Cold Crystal of the Ice Cavern

Back within the snow plain. Old Man Yanshan and Qin Sang's incarnation were hot on the snow fox's heels. They kept their eyes glued to the creature while warily observing their surroundings. No wonder Old Man Yanshan and Situ Yu had returned empty-handed several times before. Qin Sang estimated that they had almost chased it back to its lair, yet nothing around them appeared unusual—there was not even the faintest ripple of a restriction or spirit formation. Moreover, the snow fox itself struck him as extremely bizarre. Even low-intelligence cold spirits experienced fluctuations of joy, anger, grief, and delight. Yet despite being chased for so long, the snow fox had not once glanced back at its pursuers, nor had it uttered any panicked or angry cries. It seemed neither rushed nor flustered, perfectly calm and confident in having something to rely on. Could it be certain it could shake them off? The moment this thought crossed Qin Sang's mind, just as he was about to confer with Old Man Yanshan, the fleeing snow fox suddenly flashed and vanished into thin air. Normally, it would have flickered back into view from another direction, but this time it was truly gone. *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Qin Sang and Old Man Yanshan closed in immediately. They had reached the very bottom of the plain's ravines. Setting foot on solid ground, the two quickly surveyed their surroundings, finding themselves at an intersection where several ravines met. Bitter, biting gales howled in from every trench. Tiny ice granules collided here, their debris forming a dense blanket of ice mist that would never dissipate unless the freezing wind ceased. Across the snow plain, such terrain was as common as could be. Yet that was precisely what made it unnatural. After fleeing for so long, the snow fox had vanished in this exact spot—there had to be a mystery here! Old Man Yanshan scanned the area and found nothing, leaving him no choice but to turn to Qin Sang. A teal glow suffused Qin Sang's eyes as his mind linked with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, meticulously searching every single inch of ground. A brief moment passed. Seeing Qin Sang remain motionless, Old Man Yanshan could not help speaking up. "We've smashed so many stone walls already, one more won't hurt. Why don't we strike together and obliterate the surrounding terrain completely? If there's a secret hidden here, it will surely be exposed." With that, Old Man Yanshan produced his slender cord, flicking his wrist to lash out toward the stone wall on the right. "Wait!" Qin Sang waved his hand to stop Old Man Yanshan, his gaze suddenly dropping to the ground beneath their feet. Startled, Old Man Yanshan hurriedly leapt into the air. "Is the snow fox's lair underground?" Qin Sang gave a slight shake of his head, hesitating. "It doesn't seem like a lair..." Within the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's vision, an outline of a fox was embedded in the ground. Because the freezing winds blew incessantly year-round, loose dirt could never settle in the ravines. The ground was composed entirely of polished, smooth stone, overlaid with a thick sheet of ice. The pattern was not carved into the stone; rather, it rested inside the ice layer, floating right on the stone's surface. The fox was lifelike and identical to the snow fox, as though the creature itself had been sealed inside. Just like when the snow fox concealed itself, this pattern was extraordinarily faint. Had it not been for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, even Qin Sang's true body might have overlooked it. "The snow fox is hiding inside the ice?" Qin Sang was astonished. To his senses, this layer of ice was indistinguishable from any other. It was just ordinary ice, and applying a bit of force would easily crack it open. Having Old Man Yanshan probe it with his divine sense yielded the exact same result. "It isn't as simple as a lair!" Old Man Yanshan urged. "Since you can see the fox pattern, Fellow Daoist, the secret must lie within it. Brute force definitely won't work and will only walk us into a trap. Sketch the pattern out so we can study it together and see what tricks this beast has up its sleeve!" Qin Sang held the same thought. Pointing his joined fingers into the air, he meticulously drew out the outline of the snow fox. Old Man Yanshan stared at it for a long while, sinking into thought. Qin Sang kept his eyes fixed on the ground below, inspecting the creature from head to tail. After a brief contemplation, inspiration struck Qin Sang. "What if we treat it as a restriction or a talisman rune? Perhaps the snow fox is innately versed in this dao." He had acquired the complete legacy of the Yuanshen Sect and had read through many classical texts in Xuantian Palace, giving him substantial attainment in formations and restrictions. Approaching the problem from this angle, he indeed made a new discovery. If the snow fox thought it could hide with such a trick, it had vastly underestimated him and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Qin Sang's gaze shifted, locking onto the snow fox's eyes. Surface examination revealed nothing further; their only option was to test an attack against it. "Let me!" Old Man Yanshan volunteered. "Keep your eyes fixed on it, Fellow Daoist, and don't let it deceive you." After a moment's thought, Qin Sang stepped back a distance and planted several formation flags around them just in case, pointing out the exact location of the fox's eyes to Old Man Yanshan. *Swish!