Chapter 348: Law of Ice, Sovereign Realm, Seventh Layer

This pressure came from deep within the valley; clearly, an extremely powerful existence was guarding that place.

"Be careful, the Seal here has loosened significantly," Wangliang reminded him.

Zhou Chen nodded, and the two of them cautiously entered the valley.

As soon as they stepped into the valley, the surrounding temperature plummeted.

Zhou Chen circulated the spiritual energy within his body, forming a protective shield on his skin, barely managing to withstand the chill.

Wangliang, on the other hand, was much more relaxed; she seemed to have an extremely strong resistance to the cold.

The two of them proceeded along the valley and soon discovered something unusual.

On the valley floor, there were traces of ice cracks everywhere. These cracks formed regular geometric shapes, clearly man-made.

"These are Formation patterns," Wangliang said, squatting down to carefully observe the cracks in the ground.

"The patterns of the World-Breaking Demon Formation have already begun to manifest."

Zhou Chen's brows furrowed.

The manifestation of the patterns meant the Formation was already operating. It just hadn't fully activated yet; otherwise, the Seal would have collapsed long ago.

The two continued deeper and finally reached the end of the valley.

Before them was a massive ice cave. The entrance was a full hundred zhang in diameter, and the interior was pitch black, its depth indiscernible.

The area surrounding the ice cave was covered in densely packed runes. These runes emitted a faint glow, representing the power of the Seal.

But Zhou Chen noticed that many of these runes had dimmed, and some had even been completely extinguished.

"The Seal has been damaged by at least thirty percent."

Wangliang said in a heavy voice.

"If we don't stop it, the Seal will completely collapse in half a month at most."

Zhou Chen didn't speak, instead staring into the depths of the ice cave.

He could feel an extremely terrifying aura within.

This aura fluctuated in strength, as if it were sleeping, yet also as if it were waking up.

"What is sealed inside?" Zhou Chen asked.

Wangliang was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "The Ice Demon Commander."

"One of the Demon Commanders of the Outer Domain Evil Demons, a being of the Quasi-Immortal Realm."

"During the great war between the mighty experts and the Outer Domain Evil Demons, the Ice Demon Commander was heavily wounded and eventually sealed here."

"If it escapes, the entire Central Continent will be plunged into ice."

Zhou Chen gasped.

A demon of the Quasi-Immortal Realm?

This was no joke.

Even the Grand Elders of Jixia Academy were only at the Tenth Layer of the Venerable Realm, still a step away from the Quasi-Immortal Realm.

If the Ice Demon Commander truly escaped, the entire Tianxuan Continent would likely suffer.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken; at that time, Zhou Chen wouldn't be confident in staying out of it either.

"Sigh, strength is the foundation, after all. My improvement is still too slow."

Zhou Chen lamented inwardly.

"We can try to reinforce the Seal," Wangliang said.

"Although we can't fully repair it, we can at least buy some time."

Zhou Chen nodded, and the two immediately took action.

Wangliang took out a pile of Materials and began to set up a Formation.

Zhou Chen was responsible for clearing the damaged runes and re-carving new ones.

This process was extremely tedious and required a high level of Formation mastery.

Fortunately, Zhou Chen had studied quite a bit of Formation knowledge in the Scripture Pavilion; while he couldn't compare to a professional like Wangliang, it was enough to handle the current situation.

The two worked for an entire day and night, finally reinforcing most of the Seal.

Just then, Zhou Chen suddenly felt a strong throbbing sensation.

This sensation came from his opportunity panel.

With a thought, Zhou Chen opened the panel.

[Name: Ice Demon Commander]

[Destiny: One of the four great Demon Commanders of the Outer Domain Evil Demons, Quasi-Immortal Realm cultivation (currently sealed). Sealed for ten thousand years, strength has fallen to the Tenth Layer of the Venerable Realm, currently on the verge of escaping.]

[Recent Opportunity: Three hundred zhang beneath the damaged eye of the sealing Formation, there is a wisp of Venerable Rank Top-Grade Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence. This is a supreme treasure the Ice Demon Commander prepared to use for reshaping its demonic body after escaping, which will greatly increase its strength.]

Zhou Chen's eyes lit up.

Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence?

This was a treasure among treasures.

Legend has it that Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence is the purest ice-attribute supreme treasure in heaven and earth, containing the original power of the Law of Ice.

If he could obtain this wisp of Imperial Essence, not only could he significantly increase his cultivation, but he could also take the Opportunity to comprehend the Law of Ice, making it much easier to break through to the Venerable Realm in the future.

Zhou Chen suppressed his excitement and calmly walked to the position of the Formation eye.

The runes here were the most severely damaged and needed to be re-carved.

While carving the runes, Zhou Chen secretly activated his Divine Sense to investigate underground.

Sure enough, three hundred zhang underground, he felt an extremely pure ice-attribute energy.

Though that energy was faint, the power of the Law it contained startled Zhou Chen.

"This is it."

Zhou Chen thought to himself.

However, he couldn't dig it out openly.

After all, Wangliang was right beside him; if she discovered it, it would surely arouse suspicion.

Zhou Chen's eyes rolled as a plan came to mind.

While carving the runes, he deliberately shifted the path of one rune slightly.

This shift was extremely minute, almost imperceptible.

But this rune happened to connect to the location of the Imperial Essence underground.

Zhou Chen circulated his spiritual energy and poured it into the rune.

The spiritual energy flowed along the rune and soon reached three hundred zhang underground.

In the next second, that wisp of Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence was silently drawn out, following the spiritual energy channel into Zhou Chen's body.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for intercepting the Ice Demon Commander's Opportunity: one wisp of Venerable Rank Top-Grade Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence. Triggering ten-thousand-fold return.]

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining one wisp of Immortal Rank Low Grade Grandmist Profound Ice Imperial Essence.]

Zhou Chen was ecstatic.

The System is awesome!

It's actually Immortal Rank Low Grade!

Grandmist Profound Ice Imperial Essence was a supreme treasure countless levels higher than the Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Essence.

A treasure of this level would drive even a Quasi-Immortal Realm expert crazy.

Zhou Chen forced himself to suppress his excitement and continued carving the runes.

Meanwhile, that wisp of Grandmist Profound Ice Imperial Essence had entered his internal Small World.

As soon as the Imperial Essence entered the Small World, it began to release terrifying energy.

The entire Small World was instantly frozen, the temperature plummeting to the extreme.

However, the chaos bell and that mysterious hand bone within the Small World simultaneously emitted a faint light, guiding the Imperial Essence's energy to prevent it from going out of control.

Zhou Chen felt the Imperial Essence's energy slowly merging into his body.

Strands of pure ice-attribute Law power flooded into his Divine Soul.

His understanding of the Law of Ice began to improve at an astonishing speed.

Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent…

In just a short moment, Zhou Chen's comprehension of the Law of Ice reached fifty percent.

And the speed was still increasing.

Sixty percent, seventy percent, eighty percent…

When the Imperial Essence's energy was completely fused, Zhou Chen's comprehension of the Law of Ice had impressively reached Perfection!

Not only that, but his internal Small World also expanded once again under the nourishment of the Imperial Essence's energy.

The Small World, which was originally only a hundred thousand li in radius, instantly expanded to ten million li.

It had expanded a full hundredfold!

Zhou Chen's strength also naturally reached the Sovereign Realm, Seventh Layer.