Ice Silkworm Strength

Ice Silkworm Strength

Atop Ape Peak.

Ye Qinghe happily drank the Monkey Wine poured into her gourd, a blush rising on her pretty face. Her earlier gloom had already been swept clean away.

"Hic."

She let out a wine belch, then grinned at Ning Qi. "Little Nine, this Monkey Wine is good stuff. Drink more of it. It'll help quite a bit with your Bone Refinement too."

Ning Qi looked at the bamboo tubes and wineskins, large and small, hanging all over Ye Qinghe, and could not help pressing his forehead.

But what she said was true. When he reforged his foundation later, Monkey Wine could speed up that process.

He looked back at the Iron Arm Ape and the many Long-Armed Apes, and clearly saw lamentation in their eyes.

This was their accumulation over many years, but now Ye Qinghe had swept it all clean.

"Thanks, monkeys! I'll come play with you again when I have time!"

Ye Qinghe waved behind her.

The apes wanted to cry but had no tears.

Ning Qi smiled and shook his head. This Senior Sister of his really did have a mischievous streak sometimes, doing whatever popped into her head.

The White Ape also had bamboo tubes hanging all over it. It turned around, waggled its brows and made faces at the other apes, gloating over their misfortune.

After seeing that Ye Qinghe and Ning Qi had gone farther away, it gave a start and hurriedly followed.

This little thing had displayed borrowing the tiger's might to bully others to the fullest.

"All right, White Ape. Give us the bamboo tubes. We'll part ways here."

Ning Qi smiled.

The White Ape immediately grew anxious.

It scratched its ears and cheeks, leapt up and down, urgently expressing something.

Ye Qinghe watched with great interest.

Ning Qi, however, quickly grasped its meaning. With his Comprehension, and through the exchange between the White Ape and the Iron Arm Ape just now, it was not hard to derive the pattern. He said in surprise, "You mean you have something to give us, and want us to follow you?"

Hearing this.

The White Ape was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. If not for the bamboo tubes on its body, it would have had to do a couple of somersaults at the very least.

Ning Qi and Ye Qinghe looked at each other.

Both saw the curiosity in the other's eyes.

As long as one was not blind, one could naturally tell how unusual this White Ape was. Though it was not an Exotic Beast, it was better than an Exotic Beast.

"It's still early. Shall we go take a look?" Ye Qinghe's interest was piqued.

Ning Qi raised his head and looked at the sky. Though the setting sun was sinking westward, there was still some time before it completely dropped below the horizon.

"Let's go."

The White Ape grew even more excited and hurriedly led the way ahead.

The two people and one ape shuttled through the mountain forest. From time to time, the White Ape looked back, as if afraid the two would suddenly leave.

Very soon.

The White Ape stopped before a cave. It gestured for the two to go in, as if returning home.

Ning Qi and Ye Qinghe looked at each other. Ye Qinghe raised her vigilance slightly, and they stepped inside one after the other.

The cave was somewhat pitch-black. Ye Qinghe lit a fire striker and saw the scene inside clearly.

It was utterly ordinary, without the slightest trace of anything strange.

She was somewhat disappointed.

She had originally thought a fortuitous encounter had come knocking.

But immediately after.

Her eyes lit up.

The White Ape was groping around in some corner, then came over holding something. Only when it drew near did they discover that it was actually a roll of parchment.

"Is it really a fortuitous encounter?"

Ye Qinghe laughed.

Ning Qi also found it very interesting. He had not expected the White Ape to truly bring them a surprise.

The two looked at the parchment.

They were immediately drawn in by the three characters at the beginning.

"Ice Silkworm Strength."

"This is a Layered Strength Art."

Ye Qinghe's interest grew even stronger, and she skimmed through it ten lines at a glance. Ning Qi was also reading; he read even faster. However, he had yet to step into the Inner Yuan Realm, so this Cultivation Technique was of no use to him. At most, it would broaden his foundation.

A moment later.

Only then did the two of them come back to themselves.

"Ice Silkworm Strength—once its force is formed, it flows on without end, frost sinking to the bone. What's even more marvelous is that the senior who created Ice Silkworm Strength had a truly wondrous imagination, actually taking inspiration from an ice silkworm breaking its cocoon and being reborn. Each time it breaks its cocoon and is reborn, that is one layer of strength."

"Nine rebirths means nine layers of strength. At that point, the divine art is perfected, and within the same realm, it would be hard to find an opponent."

