Chapter 51 Cold Spring Ice Cave
Wrapped in the Snow Empress’s majestic Soul Power, the one human and two beasts streaked across the grayish-white sky of the Far North, flying rapidly toward the south.
About five hours later, a bluish-gray silhouette appeared on the distant horizon.
The group came to a stop in the outskirts of Dragon City.
The Ice Empress curiously sized up that human city nestled amidst the ice and snow.
"I say, kid," the Ice Empress turned her head and stared at Jiang Bai, her tone laced with suspicion, "you aren’t trying to trick us here so you can gather human experts to surround and kill us, are you?"
Jiang Bai said helplessly, "Do you think that’s possible? If I really wanted to harm you, the first one to die would definitely be me. In front of you two, I wouldn’t even have a chance to struggle with my level of strength. Besides, I’m very afraid of dying."
His tone was sincere, and his gaze was candid.
The Ice Empress stared at him for a few seconds before snorting, which served as an acceptance of his explanation.
Indeed, with her and the Snow Empress’s strength, it would be nearly impossible to keep them there unless the humans deployed several Super Douluos to set an inescapable trap. And this kid named Jiang Bai didn’t look like he had that kind of influence no matter how one looked at him.
"Where exactly is the ice cave you mentioned?" the Snow Empress’s cool voice rang out.
She maintained her composure throughout, but deep within her ice-blue eyes, there was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of anticipation.
Jiang Bai pointed toward Dragon City: "It’s right under this city."
"Underground?" the Ice Empress was puzzled. "How could a Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave appear beneath a human city? Moreover, the temperature here is much higher than in the Far North."
"Precisely because of that, it’s even more hidden and less likely to be discovered," Jiang Bai explained.
A Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave is actually formed bit by bit after mysterious ice is buried deep underground for over ten thousand years and subjected to immense pressure.
Though called ’ten-thousand-year,’ ten thousand years is actually just the starting point.
It must undergo at least several hundred thousand, or even millions of years, and only under a stroke of luck can it possibly form. Dragon City has been built for at most ten thousand years or so; humans have no idea such a Treasure Trove is hidden beneath their feet.
These were all conclusions he had drawn by combining information from the original work with his own deductions.
In the original timeline ten thousand years later, the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave was discovered by Huo Yuhao beneath the Cold Spring of the Earth Dragon Sect in Dragon City.
At this current point in time, the Earth Dragon Sect has not yet been established, but the ice cave should already exist.
After all, the formation of mysterious ice marrow often takes hundreds of thousands or even millions of years; ten thousand years is but a brief moment to them.
As for why he was making a deal with the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress, it was because his current strength was insufficient to support him entering the ice cave.
Furthermore, he wanted to quickly raise a hundred-thousand-year Dragon beast, and relying solely on the Immortal Plants in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was not enough.
He remembered there were about 40 or so stalks of ice marrow in the ice cave.
According to their agreement, he could take more than 10 stalks. With 10 stalks plus an Immortal Plant, the Ice Dragon could rapidly grow into a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
By then, relying on the Ice Dragon alone, he would have a shred of power to protect himself.
Jiang Bai spoke up.
"Snow Empress, your cultivation is the highest and your Mental Energy is the strongest. Can you use your Mental Energy to scan the entirety of Dragon City and its surrounding areas to check if there’s any Cold Spring with an abnormally low temperature? The entrance to the ice cave is likely at the bottom of a Cold Spring somewhere."
The Snow Empress nodded slightly and closed her eyes.
In the next moment, a vast, sea-like Mental Energy spread out silently, covering the entire Dragon City and the surrounding several miles.
After about ten breaths, the Snow Empress opened her eyes.
"There is indeed a Cold Spring with a temperature much lower than the others," she said calmly.
she said calmly.
Jiang Bai felt a surge of joy: "Let’s go take a look."
The Snow Empress didn’t say much. Her Soul Power shield changed direction, and she flew rapidly toward the location she had indicated.
