Ice Extreme Divine Crystal

Protected by the Scarlet King Broken Tooth, the bone-piercing cold of the spring water, which even ordinary Soul Douluo would find unbearable, only brought Qin Yue a slight chill. It was like a breeze blowing over his body after sweating, rather refreshing.

Following Nan Shuishui's instructions, Qin Yue descended all the way down. As he continued deeper, the surrounding light gradually dimmed. A thin layer of Lightning Armor emerged over his body, completely blocking out the chill of the spring water while providing illumination.

The space beneath the spring was not small, and the rock walls were largely identical. At a glance, it was difficult to find the cave abode among them. But with a light source and Nan Shuishui's thorough guidance, Qin Yue soon reached a depth of roughly twenty-five meters.

Based on several extremely subtle marks Nan Shuishui had told him about, Qin Yue successfully found the mechanism set up by the Earth Dragon Sect. It was a tiny protrusion.

Though this mechanism looked simple, Huo Yuhao in the original story had needed a full forty percent of his Soul Power just to barely pull it up a little. No matter how confident Qin Yue was, he would not believe that his Level 43 Soul Power could compare to forty percent of Huo Yuhao's Soul Power during the Soul Saint stage.

Having long known where the mechanism was, Qin Yue had naturally prepared for it. He raised the Scarlet King Broken Tooth clenched tightly in his right hand, used his own Soul Power as a guide, and stabbed down fiercely!

A hundred li beyond Dragon City, Scarlet King, who had been impatiently wondering why Qin Yue had yet to act, suddenly perked up. Using the broken tooth in Qin Yue's hand as a medium, it struck from its hiding place a hundred li away.

Before the Cold Spring mechanism, the broken tooth, which had merely been silently resisting the surrounding chill, suddenly shone brilliantly. A crimson claw only slightly larger than Qin Yue's palm emerged from it, grabbed the mechanism, and yanked upward.

Seeing that this part had succeeded, Qin Yue immediately darted to the stone wall on the other side and forcefully pressed a previously located, inconspicuous indentation. A faint grinding sound followed.

After confirming that he had not misheard, he returned to the original stone wall and forcefully pressed the mechanism button he had pulled out back in, pushing until the protrusion was completely flush with the wall.

The entire stone wall began to tremble slightly. Qin Yue looked over and saw a doorway, only large enough for one person to crawl through, silently opening.

The instant the doorway opened, a cold current several times stronger than before surged out. Even with the protection of the Scarlet King Broken Tooth, Qin Yue felt a chill like an autumn breeze brushing against him.

After waiting a moment and confirming that the doorway had fully opened, Qin Yue quickly stepped forward and crawled inside.

The moment he entered, Qin Yue discovered that the Cold Spring water on his body had been blocked outside the doorway by an invisible force. His entire body became dry in an instant.

Feeling the extreme cold constantly pouring in from all around him, Qin Yue felt assured. He stopped stimulating the broken tooth in his hand, allowing the Soul Power within it, which had gradually become active, to settle down again.

A hundred li away, Scarlet King clicked its tongue in dissatisfaction. Its instincts told it that Qin Yue had definitely found something valuable this time. The quality of the power within that spring water was no weaker than that of the Lake of Life.

But no matter how good that thing was, it would be useless to a fire-element Beast of Calamity like it. It was practically poison instead. So Scarlet King did not pay it much mind and lazily lay back down to enjoy the sun.

Meanwhile, Qin Yue had already examined the not-so-large cave. He raised his left hand, and a jade-green light immediately flew from between his brows, landing in his hand and transforming into an incomparably sharp carving knife.

He naturally knew how Huo Yuhao had removed these Ice Extreme Divine Crystals in the original story, but that method was simply impossible for him. So he decided to directly use Life Gold to forcibly cut off several pieces and bring them to the Ice Empress as crucial evidence.

Just as Qin Yue fixed his gaze on a target, raised his hand, and was about to swing the knife, an aged voice suddenly rang out in his mind. "Qin Yue, put the knife down first."

Qin Yue's eyes shifted slightly. Hearing the reluctance in Electrolux's voice, he immediately seized the opening. "What a coincidence, Elder Yi. I was just worrying about how to remove them without damaging the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals. If you have a good method, we can split the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals here fifty-fifty."

Unable to bear seeing such treasures ruined by Qin Yue, Electrolux took the initiative to say, "Though this ore is special, it is not particularly useful to a wisp of Divine Consciousness like mine. Just leave me a few pieces for research afterward."

Hearing this, Qin Yue opened his palm around the Life Gold and smiled calmly. "Then I'll leave it to you, Elder Yi."

The next moment, the crystal-clear Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife floated from Qin Yue's hand. Gray-white light flickered along its blade. After several swift flashes of green knife light mixed with gray-white, the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife fell back into Qin Yue's hand.

Qin Yue looked at the ice wall before him, which seemed entirely unchanged, then at the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife lying quietly in his hand. In his mind, a silent question mark appeared.

Just as he was about to ask Elder Yi whether something had gone wrong, the ice wall before him, which had remained frozen for myriad years, finally changed.

Crack~

A faint cracking sound rang out, and several fractures suddenly appeared on the previously flawless ice wall before Qin Yue.

At first, those fractures were no thicker than strands of hair, yet after merely two or three breaths, they extended deep into the ice wall.

Thud~ Thud~

A total of seven Ice Extreme Divine Crystals of varying sizes slid incomparably smoothly from the hard ice wall as though dumplings dropping into a pot, landing before Qin Yue.

Qin Yue looked at the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals before him, then at the ice wall ahead, now marked by several cracks. After pondering for a moment, realization dawned on him, and he was awestruck by the technique Electrolux had just displayed.

Electrolux's move was simple in principle: he had perfectly utilized the special effects of Life Gold.

He had separated the ice wall and the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals, which had originally been one unified whole, into two entirely distinct entities.

Then, by leaving behind cracks, he had opened a "passage," allowing the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals, which were no longer seamlessly integrated with the ice wall and only remained somewhat connected to it, to slide out smoothly.

This method required not only an extremely deep understanding of Life Gold, but also control over it as naturally as one's own limbs. Neither requirement could be lacking.

If he deliberately trained for a while, Qin Yue could do it as well, but not now.

Realizing that Elder Yi was teaching him how to fish rather than simply giving him fish, Qin Yue was filled with admiration. This man truly was an impeccable teacher.

If Electrolux's Divine Consciousness had not disappeared in the original story, would Huo Yuhao's ending have been completely different?

Or rather, had God King Tang noticed that Electrolux posed a threat to his plans and was simply too much of an eyesore, which was why he had brazenly struck while Huo Yuhao was heading to the Clear Sky Sect?

Qin Yue suppressed his thoughts, collected every fallen Ice Extreme Divine Crystal, and headed outside without looking back.

He had no intention of searching for the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow by himself. The cold at a depth of thirty meters was far too intense. Even with Scarlet King's broken tooth, he did not have complete confidence.

It would be better to wait until he had reached an agreement with the Ice Empress, then have her take him there.