Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow

It seemed that this Underground Ice Cave was located along the coast of the Extreme North Land.

Only then did Xia Liang remember that he and the Shui Family's Soul Hunting Team had traveled north by ship from Silvis City along the coast to reach the Extreme North Land.

The directions of south and north were opposites.

In other words, drifting southward along this sea would lead to the southern part of the continent.

As if realizing something, Xia Liang's hairs stood on end. An Underground Ice Cave that had collapsed into a massive hole, and a route south from the Extreme North Land along the sea to the continent? In Unrivaled Tang Sect, didn't the Million-Year Soul Beast Sky Dream Ice Silkworm seem to have gone through something similar? Could this Underground Ice Cave be Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lair?

Sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, Xia Liang did not find any Soul Beasts resembling ice silkworms.

Before entering the ice cave, the four Gastlys and the Black-Purple Ghost Fire had already conducted a thorough search. There were no Soul Beasts here at all.

If there had been a Soul Beast, the four Gastlys and the Black-Purple Ghost Fire would have been scattered long ago. They could not possibly have returned safely to report back.

"What's that?"

Xia Liang suddenly noticed marks on the icy ground just ahead and to his left, as though something heavy had pressed down on it.

Only upon approaching did he discover that the marks on the ice were a full four meters wide and seven meters long.

Along those seven-meter marks were shallow grooves at intervals of roughly one meter, resembling the segmented form of bamboo.

These seven-meter marks should have been the outline of some Soul Beast's body pressed into the ground.

If his earlier judgment was correct, then that Soul Beast had to be at least seven meters long.

The width of the body-outline marks happened to match the widths of the countless holes in the ice cave. It seemed those holes had been dug by that Soul Beast.

The Soul Beast Knowledge Xia Liang had accumulated during three years of training with the Mercenary Group finally came in handy. He was almost certain that the Soul Beast which had left those marks in the ice was either a centipede or an ice silkworm.

It might have remained lying in the same position for a long time, which was why such a clear body outline had formed on the ice.

Combined with his earlier speculation and the evidence from the Soul Beast's shape, these body-outline marks were very likely left by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm while it slept.

Xia Liang looked toward the ten-meter-wide hole in the rock wall ahead. If this Underground Ice Cave was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lair, then it had already headed south along the coast through that hole.

The original story mentioned that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had fled south to the continent after being hunted by the Ice Empress. Yet after reaching the Star Dou Great Forest, it had unfortunately been treated as a supplement by the Fierce Beasts.

A flash of greed crossed Xia Liang's eyes. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was a Million-Year Soul Beast with both ice and spiritual attributes. If a Soul Bone dropped from it, there was an extremely high chance it would be a million-year spiritual Head Soul Bone.

Unfortunately, he was still far too weak. How could he dare enter the Star Dou Great Forest and compete with Fierce Beasts for the opportunity offered by a Million-Year Soul Beast?

He should stay grounded and first take the opportunities he could obtain.

Led by the four Gastlys, Xia Liang returned the way he had come and arrived at the place where he had first entered the ice cave.

Here, strips and chunks of Ice Crystal Stone were piled beneath the surrounding rock walls.

If this ice cave was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lair, then these Ice Crystal Stones might not be some special ice-attribute forging material, but Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow.

According to the original story, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had relied on consuming the vast amounts of Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow inside the ice cave, eating and sleeping as it did so, to attain such cultivation.

Those holes had been dug by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm while searching for Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow.

Judging from their appearance, the Ice Crystal Stones piled beneath the rock walls here all looked newly formed. They might have condensed only recently from extreme cold energy accumulated over ten thousand years, which was why Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had not eaten them all.

Walking beneath a rock wall, Xia Liang picked up a stone with light contained within it and felt an intense power of ice.

If not for the effects of the Milk Hot Drink still being active, his hand would have already suffered frostbite the instant he touched the stone.

Among the large pile of Ice Crystal Stones before him, those emitting especially intense cold should have been Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow.

It was said that even Huo Yuhao, with his Ultimate Martial Soul, had to be careful around the ice energy contained in Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow. The newly formed Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow before him was not as tyrannical as the legends described, so its effects seemed likely to be weaker.

Xia Liang took out the Three-colored Ring from his thick cotton coat and, relying on intuition, stored the colder stones one by one inside it.

