Chapter 438: The Infant in the Ice Coffin

"What are you doing?"

Facing the scorching gaze from someone, Xiao Han's tone changed involuntarily, and even his speech habits altered slightly.

"Your cultivation has improved quite a bit again!"

Beiming Longkun withdrew his gaze, sighing endlessly. He thought of himself as a divine beast bloodline, a darling of the heavens, yet his own cultivation journey had been fraught with thousands of difficulties and dangers.

But the person before him, whose aura he could still perceive before, had now reached a point where, after five years—a mere nap's time for him—any attempt to probe felt like a clay ox entering the sea: unfathomable.

Regarding this, Xiao Han did not take it to heart and said straightforwardly:

"Can you do me a favor?"

"A favor? What kind of favor?"

Beiming Longkun became interested; his current strength was far behind the other party's, so how could Xiao Han still have a time when he needed to ask him for help?

"I heard you have extensive connections in the Da Qian World?" Xiao Han smiled slightly.

"I wouldn't call it extensive connections."

Beiming Longkun shook his somewhat cool head, being very humble,

"It's just that I've lived a bit longer and happen to know a few more people, that's all."

To this, Xiao Han only chuckled in his heart; if he hadn't inquired about it beforehand, he might have actually believed it.

By chance, Xiao Han had learned the true face of this old man, whose strength was neither high nor low and whose style was lazy and easygoing.

Under normal circumstances, the lifespan of a divine beast is far longer than that of the myriad races in the Da Qian World, and Beiming Longkun was naturally no exception.

Although his long lifespan led to a frustratingly slow rate of strength improvement, it also had a huge advantage—being well-informed!

Especially for a lone traveler like Beiming Longkun, who had traveled north and south in the Da Qian World in his early years and befriended many young talents; as time passed, the once-frail geniuses had grown into powerful figures in the Da Qian World, such as the Clan Leader of the Lin Pulse back then.

Thus, Xiao Han had to marvel at Beiming Longkun's luck and eye for talent; many of the prodigies he favored and maintained good relationships with now displayed extraordinary strength, some of whom were even at the Heavenly Sovereign level, possessing a considerable degree of influence in the Da Qian World.

That the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy could ascend to the Five Great Academies with its relatively shallow foundation was also partly due to Beiming Longkun's connections.

"Brother Beiming, could you contact your old friends from back then and help me collect some materials?"

"I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Xiao Han promised with firm conviction.

"Oh!"

Beiming Longkun grinned, looking flattered,

"To have a genius powerhouse from a lower plane be so respectful to me, if I, this old man, don't agree, I'm afraid I would be a bit ungrateful."

Out of caution, Beiming Longkun did not make his words too absolute,

"I'll say the ugly things first: I can't guarantee it will definitely be done~"

"That is only natural."

Xiao Han's tone was slightly excited, "Brother only needs to tell me the news; I will handle the rest."

Beiming Longkun took the scroll Xiao Han handed over, looked at it, raised his eyebrows, and smacked his lips,

"No wonder you kid wanted me to take action; your taste is quite picky!"

Xiao Han smiled ingratiatingly and said nothing more.

Beiming Longkun didn't mind; since he had promised, he naturally had to help,

"Alright then, there should be news in about a month or two."

"Many thanks, Brother Beiming."

Xiao Han was overjoyed, and immediately took out a jade slip and handed it over.

"This is..."

"A Supernatural Power or a divine technique?" Beiming Longkun looked at the scroll and asked curiously.

"Or is it... an Array Diagram?"

Considering Xiao Han's signature methods, he added another guess.

However, Xiao Han shook his head with a calm expression.

"I, this old man, don't have that much patience."

"Do you still want this old man to help or not?"

Beiming Longkun let out a 'tsk', his tone unpleasant, clearly quite dissatisfied with Xiao Han's behavior of keeping him in suspense; wasn't this making things difficult for an old man of several thousand years?

"These are my insights into the realms of Low-grade Spiritual Array Master and Spirit Array Master; I believe they should be of some use to the academy."

Xiao Han didn't speak until he had to, but when he did, he offered a grand gift.

As if struck by lightning, Beiming Longkun stood frozen in place, speechless, his eyes even looking a bit dull.

It took a full half-cup of tea's time before he finally came back to his senses and asked tremblingly:

"What did you say this was?"

Xiao Han repeated the answer.

Unexpectedly...

"This won't do!"

"I and the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy cannot accept such a grand gift."

Beiming Longkun's refusal was quite direct and firm; as an old Kun who had traveled the entire Da Qian World, he knew exactly how valuable Xiao Han's gift was, and it was simply not something that could be compared to a few pieces of information he provided.

In the Da Qian World, the status of a Spirit Array Master is comparable to professions like Spirit Pill Master and Spirit Artifact Master, and their heritage is even rarer.

Even though the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy is a famous spiritual academy in the Da Qian World, its situation regarding Spirit Array Master heritage is hard to describe.

One can see how precious high-grade Spirit Array Masters are from the fact that the entire academy doesn't even have One Venerable Spirit Array Grandmaster.

