Chapter 780 - 781: Soul Freeze

Strictly speaking, the Divine Spirit Gaze was more like a Secret Technique than a martial art. Its core components were the user’s eyes and Soul Power. It could also be combined with various treasures, adapting to the Martial Artist’s specific circumstances to create different Pupil Techniques.

And now, Ye Xuan prepared to integrate the terrifying power of the Water of Absolute Yin into his Divine Spirit Gaze.

The idea of activating his Divine Spirit Gaze and using his Soul Power to unleash the terrifying freezing force from the Water of Absolute Yin was enough to make Ye Xuan tremble with excitement.

Without any hesitation, Ye Xuan immediately immersed himself in cultivating the third layer of the Divine Spirit Gaze.

Since this was a completely new endeavor, Ye Xuan was extremely cautious. Every step required long periods of consideration and practice.

After all, the Water of Absolute Yin was powerful, but if anything went wrong, the damage to him would be immense.

Three days later, Ye Xuan finally integrated a trace of the Water of Absolute Yin’s freezing power into his Soul Power pupil technique.

He activated the Divine Spirit Gaze, and his cyan-blue pupils flickered, releasing faint traces of a heart-freezing chill.

Ye Xuan was overjoyed. This clearly meant his experiment was a complete success.

Since it was feasible, Ye Xuan immediately went all out in refining the Water of Absolute Yin.

Half a month later, when he was halfway through cultivating the third layer of the Divine Spirit Gaze, Ye Xuan finally encountered a problem.

The third layer of his Divine Spirit Gaze had to be channeled through his eyes. However, as he experimented, he discovered that his eyes seemed unable to withstand the power of the Water of Absolute Yin.

After all, the Tier Nine Water of Absolute Yin was too terrifying; even an ordinary Nine Heavens Martial Emperor might not be able to withstand it.

As a result, his cultivation of the Divine Spirit Gaze immediately hit a bottleneck.

But Ye Xuan had no intention of giving up. ’As a Soul Refiner, Alchemist, and Artifact Refiner, what kind of hardship haven’t I faced during the refining process?’

He scanned his Storage Ring, his eyes falling upon stalk after stalk of Spirit Medicine and various materials. He had obtained countless Tier Eight Spirit Medicines from his exploration of the Ancient Demon Land, and he even had a few Tier Nine ones.

One plan after another materialized in his mind.

Thanks to Ye Xuan’s diligent efforts, after several refining attempts over seven days, he finally conquered the challenge.

Another week later, his cultivation of the Divine Spirit Gaze’s third layer was finally complete.

WENG!

An eerie, cyan arc of light suddenly flickered across Ye Xuan’s pupils. If someone were to look closely at his eyes at this moment and magnify the view...

...they would discover that countless fine runes were constantly spinning within his pupils. At the center of those runes, a single droplet of water had appeared, from which a bone-chilling coldness emanated.

A terrifying, icy power descended upon the world, freezing everything in existence, unrivaled.

"I’ve finally mastered it. With the freezing power of this Water of Absolute Yin, an ordinary Tier Eight Martial Sovereign won’t be able to withstand a single glance from me."

A slight smile touched the corners of Ye Xuan’s mouth.

"I’ll call this move... Soul Freeze."

With the successful cultivation of Soul Freeze, Ye Xuan finally noticed that the cave he was in had been filled with wisps of black fog.

Under the influence of this black fog, his mind felt slightly agitated.

’It seems the three-month safe period in Celestial Yin Valley is over. I have to get out of here as soon as possible. If I stay here too long, I’m afraid this fog will corrupt me into a mindless madman.’

In his past life, Ye Xuan hadn’t known much about the black fog in Celestial Yin Valley. But now, he suddenly realized that the black fog in Celestial Yin Valley was very similar to the demonic Evil Qi in the Ancient Demon Land, only the killing intent it contained was much weaker.

’It seems Celestial Yin Valley itself has some connection to the Ancient Demon Land.’

Ye Xuan’s brows furrowed slightly, and he looked to the side of the cave.

There, the pangolin and the black toad were soaking in the Water of Absolute Yin, their eyes squinted in what looked like extreme comfort.

"Xiaohai, Erhei, I’m leaving."

Xiaohai and Erhei were Spirit Demon Beasts from the Ancient Demon Land. Ye Xuan had brought them out of that place, but he didn’t want to take them out of Celestial Yin Valley.

The environment of the Profound Domain was completely unsuitable for Spirit Demon Beasts like Xiaohai and Erhei. They absorbed Demonic Qi, which didn’t exist in the outside world, making Celestial Yin Valley the perfect place for them to live.

At the very least, this black fog could help raise their cultivation levels.

Reluctance appeared on the faces of both Xiaohai and Erhei; they could sense Ye Xuan’s intent to leave.

Having accompanied him for so long, Ye Xuan also felt a trace of reluctance to part with Xiaohai and Erhei.

But in the end, he still retracted the thread of his Devouring Martial Soul’s power from the two beasts’ minds.

"Thank you for accompanying me all this way. I hope you’ll live well here in Celestial Yin Valley. And remember, whatever you do, don’t die."

Before leaving, Ye Xuan patted Xiaohai’s and Erhei’s heads.

Xiaohai’s and Erhei’s eyes grew moist. Even though Ye Xuan had retracted the Devouring Martial Soul’s power he used to control them, after spending so much time with him, they had come to see him as their master.

SWOOSH!

