In the end times, many children bring more blessings. I pick up a goddess every day.

There was no scorching heat wave within the red light gate; instead, it was filled with gentle spiritual energy fluctuations, completely different from the raging inferno. The moment Liu Yang stepped into the light gate, the scene before him abruptly changed—no longer a wasteland overflowing with lava, but a stone platform suspended above a sea of ​​clouds. The platform's edges were carved with complete Yin-Yang and Bagua patterns, each pattern flowing with a faint silver light, illuminating the entire space exceptionally brightly.

"Is this the front hall of the core area?" Liu Yang looked around and found a half-person-high stone platform standing in the center of the platform. There were two grooves on the stone platform, the shapes of which perfectly matched the red Yin-Yang Token in his hand and the black Yin-Yang Token of Su Qingyao. Just as he was about to raise his hand to test it, he heard familiar footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he saw Su Qingyao walking out of a blue light gate, tightly clutching a storage bag containing the black Yin-Yang Token in her hand.

"Master!" Su Qingyao rushed forward, her face filled with undisguised joy. "I found the Black Yin-Yang Token. How did things go on your end too?"

"It went fairly smoothly, but the illusion of the Fiery Prison was harder to distinguish than I expected." Liu Yang took the black token handed to him by Su Qingyao and embedded the two tokens into the grooves of the stone platform. In an instant, the Yin-Yang Bagua pattern suddenly lit up, and the silver light spread along the pattern to the entire platform. A semi-transparent light screen slowly rose in the center of the stone platform, and an ancient image appeared in the light screen—it was the white-robed cultivator from the mural.

In the image, a white-robed cultivator sat cross-legged in the center of the altar, with the Ice Thunder Token and two Yin-Yang Tokens floating before him. His voice, carrying the weight of millennia, came through the light screen: "I am the guardian of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison. I left this secret realm only to await those who can control the power of ice and fire and unravel the illusion. The Yin-Yang Tokens, when combined, can unlock the core secret and open the teleportation array to the outside world—but within the secret realm lies the 'Ice and Fire Spirit Core,' formed from my life's cultivation, and also the final restriction protecting the spirit core. You must choose carefully."

As the words fell, the light screen dissipated, and a stone door slowly cracked open behind the stone platform. Soft golden light shone from inside, and various magical artifacts and books could be vaguely seen inside. On the jade platform at the deepest part, a crystal the size of a fist was suspended in mid-air. Half of the crystal was as red as flames, and the other half was as black as ice. It was the Ice and Fire Spirit Core mentioned in the image.

"That's the Ice-Fire Spirit Core?" A look of amazement flashed in Su Qingyao's eyes. She could clearly feel the terrifying energy contained within the spirit core—even a wisp of spiritual power emanating from it made the ice-type spiritual power in her dantian restless, as if it had encountered an attraction from its very source.

Liu Yang did not rush forward, but instead focused his gaze on the stone walls on either side of the stone gate. Several lines of ancient characters were carved on the stone walls, the characters vigorous and powerful, recording the warning left by the guardian: "The spirit core is formed from the essence of ice and fire, and cannot be refined by anyone but a dual-element cultivator. If a single-element cultivator forcibly touches it, at best their spiritual power will be disordered, and at worst their dantian will shatter. Moreover, the spirit core is surrounded by a 'soul restriction,' which must be resisted with a pure mind. If one harbors greed or fear, one will fall into an eternal illusion."

"Master, you cultivate both ice and fire elements, which is perfect for refining this spirit core!" Su Qingyao said excitedly, but then she remembered the warning from the restriction and frowned slightly. "But this soul restriction... will it be as troublesome as the illusion we encountered before?"

“It’s more dangerous than the previous illusion.” Liu Yang gathered a wisp of ice and fire spiritual power at his fingertips and gently touched the edge of the stone door. As soon as the spiritual power touched the air inside the door, it was instantly entangled by an invisible force. He could vaguely see the scene of his past cultivation going mad reflected in the spiritual power—that was the past he least wanted to recall, and also the weakness that was most easily exploited by the restrictions.

He withdrew his spiritual power and took a deep breath: "The soul restriction will amplify the obsessions and fears in one's heart. Once bewitched, one will be trapped in one's own memories. Qingyao, you stay on the stone platform to protect me. If I do not come out within half an hour, use the Ice Lightning Token to strike the Bagua pattern in the center of the stone platform. This should be able to temporarily suppress the restriction."

"Don't worry, Master, I will definitely guard this place!" Su Qingyao immediately gripped the communication jade, retreated to the edge of the stone platform, enveloped herself in ice-type spiritual power, and stared warily at the direction of the stone door—although she could not enter the secret treasure, she could sense the spiritual power fluctuations inside the door, and could trigger emergency measures immediately if anything abnormal occurred.

