Gale winds, carrying shattered ice, swept across the Cold Abyss. Ripples of light emanated from the qingmu spirit pearl in Lu Qingyang’s sleeve, refracting the Taiyi Pavilion's Sword Qi that burst from Ye Wuchen’s fingertips into a myriad of star-like rain. Three zhang away, at an ice crack, a mysterious yellow Qi overflowed from the bronze casket in Su Li’s arms, resonating with the withered Dragon Scale Grass roots within the spirit pearl. A muffled clanking of chains echoed from deep within the earth's veins.
"Senior Brother Ye's sword is cleaner than his mouth," Lu Qingyang said, stepping back seven paces on the cracked ice. The Xuan Magnet Stones hidden in the soles of his boots silently absorbed the scattered Flying Sword fragments. His left shoulder's Magical Artifact robe was torn open by the Sword Qi, revealing skin that had developed Dragon scale-like patterns—this was the Azure Dragon Body Forging Art, awakened three days prior after he consumed the Three-Headed Flood Dragon's essence blood.
A golden glow seeped from the cinnabar mark on Ye Wuchen’s brow, and the Celestial Star Chart suspended behind him unfurled thirty-six stellar orbits. "Junior Brother Lu has secretly learned my pavilion's forbidden arts; this Physical Body will make an excellent Sword Puppet." Before he finished speaking, seven bolts of Lightning Tribulation suddenly descended from the Big Dipper constellation, but transformed into glazed fire snakes upon touching the ice, burning the formations of the Nine Palaces Spirit Locking Array Lu Qingyang had set up until they glowed red.
Su Li suddenly hurled the bronze casket towards the ice abyss crack. The ancient seal script engraved on the casket's surface interlocked with the rust on the spirit pearl, emitting a dazzling green light. "The Restrictions of the Burial Dragon Abyss can still hold for half an incense stick. Senior Brother Ye, why don't you guess which is faster, your sword or the Dragon soul's Awakening?" The jade hairpin in her hair shattered into powder, and the scattered jade fragments condensed on the ice into a miniature Two-Form Micro Dust Array. At its core, conspicuously, was half a Dragon bone Lu Qingyang had buried earlier.
Lu Qingyang seized the opportunity to crush the Mist Concealment Talisman in his sleeve. Amidst the swirling frost mist, the Thousand Mechanism Silk hidden in his cuff had already entangled the Chi Dragon buckle on Ye Wuchen’s sword sheath. The withered Dragon Scale Grass within the spirit pearl's space suddenly trembled, transmitting a stinging sensation through their Divine Sense resonance—this was the Three-Headed Flood Dragon's lingering soul warning him. He abruptly rolled to the side, and a ten-foot ice pit exploded where he had stood, with a Dragon Slaying Dagger, engraved with soul- trấn Talismanic Incantations, stuck at its bottom.
"Senior Brother Ye even steals the personal Magical Artifact of his own Protector Elder?" Lu Qingyang spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, and the spirit pearl in his palm suddenly burst forth with emerald light. Within a ten-zhang radius, dark green vines sprouted wildly from the ice cracks, each leaf imprinted with a miniature Wood Lightning Talisman. This was the Lightning Tribulation Vine, which he had cultivated by spending three months integrating lightning Dao into the spirit pearl, specifically designed to break Taiyi Pavilion's protective star aura.
Ye Wuchen sneered and made a hand seal. Twenty-eight constellations' illusory figures flew out from the Celestial Star Chart. The Horned Wood Dragon and Kui Wood Wolf star officials transformed into streams of green and gold light, and all the lightning vines in their path withered. However, the moment the star officials touched Lu Qingyang's brow, he suddenly threw out a greasy roasted chicken skeleton from his embrace—this was the Taotie Remnant Bone, acquired from the black market, specifically for countering the star officials' shapeshifting techniques.
