The old woman and the others sensed the same and their expressions changed.
Arctic Dragon took a deep breath and turned to gravely look at the foreign cultivators. “Fellow Daoists, be careful! This is also the first time that I’ve entered the Spirit Void Hall. Although most of the restrictions are under my control, there are a few that even I can’t touch. Please follow me with the utmost care to avoid triggering any of the restrictions.”
The old woman indifferently replied, “Of course. Why would we recklessly rush through your palace’s restricted area?”
Han Li and the grey-robed monk raised no objections.
Arctic Dragon nodded with satisfaction and announced to the North Night Palace elders, “The process of breaking the bottleneck will take a month at worse, less than a week at best. If those demons attack the palace during this time, respond in accordance to our original plans. If there are any unforeseen events and I’ve yet to emerge for two months, put our reserve plans into action!”
“Yes, Grand Elder!” The group of cultivators replied with a solemn tone.
“Then we shall be heading in!” Arctic Dragon then turned around and summoned a fist-sized jade plate into his hand with a wave of his sleeve. He then raised the magic tool in his hand and led the way through the stone gate.
Han Li and the other wielders of the ice flames closely followed after him.
Once all of them entered, Arctic Dragon cast a spell seal with a single hand and struck the plate with a spell seal. Soon after, the stone gates closed with a rumble and talisman characters lit back up from it.
When the old woman and the grey-robed monk saw this, they exchanged an odd glance.
“Fellow Daoists, don’t worry,” Arctic Dragon explained, “Although the gates are difficult to open from the outside, it is easy from the interior. For the time being, I’ve shut it to prevent anyone from bothering us.”
The old woman and the monk found it difficult to speak against this. As for Han Li, he didn’t seem to mind this at all.
When the group walked thirty meters forward, they arrived in front of many ice pillars and were dazzled by the shiny sight.
Arctic Dragon calmly warned, “These pillars of Myriad Year Profound Ice have all gone through tempering by ancient cultivators to form the Frigid Soulfreeze Formation. Those without the suitable magic tool would instantly freeze upon entering. The icy winds we encountered from the entrance was the icy Qi that accumulated from the formation after being sealed for a thousand years. Even wielders of glacial flames would find it difficult to survive the formation.”
When the old lady and the monk heard this, they glanced at the pillars of eyes with traces of doubt.
Han Li chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, don’t worry. We aren’t interested in testing the might of the formation.”
Arctic Dragon smiled when he heard this and he began to wave the formation plate in his hand towards the endless mass of ice pillars in front of him.
Suddenly, a beam of white light shot out from the plate and left white light from places it crossed. White light then lit up from the pillars of ice, creating the illusion of a passage.
With white light continuing to shine from the formation plate, Arctic Dragon walked forward.
The party closely stuck close behind him.
Han Li walked at the group's rear, looking around him curiously.
The pillars of profound ice were remarkable thick, appearing as if two people could hug around them, and had a sleep surface.
Upon closer inspection, dim talisman characters were roaming across the surface of the pillars. When he through to examine them closer, the talisman characters suddenly disappeared. It was truly mysterious.
When he raised his head, he noticed a dense icy mist about two hundred meters above them. They obscured the top half of the ice pillars from view.
But it was obvious these ice pillars contained a fearsome amount of cold energy. Even a distance of ten meters away, one could sense the treads of glacial Qi they emitted. Although they couldn't compare to flames of extreme cold, they were beyond what ordinary cold Qi was capable of.
It was no wonder why Arctic Dragon was so confident!
As Han Li pondered, the party ventured for about a kilometer. Throughout their journey, the pillars of ice lined up densely to either side.
Despite the party’s calm appearance, this came as a shock to them.
After walking for the time it would take to finish a cup of tea, light had finally opened around them and they walked out from the pillars of ice. There was a raised altar in front of them; it was sixty meters tall and over three hundred meters tall.
