Cold Spring Secret Realm

"We can discuss those matters later. We came here for your Cold Spring Secret Realm."

Zhang Lan stated their purpose outright.

At the mention of the Cold Spring Secret Realm, Nan Shuishui looked surprised.

"To be honest, even I can't stay inside that Cold Spring Secret Realm for long."

"I can only collect a few unusual ores around its outskirts to sell for Gold Soul Coins."

"If you want that secret realm, the Earth Dragon Sect has no objections."

Clearly, Nan Shuishui did not place much value on the Cold Spring Secret Realm.

"That unusual metal on the outskirts is called ice extreme divine crystal. It's a rare metal suitable for making Class 9 Soul Tools."

"Wherever there is ice extreme divine crystal, there is bound to be ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow."

"It's a supreme treasure of the ice attribute. A single piece is enough to raise an ordinary ice-type Douluo to a Super Douluo."

"With enough of it, even reaching Limit Douluo is possible."

"Ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow?"

Nan Shuishui froze for a moment, then shook her head with a bitter smile.

"To be honest, I've entered the Cold Spring Secret Realm three times since becoming sect master. Each time, I stayed around the outskirts. At most, I went a hundred zhang deep."

"The farther down you go, the more intense the cold becomes, and Soul Power consumption doubles and redoubles."

"Below a hundred zhang, even my Rouge Dragon Martial Soul couldn't withstand that extreme cold."

"As for what lies deeper inside, I truly don't know."

She paused, then added,

"The sect's records do mention that the deepest level of the secret realm is the ice soul domain, but none of our past sect masters ever managed to reach it."

"I sent people to try as well, but after losing several disciples, I stopped sending anyone deeper."

Zhang Lan nodded. That was more or less what he had expected.

Although the Earth Dragon Sect's Rouge Dragon Martial Soul carried a dragon bloodline, its attributes leaned toward water and gentleness. It was not an ice-type Martial Soul.

The Rouge Dragon resisted the cold through sheer Soul Power. For a Soul Douluo like Nan Shuishui, a hundred zhang was already the limit.

As for the ice soul domain, no Soul Master without ultimate ice could even step into it.

"That's why we're here."

Zhang Lan said,

"I need to reach the deepest level of the Cold Spring Secret Realm and take some ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow."

Nan Shuishui fell silent for a moment.

She lowered her gaze to the three extinguished incense sticks on the table, her fingers gently rubbing an old jade pendant at her waist.

It was the Sect Master’s Token, passed down through the generations.

"With Your Excellencies' strength, even everyone in the Earth Dragon Sect combined couldn't stop you."

She raised her head, her gaze calm.

"You don't actually need to negotiate with me. If you went straight in, there would be nothing I could do."

"I told you, I came to discuss cooperation."

Zhang Lan looked at her.

"The Earth Dragon Sect is beset by troubles within and without. The Heavenly Dragon Sect is watching like a tiger eyeing its prey, and your disciples have suffered heavy casualties."

"You need someone to help you get through this."

"I'll help you preserve your sect, and you'll give me permission to enter the secret realm."

"A fair trade."

Nan Shuishui stared at him for a long while, then suddenly asked softly,

"How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Seven..."

Nan Shuishui repeated the word, an unreadable expression tugging at her lips.

When she was seven, she had still been practicing basic Soul Power circulation on the mountain behind the sect. She had not even fully mastered her Martial Soul.

Yet this boy had already brought two Titled Douluos to stand before her and negotiate a deal.

"All right."

At last, she spoke.

"I agree. You may enter the Earth Dragon Sect's Cold Spring Secret Realm."

"But I have three conditions."

"Let's hear them."

"First, you can take as much as you want of anything inside the Cold Spring Secret Realm."

"But you must give us some compensation."

"We wouldn't dare ask for much. Just give us whatever you think is appropriate."

Zhang Lan nodded.

"Second, nothing you see or hear inside the secret realm may be disclosed."

"The Earth Dragon Sect has only survived because outsiders don't know what exactly lies inside that cold spring."

