The current Dongfang Niemie had become older by a full 20 years. Wrinkles appeared on his face unrestrainedly and the light in his pupils once again became muddy. His hair had already turned completely white and the embroidered gown that he wore also lost its luster, turning back into coarse linen clothing.

“Too astonishing, too astonishing! When I was on the 2nd layer of cleansing marrow and veins, it took a full 4 days and nights. However, you only took a mere 2 hours and the Xuan strength used wasn’t even 1/10th of what I had to used back then. Truly astonishing!”

“Child, I am now faced with a choice; should I continue to cleanse your veins or should I stop?”

“Continue to cleanse your veins? It is very possible that my Xuan strength already is insufficient. If there isn’t enough Xuan strength midway during the cleansing of your veins, then there will be disastrous consequences. Moreover, your body seems to have reached its limit. If I stop cleansing your veins, I will be left over with quite a bit of Xuan strength, but this is too wasteful. I am unwilling! If it is possible to cleanse your veins for the 3rd time, then that is the same as becoming YinYang Sect’s Sovereign a few years earlier, I am truly unwilling!”

“Should I continue? Or should I stop?”

Of course, Yang Dingtian already was unable to give him a reply because he couldn’t even move a finger, let alone speak words. It was so much that he couldn’t even reveal the expression in his eyes.

“The Heavens allowing you to appear before me is for me to create a miracle. I’ll gamble, I’ll stake it all! Let’s continue, even if in any case I am defeated and it comes back to bite me, I also……”

Finally, in a voice full of determination, Dongfang Niemie started Yang Dingtian’s 3rd layer of cleansing marrow and veins.

During the second time, Yang Dingtian’s pain had already at its final limit and Dongfang Niemie aged by several decades, but he still carried on the third time.

The third time, Yang Dingtian completely could not feel the existence of his body. This was an extremely dangerous signal because he couldn’t to feel his hands or feet and 4 limbs. It so much that he couldn’t even feel his own face. Without the sense of sight and hearing, it felt as if he was only a thread of consciousness floating in the middle of a raging inferno and extremely ruthless cold.

Dongfang Niemie was becoming old at a pace that one’s eye could see. His skin wrinkled layer by layer, his body became thinner layer by layer. Although his hair had originally had already turned white, it was still shiny and glossy at the very least. But at this time, it seemed as if his hair was drying up and becoming what it was when Yang Dingtian had just met him at a lightning fast speed.

One hour, two hours, three hours……

The sky darkened and the became bright once more!

A full 20 hours later, the 3rd layer of cleansing marrow and veins was still ongoing. Looking at Dongfang Niemie, he was already as withered as a dried corpse. Compared to his old ash-colored hair in the beginning, he already seemed like a lamp that had its oil dried up. When Yang Dingtian had initially met him, his hair was like dry grass but in any case it was still lush. But now, his ash-colored hair fell onto the ground withered and his shriveled head was only covered by a few strands of hair.

And that gown on his body had become strands of thread.

As for Yang Dingtian, his body had been oozing out black impurities in the beginning, but afterwards the things that seeped out was the color of blood. Finally, it seemed as if all of the blood cells split open on top of his skin in a lattice-like manner. Blood seeped out, causing Yang Dingtian’s body to look as if he had been mutilated.

At this point, Dongfang Niemie’s Xuan strength already filled up to Yang Dingtian’s forehead and the 3rd layer cleansing of the marrow and veins already was completed by 99%. However, Yang Dingtian’s life was already close to death. It seemed that if there was one or two points more of pressure, he would directly burst to death.

But the most fearful thing was that Dongfang Niemie’s Qi Sea had already been cleaned out; there wasn’t even a trace of Xuan Qi within his body.

“Don’t tell me that I will really be failing when the goal’s in sight?” Dongfang Niemie sadly questioned the sky. At first, he had retained a thread of strength to protect Yang Dingtian’s life against the unexpected. However, when the Xuan strength for cleansing marrow and veins was finally not enough, he used up the last reserves of strength. But even so, he was unable to complete the final step of cleansing the veins. The progress stay 1% away from completion and if he stopped right now, Yang Dingtian would die without a doubt.

“Originally I wanted to have a final farewell, but it seems like there won’t be one now.” Dongfang Niemie slowly said.

“Remember, inherit my mantle, carry forward YinYang Sect.”

“Remember, when your strength is high enough, you will be able to see all my secrets in the flame ring on your finger, and know why I was frozen in this glacier thousands of li down.”

“When you are strong enough, go through the road that I have not gone to, and challenge this world’s order, see if there really is this so-called God.”

“Remember, take care of your Master’s wife, take care of your fiancee, my daughter……”

“Remember, don’t let anyone know that you are the Nine Yang Mysterious Vein, not one person……”

“Farewell……”

Dongfang Niemie let out a roar!

“Hong……” A roaring flame burst out from within his body, making his whole body set on fire.