Liu Yang said no more and stepped through the stone gate. As soon as he entered, the golden light around him suddenly receded, replaced by a chaotic gray space. The ground beneath his feet turned into flowing mist, and a familiar voice could be faintly heard in the distance—the words of his elders from his sect when he first entered the world of cultivation. At that time, he was too eager for quick success and forcibly cultivated high-level techniques, almost ruining his path of cultivation.

"Another illusion." Liu Yang closed his eyes and circulated the Ice and Fire Technique, condensing ice and fire spiritual power into a Tai Chi shape in his dantian to stabilize his mind. He knew that this was the Soul Restriction testing his obsession. As long as he had the slightest regret or resentment towards the past, the illusion would become more real and could even tamper with his memories.

When he opened his eyes again, the gray space had changed to another scene—on the streets of Qingyang City, Zhao Qian was chasing Su Qingyao with his sword. Su Qingyao's spiritual power was almost exhausted, and blood kept flowing from the wound on her arm. She cried out desperately in his direction, "Master, save me!"

"Qingyao!" Liu Yang instinctively rushed forward, the flaming spear at his fingertips already taking shape, but he suddenly stopped just before he could strike. He clearly remembered that Su Qingyao was protecting the Dharma on the stone platform at this moment, and although Zhao Qian's phantom was lifelike, there was no killing intent in his eyes. Instead, it carried a deliberately created "anxiety," which was completely different from the real Zhao Qian.

"A soul-binding restriction that can mimic the aura of others." Liu Yang sneered, raising his hand to disperse the flaming spear, then condensing a stream of ice-elemental spiritual energy, which he flicked gently towards "Su Qingyao." The moment the spiritual energy touched the phantom, the figure vanished like a bubble, and the gray space trembled, revealing the true scene of the hidden secret.

The stone chamber before them was about ten zhang wide, with various books and magical artifacts neatly arranged on the jade shelves on both sides. On the left jade shelf was an ancient book called "The Art of Ice and Fire", and the handwriting on the cover was consistent with the handwriting in the image of the guardian, which was obviously the guardian's lifelong cultivation experience. On the right jade shelf were three magical artifacts: a "Crimson Flame Sword" that could draw flames, a "Mysterious Ice Mirror" that could condense an ice shield, and a "Spiritual Essence Pearl" that could store a large amount of spiritual power.

On the jade platform at the deepest part of the stone chamber, the Ice and Fire Spirit Core was slowly rotating, surrounded by faint ice and fire elemental energies, forming a natural barrier. Liu Yang walked slowly to the jade platform and could clearly feel the immense energy contained within the spirit core—this energy was three times larger than the current capacity of his dantian. If he could successfully refine it, his cultivation would at least break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, and he might even have a chance to touch the threshold of the Golden Core stage.

He didn't touch the spirit core immediately, but instead picked up the "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Technique" from the jade shelf and quickly flipped through it. The ancient book not only recorded the advanced methods of the dual ice and fire cultivation techniques, but also detailed the steps for refining the ice and fire spirit core: one must use one's own ice and fire spiritual power as a guide to first separate the fire essence and the ice essence in the spirit core, then integrate them into the left and right sides of the dantian respectively, and finally use the power of Yin and Yang to fuse the two together to form a new spiritual power cycle.

"I see. If I were to refine it rashly, the ice and fire essences would clash within my dantian, which would damage my meridians." Liu Yang closed the ancient book and put it into his storage bag. Then he picked up the Crimson Flame Sword and the Mystic Ice Mirror—these two magical artifacts could help him control the ice and fire spiritual power, which would be perfect for refining the spirit core.

With everything prepared, Liu Yang sat cross-legged before the jade platform, placing the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Tokens on either side of his knees. The two tokens instantly released gentle spiritual power, resonating with the energy of the spirit core and forming a stable energy field. He took a deep breath, activated the Ice and Fire Technique, gathering fire spiritual power in his left hand and ice spiritual power in his right, while simultaneously reaching towards the spirit core.

The moment the hands touched the spirit core, a violent energy surged into the body—the flame source was as hot as magma, flowing along the meridian in the left hand to the left side of the dantian. Wherever it passed, the meridians felt as if they were being burned by raging fire, sending waves of stinging pain through them; the ice source was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, flowing along the meridian in the right hand to the right side of the dantian, freezing the meridians instantly, almost causing the person to lose consciousness.

"Such powerful primal energy!" Liu Yang gritted his teeth and persevered, holding the Crimson Flame Sword across his left knee and the Mystic Ice Mirror suspended on his right knee. He used the power of the magical artifacts to guide the primal energy—the fiery spiritual energy emitted by the Crimson Flame Sword neutralized the rage of the fiery primal energy, allowing it to slowly settle on the left side of his dantian; the icy spiritual energy released by the Mystic Ice Mirror soothed the extreme cold of the icy primal energy, allowing it to gradually stabilize on the right side of his dantian.

