The three of them plunged into the icy spring. Snow Empress spread a Soul Power barrier around them and dived deeper.
After several dozen meters, a terrifying cold current swept over them. Even through the barrier, Beiming Lieyang felt bone-piercing cold.
But in the next moment, a faint golden glow surged from within him, radiating gentle warmth and keeping the chill outside.
"Xiaoyang, you've become warm again." Ice Empress leaned closer, curiously studying the layer of golden light.
As an Ice Jade Scorpion, she was naturally repulsed by scorching things, yet the warmth emanating from Beiming Lieyang made her feel comfortable, without the slightest sense of rejection.
Snow Empress looked at the golden light in surprise. "This is the power of the Solar Star God Martial Soul. It can withstand such low temperatures without carrying the slightest heat. It's exactly the same as when we first found you years ago."
"What level is your Martial Soul, exactly?" Remembering how basking in the sun had doubled all his attributes before, Ice Empress could not help muttering, "You're clearly just a Soul Grandmaster, yet you can resist this kind of cold with that Martial Soul... It's absurd."
Beiming Lieyang nodded. "It's very strong."
In that era, anyone who dared call themselves the sun was either a powerhouse or the protagonist.
What righteous leader woke up and opened with, "Evil Star God, you've got some nerve"?
He charged into the enemy's lair, grabbed two grunts by the heads and smashed them together, then opened his mouth with, "A bunch of trash."
He beat the villains down while acting even more villainous than they were.
Solar Star God Apollo was just that domineering.
If not for plot armor, he would have already stormed into the spaceship and cut off Salong's head, which was encased in Void Mysterious Ice, with a single sword strike!
As they spoke, the three of them had reached the cave entrance.
Snow Empress activated her Soul Power to illuminate the surroundings. The cave walls were embedded with deep-blue crystals, clear and translucent, glowing with dreamlike light.
"Extreme Ice Divine Crystals. These are things that accompany a Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave. We really did find one." Even Snow Empress was slightly moved as she looked at the deep-blue crystals.
"A Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave lies beneath the mysterious ice layer for more than ten thousand years, slowly forming under immense pressure.
Though it is called 'ten-thousand-year,' ten thousand years is merely the starting point. It must undergo at least several hundred thousand years, even a million years, and only then might it form through a fortunate coincidence."
"We once found some Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow in the core region of the Extreme North, but those were not Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Caves. The amount of Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow they could produce was pitifully small, and the pieces were pitifully tiny."
Ice Empress's eyes widened. She directly passed through Snow Empress's protective barrier, completely ignoring the terrifying cold far beyond Ultimate Ice, and spoke with excitement.
"Before, we finally found a Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave and thought we would obtain a large amount of Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow. Unfortunately, the Mysterious Ice Marrow there had already been completely devoured by something, leaving behind only traces of bugs crawling all over the ground."
She turned to look at the cave before them, unable to suppress her excitement. "I never thought there would actually be a second Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave in this world!"
Snow Empress nodded slightly. "Beast God Ditian was able to break through eight bottlenecks in succession and remain unmatched because he also controlled a place of supreme treasure.
Although Lake of Life contains life attributes that do not fully match his darkness attribute, he was still able to cultivate and improve continuously through it.
And this Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave is perfectly compatible with us ice-type Soul Beasts. Its value is not the least bit inferior to Lake of Life."
"Besides, this cave is accompanied by so many Extreme Ice Divine Crystals." Snow Empress surveyed the surroundings.
Ice Empress was brimming with excitement. "Though Extreme Ice Divine Crystals are inferior to Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow, they are still exceptionally rare treasures. They are both the hardest and most flexible ice-type metal. Xiaoyang will have use for them in the future."
Beiming Lieyang interrupted her. "We can talk about the Extreme Ice Divine Crystals later. The Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow is what matters most. Mother Xue, Auntie Bing, after you absorb it, your strength will definitely soar."
The Ice and Snow Emperors treated him very well. For now, all he could do was provide this information and let their strength soar, repaying them a little.
Besides, the stronger his backers were, the better he could rely on them.
Both Snow Empress and Ice Empress were moved.
This child had not considered himself at all.
Snow Empress reached out and gently stroked his head. "Even if there is little Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow in the entire cave, once your Auntie Bing and I have enough, we will definitely leave some for you."
"Exactly!" Ice Empress also stood on tiptoe and rubbed his head. "You're the god we intend to nurture. Of course we have to save a portion for you."
