Translator: AnubisTL
"A curse mark? No real threat. Is this just to track me?" Li Qing muttered, frowning.
A pitch-black, eerie curse mark flickered faintly on Li Qing's wrist, yet it posed no immediate threat.
Li Qing refined it with his pure mana, but found it utterly irremovable.
His heart sank. He knew he had been marked, allowing the Formless Saint Ancestor to track his location in the future.
After countless futile attempts, Li Qing reluctantly abandoned trying to remove the mark for now, resolving to find a solution later.
The most pressing matter was to mend the demonic realm rift.
"I wonder how True Monarch Tianbao is doing," Li Qing murmured. "The aftershocks of that battle were terrifying. I hope he wasn't caught in the blast."
As he spoke, Li Qing extended his divine sense, sweeping across the ravaged landscape.
He quickly discovered that the Starlight Mending Heaven Formation he had set up earlier had completely collapsed. True Monarch Tianbao's figure had vanished without a trace.
The battle had been earth-shattering, collapsing the ground thousands of feet deep and even shattering a high-grade spiritual vein in the area.
"Senior Limitless! I'm here!"
True Monarch Tianbao, his face pale with fear, spotted Li Qing from afar and immediately flew toward him.
"Fellow Daoist Tianbao, I'm relieved you're safe," Li Qing said, visibly relaxing at the sight of True Monarch Tianbao's survival. "Thank you for guiding the starlight to protect me just now. Otherwise, I fear I would have been trapped in that demonic domain, unable to escape."
"That demon ancestor..."
"He's dead. You need not worry about him anymore. Return to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion as soon as possible and redeploy the Starlight Mending Heaven Formation," Li Qing instructed.
Hearing this, True Monarch Tianbao patted his chest, still shaken. "No need," he replied. "I brought two formation plates and two sets of deployment materials precisely for emergencies like this."
True Monarch Tianbao swiftly began redeploying the formation.
Li Qing nodded in approval and sat down to meditate, focusing on replenishing his mana.
The surrounding spiritual energy was sparse. Even with the frantic refinement of four heavenly spirit fires, it would take considerable time to recover.
Fortunately, with the Formless Saint Ancestor's dao body destroyed, the demonic realm rift had completely stabilized, preventing any further ancient demons from descending to the lower realm.
Li Qing could now safely focus on recovering his mana and healing his injuries. Over the next ten days, he managed to restore barely half of his internal mana.
The demonic realm rift in the sky had been mostly repaired. It seemed that in another ten days or so, it would be completely sealed.
Li Qing, not expecting to fully recover his mana here, temporarily stopped meditating. He retrieved the Annihilation Furnace, preparing to reshape it with the Great Sun Golden Flame.
As long as the thirty-six Gold Flame Marks remained intact, this would be a simple task.
But before he could begin, the temperature plummeted to an unbearable chill, and ice flower inexplicably began to drift down from the sky.
Sensing the anomaly, Li Qing slowly rose to his feet and turned to face the south.
A solitary figure, aloof and otherworldly, drifted slowly toward him. Dressed in pale blue robes, the person exuded an aura of utter detachment, as cold as ten-thousand-year-old black ice.
Yet, it must be said, the person's face was breathtakingly beautiful, a beauty rarely seen in this world. Only their icy demeanor, devoid of any emotional warmth, marred their perfection.
The newcomer glanced at the formation on the ground and the rift in the sky before finally fixing their gaze on Li Qing, saying nothing.
Li Qing felt a faint chill settle upon him, not a sense of immediate danger, but rather the profound mastery of the ice dao radiating from the person's very gaze.
"I am Limitless. Greetings, fellow daoist of the Ice Extremity Palace!"
Li Qing immediately recognized the person's identity: the Palace Master of the Ice Extremity Palace.
The Palace Master pondered for a moment before her ethereal, frost-like voice echoed through the air: "You... are you the one who trespassed into my Ice Palace long ago?"
Li Qing's expression stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected her to remember such ancient history.
Back then, he was only at the core formation realm. He and Shen Ningbing had accidentally stumbled into a crevice in the ice while trying to rescue Ancestor Bing Yun, discovering a magnificent, dreamlike Ice Palace.
Later, an aura within the palace had slowly awakened, terrifying him so much that he fled in panic, not daring to look back.
"It was indeed I," Li Qing said with a wry smile, clasping his hands in a respectful bow. "In my eagerness to save a life, I caused considerable disturbance. I hope fellow daoist will not hold it against me."
"It matters not," the Palace Master replied coolly. "Was a demon ancestor truly present just now? I was slumbering within the Ice Palace when a world-shaking commotion jolted me awake."
Li Qing didn't deny or conceal the truth. "Indeed," he said. "The dao body of the Demon Realm Saint Ancestor descended. I engaged him in a fierce battle and barely managed to kill him."
The Palace Master nodded slowly. Her gaze soon fell upon a dao mark on Li Qing's wrist.
"Hmm? You've been marked by the Demon Realm Saint Ancestor?" the Palace Master of the Ice Extremity Palace murmured, her voice tinged with surprise.
"Indeed," Li Qing replied, his face lighting up with hope. "Fellow daoist, do you know how to dispel it?"
In the next instant, the Palace Master's figure vanished from its spot, transforming into a swirling mist of ice that materialized beside Li Qing.
She grasped Li Qing's wrist, where the demon ancestor curse mark was etched, and examined it intently.
Li Qing felt as if his hand had touched a block of ten-thousand-year-old mystic iceโa temperature utterly unnatural for a living being.
Yet sensing no malice, Li Qing allowed her to continue her inspection.
After a long moment, the Palace Master spoke: "Correct, this is indeed the Saint Ancestor Curse Mark. However, it now serves only as a marker; the curse itself poses no threat."
"Upon your ascension to the spirit realm, you can seek out a great ascension realm cultivator to cleanse this mark."
"Alternatively, you may travel to the Thunderclap Continent in the spirit realm and purify it using thunder tribulation liquid within the thunder pool."
Li Qing was astonished. He hadn't expected the Palace Master of the Ice Extremity Palace to possess such detailed knowledge of the spirit realm, let alone be able to speak so authoritatively about its affairs.
"Fellow Daoist's profound knowledge of the spirit realm fills This Li with admiration. Have you perhaps consulted some classic texts? I too have a keen interest in this subject. Would you be willing to share your insights?"
The Palace Master of the Ice Extremity Palace replied calmly, "I am originally from the spirit realm. What you see before you is merely a manifestation of my daoist art."
"If you wish to inquire about matters related to the spirit realm, offer the Netherworld Cold Fire within your body as payment. I will gladly share all that I know."
This wasn't just asking for a lion's share; it was practically devouring a person whole, bones and all.
For mere information, she was demanding a heavenly spirit fire!
"Heh, I think I'll pass," Li Qing chuckled dryly, politely declining.
The Palace Master continued, "The information I offer encompasses opportunities and secret realms from the spirit realm's past ten thousand years, the customs and cultures of various continents, and essential knowledge for those who ascend to the spirit realm."
"But if you deem it unworthy, then let's forget about it."
(End of the Chapter)
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