I Am Overlord c1-962
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Even with Yun Flame's protection, he could still feel the cold. He was having a hard time acclimating to the temperature, which not even a peak Emperor could withstand.
Xiang Shaoyun was in no rush to make a move. Rather, he scanned his surroundings attentively, trying to look for a way to take the energy of extreme cold back to Han Chenfei and the others.
As he focused, he found that right above the spot where the cold energy was emanating, a sparkling and translucent ice stone was floating. The stone was rectangular and was about eight meters long, three meters wide, and three meters tall. Its surface was clear and transparent, and it seemed like there was something else within the ice.
Xiang Shaoyun approached it to get a better look, and he was finally able to see what was inside.
T-this is an ice coffin! Xiang Shaoyun was overwhelmed with shock.
He had discovered that someone was lying inside the ice coffin. It was a white-clothed woman, but he couldn't get a clear look at her face. Numerous questions appeared in his head.
Who is this woman?
Who buried her here?
Is the black tortoise guarding her, or is this a coincidence?
No longer able to hold his curiosity, Xiang Shaoyun approached the coffin. As he approached, the temperature in his surroundings dropped, the chill digging straight into his bones. If he stopped using Yun Flame's power, he would freeze to death.
He could sense that even Yun Flame was starting to be suppressed by the surrounding frost energy. At this time, he finally got a clear look at the woman's face.
It was a gorgeous face. Her curved willow-leaf eyebrows, tall nose, small and delicate lips, jet-black hair, and rosy face came together flawlessly. Her body was tall and slender, exuding boundless allure. She was an exceedingly attractive woman.
Of all the women Xiang Shaoyun had seen, only Yu Caidie could compare to her in terms of looks. Even so, Yu Caidie's temperament was much more lacking compared to this woman. Anyone would be deeply attracted to her after looking at her once.
Xiang Shaoyun blankly stared at the woman's face a while before he recovered.
Inwardly, he muttered, Truly unbelievable. There is actually a woman this perfect. Unfortunately, she is dead.
If the woman in the coffin was still alive, he did not believe he would be able to resist admiring her, even with his strong willpower. Of course, he knew very well that perhaps only a Saint or a God would be a match for a woman like her.
Soon, he readjusted his mental state and noticed a marking of a lotus on the woman's forehead. It was probably something she was born with. From the many books Xiang Shaoyun had read, the marking was actually a type of battle rune that could increase one's combat prowess.
And perhaps the lotus rune was the only clue available to the woman's identity. He did not dare to waste too much time on the coffin and the woman. He had noticed that below the coffin were pieces of crystals containing the energy of extreme cold. These crystals had formed after being exposed to the energy of extreme cold for a long time.
Chapter 690: Suffering From Frost
The crystals of extreme cold were each the size of half a fist. Pasted on the bottom of the coffin, they emanated extreme coldness. These crystals were formed from the energy of extreme cold and shared its characteristics. It went without saying that these crystals were extremely valuable.
The sight of them caused Xiang Shaoyun's eyes to burn with desire. He had a feeling these crystals could solve the issue with the physiques of the Han Clan sisters. Without a care for anything else, he charged toward the bottom of the ice coffin.
He wanted to first get these crystals before doing anything else. But he had only advanced a tiny bit when the coldness surrounding his body reached a level he could no longer withstand.
"Hold it!" Xiang Shaoyun circulated the power of Yun Flame with all his might and continued charging ahead.
He then reached for the crystals. Right at that moment, the black tortoise that had been asleep for an untold number of years opened its eyes. A column of air sprayed out of its nose.
The column of air was incomparably terrifying, and it actually created a whirlpool in the water as it surged. Although Xiang Shaoyun was maintaining his invisibility, he was still in the midst of the water. He had no way of escaping the whirlpool, and he was completely disoriented as it dragged him around.
The force of the whirlpool was extremely powerful, and he couldn't stabilize his body. His entire body was assaulted with pain, as if he was going to be ripped apart alive. Even the broken armor he wore seemed incapable of sustaining such pressure. Several new cracks appeared on it before it completely shattered.
Fortunately, the armor had still protected him during the most dangerous moment. The whirlpool's impact was too much for him, causing him to lose consciousness. After an unknown amount of time, he regained some of his consciousness. The tiny bit he had recovered was the consciousness of his soul, not his body.
Xiang Shaoyun's soul had long turned into a filthless soul, granting him a soul power comparable to a Sovereign's. His soul had long taken form, its strength far beyond the soul of an Emperor. Generally speaking, the recovery of the soul also indicated that the physical body would also slowly start recovering its senses.
But this time, Xiang Shaoyun could not sense his body at all. Along with his filthless soul's gradual recovery, he finally learned of his current situation.
The energy of extreme cold had frozen his soul and body. As for his soul, it had been able to recover due to the defensive properties of the Nether Dragon Soul Headband. It had slowly isolated the chill that had permeated his soul, preserving and awakening his consciousness.
Nether Dragon Soul Curse—Healing Mantra.
