Chapter 101: Ice Flame Cave

  Bing Yan Dong is located right behind Sheng Si Dian.

  About twenty meters in, the Ice Flame Cave splits into two paths. One leads to a cultivation area deep within the mountains; the other leads to a prison cell, usually used to detain members of the Nie family who have made mistakes. The length of detention depends on the severity of the mistake.

  At dawn, Nie Kong appeared outside the Ice Flame Cave.

  Just like the entrance to the Hall of Life and Death, the archway of the Ice Flame Cave was also made of dragon stone, but near the wall of the cave, a thick iron gate was opened, which could only accommodate two people entering and exiting at the same time. And at the entrance of the cave, there was a member of the Nie family guarding it, who was said to have achieved the realm of transforming spirits.

  "Tribe mark!"

  Hearing the footsteps, the Xianling guardian who was meditating with his eyes closed opened them and took the tribal plate handed over by Nie Kong. He was taken aback for a moment: "You are Nie Kong?"

  "Yes."

  Nie Kong smiled and nodded. Until today, almost all the clansmen had heard of the name "Nie Kong", but not many people had seen him, after all, the Nie family was too big, with tens of thousands of clansmen in Jieyang City alone, it was impossible for everyone to know each other.

  The guard's eyes flashed with a hint of unusual color: "Tongling Yipin, just enough to meet the minimum standard for entering Ruoyan Ice Flame Cave. Remember, don't go too deep into the cave, if you feel uncomfortable, exit immediately, don't be afraid to lose face." Seeing that Nie Kong was a newcomer to the Ice Flame Cave, the guard kindly reminded him. After speaking, the guard's long sleeve swept out, and with a "thud" like an iron hammer hitting the door, the heavy iron gate creaked open.

  "Thank you."

  After thanking him, Nie Kong stepped over the high threshold.

  The top of the mountain cave was embedded with a thing called "Moon Heart Stone" every meter, round and shiny, illuminating this stone cave about ten meters wide and three meters high like daylight. Such moonlight stones, each one could be sold for a sky-high price in the previous life, but on the Tianling Continent, one could sell for at most ten gold coins, the greatest use was just lighting, Nie Kong could only secretly lament that the jewels of this world were too worthless.

  The iron gate closed afterwards, but the air in the cave was very fresh and there was no feeling of suffocation at all.

  The fork in the road ahead was visible at a glance, and the path to the right leading to the prison was sealed off by an iron gate. If there were no cat guts, Nie Fengxing should have been locked up inside by now. If conditions permit, Nie Kong would like to go in and take a stroll, to see Nie Fengxing's wonderful expression.

  As he walked forward along the left passage for over a hundred meters, Nie Kong gradually felt a strange aura, coolness mixed with a hint of warmth.

  This is the most unique place in Bingyan Cave.

  In the depths of the mountain behind the Nie family's residence, there was a vast expanse of space where two types of air with completely opposite properties would emerge from the ground almost every moment. Over years and months, this strange scene had formed in the cave, with the left side being icy cold and the right side being scorching hot.

  In the outer regions, the cold and hot auras blend together, containing an extremely dense heavenly spiritual energy, making it very suitable for spiritual masters to cultivate. However, as one goes deeper inside, the two auras become increasingly distinct, until they reach the depths of the mountain, where they are completely incompatible. In that region, spiritual masters would likely be incinerated by the flames or frozen into ice upon entering.

  So, those Nie family spiritual masters who come here to cultivate will absolutely not rashly charge into the depths of the Ice Flame Cave unless they are tired of living.

  After walking for dozens of meters, Nie Kong's eyes suddenly opened up to a spacious area tens of meters long and wide, where rows of tables and chairs were arranged. This was the place where members of the Nie family would retreat to catch their breath and rest when they could no longer withstand the mixed aura of cold and heat.

  As soon as Nie Kong's figure appeared, the dozens of members of the Nie family who were resting all turned their eyes to him, with different expressions, some surprised, some disappointed, some jealous, and some disdainful. Their ages also varied greatly, with teenagers, young adults in their twenties and thirties, and middle-aged people in their forties. As for those teenagers, Nie Kong basically had some impression of them, they should all be the personnel who entered the Ru Fantasy Realm this time to practice.

  "Nie Kong? Isn't he Nie Kong?"

  "I heard that he accidentally broke into the second layer of the fantasy realm this time, and didn't come out until the night before last. He almost died inside the fantasy realm. How pitiful."

