Being a Saint from the Age of Myth

Dégel gave no answer. Instead, he asked curiously, "As far as I know, you studied under Lord Hakurei and have already mastered the power of death."

"Why would you spend extra time and effort trying to comprehend the power of ice?"

Wuxin hid nothing and immediately repeated the explanation he had given Manigoldo.

"You're quite a bit more clever than this senior brother of yours!"

Dégel glanced between the two in surprise before continuing, "However, a person's time and energy are always limited. Greedily pursuing more will only leave you a jack of all trades and master of none."

"Perhaps, in the end, you'll discover that cultivating two powers at once isn't as powerful as you imagined!"

"Exactly, that's what I thought too! Unfortunately, this kid is dead set on trying to master the power of ice!" Manigoldo chimed in.

Cultivating both seemed powerful, but it was bound to divide one's energy and might well be less powerful than specializing in a single path.

"Thank you for the warning, my lord!"

Wuxin nodded and said earnestly, "I understand the risks of cultivating both, so I intend to focus on the power of death, with the power of ice as a supplement."

"The power of ice is only a means for me to make up for my shortcomings. It won't become the core of my studies."

"I don't expect to achieve much in mastering the power of ice. As long as it can provide some support, that will be enough!"

Seeing his firm attitude, Dégel did not try to persuade him further. He said softly, "In that case, stay in the Aquarius Temple for three days!"

"During these three days, I'll teach you some basics concerning the power of ice."

"As for how much you can learn and how thoroughly you can master it, that will be up to you!"

"Yes, thank you for your kindness, my lord!" Wuxin was overjoyed.

Although Dégel had only agreed to teach him some basics, with a limit of three days, he had given him a chance all the same.

He did not expect to reach any great heights. Simply getting started would be enough.

Even failing that, understanding the fundamentals of the power of ice would do.

The first step was always the hardest. Once he had some foundation, he could slowly continue exploring on his own, even without Dégel's guidance.

After all, this was only his secondary discipline.

"Since Dégel has agreed to let you stay, study hard! I won't disturb you two any longer!" Patting Wuxin on the shoulder, Manigoldo said goodbye and left.

"Thank you for your help, senior brother!"

Only after watching Cancer's figure disappear completely through the doorway did Wuxin turn back and return his attention to Dégel.

"Follow me!"

After calling to him, Dégel led Wuxin into another room.

The room was sparsely furnished, with only a huge pool built in its center and a fountain constantly gushing up from the bottom.

"This is the room I use for training. You can stay here for the next few days!" Dégel said, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Yes!"

Wuxin had no objections.

Stopping beside the pool, Dégel turned around and said, "Since you want to master the power of ice, you should first understand it."

"Now, tell me. What do you think the power of ice actually is?"

Wuxin thought for a moment, looked toward the pool in the floor, and said earnestly, "In my view, the power of ice is freezing-freezing all things and bringing everything to a stop!"

"That answer is too one-sided!"

Dégel shook his head and explained patiently, "Ice is another form of water."

"When water solidifies into ice, it takes on the property of freezing."

"The freezing of all things you spoke of is merely a result produced by the power of ice."

"But if you want to master the power of ice, you must understand the process that produces it!"

"The process that produces ice?" Wuxin looked thoughtful.

In this world, where science was still very backward, most people knew nothing about such things, but he happened to be an exception.

However, he did not rashly speak up. Instead, he looked at Dégel with a hint of anticipation.

These were two entirely different worlds, after all. He could not guarantee that their laws of physics were exactly the same.

Dégel crouched down, reached his right hand into the pool, and said patiently, "Water freezes into ice because it releases heat during the process of solidification."

"As its heat decreases, the particles that make up the water also become less active, or even stop moving, turning it into solid ice."

As he spoke, he gently scooped with his right hand, lifting a handful of clear water.

Then, as the water flowed down between Dégel's fingers, he silently used his Cosmo, and the flowing water turned into strands of ice hanging from his hand.

Chapter 52: Mastering freezing (part one)

Seeing that Wuxin remained silent, Dégel continued explaining, "Perhaps it's a little difficult to understand when I tell you that water releases heat and solidifies into ice."

