After entering the Cold Spring, Ye Yun swam downward with all his strength. The terrain beneath the water was vertical, and he estimated that he had been swimming down for nearly five minutes.
Then, Ye Yun suddenly caught sight of a glimmer of light. He immediately changed direction and swam toward it.
Gradually, as he drew nearer to the light, its true form was revealed. It was magma continuously bubbling forth, seemingly locked in a struggle against the spring water of the Cold Spring.
The sight of this wonder of heaven and earth left Ye Yun utterly shocked. Who could have imagined that at the bottom of a cold spring, there would be an opening endlessly spewing magma? All one could do was marvel that a scene where water and fire intertwined truly existed.
After his brief shock passed, Ye Yun continued swimming toward the place where water and fire merged. When he reached a spot not far from it, he discovered that the treasure he had come for was right ahead of him. Unfortunately, he could see it but could not take it.
Before Ye Yun floated a cluster of crimson flames and an ice-blue stone.
The crimson flames were the legendary Earthheart Flame. Formed from subterranean fire deep within the earth after evolving over countless years, it was a priceless treasure that innumerable alchemists dreamed of obtaining.
That blue stone was called the Frost-Ice Soul, condensed from the cold energy between heaven and earth. Ye Yun had seen records of it in the sect's ancient texts. They stated that if the Frost-Ice Soul was consumed together with Jade Marrow Fluid, it could alter one's martial talent, transforming them into the mutated Ice Soul Spirit Body among Spirit Bodies. From then on, cultivating ice-attributed martial arts would allow them to advance a thousand miles in a single day.
This wondrous scene of water and fire intertwining had been caused by the power of these two spiritual treasures of heaven and earth. Judging by the traces left by the formation of this phenomenon, it was likely caused by tremors in the earth's veins. The tremors had collapsed the rocks at the bottom of the spring, causing underground magma to erupt. Yet because the Cold Spring possessed the Frost-Ice Soul, it had gathered a vast amount of cold energy, preventing the magma from bursting through to the surface.
When the spring water was about to extinguish the magma, the Frost-Ice Soul's power drew out the Earthcore Flame hidden within the magma. When the two spiritual treasures of heaven and earth collided, they created the spectacle Ye Yun now saw.
Every full-moon night, the Cold Spring's cold energy erupted because the powers of these two spiritual treasures collided. Whenever the Earthcore Flame carried magma crashing into the Frost-Ice Soul, the tremendous impact caused the Cold Spring's cold energy to erupt. That trace of warmth in the spring water was created by the Earthcore Flame's power.
A balance had already formed here. Once either spiritual treasure was removed, one would directly face the impact of the other's power. That was why Ye Yun could see them but could not take them.
Besides, even if he could take them, with Ye Yun's current cultivation, neither of these spiritual treasures of heaven and earth was something he could touch. Otherwise, there were only two possible outcomes: he would either become an ice sculpture or be burned to ashes.
Spiritual treasures of this level could only be subdued by Core Elixir Realm martial artists above the True Essence Realm. Yet among the Great Chu Dynasty, there were no Core Elixir Realm martial artists in the open.
Ye Yun's initial excitement turned into disappointment. He had come down full of anticipation to search for treasure. It would have been better if he had found nothing, but instead, he had found them and could not take them—simply because his cultivation was too low.
Just as Ye Yun was preparing to return empty-handed after entering a mountain of treasures, he noticed that there seemed to be something on the other side of the spring bottom.
Unwilling to return empty-handed, Ye Yun could only swim in that direction. As he swam, he silently prayed in his heart, hoping that thing would be a treasure.
As the seconds ticked by, and he was nearly there, Ye Yun's breathing began to grow hurried.
A Qi Refining Realm martial artist could hold their breath underwater for at most around thirty minutes. From the time Ye Yun had descended until now, more than twenty minutes had already passed.
Ye Yun swam toward that thing with all his strength. Once he reached it, he grabbed it in one swift motion. Without even checking what it was, he stuffed it directly into his Storage Bag, then desperately swam upward toward the Cold Spring's surface.
One minute, two minutes—Ye Yun's breathing grew increasingly heavy. Just as he was about to lose all strength, he finally reached the surface.
He gulped down mouthful after mouthful of air, feeling as though he had survived a great disaster. After recovering slightly, he swam toward the ground beside the Cold Spring.
Dragging his utterly exhausted body, Ye Yun returned to his residence and collapsed onto the bed. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he recalled everything he had just seen. It could be said that it was the most magnificent spectacle Ye Yun had ever witnessed.
He had never imagined that water and fire, two opposing energies of heaven and earth, could under such a coincidence form a scene where water and fire intertwined.
As he thought, his mind drifted to Core Elixir Realm martial artists. The Earthheart Flame and Frost-Ice Soul, these two spiritual treasures of heaven and earth, possessed such formidable power. Then how powerful must Core Elixir Realm martial artists capable of subduing them be? At that moment, Ye Yun's martial heart became a little more resolute.
Just like that, more than half an hour passed before Ye Yun's strength gradually recovered. He sat up, and with a thought, took out the thing he had just obtained from his Storage Bag.
The moment the object was taken out, the temperature in the entire room dropped another notch. Ye Yun examined it carefully. It was a palm-sized lotus platform, crystal-clear throughout and emitting a faint white glow. There was a hole in the center of the platform, about the same size as the Frost-Ice Soul he had seen earlier.
Seeing this lotus platform, Ye Yun felt as though he had seen an introduction to it somewhere before, but he could not recall it at the moment.
After thinking for quite a while, Ye Yun finally remembered what it was. This lotus platform was called the Iceheart Lotus Platform, the companion spiritual treasure of the Frost-Ice Soul.
It had been born together with the Frost-Ice Soul, and the Frost-Ice Soul had been nurtured atop it. If the Earthcore Flame and the Frost-Ice Soul had not been locked in confrontation, Ye Yun would never have had the chance to obtain it.
The Iceheart Lotus Platform was no less useful than the Frost-Ice Soul. It could gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, greatly increasing cultivation speed. Yet that was not even its most powerful ability. Its strongest ability was that cultivating while seated upon it could increase one's comprehension by around thirty percent. The Iceheart Lotus Platform could truly be called a supreme treasure for martial cultivation.
The ability to increase comprehension was simply of enormous help in improving one's martial arts realm. It was even more helpful to Ye Yun. The martial arts he cultivated already had a high degree of compatibility with him, and now he had the Iceheart Lotus Platform to raise his comprehension. Cultivating martial arts would be like receiving divine aid.
Ye Yun infused true qi into the Iceheart Lotus Platform. The platform slowly rose from his hand, then expanded in midair to a size of roughly one zhang. The Iceheart Lotus Platform floated in the air as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from all around gathered toward it. After five or six minutes, all the gathered spiritual energy formed a spiritual cloud around the Iceheart Lotus Platform.
Seeing this, Ye Yun lightly leaped onto the Iceheart Lotus Platform, then sat down and circulated the Ice Profound Force to cultivate.
After cultivating for a short while, Ye Yun discovered that the density of spiritual energy atop the lotus platform was roughly twice that outside it. Moreover, under the influence of the platform's ability to enhance comprehension, his entire mind felt exceptionally clear and empty, and his understanding of martial arts had also accelerated considerably.
Having compared the results, Ye Yun no longer paid it any mind and began his cultivation for the night.
A newcomer reporting in—please recommend and bookmark! Thank you, everyone!
(End of this chapter)
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