Deep within the cold spring.
Everything was pitch black around them.
They did not know how long they had been descending-perhaps several hundred meters, perhaps even deeper.
The temperature dropped lower and lower, reaching an unimaginable degree.
Finally, they reached the deepest point.
The surrounding stone walls were uneven, and the water of the cold spring gathered here into a pool of moderate size.
The water in the pool was crystal clear to the bottom, emitting a pale blue fluorescent glow.
The Snow Empress quieted her mind and focused, sensing the surrounding environment.
Then, as if she had sensed something, soul power condensed in the Snow Empress's palm.
She struck out with a single palm toward the stone wall in one direction.
A pale blue barrier of light was revealed behind the stone wall.
This light barrier was very thin, like a layer of transparent film.
That is definitely ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow, Little Brother will definitely not misidentify it.
Hurry inside, hurry inside!
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said excitedly within the Sea of Consciousness.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would never mistake ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow.
After all, this was the substance he had consumed for I-don't-know-how-many years.
His entire million-year cultivation base had been eaten out of these very things.
"Let's go."
The Snow Empress brought Zhang Lan and the Ice Empress, passing through the light barrier without the slightest hesitation.
Behind the light barrier was an ice cave dozens of square meters in size.
There was no water.
The ice cave was dry and bone-chillingly cold, and the temperature was far lower than that of the cold spring outside.
Dozens of pure white ice pillars grew in a crisscrossing pattern on the surrounding walls.
The Ice Empress immediately stepped forward and began to count.
"One, two, three..."
"Fifty-nine?!"
The Ice Empress turned to look at the Snow Empress, an uncontainable ecstasy hidden within her eyes.
"Xue'er! There are a full fifty-nine pieces of ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow here!"
A smile also appeared on the Snow Empress's face at this moment.
Fifty-nine pieces.
It was far more than the quantity she had anticipated.
This amount of ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow was definitely enough for her to recover the hidden injuries left by the failure of condensing her soul core.
It could also ensure that both she and the Ice Empress successfully weathered their heavenly tribulations.
Even, she could still distribute a small portion to other core members of the Far North.
"Sigh~"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm let out a sigh at this point.
"I originally thought the ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow here would only be enough for the Snow Empress to use."
"I never expected that the quantity here would leave a surplus even if used by all the ferocious beasts of the entire Far North."
"How is this going to let Bing'er become your second martial soul now?"
Hearing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's complaints within the Sea of Consciousness, Zhang Lan immediately spoke up:
"Don't worry, even if Sister Ice Empress doesn't make the sacrifice."
"I have backups regarding a second martial soul."
Zhang Lan naturally possessed his own confidence in speaking this way.
After all, the Sunset Forest still held that Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The remains and dragon cores of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King were located within it.
The Ice Dragon Core was sufficient for Zhang Lan to condense his second martial soul.
"Alright then."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed.
After gathering all of the ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow here, the Snow Empress led the group and departed from the place.
After emerging from the cold spring secret realm, Zhang Lan and the others headed straight for the Earth Dragon Sect.
They did not return to the Northwind Inn, going directly to the Earth Dragon Sect instead.
Nan Shuishui had not slept all night.
When Zhang Lan pushed open the door and entered the council hall, she was sitting behind the long desk with a cup of tea that had long since gone cold resting at her elbow.
Seeing the three of them enter, she stood up, her gaze instantly falling upon Zhang Lan's hand.
The azure token was still there, but a palm-sized ice box had been added to Zhang Lan's waist. It was warm and lustrous throughout, a thin layer of white frost condensed upon its surface, and a freezing chill seeped out in wispy threads from the gaps in the box.
"You got it?"
Nan Shuishui asked.
Zhang Lan nodded.
The ice box contained three pieces of ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow. Each piece was only the thickness of a little finger, about half a foot long, silvery-white throughout, with currents of light slowly revolving within them.
