Practice begins with immortality

"What's going on?" The atmosphere in the palace suddenly became tense. Leng Yuan sat upright on the throne, his face gloomy as water. He stared down with a sharp gaze and asked sternly, "Why did the ship suddenly stop?"

Then, a man in a black robe quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and respectfully replied, "Report! Your Highness, we have continued on our journey and have now entered a mysterious and unexplored area. The magnetic field here is extremely strange, as if controlled by some powerful force, and there is also an unfathomable force that is constantly interfering with our spiritual thoughts."

Then, "Not only that, under the influence of this mysterious power, the soldiers whose five senses were previously blocked have also had their spells lifted and their normal perceptions restored."

"Oh? Such a situation would actually occur..." Hearing this, Leng Yuan frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and slowly said, "So that's how it is. It seems that a large amount of soul power is converging here."

After a moment of contemplation, Leng Yuan suddenly stood up, put his hands behind his back, and shouted an order: "In this case, pass on my order, all personnel immediately disembark and stand by! During this period, no one is allowed to act without authorization, let alone cause any disturbance! Anyone who violates this will be killed without mercy, immediately executed!"

"Yes!" The black-robed man heard this, not daring to be negligent. After a single word of agreement, he vanished from the spot in an instant, going to convey Leng Yuan's order. The entire palace fell into a dead silence once again, with only Leng Yuan left. Then, Leng Yuan actually chuckled.

"It's well worth my efforts, especially spending a fortune to find a True Immortal who practices cause and effect divination. A powerful Dao life is indeed being nurtured in this snowy plain. I believe my ancestor also achieved a breakthrough by refining a powerful Dao life. And a million years later, another Dao life of the third calamity has been nurtured in this snowy plain. This is truly..."

"But it looks like it's still a little short of cooked. I need to prepare some 'food' for it."

"These soldiers, with the exception of a few, are mostly worthless. Moreover, sooner or later they will die on the battlefield. Since they are all dead, it would be better for them to be used by the king rather than return to the underworld. That would also be—"

"A worthy death!"

..................................

"Come down, all of you!"

On the deck, dozens of men dressed as guards shouted, "The prince has ordered you to march north!"

"Don't ask why, that's confidential! If you do this operation well, there will be a huge reward. If you don't do it well, hehe..."

"So mysterious, they didn't tell us why, and they blocked our five senses when they came..." a soldier muttered in his heart.

And somewhere these people couldn't perceive, someone was watching them.

In the sky, the white-haired old man said disdainfully: "You little brat who thinks you have everything under control, and a bunch of ants who are about to die."

"If you hadn't recognized my scent, you would have spotted me the moment I got close. Otherwise, I would have found you long ago after knowing your whereabouts. Why would I have used this little brat to get close to you?!"

"But, big brother, we haven't seen each other for many years, and I still miss you very much! In this case——"

"Brother, how about I add some 'seasoning' to your 'food'?"

Before he finished speaking, a formless aura emerged from the white-haired old man and instantly spread and took root in the soldiers. The soldiers felt as if they were being blown by something.

"Then we just have to wait for the show to begin!"

...............................

Half an hour later, "Report, according to the scouts, we'll see a huge pit after marching another thousand miles. There's a heavy snowstorm all around, but there's no chill in the pit at all!"

"Okay, let's set up camp there today!"

…………

Another half hour passed and the vanguard had arrived at the ice pit.

"Some people have come, quite a few."

At the bottom of the ice pit, a humanoid creature with azure body opened its eyes and whispered, "What a familiar smell."

"It seems that among those who came is a direct blood relative of mine from when I was still a human. Given this relationship, I have to let him go, otherwise I wouldn't be staying in this snowy plain. But——"

It licked its lips and said, "I won't be polite to these thousands of immortals and some first-level immortals!"

Before he finished speaking, he saw its figure flash and it actually passed through the thick and hard black ice and came directly to the ice pit.

"What is that—"

Before these people could finish their words, the thing in the air opened its mouth and sucked. The next moment, those people's bodies were shattered, and their cultivation and souls were swallowed up.

"Huh." The thing in mid-air exhaled slowly and said happily, "This Ice Soul Spirit is indeed the aura of the Nine Tribulations Ice Soul Dao master. It is truly blessed by nature!"

"His potential is no less than that of the fourth calamity, and he also has the ability to absorb the true spirit of others! Really—"

Its brows, which had been relaxed, suddenly furrowed tightly. A look of deep disbelief crossed its face, and a low roar escaped from its throat unconsciously: "What...what's going on? These people are actually...poisonous!"

"Hahaha, big brother, this is not an ordinary poison. This is the soul poison that I specially went to the Six Desires Heaven Sect and spent a huge amount of money to buy! This poison is invisible and specifically corrodes the immortal soul. Once poisoned, the effect can be said to be immediate!" Accompanied by a burst of triumphant laughter, the white-haired old man suddenly appeared in front of him like a ghost. He looked at it with a sarcastic face and said.

Its eyes widened as it stared at the uninvited guest, sparks of shock and anger flickering in them. "It's you?! Not an illusion, not a phantom. You... you're actually still alive?! Back then, I personally threw you into that spatial torrent. Logically, you had no chance of survival, yet now, not only are you safe and sound, you've even successfully broken through to the Three Tribulations Realm like me?"

The white-haired old man sneered, his eyes revealing endless resentment. "Hmph, but that's the truth. Speaking of which, I never expected that back in that mysterious secret realm, as my dear elder brother, you would take advantage of me wholeheartedly accepting the inheritance and attack me with such cruelty!"

"I am your biological brother from the same mother!"

"Brothers? Screw it! You and I are clearly equally talented, but because of some bullshit luck and fate, you've had far more resources than me since childhood, and you've always been the one to outdo me!"

"When I go exploring secret realms with you, I always end up covered in wounds, but in the end, I can only take the scraps you leave behind. Why? Am I inferior to you in that respect?!"

"What a lucky person you are! Didn't you almost die in my hands in the end? Now I can see clearly that you only have the power of the Three Tribulations but not the real Three Tribulations!"

"You jumped out today, just in time for me to finish you off!"