Chapter 609

Chapter 609: The Mystery of the Secret Realm

The massive Ice Essence alone would allow Ye Yun to cultivate his Ice Spirit Qi to unimaginable heights. Even after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, he wouldn’t lack Ice Essence for a long time.

Yet Ye Yun felt disappointed. This was a treasure left by the Ice Master—a supreme figure who stood among the ten greatest cultivators of the human race ten thousand years ago. Such a large chunk of Ice Essence seemed unworthy of his legacy. In Ye Yun’s mind, the Ice Master’s treasures should surpass what ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivators could handle. If a typical Nascent Soul ancestor obtained them, they should gain direct access to the Heavenly Path, reaching at least the peak of the Seventh Level of the Nascent Soul stage, if not transcending mortals entirely.

But when the stone tablet of the Ice Master’s Tomb cracked, only this enormous Ice Essence appeared—utterly baffling. To Ye Yun, its value paled in comparison to the Ice Spirit Divine Palm.

“Why just Ice Essence? This makes no sense. It doesn’t match the Ice Master’s stature,” Ye Yun muttered.

“True,” the Ancestor of the Sword Path agreed. “The Ice Master left the Ice Spirit Divine Palm earlier. Why place mere Ice Essence here? It’s illogical.”

“Maybe he doubted my ability to master the Ice Spirit Divine Palm and left this as a supplement?” Ye Yun said wryly.

“Impossible,” the Ancestor retorted. “The icy essence from the stone tablet would’ve overwhelmed even a Fifth Level Nascent Soul ancestor. The Ice Spirit Divine Palm’s difficulty lies in comprehending the Ice Element Law—purity and simplicity determine success. Its power grows with your grasp of the laws, not Ice Essence.”

“Then why this?” Ye Yun frowned, then froze. “What if something’s sealed inside the Ice Essence?”

His eyes glinted as he summoned the Purple Shadow Sword. Sword shadows swirled as he slashed toward the Ice Essence.

“Stop!”

The Ancestor’s voice rang out just as the blade neared its target. The sword arc halted a hair’s breadth from the Ice Essence.

“Your thoughts, Ancestor?” Ye Yun asked.

“If the Ice Master left this, it’s no trivial item. Store it for now. Study it later. Destroying it can wait,” the Ancestor cautioned.

Ye Yun nodded. With a wave, the Ice Essence shot into his palm and vanished into the Thunder Sound Metamorphosis ring.

He surveyed the sixth level of the Ice Tower. Ling Tianyu had claimed reaching the fifth layer would strain Ye Yun’s cultivation level, yet here he stood on the sixth—unscathed, having only solved a spirit perception puzzle. It defied reason.

“Ye Yun, does anything feel… off?” the Ancestor asked.

Ye Yun shared his doubts.

“Set that aside. Has anything in the Ice Tower struck you as strange?” the Ancestor pressed.

“No,” Ye Yun admitted after a pause.

The Ancestor snorted. “Hundreds of cultivators entered the secret realm, split into teams. You, Murong Wuqing, and Ding Qian barely survived the first layer. You and Murong passed the spirit beast trial to reach the second. There, you found the Ice Tower and claimed its treasures. Yet on the third layer, despite many pursuers, only Master Hei Xu and Du Jianyin confronted you. Where were the others? Where are the Nascent Soul experts who should’ve flooded the first layers? Where’s Murong Wuqing now? What if this Ice Tower isn’t the only treasure site?”

Ye Yun’s face darkened as memories flashed. “You’re right. The Nascent Souls must’ve gone elsewhere. How vast is this realm? How many treasures exist?”

“Precisely,” the Ancestor said. “Or worse—this could all be an illusion, or a trap.”

“Impossible. My spatial law mastery detects any spatial array fluctuations. Illusions are spatial constructs—I’d sense them,” Ye Yun argued.

“What if the Ice Tower itself is a spatial magical array?” the Ancestor countered. “If none of this is real, how can you trust anything here—treasures, foes, even your progress?”

Ye Yun stiffened. If the Ice Master himself designed this realm, its mysteries would far exceed Ye Yun’s comprehension.

“Regardless, I’ll find the seventh layer’s entrance,” Ye Yun declared.

The Ancestor chuckled. “Look where the Ice Essence rested.”

A spatial whirlpool pulsed with blue light where the Ice Essence had been—the path to the seventh level.