Chapter 17: Assisting the Xue Di, Gifting Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow!
Lei Chen looked at the flicker of skeptical hope in the Xue Di's eyes and naturally understood what she was thinking.
He smiled indifferently, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable certainty: "It's not a matter of teaching. I can tell you clearly that your upcoming seven hundred thousand year Heavenly Tribulation, as well as the subsequent eight hundred thousand, nine hundred thousand, and even the final million-year tribulation, are no difficult feat for me."
"I have my own methods to ensure you cross them safely."
As soon as these words were spoken, even with the Xue Di's hundreds of thousands of years of Spiritual fortitude, a brilliant radiance instantly erupted in her ethereal eyes, as if she had seen a warm sun in the midst of an endless winter.
If one could safely cross all Heavenly Tribulations and retain their heaven-reaching cultivation, who would be willing to give up everything to gamble on the slim and unknown future after Transformation?
But this excitement lasted only for a moment before being replaced by deeper caution. The Xue Di slightly furrowed her delicate brows, which looked like frozen ice crystals. Her voice remained cold, but carried a hint of inquiry: "Respected Plane Master, are your... words true?"
"You should be aware that resisting a Heavenly Tribulation, especially one at the million-year level, is by no means easy. Even for God-level existences, it would require a huge price."
She paused slightly, her ice-blue eyes looking directly at Lei Chen as she asked the most crucial question: "I wonder what I need to pay for such assistance? Or rather, what do you wish for me to do for you?"
The Xue Di's question made Lei Chen laugh despite himself. He shook his head, his tone carrying a bit of understanding and slight teasing: "You are indeed cautious. However, you can rest assured. My helping you cross the tribulation does not require you to do any specific thing for me personally, nor do you need to provide any extra reward."
Seeing the deepening confusion in the Xue Di's eyes, Lei Chen restrained his smile and said seriously: "You, the Xue Di, and even all the Soul Beasts in this Far North Land, are all living beings nurtured by this plane. Your existence and your strength are themselves the best return to this plane."
Lei Chen's gaze seemed to penetrate the ice cave, seeing the veins of the entire Douluo Plane: "I am the plane, and the plane is me. If the plane is strong, I am strong. Helping you is helping myself. Therefore, you don't need to overthink it, and you certainly don't need to feel like you owe me a favor. Just accept it with peace of mind."
Hearing these words, the Xue Di was completely stunned.
She had thought of countless possibilities—perhaps making her submit and pledge loyalty, or perhaps making her complete some dangerous missions—but she never expected the reason given by the other party to be so... grand and pure.
Helping her simply because she belonged to this plane, and her strength was beneficial to the plane?
This kind of vision, which completely transcended individual interests and calculations, caused a ripple to rise in the Xue Di's heart, which had been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years.
The confusion in her eyes gradually turned into a complex emotion; there was shock, there was relief, and finally, it all turned into a sliver of sincere respect.
She bowed slightly, performing an ancient rite used in the Far North Land only when facing a supreme existence. Her voice was no longer cold, but instead carried an imperceptible trace of emotion: "Xue Di... understands. Thank you, Plane Master, for your fulfillment! This kindness, the Xue Di and the Far North Land shall remember for all eternity."
Lei Chen waved his hand casually: "No need for such formality."
After saying that, with a slight movement of Lei Chen's thought and without any apparent action, the space beside him produced a subtle distortion. In the next moment, crystalline, ice-prism-like objects emitting extreme cold appeared out of thin air, floating quietly by his side.
Inside these ice prisms, liquid extreme cold energy seemed to flow slowly, emitting a terrifying chill that even caused the surrounding space to freeze slightly. Its pure and majestic ice-attribute energy far exceeded any heavenly treasure the Xue Di had ever seen in her life.
The moment she saw these ice prisms, the Xue Di's gaze suddenly froze. Her ethereal voice blurted out with a hint of disbelief: "This is... Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow?!"
As the ruler of the Far North Land, how could she not recognize such a legendary ice-type treasure?
Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow was a natural wonder that could only be born from the condensed essence of ten thousand year profound ice. It was the top-tier cultivation holy item for ice-attribute Soul Beasts!
Like the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, it was by a stroke of luck that it fell into a Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Cave and consumed a large amount of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow, allowing it to break through racial limits and advance all the way to the million-year level.
The energy contained in a single piece of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow was enough to allow an ordinary ice-type Soul Beast to increase its cultivation by ten thousand years out of thin air!
And at this moment, floating beside Lei Chen, a rough count revealed there were actually forty-five pieces of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow!
Lei Chen looked at the Xue Di's shocked expression and smiled slightly, confirming: "Indeed, it is Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow. These pieces of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow are enough to make your cultivation skyrocket in a short period and strike at the million-year level."
He gave a light push, and thirty-one pieces of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow, emitting an alluring cold light, slowly floated in front of the Xue Di.
"Refine and absorb them one by one."
Looking at the thirty-one pieces of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow floating before her and feeling that pure-to-the-extreme ice-attribute energy, the Xue Di took a deep breath of the freezing air. Then, she reached out her snow-white, jade-like hand and solemnly took the treasures that were enough to drive any ice-type Soul Beast mad.
"Thank you." She bowed to Lei Chen once more, her tone incredibly serious.
This kindness was beyond what words could express.
Immediately, the Xue Di no longer hesitated. She sat cross-legged, took the first piece of Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow, held it with both hands, and began to absorb it.
The Ten Thousand Years of Mysterious Ice Marrow was cold to the touch, but the vast energy contained within was like a docile river, rapidly surging into the Xue Di's body.
Her cultivation was already at the peak of six hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred years, only a hair's breadth away from the seven hundred thousand year bottleneck.
Now, under the catalysis of this pure external force, that solid barrier collapsed almost the moment they made contact!
"Boom—!"
A majestic and vast aura suddenly erupted from the Xue Di's delicate body. An ice-blue pillar of light soared into the sky, instantly piercing through the top of the ice cave and heading straight for the clouds!
The wind and snow of the entire core of the Extreme North seemed to stall. All ice-attribute Soul Beasts within a thousand-mile radius, regardless of strength, felt it at this moment and involuntarily prostrated themselves in this direction. That was their monarch stepping toward a higher level of life Transformation!
Seven hundred thousand year cultivation, achieved!
However, almost at the same moment the Xue Di broke through the bottleneck and her aura surged, an even more terrifying pressure that made the soul tremble descended from the high heavens without warning, locking onto her firmly!
The Xue Di's ice-blue eyes snapped open. A flash of solemnity passed through them, but there was no panic.
She rose to her full height and nodded slightly to Lei Chen. Then, her figure turned into a streak of light, and she unhesitatingly rushed out of the already damaged ice cave, standing tall amidst the biting cold winds of the Extreme North.