Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 272
Ten-Thousand-Year Frigid Chill & Pure Kunlun Divine Spring
The Cangdiao-9 strategic military transport shook violently as it punched through the dense, gray cloud cover blanketing the airspace of the Western Territory. The deep-throated roar of the Lightning-Wind magic engines thundered, fighting against the ferocious convective currents that threatened to tear apart any airborne intruder daring to enter the forbidden domain.
Outside the triple-layered quartz cabin windows, an imposing river of pristine white snow slammed into view.
This was none other than the Kunlun Divine Spring Mountain—the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Mountains.
Unlike any ordinary mountain range in the mortal realm, Kunlun Mountain resembled an endless, immaculate silver-white ancient dragon winding through heaven and earth. Tens of thousands of jagged snow peaks stretched in an uninterrupted line across the horizon, their apexes piercing the nine layers of clouds, proudly trampling the mortal world beneath them. Glaciers extended for thousands of miles, layers upon layers of thick snow blanketed the peaks, and the space radiated the absolute, desolate majesty of a primordial sanctuary yet untainted by human breath.
Right at the center of that dragon vein, the Heavenly Pillar Peak towered over seven thousand zhang above sea level, standing proud like a pillar propping up the vault of the Divine Continent.
“Boom——!”
The transport carved a flawless arc, landing smoothly on a flat granite shelf jutting out from the snowy flank of Heavenly Pillar Peak. The concealed magical locking system instantly deployed, firmly anchoring the aircraft’s landing gear into the icy rock.
The chief pilot, wearing the rank of lieutenant colonel, turned back toward the passenger cabin. His weathered face was etched with deep anxiety, yet his gestures remained impeccably respectful:
“Reporting to Lord Lin Feng, Lady Ye! We have landed safely at Heavenly Pillar Peak. The external temperature is currently minus sixty degrees Celsius, but the most dangerous hazard here is the Kunlun Frigid Wind. The millennia-accumulated magical pressure gathered in this place is as sharp as a razor blade, bearing down heavily on the soul sea. Ordinary Intermediate Mages unequipped with heavy protective magic artifacts would have their bronchial tubes crushed and meridians frozen solid within three breaths. The two of you must exercise the utmost caution!”
Lin Feng sat in the command seat, his black robe with purple trim draped loosely around him, his expression as calm as still autumn water: “Many thanks, Lieutenant Colonel. The two of you remain inside the aircraft cabin and activate the warming barrier. We know our limits.”
“Understood!”
The hydraulic cabin door slowly lowered.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——!”
The moment the door cracked open, a bone-chilling, marrow-freezing frigid gale roared inward! The wind shrieked like the wails of ten thousand ancient souls, carrying snowflakes as sharp as crystal shards that lashed viciously against the metallic hull. The air was suffocatingly thin, accompanied by a natural magical might heavy as a mountain bearing straight down onto the chest.
Even though the lieutenant colonel and the two escort soldiers had donned thick snow-bear fur cloaks and pre-activated their warming jade talismans, their complexions instantly drained of all color. Their teeth chattered uncontrollably, and their legs trembled, unable to stand steady against the might of heaven and earth.
Yet, the two figures stepping out of the cabin door were as leisurely as if they were strolling through a spring breeze.
Ye Qingyun wore a cloak of immaculate white down, her long, inky black hair cascading down her back, fluttering gently in the wind. Her jade-clear eyes sparkled brightly. When the biting Kunlun frigid wind closed in to within half a foot of her body, the innate Pure Yin ice Qi within her circulated smoothly, transforming the harsh cold current into a soothing, nourishing source. She reached out a slender hand to catch a hexagonal snowflake, her plump red lips curving into a captivating smile:
“An aura of absolute, pristine Ice elements... Untainted by a single speck of mortal distraction. Up here, condensing Ice-element magic energy is at least three times faster than normal.”
Beside her, Lin Feng stepped out with the towering posture of a spear thrust straight into the snowy firmament.
