138 Chapter 137: The Millennial Milkstone Pool (1/2)

After the demise of Li Xue Wu, I took the chance to recuperate. Despite drinking the Green Dragon Crystal potion earlier, the Tian Sha Sect prodigy had dealt me serious wounds after the effects had ended.

That Man and Sword as One, particularly. If I didn't devise a scheme to kick Li Xue Wu into the chamer with the Nine Thousand Yin Ice Hell Formation, I would have been killed by him. Unlike Zhu Jiao or other xianxia protagonists, there was no way I could make a breakthrough in the middle of a fight or defeat Li Xue Wu in direct combat.

Such convenient things would never happen in reality.

Fortunately, the head disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Sect never imagined that I would make use of the icy death trap to kill him. He assumed I would be trying to destroy his Spirit Weapon with Seismic Step or other similar techniques and countered accordingly.

”That was close…”

I shuddered when I recalled the close shave when Li Xue Wu sliced the air where he assumed my neck had been. A few centimeters lower and he would have taken my head and a huge chunk of my chest off. If not with the physical weapon, then the sharp qi force emanating from it.

I couldn't afford to let my guard down. From here on out, my enemies were only going to be tougher. I didn't know or care what realm or stages they were in, but I did know one thing.

Anyone had the chance to beat anybody. It didn't matter what realm or stage they were in, or how much qi they had. Even though Li Xue Wu was superior to me in strength, techniques and qi, I defeated him because I outsmarted him and made use of my surroundings. Those battle-crazy martial artists who focused on cultivating their own skills and honing their techniques to perfection to ”become stronger than anyone else” often neglected tactics and intelligence. Of course the writers of those xianxia stories didn't have much of an imagination, and all their antagonists did stupid things such as getting the whole sect to gang up on the protagonist, or attempt to assassinate or kill him for no reason other than because he ”offended” them or beat up their son or whatever, but this just allowed the protagonist to fight his way through them with brute force alone.

No one actually thought to use tactics, intelligence or schemes, or the simple-minded protagonists (and the authors were mostly simple-minded or unimaginative as well) benefited greatly from the antagonists' stupidity.

”Phew…”

I peeked inside to ensure that Li Xue Wu and the other fourteen elite Tian Sha Sect disciples were dead for certain, studying their frozen forms. Picking up my broken glasses and keeping them in my bag, I then took a deep breath, mustered my qi into a protective aura, and stepped inside the icy chamber.

Of course I wouldn't be able to withstand more than a few minutes inside the terrifying Nine Thousand Yin Ice Hell Formation, even with my Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula, but it was more than enough time for me to enter, search for whatever I needed, and then get out before I froze to death inside. I had to be careful, though. I didn't want to die the ignoble death of being the first ice user to freeze to death.

That would be the ultimate irony.

”Hmm…that device looks like it'll be useful.”

I grabbed a small Spirit Artifact that was yin qi based, my senses picking up on the huge amount of yin qi it produced. On the surface it resembled a hi-tech globe, but it wasn't a smooth sphere. There were contraptions here and there, and what seemed like lights, dials and buttons, but I had no idea what they did. For now, I just took it and stuffed it into my bag, intending to use it as part of the spirit materials for my eventual Spirit Armament.

I also looked around for an appropriate elixir for Qing Tan. Given how we were assaulted right outside the vault with the elixirs, I doubted Zhu Jiao would be able to find the yin-based elixir he needed for his sister. I discovered an Ultimate Yin Dragon Saliva elixir and pocketed that too. Most likely that would be useful for Qing Tan and helped her curb her chill attacks completely.

Or so I hoped, but I wasn't a doctor. I did read the label briefly and saw that it was perfect for a patient with the Terminus Demonic Body, which was exactly the circumstances Qing Tan was suffering from.

So I stuffed that in my bag as well and moved on.

”Br…”

Unfortunately, time was up. I was already beginning to feel numb, and ice was growing over my limbs. My extremities, in particular, were beginning to be encased in thin blocks of ice. I had to hurry or I would end up like Li Xue Wu and the rest.

As much as I wanted to profit from this encounter, I couldn't afford to linger for too long. I wasn't an idiot whose greed overcame common sense. Furthermore, it seemed that the time period that the Nine Thousand Yin Icy Hell Formation required to freeze me was beginning to shorten. Was I growing weaker, or was the Formation growing stronger, adapting to my presence and overwhelming my defenses?

”Fuck…”

I had no choice but to get out right now. There went any plan of me to go in, grab stuff, go out and wait to recover, and then go in again. The Nine Thousand Yin Icy Hell Formation wasn't kind enough to allow me to exploit a loophole and make multiple trips to empty it of its contents.

