The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 196 Ice Demon Valley

The Three Realms.

The world's prison.

Within this chaotic space, several hundred feet in size, the fifteen original forms were all seated cross-legged.

suddenly.

Suddenly, one of the clones opened its eyes, a thoughtful look in them.

“This endless icy sea had no presence in the original timeline. But after our investigation, we found that the ruins here were left by powerful beings at the World Realm level. They might even have been left by a Dao Lord of Life and Death.”

While exploring the memories of the Celestial Immortal Qingyun, Lei Zhan discovered the existence of a life oath within those memories. This indicates that at least one or more precious life oath stones exist in this underground world.

Lei Zhan could also sense from the known information that there were cultivators of Qi Refining Qi who had reached the Golden Core stage in the underground world. At least the Lord of Tianyu City was a True Immortal of the First Rank.

However, the number of cultivators who can condense a first-class golden core is probably extremely small.

“True God, True Immortal… that level of strength is still a bit lacking. If I were the Ancestral God, at least I wouldn’t be in such a sorry state this time,” Lei Zhan murmured softly.

"I need to break through to the fifth level of the power of spacetime as soon as possible. And the Heavenly Dao... I have now comprehended the two Heavenly Daos of water and fire, but I am still far from fully understanding them."

"Five times the time flow rate is still too slow. We also need to obtain the Sky-Gazing Taihao Tower as soon as possible."

With the possibility of an external crisis, even Lei Zhan felt a greater sense of urgency.

"And then there are the eighteen gods and demons of Tao Wu. We need to find a way to improve them, or perhaps plunder the prisoners in the jails, to see if we can gather enough treasures to cultivate to the third level. If we succeed in cultivating them, even if I am a true god, I can rival a half-step ancestral god by merging my eighteen avatars into one..."

Cultivating the Eighteen Divine Demons of Tao Wu is extremely difficult, especially reaching the second level. Fortunately, Lei Zhan had planned ahead and succeeded in cultivating it in one go with minimal cost.

However, the treasures required to cultivate to the third level are enormous, and many of them are only found in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, making them extremely difficult to find.

Countless thoughts flashed through Lei Zhan's mind, each one closely related to himself, and each one, if accomplished, would bring about a qualitative change in his strength.

Unfortunately, each of these goals requires a considerable amount of time to achieve.

"Forget it. After accumulating for thirty years, it's not so easy to wait and accumulate enough energy for the deduction now." Lei Zhan pondered for a moment, then closed his eyes.

"Let's use this opportunity for sudden enlightenment now."

Wow~~~
Instantly, a mysterious aura descended, filling the chaotic hundred-zhang space and surrounding Lei Zhan.

Lei Zhan began to have an epiphany.

……

"master."

Lei Zhan, the true master, left his personal immortal abode and walked on the rugged mountain path leading to that Taoist temple.

"Uncle Master!"

"Master!"

"Grandmaster Lei Zhan!"

Along the way, many disciples of the Fangcun Mountain lineage bowed respectfully.

"Hmm." Lei Zhan nodded slightly, continuing his steps. The long, rugged mountain road soon came to an end.

"Uncle Master!"

"Uncle-Master Lei Zhan!"

The two boys guarding the entrance to the Taoist temple, Qinghe and Baiyun, bowed respectfully.

“I’m looking for a mentor,” Lei Zhan said.

These words were spoken not only to the two young boys guarding the Taoist temple, but also to the master, Patriarch Bodhi, within the temple.

"Come in!" A voice rang out from inside the Taoist temple, echoing throughout the entire temple grounds.

"Yes," Lei Zhan replied, then pushed open the door and entered the Taoist temple.

Inside the Taoist temple.

Bodhi Patriarch sat cross-legged on the futon and looked directly over.

"Master," Lei Zhan said respectfully, bowing to Patriarch Bodhi, "that endless icy sea..."

"Hmm? Has something changed?" Patriarch Bodhi looked over. "Fuxi is an ancestral god. Is there anything he can't handle?"

Fuxi and his companions were gone for more than thirty years. During this time, with Fuxi's approval, Lei Zhan also informed Bodhi Patriarch about Fuxi's breakthrough to become an ancestral god.

"We were unexpectedly swept into the core area by a terrifying gale from the endless icy sea. The gale was so terrifying that even Fuxi could not do anything about it. However, we were eventually swept into the depths of the icy sea and discovered a huge space hidden there."

Lei Zhan paused for a moment, then continued:

"That space was enormous, roughly half the size of the Three Realms. And everything within that space was similar to some of the great worlds in my Three Realms, with colossal cities and an anti-air formation that covered the entire underground world..."

