Chapter Eighteen: The Ice Cave

  The Ice Cave is located in the belly of Qingyan Mountain, where the cold air is unmatched all year round, and thick white fog surrounds it, which comes from the white fog.

  It is said that in the deepest part of the Ice Cave, there is a small pool of water. The water in the pool comes from the constant dripping of icicles on the top of the cave. The thick white mist is overflowing from the deep pool inside the cave.

  The deeper into the ice cave, the closer to the pool of water, the thicker the white mist is, and correspondingly, the cold air inside is also heavier.

  Since he was a child, Ji Changlong had known that the Ice Cave was a place where the younger generation of the Ji family were punished. He had heard people talk about how cold it was in the Ice Cave countless times. Because he had been frail and sickly since childhood, he would occasionally fall ill, so even though he might have done something wrong or taken the blame for Ji Changle's mistakes over the years, he had never been punished by being sent to the Ice Cave.

  In the eyes of the elders of the Ji family, he, who had no yuan force in his body, was absolutely unable to withstand the cold air inside the Ice Cave.

  About the terrifying rumors of the Ice Cave, Ji Changkong had heard too many, but it wasn't until he actually entered the Ice Cave that he realized its icy coldness was even more frightening than what the young masters of the Ji family had described.

  As soon as he entered the icy cave, a vast expanse of white mist suddenly engulfed Ji Changkong, and in an instant, Ji Changkong felt as if he had fallen into an ice pit. The extremely cold air instantly made his whole body stiff, and the remaining fiery dragon's burning wine courage seemed to be suddenly washed away by the cold air.

  The chill in the fog seemed to penetrate his body through his mouth, nose, ears, eyes and pores, making his limbs numb, every step he took became extremely difficult.

  Wow! Hei Long's body had already reached the Ice Cave, and the chill in the air was terrifying. She couldn't help but exclaim in her heart.

  This is just the entrance, according to the Ji family, the deeper you go into the Ice Cave, the colder the air gets. The water pool at the very back has an icy aura that's three times stronger than the entrance!

  "Changkong, you can just stay at the entrance, never take a step inside. For years, the young generations of the Ji family who made mistakes were detained at the entrance for three days, and only after Chang Xiao entered the Two Yi Tian realm did he dare to walk a little further!" Outside the entrance, Han Hai shouted loudly, slowly closing the stone gate that had been opened.

  Han Hai was just an old servant of the Ji family, said to have served Mo Yunyi in the past. In recent years, Mo Yunyi had been guarding the Cang Jing Lou, while he watched over the Han Bing Dong. Like Mo Yunyi, Han Hai rarely left the entrance of the Han Bing Dong, and since Ji Changkong had never been punished to the Han Bing Dong, he had rarely seen Han Hai before.

  However, over the past three months, he had often sneaked into the Scripture Pavilion at midnight to read the Tian Shi Secret Manual. He discovered that Han Hai would sometimes talk in a low voice with Mo Yunyi on the third floor of the pavilion. This happened several times, and Ji Changkong was also familiar with Han Hai.

  Perhaps due to Mo Yunyi's preference, Han Hai, who had always been extremely strict with the other disciples of the Ji family, was surprisingly amiable towards Ji Changkong. On ordinary days, when he saw Ji Changkong in the Scripture Pavilion, he would also ask him about his cultivation in a gentle and courteous manner. However, Ji Changkong would often respond with a bitter smile and a look of helplessness.

  "Han... Han Bo, don't be in a hurry to close the door, my second brother should also arrive soon." Ji Changkong, who had caught a chill, stuttered and shouted towards Han Hai outside the cave entrance.

  "He's coming again. If the cold air from the Ice Cave leaks out, those old ones won't be able to punish you young ones later." Outside, Han Hai chuckled and said softly, "Chang Kong, you'd better be careful, your second brother isn't someone easy to mess with. If he gets reckless later, you should call for help early."

  "It's so cold inside, I'm afraid the yuan force in his body can only last for three more days. He dare not make a move." Ji Changkong sneered.

  The reason why the elders of the Ji family use the Ice Cave to punish their juniors is, on one hand, to make them remember things for a longer time, and on the other hand, it's also to temper their minds.

  It's precisely because of the chilling aura inside the Ice Cave that every single person from the Ji Family needs to use their internal Yuan Qi to resist the cold. Although three days isn't a long time, continuously resisting the cold will also exhaust their Yuan Qi, and after coming out, everyone's body will be weakened for a period of time.

  However, this is not all bad news. Every single member of the Ji family who comes out of the Ice Cave will find that after a period of physical weakness, when they gather their internal energy again, they will discover that their internal energy has become purer to some extent.