It was made from of white jade and was covered in blue light. Faint golden doors could be seen from its side, each over twenty meters tall with ancient talismans embedded on each side. They appeared to be a sealed passage of some sort.
When Arctic Dragon saw this, he wore an expression of joy and he put away the formation plate in his hand. He took large strides towards the altar and raised his hands. With blue sparks, a layer of Celestial Ice Flames wrapped around them, then pressing his hands against the altar.
The flames and the altar’s light barrier fused, causing the barrier to slightly tremble. It burst with blinding light as the barrier became translucent; followed by a strange bang, it turned to crystal and cracked from where Arctic Dragon infused the flames, then vanishing in nearly an instant.
Arctic Dragon’s figure suddenly blurred and he stood on top of the altar.
Han Li and company turned to streaks of light and arrived at Arctic Dragon’s side.
At that moment, Arctic Dragon held his hands behind his back and looked down at the ground in front of him.
Han Li followed his gaze, soon discovering there was a strange spell formation located at the center of the altar. Furthermore, there was also a huge pattern at the center that looked the same as the Heavenvoid Cauldron.
For just a moment, Han Li’s face betrayed a change of expression.
Arctic Dragon’s unintentionally brushed past Han Li. Although his face was now ordinarily calm, Arctic Dragon still focused his gaze on him and asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, have you seen a spell formation of this kind before?”
Han Li’s heart jumped and he slowly replied, “Yes, I had seen something like this in an ancient cave residence, but upon closer inspection, I see that it is truly different. It was only a lapse in judgment.
“Is that so?” Arctic Dragon wore a mysterious smile. It may have been a display of doubt, but he didn’t pursue the matter. Instead, he swept his sleeve, releasing a small cauldron that lit up with Celestial Ice Flames. It spun through the air until it arrived above the spell formation.
Han Li pursed his lips and unconsciously gasped. The others’ attention was fully captured by what was happening.
With one of his hands forming a gesture, he flicked his other hand towards the small cauldron.
A muffled bang sounded out as the small cauldron grew larger. Blue flames violently lit up from the cauldron, instantly covering every inch of its surface, restoring the cauldron to its original size.
At that moment, Bai Mengxin and the azure-robed middle-aged man both took a step forward and raised their hand, producing a white and black flame that struck two sides of the formation.
Suddenly, a huge rumble shook the ground and the spell formation lit up, activated by the two flames. The huge cauldron pattern at the center shined dazzlingly. Lightly slowly emerged from it to take the form of a cauldron of blue light.
The original cauldron had stayed floating above the formation this entire time. When the phantom cauldron fully emerged, Arctic Dragon controlled it to immediately drop down. Blue light wildly flashed as they began to fuse together. As a huge explosion boomed, the cauldron
Arctic Dragon suddenly muttered a strange incantation and the Celestial Ice flames spurt forth from the cauldron like a volcano, enveloping the entire spell formation.
When the format
ion and the flames made contact, blindingly light flashed and the entire altar began to violently shake.
With the cauldron at the center, cracks began to appear on the ground, gradually widening and expanding as time went on.
While Han Li and company floated in the air, they looked down with awe.
The huge cauldron was now suspended in the air at its original location. White beams of light faintly shined from underneath the cracks around it.
Chapter 1093: The Profound Jade Cave
As Arctic Dragon stared at the crack in the altar, he wore a grave expression, “Within lies the greatest hidden chamber of the Spirit Void Hall, the Profound Jade Cave. Although it isn’t very large, the cave’s Profound Jade was something that has existed since ancient times. The ancient cultivators used enormous amounts of magic power to shape a vein of Profound Jade into that cave. Although Profound Jade and Profound Ice sound similar, there are clear differences as you all should well know. And if you leave this hall, you’ll find hardly any Myriad Year Profound Jade even if you searched the entire hall.”
The azure-robed middle-aged man, Elder Ouyang, and Bai Mengxin glanced with a trace of interest.
