The Cold Pool

"The Ice Soul Spiritual Fruit blooms once every three hundred years and bears fruit once every three hundred years. A single fruit is worth three years of arduous cultivation for a Sovereign expert." Luo Feng stood at the edge of the cold pool, gazing at the little island of ice at its center. His voice was calm, but a fervor he could scarcely conceal burned deep in his eyes. "According to the clan records, the last time anyone saw an Ice Soul Spiritual Fruit in the Cold Abyss was over two hundred years ago."

A stir immediately swept through the crowd. Nearly all two dozen or so pairs of eyes were glued to the little ice-crystal tree, unable to look away. A few of the more impatient among them had already crept toward the pool, their toes nearly touching the pitch-black water.

"Stop," Luo Feng said in a deep voice. The few of them froze for a moment, then sheepishly drew back their feet.

"The records say something else." Luo Feng's gaze settled on the pool's mirror-still surface. "Where there is a spiritual fruit, there must be a spiritual beast. The records don't specify what guards the Ice Soul Spiritual Fruit. They say only that 'the pool's depths are unfathomable.'"

He turned and swept his gaze over the group. "We'll camp by the pool today. Luo Xiao and I will go see how deep it is. Until we know what's at the bottom, no one is to approach that island."

Though unwilling, none of them dared disobey Luo Feng. They could only disperse and find dry spots along the edge of the ice cavern to set up camp. Xiao Yan, however, did not move. Standing by the pool, he carefully sent a wisp of Soul Power into its pitch-black water. The water was cold beyond belief. The moment his Soul Power entered it, a piercing pain stabbed through it, as though countless ice needles were pricking it. Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and slowly sent his Soul Power deeper. Ten zhang, fifty zhang, a hundred zhang...

At around three hundred zhang, his Soul Power finally touched something. It was cold, hard, and covered in layer upon layer of scales. It was so large that Xiao Yan's Soul Power circled around it without finding its edge. It was sleeping, its breathing exceedingly slow. With each breath, the water at the bottom of the pool slowly surged in response. But the instant Xiao Yan's Soul Power touched it, that slow breathing paused for half a beat.

Xiao Yan's heart tightened, and he immediately withdrew his Soul Power. The pool's surface remained calm, without a single ripple, yet a slight chill crept down his back. A Sovereign-level spiritual beast-and it's not as simple as a First Grade Sovereign.

He turned to warn Luo Feng, only to see that several injured clansmen had already gathered around him as he handed out healing pills. Luo Xiao, meanwhile, stood far off to one side with his spear in his arms, his gaze never leaving the little ice-crystal tree at the center of the pool. Xiao Yan frowned slightly.

After camp was set up, the atmosphere in the ice cavern gradually eased. Seven or eight people had suffered injuries of varying severity in the melee in the Mist Abyss that day. Though none were fatal, the Mist Wolves' claws were bitterly cold, and the wounds refused to heal even after a long time. Luo Feng had not brought enough healing pills to go around, so some cautiously approached Xiao Yan's camp.

Xiao Yan did not refuse. He picked out Abyss Dew Grass and Moon Shadow Mushroom from the medicinal herbs he had gathered in the Jade Abyss the day before and, over a flame he had conjured on the spot with Spiritual Energy, brewed a pot of medicine. The finished brew was clear and bright, with a faint, fresh fragrance. The injured clansmen drank it with some misgivings, but in just half an incense stick's time, the chill in their wounds melted away like ice and snow. After that, a long line formed for the medicine.

Luo Lan stood proudly beside the pot, keeping order for Xiao Yan. As he ladled out the medicine, he called, "Line up, line up! One bowl each! Xiao... Brother Xiao said there's no use drinking more!"

The moment he called him "Brother Xiao," he himself froze. Then the tips of his ears reddened, and he stole a glance at Xiao Yan. Seeing no reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief and called out with even more enthusiasm. Watching from the side, Xiao Yan could not help but twitch his lips.

At the end of the line was a girl in a pale yellow martial outfit. She looked about seventeen or eighteen, with her hair in a pair of buns and delicate features, though her face was somewhat pale. A strip of cloth streaked with blood was wrapped around her left arm, which had been scratched by a Mist Wolf during the day. When her turn came, she held out her bowl in both hands and carefully received the medicine. She looked up and bowed slightly to Xiao Yan, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum. "Thank you, Young Master Xiao."

"You're welcome," Xiao Yan said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Luo... Luo Zhi," the girl said, blushing. After a pause, she summoned her courage and added, "That Abyss Dew Grass-if you brew it with the fine roots, its medicinal properties will be a little gentler. My mother used to... used to brew it that way."

Xiao Yan was slightly taken aback. Then a light flashed in his eyes. The Record of the Spirit of a Hundred Herbs said nothing about the fine roots of Abyss Dew Grass. He immediately said in earnest, "Thank you."

