Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave

The next day.

The backyard of the Earth Dragon Gate was designated a restricted area. Usually, no disciples would come here, but this morning, guard disciples stood ten meters outside the courtyard, holding long staves.

Nan Shuisui had repeatedly instructed her disciples that no matter what movements came from within the courtyard today, they were not allowed to enter.

Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao brought over blue stone blocks, slowly stacking them around the water well. These stones were uniform in size, and it took the two of them an entire morning to expand the wellhead into a small pool.

Xue Yuheng pulled Xiao Xiao over to test the size, and the entrance was just right.

Nan Shuisui gave a final reminder: "The cave dwelling is sealed off by mechanisms created by our Earth Dragon Gate, and it contains many strange ores."

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

"Even if a Title Douluo-level powerhouse among our ancestors went in, they wouldn't be able to stay for long."

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

"As for the extent of it, we aren't entirely sure either."

Xue Yuheng was a weak and pitiful support-type soul master; going down alone would be useless, but he had Xiao Xiao.

After the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron evolved into the Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron, Xiao Xiao's innate level ten soul power rose to level fifteen. Furthermore, after fusing with the Golden Crow True Source and the Xuanming Turtle Shell, her martial soul possessed the abilities of water immunity and fire immunity.

This even brought about a significant increase in her resistance to the ice attribute.

As for how to mine the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow and the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal.

Xue Yuheng considered that the Underwater Drill Soul Tool might be restricted, so it was better to leave it to Xiao Xiao, whose left fist dealt high damage and whose right fist dealt even higher damage.

The Moon Shadow Squad also had a soul saint with an extreme ice-attribute martial soul, which was Xue Yuheng's trump card.

Once everything was prepared, Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao changed into specially made thermal leather suits, climbed into the Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron together, and sank down with a gurgling sound.

Entering from the mouth, it seemed as if there was light; at first, it was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for a person. After diving for twenty meters, it suddenly opened up.

The Two Symbols Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron landed steadily on the bottom of the pool, the body of the cauldron isolating the chill from the outside.

Xue Yuheng stood up, holding onto the cauldron wall that Xiao Xiao had made transparent, and wrapped himself in the Power of Creation before stepping out of the cauldron.

The Creation Points on his panel were gradually decreasing. Xue Yuheng's gaze swept across the surrounding stone walls, and he raised his hand to grope along the rock face. His fingertips touched a slightly recessed stone groove, which was exactly where the mechanism was located.

Following Nan Shuisui's instructions, Xue Yuheng injected his soul power into the stone groove and pulled gently outward. With a soft "click," the heavy ice-stone secret door beside him slowly opened inward, and Xue Yuheng flashed back into the cauldron.

Three minutes of effort had already cost Xue Yuheng three Creation Points.

The moment the door opened, a cold current far beyond imagination surged out. The chill was several times more biting than the wind and snow of the Far North, instantly condensing into fine ice shards that struck the cauldron wall with a rustling sound.

Xiao Xiao activated her martial soul, and the Xuanwu runes lit up, firmly blocking the cold current outside the cauldron. Even so, the temperature inside the cauldron dropped significantly.

"Xiao Xiao, can you hold on?" Xue Yuheng looked at the wide-open cave dwelling, from which a deep blue light emanated.

"The current cold is fine, Xiao Xue... will there be danger inside?" Xiao Xiao shrank the size of the cauldron to just enough to fit the two of them.

The larger the cauldron body she maintained, the more it consumed her soul power. Now that she was only level fifteen, if it weren't for the fact that her god-level martial soul's soul power was thick and far exceeded those of the same rank, she wouldn't have been able to hold on.

Xue Yuheng was thoughtful. For the sake of safety, he still let Wan, the soul saint with the extreme ice-attribute, go in first to scout.

Wan's figure rushed in like a black shadow from Xue Yuheng's shadow. Xiao Xiao knew about the close protection provided by these seven women.

She wouldn't be jealous; in her small world, the six-year-old Xue Yuheng wouldn't fall for these aunties who were at least thirty years old.

A moment later, Wan's cold, clear voice came through.

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

Xue Yuheng nodded, signaling Xiao Xiao to retract the cauldron, and the two climbed out.

Xue Yuheng used the Power of Creation to protect his body, while Xiao Xiao used the Xuanwu runes, and they stepped into the cave together.

What met their eyes were ice-blue crystals, with ice patterns woven across the rock walls.

The Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow flowed slowly along the ice cracks, emitting an alluring, soft light.

The ground was covered with thick ice shavings, making a crisp sound when stepped upon.

