517: Revisiting Hanyuchuan

At the Yin Yang Sect temporary main camp, the pale noon light struck the cold black stones, reflecting a metallic chill.

At noon on the second day, a flash of talisman light erupted from a magnificent camp tent guarded by formation patterns in the central core area.

Yao Delong's tall and steady figure paced out.

The exhaustion from successive bloody battles and travels, under the promotion of his powerful physique and the nourishment of the Power of Creation,

had been mostly dispelled, his essence, Qi, and spirit climbing back to their Peak state once more, with a divine light contained within his eyes, deep as an abyss.

It was time to complete the mission of clearing out the remnants of the Cold Jade River and take the opportunity to investigate the movements of the Demonic Sect's withdrawal.

Just as he reached the frost-stone slab path at the edge of the square, a Mid Nascent Soul Stage old man, whose forehead was sweating and who appeared very respectful, emerged from the side.

The old man wore a black inner sect deacon's robe with gold trim; he was one of the Inner Sect Elders of Thunder Marsh Peak.

"True Disciple Yao, please wait!" The old man stepped forward quickly and bowed, his tone carrying sincerity.

"Is the True Disciple heading to the Cold Jade River?"

Yao Delong nodded slightly.

The old man immediately lowered his already soft voice:

"The Peak Master has a secret message and ordered this subordinate to deliver it to the True Disciple in person.

That Old Devil Head, Hundred Refinements Demon Venerable, was actually forcibly rescued by a mysterious person yesterday under the pursuit of three Void Refinement Mid-stage experts!

His whereabouts are currently unknown, and he is likely still lurking deep within the Frost-Silent Cold Wilds!

The Peak Master worries that the old demon is vindictive and hates the True Disciple to the bone, perhaps seeking an opportunity for revenge!

True Disciple, remember to be cautious on this trip! Concealing your tracks is paramount!"

He looked at Yao Delong with earnest eyes, showing sincere concern.

Firstly, he was indeed under orders; secondly, Yao Delong's fierce battle record of destroying the Demonic Formation and resisting the Demon Venerable

had already quietly sent shockwaves through the upper echelons, and his weight was no longer what it was yesterday!

Hearing this, a sharp light flashed deep within Yao Delong's eyes before he regained his composure.

"Does Old Demon Hundred Refinements still have such a trump card? To be able to snatch someone from under the hands of Void Refining giants?

Thank you to the Peak Master and the Elder for the reminder. This Yao, understands."

Thoughts raced through his mind—that old demon would certainly not let things go, especially since he must covet the secret of the cross-realm combat power I displayed!

Traveling outside is indeed like being a bright lamp; I need to completely hide my tracks!

Seeing Yao Delong's calm expression as if he had something to rely on, the old man felt slightly relieved.

He cupped his fists once more to take his leave, his figure quickly disappearing into the busy ranks of the formations.

Yao Delong didn't linger; the thousand mechanisms origin core within his body instantly shone brilliantly!

A warm current, accompanied by a slight bone-burning sensation, instantly flowed through his entire body!

Ka!

His Aura changed instantly! His posture became slightly hunched, and his rugged, weather-beaten face became prominent.

His pores emitted a scorching heatwave from years of tending to Spirit Stone furnaces!

Clad in the ordinary gray-black robes of an "Artifact Refining Manager" from the Yin Yang Sect Spirit Casting Workshop,

his majestic Aura, enough to shake mountains, was perfectly transformed into a scorching and mottled fire elemental field!

Scorching! Ordinary! Late Nascent Soul Stage Peak! This perfectly fit the daily persona of such a person in the icefield camp—

busy, tired, and covered in furnace ash!

From a gap in the changing of guards at the side gate of the barrier, like furnace ash dust swirling in a turbid stream,

he was silently "blown" out of the Frost-Ash Barrier by the cold wind. The direction was clear—the Cold Jade River!

About fifty miles northwest of the barrier, at the bottom of an eroded ice crack covered by thousand-year-old heavy ice layers and frozen into a deathly vortex of freezing winds.

The cave was like a blind mouth of darkness, its dense freezing Qi enough to instantly freeze the flow of a Golden Core's true essence!

A tiny, living speck of "hardened Death Qi"—

that Mid-stage Soul Transformation Demonic Path scout, controlled by Hundred Refinements with a cruel soul contract brand,

was like an ice corpse parasitic on frozen marrow, his sensing abilities squeezed to the limit.