That was fine. I wasn't a greedy fellow who wanted to hoard every single treasure inside the frozen chamber. I had what I needed, and that was more than enough.

While I hurried outside, I suddenly noticed something on my way out. A gleaming Spirit Artifact gleamed brightly amidst all the snow.

”That's…”

It was a sword. I wasn't able to observe it much because of the cold and the urgency to get out of there before I froze to death. So I grabbed it without thinking, more drawn to it because of its icy qi and because I felt some sort of affinity with it, and hurried out of the chamber.

The moment I was outside and warm again, I glanced at the beautifully sculpted sword that seemed as if it was almost crafted from ice. It was a deep azure color, with an elegantly designed guard and hilt. The characers etched onto the smooth, shiny blade seemed to pulse with power.

”Azure Lotus Sword,” I breathed. Instantly recognizing this as a Spirit Treasure Weapon that was on par with the eight Spirit Treasure Weapons that I saw in the main hall, where everyone was fighting over, I couldn't believe my luck. Of course, it was not as good as the high-quality sword-type Spirit Treasure Weapon that Bai Ning Xue obtained, nor did it have the same potential as the incomplete gauntlet-type Spirit Treasure Weapon (Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets) that Zhu Jiao got his hands on, but it meant that I wouldn't be leaving the ancient tomb empty-handed after all.

”Thank you so much…”

Exhaling a breath of relief and delight, I then kept my newly acquired sword inside my bag. Closing my eyes and crouching down to wait for my frozen body to warm up a little before I continued on my journey, I rested.

Crack!

”?!”

I jolted upright at the deafening noise. Turning my head toward the direction of the ominous sound, I saw that it was coming from inside the cave.

The blizzard within seemed to have intensified, if possible, and the ice statues that were the fifteen Tian Sha Sect disciples were cracking and shattering. I watched in shock as Li Xue Wu's frozen head snapped off his shoulders and crashed into the ground, rolling for a few moments before breaking into countless icy crystals.

The rest of his body, as well as the other fourteen elite disciples of the Heavenly Fiend Sect, shared the same fate, crumbling to the vicious elements of the hellish formation.

I was glad I got out of there when I did, and didn't try my luck with multiple trips. If I got caught by that, then even my resistance to ice and Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula wouldn't be able to save me.

Suppressing a shudder, I hastily hurried out of there, following the corridor in hopes of tracing the way Zhu Jiao went.

*

At that moment, Zhu Jiao was looking for a way past the debris.

”Look, kid, you won't be able to get past all that rubble. We've to seek an alternative path.” Qi Lin shook his head. ”And let's be honest…by the time you get there, you'll be too late. Either your friend survives and escapes, or he will already be dead. The only thing you can do is avenge him. For now, you should look for more treasures.”

”But…!”

”Who knows? You might be able to stumble across an elixir that will help him with his wounds. Or you'll be able to find something to help with your cultivation. Right now you don't have the strength to fight against those elite disciples, do you?”

”No,” Zhu Jiao admitted. ”Their low-ranking disciples are one thing, but those fifteen elite disciples are on a completely different level. It would be one thing if I fight three…maybe even five of them. But against fifteen? And while protecting Fei Wu? Impossible.”

Bloody hell, so the protagonist already took it for granted that I would be a burden and someone to be protected rather than a comrade he can fight side by side with on equal terms. Typical. Were all xianxia protagonists always this arrogant?

”Your goal is to raise your cultivation as quickly as possible, so that you can fight on par with an entire sect if necessary,” Qi Lin told Zhu Jiao, who bought into that bullshit with a nod.

Wait, what the fuck? Why did he need to fight on par with an entire sect? Was Qi Lin molding him to be the stereotypical xianxia protagonist who was always offending entire sects for one reason or another, who were so petty they would send out their entire might to exterminate him without hesitation? And Qi Lin, probably aware of Zhu Jiao being that sort of xianxia protagonist, was already prepping him for a bloody future where he would eradicate entire sects who throw every single member at him to try and kill him?

Seriously? Did he really have to go down that route of blood-fuelled carnage? Of exterminating entire sects? Wasn't that, like, so overdone and completely unrealistic?

Unfortunately, Zhu Jiao saw nothing wrong with that absurd logic and he nodded obediently.

”Where do you suggest we go now?”

