Chapter 944: Cold Essence and Sun Essence Fire

“So rare—this thing must have some special quality, right?” Han Li stared at the silver bead in the jade disc, his gaze flickering as he asked.

“More than just a little special! To us cultivators, it’s merely a top-tier auxiliary material for forging magic treasures or refining pills. But if it falls into the hands of the beast race, they’ll fight to the death—soul scattered and body destroyed—to obtain it. This is an excellent life-saving substance for beast beasts undergoing their transformation tribulation.”

“The beast race’s transformation tribulation?” Even though Han Li had anticipated something unusual, he still froze for a moment.

“Precisely. There are countless high-level beast beasts in this world, but very few survive the transformation tribulation to reach the seventh-tier peak. After all, heavenly lightning inherently suppresses most beast beasts; for them, the tribulation is nearly a death sentence. If a beast beast ingests a single drop of the silver bead formed from Cold Essence before the tribulation, and then cultivates it, it can greatly reduce the damage inflicted by lightning on its body during the ordeal. Tell me—isn’t this Cold Essence precious to them? Yet few human cultivators in the cultivation world even know of this substance. The Northern Night Xiaji Palace cultivates uniquely potent cold-natured techniques. During my travels in Da Jin, I once clashed with their high-level cultivators, so I recognized this material. Moreover, it’s said that every thousand years or so, certain high-level beast beasts in Da Jin secretly gather at the North Ming Ice Island where Xiaji Palace resides, launching desperate assaults to force the palace’s cultivators to surrender some Cold Essence.”

“Such things happen?” Han Li found it hard to believe.

“What’s strange about it? Without Cold Essence, their chances of surviving the transformation tribulation are nearly zero. If they somehow obtain even a single drop, their success rate skyrockets—why wouldn’t they fight desperately? Besides, whenever this happens, the few ancient beasts of the Ten Thousand Beasts Valley take the lead in organizing these attacks. Even if they fail, the beast beasts suffer little real loss. But the Northern Night Xiaji Palace traces its lineage to an ancient great Shentong cultivator, and its ancient forbidden arrays are no ordinary matter. Especially since the island sits atop the Cold Eye of the Tianyuan Yin Vein, the freezing cold radiating for ten thousand li can kill without a trace. Beast beasts who haven’t cultivated cold-natured techniques lose nearly half their spiritual power just resisting the cold, leaving them unable to fully contend with Xiaji Palace’s cultivators. Thus, though the beast cultivators always arrive with overwhelming force, they’ve never truly breached the North Ming Island. But if this spiritual fluid is so precious, how did the fellow you killed acquire it? Check the small bottle—does it bear any special markings?”

“Markings? The bottom of this bottle has a snowflake pattern—does that count?” Han Li’s expression shifted as he reached out and traced the pattern with his finger.

“Then it’s confirmed—that’s the North Ming Island’s mark. This bottle must be the one containing the Cold Essence from Xiaji Palace. But how did it end up in the hands of a mere Nascent Soul beginner, casually tossed into a storage pouch? That’s odd.”

“What strange things can’t happen in this world? Perhaps someone stole it from North Ming Island—or perhaps a Xiaji Palace cultivator betrayed the sect and fled with it, and it eventually fell into this man’s hands. All are possible. But you just said this Cold Essence is only useful to us cultivators as an auxiliary material for forging and pill-making. If so, why have Xiaji Palace’s cultivators fought generations of beast beasts over it? Why not just hand it over?”

“Some informed cultivators in Da Jin have asked this very question. But Xiaji Palace’s official explanation is that they must suppress the existence of eighth-tier and higher beast beasts to maintain stability in Da Jin’s cultivation world. Otherwise, a single vial of Cold Essence could spawn dozens of eighth-tier beast beasts—enough to shatter the balance of power among Da Jin’s major factions and trigger great chaos. But this explanation only fools ordinary people. The Xiaji Palace cultivator I fought in my youth held a high position—perhaps even a vice-palace master. After defeating him in battle and killing him, I used Soul-Searching Technique to thoroughly examine his spiritual sense. And I accidentally uncovered a secret about Cold Essence.”

“A secret?” Han Li’s eyebrows lifted, his interest piqued.

“Indeed. Had I not seen this Cold Essence, I’d have nearly forgotten it. This secret—known only to a few high-ranking members of the Northern Night Xiaji Palace—is that Cold Essence’s primary use isn’t for forging or pill-making. It’s the main ingredient for refining the ancient secret medicine: Yang-Restoring True Water.”

“Yang-Restoring Water? The medicine that can regrow flesh from bone and endlessly repair injuries?” Han Li sucked in a sharp breath, startled.

