On a colossal planet with a diameter exceeding tens of millions of kilometers, Venerable Huanlong stood cautiously before Venerable Lianyi, whose severe expression and oppressive aura of cold made even a Universe Venerable uneasy.
"I heard that your disciple's quota was seized by my junior brother?" Venerable Lianyi said coldly, her words cutting through the frigid air like shards of ice.
"That's... correct," Venerable Huanlong replied in a low voice, wiping away non-existent cold sweat from his brow.
Under normal circumstances, he shouldn't have known who had claimed King Cangluo's inheritance slot. Unfortunately, when Han Jue entered the inheritance temple, he had made no attempt at concealment. An Immortal passing by had witnessed his entrance and reported it directly to King Cangluo.
King Cangluo, furious at losing such a precious opportunity, had sought out Venerable Huanlong for support, hoping his teacher could demand an explanation.
However, Venerable Huanlong was merely a newly promoted, junior-level Universe Venerable from one of humanity's affiliated races rather than the core race itself. He had no way of knowing Han Jue's true background and possessed only a vague understanding of Venerable Lianyi's actual strength.
This ignorance had led Venerable Huanlong to catastrophically underestimate both Han Jue's backing and the consequences of challenging it. He had foolishly sent an Immortal Marquis messenger to question Venerable Lianyi, demanding to know why Han Jue had usurped his disciple's rightful place.
If he had known Han Jue's true background and Venerable Lianyi's real power, he wouldn't have dared take such action even on pain of death!
Seeing Venerable Huanlong's prolonged silence, Venerable Lianyi sighed with evident disappointment. "Fight back! Give me a reason to strike, won't you?"
"Since my junior brother took one of your disciple's slots, common courtesy dictates that you should receive compensation," Venerable Lianyi said, settling into the main seat with the casual authority of someone accustomed to absolute power.
A flicker of hope crossed Venerable Huanlong's face. "Compensation?"
"However, there is one small precondition," Venerable Lianyi said slowly, her words measured and deliberate.
"What precondition?" Venerable Huanlong asked, his wariness immediately returning.
"Your disciple has been stuck at the King level for quite some time now, hasn't he?" Venerable Lianyi asked with apparent interest.
"Yes, what about it?" Venerable Huanlong replied, puzzled by the direction of this conversation.
It was precisely because King Cangluo had been unable to break through that Venerable Huanlong had wanted to help him, spending an enormous price to secure that inheritance slot from the Ice God General's legacy. King Cangluo's fury stemmed from his full awareness of the sacrifices his teacher had made on his behalf.
As members of a subsidiary race within humanity's vast alliance, opportunities like these were exponentially harder to obtain than for pure humans. The loss of such a chance felt almost unbearable.
"In that case, I have a proposal," Venerable Lianyi said.
The more Venerable Huanlong listened to her plan, the more shocked he became.
"Are you really that cruel to your own junior brother?" Venerable Huanlong couldn't help but ask, genuine disbelief coloring his voice.
"Cruel?" Venerable Lianyi didn't seem to think so. Her expression remained serene, almost contemplative. "For a mere junior King, I'm actually concerned that your disciple won't apply enough pressure. The inheritance's early stages shouldn't pose much challenge to Han Jue given his cultivation level and comprehension."
"Don't worry," Venerable Huanlong said, though his confidence wavered slightly. He believed in his disciple's abilities, but a junior King shouldn't be utterly incapable of handling someone not even at the Domain Lord level... right?
"That's settled then. After this is concluded, I'll provide appropriate compensation to your disciple," Venerable Lianyi said calmly, dismissing any further discussion.
Meanwhile, at the 801st staircase of the Cold Ice God inheritance, Han Jue's progress had noticeably slowed.
The 800-fold power amplitude provided by his fifth stage Ice Derivative Body had made the first 800 steps feel like walking up an ordinary staircase. However, reaching the 801st step required him to possess an 801-fold power amplitude, a threshold he couldn't quite surpass with his current cultivation.
Normally, those who received the Divine General's inheritance would be Immortals at minimum. Even so, countless Immortals remained stuck in the first stage of the Cold Ice God General's inheritance. Only a select few managed to reach the second stage, and merely a handful had ever touched the third.
