The Grand Master Gaojing was almost standing at the pinnacle of mortals, representing one of the most formidable forces among mortals, second only to the Sect Leader.

    As a magician comparable to Grand Master Gaojing, Merlin's recent spell "The Gathering of the Goddesses' Twilight," the resulting commotion, was majestic and awe-inspiring.

    However, at that moment, a new commotion emerged from the surface of the day and moon-spring water.

    After a few exchanges between Chen Yun and Merlin, it seemed as though Chen Yun had been "forced into a corner," and was left with no choice but to place all of his hopes on the Ice Ring artifact.

    The crowd saw the night gradually envelop the sky, the water flow surging like an ocean of day and moon spring, and suddenly congealed ice crystals over an area of several hundred miles.

    These ice crystals, like the tide in the sea, burst out from Chen Yun's left wrist wearing the Ice Ring and holding the Golden Sword of Chopping Demons instantaneously, surging furiously towards the sky.

    A terrifying coldness spread instantly. Though it had not yet reached the tens of thousands of meters in the sky, Merlin, hiding among the clouds, still felt a shivering sensation of extreme cold as if this intense coldness could penetrate even his defensive magic. He judged at the first moment that if he were truly struck by this frozen qi, he would surely be frozen into an ice sculpture!

    This was Merlin's reaction at a height of tens of thousands of meters in the sky.

    In reality, the commotion of day and moon spring water was even more terrifying and vast.

    Merlin heard a rapid rumbling sound coming from below, echoing from the surging ice crystals.

    Boom-boom.

    The rumbling sound became increasingly loud.

    Gradually, it seems as if the earth and heaven are all resounding with angry roars.

    Following that, there was a tremendous "crack!" as a loud explosion suddenly boomed in the heavens and earth.

    Merlin witnessed a scene of sheer terror.

    Perhaps because the intense coldness of the Ice Ring artifact was too overwhelming, the day and moon spring water froze into an infinite sea of ice crystals, spreading an unceasing coldness. Moreover, the water flow driven by the cold air soared to incredibly high skies and formed almost a half-covering sky "ice mountain."

    This ice mountain was enormous, emitting a milky white glow that soared into the clouds.

    However, the massive mountain formed by accumulated ice and snow did not last long; it collapsed instantly!

    Just like the collapse of the mountain of the Imperfection!

    Following that, the snow in the sky and the accumulated ice suddenly collapsed, rolling snow dust, with an imposing momentum seemingly flying towards the sky.

    Merlin saw a streak of "white light" plummeting vertically from the sky, as if a massive wave during the rising tide had surged up into the heavens, engulfing everything.

    This "white line" swept across the sky as it fell, growing larger and larger, until it was almost everywhere, rolling and tumultuous.

    The sun in the sky was obscured by the "white mist."

    Darkness shrouded the sky at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters.

    "White mist rolls," giving the feeling that it might collapse at any moment, causing an overwhelming sense of oppression!

    In fact, Merlin knew from observing this scene that the "white mist" had already collapsed and surged forward!

    As expected, within a moment, the "white tsunami" in the sky was as if the Milky Way had snapped, with ferocious waves rolling down uncontrollably, much like the Yellow River's water coming from heaven, instantly enveloping everything in the world. Even the air became icy and sticky.

    A single breath brought a chill that pierced the lungs.

    The surroundings were pitch black and dense, with no light to be seen. The coldness was overwhelming, and wherever the "white tsunami" had spread over the earth, both the turbulent water currents and already cooked fish bodies were ground to dust and swept up in it.

    Seeing this, Merlin couldn't help but secretly tremble in his heart, thinking that Chen Yun was a madman who didn't care about the lives of his comrades at all.

    With the immense power released, a large area of the day and moon spring water had frozen into ice. Could Wu Kejiu, Qin Ming, Longnu Sanjiu, and others have any hope of survival?

    Unfortunately, at this moment, the coldness was confusing and the ice crystals were floating, making the freezing qi almost cover all other energy fluctuations. As a result, Merlin failed to notice that amidst the extreme coldness, the colorful clouds of light and the purple mist were still weakly circulating.

    Similarly, he did not notice that Chen Yun, who had nothing in his hands, had somehow managed to pull out the Golden Sword of Chopping Demons at some point.

    Of course, the reason for not noticing is not only because the Ice Ring artifact released an endless amount of power.

    Another major reason is that Merlin has finally "fooled" Chen Yun into using the most powerful power of the Ice Ring artifact!

    At this moment, Merlin was overjoyed. He knew that Chen Yun's pure and fiery true qi within his body must have been entirely absorbed into the Ice Ring artifact, otherwise such immense power could not have been released.

    And his plan was successful!

    Seeing the avalanche of snow and ice rushing down from the sky at an incredible speed, Merlin's eyes suddenly widened, as if he had fallen into a state of stupor.

    However, if a "refining the spirit" master had been watching the battle beside him, they would definitely have noticed that a powerful "spiritual force" was emanating from Merlin's head.

    This "spiritual force" cannot be seen with the naked eye, but it is still very much real.

    It penetrated Chen Yun's crow gate at a speed that exceeds the limit of any material in the world, enveloping his head, and seemingly like a layer of plastic film.

    That's right, Merlin had long known that Chen Yun possessed a pure and fiery true qi within his body. Normally, spiritual force would find it difficult to penetrate it; otherwise, it might be dissolved upon touching his protective true qi, potentially leading to a backlash against his own spiritual force.

    Therefore, he wanted to trick Chen Yun into mobilizing all of his true qi and leaving his body. Only in this way could spiritual force invade, thereby completely destroying Chen Yun's "soul," pulverizing his essence and completely taking over this body that is immune to knives, swords, water, and fire!

    ...

