Chu Xuan walked back under the moonlight, his steps as light as a weasel that had stolen a chicken. The lotus seal in the palm of his hand still had a faint, icy blue glow, flickering like some kind of code or urging. Silver Dragon rolled over his belly in his dantian and belched. The coldness moved along the meridians, making his teeth weak from the cold, but he felt so comfortable that he wanted to hum.
"Hum again and I'll freeze you into an ice lolly." He whispered to himself and looked up into the darker depths of the forest - where a big meal was waiting for him. Though the ice room collapsed, the ripples from the lotus seal told him that the real "main course" was yet to come.
He circumvented the ruins and crept in the direction of the harshest chill. The silver dragon leads the way, and wherever it passes, the cold mist automatically splits into a slit, like a subject making way for the king. As we went deeper, the ancient trees thinned out, and large areas of bare rock appeared on the ground, with tiny ice crystals embedded in the crevices, shining like a starry river in the moonlight.
Ahead, a natural cave emerged abruptly, with its entrance about ten feet high, and a deep blue, cold air gushed out like a giant beast yawning. Chu Xuan held his breath, the silver dragon quietly poked its head out, and the snake exhaled, catching a wisp of cold air, savoring it - ten times purer than an ice core, with a hint of "human presence", cold lonely, cold proud.
"There are people in the cave." Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, but his heart raced like a hunter smelling blood. He walked around the hole, as light as a cat, with each step landing in the darkest shade to avoid disturbing what might be in the dark.
After going around to the side of the cave, behind a protruding rock, he found a narrow crevice that was only wide enough for one person to turn sideways. The coldness seeped out of the crack, colder and purer than the entrance, like an invisible knife, cutting the skin painfully. Chu Xuan pressed his ear to listen, and there was a faint "tick-tock" sound in the cave, like water drops falling on a jade plate, clear and ethereal, yet with a chilling coldness that captured the soul.
He took a deep breath and pushed sideways into the crevice. The silver dragon wove a fine web in front, filtering and devouring all the cold air coming towards him. It was pitch-dark inside the cave. He felt the fire fold and was about to light it when he felt something was wrong - the fire fold had just begun to spark when it was frozen into ice chips by the cold and fell off.
"Good, it's so cold." Chu Xuan was stunned and simply gave up lighting, relying on the silver dragon's sense to move forward. The passageways in the cave were tortuous and the rock walls were covered with ice crystals. After walking a few steps, one had to use a hand knife to break the ice ridges blocking the way. The silver dragon feasted, swallowing an ice crystal and growing a bit bigger, with faint silver scales emerging on its body as if it were about to transform into a dragon.
About a hundred steps ahead, a faint blue light appeared. Chu Xuan slowed down, pressed against the wall, turned a corner, and suddenly saw a natural ice chamber with a dome hanging high and a forest of icicles. In the center was an ice platform, on which lay a graceful figure, dressed as white as snow, with long hair as black, all chained by ice chains, the links full of barbs, and with every slight sway, fine ice shavings flew up.
The figure slowly raised her head, revealing half of her pale face. Her eyes were as beautiful as a painting, yet it exuded eternal solitude. She looked at Chu Xuan, her lips moving slightly, and her voice, as if crossing the river of time, echoed directly in his mind:
"Xian Tian... Spirit? Wish... Lend me... A wisp of warmth?"
Chu Xuan's mind trembled violently, but the silver dragon in his dantian let out a cheerful hissing, as if hearing an old friend's call, it was about to fly out of its body! He held it down forcefully, the veins on his forehead twitched, and his voice was lowered very low: "Who is the senior? Why was he sealed here?"
Qianying did not answer, but raised her hand gently and pointed across the air --
"Ding!"
Chu Xuan felt a warm sensation between his eyebrows, as if being pricked by an ice needle. In the next moment, a wisp of cold air a hundred times purer than the ice core crept silently through his meridians along his fingers, and wherever it passed, his blood nearly froze. The silver dragon, overjoyed, opened its mouth and swallowed, its body expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its scales shining with a deep blue luster.
"Fourth layer of Qi Refinement, break!" "
A faint "puff" sound came from within the body, the barrier shattered instantly, a massive amount of spiritual energy poured in, and the meridians shone with a pale silver glow. Chu Xuan's vision went black and he almost knelt down, but he gritted his teeth and stood firm, bowing to Qian Ying from a distance: "Thank you, senior, for your gift!"
Qianying nodded slightly, but her figure began to become transparent, like a remnant of a mission about to dissipate. At the last moment, she flicked her fingertip, and a wisp of ice-blue light vanished into Chu Xuan's palm, turning into a tiny lotus seal, cold but no more chill.
The dark blue world crumbled with a crash, and Chu Xuan saw a flower before his eyes, returning to reality. Ruins remain the same, piles of rocks, but the coldness recedes like a tide, no longer surging as before. Only the lotus seal in his palm reminded him that it was not a dream just now.
He lowered his head, and the lotus seal flickered gently, as if responding, as if saying goodbye.
"Ling... Clearing snow?" Chu Xuan murmured a ridiculous but reasonable conjecture in his heart - the sealed Qianying was seven parts alike to that Supreme Elder of the Qingyun Sect! Only the latter is as cold as a sword, the former as lonely as snow, one stands tall in the clouds, the other locked in the ice field.
He shook his head, suppressed his thoughts, and bowed solemnly to the ruins: "Senior, rest assured. I will lend you warmth and I will return you spring breeze."
With that, he turned and strode towards the way back. Under the moonlight, the young man's back was drawn long, like a sword just drawn from its scabbard, whose sharpness could not be concealed but whose coldness was restrained. The silver dragon swirled in his dantian, rolling the newly acquired ice-blue lotus seal, and with each breath he exhaled, it added an indescribable connection to this forbidden land.
