Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

125: Chapter 125: The Frozen Abyss of the Far North and the Guiding Light of the Dark AbyssInside the basin, everything was in ruins. The central ancient tree had been completely reduced to charred residue, and the hole leading to the netherworld had vanished, leaving only a bottomless pit that emitted a faint scent of mixed burning and decay. Losing its energy source, the surrounding twisted vitality and Death Qi began to slowly dissipate; though still eerie, they no longer possessed that active, erosive quality.

The rescued Cultivators lay scattered across the ground. Most were unconscious, and the few who were awake had vacant stares, their Divine Souls severely damaged, clearly requiring a long time to recover.

Nangong Xuan quickly set up several simple warning and protection Formations around the edge of the basin to prevent Yao Beasts or Cultivators attracted by the residual phenomena from disturbing the wounded. They could not stay here for long, and this was all they could do.

Su Muxue carefully cradled the now-silent chaos star core in her hands. The star core was still warm, its surface glowing with an inner light as if containing the lingering power of a miniature explosion. She could feel that Lin Mo’s consciousness had once again fallen into a deep slumber, but the aura of the star core itself, after devouring that dangerous Life-Death Pure Flame, had become thicker and... more complex. A subtle sense of balance emanated from it, seemingly containing the extreme characteristics of both life and death simultaneously.

”Senior Brother Lin Mo has fallen asleep again, but the last intent he sent pointed north... Xuanming True Water, or Beiming Cold Soul.” Su Muxue looked up at Nangong Xuan, a trace of worry in her eyes. ”It sounds even more extreme than this netherworld yi wood star key.”

Nangong Xuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the forest that had returned to ’normal’ yet remained deathly silent. ”The nine luminaries star keys each have their own attributes. It seems that the further we go, the more pure and powerful their strength becomes, and the more dangerous they are. The Extreme Cold Lands of the north... Mu Xue, your Taiyin Immortal Body might be able to sense something.”

He walked to the center of the basin, where the netherworld yi wood star key lay quietly amidst the ashes. Its light was completely restrained, presenting a simple dark-green color. It no longer had that restless sense of conflict between life and death from before, instead exuding a profound depth and calm after the eruption.

With his previous experience, Nangong Xuan did not touch it directly with his hands. He circulated his nirvana golden core, drawing the aura of the chaos star core to slowly approach it.

Buzz~

The star core vibrated slightly, emitting a soft wave of attraction. That netherworld yi wood star key seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, hovering up on its own and turning into a dark-green stream of light that submissively merged into the star core.

The process was unexpectedly smooth, with no rejection and no conflict.

The moment the star key merged, the light on the surface of the chaos star core suddenly retracted, then slowly brightened again. Its colors became deeper and harder to discern, with several hues—green, black, gray, gold, and red—flowing slowly like living things, eventually settling into a chaotic dark color. The trace of ’Guixu’ true intent within it seemed to have grown a bit stronger, transmitting a sense of satiety and slumber.

At the same time, a sense of direction even clearer and more definite than before, like a calibrated compass, pointed firmly due north! That sensation carried a bone-chilling cold, a boundless vastness, and a Concept of absolute ’stillness.’

”North... that’s right, the sensation is very strong.” Nangong Xuan felt the information coming from the star core and confirmed the direction.

The two of them delayed no longer, turning into streams of light that soared into the sky, leaving this twisted border of life and death and racing toward the north.

The further north they went, the more frigid the climate became. The landscape below gradually changed from dense forests to desolate grasslands, then to frozen tundra, and finally, a boundless world of pure white covered in ten-thousand-year-old ice came into view.

The Far North Ice Field!

The cold here was unusual; the air was permeated with a strange Frost Balefire that could freeze spiritual power. The howling cold wind was like bone-scraping steel knives, whipping up ice crystals and snow foam, making visibility extremely low. The ground was a thick layer of ice, from which a deep cold, seemingly from ancient times, rose up. Occasionally, glaciers as massive as mountains could be seen standing between heaven and earth, shimmering with an eerie blue cold light.

An ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator would likely be frozen to death within half an hour here. Even a Golden Core Cultivator would need to constantly circulate their power to resist this omnipresent, extreme cold.

However, as soon as Su Muxue stepped onto this ice field, she let out a soft sigh of slight comfort.

The gray-blue starlight imprint on her forehead lit up of its own accord, emitting a cool but not cold halo. The invisible power of the Frost Balefire, strong enough to crack metal and stone, actually became submissive when it approached her body, even actively merging into her Taiyin Star Power as nourishment.

”Senior Brother, the extreme cold aura here... is very compatible with my Taiyin Origin.” Su Muxue’s eyes brightened slightly. She could feel that Cultivating Taiyin Cultivation Techniques here would likely increase her efficiency several times over. Her long-dormant Taiyin Immortal Body also seemed to become more active.

Nangong Xuan nodded. Although his Nirvana Dao Rhyme did not fear the cold, he could not be as comfortable as Su Muxue. He relied more on his Golden Core cultivation and powerful Physical Body to endure it. ”This place has a unique environment; the star key bred here must be extremely cold. Your sensing is the most important, so investigate carefully.”