The magical pressure capable of crushing those Intermediate Mages failed to sway him in the slightest. Lin Feng’s physical body had already been tempered through countless bloody battles, fused further with Primordial Dragon Qi embedded deep within every bone marrow. He casually circulated his Lightning and Fire Star Oceans, and a layer of invisible heat instantly enveloped his body within a three-inch radius. The snowflakes dissolved into a wispy mist and vanished before they could even brush against the hem of his black robes.
He drew a deep breath of the freezing air. The moment the cold air touched his chest, it was harmonized by the warm Dragon Flame, converting into a refreshing breath of vitality that left his mind exceptionally lucid.
The aircraft door sealed shut behind them. Lin Feng and Qingyun strode forward side by side along a crude bluestone-paved trail, winding along the edge of a bottomless abyss shrouded in thick clouds and mist.
After walking about three hundred zhang, the stone path led to the base of a towering, sheer limestone cliff.
There, an imposing stone gate standing over ten zhang high materialized before them. Carved directly from a single massive boulder of the mountain, its surface was densely engraved with archaic runes radiating a diamond-like shimmer. Enveloping the entire gate was a transparent, hemispherical magical barrier—the Heavenly Pillar Ancient Barrier.
On either side of the stone gate, atop two snow-covered stone slabs, sat two elderly figures cross-legged in motionless meditation.
They were the two Guardian Elders of the Divine Spring—Peak Super-level powerhouses who had lived in seclusion, guarding the Kunlun forbidden grounds for over a hundred years!
“Swish!”
The elder on the left slowly opened his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, a vast soul pressure akin to collapsing skies and fracturing earth suddenly crashed down upon Lin Feng and Qingyun! The surrounding space seemed to freeze, and the swirling wind and snow in midair locked in place.
The elder spoke in a hoarse, dry voice like grinding stones:
“Kunlun Divine Spring Mountain, the ten-thousand-year forbidden ground of the Divine Continent. Intruders halt!”
The elder’s turbid gaze swept past Qingyun before resting upon Lin Feng, his white brows furrowing slightly:
“The Kunlun Divine Spring is the supreme spiritual vein source of our nation; for the past century, it has been opened solely for Forbidden Curse Supreme Masters or peerless heroes who saved the country. The two of you are under twenty years of age, with cultivation at no more than the Advanced level, and your magic energy has yet to transform into a sea. The Divine Spring’s spiritual fluid is extraordinarily violent; those without sufficient foundation who step inside will instantly have their meridians torn apart and their soul seas explode into ashes! Turn back now, lest greed for momentary gain costs you your lives upon this freezing peak!”
The warning was cold and resolute like a knife striking stone. The two elders, living in seclusion at the snowy summit all their lives and having witnessed countless elite prodigies fall to arrogance, naturally showed no trace of courtesy toward the two youths before them.
Qingyun frowned slightly, stepping forward to explain, but Lin Feng gently raised a hand to stop her.
Facing the Peak Super-level pressure pressing down with the weight of a thousand jun, Lin Feng’s expression remained unchanged. He stepped forward, his spine as straight as a proud pine amidst the snow and frost.
“The two seniors have laid aside worldly affairs, guarding the nation’s dragon vein for a century—this junior holds the utmost respect for you both.” Lin Feng spoke, his resonant, steady voice cutting through the shrieking blizzard: “Yet this journey of ours is undertaken by imperial decree!”
With that, Lin Feng casually flipped his hand.
A hexagonal jade talisman carved with a Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon floated midair. On the talisman’s surface, golden magic seals blazed brilliantly, radiating the supreme sovereign aura of the leader of the Divine Continent’s Forbidden Curse Conference—Xiao Lingyun!
At the same time, to prove his qualifications to enter the Divine Spring, Lin Feng no longer concealed his power.
“Boom!”
