendish energy had not disappeared; instead, it merged with this extreme cold, forming an even more bizarre and corrosive power—Ice Fiend!

Ahead, heaven and earth were completely separated.

An ice-blue “ precipice” (Absolute Cliff) connected to the sky and earth, its height and thickness unknown, stretched across the end of the wasteland. This was no ordinary ice wall, but rather one condensed from countless eons of unmelting profound ice, mixed with solidified, substantial threads of gray-black fiendish energy, like billions of frozen venomous snakes. Gale force winds! Visible pale white wind blades were not chaotic currents but followed some ancient and cruel law, cutting, rotating, and colliding at high speed on the surface of this Ice Fiend Cliff, emitting an incessant, ear-splitting shriek capable of tearing apart the soul!

This was the Ice Fiend Gale Barrier.

It was not merely a physical barrier, but more like a wall of heaven-and-earth laws constructed by extreme cold and fierce fiendish energy, completely sealing off the Guanghan Ruins. Wherever the gale winds passed, space itself exhibited subtle, distorted patterns like shattered glass. Any object attempting to approach, be it bones, rocks, or even fiendish demonic creatures occasionally drifting there, was instantly pulverized into the finest ice crystal powder, leaving no trace of its existence.

Chen Feng abruptly stopped a hundred zhang from the Absolute Cliff. The violent aftershocks of the gale winds kicked up ice chips and fiendish energy, like countless cold files scraping against his tough skin, covered with faint golden patterns, emitting a grating “hissing” sound. The cold penetrated his bones, and even the operating speed of his chaos base point seemed to be momentarily delayed by this power that froze all things.

The fragment of the fate plate on his chest vibrated slightly, transmitting an extremely faint but clear longing, its target directly beyond the Absolute Cliff. Simultaneously, the incomplete information fragments conveyed by the jade bone once again flashed in his mind: “Ice seal... Moon Key... Guardian... Boundary breaking...”

“Moon Key...” Chen Feng muttered the word, his gaze sweeping like an eagle over the violent and chaotic Ice Fiend Gale Wall ahead. The jade bone's hint surely did not mean for him to forcibly break through this deathly Absolute Cliff, capable of grinding down a Golden Core. A key... must exist.

He tried to extend his divine sense. However, as soon as his divine sense left his body, it was instantly cut, frozen, and annihilated by countless tiny, sharp Ice Fiend wind blades. The only feedback was a chaotic sensation of extreme cold and destruction, enough to freeze thought. Pure perception was completely ineffective here.

The chaos base point slightly accelerated its rotation, and a pure stream of chaotic energy flowed through his body, dispelling the invading cold. The faint golden patterns on his skin glowed faintly, resisting the cutting of the gale winds. Chen Feng took a deep breath of the bone-chilling air, forcing himself to calm down. He closed his eyes, no longer relying on sight and divine sense, but immersed his entire mind within his body, communicating with the fragment of the fate plate connected to his life soul, and the chaos base point, which had become unusually active after devouring the essence of the jade bone.

A profound and mysterious sensation, like an invisible tendril extending in the darkness, ignored the physical obstruction of the violent gale winds and slowly probed forward. This sensation was not to detect specific scenes, but to capture the Veins (veins) of energy flow and the node (nodes) where laws operated.

Time passed amidst the dead silent roar (of the gale winds) and the extreme cold. After an unknown period, when Chen Feng's consciousness was almost eroded and frozen by the pervasive Ice Fiend, an extremely faint “ripple” carrying a cool moonlight aura was “captured” deep within the destructive gale current ahead, under the joint guidance of the fragment of the fate plate and the chaos base point!

The position of that “ripple” was not fixed; instead, it constantly shifted and flickered within a specific area on the surface of the Absolute Cliff as the gale winds surged violently, like a lone lamp that could be extinguished at any moment in a storm. Its aura was completely out of place with this Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff—cool, pure, ancient, and carrying a trace of... a familiar feeling originating from Su Wanzhao's essence!

“Found it!” Chen Feng suddenly opened his eyes, a chaotic gleam flashing and disappearing in them, locking onto that elusive moonlight glimmer deep within the gale winds. That was where the “Moon Key” was located! It was the only possible “portal” node in this Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff!

The opportunity was fleeting! The Moon Key node flickered extremely fast, appearing in a completely different location each time, and its existence lasted less than a breath!

Chen Feng's muscles instantly tensed, like a strong bow fully drawn. The hard, deep blue ice crystals beneath his feet silently dented downwards, and spiderweb-like cracks spread. Within his body, the chaos base point roared at an unprecedented speed, dark golden patterns surged beneath his skin like molten lava, and his physical strength, restored to 90%, was pushed to its limit!

Just as that faint moonlight glimmer reappeared in the chaotic gale winds—

Boom!

Chen Feng moved!