The two lowered their altitude and, braving the wind and snow, followed the strong sensation from the star core deeper into the ice field.

A few days later, the temperature had dropped to an incredible degree; exhaled breath would instantly turn into ice crystals and fall. Below was no longer an ice field, but a vast, frozen sea covered in thick snow! Huge icebergs floated on the sea surface in various shapes, like cold giant beasts.

And the source of the sensation from the star core pointed directly to the deepest part of this ice sea!

”It’s below,” Nangong Xuan said with a grave expression. Beneath the ice sea, the pressure was terrifying, and the environment was even more harsh and unknown.

Su Muxue closed her eyes to sense for a moment and pointed in one direction: ”That way... the cold is strongest, and... there seem to be residual traces of spatial fluctuations. They’re very weak, but they definitely exist.”

Following the sensation, the two arrived before a massive Ice Rift Canyon. This canyon was bottomless and hundreds of feet wide, like a hideous scar on the earth. The piercing cold wind poured out from the depths of the canyon, making a ghost-like howling sound, and the Frost Balefire within it had almost condensed into substance.

And on the ice walls at the edge of the canyon, they discovered some non-naturally formed traces!

They were several massive and deep claw marks, as if some gargantuan creature had used the ice wall for leverage. The edges of the claw marks were smooth as mirrors, with extremely pure Ice Fiend Power remaining, even more cruel than the cold of the surrounding environment!

”Something has gone down through here, or... come up.” Nangong Xuan touched the cold claw marks, feeling the residual aura within, his brow furrowed. ”This aura... is very strong and very ancient. It’s not from the modern Yao Race.”

At the same time, Su Muxue made a new discovery. On the other side of the ice wall, she saw a simple mural half-hidden by the wind and snow.

The mural seemed to have been carved with some Sharp Weapon; the lines were ancient and crude, but the content was startling. The painting showed an endless ice field where many short, sturdy people dressed in animal skins were kneeling to a massive ice mountain. And inside the ice mountain, a blurry, terrifying creature shaped like a giant turtle yet possessing a Dragon’s head and a snake’s tail was Sealed. In the sky above, a star emitting an eerie blue cold light was falling, striking exactly upon that ice mountain.

In the corner of the mural, several ancient symbols that were almost worn away were also carved.

Su Muxue identified them carefully and slowly read out: ”...Xuanming... Suppress... Beiming...” She suddenly looked up. ”Senior Brother, could this mural be recording... that the xuanming true water star key fell and suppressed some ancient malevolent creature here?”

Combining what Lin Mo had said about the ”Xuanming True Water” or ”Beiming Cold Soul” with the content of this mural, the clues seemed to become clear.

The next star key was very likely the ”xuanming true water star key”! And it was quite possible that over the long years, it had not only existed at the bottom of the Beiming Ice Sea but also shouldered the mission of suppressing some terrifying existence!

Did those claw marks on the ice walls mean... the suppressed being already showed signs of waking up or breaking free?

Just then, the chaos star core in Nangong Xuan’s hand suddenly vibrated again!

This time, it didn’t point toward the ice sea below; instead, it shook violently, transmitting an extremely strong, complex intent mixed with longing and caution. On the surface of the star core, five types of power representing ’ji yun,’ ’corrosive dark,’ ’mars,’ ’prison suppressing,’ and ’netherworld yi wood’ flowed with light. Finally, that newly merged sense of life-death balance belonging to the netherworld yi wood star key actually produced a marvelous resonance with the other four powers, temporarily suppressing the star core’s restlessness.

The star core’s intent became a bit clearer, and Lin Mo’s tired but urgent voice came through intermittently:

”...Below... Xuanming True Water... correct... but... be careful... it’s not just the star key...” ”...Seal... loosening... ’Spirit of the Northern Sea’... deep resentment... I fear it has... been corrupted by... ’the dark side’...” ”...It... hates... all living beings...” ”...Taking the star key... will surely alert it...” ”...Prepare for... a fierce battle...”

As the voice faded, the star core fell silent once more, as if this warning had exhausted the little power Lin Mo had just accumulated.

Nangong Xuan and Su Muxue exchanged a look, their expressions more solemn than ever before.

The star key was close at hand, yet it was with a terrifying malevolent creature that had been suppressed for eons and might have been corrupted by ”the dark side.”

This would undoubtedly be a hard fight, one that might be even more dangerous than facing the netherworld yi wood star key when it was out of control.

Nangong Xuan took a deep breath of the cold air, his nirvana golden core slowly accelerating its rotation as the dark-gold core patterns lit up.

”Let’s go. No matter what, the star key must be obtained.”

He was the first to turn into a stream of light, plunging into that bottomless Ice Rift Canyon and diving toward the dark, cold depths of the Beiming Ice Sea.

Su Muxue, her body glowing with bright moonlight, followed closely behind.

The wind and snow continued to howl as if they had never changed since ancient times, yet also as if they were silently foretelling that this Far North Cold Abyss, silent for ten thousand years, was about to welcome a battle that would shake heaven and earth.