Chapter Ninety-Four: The Essence of Ice

All the water elemental energy within her body had condensed into a pale purple crystal core. Now, Feng Ke’er was left with only four streams of elemental energy—fire, wood, metal, and earth. According to the third layer of the Clear Heart Incantation, Feng Ke’er guided her internal energy to flow in reverse. After a cycle, these four energies merged into a single stream.

She hadn’t lost control or succumbed to madness! Moreover, the pain that accompanied the initial reverse flow vanished. Feng Ke’er rejoiced: so reversing the flow of energy was not so terrifying after all. In extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary methods must be used!

At the same time, thanks to the existence of the little crystal core, she finally comprehended the second step of the incantation: organize all remaining internal energy and control the foreign entity—the crystal core.

Summoning her full spiritual awareness, she drove the four streams of energy into a tight formation, launching a fierce assault against the proud little crystal core.

However, though the crystal core was no larger than a grain of rice, it showed no fear against the massive energy conglomerate countless times its own size. On the contrary, it seemed the stronger the adversary, the stronger it became. In an instant, dazzling bright purple light burst forth from the crystal core, enveloping all the elemental energy.

Feng Ke’er was dumbfounded: what control was there to be had? The once formidable energy formation was annihilated. With a flicker of purple light, the crystal core absorbed every last bit of energy.

The crystal core shuddered, emitting another pale purple glow, colder than before.

“Bang!” The first to suffer was the largest white dantian beneath the crystal core. It burst, splitting into two. The five-colored energy stored within erupted forth. This dantian, larger than the combined volume of the red and blue dantian, contained gold, wood, water, earth, and fire energies in abundance, totaling three times more than the previous fire elemental energy.

Enduring the pain, Feng Ke’er decisively activated the third layer of her cultivation technique, guiding the five-colored energies to flow in reverse and organizing a second assault.

The crystal core responded with an even more dazzling purple light, like a ravenous beast devouring all the energy in a single gulp. Then, it shuddered again, emitting another purple glow, this time deeper in color and colder still.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The remaining three small dantian could not withstand the strain and ruptured in succession.

After all this, it was clear the crystal core was an insatiable glutton, consuming every bit of her internal energy as its meal. Feng Ke’er could only laugh and cry at once, mobilizing her energy yet again—feeding it. What a sweat-inducing process!

But surprise followed! The green dantian, housing the wood elemental energy, was not pure, but wherever the wood energy flowed, it was like a spring breeze: healing wounds, soothing pain, and even the ruptured dantian started to show signs of recovery. The split dantian now lay limply beside their original counterparts, forming a cluster of dantian. Feng Ke’er was overjoyed, for now she possessed twelve dantian!

Worried it might not be enough, Feng Ke’er pulled out all the lower-grade spirit stones from her storage pouch, grabbing handfuls in preparation.

Fortunately, after devouring the three streams of energy from the dantian region, the crystal core was finally satiated. It shuddered and transformed, growing from a pale purple grain to a deep purple bean, and at last ceased to emit cold.

The second step was complete!

Feng Ke’er crushed the spirit stones in her hands. She needed to absorb energy—for without it, the empty dantian would simultaneously become aggressive, devouring the remaining energy in her meridians. If things grew dire, her meridians would wither, leaving her paralyzed if not dead.

Luckily, after the purple bean was full, it showed no further appetite. Thus, the remaining energy barely sustained her twelve empty dantian. She could begin the third step—though the revolution was not yet successful, her dantian region bore countless scars, and her body was still encased in a thick cocoon of ice.

The third step was actually an advanced healing technique. Feng Ke’er had previously practiced the Rejuvenation Technique; this seemed to be its superior version. However, the Rejuvenation Technique required considerable wood energy, and the advanced form demanded even more.

So, Feng Ke’er consumed all the pills in her storage pouch in one breath. A few were pilfered from the Azure Cloud Sect, but most she had refined herself in recent times, including Spirit Gathering Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, and more than ten types in all.

Yet, after adjusting her breath, the wood energy was still insufficient.

Helpless, Feng Ke’er retrieved a bundle of century-old ginseng from her storage pouch. It truly was a bundle—after leaving the Ten-Thousand Ant Forest, anything under three hundred years old was tied together like carrots, dozens in a bunch, and kept in a pouch specifically for storing spirit herbs and medicines, intending to sell them at a market later. Only those five hundred years and older were stored carefully in jade boxes.

Normally, spirit herbs are refined before consumption, but with no time to spare, she resorted to the most primitive, wasteful method—eating them like carrots. She couldn’t bear to waste the high-year ones, so she started with the lower-grade.

It turned out the damned purple bean had truly drained her dry. Only after consuming all her spirit herbs and medicines did Feng Ke’er barely gather enough wood energy for the third step. Heartache and stomach pain combined, she regretted bitterly: had she been more diligent in the past and refined more high-quality Spirit Gathering Pills, she wouldn’t have squandered so many valuable herbs and medicines. Or perhaps she shouldn’t have been so picky—she should have hunted monsters of all attributes. Picky eating is an illness, and it must be cured.

