158: Chapter 158 Ancient God Ruins? No, it's a seafood cold storage!

At the top of Giant God Peak, the smoke had cleared.

The originally boiling bronze cauldron was now empty, even the soup licked clean by Er Gou.

Gu Yang patted his belly contentedly. The massive energy within him, originating from the Nine-Turn Dragon Blood Reishi and the Jiao Demon King's flesh, was slowly seeping into his limbs and bones under the slow rotation of the Five Elements Great Millstone.

"Comfortable."

Gu Yang stood up, his bones letting out a series of explosive sounds like muffled thunder. He glanced at the remains of the Jiao Demon King next to him, which had been stripped down to a skeleton but still emitted a terrifying dragonic aura, and waved his hand.

"Collect!"

The massive skeleton was stuffed into his Storage Pouch. These were the bones of a Late Stage Void Refining great demon; although the meat was gone, taking these bones back to stew soup or having the Old Blacksmith forge them into weapons would make them top-tier Materials.

"Let's go, Er Gou. This place is too hot; let's go somewhere cooler to digest our food."

Gu Yang scooped up Er Gou, who had eaten until his belly was round and was sunbathing with his legs in the air, and turned his gaze toward the next red dot marked on the sea chart—the Myriad Phenomena Sea Eye... After leaving Giant God Peak, Gu Yang was in no hurry. He moved through the deep sea at a leisurely pace, like a shark cruising in its own backyard garden.

Deep within the Endless Sea, the scenery was magnificent and eerie.

Giant glowing jellyfish were like floating palaces, and schools of deep-sea magic fish darted through the undercurrents.

As Gu Yang traveled, he conveniently "stocked up."

Encountering a passing Fifth-Tier Sea Crab, he went up and knocked it unconscious with a punch before stuffing it into his bag; encountering patches of Deep Sea Spirit Algae, he pulled them up by the roots to use as after-dinner vegetables.

This relaxed and carefree time did not last long.

As the depth increased, the surrounding seawater temperature began to drop sharply.

When Gu Yang dove to fifty thousand miles below sea level, the surrounding world completely changed.

The seawater here no longer flowed but presented a bizarre semi-solid state, as if countless blue gelatinous jellies were stacked together.

Light completely disappeared here, replaced by a heart-palpitating ghostly blue cold light, which was the material manifestation of the Law of Extreme Cold.

[Environment Detection: Entered Extreme Cold Law Domain. Current temperature: Near absolute zero.] [Divine Demon Golden Body Stress Response: Blood Qi burning, constant body temperature System activated.]

Wisps of white mist rose from Gu Yang's bare upper body, a phenomenon caused by the collision of the scorching Blood Qi within him and the extreme cold outside.

"Interesting, this place is even cooler than the previous storm wall."

Gu Yang muttered and casually knocked on a huge "ice block" beside him.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound of clashing metal rang out.

That was no ordinary ice, but Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice condensed from "Taiyin True Water" under hundreds of millions of years of high pressure! Its hardness was even comparable to a Medium Grade Ancient Treasure!

"So hard!"

Gu Yang's eyes lit up. "If this stuff is used as ice cubes for iced drinks, it'll definitely have a kick!"

He didn't use any dharmic power but directly extended his finger, using the terrifying finger strength of the Divine Demon Third Turn to forcefully gouge out a small piece from that block of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice.

He popped it into his mouth and crunched down.

A bone-chilling cold instantly swept through his body, making him unable to resist a shiver.

"Refreshing! This is true heart-chilling, soul-soaring refreshment!"

Gu Yang chuckled and continued diving with Er Gou.

Finally, after passing through a layer of Profound Ice over a thousand meters thick, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

This was a massive underground ice cave, or rather, an ancient world frozen deep beneath the earth.

Countless giant ice pillars with diameters exceeding a hundred meters supported the dome, each containing an ancient Law rune sealed within.

And within those transparent ice walls, massive dark shadows were sealed.

Gu Yang leaned in to look, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

Those were ancient sea beasts, each maintaining its ferocious posture from when it was alive!

There were Archaic Megalodons over a thousand feet long with mouths full of fangs; Deep Sea Devil Rays with twin wings that seemed capable of blotting out the sky; and even several Dragon Whales, long extinct in the outside world, covered in thick bone armor!

They had been frozen here for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, but their scales still shimmered with cold light, and their muscle lines were still full and powerful, as if they were just asleep.

Most importantly, under the preservation of the Law of Extreme Cold, the blood and Qi essence within these corpses had not dissipated but were perfectly locked inside!

"This..."

Gu Yang swallowed hard, an unprecedented light of greed erupting in his eyes.

"What kind of ancient ruins is this?"

"This is clearly a super cold storage left for me by the heavens!"

"This meat... looks so fresh! Even fresher than just being killed!"

Especially on the central ice mountain, a giant elephant as massive as a mountain was frozen.

Its entire body was covered in long white hair, its two tusks pierced the sky like crescent moons, and the aura it emitted, even through the thick Profound Ice, made Gu Yang feel a pang of palpitations.

Ancient variant—Glacial Giant Elephant (Late Stage Void Refining)!

This giant elephant's strength in life was definitely even more formidable than the current Old Ancestor Man Tian!

"Good stuff! This is definitely good stuff!"

Gu Yang was so excited his hands were shaking.