In just a few breaths, they landed on a patch of wasteland in the northwest corner of Dragon City.
This place was sparsely populated, with the ground covered in withered yellow weeds and unthawed patches of snow.
Among a pile of scattered rocks, there was indeed an inconspicuous little spring eye. The spring water appeared deep blue, with thin ice shards floating on the surface. One could feel the bone-chilling cold even standing several meters away.
"It’s here," the Snow Empress confirmed.
"Let’s go down and see." As she spoke, the Soul Power shield contracted, becoming more solid, and then enveloped Jiang Bai and the Ice Empress as she leapt down into the spring eye!
*Plop—*
The moment they entered the water, the bone-chilling cold made Jiang Bai shiver despite being isolated by the Soul Power shield.
The spring water was bottomless and pitch black, with only the faint blue light radiating from the Snow Empress illuminating the surrounding few feet.
They continued to dive deeper, and the surrounding temperature dropped lower and lower.
After diving for an unknown amount of time, there was no longer a trace of light around them. The absolute darkness and silence were enough to strike fear into one’s heart.
If not for the protection of the Snow Empress’s Soul Power shield, the pressure and low temperature of this deep-water environment alone would have been fatal.
Finally, the Snow Empress stopped.
They had reached the bottom of the spring.
The Snow Empress hovered in the water, raised her right hand, and struck out a palm strike with nonchalant ease toward a seemingly ordinary rock wall ahead.
There was no earth-shattering commotion, nor did it even splash much water.
But where the palm force hit, the hard rock wall shattered silently like tofu, revealing a layer of pale blue, semi-transparent light membrane behind it.
"It’s here," the Snow Empress’s voice rang directly in Jiang Bai’s mind. "There is very strong ice-attribute energy inside, very similar to the aura of ten-thousand-year mysterious ice marrow."
She no longer hesitated, and with the Soul Power shield enveloping the two of them, she passed straight through that pale blue light membrane.
The moment they passed through the light membrane, the surrounding pressure and cold suddenly vanished. They had entered a completely different space.
A cave.
A magnificent cave composed entirely of various azure crystals!
The ground, the walls, the ceiling—everywhere the eye could see was filled with crystal-clear azure crystals!
These crystals were of different sizes and various shapes.
The air was permeated with ice-attribute energy pure to the extreme; with every breath, it felt as though one’s Soul was being cleansed.
The temperature was terrifyingly low.
"This is—ice polar god crystals!"
The Ice Empress was the first to cry out in alarm, her eyes full of unbelievable pleasant surprise.
"So many ice polar god crystals! Xue’er, we really found it! ice polar god crystals are an associated mineral of the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave; there must be ten-thousand-year mysterious ice marrow here!"
She excitedly broke free from the Snow Empress’s hand, landed on the ground, and cautiously touched those azure crystals.
A flicker of emotion also flashed through the Snow Empress’s eyes.
She surveyed the surroundings, her beautiful eyes reflecting the dreamlike scenery inside the cave, her face showing a rare and clear look of being moved.
Jiang Bai also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they really found it.
If it had been a wasted trip, given the Ice Empress’s temper, she might have actually chopped him into mincemeat.
"There is an even smaller cave inside."
The Snow Empress suddenly said; her perception was even sharper than the Ice Empress’s.
"The energy fluctuations are coming from over there."
She took the lead and walked toward the depths of the cave. After passing through a narrow passage, the view suddenly opened up.
It was a tiny cave chamber only about ten square meters in size.
But in this small space grew things that made both the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress breathe heavily.
Dozens of ice pillars, white as jade and of varying thicknesses.
Inside these ice pillars, a milky-white liquid flowed slowly and faintly, pulsating as if it were alive.
A terrifying, pure chill radiated from these ice pillars, and even the air seemed to be frozen into a solid ice-blue mist.
ten-thousand-year mysterious ice marrow!