Only a burst of circular airwaves and shattered ice crystal powder were left in his original spot! His figure transformed into a dark golden bolt of lightning tearing through space, heading straight for that faint glimmer! His speed was extreme, even leaving a brief afterimage behind him!

A hundred zhang distance, reached in an instant!

However, the moment his figure moved, the violent and chaotic Ice Fiend Gale seemed to be thoroughly enraged! Chen Feng, this intruder carrying a powerful life aura and chaotic energy, was like cold water dripping into boiling oil!

Wooooo—!

The mournful wind howl suddenly rose several levels! On the Absolute Cliff, dozens of giant pale white wind blades, which were originally cutting chaotically, seemed to be manipulated by an invisible hand, instantly changing their trajectories. With soul-freezing cold and the sharpness to shred all things, they converged from all directions, at a speed surpassing Chen Feng's sprint, fiercely attacking him! They sealed off all his dodging space!

Furthermore, an invisible, terrifying pressure of laws originating from the Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff itself descended with a crash, like billions of icebergs smashing down on his head, seeking to freeze and crush him along with the space around him! This was an absolute suppression capable of instantly freezing a Golden Core cultivator's spiritual platform and solidifying their true essence!

“Get lost!”

Chen Feng let out a furious roar, his voice actually shaking out ripples in the Ice Fiend! Faced with this deadly situation, there was no fear in his eyes, only a madness that was almost burning! He did not slow down, nor did he block, but instead pushed his speed to the limit!

The chaos base point vibrated frantically, and the accumulated majestic chaotic energy poured out without reservation! The dark golden patterns on his body were no longer faint glows, but burst forth with dazzling dark golden flames! He himself seemed to transform into a burning meteor, charging against the storm!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several giant wind blades that struck first fiercely slashed at Chen Feng! The sharpness and extreme cold, capable of severing spirit treasures, collided with his body covered in dark golden flames, emitting deafening metallic clangs! Ice chips and dark golden sparks flew everywhere! Chen Feng's body shook violently, the dark golden patterns on his body fluctuated intensely, and a subtle but clear tearing sensation came from the 90% repaired cracks! Intense pain surged like a tide!

But his momentum increased rather than decreased! He forcefully shattered these wind blades with his incomparably powerful physical body!

More wind blades attacked from behind, above, and below! The terrifying pressure of laws was like ice water pouring over his head, madly eroding his will, trying to freeze the operation of his base point!

“Open for me!” Chen Feng's eyes were golden-red, and within the chaos base point, the dormant “Nirvana Heavenly Condemnation Imprint” was suddenly activated! A subtle strand of purple-black lightning, carrying the will to destroy all heavens, instantly wrapped around his right fist!

He did not strike the wind blades, but instead punched towards the increasingly close, yet still flickering Moon Key node in the gale winds!

Rumble—!!!

The purple-black Nirvana lightning mingled with chaotic energy, transforming into a destructive fist aura! Wherever the fist aura passed, the violent gale winds were forcibly annihilated and pushed aside! A straight, brief vacuum tunnel was formed! At the end of the tunnel was that faint moonlight glimmer!

The moment the tunnel appeared, Chen Feng's figure followed the path opened by the fist aura, narrowly passing through with a hair's breadth before more wind blades could converge and kill him! The edges of the cold gale winds, like substantial blades, scraped against the dark golden flames on his body, emitting a harsh friction sound and leaving several white marks.

The next moment, he had rushed before the Moon Key node!

It was not a physical entity, but a palm-sized, slowly rotating profound rune imprint composed of pure moonlight energy! It floated at the core of the violent gale winds, yet it was as calm as the eye of a storm, emitting a cool and ancient radiance.

Now is the time!

Chen Feng did not hesitate. Following the incomplete guidance in the jade bone's information and the instinct conveyed by the fragment of the fate plate, he fiercely pointed his fingertip, condensed with the power of the chaos base point and his own essence blood, at the rotating Moon Key rune!

The moment his fingertip touched the rune—

Buzz!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a clear, resonant hum, as if from ancient primordial times, instantly overwhelming all the roars of the gale winds!

The rotating Moon Key rune suddenly erupted with an unprecedented dazzling silver glow! The light spread like mercury pouring down, instantly diffusing! Wherever it passed, the violently cutting pale white wind blades seemed to be frozen in place, suddenly solidifying and stiffening! Even the pervasive Ice Fiend coldness and the pressure of laws were forcibly dispelled and smoothed under this cool moonlight!

Centered on Chen Feng's fingertip, a circular “portal” about a zhang in circumference, composed of pure moonlight, silently appeared on the indestructible Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff! Inside the portal, there was no longer chaotic gale winds, but a misty passage flowing with soft moonlight!

It's done!

Just as a thought arose in Chen Feng's mind, he was about to withdraw and enter this moonlight portal.

An unexpected change occurred again!

“Wicked creature! How dare you defile a forbidden immortal land!”