The momentum hidden deep within his body erupted! The dark-purple Lightning Star Ocean and the blazing Dragon Flame Fire Ocean roared within his soul sea like pealing thunder. A violent, pure, and ancient aura akin to a waking primordial dragon surged from the youth’s body, condensing into an invisible pillar of gale-force wind shooting straight up into the sky, effortlessly crushing the soul pressure the guardian elder had just unleashed!
The snow flurry surrounding Lin Feng was instantly swept clean within a ten-zhang radius.
“What?!”
The elder on the right, who had kept his eyes closed, snapped them open in shock!
The two Peak Super-level powerhouses stared simultaneously at the floating golden jade talisman, then at the black-robed, purple-trimmed youth with utter astonishment.
The elder on the left tremblingly reached out to receive the jade talisman. As his magic thread touched the golden seal, the confidential message from the Forbidden Curse Conference instantly poured into his consciousness.
The glorious feat of slaying the White-Garbed Cultipont Hierarch Mingsha, pacifying the undead tide and saving millions of lives in Ancient Capital, receiving the Highest Grade Divine Continent Medal... Everything manifested vividly, down to every single detail!
“You... You are Lin Feng?!” The right elder’s voice trembled: “The youth who single-handedly turned the tides in Ancient Capital is you?!”
There was no more doubt, no more detachment of an elder looking at an unknown junior. In the eyes of the two centuries-secluded elders now remained only profound admiration and deep reverence for the hero of the land!
More importantly, the pure Lightning-Fire pressure and robust Dragon Might Lin Feng had just released thoroughly demonstrated his heaven-defying foundation. That physical body and soul far surpassed ordinary Advanced mages, making him fully qualified to receive the baptism of the Kunlun Divine Spring!
“Truly a formidable youth! A once-in-a-millennia peerless talent of our Divine Continent!” The elder on the left respectfully returned the jade talisman, a bright smile breaking across his wrinkled face: “This old man was blind and dull, almost delaying the grand affairs of a national hero! Ancient Capital having you, the country having you—that is boundless fortune! In the past hundred years, no one has been more worthy to enter the Kunlun Divine Spring than you!”
The two elders stood up simultaneously, beginning to weave hand seals.
“Kunlun Open the Seal, Heavenly Pillar Unseal the Path—— OPEN!”
The ground shook violently. The diamond barrier slowly parted to create a passageway, and the thousand-ton stone gate ground open with a deep, rumbling friction. A rich fragrance of vegetation and pure, warm magic energy immediately billowed out from within the cave, completely dispelling the biting cold of the summit.
“Little friend, please enter! The duration of your immersion depends upon your own personal limit. Remember, haste makes waste!”
Lin Feng cupped his fists: “Many thanks, two seniors.”
He turned to look at Qingyun. She smiled gently, her eyes brimming with trust: “Go on in. I will meditate and guard the cave entrance for you.”
Lin Feng nodded, squeezed her hand gently, and resolutely stepped through the ancient stone gate.
The gate closed behind him, completely cutting off the outside world.
The interior of Heavenly Pillar Mountain was not dark at all, illuminated instead by a massive natural white jade formation. The smooth rock walls emitted a pale blue fluorescent glow that cast light upon the gentle slope leading deeper into the mountain’s core. The temperature was as warm as spring, the air infused with the pure fragrance of lotus.
After walking five hundred zhang, the space ahead suddenly opened into a gigantic dome-shaped cavern hundreds of zhang high.
And right in the center of that cavern, the Kunlun Divine Spring appeared like a sacred wonder.
The lake was roughly two hundred zhang wide, its surface as calm as a jade mirror, radiating a mesmerizing five-colored magical glow: azure, green, gold, red, purple... Wisps of delicate jade mist hovered above the lake, winding like fairy silk in midair. At the bottom of the crystal-clear pool, glowing jade veins glittered brilliantly, and streams of pure spiritual fluid filtered over ten millennia bubbled up from the core of Kunlun’s heart.