"Marvelous!"

Ye Qinghe could not help crying out in praise, a strange brilliance in her eyes.

Compared with several of the True Martial Sect's top Layered Strength Arts, this Ice Silkworm Strength was not inferior in the slightest. Its conception was even a step higher.

But immediately after, regret appeared in her eyes.

"What a pity. This Parchment Scroll only has the first three levels."

If it were the complete nine-level Ice Silkworm Strength, then this would absolutely be an enormous stroke of fortune. But if there were only three levels, its value would be greatly reduced.

"White Ape, is there only this one Parchment Scroll?"

Ye Qinghe asked with some expectation.

The White Ape shook its head.

Ye Qinghe sighed regretfully, but soon afterward, a smile appeared on her face. What I gain is my fortune; what I lose is my fate. To have come across such a lucky chance was already quite good. Although it could not be used, that feeling of surprise had still been filled to the brim.

The look she gave the White Ape became even kinder.

What a good ape.

Ning Qi also felt somewhat regretful, but not much.

When the day came that he advanced to the Inner Yuan Realm, he could try to complete this incomplete Ice Silkworm Strength. It might not even be a problem to surpass the Original Version.

On the contrary, the conception behind Ice Silkworm Strength made his eyes and ears feel refreshed.

Both of them were in cheerful spirits.

"Thanks, White Ape."

Ning Qi put away the Parchment Scroll, preparing to place it in the Scripture Pavilion later to strengthen the sect's foundation.

The White Ape grinned excitedly.

Then it pointed deeper into the cave.

The two of them grew even more curious.

They walked onward the entire way.

Unexpectedly, this cave was so winding and deep. The farther in they went, the more clearly they could hear a muffled rumbling.

When they reached the end.

A Water Curtain shimmering with colored light appeared, with vine after vine hanging down through it.

The roaring sound was coming from behind the Water Curtain.

The White Ape took off the bamboo tube on its body and set it down where it stood. Then, with a cheer, under the two people's gazes, it swung along the vines and rushed out through the Water Curtain.

The two of them were startled.

Then, from the other side, the White Ape's call came faintly.

Ye Qinghe was eager to try.

"I'll go first."

She laughed, and without using the vines, merely tapped the tips of her toes. Her body was like a light swallow as she also rushed across.

"Little Nine, hurry over! It's so beautiful here!"

Ning Qi hesitated no longer. He also did not use the vines. Power surged from the tips of his feet, like a fierce tiger crossing a mountain stream.

Only after crossing the Water Curtain did he realize that he was actually standing atop a Stone Platform.

A brand-new world immediately appeared before his eyes.

Beside him, a waterfall dropped straight down. The remnant sun slanted across the horizon. Water and light converged here, breathtakingly beautiful.

In the distance, birds soared and roamed. His vision stretched extremely far, a scene of vast sky and broad earth.

Ning Qi looked at the scene before him, standing like a sculpture, while Spiritual Light gushed through his mind like a spring.

Ye Qinghe was first drawn in by the scene before her, then had her attention pulled by the White Ape's calls. She looked over and saw the White Ape excitedly pointing at the Red Fruit on a Sapling by the water cliff to the side. Ye Qinghe actually could not recognize what sort of miraculous fruit it was.

"Could it be that this White Ape is so clever because it ate this Red Fruit?"

She instinctively thought this, because there were two more Saplings below, but their branches were bare.

Afterward, Ye Qinghe understood the White Ape's intention.

"You little White Ape. So giving me the secret manual was a lie, and having me help you pick the Red Fruit was the truth."

She could not help laughing.

At the same time, she sighed inwardly that this White Ape was far too pure. If it had met someone ruthless instead, would it not have lost the wife and the soldiers too?

But Ye Qinghe clearly was not that kind of person.

With a release of strength, her body grew light as a swallow; she spun through the air and deftly plucked the Red Fruit, then tossed it to White Ape.

Gratitude filled White Ape's eyes. After cupping his hands in thanks, he could not wait to eat the Red Fruit.

Under Ye Qinghe's astonished gaze, White Ape's fur seemed to flash with a strange light, becoming even smoother and snowier white.

She could not help wanting to share this marvel with Ning Qi.

She turned to look, but the call already on the tip of her tongue instantly stopped.

Because she discovered—

Her Junior Brother seemed to have entered a wondrous state.