“Correct. Legend says that no matter how severe the injury—even if the body is shattered into pieces or severed at the neck—applying this spiritual medicine to the wounds instantly restores them to perfect condition. Some ancient texts even claim it possesses the miraculous power to revive the dead. Of course, these are just rumors; no one knows their truth. But one fact is universally acknowledged in all texts: Yang-Restoring Water greatly extends a cultivator’s lifespan—enough to add a quarter to the normal lifespan of an ordinary cultivator. Do you understand what that means?”

“It means cultivators at the Core Formation late stage might finally have a chance to reach Nascent Soul, and Nascent Soul late-stage masters stand a real chance of entering Soul Transformation.” Han Li exhaled slowly, murmuring.

“Of course, Cold Essence is merely one primary ingredient for refining Yang-Restoring True Water. To actually produce it, other materials are manageable—but the Sun Essence Fire, buried deep within ten-thousand-zhang molten rock, is absolutely indispensable. Only when Cold Essence is refined with this fire can it achieve true yin-yang balance and become Yang-Restoring Water. Otherwise, it’s merely wasted.”

Sun Essence Fire? Where would one even find that? Not to mention how long a normal cultivator could survive beneath ten-thousand-zhang molten rock, or the odds of such fire forming within a myriad-li sea of magma. Once formed, Sun Essence Fire becomes sentient—appearing and vanishing without trace in the molten rock. How could one possibly capture it? And even if you had the fire, without the formula, it’s all useless. Han Li spoke with a touch of self-derision.

The Dàyǎn Spirit Lord fell silent. After a long while, he spoke slowly:

“I have no way to obtain Sun Essence Fire, but I do possess the formula. Han Dao You , have you forgotten the Xiaji Palace vice-palace master I slew? His spiritual sense contained the exact formula. I found it curious at the time, so I casually recorded it. If you truly wish to refine this spiritual medicine, I can provide it to you.”

“Senior, you have this formula? That’s wonderful! I’ll keep it for now—perhaps I’ll need it someday.” Han Li was startled, then filled with joy. With Yang-Restoring True Water, his chance of advancing to Soul Transformation would greatly increase.

“Sun Essence Fire is beyond the reach of any cultivator in our realm. I advise you not to place too much hope in it. Otherwise, why, over countless generations, have Xiaji Palace’s great Shentong cultivators, possessing both the formula and Cold Essence, never succeeded in refining this spiritual water?” The Spirit Lord spoke calmly, then without waiting for Han Li’s reply, a pale-yellow jade slip flew out of the bamboo tube—he had already copied the Yang-Restoring Water formula in mere moments.

“Thank you, Senior. I’m merely preparing for the unforeseen.” Han Li seized the jade slip with a smile.

Since your Snow Crystal Ball is also forged from ten-thousand-year Xuan Jade, if you infuse it with several drops of Cold Essence, its spiritual nature and power will greatly increase. Don’t forget that. The Dàyǎn Spirit Lord added one final warning, then fell silent, feeling he had spoken enough for the day.

Han Li’s eyebrows lifted slightly. Even if the Dàyǎn Spirit Lord hadn’t mentioned it, he would have done the same.

But one thing still intrigued Han Li: this Cold Essence emitted such terrifying coldness—could it be absorbed and fused by his Zi Luo Extreme Fire? Would that elevate the fire’s power even further?

Thinking this, Han Li poured the silver bead back into the small bottle, then opened his palm without hesitation. A purple-hued flame immediately appeared in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the purple fireball transformed into a delicate light barrier, sealing the bottle’s mouth.

He then formed a hand seal with his other hand and murmured a low incantation.

The purple flame flickered, and under the incantation, the threads of fire along the barrier began to rotate—faster, then faster still.

Moments later, a slender strand of silver-cold vapor slowly rose from the bottle’s mouth, ethereally beautiful.

Han Li uttered a low command and flung a blue hand seal into the air.

The barrier absorbed the seal, shuddered, then collapsed back into a fist-sized fireball, tightly enclosing the silver vapor within, sealed completely.

Han Li then capped the bottle with one hand and gestured with the other. The fireball flashed and shot toward him.

He opened his mouth and swallowed the purple fireball whole—along with the silver cold vapor—then sat cross-legged on the ground, slowly closing his eyes.

Inside Han Li’s dantian, his two-inch-tall Nascent Soul opened its eyes—clear and piercing.

Before it, the purple fireball rotated slowly, within which a silver core glowed incessantly.

The Nascent Soul blinked, then formed a hand seal. A pale-green spiritual light blazed from its body as a stream of hand seals shot forth.

The purple fireball erupted violently, and the silver core within transformed into silver flames, intertwining and merging with the purple fire.

Outside, Han Li’s physical body remained expressionless, utterly still in deep meditation.

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