Chapter 599: Moon Flame, Soul Stone, Time Residue

Wind. Raging gales.

A figure soared through the blue sky and white clouds, guided by the Moon-Traversing Passage. They ascended directly into the heavens, amidst terrifying gale-force winds that whistled past, powerful enough to crack the earth and tear the sky.

Wang Yu felt as if he were traversing a web-like spatial trap, each step incredibly arduous. It wasn't due to the Moon-Traversing Passage's weakness, but rather his mind's instinctive fear upon witnessing the scene.

The Ice Prison Realm is a world with the typical 'round sky and flat earth' cosmology. It resembles a layered cake, with the so-called 'spatial layers' being another dimension that perfectly overlaps it. With each ascent, the world's spiritual energy becomes increasingly turbulent. Eventually, the environment fragments entirely, connecting intimately with the void behind it. The moon hangs at this opening, surrounded by numerous meteorites that appear wind-eroded. With just a glance, Wang Yu confirmed that the Lunar Meteor Pupil Technique he once used, which helped him defeat enemies and achieve victory, was summoned from this very location. Truth be told, it was entirely different from his earlier estimations.

The closer he got, the larger the moon loomed in his vision. The darkness of the boundless void surrounding him intensified, making his mind tense, as if something in the shadows was watching him. A shiver ran down his spine.

Wang Yu wasn't sure if anyone had ever landed on the Ice Prison Realm's moon. However, he was certain that without the guidance of the Moon-Traversing Passage, even a peak Divine Transformation cultivator would be unable to traverse the dangerously prolonged Nine Heavens Gale Layer.

This journey was solely to verify if the Moon Return Pupil Technique truly functioned as theorized. Wang Yu wouldn't leave the prison directly, as there were several considerations.

Firstly, concerning the World-Opening Divine Boat from the Void Daoist Canon, Wang Yu had previously judged that it would shatter with absolute certainty once removed from the protection of the Hall of Blessings and Disaster Aversion. However, after a decade of cultivation and comprehending numerous spatial secret arts, Wang Yu suddenly felt that this item might, perhaps... could still be repaired. It would be a great shame to abandon such a valuable treasure. Even if it were to break, it could still be refined into numerous high-quality spiritual materials in the future, making it incredibly valuable.

Secondly, the four Ancestral Edicts—Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind—contain the Earth Ancestor's legacy. He had already acquired two and knew that the Wind Ancestral Edict was with the Refining Heaven Demonic Venerable. During his previous struggle with Zhong Ying, the Prison King Spirit Official, Wang Yu realized that Zhong Ying must have endured a fierce battle before finding him. A simple extrapolation of this idea quickly led to the answer. The four Ancestral Edicts possessed a mutual resonance, yet after slaying Zhong Ying, Wang Yu did not detect the aura of the Wind Ancestral Edict on him. This, combined with the news that Refining Heaven had gone to the Chaos Layer, the conclusion was obvious: once he mastered the secret technique from the Void Heaven Tablet for discerning directions in the inverted void space, he could retrieve the Ancestral Edict at any time. With three Ancestral Edicts, the aggregate effect of the complete set of secret treasures would make finding the final Fire Ancestral Edict effortless. This priceless set of treasures was certainly not something to abandon.

Thirdly, a new hidden concern had just arisen. The standoff between the Forest of Flesh and Blood and Daoist Kongkong, which he discovered during his journey to the moon, exposed an incredibly cruel hidden danger: the Ancient Demon of Life! He hadn't forgotten that he once refined a finger of the Ancient Demon of Life within the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm. For over a century afterward, this had distorted him with an insatiable 'desire for wellness,' yet he remained completely oblivious. It wasn't until a close acquaintance pointed it out that he realized with a jolt.

Considering it more carefully, even immortals couldn't destroy the Life Demon's body, only seal it. And a Life Demon, even when restricted by rules to only exert peak Divine Transformation power, could still hold its own against a Dao Integration grand cultivator. Had he truly refined that finger?

Regarding demonic corruption, with his Glazed Heart state as a foundation, and the Buddhist secret technique 'Demon Crossing Heart Mantra,' he was absolutely certain the demonic corruption had been purged. The problem lay with that finger. If the opponent chose to lie dormant, the demonic corruption could potentially return at any moment. This latent danger was something he had previously overlooked, completely unaware of the issue.

But now? After directly confronting Daoist Kongkong's power, Wang Yu deeply understood the terror of a Dao Integration grand cultivator. From this new perspective, his past experiences appeared riddled with flaws. He knew he was by no means the cleverest person in the world. He simply preferred to plan ahead, always strategizing with the worst-case scenario in mind. Only then could his plans interlock perfectly, leading to victory in every endeavor.

Given the lawless nature of ancient demons, he wouldn't claim to fully understand them, but these demons, like him, must be desperate to escape this worldly prison. Based on this conclusion, deducing their objective was simple. Throughout the entire Ice Prison Realm, besides him, who else possessed the ability to break free? The truth was... no one! Only he held any hope of breaking free from the cage. With this line of reasoning, the opponent's dormant objective became abundantly clear: to hitch a ride. And after success? The Life Demon would surely require a massive amount of life energy to recover... In that scenario, his fate would be obvious. This thought sent a chill through Wang Yu's heart.