Lei Zhan briefly explained, and with a flick of his wrist, a bamboo slip appeared in his hand.

"This is the memory of a cultivator that I recorded after searching the soul of the son of a city lord. Although it cannot give us a complete understanding of this world, it can still reveal a lot!"

"Hmm?" Bodhi casually took it, and his consciousness immediately entered the bamboo slip, immersing himself in its investigation.

This investigation lasted for half an hour.

"Hmm?" Bodhi Patriarch was shocked after reading it. "That world has nine hundred cities? And each city has at least one cultivator at the level of a True God or Dao Ancestor?"

"And that city lord possesses the strength of a top-tier True God Dao Ancestor? Furthermore, above the nine hundred cities, there are even more powerful Holy Cities?"

Bodhi Patriarch was truly shocked as he looked through this information.

It should be noted that only hundreds of millions of years have passed since the ancient war of destruction. Although they won back then, many powerful beings at the level of true gods and Dao ancestors also died, and their strength was greatly reduced.

If Nuwa hadn't broken through to the level of Pangu in the end... it might have been their side that was forced to flee into endless chaos.

If a war were to break out now, it would be very difficult for the Three Realms to produce another Nuwa who could break through to the level of Pangu!
What awaits them, the countless beings of the Three Realms, is utter annihilation!

"They... actually have a reliable method to help Qi Refining cultivators break through to the second-level Golden Core stage."

Patriarch Bodhi continued to peruse the various pieces of information, and through subtle clues, he directly deduced this possibility: "It is even highly likely that there is a method for cultivating a first-class Golden Core."

"Hmm." Lei Zhan nodded. When his second primordial spirit avatar, which had gone to the Frozen Sea, received this information, it had deduced the same thing. It was even highly likely that the underground world was like his, where cultivating a first-class Golden Core didn't even require the intervention of a being at the World Realm level…

In fact, there are tens of thousands of gods and immortals in the entire Three Realms, and almost every god has cultivated both divine and demonic body refinement and qi cultivation, and has an extremely high level of understanding of the Dao.

If the "Ice and Fire Tempering Golden Core Technique" for enhancing the Golden Core were to become widespread, even a second-grade Golden Core would be comparable to the weakest True God, and all the Pure Yang True Immortals in the Three Realms would possess the strength of a True God.

"Hmm?" Bodhi Patriarch was suddenly startled. Immediately afterward, a spacetime vortex appeared beside him, and an old man in a white Taoist robe walked in.

"Master's incarnation went out at this time..." Lei Zhan's gaze fell on the white figure, "Could it be that he is going to discuss this matter?"

The team's performance was not unexpected.

He could convey this matter to his master, Patriarch Bodhi, through his true form, and Tathagata could similarly convey the message through his three great incarnations remaining in the Three Realms.

As leaders of Nuwa's faction in the Three Realms, they naturally had plans for the future of the Three Realms.

"The Buddha has also informed each of us of this news," Patriarch Bodhi explained, looking at Lei Zhan.

"In case a major war really breaks out, we'll be prepared."

……

It was still beneath that icy cave with its eerie blue hue.

"Could we perhaps return the way we came?" Buddha turned to look at Fuxi.

The Buddha was fully aware of the information that Lei Zhan had uncovered through his soul-searching.

Lei Zhan directly used the watermark technique to create a copy of the memories of Qingyun Tianxian and her two servants, and gave it to Fuxi and Tathagata respectively.

"Let's go back the way we came..." Fuxi nodded, sensing the wind that had dissipated. "Let's try it first."

Having never tried it, Fuxi wasn't entirely confident. Returning the way they came would actually be the best outcome for the three of them.

Otherwise, one would have to risk entering those cities and towns to find a way out.

As for continuing the risky exploration, none of them mentioned it. To call it a risky exploration, one must at least have some certainty of success.

If you're not confident, then you're just throwing your life away.

Wow~~~
With a wave of his hand, Fuxi summoned the Chaos Treasure Dragon River Void Boat into the air.

Lei Zhan and Rulai then boarded the large black ship.

……

As they eagerly boarded their large ship to leave, far away from Cloud Valley City, lay a massive mountain range stretching for thousands of miles.

The entire mountain range appears to have been sculpted from a massive block of ice that has stood for millennia, with countless peaks atop it.

But right in the middle of this mountain range, it abruptly breaks off in half.

It was as if a terrifyingly powerful being had cleaved through the mountain range with a single sword strike, tearing a gap in the very center and creating a terrifying, enormous rift valley.

