Subdued the Ice Flame and obtained the Mystic Crystal!

The magic power within his body surged like a great river, continuously pouring into the Earth Core Nether Fire. He could clearly sense that although the Profound Fiend Ice Flame was extremely high-grade, its energy Foundation seemed less refined and substantial than his own Earth Core Nether Fire.

"As expected, the wild one ultimately can't compare to the domesticated one," Lin Yuan mused inwardly, intensifying the offensive in his hands.

Lin Yuan's dense magic power displayed an overwhelming and profound reserve at this moment. With the injection of vast magic power, the Earth Core Nether Fire transformed into a ferocious blue Fire Dragon, roaring and biting, peeling away the Ice Flame Fire Bird's protective flame layer by layer.

The Ice Flame Fire Bird let out cries of unwillingness. Its body, composed of ice crystals, began to show signs of melting under the scorching heat of the deep blue flames.

The scales of victory were tipping toward Lin Yuan.

Seeing that the Ice Flame Fire Bird's aura was growing weaker and its size had shrunk by more than half, it was about to be completely devoured by the Earth Core Nether Fire.

Just at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

A look of determination flashed in the Ice Flame Fire Bird's eyes. It suddenly let out a mournful shriek, and its entire body burst apart, turning into pale white specks of light that forcefully pushed back the encirclement of the Earth Core Nether Fire.

Afterward, these specks of light rapidly converged, forming a pale white stream of light that plunged headfirst, without looking back, into the bottomless, pitch-black Cold Pool at the end of the valley.

"Plop!"

Water splashed up, and the surface of the pool quickly returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Trying to run?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, and instead of anger, a playful smile appeared on his face.

"How could I let a cooked duck fly away?"

He withdrew the Earth Core Nether Fire, and with a flash of his figure, he arrived at the edge of the Cold Pool.

This pool water was a hundred times colder than the surrounding Evil Qi. When his Divine Sense probed into it, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, swallowed by an invisible force.

But Lin Yuan could vaguely sense that beneath the pool water, there seemed to be hidden a Force of Extreme Yin, purer and closer to the Origin than the Profound Fiend Ice Flame.

"Interesting. It seems there's something good hidden down here."

He turned and smiled at the three women: "Wait here for me; I'll be back shortly."

With that, under the worried gazes of the three women, he jumped without hesitation, disappearing into the dark pool water.

The pool water was bone-chillingly cold. This was not ordinary low temperature, but a type of Yin Fiend Cold Poison capable of corroding magic power and freezing the Divine Soul.

But Lin Yuan was no ordinary Early Golden Core Stage cultivator. Furthermore, his Body Cultivator cultivation had reached the Middle Stage of the Golden Body Realm, so this level of cold posed no great threat to him.

With a thought, a thin layer of Earth Core Nether Fire covered his body, completely isolating the pervasive Yin Fiend Cold Poison, and he rapidly dove toward the bottom of the pool like a swimming fish.

The deeper he dove, the more terrifying the pressure and coldness of the pool water became. Below a hundred zhang, the water had become viscous like mercury, and the surroundings were pitch black, making it impossible to see one's own hand.

Lin Yuan's Divine Sense was greatly suppressed here, only able to extend about ten zhang around him. He wasn't in a hurry; he simply followed the faint, intermittent sensation, tracking steadily.

After diving down several hundred more zhang, a faint, pale white light finally appeared ahead.

Lin Yuan's spirits lifted, and he accelerated his approach.

Passing through a patch of rugged reef at the bottom of the pool, the sight before him caused his pupils to contract sharply.

Beneath the bottom of the pool, there was actually a hidden paradise. A massive natural cavern appeared before him. Inside the cavern, instead of dark pool water, the area was isolated by an invisible barrier, forming a dry, vacuum zone.

Embedded in the walls of the cavern were strange, fist-sized crystals that were entirely black but emitted a soft, moonlit glow. It was the power emanating from these crystals that supported this underwater space.

In the very center of the cavern, the Fire Bird formed by the Profound Fiend Ice Flame was lying prone on a massive, crystal-clear body that was the size of a millstone and seemed to be carved from Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice.

It buried its head in the crystal, ravenously devouring the pure cold Qi emanating from it. Its body, which had been somewhat illusory, was visibly solidifying again at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"grand yin profound crystal!"

The moment Lin Yuan clearly saw the massive crystal, his heart couldn't help but pound wildly a few times, and a surge of immense ecstasy rushed through him.

It truly was a case of searching high and low without success, only to stumble upon it effortlessly!

He had originally thought it would take some effort to find this treasure. He never expected it to be hidden right inside the Profound Fiend Ice Flame's lair!

Judging by the situation, the Profound Fiend Ice Flame likely developed sentience because it had absorbed the energy of this grand yin profound crystal for many years. And this grand yin profound crystal was precisely the key he needed to cut down the gold thunder bamboo forest in the Demon Falling Valley!

This was practically a buy-one-get-one-free deal—double happiness!

Lin Yuan forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart, and his gaze fell once more upon the Ice Flame Fire Bird, which was currently "healing."

At this moment, it had clearly noticed Lin Yuan's arrival. It let out a wary shriek, flew up from the grand yin profound crystal, and stared intently at Lin Yuan with a pair of icy eyes, filled with vigilance and hostility.

"Little guy, this time, you have nowhere left to run," Lin Yuan said, revealing a "kind" smile.

If it had been earlier, he would have been thinking about how to forcefully suppress it. But now that he saw this massive grand yin profound crystal, he suddenly had a bolder and more interesting idea.

He focused his gaze on the small golden characters at the bottom of his vision.

[Fifth-Level Fire Control Art: 2/500 (addable points)]

There was a moment of illusion, followed by a refresh and reorganization.

[Ninth-Level Fire Control Technique: 900/900 (Perfection)]

In an instant, an indescribably profound comprehension surged into his Divine Soul and Sea of Consciousness, like a sudden enlightenment.

That was a mastery originating from the Origin of the Great Dao!

If his previous understanding of fire was limited to the level of "using" and "controlling," then at this moment, he had reached the Realm of "creation" and "Dominator."

All types of flames in the world, regardless of heat or cold, Yin or Yang, were fundamentally different manifestations of the same energy at their Origin.

The way he looked at the Ice Flame Fire Bird instantly changed. It was no longer the gaze directed at prey, but rather that of a Grandmaster looking at a talented but unenlightened Junior.

"Come."

Lin Yuan extended his palm. This time, he did not activate the domineering heat of the Earth Core Nether Fire, but instead transformed it into a docile, fist-sized blue lotus, suspended quietly in his palm.

Using the Perfection-grade Ninth-Level Fire Control Technique, he adjusted the energy fluctuations of the Earth Core Nether Fire to a frequency that was extremely similar to the Profound Fiend Ice Flame, yet fundamentally countless levels higher.

That blue fire lotus seemed to have turned into a magnet, generating a fatal attraction for the Ice Flame Fire Bird.

The hostility in the Ice Flame Fire Bird's eyes gradually faded, replaced by confusion and yearning. It could sense that the flame in the man's hand seemed to be telling it a truth about the "Dao of Fire" that it had never encountered before.