Chapter 524 - 317: Subduing the Giant Spirit Guards! Obtaining the Underground Palace Core!

The two great guards were controlled by the residual soul in the Black Soul Wood, hence the earlier black mist explosion, and their movements became extremely swift, trapping it within their palms.

However, it’s said that to catch a thief, first catch the king. He purified the residual soul in the Black Soul Wood with white light, causing the two guards to lose guidance and to rely on instincts to fight, significantly reducing their power.

After throwing off the two giant guards, Chu Ming once again scrutinized the black wood in his hand.

Under the wrapping of Qi Rhythm White Light, the black wood was still jet black, but the gloss had dimmed somewhat, the chilling aura reduced, and the wailing of the residual soul inside could no longer be heard.

Estimating, the residual soul inside was in poor condition.

Chu Ming withdrew the Qi Rhythm White Light, and his Primordial Consciousness explored within, encountering no obstacles this time, effortlessly entering the interior of the black wood.

Inside the black wood, it was boundlessly dark, seemingly a vast space.

In a certain dark corner, a faint glow could be seen flickering, looking as though it might collapse at any moment.

Primordial Consciousness enveloped and swept away, carrying that faint glow out of the black wood.

A speck of candle flame, barely flickering.

Chu Ming appeared helpless.

"Seems like... I exerted too much force."

The candle flame was the soul claiming to be from the Great Yan Royal Family, but Chu Ming overestimated the strength of the soul, and the Qi Rhythm White Light from the Book and Painting Realm seemed to have purified this soul...

Drip...

The candle flame extinguished.

"..."

The Qi Rhythm White Light from the Book and Painting Realm has a strong purifying effect on evil beings and dark arts, the soul in the black wood being too weak, thus it disappeared like that.

Chu Ming paused, his eyes fixed on the Black Soul Wood, seemingly in thought.

"What a waste."

His initial intention was to question the soul of Elder Yan about cultivation techniques or secret arts.

He hadn’t even asked when the soul couldn’t hold on...

Chu Ming grasped the Black Soul Wood, examining it up and down.

"Elder Yan’s residual soul said the Black Soul Wood was a treasure, and his soul had shrunk inside the Soul Wood, thinking the Qi Rhythm White Light couldn’t enter..."

"I reckon it must be a pretty good artifact."

Though he didn’t inquire about cultivation techniques, obtaining a segment of black wood valued even by a powerful figure at Elder Yan’s level wasn’t too bad.

Storing away the Black Soul Wood, Chu Ming looked down towards the Cold Abyss below.

Elder Yan’s residual soul faded away, and the erupted black mist showed signs of gathering back.

Before long, the black mist mostly returned to the Cold Abyss.

From above, the severely damaged Cold Bridge over the Cold Abyss could be seen, while below it, the black mist continued to surge.

"Yan Huan is dead, Elder Yan’s soul dissipates, and the two giant guards lose control..."

Chu Ming gazed at the Cold Abyss, thoughts swirling.

He pondered whether he could control the two guards capable of threatening those in the late stage or perfection of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Although one guard had both arms blasted away by him, the other was intact, and perhaps the damaged one could be repaired as well.

"Elder Yan’s soul mentioned the Underground Palace having a core, possibly the key to controlling the giant guards."

He speculated that the so-called core was likely at the bottom of the Cold Abyss.

With this in mind, Chu Ming’s figure flickered as he dashed into the depths of the Cold Abyss.

The black mist surged, black light darted.

Boom boom boom...

In the distance, the sounds of the two great guards seemed to suggest movement.

Chu Ming searched around, finally landing by a peculiar Cold Pool.

It was a cold pool about the size of a pond, its surface frozen solid, resembling a mirror.

At the edge, there lay a stone stele trapped in ice.

At the bottom of the Cold Abyss, aside from initially discovering two corpses, only this cold pool and the stone stele were present, thus Chu Ming landed here.

Approaching the cold pool, the chilling aura pressed forward, immediately forming crystalline condensation on his robe.

Taking another step closer, the chill grew more terrifying, with even his feet showing signs of freezing.

Given this level of chill, if Chu Ming were to take a few more steps, he might become thoroughly frozen like the stone stele at the cold pool’s edge.

Without special means, it’s nearly impossible to approach the cold pool.

Chu Ming gazed from a distance at the stone stele, managing to make out the large characters "Underground Palace Stele" engraved on it.

The stone stele lay at the cold pool’s edge, though frozen by the chill, its body showed no damage, exuding a sense of extraordinariness.

He paused for a moment before taking another step forward.

The freezing signs extended from his feet to his legs.

Chu Ming was indifferent, taking two more consecutive steps.

Crack crack crack...

In an instant, the chill froze up to his chest, even frost appearing above his chest.

"This is as far as I can go..."

Chu Ming resisted the chill using his Qi Blood, but could only halt at this point.

"Let’s try the Qi Rhythm White Light."

Releasing his Qi Blood, the Qi Rhythm White Light from the Book and Painting Realm radiated.

Like the warm sun of early spring, the frost and ice on his body quickly melted away.

Within a three-meter radius, the Book and Painting Realm controlled all.

Chu Ming’s eyes slightly narrowed, hesitated no more, and strode forth.

The chill was blocked outside, feeling no cold around him.

Mere moments later, Chu Ming stood before the stone stele.

The white light wrapped around it.

Crack crack crack...

The ice on the stone stele shattered and melted, making the inscriptions engraved clearer to see.

"Imperial Mausoleum Stele..."

At close proximity, Chu Ming could further sense the extraordinariness of the stone stele.

His Primordial Consciousness probed out, nearing the stone stele, yet was blocked outside.

"A barrier against Primordial Consciousness exploration?"

Chu Ming was somewhat surprised, staring at the stone stele for a moment, before stretching out his right hand, enveloped in Qi Rhythm White Light, sending a bit of crimson towards the stele.

Blood fell upon the stone stele, then seeped into its depths.

Hua!

In the next instant.

The stone stele connected with his Heart Spirit, a tremendous force assaulted forth.

Chu Ming’s expression drastically changed, hastily severing the Heart Spirit connection, then guarded his Heart Spirit with the Book and Painting Realm.

Bang!

It seemed as though a heavy weight had struck his chest, Chu Ming groaned, involuntarily retreating several steps.

Fortunately, he severed it swiftly, suffering little damage.

"I can affirm the stone stele’s close relation to the Underground Palace."

That previous impact wasn’t without gain, Chu Ming could feel that the stone stele was likely the core of the Underground Palace Elder Yan mentioned.