    The head has nine palaces, corresponding to nine heavens. The middle palace is called the "Mudan," also known as "Zhuangting," "Kunlun," or "Tiangu." Its name is quite varied.

    The "Huangting Neijing" states, "In the Mudan Palace, there are nine truths each with its own room. They are square and round, just one inch in size in this center," and "The Nine Yuan Mountains are so splendid. In the middle there is a true being that can be made to command."

    The book records: "The path of immortality lies in the meditation on the nine truths within the Mudan Palace," and it is also said, "The brain has nine divisions, and each room is one inch in size."

    The book's "nine truths" refer to: High Truth, Heavenly Truth, Divine Truth, Upper Truth, Mysterious Truth, Immortal Truth, Void Truth, Supreme Truth, and Incomparable Truth.

    Mudan is the abode of deities.

    To seize a body or destroy a person's "soul," taking action from the Mudan is the most secure approach.

    Although Merlin had not learned Daoist knowledge, many cultivation methods are interconnected. Among them, spiritual force is the most important aspect of cultivating magic.

    Of course, he knew the importance of "Mudan." Taking advantage of the moment when Chen Yun mobilized all his true qi and exerted his full power with the Ice Ring artifact, Merlin's spiritual force invaded it!

    Within Chen Yun's Mudan Palace.

    Merlin's spiritual force, as soon as it invaded, took on the appearance of a "real" body.

    Its appearance was completely different from what the outside world saw of Merlin, but it was exactly the same as the "spirit of the artifact" within the magic staff.

    At this moment, Merlin was looking at the "god" in front of him with a mischievous smile, filled with an aura of malice: "Youngster, I didn't expect you to have cultivated spiritual force. It seems quite impressive."

    This "spirit" with a "dense darkness" was precisely Chen Yun's cultivated "Yin God."

    He didn't expect Merlin's spiritual force to invade his territory, showing a look of panic and terror: "Who are you? Why are you appearing in my Mudan Palace?"

    "Who am I? Why am I in your Mudan? Hahaha," Merlin laughed maniacally upon hearing this, "You ask who I am? I am Merlin, the one whose physical body was shattered by you guys and whose true soul has been lurking within the magic staff all this time!"

    Chen Yun looked shocked and shouted in disbelief: "Impossible! A person's body has no soul, how can they live?"

    "Of course, normal humans cannot do so," Merlin felt confident in his victory and even took delight in giving Chen Yun "science education": "Unfortunately, I am not a normal human. My true identity is a witch demon. You might not know what a witch demon is, but it is a great masterpiece. The soul can be housed in a special magic container, which allows for infinite life and even the ability to be resurrected from the dead after the body has been destroyed. My soul is precisely housed within the magic staff that you have seized."

    At this point, he couldn't help but pridefully and also with a sigh, "If it hadn't been for you taking the magic staff that houses my soul, perhaps I wouldn't have necessarily followed after all the way to take your lives. It's all because of that magic staff you took."

    Originally still with a terrified expression, Chen Yun suddenly laughed, "Oh? I see. I understand now. I finally understand."

    "Understand?” Merlin sneered, “But it's too late for you to understand!"

    With that, Merlin's body transformed into a massive net, enveloping Chen Yun's Yin spirit completely.

    The terrifying force surged, tearing Chen Yun's Yin spirit into countless fragments and causing them to fall!

    It seemed that, in this moment, Chen Yun had already been completely pulverized and had lost his essence!

    At least in Merlin's eyes, Chen Yun's Yin spirit had been completely ground into dust and his soul had been thoroughly shattered.

    However, Merlin had not noticed that after Chen Yun's Yin spirit was shattered, a part of it instantly merged into a certain location within the Mudan Palace, while another part flowed into his body.

    Yes, at this moment, Merlin's attention was fully on controlling this body, leaving no room for anything else.

    After shattering Chen Yun's Yin spirit, Merlin's spiritual force spread throughout the Huangting, trying to control this powerful body.

    A thing that puzzles Merlin occurred.

    He tried for a long while, but he could not control the body.

    It's not just about not being able to control it.

    He had a feeling that there was a powerful force watching him.

    Merlin was taken aback and murmured to himself, "What's going on?"

    In the next second, a voice came from the void, which should have been Chen Yun's soul long ago: "What's going on? Thank you for speaking up!"

    Merlin was terrified, "You're not dead?"

    Chen Yun's disdainful voice echoed, "Can your evil cultivation spiritual force possibly destroy my soul, which is a person adhering to the legitimate Taoist magical arts?"

    Merlin couldn't believe it, "Impossible! Impossible! Your soul has been completely shattered by me, how can you possibly not die? And what does it mean when you say you need to thank me?"

    Unfortunately, this time, Chen Yun did not respond at all.

    Once upon a time, Lu Dongbin asked Zhongli Quan about whether one could cultivate their Yin spirit into a Yang spirit.

    Zhongli Quan replied: Yes, those who pursue immortality are unwilling to be content with merely achieving small accomplishments. They must continue to cultivate their Yin spirit once it has been released, destroying its original form, pouring it down into a golden cauldron and jade furnace, and rekindling the fire. When the fire reaches adequate intensity, naturally the Yin will dissipate and Yang will prevail, with the true immortal manifesting.

    Chen Yun had previously cultivated his Yin spirit, but he was uncertain whether to smash it or not. After all, he wanted to truly cultivate his Yang spirit.

    However, considering his current level of cultivation, self-destructing his Yin spirit was still a bit challenging.

    Therefore, he had not acted on it.

    Now that Merlin has used his powerful spiritual force to smash Chen Yun's Yin spirit, he can say he has done a great favor!

    Chen Yun no longer had to worry about the Yin or Yin spirit. He could focus entirely on cultivating Yang spirit!

    (Chapter ends)

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