The third layer of the Clear Heart Incantation was truly formidable. Following the technique, the wood energy flowed like spring returning to the earth; the twelve dantian, though still somewhat battered, fully healed, and the five-colored energy bands surrounding them returned as well. Each dantian regained its original vibrant color. The only flaw was that they were all empty.

How much energy would be needed to fill them! Feng Ke’er broke into a cold sweat.

Meanwhile, the cold gradually faded. The ice cocoon wrapped around her body vanished into the air like a breeze. A gentle verdant glow radiated from her body, spreading outward. Wherever it passed, hard ice melted, transforming into sprouting green vines. Within moments, the cave was adorned with greenery, brimming with the vitality of spring.

“What’s happening?” The two fish monsters outside the cave stared in astonishment.

Warned by Hua Taiyi, they resisted their curiosity about the cave’s secrets and dutifully acted as guards. Yet on the hundredth day, sudden energy surged behind them, followed by freezing cold rushing out of the cave entrance.

“This is bad!” they cried out.

“Splash! Splash!” Instinctively, they dove into the sea, fleeing in panic—the East Sea coast was a land of perpetual spring, their bodies adapted to tropical waters, unable to withstand such domineering energy.

After bolting several hundred meters, they dared look back. The gigantic reef where the cave stood had become a mass of white ice. In the scorching sunlight, it dazzled their old fish eyes.

“Old Silver Monster, this doesn’t seem like water energy,” the bulgy-eyed one nudged his companion. Being water attribute himself, he was intimately familiar with water energy.

The one called Old Silver Monster curbed his greedy gaze and nodded repeatedly: “Old Yellow Ghost, this is mutated water energy transformed into ice energy. It’s said only in the deepest northern seas does such energy exist.” He wasn’t of the water attribute, but after more than five hundred years at the peak of the sixth stage, his cultivation had not advanced. Only by consuming a Transformation Pill could he hope to purify his demon core, complete the final refinement, and ascend to the seventh stage—the Ascension phase. The main ingredient for the pill was a pure mutated spiritual root. Mutated roots were never innate, but produced through purification and rare opportunity, and divided into thunder, ice, wind, and other types. Thunder roots mutated from fire or metal, ice from water, wind from wood or earth. Yet cultivators with single spiritual roots were rare, and mutation rarer still. He had searched for over five centuries, finding nothing. Unexpectedly, what seemed a burdensome chore from the heavens brought him to an ice root!

Old Yellow Ghost, with sixth-stage seventh-level cultivation, also knew of the Transformation Pill. Staring at the massive ice block on the shore, his eyes flashed as he whispered, “You mean there’s a cultivator with an ice root in the cave?” He gulped heavily, marveling, “Truly rare.” In nearly ten thousand years of life, this was his first encounter.

“Otherwise, how could he attract the attention of an Immortal?” Old Silver Monster smiled back.

“Which demon immortal hasn’t ascended through Transformation? Without the pill to purify our demon core, for demon cultivators like us, could ascension be possible?” Old Yellow Ghost gritted his teeth. “Immortals have every treasure imaginable—they don’t need another. As long as we prove our worth!”

“Who else on the East Sea coast is more worthy than us?” Old Silver Monster had been waiting for this declaration.

The two exchanged smiles. “Half each!”

Sadly, the situation at the ice block changed in an instant. As they finally forged their alliance and defied the Immortal’s decree, swimming back to shore, the ice block had already melted.

On the massive reef, countless unknown vines sprang forth, branching and budding at astonishing speed. By the time the two regained their senses, the vast reef was abloom, vibrant and teeming with life.

“Spring Revival Technique!” Old Silver Monster shrieked, spinning to dive back into the sea. This was a legendary immortal art. Dear heavens, another Immortal dwelled within!

“Impossible!” Old Yellow Ghost refused to believe it, grabbing him tightly. “This is the lower realm!”

He too had heard of the Spring Revival Technique—the highest form of healing magic, said to exist only in the divine realm. And what was the divine realm? The abode of Golden Immortals. In other words, only Golden Immortals could wield such magic. What Golden Immortal would leave the divine realm’s healing sanctuaries to risk death in a lower realm with such scarce energy?

Old Silver Monster blinked rapidly.

“If what you say is true, do you think we could escape?” Old Yellow Ghost leaned close, whispering in his ear while pressing lightly on his shoulder, casting a sidelong glance at the cave entrance—as if to say: whether mule or horse, we must see for ourselves!

That made sense. Old Silver Monster calmed, waved his hand to dismiss the guard array at the cave, and exchanged meaningful glances with Old Yellow Ghost.

Both knelt, hands clasped, bowing deeply: “Your humble demons greet the Immortal!” (To be continued)

Universal Scripture, Chapter 94—Ice Elemental Energy Updated!