The original text said that the cold here was even colder than the core circle of the Far North. Even with the Power of Creation protecting his body, Xue Yuheng could still feel a faint chill.

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

Xue Yuheng ordered, his gaze sweeping to the depths of the cave, where crystals with silver-blue halos were embedded—these were the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal.

Wan responded and moved, an Underwater Drill Soul Tool worth a million Gold Soul Coins appearing in her hand, which Xue Yuheng had prepared for her in advance.

Poor miner.

Xiao Xiao curiously approached the rock wall, her small hand lightly touching the ice patterns, and the Xuanwu runes around her body automatically lit up to resist the cold.

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

Xue Yuheng walked to her side and smiled: "These Profound Ice Marrow flowing out from the ice layer are rare treasures."

"You can use the cauldron to take some up. After absorbing them, perhaps it will increase your Heaven-Suppressing Cauldron's resistance to the ice attribute."

Hmm, that way Xiao Xiao could come down and mine for herself next time.

Heh heh heh... damn, does this count as child labor?

Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously, revealing her little tiger teeth.

With a crimson glow in her left hand and an icy blue light in her right, she smashed directly into the ice wall. There was no grace to be found; she was every bit the violent little loli.

This fist technique... did she learn it from Nan Qiuqiu?

Xue Yuheng was speechless. Could you please not lead my Xiao Xiao astray?

As the two women busied themselves—one mining, the other harvesting marrow—Xue Yuheng, a support-type Soul Master with no strength to truss a chicken, had no choice but to...

"There's actually an Ice God Flower here?"

"What is this? Why haven't I seen it in any ancient texts? Whatever, pack it all up..."

Xue Yuheng plucked everything in his path, acting just like a bandit sweeping through a village.

Wan moved quickly. Before long, she had chiseled out a significant amount of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal, storing it away in a specialized storage Soul Tool.

About an hour later, it was Xue Yuheng who reached his limit first. The protection from the Power of Creation was growing weaker; he felt as though he were walking around naked in the dead of winter.

Wan handed the filled Soul Tool to Xue Yuheng.

"Your Highness, the collection is complete as requested. There is approximately two hundred jin of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal, one hundred and fifty jin of Ten Thousand Year Cold Ice Refined Gold, and about thirty jin of other rare metals..."

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

"Well done, Wan."

The woman seemed greatly encouraged, smiling as she nodded before sinking into Xue Yuheng's shadow and vanishing.

The Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave was located about fifty or sixty meters below, requiring them to dive even deeper.

Xue Yuheng turned to look at Xiao Xiao, only to find that she seemed addicted to hammering the wall.

"Xiao Xiao, let's go."

Xiao Xiao snapped back to reality. The wall in front of her had been hammered into a half-meter-deep pit. She gave an embarrassed smile and ran to Xue Yuheng's side.

The phantom of the Zhentian Cauldron emerged behind Xiao Xiao and slowly expanded, and the two of them climbed inside once more.

They had expected everything to go smoothly, but they didn't anticipate that searching for the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave underwater would take them three full days and nine dives.

This was only possible because Xue Yuheng had a sudden inspiration and made use of the Life Force Detector.

Fortunately, this opportunity that the Earth Dragon Gate was destined to miss out on had been completely secured by Xue Yuheng.

The Myriad Year Profound Ice Marrow, combined with the assistance of a hundred points of the Power of Creation, allowed Wan's Ice Butterfly Martial Soul to successfully evolve to the level of Ultimate Ice.

Wan's talent was actually insufficient, which was why it had consumed so much of the Power of Creation.

Now, she was even better suited to be a miner.

Xue Yuheng arranged for her to stay at the Earth Dragon Gate, responsible for mining the remaining veins and the Myriad Year Profound Ice Marrow, while he took Xiao Xiao to bid farewell to Nan Shuisui and Nan Qiuqiu, embarking on their journey to the Far North.

Carrying his full load of "new assets," Xue Yuheng was going to negotiate with the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow. Nan Shuisui had wanted to bring along sect elders to assist, but Xue Yuheng had refused.

He wanted to avoid a situation where the Earth Dragon Gate elders were slapped to death by the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow, only for them to demand compensation from him later.

"Your Highness, Yue, I have fulfilled my mission. This is the fifty-thousand-year White Tiger Inner Core from the White Tiger Duke Mansion."

"The aura is restrained. You've broken through?"

"I have the Holy Shadow Stone to thank for that, Your Highness... Although my Soul Power Level only reached ninety-two after obtaining my ninety-thousand-year soul ring, my combat power is enough to rival a Super Douluo.

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

Yue had returned yesterday, and this was the source of Xue Yuheng's confidence.