The Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave

The next day

The Earth Dragon Gate's back courtyard had been designated a forbidden area, and normally no disciples went there. This morning, disciples stood outside the courtyard with long staffs in hand, keeping their distance.

Nan Shuishui repeatedly instructed the disciples that no matter what sounds came from inside the courtyard that day, they were not to enter.

Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao brought over some blue-gray stone blocks and slowly stacked them around the well. The blocks were all about the same size, and after a morning's work, the two of them had widened the well opening into a small pool.

Xue Yuheng then had Xiao Xiao test the size with him. The entrance was just right.

Nan Shuishui gave them one final reminder. "Our Earth Dragon Gate used mechanisms to seal off the cave dwelling. There are many strange ores inside.

"The temperature in the cave below is far too low.

"Even the Titled Douluo-level experts among our ancestors couldn't stay down there for long.

"There should be a vein of rare ice-attribute metals below.

"We don't know just how far it goes."

Xue Yuheng was a weak, helpless Support-type Soul Master. Going down alone wouldn't be much use, but he had Xiao Xiao.

After the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron advanced into the Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron, Xiao Xiao's innate Soul Power had risen from level ten to level fifteen. And after fusing with the Golden Crow True Source and the Xuanming Turtle Shell, her Martial Soul had gained immunity to water and fire.

Her resistance to ice had also improved considerably.

As for mining the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow and Ice Extreme Divine Crystal,

Xue Yuheng had considered that the Underwater Drill Soul Tool might be hampered, so he decided to leave the job to Xiao Xiao, whose left fist hit hard and whose right fist hit even harder.

The Moon Shadow Squad also had a Soul Saint with an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul. That was Xue Yuheng's trump card.

Once everything was ready, Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao changed into specially made, insulated leather suits and climbed together into the Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron. With a gurgle, it sank beneath the water.

The entrance was narrow at first, then opened up into a spacious cavern after twenty meters.

The Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron settled steadily on the bottom of the pool, its body shutting out the cold beyond.

Xue Yuheng stood, bracing himself against the cauldron wall that Xiao Xiao had turned transparent. He wrapped himself in the Power of Creation and stepped out.

The Creation Points on the panel were gradually decreasing. Xue Yuheng scanned the stone walls around him and ran his hand over the rock face. His fingertips touched a slightly recessed groove—the mechanism was there.

Following Nan Shuishui's instructions, Xue Yuheng poured Soul Power into the groove and gently pulled outward. With a soft click, the heavy ice-stone secret door beside him slowly swung inward. Xue Yuheng darted back into the cauldron.

In just three minutes, he had spent three points of the Power of Creation.

The moment the door opened, a freezing current far beyond anything they had imagined surged out. The cold was several times more biting than the blizzards of the Far North, and tiny ice shards instantly formed and struck the cauldron wall with a rustling sound.

Xiao Xiao activated her Martial Soul, and the Xuanwu runes lit up, holding the icy current firmly outside the cauldron. Even so, the temperature inside dropped considerably.

"Xiao Xiao, can you hold on?" Xue Yuheng looked at the cave, its entrance wide open, and the deep-blue light shining from within.

"The cold right now is manageable. Xiao Xue... do you think there'll be danger inside?" Xiao Xiao shrank the cauldron until it was just large enough for the two of them.

The larger she kept the cauldron, the more Soul Power it consumed. She was only level fifteen. If not for the abundant Soul Power of her God-Level Martial Soul, far beyond that of others at the same level, she wouldn't have been able to keep it up.

Xue Yuheng pondered for a moment. To be safe, he had Wan, the Soul Saint with the Ultimate Ice Martial Soul, go in first to investigate.

Wan's figure shot out from Xue Yuheng's shadow like a black silhouette. Xiao Xiao knew that these seven women were assigned to protect Xue Yuheng personally.

She wasn't jealous. In her little world, six-year-old Xue Yuheng wouldn't fall for women who were at least thirty years old.

A moment later, Wan's cool voice came from inside.

"Your Highness, there are no living creatures in the cave."

Xue Yuheng nodded, signaling for Xiao Xiao to put the cauldron away. The two of them climbed out.

Xue Yuheng protected himself with the Power of Creation, while Xiao Xiao used the Xuanwu runes. Together, they stepped into the cave.

All they could see were ice-blue crystals. Ice patterns wove across the rock walls.

Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow flowed slowly through the cracks in the ice, giving off an alluring, gentle glow.

A thick layer of ice chips covered the ground, crunching softly beneath their feet.

The original story said the cold here surpassed even the Core Circle of the Far North. Though protected by the Power of Creation, Xue Yuheng could still feel a faint chill.