* The slender cord shot forward, curving in midair as its two ends aimed straight for the snow fox's eyes. Suddenly, Old Man Yanshan halted his strike, speaking with a touch of embarrassment. "Earlier, I hadn't expected you to be capable of such feats, Fellow Daoist, and I forgot to discuss our terms beforehand." Qin Sang narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean, Fellow Daoist?" "Since you are a friend of Sect Master Situ and we have spent half a year together, your character is naturally beyond doubt. Locating the snow fox this time is entirely your credit," Meeting Qin Sang's gaze, Old Man Yanshan spoke frankly. "To be honest, that cold crystal is of some use to me as well, but it isn't an absolute necessity. Once we find the cold crystals, we can split them evenly. If the amount isn't enough to satisfy your needs, I don't mind yielding a portion. However, if there are other treasures here, all the cold crystals will belong to you, and I shall have first pick of the remaining treasures, alternating after that. What do you think?" Qin Sang's expression softened. He had come on this journey purely for the cold crystals, so Old Man Yanshan's proposal suited him perfectly. Seeing Qin Sang agree, Old Man Yanshan broke into a pleased smile. Hesitating no longer, he sent the slender cord shooting downward, piercing both eyes of the snow fox simultaneously. *Pfft!* The cord punched through the ice layer and the fox's eyes, penetrating effortlessly into the stone and sinking deep underground. Such a smooth strike left both of them stunned. In the next instant, a sudden upheaval occurred! A brilliant white radiance erupted from the snow fox, followed by its fur growing wildly and turning into countless white threads that blanketed the entire ice sheet. Like a demonic fox, it unleashed a bizarre, surging power. *Boom!* Within a radius of several li, the stone walls and ice shattered with a deafening roar, instantly conjuring a violent tempest churning with countless boulders and jagged shards of ice. Qin Sang and Old Man Yanshan both blanched, flashing backward in retreat. *** While the two were engaged in their pursuit, Lady Yue left Luye alone, piercing through dense dark clouds and landing at the edge of the snow plain. Raising her jade-like arm, she formed an incantation seal to sense the cold spirits and confirm their bearing. Then, she draped a sheer veil over herself, and her figure instantly blurred into obscurity. Having concealed herself, Lady Yue was about to slip into the snow plain when she suddenly paused. Changing direction, she circled around to the other side of the snow plain, flicked a streak of flowing light into the snow, and only then commenced her advance. With cold spirits guiding her way, pinpointing their location took virtually no effort at all. *** Qin Sang kept his attention trained on the snow fox's movements throughout. Yet from the moment Old Man Yanshan struck its eyes until now, the snow fox had not appeared at all. It had vanished completely, leaving them in trouble instead, having likely fallen into the fox's trap. Qin Sang had been somewhat prepared, keeping his distance from Old Man Yanshan so they could support each other, but he had not anticipated the blast covering such an immense area. The tempest swept toward them. Qin Sang immediately activated the flag formation he had set up earlier. The banners fluttered, standing firm at the four corners to form a dark-yellow barrier. *Bang! Bang! Bang!* The barrier took continuous impacts, a relentless barrage of clashing sounds ringing out. This was no ordinary storm; its power was extraordinary. The banners trembled violently, and the spirit formation verged on being torn apart. Old Man Yanshan retreated swiftly to Qin Sang's side. Brushing a hand across his waist, he sent three blue specks of light flying out, which twined and danced in midair before revealing their true forms. They were three bone shields, fashioned in an unusual design resembling the skulls of flood dragons. "Go!" Old Man Yanshan barked softly. The three dragon-head shields flew off in three directions, their jaws spewing streams of water that merged into the flag formation, bolstering its defense tremendously. Though this was their first time joining forces, their teamwork was remarkably seamless. Fortunately, Old Man Yanshan had intervened in the nick of time. Just as the dragon-head shields took effect, a bright blue glow flared within the tempest. Fist-sized ice spheres emerged, spinning rapidly as the howling wind hurled them forward. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* The power of these ice spheres was comparable to lightning orbs. The shockwaves of their detonations rattled the banners and dragon-head shields violently, though the defenses held firm. "These ice spheres... contain cold fiend qi remarkably similar to that in the cold crystal!" Qin Sang's eyes narrowed, followed by a surge of delight. As long as they could find the cold crystal, letting the snow fox slip away did not matter. Hearing Qin Sang's words, Old Man Yanshan altered his tactics at once. Guiding the bone shields against the incoming ice spheres, he advanced rather than retreated, charging straight toward the center of the storm. Qin Sang did not recall the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's divine ability, continuing his search for the snow fox. Although they had detected the familiar cold fiend qi, they had not yet seen the cold crystal itself, and they still needed to remain vigilant against the snow fox lurking in the shadows. Qin Sang felt increasingly uneasy. Could the creature's intellect truly be high enough to set up such an intricate trap? Just then, Qin Sang was astonished to find that their surroundings had changed. The stone wall to their left, which had clearly been reduced to rubble, had somehow restored itself. His expression shifted slightly as he hastily looked to the right. Sure enough, a brand-new stone wall had emerged there as well. They were now trapped inside a stone corridor filled with howling winds and hurtling ice spheres. "This is..." Qin Sang grew grave. Without their realizing it, they had tumbled into an unknown realm. *** When the storm erupted, Lady Yue happened to arrive nearby. First hearing