It Really Hatched!

"Wait? Why?"

This made Skydream Iceworm, who had been about to dive headfirst into the icy spring, pause and look at Xu Linjiu in confusion.

"Nothing. Just preparing a few things in case."

Even Huo Yuhao, who possessed the Ultimate Ice attribute, had nearly failed to withstand the temperature of that icy spring. Xu Linjiu seriously doubted whether a single shed skin from an iceworm could truly resist such extreme cold.

He took out the Pokédex Martial Soul from his robes and tapped the screen twice. A bottle of medicine and a strangely shaped Berry instantly appeared in his hands.

[Ice Heal: A spray medicine that can cure a Pokémon's frozen condition.]

[Yache Berry: When held by a Pokémon, it weakens the power of a super-effective Ice-type move.]

He stuffed the Berry into his mouth in a few bites, pulled the cap off the Ice Heal, and drank it in one go.

When he approached the well again, the frigid air no longer made Xu Linjiu feel cold. Instead, a refreshing sensation washed over him.

"Good!"

He tightened the iceworm shed skin beneath his clothes once more, braced his left hand against the edge of the well, and flipped himself directly into it.

The instant he touched the water, Xu Linjiu felt a pure surge of heaven-and-earth essence rushing out from it.

If a Soul Master could cultivate here for a long time, the speed of their cultivation would undoubtedly improve twice as fast with half the effort.

Unfortunately, aside from Ice-attribute Soul Masters, few people could likely endure the temperature of this water. If Xu Linjiu had not possessed Skydream Iceworm's shed skin, he probably would not have been able to persist to the deepest point either.

The surrounding light gradually dimmed. Now, if Xu Linjiu wanted to make out his surroundings, he could only rely on Inner Focus to probe them.

Circulating his soul power, Xu Linjiu continued sinking.

Before long, Xu Linjiu had descended to a depth of roughly twenty-five meters.

Through his Inner Focus, he easily sensed an opening at this position that he could enter.

Inside the opening was the Ice Extremity Divine Crystal that grew alongside the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. However, that thing was of no use to him right now, and without the Ultimate Ice attribute, it would be difficult to cut the Ice Extremity Divine Crystal down.

He continued descending, pushing through the upwelling cold current. Soon, Xu Linjiu reached the source of the icy spring.

"This should be it, right?"

Xu Linjiu stopped beside the spring source and extended his Inner Focus ahead, only for it to be driven back by frigid energy so dense it was nearly tangible.

"No problem. Trust my senses, and trust my shed skin!" Skydream Iceworm's voice rang out in the sea of consciousness.

Hearing that, Xu Linjiu no longer hesitated. He took a step forward and entered the spring source.

Sure enough, the moment he entered, Xu Linjiu felt a bone-piercing chill penetrate Skydream Iceworm's shed skin and stab into his flesh.

Cold at this level was no longer something a simple layer of shed skin could block.

Fortunately, the Ice Heal and Yache Berry he had taken in advance took effect at that moment.

A warm medicinal power spread from his stomach, flowing through his meridians and throughout his body, dissolving every cold current that tried to congeal inside him.

With three layers of protection around him, Xu Linjiu no longer hesitated and drove his soul power at full force as he dived downward.

After descending roughly twenty meters, the water pressure around him began climbing at an astonishing rate.

At a depth of thirty-five meters, the pressure had become so great that every breath required him to use soul power to support his chest. Otherwise, even his lungs could not expand properly.

The shed skin still faithfully isolated the external cold, but it was merely a layer of skin. It offered no resistance at all against pure water pressure.

Xu Linjiu could clearly feel his bones letting out faint groans beneath the crushing pressure, while his blood flow began to slow and clog.

"Skydream, how much farther?" he asked inwardly, his voice carrying a hint of urgency.

"Almost, almost! It's right below, less than five meters left!"

Skydream Iceworm's voice sounded in his mind, even more nervous than he was. "Hold on a little longer! We're almost there!"

Five meters.

On level ground, it was merely a few steps. Yet here, deep within the spring source, five meters was like an insurmountable chasm between life and death.

"I can only use that move."

Xu Linjiu struggled to raise both hands underwater. His fingertips had stiffened with cold and could no longer move freely, but he still successfully released the skill he wanted to use.

[Light Screen]!

[Reflect]!

Two transparent barriers formed around him, and the oppressive force of the water pressure finally eased somewhat.

The crushing pain in his chest lessened by more than half, and his dizziness quickly faded.

Xu Linjiu seized the opportunity, kicked hard with both feet, and abruptly accelerated toward the bottom of the spring source for one final sprint.

Three meters, two meters, one meter.

He had finally reached the bottom of the spring source.

Breaking through an invisible membrane of energy, Xu Linjiu finally arrived at the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Cave.

Xu Linjiu lay flat on the ground, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath.

At the final moment when he broke through the energy membrane at the bottom of the icy spring, he had nearly thought he would not make it.

Fortunately, Light Screen and Reflect had held off the final impact of the cold current in time. Otherwise, whether he could even be drawing breath right now would be uncertain.

As a Soul King, he had nearly failed at something even a favored child of fate at the Soul Sage level had failed to accomplish.

A pearly-white streak of light emerged from between his brows and condensed before him into a round, plump little iceworm.

Although Skydream Iceworm was a spiritual body, in this environment filled with frigid energy, its form was even more solid than outside. Even the patterns of the ten golden rings on its body were clearly visible.

"Yes, yes, yes! This is the place!"

Skydream Iceworm floated into the air and spun in a circle, its tiny eyes full of nostalgia. "This smell! The smell of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow!"

Xu Linjiu took out two bottles of Potion and drank them, then propped himself up from the ground and began examining his surroundings.

This was a naturally formed underground ice cave, far larger than he had imagined.

The dome was over ten zhang high, and the surroundings were packed with dense ice crystal pillars. The long ones were more than a zhang in length, while even the short ones measured two or three chi.

The most conspicuous things in the entire ice cave were the enormous icicles hanging upside down from the dome. They were the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.

He counted them. There were forty-five in total, exactly the same as in his memories.

Xu Linjiu withdrew his gaze, flipped his wrist, and summoned the Pokédex Martial Soul.

He tapped the screen twice and opened the Ice Gift mission interface.

[Detected that the current location has an extremely high concentration of Ice-type energy, meeting the conditions for energy absorption.]

[Begin absorbing Ice-type energy?]

[Yes/No]

"Yes!"

The light on the Pokédex screen suddenly flared.

A ball of light slowly rose, hovering before Xu Linjiu as it spun several times. Then it gradually dispersed, and a Pokémon Egg without physical form appeared before him.

The next second, a massive suction force erupted from the Pokémon Egg.

An enormous amount of Ice-type energy surged from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow hanging overhead, forming a huge vortex of Ice-type energy around the Pokémon Egg.

As the energy gathered, the temperature in the already freezing ice cave dropped several more degrees. Xu Linjiu hurriedly backed away a few steps, distancing himself from the vortex before him.

"How is it? How is it!"

Skydream Iceworm flew over and sprawled atop the Pokédex Martial Soul. "There should be enough energy this time, right?"

Xu Linjiu raised the Pokédex and looked. Beneath the Ice Gift progress bar, the energy absorption meter was rising wildly.

[91/100000]

[692/100000]

[9527/100000]

[58762/100000]

[99423/100000]

[100000/100000]

The instant the progress bar filled, the Ice-type energy vortex collapsed with a boom, leaving behind only the Pokémon Egg within, shining with dazzling light.

"What? The Pokémon Egg is going to hatch? Seriously?"

"Damn, it really hatched!"