"Wan, collect the Profound Ice Marrow and Ice Extreme Divine Crystal."

At Xue Yuheng's order, she set to work. He looked toward the depths of the cave, where several silver-blue crystals were embedded in the rock. They were Ice Extreme Divine Crystals.

Wan acknowledged him and took action, producing a Soul Tool drill worth a million Gold Soul Coins—one Xue Yuheng had prepared for her in advance.

Poor miner.

Xiao Xiao curiously approached the rock wall and lightly touched the ice patterns. The Xuanwu runes around her lit up on their own, shielding her from the cold.

"Xiao Xue, the ice here is so pretty..."

Xue Yuheng walked over to her and smiled. "The Profound Ice Marrow that flows out of the ice is an exceptionally rare treasure.

"You can use the cauldron to collect some and take it back. After absorbing it, your Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron might become more resistant to ice."

Yeah, then Xiao Xiao could come down and mine for him all by herself next time.

Heh heh heh... Damn, was he exploiting child labor?

Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up. She nodded hard, showing her little tiger teeth.

Red light blazed around her left hand, blue light around her right, and she swung both fists straight at the ice wall. She had no finesse at all—just a violent little girl.

That fighting style... Had she learned it from Nan Qiuqiu?

Xue Yuheng was speechless. Could she please not lead his Xiao Xiao astray?

One girl was mining, the other collecting marrow. As a helpless Support-type Soul Master who couldn't even lift a finger to defend himself, Xue Yuheng could only...

"There's an Ice God Flower here?"

"What's this? I've never seen it in any ancient texts. Whatever, I'll pack it all up..."

Xue Yuheng left nothing behind, like a bandit sweeping through town.

Wan worked quickly. Before long, she had drilled out quite a few Ice Extreme Divine Crystals and stored them in a specially made storage Soul Tool.

About an hour later, Xue Yuheng was the first to reach his limit. The protection of the Power of Creation was growing weaker and weaker. He felt as if he were walking around naked in the middle of winter.

Wan handed the filled Soul Tool to Xue Yuheng.

"Your Highness, I've collected everything as requested. There are about two hundred pounds of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal, one hundred and fifty pounds of Ten Thousand Year Cold Ice Refined Gold, and about thirty pounds of other rare metals..."

Xue Yuheng took the storage Soul Tool and sent his mental power inside, sensing the pure ice-attribute spiritual energy within.

"Good work, Wan."

The woman seemed greatly encouraged. She smiled and nodded, then sank into Xue Yuheng's shadow and disappeared.

The Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow was about fifty or sixty meters below. They would have to dive farther down.

Xue Yuheng turned to Xiao Xiao and saw that she seemed to have gotten hooked on pounding the wall.

"Xiao Xiao, let's go."

Xiao Xiao snapped out of it. She had already pounded a half-meter-deep hollow into the wall. She gave him an embarrassed smile and hurried over.

The phantom of the Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron appeared behind Xiao Xiao and slowly opened up. The two of them climbed inside again.

They had thought everything would go smoothly, but it took them a full three days and nine dives to find the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave beneath the water.

That was only because Xue Yuheng had suddenly thought to use the Life Force Detector.

Luckily, he had completely claimed this opportunity—one that had been there for the Earth Dragon Gate but never meant to be theirs.

The Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow, combined with over a hundred points of the Power of Creation, also helped Wan's Ice Butterfly Martial Soul successfully evolve to the level of Ultimate Ice.

Wan's talent hadn't been enough on its own, so the evolution had consumed a great deal of the Power of Creation.

That made her even more suited to being a miner.

Xue Yuheng left her at the Earth Dragon Gate to mine the remaining vein and Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow. He then took Xiao Xiao, bid farewell to Nan Shuishui and Nan Qiuqiu, and set off for the Far North.

With a load of "new belongings," Xue Yuheng was going to negotiate with the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow. Nan Shuishui had wanted to bring the sect elders along to back him up, but Xue Yuheng refused.

He didn't want the Earth Dragon Gate elders getting slapped to death by the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow, leaving him to pay for it.

"Your Highness, Yue, I haven't failed you. This is the fifty-thousand-year White Tiger Inner Core from the White Tiger Duke Mansion."

"You've contained your aura. Have you broken through?"

"I also have to thank you for the Holy Shadow Stone, Your Highness... Although my Soul Power Level was only ninety-two after I obtained a ninety-thousand-year Soul Ring, my strength is enough to rival a Super Douluo.

"If Ying and I use the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, I think... we could rival a Peak Douluo."

Yue had returned the day before. That was the confidence Xue Yuheng had been counting on.