Stepping into the Xieshan Icefield, silvery snowflakes flutter down, seemingly dividing the same land into two worlds: one side frozen solid, the other lush and green.
The biting wind blew the snowflakes into a chaotic pattern, drawing streaks of white across the sky.
The slope of the Xieshan Icefield is not steep, but it stretches endlessly upwards until it meets the sky, and no one knows where it ends.
Walking through it, the only sounds are the soft crunch of footsteps on the snow and the quiet sound of snowflakes falling. The vast expanse of white evokes a sense of loneliness.
Shen Sangruo covered himself with spiritual power to protect himself from the cold wind and struggled up the slope.
The Xieshan Icefield is divided into three parts based on its altitude: upper, middle, and lower.
The lower part is simply snowing, with fluffy snow covering the ground; but in the middle part, blizzards occasionally occur, and the snow on the ground continues to accumulate and freeze into a thick layer of ice.
The upper part was hit by constant blizzards, with goose feather-like snow obstructing the view to almost zero visibility. It was easy to be buried in the snow or slip and roll down the slope.
What she was certain of was that the icy cave was located in the upper-middle part of the Sloping Mountain Icefield.
In her previous life, she had heard that the Xieshan Ice Plain had a source from which all the power of ice and snow originated. Initially, only a small area was covered by ice and snow, but as the ice and snow continued to spread, it eventually formed the boundless Xieshan Ice Plain that exists today.
Perhaps the icy cave she is looking for is the source of the entire Xieshan Icefield.
This narrowed down her search area considerably, allowing her to look for places where the coldness far exceeded that of the surrounding area.
However, ice and snow are inherently incompatible with Shen Sangruo's fire-type spiritual power, making this a rather difficult task for her.
She squinted, her eyes filled with determination, and the spiritual energy covering her body emitted a faint yet resilient fiery red light as she steadily moved forward through the endless ice plains.
As Shen Sanruo walked, she compared and felt the subtle differences in temperature on the ice field, and then walked towards the area with even lower temperatures.
Besides the ice spirit root, the fire spirit root, which is the opposite of ice, is the most sensitive to low temperatures.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, she arrived at the middle of the Xieshan Ice Plain.
The red light emanating from her body grew even weaker, and the extreme low temperature around her almost completely swallowed up the heat emanating from her spiritual power.
Although the chill gradually pierced through her barrier, causing her to shiver, it also meant that she might be getting closer to the source of the Xieshan Icefield.
Suddenly, a small hill-like protrusion appeared in her line of sight, which appeared to be less than a meter high.
The low, protruding mound covered the snow and blended seamlessly with the surrounding white landscape. Had she not been observing with intense concentration, she probably would have missed it.
A look of surprise appeared in her eyes. Ignoring the sudden drop in temperature, she quickly ran towards the inconspicuous protrusion.
——
A team led by disciples of the Flying Cloud Sect.
The group was also heading towards the middle of the Xieshan Icefield.
The millennia-old ice they need to collect can only form in the central region.
For safety reasons, they only stayed at the boundary between the lower and middle sections.
Further up, not to mention the danger, the pervasive chill was unbearable for many disciples.
For Luo Chu, who was in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, the task of collecting the millennium-old ice was extremely simple.
He originally joined the team to protect Bai Mumu, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he had collected all the millennium ice that the two of them needed.
Meanwhile, the other disciples were still slowly gathering.
"Junior Sister, how are you feeling? Are you feeling unwell?" Luo Chu asked Bai Mumu, whose nose was slightly red. Her voice was full of concern.
Bai Mumu pulled her cloak tighter around herself, her face flushed. "I'm fine, Fourth Senior Brother. After breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, I'm much more used to ice and snow."
"Oh." Luo Chu looked thoughtful as he glanced at the disciples who were still collecting the millennium-old ice. "They don't know how much longer they'll have to dig."
"It might take another day or two," Bai Mumu said, going along with his words. "Fourth Senior Brother is really amazing; he completed the task in the blink of an eye."
"Of course." Luo Chu tilted her head back proudly, thoroughly enjoying the flattery.
After his boastful remarks, Luo Chu changed the subject, "However, it would be too boring for us to just watch like this for the next two days."
"How about your fourth senior brother takes you to see other places?"
Luo Chu was a playful person by nature. Wherever he went, he would curiously look around and look for some new and interesting things.
With such a vast expanse of sloping mountain ice plains before him, he was naturally unwilling to be confined to such a simple and boring task.
Bai Mumu wanted to improve her relationship with Luo Chu as soon as possible, so she readily agreed to do whatever Luo Chu wanted.
"Since Fourth Senior Brother has extended such a warm invitation, then Mu Mu will respectfully accept."
The two secretly left the Flying Cloud Sect's group and headed towards the central part of the Sloping Mountain Ice Plain.
——
If Shen Sangruo successfully reached the small hill, she would take a handful of Rejuvenation Pills to restore her nearly depleted spiritual power.
Then he unleashed a fiery whirlwind, melting all the snow on the hill and revealing the glistening ice beneath.
Without saying a word, she lit a flame in her hand and began to melt the ice.
At this moment, she was extremely grateful that she had a fire elemental root; otherwise, she would have lost half her life just to get rid of this layer of ice.
Perhaps due to the abundant cold air, the ice here is harder than ice in other places.
To conserve her spiritual energy, she only melted a passageway large enough for one person to pass through.
After melting down hundreds of meters, Shen Sang felt as if she were inside a block of ice. She swallowed one Spirit Recovery Pill after another, gritting her teeth and refusing to stop even as her body was being eroded by the cold during her cultivation.
The spiritual energy in the dantian and meridians was constantly being drained and then quickly replenished.
With such intensity, if she hadn't undergone tempering, she probably would have exploded and died long ago.
We've found it! We're almost there!
Shen Sanruo bit her lip hard.
Finally, the last block of ice shattered, and she lost her footing, falling into a cave no bigger than a room.
The ancient, frozen cave has been found!
But before she could rejoice, a bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped her, as if invisible icicles were constantly piercing her body.
Even though she mobilized all her spiritual energy to ward off the cold, it was to no avail.
My body temperature is dropping rapidly!
How could a mere mid-stage Golden Core cultivator like her withstand ice that had been frozen for tens of thousands of years?
If she stayed here for just fifteen minutes, she would be completely frozen into an ice block.
Given the dire situation, Shen Sangruo must find the Snow Soul Ice Heart Lotus as soon as possible, or she too will perish here.
Her limbs were already stiff, and every step she took brought excruciating pain. She endured the pain and began searching in the cave.
Fortunately, the ice cave was not large, and she quickly found a lotus flower on the ice wall of the cave.
To be precise, it is a lotus shape formed from condensed ice crystals, not a living spiritual plant.
However, the temperature here is so low that there is no dew on the Snow Soul Ice Lotus.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
