Super Gene Hunting Ground

The old man smiled faintly and said:

"The core secret of the ice lake, no one knows. No one has ever entered the core of the ice lake, but someone once started from this boundary line and walked inward for three hundred meters. This is a limit that no one has surpassed so far."

"Who walked three hundred meters inward?"

"Thanos Saint."

"Ah?"

Yang Xiao was very surprised. He did not expect that Thanos Saint had also cultivated in the Ice Lake Purgatory and was the creator of the records here.

Yang Xiao approached the old man and said:

"Senior, could you tell me the story of Thanos Saint in the ice lake?"

The old man looked at Yang Xiao and nodded.

"Five hundred years ago, Thanos Saint was cultivating at Shendu College, reaching the Emperor Level Peak Realm. In order to break through to Saint Level Supreme sooner, he entered the place ahead."

The old man paused here and suddenly asked Yang Xiao,

"Little kid, do you know what an ice worm is?"

"Didn’t you just say that ice worms are demon beasts?"

"Hehe!"

The old man smiled slightly and said,

"Try going over there and catch an ice worm, but don’t go too far."

Yang Xiao was startled, stood up, and prepared to cross the boundary line.

Beside him, Xiao Qingliu anxiously said:

"Yang Xiao, be careful."

The old man laughed:

"Don’t worry, there’s no danger within a short distance."

Yang Xiao concentrated, held his breath, and stepped over the boundary line, walking inward.

After walking only a few meters, he felt the Extreme Cold Energy here had greatly increased. Despite using his Genetic Defense Ability to resist the cold, he still felt cold all over.

The cold pierced his body’s defense layer, like steel needles piercing the skin, slowly infiltrating the body.

Yang Xiao shuddered and felt a twitch.

"Whoosh!"

A three or four-centimeter long, jade-white and semi-transparent ice worm suddenly flew towards Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao instantly felt a powerful Killing Aura.

His intuition told him this was definitely not an ordinary insect. Calling it a demon beast would not be exaggerating—such a powerful Killing Aura that even ordinary Emperor Level Realm demon beasts cannot produce.

Yang Xiao reached out his hand to grab the ice worm.

From afar, the old man watched Yang Xiao with slightly tense expression.

Xiao Qingliu suddenly took out the Ice Soul Sword from her Space Ring, ready to rush over at any moment.

Yang Xiao saw the ice worm enter the range of his palm, immediately closed his palm, and caught the ice worm.

"Snap!"

A soft sound, and the ice worm exploded instantly.

Yang Xiao immediately felt a bone-chilling cold in his right hand, and his entire right hand along with his forearm lost sensation.

A stream of Extreme Cold Energy entered his body along his arm.

Yang Xiao almost froze on the spot.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, instantly activating a force of protective energy within himself. It counterattacked the Extreme Cold Energy, especially the three Divine Beast Totem within his body, which shone brightly. The Evolution Energy Ocean heated up as a warm flow rushed throughout his body.

Yang Xiao performed Instantaneous Movement and retreated to the other side of the boundary line.

Xiao Qingliu quickly supported Yang Xiao and asked nervously:

"Yang Xiao, are you alright?"

Yang Xiao’s entire right arm was like an ice sculpture, covered with a thick layer of ice.

The white-haired old man glanced over and said:

"Don’t worry, just give him an Essence Blood Pill."

Xiao Qingliu took out an Essence Blood Pill, about to feed it to Yang Xiao, when a surge of heat within Yang Xiao’s body suddenly rushed to his right arm. Instantly, the ice covering his right arm shattered with a "crack," evaporated, and disappeared.

The white-haired old man’s expression changed, "Eh?" He looked at Yang Xiao, full of shock.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, once again using his Divine Sense to guide the warm flow of the Energy Sea through his body. The Extreme Cold Energy within his body disappeared completely.

"Little kid, what is your Realm, actually?"

"Emperor Middle Level Realm, haven’t broken through to Emperor Level Advanced Realm yet."

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The old man listened and said in astonishment:

"Impossible. You just used your own strength to easily break through the ice worm’s extreme cold attack. Without Emperor Level Advanced Realm Cultivation, it’s impossible."

"Impossible?"

The white-haired old man was very puzzled.

Xiao Qingliu asked,

"Senior, why do you say that?"

"I’ve been here for over a hundred years and have never seen anyone below Emperor Level Advanced Realm combat the ice worm’s cold attack so quickly. You’re the first."

Yang Xiao returned to the old man’s side, looking at his right hand, remembering the ice worm’s attack, and asked,

"Senior, the ice worm’s attack is very strange."

"Hehe, tell me, what is strange about it?"

"The attack of the ice worm is not a simple attack. When the ice worm exploded, I felt a Genetic Evolution energy enter my body. However, this energy was extremely cold, almost killing me. It’s very terrifying."

"Hmm, you are right. In fact, these ice worms have lived in the Ice Lake Purgatory for hundreds of years, consistently absorbing the Evolution Energy here. Over time, the ice worms themselves become a powerful Evolution Energy-containing entity.

An ice worm contains as much power as ten days of practice here."

"Ah, so powerful?"

The old man smiled slightly,

"Evolvers above Emperor Level Advanced Realm can directly utilize the ability of these ice worms—such as consuming them—to convert the ice worm’s power into one’s own energy.

In those days, Thanos Saint was eager for quick success and just wanted to break through to Saint Level Supreme quickly. He consumed a large number of ice worms inside, and later encountered a larger ice layer, and was nearly killed by the terrifying energy backlash of the large ice worms."

"Ah, so that’s what happened."

Yang Xiao thought for a moment and asked,

"Then what happened afterward? How did Thanos Saint deal with the backlash from the ice worms?"

"Thanos Saint was left with a condition where he felt cold all over and entered a frozen state periodically. He later repeatedly seized the bodies of three geniuses before gradually resolving this lingering issue."

Yang Xiao finally understood why Thanos Saint hadn’t personally attacked Witch Star. It turned out he was dealing with the aftermath of the ice worm backlash, continuously healing this condition.

The old man said this and suddenly flashed, elegantly drifting several dozen meters into the boundary line, grasping an ice worm quickly and putting it into his mouth, then retreated swiftly to his original place, closing his eyes for Cultivation.

Yang Xiao glanced over and saw the old man’s entire face covered with a layer of ice, his complexion pale.

Obviously, forcibly consuming ice worms is a very painful process.

Yang Xiao suddenly had a thought, flashed past the boundary line, grabbed an ice worm, then did an Instantaneous Movement, returning to his original spot to sit down.

"Snap!"

A soft sound, the ice worm in his right hand exploded, Yang Xiao’s entire fist and arm instantly froze, and the surrounding temperature dropped by several dozen degrees.