Fortunately, during his moon-traversing journey today, he realized that the Ancient Demon's power was utterly beyond his imagination. Moreover, even a nascent consciousness possessed far deeper cunning than the Frost Demon he knew. He had been targeted for a long time. What Wang Yu didn't know was that Venerable Taixu and the Divine Transformation cultivators of the Sword Sect lineage had also long since been corrupted by the opponent, due to the Heavenly Dao Jade. Refining Heaven coveted the Life Demon's power, intending to use it to break rules and achieve Void Refinement. This too was part of the grand scheme. Could the Path of Refining Heaven truly deal with the Life Demon? The answer was... no!

Thus, every Divine Transformation cultivator in the Ice Prison Realm had, in fact, long fallen into the Life Demon's machinations, but all had failed due to various issues, leaving only him. A deeper reflection would be even more horrifying. Xie Xie'an, this newly ascended Divine Transformation cultivator, had a method for resolving demonic corruption that remained a mystery. According to him, he simply cultivated in the Savage Ancient Plains and gradually resolved the corruption. Could this person be a pawn of the Ancient Demon of Slaughter? The only two Divine Transformation cultivators in the Ice Prison Realm had long become living vehicles for the ancient demon's attempt to escape its prison. Whether they realized it or not, they were powerless. The power disparity was immense!

Thus, though Wang Yu was about to land on the moon, he felt no excitement about escaping the prison; instead, a profound chill permeated his entire being. Regarding the fact that his physical body had been reshaped, the problem was that the origin still stemmed from the essence blood he had separated. He had no doubt about the Ancient Demon's ability to lie dormant within his primordial essence blood.

The first two reasons stemmed from his reluctance to abandon valuable resources and his choice to capitalize on them. The third reason had only just dawned on him, and there was also a fourth. Although Wang Yu verbally maintained that immortals couldn't be paying attention to him, the very existence of the Ice Prison involved immortal machinations. While he would be safe if he didn't leave, there was no guarantee they wouldn't intervene once he truly broke free. Moreover, with Yan Ling's departure via the Parasol Tree Immortal Wood, the disappearance of such a large group of people might well have attracted the attention of immortals. The risk of his illicit departure was extremely high. Therefore, before truly leaving, he needed to master the Jade Void Glazed Wall. This secret art, designed to conceal heavenly secrets and karma, was what the Nine Tribulations Rogue Immortal had intended to use against the Purple-Eyed Immortal. It could also lend him significant aid. This was the fourth reason, and the core reason Wang Yu accepted the Nine Tribulations Rogue Immortal's karma. In summary, directly attempting to use Moon Return to locate other worlds with Lunar Star projections and escape was absolutely ill-advised.

Moreover, having realized the Life Demon's scheme, he might need to find a way to meet the Life Demon, draw it into the open, and propose a transaction. It was too difficult for the weak to strike a deal with the strong. He had to find a way to seize the Life Demon's vital weakness, bringing both parties to the same level; only then would a transaction be possible.

After a burst of brainstorming, Wang Yu quickly regained his composure, musing with a bitter amusement. “I survived starting as a Spirit Slave; surely, I can survive Divine Transformation?”

As his torrent of thoughts gradually subsided, Wang Yu's attention shifted as he drew closer to the moon. When he finally landed on this place, perhaps untouched by anyone throughout history, his eyes were filled with awe.

The grayish-white lunar soil resembled both sand and dust. Despite the extremely low-temperature environment, no ice crystals were visible. Moon-white flames burned in various craters, and irregular black stone pillars protruded from the lunar soil. In the distance, the canopy of a colossal cassia tree was faintly visible.

The Moon-Traversing Passage gradually dissipated, and the power of the Lunar Star subsided once more. Wang Yu quickly approached a crater, his face unable to conceal his excitement. The clusters of moon-white flames made it impossible for him to remain calm.

“The legendary Lunar Flames, representing the concept of Yin, are truly abundant here!” Although these items were limited by immortal rules, their grade could only reach the peak of Fifth Order, but their ubiquitous presence made them an unparalleled treasure.

Wang Yu had no intention of refining them into his personal fire seed. Instead, he retrieved his natal spiritual treasure, the Thirty-Six Grade Blood Lotus Furnace. This treasure possessed thirty-six flame spaces, specifically for storing celestial and earthly spiritual flames. Its purpose was to absorb the essence of myriad flames, nurturing the spiritual treasure divine ability, the One Qi Demonic Flame! This absorption and refinement was not fusion, but rather a process of absorbing nutrients for self-growth, so there were few requirements regarding the flames' nature or attributes. Any flame would suffice; whether it was an unoriginating flame or an originating one, the effect was the same. These Lunar Flames had existed here for countless years. Both their grade and quality had reached the apex of this world. They were undoubtedly top-tier treasures for cultivating the One Qi Demonic Flame, explaining his excitement.

“Collect!”