Half an hour passed quietly. Liu Yang's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his face had turned pale due to the depletion of his spiritual energy. However, within his dantian, the source of fire and the source of ice had initially stabilized, each transforming into two small vortexes that slowly rotated. He knew that the most crucial step had arrived—he needed to use the power of the Yin-Yang Token to fuse the two sources together.

He raised his hand and picked up the two Yin-Yang Tokens, pressing them to either side of his dantian. The ancient characters for "Yin-Yang" on the tokens suddenly lit up. The red token drew upon the source of fire, while the black token attracted the source of ice. The two sources slowly converged towards the center of his dantian. Just as they were about to make contact, an even stronger repulsive force suddenly erupted. The source of fire instantly surged, while the source of ice contracted sharply, as if about to clash once more.

"Not good!" Liu Yang's heart tightened. He suddenly remembered the "using the mind as a bridge" mentioned in the "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Technique"—refining the spirit core not only requires the guidance of spiritual power, but also the unity of mind and spirit, abandoning any bias towards the power of ice and fire. He immediately calmed his mind, cleared away all distracting thoughts, and focused only on the word "balance." The ice and fire spiritual power in his dantian also became gentler, no longer deliberately biased towards one side.

Miraculously, as his mind calmed, the repulsive force between the two primal forces gradually weakened. The scorching heat of the flame primal force and the frigid cold of the ice primal force merged, forming a black and white Tai Chi pattern that floated in the center of his dantian. Each rotation of the Tai Chi pattern absorbed a portion of the spiritual core's energy, simultaneously nourishing Liu Yang's meridians and repairing the areas previously damaged by the primal forces.

"Success!" Liu Yang was overjoyed and was about to speed up the refining process when he suddenly sensed an unusual spiritual energy fluctuation coming from the entrance of the stone chamber—it wasn't Su Qingyao's ice-type spiritual energy, but a strange black spiritual energy with a sinister aura, which was trying to break through the restrictions of the stone door!

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the entrance of the stone chamber. He saw that the Yin-Yang patterns on the edge of the stone door were flashing violently, and the originally soft silver light was now flickering. It was clear that an external force was forcibly breaking through the barrier. He subconsciously grasped the communication jade, but found that it did not respond at all—the other party was not only breaking through the barrier, but also setting up an array to isolate spiritual energy, cutting off his connection with Su Qingyao.

"Who is it?" Liu Yang frowned. He was certain that besides him and Su Qingyao, only Zhao Qian and his clansmen knew the entrance to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison. However, Zhao Qian's illusion had already been broken by him in the Fire Prison, and his clansmen had been almost completely killed or injured in the battle of Qingyang City. How could someone else have broken in?

Before he could think further, a sharp crack suddenly came from the stone door. A fissure appeared in the Yin-Yang pattern on the edge, and black spiritual energy surged into the stone chamber through the crack, condensing into a blurry human figure in the air. The figure was surrounded by dense black energy, obscuring its face. One could only sense the cultivation fluctuations emanating from it—it had actually reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm!

"I never expected that after a thousand years, someone would still be able to refine the Ice and Fire Spirit Core." The figure's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, as if countless grains of sand were rubbing against each other. "However, this spirit core should have belonged to me. You, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, are not worthy of possessing it."

Liu Yang instantly grasped the Crimson Flame Sword in his hand, channeling his fiery spiritual power into the blade, causing it to blaze with flames. At the same time, he held the Mystic Ice Mirror in front of him, condensing it into a thick ice shield: "Who are you? How do you know about the existence of the Ice-Fire Spirit Core?"

"I am the 'Shadow Spirit' guarding this place. I was created by the Guardian from his own inner demons, specifically to eliminate outsiders who attempt to steal the secret treasure." The figure sneered, raising his hand to conjure a black claw that reached towards Liu Yang. "Unfortunately, the Guardian underestimated my power. Over the past thousand years, I have long since broken free from his control. Now, all I need to do is seize the spirit core, and I can completely escape this secret realm and dominate the cultivation world!"

The black claws carried an aura of devouring everything; wherever they passed, the air seemed to be torn apart, and even the golden light in the stone chamber dimmed slightly. Liu Yang dared not be careless. He poured some of the ice and fire spiritual power he had just refined into the Crimson Flame Sword, and swung the sword to unleash a sword aura interwoven with ice and fire, colliding with the black claws.

"boom!"

A violent explosion echoed in the stone chamber. The sword energy and claws dissipated simultaneously, and the violent energy slammed into the jade shelves around them, knocking many books and magical artifacts to the ground and shattering them. Liu Yang was thrown back three steps by the shockwave, his chest heaving with blood and qi, while Ying Ling remained unmoved, clearly holding an absolute advantage in cultivation.