The grey-robed monk stared at the cracks in the altar and excitedly said, “Of course! Had you not mentioned the Profound Jade Cave Before, we could’ve hardly believed that your sect was concealing something so valuable. Myriad Year Profound Jade is rarely ever found in this. A fist-sized chunk is it is all that is needed for a magic treasure to possess ice-attributed abilities, allowing it to use astonishing glacial Qi to form attacks. It is beyond comparison to profound ice.”
The old woman glanced at the altar with a bright gaze.
As for Han Li, he silently smiled, stroking the smooth surface of a small golden sword he kept hidden in his sleeve.
Arctic Dragon then changed his focus to Han Li and the other two external cultivators and said, “I’ve already spoken about this before with Junior Martial Brother Ouyang and Junior Martial Sister Bai, but you will be rewarded with a piece of Myriad Year Profound Jade as a token of your gratitude, regardless of whether or not we succeed.”
“Truly?” Even the bold and detached woman was unable to conceal her joy upon hearing him.
Arctic Dragon nodded, “It is something within my authority as the Grand Elder of the North Night PAlace.”
Joy appeared on the face of the monk as well.
Myriad Year Profound Jade was an extremely rare material that was found at no market and had no price. If one could find it, they would ordinarily infuse it with their magic power, immediately increasing its power by an entire fifth.
Even Han Li couldn't help but be moved by his generosity.
With such a heavy reward, the three would find it shameful if they didn’t do their utmost when the time came.
“Enough with that, let’s enter the Profound Jade Cave!” Arctic Dragon continued, “The glacial Qi within is extremely potent. Have your flames ready when you enter or you will be hard-pressed to defend yourselves. Fortunately, the cave has an area that can block the corrosion of the Profound Jade’s glacial Qi. We’ll be using that place to restore our magic power, else we won’t be able to stay inside for long.”
Soon after, the dwarf opened his mouth and spat out a bright blue fireball. It turned into a large firebird above his head, only to circle him once before diving at the dwarf’s body.
A bird’s cry sounded before the image of the large bird disappear. A layer of blue flames then erupted and enveloped him.
With his hands grasped in an incantation gesture, he began to float down into the crack.
Bai Mengxin and the others released their own glacial flames and flew into the crack as well.
Han Li glanced at the two golden gates the side, and to the cauldron floating above the crack. After some hesitation, something came to mind and he silently smiled, wrapping himself in a layer of Purple Apex Flames and following them below.
As soon as he entered, white glacial light brushed past him, producing an odd crackle as it brushed past the purple flames protecting him. They seemed to be at odds with one another, causing the flames to flicker.
Han Li trembled. Without any further thought, he clapped his hands together, summoning even more flames to protect him and solidify his defenses.
Now, he had the leisure to examine his surroundings.
The Profound Jade Cave was an underground cavern.
As the cave was created from a vein of Myriad Year Profound Jade, countless pieces of variously sized grains laid in the wall all around them. The extremely rare material was several times more potent than profound ice, well displayed by the glacial light that dropped down from it, condensing into a mist at the bottom. When Han Li dropped down, the light struck at his purple flames like the patter of dense rain.
In his alarm, he faintly felt that something was amiss. Seeing that the rest of the party wasn’t paying attention to him, he reached out to the glacial light out of instant and forcibly used his magic power to grasp a sliver of it into his hand and concentrating his purple flames around it.
Any ordinary glacial Qi wouldn’t have shown any peculiarities, but when Han Li looked at it with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he frowned, soon to betray astonishment on his face.
Under the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to see traces of its true form. As the purple flames continuously warped around the glacial light, their mutually powerful cold seemed to oppose one another.
“What is this? This glacial Qi seems almost intelligent...” Han Li muttered with amazement.
The glacial Qi was attacking only of its own accord. If anyone were to control a large amount and concentrate it into an attack, he feared even his Purple Apex Flames wouldn’t be able to block it.