As soon as Chu Xuan stepped out of the ruins, he heard a crack with his foot, as if someone had broken the ice. He turned back and saw the blue mist rise again, but much softer than before, condensing into a thin band of light that pointed further into the cave, as if leading the way.
"And with a guide?" He raised his eyebrows, the lotus print on his palm burning slightly, as if urging. Silver Dragon was so anxious that he was spinning around, his tail slapping the dantian wall with a "thump thump" sound, looking as if he were not going to leave until he was full.
Chu Xuan chuckled and lowered his voice: "Don't worry, follow the foodie, you won't lose out." He turned his toes and darted along the direction of the light band.
...
At the end of the band was a stone wall covered with ice crystals, with a natural crack in the center of the wall, only wide enough for one person to turn sideways. The chill trickled out of the cracks, like the breath of a cold spring, but no longer bone-chilling, but rather... Invitation?
Chu Xuan pressed against the wall to listen. Deep in the crack, there was a very faint, very shallow breathing sound, long and slow, as if in slumber. He felt a slight stir in his heart: The "Immortal of Ice" had not left but was in seclusion even deeper, and the ruins just now were but a wisp of her lingering thoughts.
"Since the senior is so kind, I'll have the nerve to disturb you." He grinned and pushed sideways into the crack. The silver dragon led the way, and with a single scale, it swallowed up all the coldness and turned it into a gentle stream of spirit to nourish itself.
Inside the crack is a natural ice passage, with its walls covered in ice ridges, and every step requires breaking through the obstacles. Chu Xuan walked briskly, and as the silver dragon passed, the ice crumbled automatically, opening up a smooth path for him. The deeper he went, the purer the cold, the clearer the breathing, like the wind blowing through the tips of a pine tree, with a faint sense of solitude.
A moment later, at the end of the ice path, it opened up - an ice palace, with a dome hanging high and a forest of icicles in the center, an ice platform, on which sat a graceful figure, dressed as white as snow, with long hair as black as ink, with broken ice chains all over her body, but still a wisp of coldness escaped, like an unawakened mist.
She closed her eyes, her face pale, her long eyelashes covered with snow, but the corners of her lips were no longer tightly pursed, as if she were in a deep sleep or waiting for someone. Chu Xuan stepped lightly, as if afraid of startling a snowfall. Just as he approached three zhang, the graceful figure suddenly opened her eyes --
The eyes were like broken jade from an ice lake, cold and heart-wrenching, yet empty and heart-wrenching.
"Common man, why bother me?" The voice was not loud, but echoed in the ice palace, like a chorus of swords, and the coldness instantly condensed into substance, turning into thousands of ice needles, hanging about an inch between Chu Xuan's eyebrows.
Chu Xuan felt a chill down his back, but did not take a step back. Instead, he bowed his hands and spoke in a clear voice: "Junior Chu Xuan, by order to cut firewood, mistakenly entered the forbidden area and disturbed the senior cultivators. He deserves to die ten thousand times. But the senior gave me the lotus seal to bring me here, and I dare not not come."
Saying this, he raised his right hand, and the lotus seal in his palm gave a faint blue glow, as if responding, as if comforting. The ice needle quivered slightly, but did not draw nearer. The figure's gaze fell upon the lotus seal, and a ripple finally rose in the empty eyes.
"Lotus Seal..." She murmured softly, as if recalling a distant dream, "Will you help me?"
Chu Xuan felt a little relieved in his heart, but his face was solemn: "The senior has instructed me to do what I can, even if it means death."
Qian Ying gazed at him for a long time, then slowly raised his hand and lightly touched the void with one finger --
"Ding!"
The lotus seal shone brightly, and a more refined coldness than before crept through the fingertips, silently penetrating Chu Xuan's meridians. Wherever it passed, the blood was almost congealed, but the silver dragon was overjoyed and opened its mouth to swallow. The dragon's body expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its scales shone with a deep blue luster.
"Five levels of qi refinement, break!"
A faint "puff" sound came from within the body, the barrier shattered instantly, a massive amount of spiritual energy poured in, and the meridians shone with a pale silver glow. Chu Xuan's vision went black, but he gritted his teeth and stood firm, bowing to Qian Ying from afar: "Thank you, senior, for your gift!"
Qianying nodded slightly, but her figure began to become transparent, like a remnant of a mission about to dissipate. At the last moment, she flicked her fingertip, and a wisp of ice-blue light sank into Chu Xuan's brow, turning into a tiny sword mark, cold but no more chill.
The dark blue world crumbled with a crash, and Chu Xuan's eyes flashed as he returned to reality. The ice palace remained the same, but the ice platform was empty, leaving only a white robe, quietly folded, like snow falling silently.
He lowered his head, and the sword mark flickered gently, as if responding, as if saying goodbye.
"Ling Qingxue..." Chu Xuan murmured, the absurd but reasonable guess in his heart was finally confirmed - the frozen immortal sovereign was the Supreme Elder of the Qingyun Sect, Ling Qingxue! But why was she sealed here? And why did you give him the lotus seal and the sword seal?
He shook his head, suppressed his distractions, and solemnly bowed to the empty ice platform, saying, "Senior, rest assured. I'll lend you warmth and surely return you the spring breeze."
With that, he turned and strode towards the way back. Under the moonlight, the young man's back was drawn long, like a sword just drawn from its scabbard, whose sharpness could not be concealed but whose coldness was restrained. The silver dragon swirled in his dantian, rolling the newly acquired sword mark, and with each breath he exhaled, it added an indescribable connection to this forbidden land.