Su Li took the opportunity to throw the bronze casket. Half a scroll of the River Diagram, flying out from within the casket, produced a mysterious resonance with the spirit pearl's space. Lu Qingyang's Divine Sense felt a heavy blow, and in a daze, he glimpsed nine Dragon corpses, pierced by profound iron chains, slumbering at the bottom of the Burial Dragon Abyss. One white Dragon suddenly opened its eyes, and reflected in its vertical pupils was the Old Drunkard, clutching a bronze compass in his final moments.
"So that's how it is!" Lu Qingyang resisted the surging blood Qi in his chest, bit his tongue, and spat out essence blood. The withered Dragon Scale Grass within the spirit pearl instantly grew vigorously, and the frost condensed on its leaf edges shared the same origin as the profound ice on the white Dragon's corpse. He pressed his palms against the ice, and the clang of breaking chains echoed from deep within the earth's veins. Three illusory ice Dragons broke Abyss and tore a crack in the Celestial Star Chart.
Ye Wuchen's lips bled, and he suddenly shook out a bronze token, engraved with the character "amnesty" (she, meaning 'forgive' or 'release'), from his sleeve. The moment the token touched the ground, bloody array patterns appeared on the ice within a hundred-zhang radius—it was Taiyi Pavilion's forbidden art, the Blood Sacrifice Dragon Sealing Array. The spirit pearl in Lu Qingyang's embrace flew uncontrollably towards the array's core, and the medicine field within the pearl rapidly turned to sand at a visible rate. The meticulously cultivated spiritual plants instantly turned to ash.
"Mr. Lu's grass is very precious!" A fierce glint flashed in Lu Qingyang's eyes. He suddenly tore open his robe, revealing a ferocious Flood Dragon tattoo on his chest. The golden blood flowing through the tattoo fused with the rust on the spirit pearl, condensing into a bronze short blade at the array's core. This was the Secret Art of Severing Karma, which he had comprehended from a damaged stele in an Ancient Tomb. Although he had only grasped its rudiments, it was enough to sever the connection between the blood array and the spirit pearl.
Su Li's bronze casket completely shattered at this moment, and the half-piece of turtle shell that fell from its bottom, when combined with the Old Drunkard's Relics , formed a complete map. She bit her finger and drew complex Talismanic Incantations on the turtle shell. The Burial Dragon Abyss suddenly shook violently, and the nine Dragon corpses simultaneously raised their heads and let out long roars. The moment the profound iron chains snapped, an aged sigh echoed in Lu Qingyang's spiritual platform: "The qingmu spirit pearl is originally a remnant root of the Jianmu (World Tree), why bother to seize it..."
Ye Wuchen’s Sword Qi suddenly froze, and he looked in astonishment at his gradually transparent right hand—this was the backlash for touching a taboo. Lu Qingyang seized the opportunity to throw out the Thousand Mechanism Silk, wrapping it around the jade pendant on his waist, and used the force to leap onto the raised giant claw of a Dragon corpse. Within the surging profound Yin Qi at the bottom of the Cold Abyss, a bronze Ancient Hall, inscribed with the words "Taiyi," was faintly visible.
"So your Pavilion Master also comes to pick up scraps?" Lu Qingyang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and flicked out three Bone Corroding Nails from his fingertips. However, the hidden weapons turned into quicksand the moment they touched the bronze hall, and the green light overflowing from the hall's door crack was actually of the same origin as the spirit pearl. His Divine Sense was severely shaken, and in a daze, he saw himself performing the blood recognition ritual in the Ancient Tomb during his Foundation Establishment—the coffin of the tomb owner was clearly engraved with the emblem of Taiyi Pavilion's first Pavilion Master!
Su Li suddenly grabbed his wrist and retreated quickly: "The bronze hall is alive..." Before she finished speaking, the hall door burst open, and a withered hand reached out, wearing a familiar bronze ring—identical to the one the Old Drunkard had tremblingly removed in his final moments. Lu Qingyang's blood froze, and the withered Dragon Scale Grass within the spirit pearl suddenly bloomed, a vibrant crimson like the last pool of blood his master had coughed up.