Ming Zhao merely spread out his spiritual perception for a brief sweep and detected a spot in Dragon City radiating an intense chill.
He took one step, and the next second, he appeared in the icy well water.
This was the frigid ice spring that had formed from the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern. Its temperature was so low that even Nan Shuishui, a Soul Douluo, could not stay there for long. Even Ming Zhao felt a trace of cold.
That trace of cold, however, was quickly driven out of his body by the circulation of his Yin-Yang Complementary Dual Soul Cores.
The deeper he went, the stronger the chill became, and the denser the ice-attribute elemental power of heaven and earth grew. Near the entrance to the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern, it was dense enough to condense into liquid.
This concentration of power was also why Ming Zhao could not open a spatial gateway directly into the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern.
But it only meant taking a few extra steps.
After briefly taking stock of his surroundings, Ming Zhao turned into a wisp of gray mist and began sinking at great speed. In a few seconds, he traveled from the mouth of the well to the spring's source and slipped into the narrow opening, which was only wide enough for one person.
The liquefied ice-attribute elemental power of heaven and earth radiated a terrifying chill capable of freezing even a Titled Douluo's blood. The temperature had fallen to a dangerous level that even Ming Zhao could not ignore.
Beyond it lay the interior of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern. The temperature there was bitterly cold, extremely close to absolute zero, according to the Snow Empress. Even Huo Yuhao, a Soul Master with Ultimate Ice, would be frozen into a popsicle.
To avoid trouble, Ming Zhao formed an insulating layer of spatial power over his body, using it to keep the cold from reaching him.
With the spatial shield in place, he sped up again, shooting straight through the passage filled with liquid ice elements and into a dark, open space.
It seemed open only in comparison to the narrow passage. In truth, the space was only about one and a half meters high, so Ming Zhao, who stood nearly one meter ninety, could only crouch inside it.
Everything connected to water in this space had frozen solid, leaving it exceptionally dry. Yet Ming Zhao kept his mouth and nose tightly shut, not daring to breathe in even a trace of the air.
Even as he stood there, the extreme cold, said to be close to absolute zero, was steadily eating away at the spatial barrier over his body. If he deliberately breathed it in, he would really be in for it.
So he wasted no time. After briefly adjusting, he raised his head and surveyed the cavern.
The darkness posed no obstacle to Ming Zhao. He could clearly see icicles of varying lengths and thicknesses crowding the narrow cavern.
Some were as thick as an adult's thigh, while others were only as thick as a calf. Some grew from the ground, while others hung from the ceiling.
Without exception, they all contained a dark blue substance that seemed to flow. In the darkness, it glittered as brilliantly as a starry sky.
This was the supreme treasure of the ice attribute, Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
Only after adding another spatial shield around himself did Ming Zhao sweep his sleeve and circulate his dual Soul Cores at full power. He spread spatial power over the surfaces of ten pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, sealed them whole, and shrank them into ten ice-blue skulls. They flew back to his wrist and formed an eerie dark blue bracelet.
It was hard to say whether the Ice and Snow Empresses would like the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in this form, but Ming Zhao liked it very much.
In any case, he did not care whether the two empresses would find it unpleasant to use. This was Ming Zhao's reward to them, and if they wanted to cling to life, they could only do as instructed.
What was there to gripe about?
After sealing the ten pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, Ming Zhao turned and left without lingering for half a second.
Ming Zhao truly disliked the extremely low temperatures in the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern. What he liked was the spiritual chill and cold brought by Yin Qi, not this kind of physical, ultra-low temperature.
After leaving the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cavern, he quickly rose to the mouth of the well, then traveled through space and appeared a thousand meters in the air.
The treasure land was indeed a treasure land, and the treasure was indeed a treasure, but the environment that produced it was too stifling. Staying too long in such a cramped space and extreme cold was bound to make one feel uneasy.
Only after returning to the outside world did Ming Zhao once again feel the exhilaration of being free and unrestrained.
"Next, it's time to find the ones I came for."
Ming Zhao raised his left hand and looked at the skull bracelet on his wrist, which glowed with a lustrous blue light. He smiled faintly, and his body vanished from the spot in a flicker.
The Extreme North Core Circle.
On a glacier regarded as forbidden territory by every Soul Beast in the Far North, two beauties, each with her own distinct charm, sat casually on the solid ice, worry on both their faces.
The two of them.
One was the ruler of the Far North, the Heavenly Snow Woman, the Snow Empress. She wore a snow-white ice dress and had a tall, slender figure. Her bearing was like a snow lotus on a lofty peak, aloof and cold as a painting.
The other was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the Ice Empress. She wore an emerald-green Western-style dress with gold trim, and a crown-shaped hair ornament divided her hair into twin tails. Her whole being exuded the charm of a mature woman.
These were the other two of the three great beings of the Far North, and also one of the greatest opportunities of this era.
The two sisters, however, were not aware of their status as an opportunity. Their minds were wholly occupied with finding a way to save themselves and survive their next heavenly tribulations, which were close at hand.
"Xue'er, have you really thought this through?" After hesitating for a long time, the Ice Empress could not help trying to dissuade her. "The risk of taking human form and cultivating anew is too great. If you run into danger, you'll be doomed beyond redemption!"
"And even if you succeed in taking human form, although you'll gain humanity's talent for cultivation, you'll be left with only a few short centuries to live, just like a human. Let alone having to go to the human world and live among those cunning, treacherous humans. There are so many dangers and obstacles that there's almost no chance of success!"
The Snow Empress listened quietly. After a soft sigh, a bitter smile appeared on her peerlessly beautiful face.
"Bing'er, how could I not know all of that?" The Snow Empress sounded melancholy, with a trace of unwillingness. "If I could, I would also want to face the next heavenly tribulation with all my might, condense dual Soul Cores, and break through to seven hundred thousand years of cultivation."
"But I can't anymore... My last failed attempt to form dual Soul Cores severely damaged my origin. Even my first Soul Core developed a crack that can't be repaired. My chance of surviving the seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation is less than one percent."
"If I had no other choice, I would accept my fate and face this heavenly tribulation resolved to die. But I was extraordinarily fortunate and came across a Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, giving me a second path..."
The Snow Empress stopped there, but the Ice Empress understood what she meant.
Compared with the next heavenly tribulation, where death was almost certain, the odds of taking human form, cultivating, and becoming a god were equally slim, but at least they offered her a glimmer of hope.