Luo Zhi's face grew even redder. Clutching her bowl, she ran off as though fleeing. Xiao Yan turned to see Luo Lan standing beside the pot with the ladle in his hand, staring blankly and motionlessly after the pale yellow figure. Medicine dripped from the ladle, drop by drop, onto the top of his shoe, but he did not notice.

"..."

Xiao Yan reached out and flicked him on the forehead.

"Ow!" Luo Lan came back to his senses and hurriedly put the ladle back in the pot, his face flushing bright red. "I... I wasn't looking! I was just... just thinking about those roots..."

"Mm, the roots." Xiao Yan chuckled and nodded.

"It really was the roots!"

"I didn't say it wasn't." Xiao Yan looked utterly innocent. Luo Lan opened his mouth, but in the end he could only stamp his foot hard and squat off to one side, sulking. Before long, though, his gaze quietly drifted back toward the pale yellow figure. Xiao Yan shook his head and laughed. Youngsters.

Night fell. There were no Abyss Fireflies in the ice cavern, only a faint, cold light refracted through the profound ice on all four walls, casting a deathly pallor over the entire cavern. After Luo Feng and Luo Xiao returned from exploring the pool, they said only that the water was too deep for them to reach the bottom and that they had found no sign of a spiritual beast for the time being. They told everyone to take turns keeping watch and to decide what to do the next day.

Xiao Yan found Luo Feng and told him what he had sensed at the bottom of the pool. Luo Feng listened in silence for a long while before saying slowly, "I believe you. Tomorrow morning, I'll order everyone to move a hundred zhang away from the pool."

He paused and gave a bitter laugh. "It's just that Ice Soul Spiritual Fruit..."

"No matter how good a spiritual fruit is, you have to be alive to eat it," Xiao Yan said. Luo Feng nodded and said no more. But after Xiao Yan returned to camp, the faint unease in his heart never went away. He sat cross-legged on the ice with his eyes closed, his Soul Power covering the entire surface of the pool, never relaxing his vigilance for a moment. An unknown amount of time passed. The ice cavern was silent, and the clansmen on watch leaned against the ice wall with their weapons in their arms, their heads nodding as they dozed. Just then, Xiao Yan's eyes snapped open.

Three figures were skimming silently across the pool toward the island at its center, using the shadows of the ice walls as cover. The man in the lead pointed his spear, and a Cold Water Spirit Mark flowed from its tip. When it landed on the pool, it formed pieces of floating ice the size of a palm. The three figures stepped on the ice and reached the island in the blink of an eye. The leader was none other than Luo Xiao.

Xiao Yan's expression abruptly changed. Almost at the same time, he caught sight of two other figures out of the corner of his eye. At the spot on the shore closest to the island, a pale yellow figure crouched on the ice, carefully gathering an ice-blue moss growing in a crack by the cold light. Not far behind her, a figure in brocade followed, peering about with a small cloth bag in hand. They were Luo Zhi and Luo Lan.

On the island, Luo Xiao had already reached out and plucked the largest Ice Soul Spiritual Fruit from the tree. The instant the fruit left the branch, the entire cavern fell abruptly still. Then the pool began to boil.

"Rumble!"

The pitch-black water surged dozens of zhang into the air, as though a giant hand had violently heaved it up from below. A black shadow so enormous it was suffocating slowly emerged from the towering column of water. It was the head of a flood dragon, as large as a house, covered in pitch-black scales, with a single ice-blue horn growing from its crown. A pair of cold, vertical eyes slowly opened on its head, reflecting the three figures on the island, their faces drained of color with fright.

An Abyss Scale Flood Dragon.

"Roar!!"

A deafening roar resounded throughout the ice cavern, shaking great showers of ice chips from the profound ice on all four walls. Everyone in the camp was jolted awake, every face filled with horror. The Abyss Scale Flood Dragon's massive tail swept violently out of the pool, whipping up a wave of black water that swept toward the island. Luo Xiao and his two companions leaped away, scrambling and tumbling as they narrowly avoided it. The tail, however, continued unabated and slammed into the ice beside the pool, shattering it inch by inch.

The pale yellow figure stood right in the middle of the shattering ice. Luo Zhi stared blankly up at the enormous black tail crashing down, blotting out the sky and sun, too stunned even to scream.

"Look out!"

A brocade-clad figure lunged at her from behind like a madman and shoved her away with all his strength. Luo Zhi rolled more than ten zhang across the ice, while the enormous black tail coiled around the brocade-clad figure and dragged him into the ink-black pool.

Glug.

Only a ring of churning bubbles remained on the surface.

"Luo Lan-!!"

Xiao Yan had already rushed to the edge of the pool. Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged headfirst into its pitch-black, freezing water.