Forming a hand seal with one hand, the Blood Lotus Furnace rapidly unfurled its bone lotus petals, growing to a mountain-like size and inverting itself over the sky. The Lunar Flames surged in response. Streaks of fire streamed from the craters, all flowing into the Thirty-Six Grade Blood Lotus Furnace. Beginning with the lowest bone lotus petal, they gradually transformed into a lustrous, moon-white jade color, revealing full moon patterns. The aura of his natal artifact began to surge.

Once the inner space of the first lotus petal was filled, the second bone lotus petal began to absorb more Lunar Flames. As time passed, and all the flames on the moon's surface were absorbed, every single lotus petal space became completely filled. The thirty-six bone lotus petals creaked, continuously opening and closing. Eventually, a significant volume of grayish-white qi flow converged in the center of the treasure furnace.

With a 'boom,' the grayish-white One Qi Demonic Flame was truly birthed. It began absorbing a vast amount of fire essence, integrating the concept of Taiyin into itself like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea. Henceforth, when refining any Yin-attribute material, it would process it with remarkable speed, acting as a targeted enhancement. Once the Lunar Flames from all thirty-six lotus petal spaces were completely absorbed, this natal spiritual treasure would directly advance to peak Fifth Order, surpassing Wang Yu's cultivation realm and possessing an exceptionally profound foundation. Even if it were to advance to Sixth Order, it would no longer require more types of flames; merely filling it with corpse-related materials would suffice, greatly increasing its convenience.

“What a bountiful harvest!”

The joy of his harvest shattered all the unease Wang Yu had felt. The Lunar Flames were merely the beginning; the moon, unvisited for countless years, had indeed nurtured an abundance of treasures. He approached the irregular black stone pillars. Wang Yu's eyes were filled with astonishment.

“Lunar Soul Stones, a supreme treasure for assisting Primordial Spirit cultivation. Though Fifth Order, their rarity places them among the most precious Fifth Order spiritual items.” And a single one of these stone pillars weighed hundreds of pounds. The ground was covered with Lunar Soul Stones, amounting to at least ten thousand tons. This was far richer than his accumulated wealth over many years. Such a supreme treasure could be used to refine Primordial Spirit spiritual artifacts, or to forge cultivation-aiding meditation mats, quiet rooms, formation flags, and more. It would undoubtedly help him rapidly strengthen his Primordial Spirit. A strengthened Primordial Spirit would significantly enhance his perception of all things in heaven and earth. In other words, it would also accelerate his comprehension of the four artistic conceptions. Furthermore, Lunar Soul Stones were highly compatible with the power of the Ghost Path's artistic conception, making them ideal material for an artistic conception vessel. Recreating the Soul Sword he had lost years ago, using these stones as its foundation, would be far more suitable.

“Lunar Flames, Lunar Soul Stones…” These two discoveries alone made the trip worthwhile, yet more treasures awaited Wang Yu's exploration on the moon. As his divine sense spread, Wang Yu happily gathered treasures.

“Moon Frost Profound Crystal, a supreme item embodying the Frost Moon artistic conception.”

“Underworld Returning Blue Gold, a supreme Yin-cold mineral material, can be refined into a supreme offensive treasure.”

“Oh... Moon Core Shard!” Wang Yu had previously obtained this item at the Ancient Beast Ancestral God Mountain. It was greatly beneficial for cultivating the Lunar Shadow Pupils, and this time was no exception; it should help him fully master this Sixth Order modification-type pupil technique within a decade or so.

This abundance of treasures continued for a long time. He didn't overlook even some Fourth Order spiritual items. After all, one of Wang Yu's few virtues was his vast reserve of Qiankun Rings. One only truly understands the value of resources when one has to manage them; waste was not an option!

In summary, the massive quantity of spiritual items he harvested on the moon, whether gathered or mined, were primarily of Yin and cold attributes, and contained abundant moonlight essence. Most of these were spiritual items beneficial to the Primordial Spirit. It was nothing short of a sudden surge of wealth.

Once he snapped out of his treasure-gathering euphoria, Wang Yu walked towards the colossal cassia tree in the distance. The closer he drew, the more he sensed a peculiar vitality. In the unique lunar soil environment, plants had actually begun to appear. All of them were spiritual plants of considerable grade. The closer he got to the cassia, the more spiritual plants appeared, including numerous small cassia trees. Wang Yu had once refined a precious elixir whose main ingredient was these incredibly rare cassia leaves. Like a bandit sweeping through, he plundered with the force of an autumn wind stripping leaves. He left no spiritual item untouched.

“Cassia leaves, Jade Dew Nectar, Moon-Glow Immortal Grass, Star-Moon Essence Flower…” There were so many that his eyes were dazzled. Even his Sea Heart Ring, whose internal space had been expanded and upgraded multiple times, was now completely filled. This unprecedented wealth meant that even if he ascended to the Upper Realm, these resources would suffice for his cultivation all the way to the Void Refinement stage.

It wasn't until he stood directly beneath the colossal cassia tree that he spoke, astonished. “Is this… an illusion?”