Finally, Ye Xuan turned and left the cave, speeding toward the outskirts of Celestial Yin Valley.

Long after his figure had vanished, Xiaohai and Erhei remained standing there, as if they would never move.

’Finally out.’

One day later, Ye Xuan finally left Celestial Yin Valley. After a brief pause, he vanished over the horizon.

In a dense forest outside Celestial Yin Valley, two Martial Kings were advancing cautiously. One of them suddenly looked up in shock and said, "Brother, I think I just saw a young man fly out of Celestial Yin Valley."

"You must be seeing things."

The other, older Martial King rapped him hard on the head and scolded, "The three-month opening period for Celestial Yin Valley ended almost a month ago. It’s filled with dense black fog everywhere. Even a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor couldn’t last more than a month in there. How could a young man possibly come out of it?"

The younger Martial King said innocently, "But I really did see him."

"Fine, fine, I believe you. Happy now? Now pull yourself together. Even though Celestial Yin Valley’s opening period is over, the fog sometimes thins out a bit. When it does, we can seize the chance to cultivate on the outskirts for a while." The older Martial King said resentfully, "When the mysterious land opened this time, Celestial Yin Valley was crawling with experts. I almost died on the first day. I was so scared I ran right out without even daring to cultivate. Dammit, it was so damn frustrating."

「Three days later.」

A massive city appeared before Ye Xuan.

"It’s Purple Beauty City of the Third Heaven!"

Ye Xuan recognized the city before him.

Within the Profound Domain, factions were numerous, and various sects and cities were scattered about. Aside from the Holy City, which held supreme jurisdiction, the other powers had no unified organization.

In his past life, Ye Xuan had entered Celestial Yin Valley several times, and on two of those occasions, he had stopped in Purple Beauty City.

Purple Beauty City was also the largest city in the Profound Realm’s Third Heaven within tens of thousands of miles of Celestial Yin Valley.

’Purple Beauty City is quite prosperous, and the powers within it are tangled and complex. I might as well stop here and gather some information.’

With that thought, Ye Xuan sped toward Purple Beauty City’s gates.

At the city gates stood two guards in black armor, their cultivation at the Tier Seven Third Layer.

Although a Tier Seven Third Layer Martial King wasn’t considered a top-tier expert in the Celestial Capital Prefecture, they still held a distinguished identity and a high status.

But here in Purple Beauty City, in the Profound Realm’s Third Heaven, they could only be guards. It had to be said that the terror and fierce competition of the Profound Domain far exceeded the imagination of Martial Artists from other parts of the continent.

"Show your identification!"

One of the black-armored guards glanced at Ye Xuan and barked the order.

"Since when does one need to show identification to enter or leave Purple Beauty City?" Ye Xuan said coldly.

The Profound Domain was home to countless factions, so administration was generally lax. This was the first time he’d ever heard of needing to show identification to enter a city.

"Hmph. Celestial Yin Valley is connected to the mysterious land, and the Holy City suspects something is afoot. As a city near Celestial Yin Valley, Purple Beauty City is on the front lines. All outside Martial Artists must show their identification to enter," the black-armored guard said coldly.

’So the Holy City is taking the Ancient Demon Land this seriously?’ A thought struck Ye Xuan. ’But it makes sense. The Ancient Demon Land is full of treasures, and it even has puppets of Human Race and Demon Race experts from thousands of years ago. There’s no way the Holy City could take it lightly.’

"I am a disciple of Wukong Mountain Villa."

Ye Xuan directly took out the token from the brown-haired Martial Sovereign.

This was a token of Wukong Mountain Villa, a symbol of the villa itself. As Wukong Mountain Villa was a considerable power in the Profound Realm’s Third Heaven, its token was widely accepted throughout the Third Heaven.

After proving his identity, Ye Xuan prepared to enter the city directly.

"Hold on. You may be a disciple of Wukong Mountain Villa, but you’re entering Purple Beauty City. The entrance fee is five Upper Grade Profound Stones."

The same black-armored guard blocked Ye Xuan’s path once again.

Ye Xuan was slightly taken aback.

Five Upper Grade Profound Stones wasn’t a particularly precious sum for an ordinary Martial Sovereign, but they were Upper Grade Profound Stones nonetheless—not something one would toss on the ground without a second thought.

In fact, some ordinary Tier Seven Martial Kings might not even have any Upper Grade Profound Stones on them.

What’s more, in his past life, Ye Xuan had spent so much time in the Profound Domain and had never once heard of an entrance fee for Purple Beauty City.

Shooting the guard a cold glance, Ye Xuan saw a hint of amusement in the man’s eyes.

Ye Xuan understood at once. It was obvious the two of them were just using their position to bully him.

In the Profound Domain, profit and oppression were everywhere.

"Scram!"

Ye Xuan snorted coldly, releasing a shocking pressure from his Profound essence.

A terrifying power bore down on the two guards, like a great mountain crashing down upon them.

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

In an instant, the two black-armored guards were forced back several steps, their faces a mask of shock and horror.

Of course, Ye Xuan stopped at the right moment. He only meant to intimidate them.

"This boy is so young, yet he’s a Tier Eight Martial Sovereign!"

"Young Hero, please calm your anger! We were blind! Purple Beauty City has no such rule!"

The two black-armored guards immediately changed their tune.

They had only seen that Ye Xuan was young and alone. Moreover, he was from Wukong Mountain Villa, a sect located extremely far from Purple Beauty City, so they had thought to extort him.