Yet Han Jue was only at the ninth level of the Universe Rank!
Despite cultivating the Ice Derivative Body, his fundamentally weak foundation as a lower-tier cultivator made further progress extraordinarily difficult.
"Ice Peak Prologue!" Han Jue murmured, his mind turning to the solution.
His current divine body could sustain him to approximately the 1400th to 1500th level at most. Reaching higher levels, such as the 3333rd step where the Preliminary Award could be claimed, was effectively impossible with his present strength alone.
The only solution was to pre-cultivate the body-refining secret techniques recorded in "Ice Peak Prologue"!
Created by the Lord of Ice Peak himself, these techniques could theoretically enable a practitioner to reach the level of a Primal Chaos Sovereign. However, they required at least the physical foundation of a World Master to begin cultivation.
The eightfold body amplitude granted by the fifth stage of his Ice Derivative Body, combined with Han Jue's tenfold genetic level and the Holy Flame tempering from the Seven Flames Palace trials, had barely allowed him to meet the minimum requirements for attempting these techniques.
The secret body-refining method from "Ice Peak Prologue" was called the Ice Peak Nine Hells Body.
And the resources necessary to cultivate this technique were present all around him!
Han Jue gazed at the vast expanse of cold energy permeating the inheritance space.
Using this ambient cold energy to cultivate the Ice Peak Nine Hells Body would prove far slower than employing specific cultivation materials, but Han Jue had no alternative. This method represented his only viable option.
Moreover, this cold energy served a dual purpose within the inheritance, it functioned simultaneously as both a cultivation resource and a test for trial-takers.
As Han Jue climbed higher, the surrounding cold energy grew increasingly intense. Currently, at around the 800th floor, the cold was potent enough to threaten even a peak Domain Lord.
However, to properly cultivate the Ice Peak Nine Hells Body, he needed cold energy that could threaten at least a World Master.
He would need to keep climbing.
Han Jue silently practiced the power amplitude methods from the "Ice Secret Book," comparing and integrating them with the techniques from "Ice Peak Prologue." By employing both cultivation systems simultaneously, his comprehension and advancement speed increased dramatically.
One step at a time.
On average, Han Jue could ascend one additional step in less than a day.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, nearly two years had passed since his arrival at Demon Mountain.
"Level 1457!"
Han Jue could clearly sense the growing fatigue accumulating in his body. Although his consciousness remained sharp and his mental energy abundant, his physical form was approaching its absolute limit. His body had nearly reached saturation in terms of enduring the inheritance's cold energy without additional cultivation breakthroughs.
"It's time to cultivate the Ice Peak Nine Hells Body," Han Jue thought to himself with firm resolve.
At this altitude, the surrounding cold had intensified to a level that could genuinely threaten a World Master, precisely what he needed for the first stage of cultivation.
The Ice Peak Nine Hells Body comprised nine distinct levels!
Upon mastering the First Hell, a practitioner could achieve 9 times the physical amplitude, possessing a physique surpassing most ordinary World Masters.
Upon mastering the Second Hell, one could reach 18 times the physical amplitude, possessing a physique comparable to a peak World Master.
Upon mastering the Third Hell, the physical amplitude could reach 27 times, granting the physique of an Immortal Army Lord!
The progression continued with each subsequent level, building upon the previous foundation.
Finally, after mastering all Nine Hells, the physical amplitude could reach 81 times, a realm that most Immortals found extraordinarily difficult to attain even after countless millennia of cultivation.
Above the Nine Hells existed a legendary Tenth Hell, rumored to potentially reach a maximum of 100 times body amplitude. However, the specific cultivation method for this ultimate level did not appear anywhere in "Ice Peak Prologue."
Perhaps he would need to wait until mastering the Nine Hells completely before asking the Lord of Ice Peak directly about the final stage.
For now, the most critical task was mastering the First Hell.
Fortunately, mastering the First Hell wasn't particularly difficult. With the solid foundation provided by his Ice Derivative Body cultivation, Han Jue estimated he could complete it within a week at most!
Taking a deep breath of the impossibly cold air, Han Jue settled into a cultivation posture and began channeling the Ice Peak Nine Hells Body technique, allowing the frigid energy surrounding him to seep into his very bones.
The first stage of his transformation had begun.
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