  Over the years, powerful second-generation Ji family members like Ji Huan Guang, Ji Huan Hong and Ji Wan Yun would sometimes intentionally come to the Ice Cave, staying deep within it for a period of time. They utilized the unique environment of the Ice Cave to temper themselves, making their Yuan Power even more refined and profound.

  ……

  Ji Changkong stopped at the entrance of the cave, feeling the biting cold air, and he couldn't help but shiver again. The yuan force in his body slowly flowed, and where the yuan force passed, the originally icy parts of his body gradually warmed up, and his stiff hands and feet also relaxed.

  He took a light breath, and the faint white mist that filled the icy cave entered his throat and abdomen. His body was still simmering from the "Fire Dragon's Blaze", and this mouthful of cold air suddenly made him feel much more comfortable.

  It's really useful!

  Ji Changkong's heart was filled with joy, and he gazed at the large half-tank of Huo Long Shan in his hand. A happy smile curled up at the corner of his mouth as he hugged it tightly and brought it to his lips, "Gulugulu" and took a few big gulps again.

  "Cough...cough... What strong liquor!"

  The dragon fire rushed into the throat, and the feeling of being burned on a pile of fire came again. The liquor was boiling in the body, and it seemed like there were several dragons burning inside.

  A few mouthfuls of the Fire Dragon liquor entered his belly, and Ji Chang felt as if there was a raging fire burning inside him. Even without using his yuan energy to resist the cold air in the Ice Cave, just relying on the intense fiery liquor, he no longer felt the chill.

  "Hoo... Fortunately, I was well-prepared. Good wine indeed! Such a strong liquor is only suitable for this moment!" Ji Changkong held the Huo Long Jiu and took several big gulps, suddenly bursting into loud laughter.

  Perhaps it was because of the Ice Cave that the icy mist and the intense wine of the Fire Dragon clashed, he no longer felt the biting cold, nor did he feel the unbearable sensation of his body being scorched by the Fire Dragon. It was only at this moment that he truly felt the intensity of the Fire Dragon's wine, its rich flavor!

  ……

  Her body was no longer icy cold, and Ji Changkong walked another ten or so zhang into the Ice Cave. Only then did she sit down with a plop, placing the half-jar of Fire Dragon Burn beside her. Closing her eyes, she began to gather the yuan force within her body, trying to make it flow through the leg bones below her waist.

  In his mind, the Taixu Secret Record quietly appeared in a corner of his brain, and as Ji Changkong's thoughts changed, the pages of the Taixu Secret Record turned one by one...

  This time, Ji Changkong quickly entered the "state of no self", he was like suddenly disappearing from the world, his soul merged with the universe, empty and hollow, as if he had become one with the icy cave, becoming a part of the mist.

  Suddenly, just as Ji Changkong entered the "State of No Self", in that instant, the white mist swirling around his body suddenly came to life. They floated and changed constantly, rapidly entwining and gathering around his body...

  In the distance, a faint white mist was also rapidly gathering in this direction. The fog here became thicker and thicker, and the thick fog seemed to gather into a large snowball, which wrapped Ji Changkong's entire body inside. In just an instant, Ji Changkong was enveloped by the dense white fog.

  From a distance, his body wrapped tightly in thick white fog looked like a large silkworm cocoon.

  Ji Changkong apparently didn't know about the abnormality in his body. As he fell into a state of "no self", he seemed to have really lost consciousness, but the yuan force inside his body automatically circulated and slowly moved towards the bone marrow of his leg bones, gradually flowing towards his soles.

  ……

  It was unknown how long it took before the stone gate of the Ice Cave "creaked" open once again.

  Quietly submerged in the "realm of no self", Ji Changkong suddenly woke up from that wonderful realm, and his consciousness returned.

  Ji Changkong hadn't opened his eyes, but he could clearly sense Ji Changle entering from the stone gate, now cautiously sizing him up at the entrance.

  Although he didn't actively use the internal yuan force, Ji Changkong, who had already woken up from the "state of no self", could clearly feel the trajectory of the yuan force flowing through the metacarpal bones in his soles!

  Not only that, but the muscles, bones, skin and flesh, and internal organs in his body, which had been tempered by the yuan force once before, were now sometimes cold and sometimes hot. The chill of the Ice Cave and the fiery liquor of the Fire Dragon had somehow permeated these places, making him feel as if he was in a state of being both frozen and burned at the same time.

  However, this feeling did not make him feel uncomfortable, but rather... it made his body extremely comfortable and relaxed.

  ……

  "Second Brother, you're here." Ji Changkong smiled, his smile like the white mist of a cold ice cave, with a hint of desolation.

  The thick white fog that had wrapped his body tightly, suddenly dispersed and drifted back into the depths of the icy cave as he spoke.

  ……