"This leg is enough for me to eat for half a year! This trunk, sliced and chilled as a salad, will definitely be crunchy!"

"Let's get to work! Let's get to work!"

Without a second word, Gu Yang swung the myriad poison star shattering hammer from his back.

Although he no longer needed weapons to fight, facing this cave full of "frozen meat," using a hammer to excavate felt more ceremonial.

"Ultimate Path - Ice Shatter!"

Boom—!!!

A massive roar echoed through the ice cave, shaking down countless ice shards.

However, to Gu Yang's surprise, the ice mountain sealing the Glacial Giant Elephant remained motionless, without even a white mark left behind.

On the contrary, his wrist was shaken until it felt a bit numb.

"So hard?"

Gu Yang was stunned for a moment, then realized.

"This ice contains Law power... it's the manifestation of the Law of Ice! Pure physical attacks are being dispersed."

"Interesting, it seems I won't be able to eat this meal without showing some real skill."

Gu Yang took a deep breath, and the Five Elements Furnace within him began to rotate in reverse.

"Earth Core Lotus Fire—Burst!"

"Divine Demon Golden Body—Thermal Energy Conversion!"

Boom!

Gu Yang's body instantly became a dazzling human torch. Cyan exotic fire and golden Blood Qi intertwined, releasing terrifyingly high temperatures.

The surrounding temperature rose sharply at this moment, and the air began to distort.

He raised the star shattering hammer high, and the hammerhead also ignited with a blazing fire, as if he were holding a sun.

"Melt... for me!!!"

Thump!

This strike, carrying the extreme power of the Divine Demon Third Turn and the exotic fire capable of incinerating all things, slammed heavily onto the ice mountain.

"Sizzle, sizzle—"

The indestructible Profound Ice finally began to melt, and a large amount of white steam rose up, instantly filling the entire ice cave.

The ice layer receded at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing the thick hind leg of the giant elephant inside.

That leg was a hundred meters thick, its fur as white as snow, emitting an enticing meaty aroma.

"Hehe, come on out!"

Gu Yang threw down the hammer and went in directly with his hands, his arms wrapping around that elephant leg.

"Rise!"

Accompanied by a tooth-aching sound of friction, this giant beast that had been frozen for tens of thousands of years was actually forcefully dragged out of the ice mountain by Gu Yang!

"Rumble!"

The giant elephant hit the ground, and the entire ice cave shook three times.

"So heavy! At least fifty million catties!"

Gu Yang weighed it and nodded with satisfaction.

"This meat quality is definitely firm! Much better than that Sky-Splitting Elephant!"

Just as Gu Yang pulled out that already somewhat chipped large saber (the one he snatched earlier) and prepared to cut it on the spot for some "Iced Elephant Trunk Sashimi" when...

"Rumble!"

A violent vibration suddenly came from the entrance of the ice cave.

Three incredibly powerful auras swept in like a storm, instantly locking onto Gu Yang.

"Who dares to touch the remains of our ancestor?!"

A thunderous shout made the icicles fall rustlingly.

Gu Yang looked back.

He saw three majestic old men dressed in sea-blue imperial robes and wearing coral crowns standing at the entrance, glaring with rage.

Each of their auras was unfathomable, with Laws swirling around them; they were clearly top-tier experts at the Mid-Nascent Soul Stage!

Sea Emperor Palace—Deep Sea Big Three!

This was the true foundation of the Sea Emperor Palace. They usually stayed in secluded cultivation and only emerged when the Sect faced a catastrophe or when a Forbidden Ground was intruded upon.

"Ancestor's remains?"

Gu Yang was still clutching that massive elephant leg. He looked at the three old men, then at the meat in his hand.

"Oh, so this is a pig you guys raised?"

Gu Yang didn't feel afraid just because the opponents were three Mid-Nascent Soul Stage experts.

On the contrary, a warm smile appeared on his face. He backhandedly cut off a piece of frozen meat as large as a millstone and casually tossed it over.

"Since it's yours, I won't be polite."

"Come, don't be shy. This is ten-thousand-year-aged cured meat; the flavor is quite authentic."

"How about... you guys have a taste too?"

...The Big Three's faces turned green as they looked at the flying frozen meat.

That was the Sacred Beast totem their Sea Emperor Palace had worshipped for ten thousand years! It was the source of their power! It was the ancestor they had to prostrate themselves before during every sacrifice!

Now it was actually being sliced up like cured meat? And they were even being invited to eat it?

What an utter humiliation!

"You've gone too far!"

"Vile creature! If we don't tear you into ten thousand pieces today, where will the Sea Emperor Palace's dignity remain!"

"Attack! Deploy the 'Raging Sea Storm Formation'! We must kill this scoundrel!"

The Big Three roared in unison and attacked simultaneously.

Three vast water-System Laws, like three angry dragons, stirred the cold air of the entire ice cave and lunged toward Gu Yang to strangle him.

Gu Yang sighed and stuffed the remaining elephant leg into Er Gou's arms.

"Er Gou, watch the food."

He turned around, flexed his wrists, and the smile in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a touch of fanatical Battle Intent.

"Since you refuse the toast, you'll have to drink the forfeit."

"Three Mid-Nascent Soul Stage experts..."

"Perfect. I just ate too much; I'll use you guys for some after-dinner exercise!"