The Skeleton Martial Soul had no ice attribute, so it might not be able to absorb Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow to increase cultivation like Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could.

But if he consumed the Ice-Fire Immortal Herb and obtained a physique with Ice-Fire Immunity, he should be able to withstand the icy power of Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow and refine it into his own energy.

If he cultivated according to his current plan and achieved his expectations, his Undead Attribute would definitely advance into an Ultimate Attribute in the future, and the Skeleton Martial Soul would also become an Ultimate Martial Soul.

According to the original story's settings, Ultimate Martial Souls cultivated as slowly as turtles between level thirty and Soul Power Level Seventy.

This Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow might be an excellent resource for helping him rapidly break through Soul Power Levels in the future.

Half an hour later.

To avoid overlooking anything, Xia Liang simply collected every stone around him into the green compartment of the Three-colored Ring. He did not count them, nor did he know how many pieces of Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow were among them.

No matter what, finding a Left Arm Bone, a top-grade Ring Soul Tool, and so much Ten-Thousand Year Icy Marrow meant this expedition to the Extreme North Land had not been in vain.

After hiding the Three-colored Ring inside his cotton coat, Xia Liang came to the edge of the cliff. He discovered that there was another cliff fifty meters to the left of this one? He sent the four Gastlys flying down the bottomless cliff to scout the way. About five minutes later, the four Gastlys were corroded to death by the cold during their descent.

Xia Liang noticed that the effects of the Milk Hot Drink were still active on him. Logically speaking, the four Gastlys should also have had protection from the cold.

Yet they had frozen to death.

This was clearly because the cold air below the cliff was too frigid and contained excessively powerful Ice Attribute Energy.

Lowering his head to stare into the bottomless abyss, Xia Liang had the illusion that beneath this cliff lay a ten-thousand-foot chasm, perhaps hiding some treasure or ancient ruin.

There were legends of the Ice God in the Extreme North Land.

The Three Kings of the Extreme North might all have been descendants left behind after the ancient Ice God had favored certain Soul Beasts.

Unfortunately, with his current strength, exploring beneath this cliff was far too dangerous.

The remaining effects of the Milk Hot Drink could no longer support any further expenditure.

He should leave as soon as possible.

Having made his decision, Xia Liang summoned four new Gastlys and flew out of the ice cave with their help.

By the time he returned to the Ice Castle, it was already six in the morning.

The sun rose, the snowstorm ceased, and bright sunlight shone everywhere as dawn arrived in the Extreme North Land.

All the Gastlys and the Black-Purple Ghost Fire turned to ash beneath the first rays of morning sunlight.

He was not worried that the Shui Family's people would search him. The Three-colored Ring had already been hidden in a crevice only the ghostly trait of Gastly could enter. He just needed to find a chance to retrieve it later.

Xia Liang adjusted his trousers, pretending he had just returned from relieving himself. After greeting the Shui Family Soul Masters keeping watch outside, he entered the Ice Castle and continued sleeping.

He had previously told the Shui Family's Soul Masters that, in order to summon higher-quality Ghost Fire to help find Soul Beasts and to protect the privacy of his Soul Skills, he would go out at night to perform Ghost Fire summoning rituals and chant Soul Curses.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Shui Family Soul Masters on watch, Xia Liang had returned from outside because he had been carrying out his work despite the danger of being ambushed by Soul Beasts.

This Soul Master from the Speed Reach Mercenary Group was truly dedicated.

"＼(`Δ')／."

Several days later.

Night.

Outside the Ice Castle, heavy snow drifted through the air.

"Found it!" Xia Liang suddenly shouted at the Shui Family members.

Upon hearing the good news, the Shui Family Head was even more anxious than Shui Bing'er herself. He asked, "Is it an Ice Scorpion King? How many years of cultivation does it have? Where did you find it?"

"Sorry. This is my first time encountering a Soul Beast like the Ice Scorpion King. It's difficult for me to judge its cultivation from appearance alone. Shui Family Head, you'll need to confirm it personally. There is only one Ice Scorpion King at the moment, and it appears to be alone. This Black-Purple Ghost Fire will lead you to its location. If you think its cultivation is suitable, capture it. If not, I'll search other areas of the Ice Plain."

After saying that, Xia Liang had the Black-Purple Ghost Fire fly over to the Shui Family Head.

In front of others, he had not evolved the Black-Purple Ghost Fire into Gastly.