"If the Heavenly Dragon Sect learns about the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow at the bottom of the secret realm, they won't let the matter rest, even if you help me repel this attack."

"Agreed."

"Third."

Nan Shuishui took a deep breath, a flicker of conflicting emotions crossing her eyes.

"The Earth Dragon Sect owes you no favors."

"This is a trade, not charity."

"You help me drive off our enemies, and I let you enter the secret realm."

"Then we're even."

Zhang Lan understood what she meant.

Nan Shuishui was, after all, the master of the Earth Dragon Sect. She had her pride.

Even if she had to bow her head and ask for aid now, she did not want her sect saddled with the label of having accepted someone's charity.

If it was a trade, neither side owed the other anything.

"All right."

Zhang Lan held out his hand.

"Let's swear on our Martial Souls."

Nan Shuishui held out her hand as well.

Rouge-colored Soul Power rose from her palm, condensing into a tiny dragon-shaped seal.

In Zhang Lan's palm, the faint gravitational glow of the Star of Eden shimmered gently.

Their hands touched lightly in midair. The instant their Soul Power met, an invisible ripple spread outward, branding the oath into their respective Martial Souls.

The oath was sealed.

Nan Shuishui withdrew her hand, then turned and took a token from a hidden compartment in the long table.

The token was azure all over, with a coiled dragon carved on its front and a transparent crystal the size of a grain of rice embedded at the dragon's tail.

An exceedingly fine strand of cold energy flowed slowly within the crystal. It was icy to the touch.

"This is the passage token for the Cold Spring Secret Realm."

Nan Shuishui handed the token to Zhang Lan.

"With this token, you can pass through the cold mist barrier at the secret realm's entrance."

"But I must warn you: the secret realm's ice soul domain is exceptionally dangerous. None of our past sect masters ever managed to venture deep inside."

"If something happens to you in there, I won't be responsible."

"Don't worry."

Zhang Lan took the token and tucked it into his robes.

"One more thing."

Nan Shuishui hesitated, but said it anyway.

"What you said earlier about Yu Tiankuang of the Heavenly Dragon Sect... are you confident?"

"If he attacks again, we'll take action."

Zhang Lan turned and headed for the door.

"Sect Master Nan, I'll give you an answer within three days."

He pushed the door open and stepped out, with the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress following behind him.

The night wind swept into the council hall, making the three incense sticks glow briefly before they went out again.

Nan Shuishui stood before the table, watching the three figures disappear into the night.

She lowered her head to look at her palm. A faint trace of warmth still lingered where she had touched Zhang Lan.

It was the power of the Star of Eden-gentle and tranquil, utterly unlike the bone-freezing cold of the Far North.

"Supreme elder..."

She softly repeated the words she had blurted out on impulse earlier, then shook her head.

"Forget it."

She took out three fresh incense sticks, lit them, and placed them in the incense burner.

Smoke rose, curling among the portraits of the past sect masters.

Nan Shuishui bowed deeply to the portraits. When she straightened, weariness still marked her face, but something new shone in her eyes.

It was a look the Earth Dragon Sect had not seen in a very long time...

Hope.

After leaving the Earth Dragon Sect's mountain gate, Zhang Lan and his two companions did not return to the Northwind Inn.

A line of tiny characters engraved on the back of Nan Shuishui's token indicated the secret realm's entrance-a hundred zhang beneath the northern part of the city.

Zhang Lan slipped through the shadows beneath the eaves, the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress still flanking him. The three moved like dark currents gliding through the night, alerting no one.

As they approached the innermost reaches of the northern part of the city, the strand of cold energy in the token suddenly grew active.

Zhang Lan stopped and found himself standing at the end of a blind alley.

Before him stood a moss-covered stone wall overgrown with withered vines. Nothing about it seemed unusual.

But the eyes of the coiled dragon on the token's front lit up, and a strand of rouge-colored light shot from them onto the stone wall.

The wall silently split open, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to slip through sideways.

A dim blue glow seeped from deep within the gap. Wisps of cold streamed out like fine threads, condensing into tiny ice crystals the moment they touched skin.