Chapter 322: Ice Soul Pill

"Your speed is impressive!"

He Pingsheng stood atop the mountain peak, watching Su Zhenzhen.

Su Zhenzhen said: "I've cultivated a body technique, hehehe…"

A body technique makes one more agile and faster.

It functions similarly to the golden-patterned Cloud-Treading Boots beneath He Pingsheng's feet, and likewise to the Speed-Enhancing Talisman.

All are for acceleration.

But whether these items could stack their speed effects, He Pingsheng wasn't sure.

A cold wind blew forward.

He Pingsheng looked up toward the valley below.

An identical valley.

Deep within the valley, pure white.

The sky continued to pour down heavy snowflakes.

Few plants grew on the mountainside; only exposed rocks and vast sheets of snow remained.

"What is your elemental affinity?"

As he asked, He Pingsheng leapt off the cliffside, leaping between sheer rock faces toward the valley below.

Su Zhenzhen followed closely behind, her red cloak fluttering—distantly, she looked like a spirit dancing across the icy snow.

"Me? Single Wood elemental affinity!"

He Pingsheng said: "Then this Water Dragon Gully isn't very friendly to you!"

"It doesn't matter!" Su Zhenzhen laughed. "Wood overcomes Earth—when we reach the final Earth Dragon Gully, that's where I'll shine. There are Black-and-White Lotus Roots there!"

He Pingsheng said: "Actually, none of this matters to you."

"Right?"

Su Zhenzhen was already at Foundation Establishment Level Twelve.

Even if she obtained the Black-and-White Lotus Roots, what then?

The Black-and-White Lotus Roots were useless to her; the Blood Jade Purple-Skinned Jujubes were useless too.

What she needed was a Chaoyuan Pill to form her Golden Core.

And she already possessed a top-grade Chaoyuan Pill.

He Pingsheng truly couldn't understand why such a woman would risk entering this secret realm.

If it were him, he would never come.

Su Zhenzhen didn't answer the question, and He Pingsheng didn't press further—he simply continued forward.

After twenty or so breaths, the two descended from the great mountain into the deep valley.

They had officially arrived at the Water Dragon Gully.

On either side, sheer cliffs loomed darkly; beneath their feet lay thick snow, pure white.

Above, snowflakes drifted down intermittently.

What a frozen wasteland.

Amid this frozen wasteland, an intense concentration of Ice-element spiritual energy surged forth.

He Pingsheng couldn't help but wonder: if his wife Qiao Huizhu were here, encountering this Ice spiritual energy, she'd probably love it.

Too bad—the Ice spiritual power here couldn't be taken away.

"Brother Xu," Su Zhenzhen looked at He Pingsheng, "they say there's a ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow here. Do you know about it?" "They say it contains the Ice-element's Rule Force!"

He Pingsheng nodded.

Su Zhenzhen asked again: "Do you know where these things are?"

"I know they exist here, but I don't know exactly where in the Water Dragon Gully."

He didn't hide it: "It's not a secret—they say the center of this gully is a vast lake, above which floats a water dragon—actually an Ice Dragon!"

"The Ice Dragon's Ice power permeates the entire gully, which is why it's frozen like this!"

"And the ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow grows within that lake."

"To obtain it, you must enter the lake and search."

He Pingsheng had learned all this from the map.

In truth, the lake contained not only the ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow, but also Ice Source Jiazi Dew.

To obtain either, you must enter the water.

But both grow in places of extreme cold—Foundation Establishment cultivators find it nearly impossible to approach.

"Big Brother Xu!" Su Zhenzhen turned her head, her slightly chubby face turning toward He Pingsheng, her black, gem-like eyes fixed on him: "Have you heard of the 【Ice Soul Pill】?"

She had changed her address to him.

He Pingsheng shook his head: "Never heard of it."

Su Zhenzhen said: "It's a pill refined from 【ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow】. It's very special."

"Its ingredient is ice, so it cannot be heated or boiled!"

"Huh?" He Pingsheng was stunned: "That's possible?"

In his view, all pills were made by heating and boiling to extract the herbs' essence.

You're telling me not to use fire?

But then he understood.

The Ice Soul Pill truly couldn't use fire.

Otherwise, the moment heat touched it, the Ice element would vanish entirely.

"Then how do you concentrate the herbs' essence?" He Pingsheng looked at Su Zhenzhen, his eyes full of curiosity.

Su Zhenzhen smiled, then pulled out a jade slip: "Big Brother Xu is also an alchemist—you should find this interesting!"

"Here!"

He Pingsheng didn't refuse—he took it directly.

Then he sent his spiritual sense into the jade slip.

It was the formula for the 【Ice Soul Pill】.

The Ice Soul Pill was indeed refined primarily from ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow.

Its other two main ingredients and eighteen auxiliary herbs were all Ice-elemental.

So the question arose: how do you purify and refine them?

The answer was simple: soak.

Soak the herbs in a spiritually potent liquid, then control them with an extremely powerful spiritual sense to form the pill.

But the success rate was extremely low.

The pill had only one effect: it could neutralize poison.

And only Fire-element Rule poisons.

"I have a friend who was poisoned by a Fire-element Rule poison!" Su Zhenzhen said. "I need the 【Ice Soul Pill】 to cure it. It's a third-rank pill—do you think you can refine it, Big Brother Xu?"

He Pingsheng shook his head: "I doubt I can."

"This alchemical method is unheard of—I've never tried it!"

Su Zhenzhen didn't press further.

The two walked forward along the valley.

At this point, He Pingsheng slowed his pace.

There was no need to hurry.

The valley's only treasures were these two: ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow and Ice Source Jiazi Dew.

Obtaining them wouldn't be easy.

One day later, the two reached the center of the Water Dragon Gully.

There lay a vast lake.

At the lake's center stood a massive ice pillar.

The pillar was thick as two arms could encircle, its ice glowing blue-white, with swirling Ice-element runes flashing across its surface.

A chilling aura radiated from it outward.

Within ten zhang of the pillar, it was nearly a vacuum—no cultivator dared approach.

All cultivators stood frozen beyond the ten-zhang boundary, watching.

He Pingsheng and Su Zhenzhen also stopped at the ten-zhang limit.

This towering thirty-zhang ice pillar was undoubtedly the Water Dragon.

"Is there more beneath?" Su Zhenzhen pointed at the ice beneath their feet.

Beneath the ice lay a lake.

"Mm…" He Pingsheng nodded. "All the ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow and Ice Source Jiazi Dew form beneath the ice. To obtain them, you must break through the ice and dive into the ice lake!"

"But the lake water is freezing—ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators can barely endure it for half a stick of incense."