The concentration of magical energy here was so dense it was nearly liquefied.
Lin Feng took a single deep breath, and every pore in his body vibrated simultaneously. The Primordial Dragon Pendant on his chest emitted warm dark-blue rays of light, humming softly in jubilation.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Feng shed his outer battle robe, revealing a toned physique with tightly coiled muscles like steel cables, and stepped barefoot into the lake.
The cool five-colored spring water brushed against his skin, transmitting a soothing, tingling sensation like a gentle electric current massaging every muscle fiber. He waded deeper until the divine spring water reached his chest, then sat cross-legged upon a flat jade stone at the bottom of the lake, beginning to circulate his meditation technique.
“Boom!”
The moment he closed his eyes, the surface of the Divine Spring rippled slightly before beginning to swirl around his body, forming a gigantic energy vortex!
The divine water carrying ten-millennia spiritual Qi instantly permeated through his skin, flooding every cell, muscle fiber, and blood vessel in Lin Feng’s body.
The process of marrow-cleansing and bone-tempering had begun!
Having undergone countless life-or-death bloody battles from Bian’an to Ancient Capital, though his body was formidable, it inevitably retained residual heterogenous magic energy, deep-seated hidden injuries within the bone marrow, and burnt magical impurities. Yet under the cleansing of the Divine Spring, turbid dark-gray impurities were expelled from every pore of Lin Feng’s body, turning into wisps of gray vapor that evaporated upon touching the water’s surface.
His muscles tightened further, and his bones emitted crisp, resonant cracking sounds as they were purified and reinforced, becoming sturdier and more resilient manifold.
Most notably, all seven hundred and twenty magic aperture points across Lin Feng’s body began to awaken simultaneously!
“Hum... Hum... Hum...”
Each aperture glowed brightly like stars in the night sky! The seven hundred and twenty azure-gold points of light connected via fiery meridian channels, creating a flawless star chart network covering his entire body. His meridians, already vast, were nourished by the spiritual fluid and widened twofold, forming robust, crystal-clear pathways of glazed glass ready to accommodate the most violent surges of magic energy without fear of tearing!
Deep within his soul sea, the space expanded in all directions like an endless micro-universe.
The dark-purple Lightning Star Ocean and the blazing Dragon Flame Fire Ocean surged like a roaring torrent. Each of the three hundred and forty-three star dots of both systems frantically absorbed the Kunlun spiritual fluid pouring down like a torrential rain. The surfaces of the star dots grew increasingly dense and brilliantly luminous, swelling with magic energy to their absolute peak. At the same time, the silver Spatial Nebula and the ash-gray Chaos Nebula at the corners of his soul sea drank in energy until brimming, their star dots spinning wildly like silkworm cocoons about to break through and transform into dragons.
An overwhelming sensation of supreme euphoria surged through his entire body! It felt as weightless as shedding all mortal shackles, every heartbeat echoing with unprecedented, boundless power.
Time inside the jade cavern seemed to stand still. One day, two days, then three days passed...
Lin Feng’s seven hundred and twenty magic apertures had completely unblocked, his meridians were as firm as diamond and stone, and his soul sea had expanded fivefold compared to before!
Just as the cleansing reached its most perfect zenith...
“Boom——!”
A violent tremor suddenly erupted from the deepest recesses of the lake bottom!
The five-colored water surface churned into a massive, bottomless whirlpool. From a geological fracture at the lake bed, an absolute, ancient frigid Qi—hundreds of times colder than the snowy summit outside—suddenly billowed forth!
Amidst the churning, violent vortex of the divine water, an ice-blue rhomboid crystal emitting thousands of strands of divine azure light—the Ten-Thousand-Year Kunlun Ice Core—began to rise from the lake bottom!
At the same time, the Primordial Dragon Pendant on Lin Feng’s chest suddenly burst forth with an ancient dragon roar that shook the soul itself, signaling an earth-shattering transformation about to descend...