As the thoughts quickly churned in his head, he was suddenly reminded of something and quickly formed an incantation gesture, summoning a scarlet wisp from the purple flames in his hand.
When this flame wisp made contact with the white glacial light, it was instantly absorbed.
An odd expression appeared on his face while delight surged through his mind.
The Great Yin Trueflame was known to Silvermoon as one of the three true spirit flames. It was well deserving of its name. Despite being only a single wisp, its power far exceeded that of the Purple Apex Flames.
When he initially refined the wisp of Great Yin Trueflame, he was only able to temporarily merge it with a bit of his Purple Apex Flames. If he truly wished to fully convert the Purple Apex Flames into the Great Yin Trueflame, it would take far beyond the time of a dozen years. Were this not the case, he would’ve already done so.
After all, the Great Yin Trueflame already possessed a trace of intelligence. It was a higher existence compared to other kinds of glacial flames.
When Han Li saw that the thread of trueflame was able to restrain the cave’s glacial light, Han Li also felt a bit of relief.
Just as these thoughts appeared in his mind, he suddenly held his hands behind his back and flicked his finger, vanishing the scarlet flame from sight.
In the instant, Han Li was performing his experiment, Elder Ouyang seemed to sense something and looked upward at Han Li with a trace of surprise.
Han Li’s heart sank, but his expression remained calm. He nonchalantly asked, “Fellow Daoist, is there anything wrong?”
The Elder Ouyang examined Han Li and the cave walls to either side of him, discovering nothing out of the ordinary. He knew well that Han Li’s abilities were exceptional and thus gave a prompt and polite answer, “Its nothing. I was just wondering why you weren’t following us. The large restrictions to spiritual sense inside Spirit Void Hall make me rather uncomfortable.”
Han Li looked down to see the glacial light brushing past his flames and replied, “Hehe, The glacial Qi in this cave is rather odd!”
“Yes, the glacial Qi is by no means ordinary. The cave is something that has existed since ancient times. After existing for such a long ti
me, the glacial Qi may have undergone a subtle change.” Elder Ouyang’s black flames were also under attack by the glacial Qi and heard the same sounds of rain as Han Li.
Han Li smiled and through to say something when he suddenly let out a yelp.
Elder Ouyang suddenly looked below and saw that the rest of the party already entered the depths of the cave. There was a hill of scattered rocks that spanned a kilometer wide. The glacial light lingering there was several times more concentrated than at the top.
At the edge of the hill was a fire-red stone room with several entrances opened around it, appearing to almost be a cave formation.
At the peak of the stone hill, there was a giant boulder with condensed glacial Qi surrounding it. It was ten meters wide and its surface roiled with icy gusts and sparkling light.
As he closely examined it, he discovered that the huge boulder’s surface had a thumb-sized piece of Profound Jade. It sparkled with light, clearly displaying that it was many times purer than the shards he found at the cave’s entrance.
Suppressing his astonishment, Han Li followed the others and landed on the ground. Arctic Dragon’s gaze was captured by the boulder as soon as he saw it and joy appeared on his face.
“Haha, that’s great! I originally worried about how I would gather the glacial Qi in the cave. I didn’t expect that there would be a natural point where it concentrated. This will save us much effort!”
Arctic Dragon bellowed and soon after, he raised his hand, producing a blue ice spike in his hand, striking the ball of white light.
Clang! A metallic ring sounded upon impact, followed by the ice spike shattering to dust.
“Not bad, not bad!” Arctic Dragon only seemed to grow happier.
“Ah yes, did you all see that stone room over there? It is formed from Puresun Essence Stone. It is the only area that is absent of glacial Qi. We can rest there first as I explain what actions are forbidden in the cave. Otherwise, you will attract deep trouble for yourself!”
When the old woman heard him, she tapped her cane on the ground and asked, “Deep trouble? What does Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon mean?”
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 589