He sheathed the Splendor of Frosted Prosperity sword. Most of its gilded surface had peeled away, and all embedded gemstones were shattered—it had completely degenerated into little more than mundane iron. Even so, in the battle just now, this sword had rendered invaluable service.
Stepping before the Ice Marrow, bone-chilling cold surged toward him. The glassy liquid mass rotated of its own accord, golden motes within flickering like distant stars.
Yun Che produced three specially prepared cold-jade bottles and carefully guided the Ice Marrow using the Minor Luring Art. The Ice Marrow seemed to possess a faint sentience, resisting for an instant, but was ultimately drawn in little by little.
Each bottle was filled only halfway. Combined, the three bottles held no more than one-third of the entire Ice Marrow mass.
“That is sufficient,” Li Han said. “Taking more would bring no benefit and would instead damage the balance of this ice vein. Leave seventy percent here—given several hundred or a thousand years, it may regenerate.”
Yun Che sealed the bottles and was about to depart when his gaze suddenly paused.
At the base of one ice pillar, half-buried beneath the ice, a corner of a dark red leather scroll was exposed.
He brushed away the ice shards and retrieved it. The material was neither paper nor silk—warm to the touch and faintly pulsing with a weak fire-aspected spiritual fluctuation.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Unrolling the scroll, three large ancient seal-script characters came into view:
“Li Fire Art”
Below them were several smaller lines:
“I was once a discarded disciple of the Southern Domain’s Li Fire Sect. Fleeing calamity, I hid in the Northern Domain, where grievous injuries led to my death here.
This art is the foundational cultivation method of the Li Fire Sect, capable of cultivation up to perfected Foundation Establishment.
If a destined successor should obtain it in later generations, may it be used well, and may the might of Li Fire never fall into disgrace.”
The latter half of the scroll contained the complete Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivation formulas of the Li Fire Art, along with the training methods for three basic fire-aspected techniques.
“A fire-aspected cultivation art?” Yun Che paused, momentarily surprised.
“Among the Five Elements,” Li Han said slowly, “fire overcomes metal, metal gives rise to water, and water generates wood… Your luck is not bad, boy.
The Heaven-Defying Pearl requires the completion of all five elements. You have already brought the water element close to perfection; your next step is wood.
Cultivating a fire-aspected art cannot directly supplement wood, but it can balance the excessive water-cold energy within your body—greatly beneficial for your future Foundation Establishment.”
Yun Che stored the scroll into his storage pouch, then swept his gaze across the ice chamber once more. After confirming that nothing had been overlooked, he turned and left.
Returning to the ice valley, the wind and snow remained unchanged.
He stood at the place where the Snowcloud Crane had once rested, silent for a long moment. From his robes, he retrieved the few crane feathers he carried.
At their bases, faint light circulated, as though issuing a sorrowful cry.
“The Snowbound Alliance…” Yun Che murmured softly as he tucked the feathers close to his body. “If the chance arises one day, I will reclaim your stolen soul.”
With that, he no longer lingered, his figure streaking toward the secret realm’s exit.
?? What do you think Yun Che’s greatest gain in this chapter was?
The Ice Marrow, laying the foundation for a breakthrough?
The Li Fire Art, advancing the Five Elements plan?
Or his shifting mindset—from mere survival to truly taking control of his path?