”Hmm…” The ghostly Qi Lin thought for a moment, floating in the air as he glanced around. Then he pointed at a specific pathway. ”Try that corridor. It seems to lead toward something that's absolutely brimming with dense qi. I can literally taste the rich power…”

Zhu Jiao glanced at his master, then spared the rubble with one last hesitant look. The noises of battle had faded and he couldn't really sense the presence of anybody on the other side. With the lack of qi explosions and waves that came from executing martial arts techniques, it appeared that Qi Lin was right. I had successfully escaped or the battle had already ended…

Either way, there was nothing he could do. So he nodded and took a deep breath, proceeding down the corridor…

*

In the direction that Zhu Jiao was heading toward, a black-clothed maiden had already arrived. Even though this was her first time exploring the ancient tomb, she seemed to be navigating her way through its labyrinthine corridors without any difficulty.

She had managed to avoid the traps laid out in the corridor, using her qigong to bypass landmines or pitfalls, and wove her way toward the depths of the ancient tomb. Ignoring the majority of the paths, she focused on a single destination in mind, taking only a few turns and completely avoiding detours.

Within a few minutes, she arrived in a vast karst cave. Stretching over three meters in height and over ten meters across, it resembled some sort of cozy house. At the top, a gigantic stalactite hung from the ceiling, dwarfing any other structure residing within it.

Underneath the stalactite was a relatively huge pool, probably the size of a swimming pool in a high school gymnasium. Stretching out in a few meters in radius, it resembled a small lake, its liquid milky.

Drip…drip…

The reason for its strange color was because of the white fluid that trickled down the length of the stalactite and dripped into the pool.

The black-clothed maiden removed her clothing, becoming as naked as the day she was born and revealing snow-white skin and long, slender legs. Wide hips, narrow waist…she had a gorgeous figure that most men would kill to steal a glimpse of.

Storing her clothing in her bag, she then concealed it somewhere before diving into the pool. With a huge splash, she disappeared beneath the surface of the milky pool, completely submerging herself in its murky depths.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize that the cavern in the ancient tomb was connected.

*

”This way! Ah, there it is!”

”Hmm?”

Zhu Jiao blinked as he strolled into the karst cave, directed into it by the floating ghost of his master.

”What is this place?”

”Hey, kid! You're in luck! Look!”

Qi Lin pointed at the gigantic stalactite hanging from the ceiling. Zhu Jiao stared at it blankly for a few seconds, and then turned to his master for an explanation.

The old ghost sighed. ”That's a milkstone.”

”Milkstone?” Zhu Jiao frowned. ”I thought only female mammals produce milk.”

”Not that kind of milk, you fool!” Qi Lin roared as he gestured wildly toward the stalactite. Zhu Jiao raised his head to look at it.

At first glance, it was admittedly remarkable. A few meters in length, it hung suspended from the roof of the karst cave like a final nail that was waiting to be driven into someone's coffin. Its base, which was connected to the ceiling, started out wide, but it began to thin as it drew closer toward the tip. And at that very tip, droplets of white fluid were trickling downward, falling lazily into the pool beneath it.

”Milkstones are the precious treasures of Nature! Don't you know?” Qi Lin placed his hands on his hips. ”A century-old milkstone will have the effects of a medium-quality spirit pill that allows you to strengthen your body and qi. A millennium-old milkstone will be equivalent to a high-quality spirit pill, no even more than that! It nourishes your qi channels and strengthen them considerably, allowing you to both accelerate your cultivation of qi and strengthen your physical body significantly! It's one of the best naturally-existing elixirs in the world!”

”Wow…”

Even though he didn't quite understand most of it, Zhu Jiao comprehended just how amazing this milkstone was. Furthermore, he had hit quite a bottleneck in his training and was agonizing over the resources he needed to make a breakthrough. Personally, I would advise him not to rely on these weird spirit pills and potions because it sounded dubious to me – and we all knew how harmful doping and relying on steroids were.

Unfortunately, at that time, I wasn't around to advise him.

In any case, Zhu Jiao and Qi Lin didn't expect to find a milkstone hidden in the depths of this ancient tomb. Perhaps it was transplanted here by the Nascent Soul Stage practitioner. Or perhaps it came into existence long after the tomb was manufactured. Either way, this was practically a fortuitous encounter for the xianxia protagonist.

Yeah, the bastard always got all the lucky breaks at the times when he needed them. How super-convenient.

”Judging from the size of the stalactite, that milkstone must have been here for over a thousand years! You're in luck, my boy!”

”Heh…”

Zhu Jiao couldn't help but bend down and test what his master told him. Using his index finger, he scooped up a drop of milkstone fluid and placed it in his mouth, closing his eyes and savoring it for a few seconds.

Then he opened his eyes, widening them in awe. He could feel the milkstone liquid blending into his mouth and began spreading across his body instantly, nourishing his flesh and bones. He was almost taken aback by the sheer potency of the white fluid.