Everyday Treasure Hunting

The mornings in the Ice Palace always began with a silent blue glow.

Before the frost flowers on the walls had fully lit up, Xue Lingyun had already assumed his stance on a relatively open stretch of ice inside the hall.

His legs were slightly bent, his back straight as a pine, his hands loosely held before him as though embracing something invisible. His breathing was so slow that the rise and fall of his chest was nearly imperceptible.

This was not Soul Power cultivation. He had yet to awaken his Martial Soul. Instead, he was practicing the foundational stance recorded in the <Dharma Cleansing Marrow and Changing Tendons Scripture>, known as the "Primal Chaos Stake."

After standing for roughly half an incense stick's time, fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead and slid down the contours of his still-childish cheeks.

It was actually a little comical for a body not yet seven years old to perform these movements. His arms and legs were still short, yet there was an indescribable harmony and steadiness to him.

He could feel his blood and qi slowly circulating beneath his flesh, following routes long since committed to memory, nourishing his muscles and bones and cleansing his meridians.

It was like slowly watering frozen earth with warm water, thawing it bit by bit, solidifying it bit by bit.

His internal energy had naturally reached the upper limit this body could contain.

Or rather, this body, whose Martial Soul had yet to awaken and whose meridians had yet to open, could only hold and convert so much "internal energy" to begin with.

To go any further, he would have to wait until his Martial Soul awakened and opened that door.

But that did not stop him from using the other parts of the technique to temper himself.

After several years, the results were plain to see. He was a head taller than human children his age, with sturdy muscles and bones. In a place like the Far North, he could run around bare-chested without immediately freezing stiff.

Of course, unless one possessed the Extreme Ice Attribute and the status of being adopted by the Extreme North Heavenly King, this was not recommended.

"Little Cloud! Little Cloud!"

A thunderous shout drew closer from afar, shaking fine crystalline powder loose from the icicles atop the Ice Palace.

A huge white figure crashed through the Cold Barrier naturally sealing the entrance to the Ice Palace with a boom, then tumbled and scrambled inside. It slid comically across the slick ice for quite some distance before barely stopping in front of Xue Lingyun, stirring up a gust of cold wind.

Ice Bear King Little White.

Several years had passed, and even its smallest possible form had grown another size. Even lying down, it was nearly as tall as the Ice Platform.

Its deep-blue eyes now shone with excitement, and its large nose huffed out white vapor. "Where are we going today? A sweet smell seemed to drift over from those Ice Cliffs to the east yesterday. Did some fruit ripen again? Or should we go to that valley in the south where the strange winds always blow? You said last time that the earth veins there looked pretty warm. Maybe there are tasty minerals buried there!"

Xue Lingyun slowly withdrew his stance and let out a long breath, which condensed into a slender stream of white in the frigid air.

He raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow and looked helplessly at the Extreme North Heavenly King before him, whose eyes held nothing but food. "Xiao Bai, didn't you just gnaw through half a frozen Thousand Year Snow Rhinoceros yesterday?"

"How could that be enough?" Xiao Bai declared righteously, thrusting its fluffy head close enough that it nearly touched Xue Lingyun's nose.

"I'm a bear that's still growing! I get hungry fast! Besides, Snow Rhinoceros meat is tough and tastes bad. I want something sweet, or... or those Ice Nectar fruits that burst with juice when you bite into them!"

It sounded exactly like a picky child, despite this being a white bear that had lived for hundreds of thousands of years.

The way it leaned in now made it seem more like a younger brother than Xue Lingyun, who was not even seven.

It was clearly big enough to wrap him entirely in its body, yet it carried the stubborn possessiveness of someone terrified that their candy might be taken away, determinedly claiming it all as its own.

Seeing it like this, Xue Lingyun suddenly recalled an old memory.

Not long after he had learned to speak, Snow Empress had been holding him one day. He looked up at that cool, breathtakingly beautiful face, and a surge of closeness rose within him. Hesitantly, he had tried to call out, "Mother..."

Before the word had even finished leaving his mouth, Xiao Bai, who had been napping nearby, sprang to its feet. Its entire body had seemingly frozen solid.

Its deep-blue eyes widened round as it stared straight at him, then at Snow Empress. Its nostrils flared, and a wounded "whimper" rumbled in its throat. It looked as though someone had stolen its most beloved jar of honey.