A majestic, cold, and supremely willed furious roar, like thunder from the nine heavens, ignored spatial distance and the obstruction of the Ice Fiend Gale, suddenly exploded deep within Chen Feng's soul!

Immortal Edict Decree!

Chen Feng's entire body shook violently, as if struck by a heavy hammer! His soul seemed to be about to shatter from this voice containing immortal dao majesty! The chaos base point violently fluctuated, the dark golden flames on his body instantly dimmed, and the cracks that had finally been repaired to 90% actually burst open with several new tiny fissures under this furious roar, and golden-red blood streaks instantly seeped out!

He turned his head sharply!

He saw a dazzling golden stream of light at the end of the gray haze of the Buried Bone Wasteland, like a golden lightning bolt tearing through the sky, carrying a terrifying pressure that crushed everything. It was rapidly breaking through layers of fiendish energy at an unimaginable speed, hurtling towards the Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff!

Within the golden light, a blurry figure in gold robes was vaguely visible. His might was far greater than that of the Skeleton Tyrant from that day, even causing the fiendish energy of the entire Buried Bone Wasteland to wail and retreat!

The Gold-Robed Immortal Envoy! He had actually caught up at this moment!

The Immortal Envoy's speed was incredibly fast; the golden light rapidly magnified in his vision, and the terrifying killing intent, like substantial ice cones, had already firmly locked onto Chen Feng from a distant distance!

The moonlight portal was slowly fluctuating, seemingly becoming unstable due to the intense energy impact from outside and the Immortal Envoy's pressure.

With the Immortal Envoy chasing from the front, and the portal unstable behind!

A matter of life and death!

A fierce glint flashed in Chen Feng's eyes. Enduring the severe pain in his soul and the agony of his fleshly body's cracks reopening, he used the aftershocks of the Immortal Edict Decree's impact to advance instead of retreating. His entire body, like an arrow released from a bow, fiercely crashed into the passage flowing with moonlight!

“Last Light, wait for me!”

His figure instantly disappeared into the moonlight portal.

The moment he entered—

Boom!!!

A golden beam of light, condensed to the extreme, like a spear of judgment, tore through space and fiercely struck the spot where Chen Feng had disappeared! The moonlight portal vibrated violently, its light flickering erratically, and even tiny cracks appeared at its edges!

The golden light dissipated, revealing the Immortal Envoy's blurry but incomparably majestic face, hovering before the Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff. He looked at the violently fluctuating, rapidly shrinking moonlight portal, and the faint dark golden bloodstain and chaotic aura remaining at the portal's edge, a hint of shock and anger flashing in his cold eyes.

“Chaos... the aura of a dao foundation... and that fragment...” The Immortal Envoy's voice was like ten thousand years of cold ice, “To be able to activate the Guanghan Moon Key... This child must not be allowed to live!”

He raised his hand, and an ancient golden immortal command token appeared in his palm, emitting terrifying fluctuations that suppressed all heavens, about to strike the rapidly closing portal again.

However, the moonlight portal closed much faster than imagined, completely retracting and disappearing without a trace before the golden immortal command token's power could erupt. Only the smooth, mirror-like Ice Fiend Absolute Cliff, where gale winds still raged, remained, as if everything just now was merely an illusion.

The Immortal Envoy's hand paused in mid-air, the golden immortal command token's light flickered and then slowly receded. His cold gaze swept over the Absolute Cliff, then looked towards the depths of the Buried Bone Wasteland, as if sensing something.

“Escaping into the ruins... is merely throwing oneself into a trap.” The Immortal Envoy's voice was devoid of emotion. His figure transformed into a golden light, and instead of forcibly attacking the Absolute Cliff, he began to circle and search along its edge, like the most patient hunter, looking for other possible entrances or weak points. Within those ruins, there seemed to be something that even made him wary.

The Ice Fiend Gale still howled mournfully on the Absolute Cliff, burying all traces.

Inside the moonlight portal.

Chen Feng heavily fell onto the cold, hard ground, spitting out a mouthful of dark golden blood. The residual vibrations in his soul and the intense pain from his fleshly body's cracks made his vision blur. He struggled to look up.

Before him, it was no longer the desolate and dead Buried Bone Land.

A vast, shattered, yet breathtakingly beautiful world of ice crystals unfolded before his eyes. Gigantic, broken moon-white stone pillars leaned into the icy surface, exquisite palace ruins were half-buried in the glistening snow, and countless strange ice prisms emitting soft moonlight grew like a crystal forest. The air was filled with pure yet cold moonlight spiritual energy, and... a faint, almost imperceptible, yet soul-deep familiar aura.

Su Wanzhao's aura!

Chen Feng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The chaos base point forcibly suppressed his injuries, supporting his body as he stood up. On his face, covered in cracks, his eyes were as sharp as ever, firmly locked onto the direction from which the aura emanated—the deepest part of these Guanghan Ruins.

He took a step, the ice crystals beneath his feet shattered, and he resolutely headed towards the frozen core.