"But if you reverse it, with ice absorbing heat and melting into water, that should be easy to understand!"

As he spoke, Dégel used his Cosmo again.

Immediately afterward, Wuxin clearly sensed heat being released from Dégel's hand and flowing into the icicles. The icicles then rapidly melted, with droplets of water dripping down.

"So that's it. The essence of the power of ice is actually the loss of heat!" Wuxin understood at once.

This completely matched the laws of physics he had learned in his previous life.

From the looks of it, this world and his original world still shared many fundamental rules.

"You have a good grasp of things!"

Dégel nodded, glanced at the pool again, and indicated it. "Next, your training task is to freeze this entire pool of water into ice!"

"Once you've fulfilled this condition, I'll teach you the next stage!"

"Yes!"

Wuxin answered.

Having assigned the task, Dégel turned and left.

Once Aquarius's footsteps had faded completely, Wuxin went to the edge of the pool and sat down cross-legged.

He already understood the principle behind water freezing into ice.

Next came putting it into practice.

He immediately copied Dégel, scooping some water into his palm, then closed his eyes and silently sensed the heat within it.

Though called thermal energy, it was actually the Cosmo contained within the water.

Water was an inanimate substance without consciousness, so the Cosmo within it was not under its own control. Instead, it would decrease or increase under external influences.

This was also why, in nature, water froze into ice and ice melted back into water.

What Wuxin needed to do was draw out the Cosmo contained within the water, making it release heat and ultimately freeze.

This step was not particularly difficult.

Soon, Wuxin extended his mental power, took hold of the Cosmo in the water in his palm, and tried to slowly guide it out.

This step also went very smoothly.

"It doesn't seem all that difficult?" Wuxin was somewhat surprised.

He had thought it would be difficult to learn, but it was actually far simpler than he had imagined.

Perhaps I also have an exceptional talent for wielding the power of ice? He could not help forming this private conjecture.

Then, brimming with confidence, he continued experimenting, drawing the Cosmo out of the water faster.

But soon, Wuxin discovered a problem.

While he continuously extracted Cosmo from the water, the water itself was constantly absorbing the Cosmo dispersed in the surrounding air.

It absorbed almost as much as he drew out.

With this inflow and outflow, there was practically no change.

This also meant that his efforts were almost entirely wasted, accomplishing nothing at all.

"It seems I misunderstood!"

"The difficulty in freezing water into ice isn't drawing out its Cosmo at all, but how to draw that Cosmo out faster!"

"It's a test of how quickly I can extract Cosmo!" Wuxin finally understood.

Drawing on the scientific theories from his previous life, he knew very well that water had a high specific heat capacity and a strong ability to absorb heat. This was also the root cause of water automatically absorbing the free Cosmo in the air.

If he extracted Cosmo more slowly than the water absorbed it, then the water would never freeze.

Furthermore, according to the physical principles of water freezing, water had to fall below zero degrees Celsius to solidify into ice. There was a specific threshold.

In other words, he could not simply draw the Cosmo out of the water. He also had to extract a sufficient total amount to reach a certain threshold, lowering the water's temperature below zero degrees Celsius so it would freeze.

"Ah, I'll just have to work at it slowly!"

After a soft sigh, Wuxin patiently continued trying.

At the same time, as he experimented, he constantly refined his method of extracting Cosmo to increase his speed.

Meanwhile, after receiving Wuxin's suggestion, Sisyphus soon sought out Pope Sage and relayed what Wuxin had said.

The Pope nodded and said, "I've already heard Hasgard complain about this many times before."

"Now that I've heard what he has to say, we really should strengthen Sanctuary's defenses and patrols."

He then formally issued an order. "From this day forward, all Gold Saints are to operate in pairs. Especially when patrolling below, you must go out together and watch each other's backs."

"As for the specific pairings, you may decide for yourselves. I won't interfere!"

"Pass the word along as soon as possible and let everyone choose their partners!"

"Yes!"

Sisyphus answered and soon delivered the message to every Gold Saint.

After some discussion among the Gold Saints, the new teams were formed.