“Hong……” The profound ice cavern suddenly blew up, blue colored rays of light burst forth, as if a gigantic missile exploded within the cavern.

The blue rays of light swept the whole cavern, cause the glittering and translucent cold ice cavern to suddenly crack. The more-than-10-thousand steps stair that Yang Dingtian had made in over a year instantly cracked open.

“Hong……”

Dongfang Niemie was thoroughly annihilated. ¹

An incomparably formidable strength suddenly forced itself into Yang Dingtian’s body, throwing him towards the sky, directly throwing Yang Dingtian up several kilometers high. Not only did he leave the cavern, but he was even thrown a few more kilometers into the air, then he ferociously dropped to the ground.

Simultaneously, the original deep cold ice cavern exploded and completely collapsed, causing a great tide of snow to fill up the hole.

“Quickly go, use your quickest speed to leave this place. My enemies will soon come see me.”

“Child, farewell, carry on my ideal and will and let them continue on in this world……”
Dongfang Niemie’s final words reverberated within Yang Dingtian’s ears! He completely detonated his own Qi Sea in order to help Yang Dingtian finish up the last 1% of cleansing marrow and veins. Then, he thoroughly blew up the ice cavern, while at the same time pushing Yang Dingtian out of the cavern.

“No, NOOO……” A few minutes after he was thrown onto the ground, Yang Dingtian regained the ability to speak and the ability to move, so he desperately crawled towards the collapsed cavern.
At this moment, the cavern had already ceased to exist and was completely buried by snow. All that was visible in the surroundings was the boundless sea of snow.

Dongfang Niemie never intended to leave this place alive and had never thought about letting Yang Dingtian’s painstakingly-made cold ice stair to act out its function. He had already calculated everything at an earlier time; he would use up all of his power to help Yang Dingtian succeed. Although he ignited his own Qi Sea and pushed out his disciple Yang Dingtian, the most important thing was erasing all traces of Yang Dingtian being in this place, so as to avoid having his extremely powerful enemies to discover it.

“NOOOOOOOO……” Yang Dingtian hoarsely yelled. His mind replayed the scene of Dongfang Niemie being annihilated by exploding over and over, Dongfang Niemie’s proud and gentle voice resounding his ears over and over.

For more than a year, being in contact the whole time for more than a year, the old man had long since become the most intimate person with him in this world and his only relative. In Yang Dingtian’s heart, he was not only a strict Master but he was also a kind father. Yang Dingtian’s purpose in going all out to make those cold ice steps, fully making more than 10,000, was to leave the cold ice cavern with the old man on his back some day.

But now……

This close person sacrificed everything, including his life, to help him. He entrusted his whole life’s purpose to him, betrothed his most beloved daughter to him.

Such kindness is greater than the world!

Overwhelming sadness attacked him, but it quickly passed by. Because Master had said his enemies would come very soon to come fulfill the 10-year contract. Despite Yang Dingtian really wanting to know who the enemy was, he was very rational and knew that he should leave and evade the enemy before they came.

Yang Dingtian wiped away his tears, kneeled down in the direction of the caved-in cavern and gave three kowtows.

“Master, sleep in peace. Everything that you’ve said, I will do!”

“I will make myself strong as soon as possible, I will carry forth YinYang Sect, I will take the path that you haven’t, even though I don’t know what kind of path it is. I will slaughter your enemies, even though I don’t know who they are, whether they are male or female.”

“I will make myself formidable enough to challenge this world’s order, see if there is the existence of a so-called God, even though I do not know what you mean by these words.”

“I will take care of Master’s wife, I will protect my future wife, your daughter!”

“I will use my life to fulfill your wishes!”

“Master, goodbye, rest well!”

　　******

Thousands of li of ice and snow no matter which direction one looked. It was all a smooth white landscape as if the world was only 1 color, making one unable to tell the cardinal directions.

Yang Dingtian looked up at the sun in the sky and identified that he was walking eastwards. Actually, he didn’t even know where YinYang Sect was because the final farewell had happened too abruptly, so there was no time for Dongfang Niemie to speak of it. He decided to first find an aggregation of humans, then ask around for the whereabouts of YinYang Sect.

The reason that Yang Dingtian went eastwards was because this direction was closer to a gathering of humans. However, it was still over a full 5,000 li.

Yang Dingtian is currently at this place called Ten Thousand Li Glacier and this is not an exaggeration, it truly does exceed thousands of li. No matter which cardinal direction, it is more than thousands of li. This world is greater than Earth by much and no one knows where this world ends.

And Dongfang Niemie was trapped in a cold ice cavern thousands of li down, trapped very near to the center of this world of ice and snow. The distance to a gathering of humans to the east was about 5,700 li, whereas the direction west was more than 7,000 li.

At this moment, Yang Dingtian only had one Violent Flame Pill on him, which he stuffed into his right ear. He was naked from head to toe, so he could only stuff it into his ear. This Violent Flame Pill could only preserve his life for half a month, thus he must walk this 5,700 li in half a month.

“Master, I’m going……”