The retrieval had been smoother than anticipated. The Ice Empress cut into the ice pillars using Ultimate Ice, while the Snow Empress stabilized the flow of the chilling energy at the side. The three pieces of Profound Ice Marrow were cleanly peeled away without damaging the foundational roots of the ice pillars.
In accordance with Nan Shuishui's conditions, they took only what was needed, and Zhang Lan did not take extra.
That ice pillar still stood quietly in the deepest part of the secret realm; although three pieces of Profound Ice Marrow were missing, its foundation remained intact, and after another ten thousand years, it might perhaps condense anew.
Nan Shuishui's gaze shifted away from the ice box and fell back onto Zhang Lan's face:
"What you said last night, does it still count?"
"The matter of the Heavenly Dragon Sect will be resolved today."
Zhang Lan handed the ice box to the Snow Empress to put away and sat down by the table.
"Sect Master Nan, how many men can you mobilize?"
Nan Shuishui was silent for a breath:
"One hundred forty-seven formal disciples of the Earth Dragon Sect, thirty-one above the Soul King level, seven Soul Emperors, and three Soul Saints."
"Myself, an eighty-ninth-rank Soul Douluo."
"Any higher than that, there are none."
"Enough."
Zhang Lan said,
"We don't need a large number of people, but we need Sect Master Nan to make the trip in person."
"You know the road, and you know the people."
"When we reach the Heavenly Dragon Sect's encampment, you only need to do one thing: stand before the battle formation and let the disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect see that the sect master of the Earth Dragon Sect has come."
Nan Shuishui looked at him without speaking, but the meaning at the bottom of her eyes was very clear: you are a seven-year-old child, what makes you so certain?
Zhang Lan did not explain.
He turned his head to look at the Ice Empress:
"Sister Ice Empress, can you sense the aura of that supreme elder from the Heavenly Dragon Sect?"
The Ice Empress closed her eyes for a moment, then immediately opened them, a strange expression flashing within her crystal-yellow eyes:
"Interesting. The soul power fluctuations over at the Heavenly Dragon Sect's encampment are very chaotic."
"There is the aura of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, but there is also another substance, denser and heavier."
"It resembles lightning, yet it is not entirely lightning."
The Snow Empress also tilted her head slightly, her long white hair fluttering gently in the morning breeze.
She did not speak, but the space between her brows furrowed imperceptibly.
"Let's go."
Zhang Lan stood up.
"The longer we drag this out, the more variables will arise."
The Heavenly Dragon Sect's encampment was located in the southern suburbs of Dragon City, situated north and south opposite the Earth Dragon Sect, facing each other from afar across the entire Dragon City.
Nan Shuishui summoned twenty disciples to accompany them, all of whom were elites above the Soul King level.
The party passed straight through the North City. The commoners along the route caught sight of the Heavenly Dragon Sect's banners and hurriedly made way to the sides of the road, a complex emotion carried within their gazes.
Some spoke in low murmurs, some shook their heads and sighed, and others clenched their fists tightly.
Exiting the South Gate, the trees on both sides of the official road gradually grew sparse, replaced by patches of scorched earth that had been struck by lightning.
The further forward they went, the denser the blackened traces became. The cracks on the ground spread outward like a spiderweb, and a pungent ozone smell permeated the air-the lingering aura left behind after the repeated scorching of lightning soul power.
When the mountain gates of the Heavenly Dragon Sect came into view, everyone stopped in their tracks.
The entire encampment was shrouded by a dark red light barrier.
That light barrier rose from the ground like an overturned giant bowl, enclosing the entire area of several miles around the Heavenly Dragon Sect within it.
Fine patterns continuously flowed across the surface of the light barrier, resembling pulsing blood vessels.
A purple electric arc occasionally flashed across the patterns with crackling sounds, instantly swallowed by the blood-colored light barrier.
Inside the light barrier, nothing could be seen clearly.
One could only vaguely see the light of lightning churning and exploding within the blood color, striking once, and then again, dull and continuous, as if a battle that had not yet ended had been locked away inside a dome.
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