A Wrong Turn into the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave, Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow!

He looked around. There was nothing but snow and solid ice—not a single blade of grass.

"If I kick the bucket right here in this ice crevice, that'd be so damn embarrassing..."

Xue Chen pursed his lips. As a transmigrator with Twin Martial Souls, Innate Level 20 Soul Power, and the experience of surviving a tribulation, it would be a laughingstock if he died of hunger or froze to death in some miserable ice crevice.

Better to rely on himself than beg others.

He stood back up and brushed the ice off his backside. His gaze grew determined.

He carefully examined the bottom of the deep crevice. It stretched into darkness in both directions, with no end in sight.

"I have to find my own way out!"

He stood still and looked behind him, toward the path he'd tumbled down when he fell. There was nothing but steep ice walls and piled-up snow.

Then he turned to look ahead, toward the place where he'd spotted that deep, shadowy opening.

Darkness swallowed everything. The unknown often meant danger, but it might also hide a way out.

"Let's take a chance..."

Xue Chen drew a deep breath of the frigid air. His eyes narrowed, and he hesitated no longer.

He chose the way ahead and stepped into the unknown darkness.

Better to search for a way out than sit around and wait to die.

Even if the way ahead led into a dragon's lair or a tiger's den, it was still better than being trapped in this desperate place!

He proceeded cautiously, watching his surroundings warily as he went.

Far above him, on the ice field.

Xiao Bai was still searching frantically, confusion written all over her. Her enormous paws shoved aside heaps of snow and ice as her anxious roars echoed across the empty ice field—but they were never going to reach this deep beneath the earth.

Xue Chen held a flickering ball of blue lightning in his palm. Guided by its dim but steady light, he trudged unevenly along the bottom of the pitch-black crevice.

All around him was ice that had remained frozen for ten thousand years.

He had no idea how long he'd been walking when a sudden shiver ran through him. Instinctively, he tightened his nonexistent coat around himself.

"What the hell...?"

He couldn't help muttering a curse, his face filled with uncertainty.

The Far North was a frozen wasteland, but ever since Snow Empress had taken him in as a child, he had never once felt the cold.

Yet now, he could clearly feel... cold!

An extreme chill that didn't come from the surrounding environment grew clearer and more intense the farther he went.

This was far too strange!

He stopped and warily looked around.

Apart from the lightning in his hand and the endless ice beneath his feet, nothing seemed out of place.

But that invisible chill continued to surge toward him.

After a moment's hesitation, curiosity finally overcame caution.

He gritted his teeth and kept moving.

After rounding another bend, the way ahead was no longer completely dark.

A faint, pure blue glow seeped from deep within the crevice, illuminating the ice walls ahead until they sparkled like crystal.

The light wasn't dazzling, but it held an indescribable allure—and... an even more piercing chill!

Against that blue glow, the ball of lightning in Xue Chen's hand seemed dim and restless.

"What is this...?"

Xue Chen's confusion reached its peak.

He dispelled the ball of lightning and concealed his aura, becoming even more cautious as he crept toward the source of the blue light.

A narrow gap appeared ahead, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

That alluring yet dangerous blue light was spilling from beyond it.

Xue Chen didn't hesitate. Turning sideways, he carefully squeezed through.

Once his whole body had passed through the narrow gap and he saw what lay before him, he froze in place. His mouth fell open into a round "O," and his pupils contracted violently from the sheer shock.

Before him lay a vast, naturally formed ice cave!

The domed ceiling and walls were no longer made of ordinary pale blue ice;

they were entirely made of a wondrous, translucent crystal, with blue light slowly flowing within!

And at the center of the ice cave grew... yes, "grew" was the only way to describe it!

Strange formations, clustered in bunches like enormous crystal bamboo shoots or an upside-down forest of ice, hung from the ceiling and jutted up from the ground!

They were a purer, deeper shade of blue.

They contained unimaginable, surging energy and an extreme chill. The blue light filling the entire cave and the cold that made Xue Chen tremble came from these formations!

As if they were alive, the ice crystals breathed silently, radiating an ancient and boundless aura.

With these crystals filling it, the entire cave was as beautiful as a fairyland.

Xue Chen's mind buzzed as he recalled the Douluo novels he'd read back on Blue Star.

"Th-this can't be... the legendary... Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?!"

Xue Chen stood dumbly at the entrance to the cave, gazing at the wondrous scene formed by the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. He was overwhelmed with shock.

Even though he wasn't an ice-type Soul Master, he could still sense how precious and terrifying this substance was from its incredibly pure, frigid energy.

"Hiss—so cold!"

After his brief daze, the bone-deep chill struck again, making him shiver.

The heat was being rapidly drained from his body. Fine white frost had even begun to form on his skin.

"No! At this rate, I'll turn into an ice statue before I can find a way out!"

Xue Chen's heart lurched, and he didn't dare waste another moment.

His thoughts raced. The Bloodline Power inside him suddenly awakened and began surging wildly!

"Vmmm!!!"

The peculiar Origin Soul Ring orbiting his body blazed with light on its own, without Xue Chen needing to activate it!

The Bloodline Power within Xue Chen surged. Mixed with the power of lightning, it formed an invisible, warm barrier that tightly covered his body.

"Phew—"

Xue Chen let out a long breath. Warmth returned to his body, and the frost on his skin quickly melted away.

He flexed his stiff fingers, marveling inwardly at the wonders of this Origin Soul Ring.

It could grant him Dragon Transformation and control over lightning, while also mobilizing his Bloodline Power. It was both offensive and defensive.

Having withstood the terrifying chill, Xue Chen turned his gaze greedily toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow glowing blue.

He cautiously stepped forward and reached out a finger, wanting to touch the nearest piece of Profound Ice Marrow.

Before his fingertip could make contact, an even sharper chill traveled through the air toward him.

At the same time, the Soul Power of lightning within him instinctively recoiled, as if the two were as incompatible as fire and water.

Xue Chen's hand froze in midair, and his brow furrowed deeply.

"This is trouble..."

He murmured to himself, the excitement on his face gradually giving way to helplessness.

"This thing contains the purest essence of ice, which directly clashes with my own lightning attribute! If I try to absorb it by force, forget about improving my cultivation—our energies might immediately clash, and I could even explode!"

He had a mountain of treasure before him, but couldn't use any of it.

It felt like being a starving man faced with a feast, only to discover every dish had been laced with poison.