Ice Extreme Divine Crystal Mine

The frigid spring was bone-chillingly cold.

But to Jiang Lan, whose martial soul had already possessed him,

not only did he feel no cold, it instead felt as comfortable as returning home.

Jiang Lan stopped beneath the water and carefully took a breath.

Not only did he not choke on water, he even breathed in fresh air carrying a faint chill.

Jiang Lan was completely reassured and plunged headfirst toward the bottom of the frigid spring.

He descended incredibly quickly, even leaving Shui Qinghan behind.

Water had resistance, but Jiang Lan not only felt none of that resistance—water even became an aid to him.

But Shui Qinghan was, after all, a powerful Soul Douluo.

Holding Shui Bing'er, she quickly caught up, even overtaking Jiang Lan and stopping before a cave deep within the frigid spring.

"Lan'er, this is the place," Shui Qinghan transmitted.

The cave entrance was large enough for one person to squeeze through, and cold currents continuously surged out from within.

The currents were freezing. If not for Jiang Lan's innate domain granting immunity to elemental attacks, they would likely have been frozen stiff by now.

The moment he saw the cave, Jiang Lan understood.

Shui Qinghan had most likely mistaken this accompanying Ice Extreme Divine Crystal Mine for the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave.

After all, Shui Qinghan's Water-Congealing Flying Luan martial soul was not ultimate ice and could not withstand temperatures far lower than those of the Far North's core region.

Although Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal was far less valuable than Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, it was still an exceedingly rare treasure.

According to the Ice Empress, Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal was both the hardest ice-element metal and the most flexible ice-element metal.

Though it looked like crystal, it possessed the malleability of metal and was a supreme-grade rare metal.

More importantly, Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal possessed a certain vitality. Some pieces even had consciousness and were known as ice spirits.

In other words, if a blacksmith's skill was high enough, Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal could be forged into soul-forged metal.

One had to know that even in the era of Soul Land Three, soul-forged metal was a top-tier metal capable of crafting three-word battle armor.

Of course, forging Soul Land Three battle armor in Soul Land One, where the inheritance of soul tools had been completely severed, was nothing more than a fool's dream.

But if it was merely forged into soft armor, the craftsmanship of Soul Land One's divine blacksmiths was more than sufficient.

Furthermore, soul-forged metal could merge into a soul master's body, which was equivalent to gaining an extra defensive soul skill and amplification soul skill out of thin air.

Unfortunately, none of the three possessed ultimate ice. They could only stare at the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal Mine and drool, unable to mine it.

Pulling his drifting thoughts back, Jiang Lan took the initiative to squeeze into the cave.

Though he could not mine the Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal, Jiang Lan wanted Shui Qinghan to understand its value.

Seeing Jiang Lan enter the cave, Shui Qinghan followed after him while holding Shui Bing'er.

Yet once they entered, they found a world within.

The cave was not particularly spacious, but it was densely covered in unknown ores, and the temperature was extremely low.

There was not the slightest trace of water within the cave. A strange force kept the spring water outside the entrance.

That strange force even filtered away the spring water on Jiang Lan's body, leaving him completely dry.

The instant he entered the cave, powerful waves of cold current, carrying ice-element heaven-and-earth energy so dense it was nearly visible to the naked eye, battered Jiang Lan's body.

Unfortunately, with his innate domain active, Jiang Lan was completely immune to elemental attacks. Those cold currents could only swirl around his body and could not harm him at all. Instead, they made his martial soul exceptionally active, greedily absorbing the ice-element heaven-and-earth energy.

Soon after, Shui Qinghan entered as well. A watery blue glow flickered around her, illuminating the dark cave.

Shui Qinghan and Shui Bing'er were instantly stunned.

Under the watery blue radiance around Shui Qinghan, the entire cave took on the azure hue of ice crystals, possessing a dreamlike beauty.

The entire cave had formed from all manner of crystals. The ground, walls, and ceiling were covered in those translucent crystals. Some were large and some small, uneven and irregular, gleaming with flowing colors. The varying shades of watery blue light revealed every minute detail within the cave.

"So beautiful!" Shui Bing'er's lake-blue eyes reflected the scenery within the cave as she exclaimed in heartfelt admiration.

"Lan'er, are these the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow?" Shui Qinghan recovered from her shock after only a moment and asked.

"No." Jiang Lan shook his head and explained, "These crystals are not Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. They are Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal that accompanies the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave."

"Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal? What is it used for?" Shui Qinghan asked.

Shui Bing'er also looked over curiously.

"Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal is a top-grade rare metal. It possesses many traits, including extreme hardness and flexibility, and it can amplify the power of ice-element soul skills by at least double. If forged into armor, even a Titled Douluo would be unable to break its defense." Jiang Lan explained as he touched the Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal beside him.

"Hiss—" Shui Qinghan sucked in a cold breath, staring at the Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal throughout the cave with blazing eyes.

"Lan'er, how can these Ice-Extreme Divine Crystals be mined?" Shui Qinghan asked.

"Only ultimate ice soul power can mine these Ice-Extreme Divine Crystals. Otherwise, even a Titled Douluo would find it difficult to dig out a single piece," Jiang Lan replied.

"Ultimate ice soul power?" Shui Qinghan was somewhat disappointed upon hearing that.

Her Water-Congealing Flying Luan martial soul was still far from ultimate ice. It was simply impossible for her to mine the Ice-Extreme Divine Crystal.

"Teacher, once you absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, perhaps you'll be able to mine it," Jiang Lan said with a smile, comforting her.

"That's true." Shui Qinghan nodded slightly, quickly adjusting her mindset before asking again,

"Lan'er, since this is not the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave, where is the real one?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, the true Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave is beneath the springhead of this frigid spring," Jiang Lan replied.

"Good. There's no time to lose—we'll set off now," Shui Qinghan said with a nod.

The three of them left the cave and continued diving toward the springhead of the frigid spring.

The closer they drew to the springhead, the lower the temperature became.

Holding Shui Bing'er, Shui Qinghan's expression was extremely grave.

At such temperatures, without Jiang Lan's innate domain, she would likely be frozen stiff within only a few breaths.

However, this environment of extreme cold and pure ice elements was truly exceptionally suited to cultivation for both her and Shui Bing'er.

Even without the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, if she remained in such an extremely cold environment, she could attempt to break through to Titled Douluo within three years at most.

As for Shui Bing'er, she would need only half a year to attempt the bottleneck at level thirty.

Unfortunately, the temperature here was simply too low. Without Jiang Lan's innate domain, she could not reach this place at all.

Not to mention that they were underwater and had to hold their breath, making long-term cultivation impossible.