Unable to use his astral cosmos sea and the soul spring within, he had no way of hastening the recovery of his soul. His only option was to use the Healing Mantra of the Nether Dragon Soul Curse. Fortunately, the soul raising stone was embedded in his soul. With the Healing Mantra, the stone slowly started nourishing his soul. Slowly but surely, his soul recovered.
With the passage of time, Xiang Shaoyun's soul finally regained full consciousness. He sighed, "But my soul can't even control my body anymore. Have I entered an eternal state of suspended animation?"
He found that his entire body had been frozen, and since he couldn't control his body, he had no way of escaping his current predicament. Furthermore, when he checked his Nether Soul Domain, he found that all 8,000 of his ghostrunes had been frozen as well. It was unknown if they were even still alive.
As for his body, his flesh, blood, and organs had all been frozen. That was why his soul was unable to move his body. He had to defrost himself before he could recover control over his physical body. Otherwise, by the time he exhausted all his soul power, he would be dead.
What should I do now? Xiang Shaoyun asked himself anxiously.
One could say that this was the most dangerous situation he had ever gotten himself in. If he couldn't save himself, he would definitely die. As he searched for a solution, he suddenly recalled the scene of him sweeping the tombs under the gravekeeper elder's order. He thus hurriedly forced himself to calm down.
Anxiousness will not solve problems. I need to remain calm, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
He started chanting the Serene Clearheart Mantra, which was a mantra capable of calming one's mind. Soon, his mind regained tranquility. With the return of calmness, he regained his wisdom and intellect.
In my current situation, the only thing I can do is sense Yun Flame's existence. I have to get it burning as quickly as possible to slowly defeat the frost. Without my control, Yun Flame has frozen over, and I can't even sense it anymore. I have to first regain my connection with it, Xiang Shaoyun told himself.
A few other thoughts also emerged, but he decided to first defeat the frost inside his Nether Soul Domain. Restarting the Nether Soul Domain would give him more chances of survival. As he reached that decision, he acte
d on it using his filthless soul.
Powerful punches shot out from his soul body, smashing apart the ice in his Nether Soul Domain. Xiang Shaoyun's filthless soul was one that had been tempered by lightning and flame. After undergoing a torture of frost as well, the soul had grown even stronger. As he smashed the ice apart, the Nether Soul Domain slowly returned under his control.
Imperial Nether Prison.
With the initial control, he willed for numerous chains to shoot out and smash the remaining ice apart. After clearing a majority of his Nether Soul Domain of ice, he started working on the ghostrunes. He was the master of the Nether Soul Domain. Soon, he removed the ice around the ghostrunes.
Unfortunately, a large majority of them had died. Only a few Emperors had survived, which made Xiang Shaoyun gloomy. He had spent a large amount of resources to nurture these ghostrunes. He found it hard to accept that almost all of them had died just like that.
Even the surviving ones were in an extremely weak state. It was unknown if they would remain alive for long. That would depend on themselves. Surprisingly, the ghostrunes had their own way of survival. The surviving ghostrunes painstakingly approached the corpses of their dead companions and started devouring them.
Seeing that scene, Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed, "I seem to have forgotten this unique trait of theirs."
Gui Qi once said that consuming their companions' flesh to increase their bloodline power and strength was their ultimate shortcut to strength. Now, the ghostrunes were doing just that. They did not want to let these corpses go to waste, and they could recover their vitality by devouring them.
Xiang Shaoyun thus left them to their devices. With the recovery of his Nether Soul Domain, he could now sense his body's surroundings. He was overjoyed as he laughed, "Haha, I think I will be able to save myself now."
Chapter 691: Comprehending the Profundity of Ice and Water
The Nether Soul Domain regaining its ability to sense his surroundings signified that Xiang Shaoyun could start thinking of a way to solve his current predicament. He discovered that a thick layer of ice surrounded his body, and surrounding the ice was water.
He could sense the water flow and the waves of the water. He also discovered a group of ice arrowfish swimming in the water. He was also certain that he was no longer within the lake. Rather, he had drifted somewhere else in the sea.
He wished that the ice arrowfish would actually discover him so he would be able to use their sharp arrow mouths to break the ice around him and free him. Unfortunately, that was merely his wishful thinking. The fish had not discovered him.
Apart from that, he also found that there were some crystals of extreme cold encased within the ice chunk surrounding him, and the discovery filled him with excitement. He was impatient to regain control over his body, grab all these crystals, and meet up with Han Chenfei's group.
He wanted to expand his Nether Soul Domain to envelop the ice around him before using the chains of his Imperial Nether Prison to break him free. Unfortunately, he found himself unable to extend his Nether Soul Domain. The layer of ice around him had completely suppressed the domain's power.
He sank into depression when he found that his idea wouldn't work. Left with no choice, he could only calm his mind and sense his body through meditation. He tried his best to go through the frost and slowly regain the connection with his physical body.
After all, it was his own body. Although it had been frozen, his Nether Soul Domain and soul had recovered. He could use his soul power to charge the frost again and again, awakening the basic instincts of his body. Unfortunately, this plan did not seem to work very well either.