  "Who says it's not? I have a cousin who was in the Mortal Pavilion for some time, and heard that this kid broke through to Tongling soon after entering. Everyone thought he would break through again when he came out, becoming the second person after Dalao to break through two ranks in a row. But his luck was too bad, and he died at the second level of the Illusory Realm, not only getting himself half-killed, but also coming out as Tongling first rank."

  "What a pity! What a shame!"

  "Hmph, I saw through him long ago. This kid is just a fleeting moment of brilliance, a flash in the pan. In the thousands of years of the Tianling Continent's history, how many examples like this have there been?"

  "Shoo, you little brat, get out of here!"

  “……”

  After leaving Cang Feng Yuan, Nie Kong specially rested at home for a day and studied the "Mu Yang True Spirit Technique" before heading to Bing Yan Cave this morning.

  During his resting days, the news of Nie Kong's emergence and his performance in the Phantom Realm had almost spread throughout the entire Nie family. Many clan members sympathized with Nie Kong's "experience", of course, there were also many people who were secretly rejoicing and gloating.

  Nie Kong had long been mentally prepared for this. Upon hearing those whispers, he merely smiled lightly and walked through the resting area towards the cultivation zone ahead.

  "Huh? Nie Kong?"

  A somewhat familiar voice rang out, Nie Kong turned his head to look, and saw a eighteen or nineteen year old who had just walked in, smiling and waving at him.

  "Nie Qing'an." Nie Kong smiled and said. Calculating it, this unlucky guy was the first person Nie Kong killed during his training in the Phantom Realm, and also the only one.

  Seeing Nie Kong and Nie Qingyan appear one after the other, the surrounding Nie family members suddenly became excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. The news that Nie Qingyan was killed by Nie Kong at the last moment had long been spread far and wide, and now that these two people have met, what kind of sparks will be rubbed out?

  "Ah, Ah, Nie Kong, I've heard about what happened to you. Don't be too upset, it's just that you only reached the first rank of Spiritual Meridian now! With your speed, who knows, maybe tomorrow you'll reach the second rank, and the day after tomorrow you'll break through to the third rank! It's not impossible that you might even jump straight to the third rank tomorrow!" Nie Qingyan's face was full of sympathy, but the sarcasm in his tone was palpable, showing that he still held a grudge about what happened that day.

  "I'm not sad." Nie Kong smiled and said, "You're already a Nine-Grade Spirit Medium now, right?"

  "Ah, I've only reached the 9th rank of Tongling! Originally, I wanted to try and see if I could break through two ranks directly into Rongling, but unfortunately, unfortunately, it was just a little short, just a little short!" Nie Qing'an shook his head and sighed, with a hint of regret in his expression, but the slightly raised corners of his lips revealed the pride in his heart.

  "Just a little short? Then I'll congratulate you in advance, I suppose you can reach fusion with just some casual practice today, right?" Nie Kong turned and left.

  "What?"

  Nie Qing'an was choked to death by these words, and his face suddenly became extremely embarrassed. He said that he was only a little short, but in fact, he knew very well in his heart that he could break through to Fusion Spirit within three months... no, half a year, it was already a great achievement, let alone breaking through to Fusion Spirit today, what a joke!

  "Hmph..."

  A burst of eerie laughter echoed around. The tribespeople, who had been watching with great interest, were treated to a display of Nie Qing's sharp tongue, as she launched a scathing verbal attack that left her opponent reeling. But Nie Kong remained unruffled, and with just one careless remark, he sent his opponent fleeing in disarray, utterly humiliated. It was almost... too delicious!

  After cultivation, it's also a pleasure to see such a good show. Unfortunately, it's a bit too short, and not exciting enough. Of course, if it's too explosive, it will lead to self-destruction.

  More than a hundred years ago, a guy was brutally killed by his peers in the Illusory Realm. After coming out, he harbored hatred and ruthlessly killed his opponent, thoroughly eliminating him. As a result, that guy was imprisoned in the Ice Flame Cave for sixty years. When he came out, he was miserable and resembled a skull. Two of his peers who were present at the scene but failed to intervene were also implicated and imprisoned in the Ice Flame Cave for two years. From then on, even if someone was killed miserably in the Life and Death Illusory Realm, no one dared to take revenge against their peers after coming out.

  Hearing the eerie and strange voices all around, Nie Qing'an's face turned a sickly pale color. Seeing that Nie Kong had already entered the cave entrance ahead of him, he hastily followed after.

  ……