Snow Empress had merely patted Xiao Bai's head gently and said nothing.

But Xue Lingyun understood—Xiao Bai had decided that Snow Empress was its one and only "mom." That attachment was as pure as the ice of the Far North.

From then on, the form of address "Sister Xue" became an unspoken understanding between the three of them.

Xiao Bai was reassured and continued being its unruly bear child.

Snow Empress tacitly accepted it, remaining aloof yet indulgent.

And Xue Lingyun also felt that the title carried less of the weight of blood ties and more of the closeness of standing side by side. It seemed... pretty good.

Xue Lingyun could not help smiling.

Over the past few years, his and Xiao Bai's "treasure hunting" had practically become part of everyday life in the Ice Palace.

At first, he had merely sensed vaguely that there was "something drawing him" in a certain direction. He would point and babble, and Snow Empress would carry him over to investigate.

Later, as his proficiency with Huangji Jingshi steadily improved, this guidance became increasingly clear.

Later still, the mysterious arts within Huangji Jingshi—observing qi, examining fortune, and seeking veins—

under his day-after-day deliberate study and the stimulation of the Far North Land's abundant Ice Attribute environment, gradually changed from vague sensations into something clear and controllable.

He could "see" faint traces of energy flowing through heaven and earth. He could vaguely sense whether the qi gathered at a particular earth vein was auspicious or ominous, barren or abundant.

Spiritual treasures concealed themselves?

Earth veins hid away?

To his "eyes," as long as something truly existed and differed from its surroundings by even the slightest trace of energy, it was as conspicuous as a spot of ink on snow-white silk.

Snow Empress had gone from surprise at first, to tacit acceptance later, to nearly treating it as routine now.

Whenever he pointed in a certain direction and said, "There's something over there," Snow Empress would usually either go herself or have Xiao Bai take him to investigate.

As for the haul... it could only be described as a mixed bag.

Most often, they found Ice Attribute spirit herbs and minerals unique to the Far North Land.

They had found several clusters of Myriad Years Profound Ice Marrow, while Snow Lotuses over a thousand years old and Ice Ling Flowers were even more common.

Many of these things were useful to Soul Beasts on Snow Empress and Ice Empress's level, but not especially so. Most ended up in Xiao Bai's stomach, or were put away by Snow Empress, who said she would give them to him when he could use them in the future.

Because of this, Xiao Bai held his treasure-hunting ability in the highest regard. It followed him around all day, hoping he would find more delicious things.

There were also times when what they found was not something to eat.

The Far North Land was a forbidden zone for Soul Masters. Every year, who knew how many confident teams of Soul Masters entered, never to leave again. Their belongings lay scattered beneath the endless ice and snow.

Storage Soul Tools could generally preserve their contents for a long time in such extreme cold.

Following his senses to find these "ownerless items" was an important means for Xue Lingyun to build up "funds for future activities."

He still remembered the first time he and Xiao Bai dug up a Storage Soul Tool ring frozen within a sheet of ice.

After he opened it by sending in a faint thread of Spiritual Power, the glittering thousand-odd Gold Soul Coins inside nearly blinded him. There were also several Soul Tools in good condition, and even a Spirit Bone with dim light.

He had been thrilled at the time, thinking he had struck it rich.

But Xiao Bai leaned over, sniffed at the ring's opening again and again with its big nose, then poked through the pile of Gold Soul Coins and Soul Tools with a paw.

Then, the entire bear visibly wilted. Its ears drooped as it let out a mournful sigh, its disappointed expression like someone who had hit pity on a draw only to get the wrong reward.

"There's nothing to eat again..." it had muttered at the time, dismissing that wealth—which would have caused a bloody storm in the human world—with complete disdain.

After scenes like this became more common, Xiao Bai even developed a conditioned reflex. Whenever Xue Lingyun pointed in a direction and said, "There's something there, but it feels... kind of hard and kind of mixed up," it would immediately pull a long face.

If they eventually dug up a Soul Master's belongings, its expression of "Just as I thought" and "What a waste of excitement" always made Xue Lingyun laugh.

Of course, Xue Lingyun carefully stored away those Gold Soul Coins, Soul Tools, and the occasional Spirit Bone.

Snow Empress neither approved nor objected, tacitly allowing this little "private stash" of his.