Finally, he thought of a different plan: to comprehend the profundity of ice and water. Only then would he be able to free himself. Slowly, his soul chanted the Desolation mantra.
Borrowing from his previous experiences of using the mantra, he gradually immersed himself in a state of comprehension. Prior to entering the lake, he had already gained a certain level of comprehension on ice and water, especially water.
Although he was encased in a chunk of ice, he could still sense the water around the ice. Again and again, he focused on the flow of the water and the sensation of the ice. Slowly, his comprehension deepened.
He could sense the water brushing past the ice, turning the outer layer into water. At the same time, part of the water was left on the ice and formed another layer of ice. It was like an eternal cycle, ice into water, water into ice.
The cycle of ice and water taught Xiang Shaoyun of the two’s shared characteristics and differences. Ultimately, he reached a conclusion that when water encountered cold, it became ice, whereas ice and heat would become water. In essence, both were considered a part of the power of water. They merely shared different forms.
After understanding that, Xiang Shaoyun concluded that he should be able to seek a method to change the forms of water and ice at any time. The moment he found that method, he would be able to make use of both water and ice, and it might let him comprehend the profundity of ice and water.
Day after day, Xiang Shaoyun meditated untiringly using the Desolation mantra. He was no longer aware of the passage of time.
This day, he had a sudden source of inspiration when he observed a passing berserk tide. Water would be still when calm, and water would be ferocious when stirred. Water would become ice when cold, and ice would melt when heated. His filthless soul locked on to the two concepts. Using his soul power like water, he formed wave after wave that crashed into the frost within his body.
Using his soul power as water, he stirred the water, granting it ferocity, causing it to warm. And with heat, the ice would melt. He operated his soul power according to the profundity of water. Finally, he slowly loosened the frost within him, causing the ice to melt.
As he controlled his soul power in such a manner, his blood seemed to be affected as it started slowly flowing in accordance to the profundity of water. Initially, the blood moved slowly, and then it eventually increased in speed. As his blood circulation recovered, his heart started throbbing, and finally, he restored the connection between his body and soul.
When he sensed that happening, he urged his soul power to move faster, trying to completely break the ice encasing his body. His blood started circulating healthily while energy coursed through his meridians. His acupoints shone brightly, and along with the circulation of astral energy, his stars awakened.
Taking this opportunity, Xiang Shaoyun activated his flame star, awakening Yun Flame and using it to release a massive amount of flame power to defrost his body. During the melting process, he could sense how cold his body was.
Water was at its lowest temperature when it turned to ice, and this was a place containing the energy of extreme cold. If he couldn't completely recover from the cold, it would transform into a hidden injury that would plague him. His meridians and vitality would suffer, and his body would not stop losing vitality until he died.
As his body was recovering, he hurriedly circulated his cultivation method and moved all the frost energy within his body into his water star. Water and ice shared the same origin, and Xiang Shaoyun was confident he could master both. Thus, the water star would be a perfect container for the energy of extreme cold.
Sure enough, upon entering the water star, the energy of extreme cold did not conflict with the existing water energy within. Rather, the water energy was strengthened, gaining a trace of frost power.
Xiang Shaoyun did not have the time to observe these changes. He was trying his best to recover and regain control over his body. He still needed to break the layer of ice around him and seize the crystals of extreme cold.
After some hard work, he finally regained full control over his body. He quickly refined several drops of lightning liquid to heal his injuries. The breath of the black tortoise earlier had injured him badly.
If it wasn't for the broken armor taking the brunt of the impact for him, his entire body would have been crushed.
With the lightning liquid, he nourished his injuries and slowly recovered.
At the same time, he also refined some soul spring to replenish his soul power. He even fed the surviving ghostrunes some soul spring, allowing them to recover fully. Once again, Xiang Shaoyun was able to move his body.
He no longer needed Yun Flame’s protection. He could even directly absorb the frost energy around him to enhance his water star. Once again, he used his Nether Soul Domain to sense the location of the crystals of extreme cold. The moment he was certain of their location, he no longer held back and started digging into the ice around him.
Chapter 692: Meeting Huo Xudong Again
Xiang Shaoyun tried his best to break the ice around him, only to find the ice incredibly firm. In fact, it was much tougher than ordinary king weapons and was almost comparable to an emperor weapon.
If it wasn't for the fact that Xiang Shaoyun had comprehended the power of frost and could transform part of the ice into water, he would have probably spent a very long time just shattering the ice around him.
As he melted the ice into water, he also absorbed the energy into his water star, quickly filling up the star. He was confident it wouldn't be long before his water star would reach its current limit.
After some hard work, Xiang Shaoyun finally reached a crystal of extreme cold. The energy of extreme cold it emanated was one that regular people couldn't endure.
Xiang Shaoyun hurriedly dug it out before storing it in a jade case to prevent its energy from dispersing. He then continued searching for more crystals. He believed that these crystals of extreme cold shared his fate, having been blown this way by the black tortoise instead of naturally forming here.
After a while, Xiang Shaoyun gathered eight crystals of extreme cold. One could say that this was quite a bountiful harvest.