The moment that gray-robed old man stepped out of the barrier range... the stardust-like frost crystals covering the demonic Cultivator's eyeballs suddenly exploded!

Target—Fire attribute! Late Nascent Soul Stage Aura!

Deep within the core of the brand, that arrogant and vast phantom of pressure representing Yao Delong's Origin Aura,

which belonged to a Pure Yang overlord as grand as a mountain range... remained motionless! Not a single trace of the same source of Aura was stirred!

"Coordinates... locked and reporting!"

"Target... one Cultivator with an 'Artifact Refining' type Aura, leaving camp at noon, target direction detected as... Cold Jade River!"

A cold, dry, and emotionless thought was forcibly transmitted across several layers of spatial distance and subtle storm faults!

The faint light of a Magic Treasure flashed and vanished, exhausting more than half of this demonic Cultivator's mental and spiritual energy.

He slowly curled back into the depths of the ice crack, his life fluctuations sinking back to the extreme values of a trench, falling into a state of deep suspended animation and concealment.

The information of an "irrelevant" Artifact Refining small fry leaving the camp was recorded and reported.

He was merely a machine executing cold judgment logic.

Cold Jade River. Deathly silence hit him, heavy as a shroud.

Yao Delong, the gray-robed "Artifact Refining Manager" with a mottled Aura, seemed to suddenly descend from the depths of the Cold Jade River's ten-thousand-year ice plain gorge!

The soul-piercing cold tide was more biting than his apparent strength by half a realm!

In less than a breath!

Buzz—!

A Divine Thought, far more powerful and massive than his revealed level, like a self-evolving judgment web forged from billions of spider silk threads, suddenly exploded downward!

Indiscriminate coverage!

Like a precision comb brushing through every inch of the ice plain!

The operation had begun, a thorough cleanup with no blind spots.

His hundred-mile Divine Thought was like a vast net, plowing through ice and snow, digging three feet into the ground. The result? A disappointing "cleanliness"!

A few Foundation Establishment demonic Cultivators, lingering in the ice cracks and cultivating by eating frozen filth,

didn't even make a sound before turning into dross when the pressure of the Divine Thought crushed over them.

One unlucky fellow who was trying to fuse with the ice abyss Death Qi to charge into the Golden Core stage, but was stuck at a Bottleneck by the thin Demonic Energy after the catastrophe and could not move,

had even his soul frozen and annihilated the moment the Divine Thought swept over him.

They were all abandoned pieces! They were small fry that the Demonic Sect had casually discarded or simply couldn't be bothered with when they withdrew!

The true elites, those forces coiled like poisonous snakes that posed a threat, had already slipped away with the wind and snow,

silently infiltrating and eroding towards the heartland of the human Dynasty—the Ba Xia Dynasty!

"Hmph, they ran quite fast!"

Yao Delong's heart tightened; this was by no means an ordinary signal of withdrawal; there must be a larger plot behind it.

"I must report back immediately!"

The Aura under his disguise suddenly surged! That hunched, aged figure instantly straightened like a spear!

Like a sleeping dragon soul awakening. A gray shadow flashed; no longer was there any hesitation.

Tearing through the howling, extreme cold wind and snow, at a terrifying speed far beyond the understanding of a Late Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator—

that was the wind and thunder extreme speed of the Mid-stage Soul Transformation, carrying the abundant power of a furnace, violently returning towards the Frost-Ash Barrier!

A sense of urgency, like a ten-thousand-mile pursuit, exploded in every space-tearing Escape Light.

Hundreds of millions of miles away, in the deepest part of the demonic lair.

On the black ice jade throne, Xin Yuelan's blood-red pupils, like a demon moon,

suddenly locked onto the illusory but incredibly clear golden projection in her palm!

Buzz!

That yanshen fetus Aura, representing the embryo of her natal Dao Artifact and integrated into Yao Delong's Sea of Consciousness,

at some critical point at noon, strangely—moved!

It was not staying steady within the Northern Border Barrier, but had completed a jump in spatial dimensions in an instant! The approximate location could be sensed!

"Eh?!"

A chill capable of freezing and cracking divine crystals suddenly exploded from deep within her jade bones! It was not a pleasant surprise, but shock—pure shock!

The claim that "disguise methods can block detection" that Hundred Refinements had reported while kneeling yesterday... was now harshly confirmed by the cold and cruel reality—and it was a confirmation that far exceeded expectations!

The Origin brand she had obtained through special means when Yao Delong integrated the yanshen fetus

actually failed to provoke the slightest response throughout the entire process from that boy's departure until he settled!