the rumbling roar and then witnessing the surrounding stone walls collapse one after another, she gritted her silver teeth. Without even waiting to assess the situation or for reinforcements to arrive, she plunged into the tempest without hesitation. Outside the snow plain, Qin Sang's true body wore a look of utter perplexity. "Two Mid-Nascent Soul cultivators running into an accident while hunting a mere snow fox?" Just a moment ago, the connection between him and his incarnation had suddenly grown extraordinarily faint. His external incarnation had fully mastered its divine abilities, wielded a spirit treasure, and carried both the Ruyi Pearl and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Very few existences in this world could pose a threat to him. Moreover, the connection had merely weakened rather than vanished, as though separated by a barrier. With no panic on his face, the true body flickered repeatedly, entering the snow plain. *** Within the tempest, Old Man Yanshan wielded his dragon-head shields against the bombardment of ice spheres. Hearing Qin Sang mention the bizarre shift, he snorted coldly. "Whatever tricks that beast is playing, we'll find out once we break through!" Qin Sang gave a quiet nod. Joining forces, the two had nothing to fear even if they faced a great cultivator. For the time being, the tempest and the ice spheres posed no real threat to them; they could crush their way forward through sheer strength alone. Qin Sang summoned the Snow-Treading Divine Saber, suspending it upside down above his head while directing the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to focus on the path ahead. Before long, the storm's fury waned drastically. The two accelerated immediately, surging forward until they finally burst through. Old Man Yanshan shifted his incantation seals, recalling the dragon-head shields to orbit around him, while Qin Sang retracted his flag formation, his divine saber pointed forward. No attack came. Their field of vision was filled with shimmering blue light—they had entered an ice cavern. Icicles hung everywhere, and thick mystic ice radiated bone-chilling cold. "Could this be the source of the snow plain's chill?" Qin Sang inspected the ice cavern. Icicles hung overhead while pillars of ice stood like a forest on the ground, creating a veritable world of mystic ice. Only the snow fox remained nowhere to be seen. Soon, Qin Sang noticed an open clearing deep within the cavern that seemed completely out of place with the rest of the environment. At the center of that area stood a solitary octagonal ice pillar. Atop the pillar rested a fist-sized sphere of ice, identical in color and texture to the cold crystal Situ Yu had delivered! "A cold crystal!" The moment he spotted the cold crystal, Qin Sang also noticed something else amiss. Surrounding the octagonal ice pillar, a spirit formation composed of countless runes was carved into the ice. It was exceedingly complex; even Qin Sang and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could not identify what formation it was at first glance, only discerning that it was related to the dao of ice. "This was arranged by human hands." Qin Sang was taken aback. Such a formation could never have formed naturally! Staring at the cold crystal atop the pillar, he realized the person who laid the formation was likely using this method to gather cold fiend qi, and the snow fox might simply be a guardian spirit beast reared by that person. They had inadvertently stumbled into someone else's territory. "This is definitely not the work of someone from our era," Old Man Yanshan remarked, glancing at the pillar before casting his eyes around as if searching for other clues. He spoke with conviction: "If I'm not mistaken, gathering it through this method wouldn't yield a cold crystal of this size without several centuries or even a millennium. The master of this place must not have returned for a very long time..." Qin Sang nodded slightly. Had that senior still been alive, they wouldn't have waited for the cold crystal to grow this large before harvesting it; size did not affect its efficacy. The cultivation world was ever-changing and unpredictable. The meticulous preparations a cultivator made were not always something they lived to enjoy. Even so, claiming the cold crystal would likely not be easy. Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the spirit formation surrounding the crystal. Just as he was about to study it, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly suddenly issued a warning. *Swish!* Qin Sang spun around abruptly, the Snow-Treading Divine Saber trembling faintly. Old Man Yanshan had not yet sensed anything amiss, but seeing Qin Sang's reaction, his expression shifted, and he hastily moved his dragon-head shields to cover their rear. In the next instant, an alluring woman burst out from the tempest—none other than Lady Yue. Six eyes locked onto one another, each party startled. Draped in her sheer veil, Lady Yue raised a jade arm and struck first without hesitation, sending a cloud of mist flying straight toward Qin Sang's face. Qin Sang had held the Snow-Treading Divine Saber in reserve, originally intending to inquire into the newcomer's identity before making a move; had she been the master of this domain, striking a deal would have been an option. He had not expected her to attack without uttering a single word. *Crackle!* Two bolts of pink lightning shot out from the mist, striking simultaneously at Qin Sang and Old Man Yanshan. *Bang! Bang!* One bolt blasted against Old Man Yanshan's dragon-head shields, while the other bizarrely penetrated Qin Sang's flag formation, arriving before him in a flash. Fortunately, Qin Sang reacted swiftly, instantly activating the Ruyi Pearl inside him. The lightning was ultimately stopped cold by the pearl's astral shield. In that breath, Qin Sang and Old Man Yanshan's faces turned as dark as water.