Although Xiao Han's spiritual array insights might not necessarily cultivate a true Spirit Array Grandmaster, with his attainments in spiritual arrays, wouldn't it be more than enough to cultivate a few Heaven Grade Spirit Array Masters?

It was precisely because the gift Xiao Han bestowed was too precious that Beiming Longkun dared not accept it; no matter how good and close a relationship is, if one only takes advantage, such a connection cannot last.

However, Xiao Han's attitude was also extremely firm.

"Old brother, please just accept it; these few things are the least valuable to me."

This statement was not wrong; as for so-called insights, Xiao Han did not have as many as one could want, and perhaps they were not even as expensive as a Medicinal Pill.

After repeatedly failing to decline, Beiming Longkun had no choice but to accept it helplessly, smiling bitterly:

"Your help to the academy is becoming greater and greater; this old man does not even know how to repay it."

He couldn't exactly pack up the academy and sell it to Xiao Han, could he?

Having accepted favors, Beiming Longkun took the initiative to ask:

"Is there anything else you need this old man's help with? As long as it is not this old man's life, I will certainly go all out."

Xiao Han laughed heartily and did not refuse.

"Then let us keep it in mind; if one day I need the help of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, I will naturally not hesitate."

Xiao Han was in a good mood; he had a premonition that he might soon be able to see his old acquaintances.

Dou Qi Continent.

Inside a secret chamber of the Langya Pavilion.

A cold, chilling ice coffin was placed in the center of the secret chamber; unexpectedly, a sleeping infant was lying quietly inside the ice coffin.

At this moment, the air suddenly rippled, and a vortex several feet in diameter slowly emerged, from which two figures stepped out: they were Xiao Wu and Yi Huang.

Compared to when Xiao Han was still around, Xiao Wu was undoubtedly much more steady now.

Beside him, Yi Huang's face was haggard, and an inseparable melancholy added a touch of tragic beauty to her.

Familiar with the path, they arrived in front of the ice coffin. Xiao Wu sensed it carefully and placed his palm gently on the ice coffin; violent wind and snow suddenly rose around him, condensing another layer of thick black ice on the surface of the ice coffin.

Relieving his breath slightly, Xiao Wu comforted her:

"Mistress, Xiao Mu's condition is currently stable, so you do not need to worry."

"Do not harm your health."

Although he already knew it had no effect, Xiao Wu still followed his habit and urged her.

Sure enough, Yi Huang was still intently stroking the ice coffin, as if wanting to touch the infant's fair, tender little face through the thick layer of ice, and tears fell from the corners of her eyes involuntarily.

Although it had happened more than once, every time he saw the tender face in the ice coffin, Xiao Wu could not help but sigh.

What kind of situation were they in!

After the Soul Clan was wiped out, their lives, which should have been easy, were even more distressing than when the Soul Clan was still around.

Not only had their backbone, Xiao Han, disappeared without a trace—with only the certainty that he was still alive—

but their little junior sister, Xiao Mu, whom they had longed for, had displayed powerful talent the moment she was born. What should have been a joyous occasion had instead resulted in the opposite.

Precisely because her talent was too powerful, and with the addition of the Dou Di Bloodline, it brought about terrifying strength; a newborn baby possessed a cultivation base comparable to a Seven Star Peak Dou Saint.

The powerful Ice Attribute Dou Qi caused huge damage to the newborn's fragile body, even implicating Yi Huang, who had given birth to her, in a brush with death.

Having managed to save the child's life, they still had to face a headache-inducing problem.

If one wanted to curb the erosion of the infant's body by the Cold Ice Dou Qi, the best way was to seal her cultivation.

However, perhaps due to the infant's own uniqueness, or perhaps originating from Xiao Han's bloodline, that Cold Ice Dou Qi was extremely exclusionary; the slightest external contact would cause it to erupt instantly, and the terrifying cold would instantly take the child's life.

Even the current strongest person on the Dou Qi Continent, the Flame Emperor Xiao Yan, whose strength had reached the Imperial realm, was powerless against this.

Only Xiao Wu, who practiced the same Cultivation Method as Xiao Han and shared the same source of Dou Qi, had the ability to temporarily suppress and guide this Cold Ice Dou Qi.

Xiao Wu temporarily allowed the Cold Ice Dou Qi to freeze the child's body in a gentle way, avoiding the threat of death, but the price was the child's stunted development and long, unawakened sleep.

Even more severe was that as time passed, the effect of Xiao Wu's Dou Qi gradually weakened; if there were no further countermeasures, this infant who had never opened her eyes might have to bid farewell to the world.

"Mistress, it is said that Xiao Yan has already sensed the entrance to the passage leading to a higher-level plane."

"Perhaps there is a way to save our little junior sister in other places?"

"Perhaps Teacher is also on that plane, who knows?"

Looking at Yi Huang, who was an Alchemist and an Eight-Star Dou Saint but looked utterly exhausted, Xiao Wu earnestly persuaded her,

"You must prioritize your health!"

Perhaps Xiao Wu's comfort had an effect; hope lit up in Yi Huang's red eyes.

"Mm."

(End of this chapter)