"And honestly, Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow tastes far worse than your Void Mysterious Ice. It can only increase all attributes threefold, so I'm more looking forward to the God-tier Void Mysterious Ice you'll produce after becoming a god."
"Mother Xue, Auntie Bing, absorb yours first. We can talk afterward."
Seeing that Beiming Lieyang still insisted, the two exchanged a glance and said no more.
Ice Empress moved first. Her Ultimate Ice Soul Power covered the Extreme Ice Divine Crystals on the cave walls, softening them for extraction.
Snow Empress sorted all the crystals according to whether they contained ice spirits and placed them into the Storage Soul Tool.
As chunks of Extreme Ice Divine Crystal disappeared, the temperature in the cave visibly rose.
After collecting the crystals, the three continued onward, swimming deeper into the Cold Spring.
The deeper they went, the lower the temperature became. Even a Title Douluo could only endure a few breaths here, but the Ice and Snow Emperors felt unprecedented comfort.
A spring eye appeared ahead. Snow Empress reinforced the barrier and led the three of them into it.
Beyond the spring eye was an extremely small cave, less than ten square meters in size and not even one and a half meters tall.
Strange ice pillars crisscrossed the cave. Liquid could vaguely be seen flowing within them, radiating a terrifying chill that reached the utmost extreme.
"Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow!" Ice Empress's eyes were filled with excitement. "It really is Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow! This is wonderful!"
She quickly counted them, her voice trembling.
"Fifty-seven! Fifty-seven in total!"
Beiming Lieyang knew that there had been forty-five pieces of Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow in the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave in the original work.
But this was ten thousand years earlier, so he could not be certain how many there were.
He had not mentioned a specific number.
Unexpectedly, there were quite a few more.
But it made sense. When Huo Yuhao came to this Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave in the original work, Ice Empress had already said that the outside temperature was far from enough to maintain its current state.
The icy spring had entered its decline. In a few hundred years, the temperature would no longer be able to sustain the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave, and everything within it would gradually deteriorate and vanish.
Now, ten thousand years earlier, it was at its peak. Having more Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow was only reasonable.
But wasn't that even better?
"Let's take the Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow here first. We can discuss the rest after we return."
Hearing Snow Empress's words, Ice Empress nodded.
The two entered the cave, and Ice Empress was the first to reach out and touch an ice pillar.
A thread of incomparably pure ice-type energy flowed into her body through her fingertips. The familiar sensation made her entire body tremble.
The two no longer hesitated and began collecting the Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow one by one.
Soul Power wrapped around the base of an ice pillar. With a gentle pull, a complete piece of Mysterious Ice Marrow detached from the rock wall and was carefully sealed inside the Storage Soul Tool.
One after another, the chill in the cave gradually weakened, and the ice pillars disappeared one by one.
Beiming Lieyang stood within the barrier, watching their busy backs without making a sound to disturb them.
Fifty-seven pieces of Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow were an enormous resource, enough to bring a qualitative change in strength even for the Ice and Snow Emperors.
Before long.
The final piece of Mysterious Ice Marrow was removed by Ice Empress and carefully placed into the Storage Soul Tool.
The crisscrossing ice pillars that had originally filled the cave had completely disappeared, leaving only bare rock walls and scattered ice shards. The temperature was still extremely low, but it was no longer as terrifying as before.
"We've collected them all." Ice Empress clapped her hands, her eyes filled with satisfaction. "Fifty-seven, not one less."
Snow Empress walked over, glanced inside the Storage Soul Tool, and nodded slightly. "It's enough. We'll calculate how to distribute them after we return."
Ice Empress scooped Beiming Lieyang up and stuffed him into her arms. "Come on, come on, let's go home!"
The three returned the way they had come.
Without the support of the Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow, the water temperature of the Cold Spring began to rise slowly, and that terrifying chill had faded by more than half.
When they leaped out of the water, the snowfield north of the fortress was already shrouded in dusk.
The cold wind still howled, but all three of them felt warm inside.
Ice Empress set Beiming Lieyang down, adjusted her drenched dress, then lowered her head to inspect the Mysterious Ice Marrow in the Storage Soul Tool once more. Only then did she finally relax. "Fifty-seven pieces of Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrow, plus those Extreme Ice Divine Crystals... This trip was worth it!"
"Hehe, Xiaoyang is our lucky star."
A faint smile appeared on Snow Empress's lips as she gently brushed the water droplets from Beiming Lieyang's hair. "Let's go. We'll talk after we return to the Ice Crystal Palace."
Before you continue