Ice Spirit Energy

"Not bad, not bad—what a joyous occasion!"

At this moment, Wang Wu finally blossomed with joy. He was delighted beyond measure. Even though his stored food had dwindled to only one-third after all this trouble, he felt it was no longer a problem.

Now, he could swallow ice and gulp snow without the slightest pressure. He could even search for food beneath the snow.

As long as he did not face the Cold Air Gale head-on, he would basically have no worries for the rest of winter.

"But I can also try farming resistance to that Cold Air Gale. As long as I come back early each time and avoid widespread frostbite, it shouldn't cost too much food."

Wang Wu pondered. Even a severe Cold Air Gale only dealt 32 points of cold-burning damage after six seconds, while his perfect Ice Resistance could grant immunity of up to 35 points.

So, there should be no problem as long as he stayed under ten seconds.

Besides, he instinctively felt that although the Cold Air Gale was a terrifying disaster, it might also be an opportunity. If he could farm the corresponding resistance, that would be a real profit.

Over the next two days, Wang Wu recuperated in the cave dwelling. Only after his tightly wound nerves had gradually eased, and after making thorough preparations, did he pass through the tunnel again and arrive at the hidden door.

This time, he could clearly feel the difference. Even if he lay in the snow for several hours at a stretch, he would not feel cold, and his Satiety would not be consumed at double speed.

Of course, that was provided he did not get struck by the Cold Air Gale.

The world outside remained an endless expanse of wind and snow. The sky was practically invisible, much less any Golden Particles.

He wondered what those Great Demons did in weather like this. Would they come out to press strong men into service?

Wang Wu let his thoughts run wild as he slowly crawled out of the snow hollow.

At that instant, a fierce white gale swept past. He still could not help shuddering. Countless faint stabbing pains spread across his skin, and he could clearly feel strands of cold air piercing through flesh and sinking into his marrow.

His body still found it difficult to withstand the erosion of the Cold Air Gale.

But he could endure it.

If he had to make an analogy, before his Ice Resistance reached 10, standing in this wind had truly been like being slowly sliced to pieces by cold wind turned into blades.

But now, it was like an ordinary person stripping naked and rolling about in a snow hollow during the bitterest days of winter.

He could endure it!

That was the greatest improvement.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Wu sensed the state of his body and counted the time. He had already decided that the instant ten seconds were up, he would return immediately and absolutely not linger.

Three seconds!

Five seconds!

Eight seconds!

The notification that his defenses had been breached still had not appeared.

And he himself could still hold on. It was truly incredible.

His body hurt, but his limbs and torso did not feel frozen stiff in the slightest.

No, he could not take risks.

So the moment ten seconds were up, even though no notification had appeared, Wang Wu immediately burrowed back into the snow hollow and then into the tunnel.

After staying inside for a while, the defense-breach notification still did not appear, and his Health Points had not dropped. The only change was that the cold air which had pierced into his body, marrow, and flesh was still wandering around wildly like Spider Silk. Every now and then, it brought icy stabbing pain, making him bare his teeth and shiver all over.

Something was wrong.

He had never encountered anything like this before.

Wang Wu faced it as though confronting a great enemy. He hurried back to the cave dwelling, ready to gorge himself on food the instant anything went wrong. Surely this would not turn into some supernatural incident, would it?

Back in the cave dwelling, he stood ready and carefully sensed the situation within his body. After roughly ten minutes, the Spider Silk-like cold air that had been darting all over inside him, occasionally bringing icy stabbing pain, actually began to weaken little by little. The pain gradually faded too, until it vanished completely.

"Huh? What's going on here?"

"Did I absorb the cold air, or did it get expelled from my body?"

Wang Wu was utterly baffled. From beginning to end, his Health Points had not decreased, and his Satiety consumption had remained normal, yet there had been no notification at all.

How strange indeed!

To be safe, Wang Wu waited in the cave dwelling for an entire day before finally confirming that there was no danger.

The cold air that had invaded his body had ultimately been digested by him.

Perhaps that was the advantage brought by perfect Ice Resistance.

Of course, he had other associations as well. He thought of the White-Haired Rats that could cast ice spells. He did not know whether he was now walking their old road, but all he could do was wait and see.

The next day, Wang Wu crawled out of the snow hollow again and stood amid the wind and snow, letting the Cold Air Gale howl over him.

This time, he loosened his limits slightly and stayed outside for fifteen seconds.

It was only five seconds longer than last time, but once ten seconds had passed, the intensity of the cold air rampaging through his body shot upward in a straight line.

It was as if hundreds of sharp iron wires were drilling through his body. The pain nearly multiplied several times over, making cold sweat pour from him. He hurriedly crawled back inside.

But that was where it became bizarre.

Even though he was in such pain that he bared his teeth, his Health Points never decreased, nor did any notification appear. Instead, after resting for about half an hour, the stabbing pain would disappear, and the cold air that had invaded his body would vanish with it.

"I refuse to believe this!"

After resting briefly, Wang Wu crawled out of the snow hollow again and endured the Cold Air Gale for another fifteen seconds. No—this time, gritting his teeth, he actually held on for eighteen seconds before rolling back inside.

Those extra three seconds had already hurt so badly that he rolled all over the ground, crying for his father and calling for his mother!

Yet still, no notification appeared, and he had not lost any Health Points. After about half an hour, everything returned to normal again.

This was truly damned strange.

So Wang Wu rested for a while, then crawled out again. Eighteen seconds later, unable to bear the pain, he ran back inside.

Going back and forth like this, he made more than ten attempts over the course of a single day. By his calculations, he had already endured the Cold Air Gale outside for nearly 300 seconds in total.

Yet as long as he rested for a while, everything would return to normal.

Wang Wu truly refused to accept this. Even after night fell and the Cold Air Gale blew even more fiercely, he still made trip after trip back and forth.

Before he realized it, after enduring the Cold Air Gale for nearly 500 seconds in total, a change finally appeared.

At that moment, he was rolling around in the tunnel in agony. This time, he had gotten greedy and held on for twenty seconds, leaving him in so much pain that he repeatedly slammed into the ground and tunnel walls with BANG! BANG! BANG!

Strangely enough, those frantic impacts could rapidly ease part of the intense pain.

Wang Wu was overjoyed. Without caring to think of anything else, he simply began slamming himself against the solidly frozen wall with BANG! BANG! BANG!, striking it from every angle. With every impact, the cold air darting chaotically through his body seemed to become a little more orderly, as if his qi had finally begun to flow smoothly.

Eventually, he even became addicted to it. He felt that by striking himself from different angles, he could make the wandering cold air inside him travel along fixed routes.

Some routes were extremely difficult to traverse, bringing unbearable pain. But others were exceptionally smooth. As the cold air passed through them—wow—it was exhilarating, comfortable, blissful!

A comfort unlike anything he had ever felt before!

He even felt as though he were about to float up to immortality.

Just like that, before he knew it, after repeatedly using impacts to gather all the cold air within his body into a single path, without any warning, that damned, ghostly notification finally fucking appeared.

"You successfully absorbed and tamed a trace of Ice Spirit Energy from the Cold Air Gale!"

"You successfully opened a branch meridian."

"You are attempting to cultivate the Beginner Ice Spirit Root. Current progress: (1/10)"