Of course, aside from this somewhat imperfect, enormous rift valley, there are also numerous magnificent palaces atop this vast and majestic mountain range. From a distance, it resembles an incomparably enormous and imposing city.

Inside a huge palace.

Nearly twenty figures sat there, each with a solemn expression.

“Abandon the fire. Every million years, those terrifying ice demons of Ice Demon Valley will rush out. They usually do so after the Nine Cold Mystic Winds have passed. But this time, it's just us…”

A burly man in golden armor spoke in a deep voice, "Less than twenty Ancestral God level experts can't stop a Demon Lord!"

"So what if there are fewer than twenty? Do you think you, Dongming, can leave this place? Those who want to leave this icy world have searched for countless years, but the only way is through the Ice Demon Valley!"

The Abandoned Fire Ancestral God, with two crimson fleshy whiskers on his forehead, frowned and said:

"So, we have to block it if we can! If we can't, it's not such a big loss. At worst, we can just die like our ancestors did. If our generation of ancestral gods and immortals dies out, we can actually exchange our lives for millions of years for the true gods and immortals below!"

"Anyway, every time our ancestral gods and immortals are all killed in the battle, the Demon Lord will have killed enough and then just sleep for tens of millions of years."

"You..." The golden-armored giant, known as Dongming, turned ashen-faced. He naturally understood this principle. That was exactly how they had come to be.

But if one could avoid death, who would willingly die at the hands of the Ice Demon Lord, leaving no trace of their body?

They painstakingly cultivated themselves, slowly transcending the tribulations of ordinary beings to become immortals. They then gradually cultivated to the level of true gods and true immortals, and then diligently comprehended the Dao of Heaven. Finally, after enduring countless hardships, they finally cultivated to the level of ancestral gods and ancestral immortals…

Nobody wants to stay in this cramped world; everyone wants to go out.

But how easy is it to get out?
"The Ice Demon Lord and his Ice Demons will be here in the next few days. No matter how fiercely you argue, it's pointless. Let's think about how to defeat the Ice Demon Lord! If we win, we can enjoy another million years of freedom," said the withered old man.

"Yes, the Nine-Frost Wind that blew into the Endless Ice Cave has stopped today. In three days at most, the Ice Demon Lord will emerge from the Ice Demon Valley behind us!"

“Ten million years ago, when my master and his companions were wiped out, there were still nearly thirty Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals left, but those Ice Demons have become more and more powerful!”

"And that Demon Lord, even ordinary Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals are no match for him. Only top-tier Ancestral Gods are qualified to fight him. But to win is still extremely difficult..." said an Ancestral Immortal dressed in black robes.

"Alright, alright! We're all already aware of the situation you've described. But don't even think about getting those true gods and immortals involved. If we get them to join the battle, the difficulty will increase even further! And the chances will be even slimmer!" The Ancestral God of Abandoned Fire, with his two fleshy whiskers, shook his head.
"It's a pity. If we could use an array, even if we were no match for the Demon Lord, we could at least hold him off. Once the other fellow Daoists had their fill of killing the Ice Demon, the Demon Lord would have been unable to withstand the onslaught and would have retreated."

“Use formations? No, no! If we use formations, those ice demons and the ice demon lord will also use formations, and we'll die even faster!” A ancestral god with a single horn on his head shook his head and said.

"None of you have broken through to the level of a top-tier Ancestral God?" Ancestral God Qi Huo couldn't help but ask. "We have two top-tier Ancestral Gods, Dong Ming and I. If one or two more were to join us, our chances of winning this time would be much greater... If we can delay for a few million years, and perhaps one of us can become a peak Ancestral God, maybe..."

"Peak Ancestral God? Too difficult! Even if we can buy some time, the city lords below are frantically honing their cultivation in the True God and True Immortal realms, but when they break through, they can only reach the top Ancestral God level at most! To become a peak Ancestral God..." The golden-robed Ancestral Immortal's face was gloomy.

The Ice Demon Valley in the center of this holy city is a nightmare that looms over all true gods and immortals, and even ancestral gods and immortals.

No matter how hard you try to shake it off, it's like chewing gum – extremely difficult to get rid of!
Each of the ancestral gods and immortals spoke.

suddenly.

"Hmm? It seems that some beings from the outside world have been drawn into the Bing Er Qi Ice Cave?" one of the old men in golden robes asked in confusion.

"Getting dragged into this at this time? It's the Nine Cold Mystic Wind right now!" Dongming Ancestral God looked over.

"I would find it incredibly difficult to even withstand the Nine Cold Mystic Winds, could it be that this being entered using a Chaos Treasure?"

……

(End of this chapter)