Tianhan Snow Fields
Su Min narrowed her eyes against the stinging wind, surveying the endless, shifting expanse of white. The ambush by the Xiumu Sect was already a distant memory, a minor interruption on her journey. Now, her true objective lay ahead, buried somewhere in this frozen wasteland.
"According to the Netherfrost Soul Crystal's guidance, the location should be around here..." she murmured, her voice swallowed by the gale.
This wasn't just any blizzard. The snowstorm here was a spiritual calamity given physical form. Even with her Divine Transformation senses stretched to their limit, she felt nearly blind. Her spiritual perception was suppressed to a tiny radius around her body, and the raging, ice-laden wind made it impossible to see more than a few dozen feet ahead. It was disorienting, like the sensory deprivation she had experienced in the Great Desert before reaching Yongzhou.
Navigating this place without aids was a fool's errand. Su Min relied on two things: a drop of blood essence that held a faint, persistent connection to Xie Yingying, and the Netherfrost Soul Crystal itself. The moment she had retrieved the crystal, a peculiar pull had emanated from it, a subtle compass needle pointing deeper into the storm.
"Time to venture deeper," she decided. "I've already left dozens of hidden markers outside—they'll serve as my guideposts so I don't get lost on the way back."
With that thought, she plunged into the relentless, howling whiteness. She had meticulously placed spiritual reference points at the storm's edge, ensuring she could sense her way back later. It was a standard, vital precaution for any cultivator daring the Tianhan Snow Fields. Without them, one could wander in circles until their spiritual energy was depleted and they froze solid. Attempting to fly above the storm was suicidal; beyond a certain altitude, the Heavenly Dao's suppression would trigger tribulation lightning. Unless one had surpassed the Mahayana stage, that was a certain and immediate death. Soaring freely through the void was a privilege reserved for true immortals, not mortals bound to the earth.
After pressing forward against the biting wind for what felt like an age, Su Min finally arrived at a secluded, deep valley sheltered by jagged ice cliffs.
"Is this the place?" she wondered, scanning the area. "It doesn't feel like where they originally found the crystal. There's no residual aura of it here."
Then she understood. The Netherfrost Soul Crystal hadn't led her to its birthplace; its activation had revealed a hidden location perfectly suited to its use. The Tianhan Snow Fields were unimaginably vast. You could scatter billions of people here and they'd never find each other.
With a single, focused strike, she shattered a thick, milky layer of ice that covered a depression in the ground. Her eyes widened in genuine astonishment.
Beneath it lay a glacial pool, its water so still and ancient it seemed like a sheet of polished dark blue glass. An eerie, cold light shimmered from its depths.
"Such pure energy… and so cold!" Her lips twitched involuntarily just from observing it. The Netherfrost Soul Crystal truly lived up to its legendary status as an artifact that could aid in comprehending the Great Dao. The location it had guided her to was perfect for her needs—but it came with one major, immediate problem: the extreme, soul-piercing cold.
This wasn't just physical low temperature. A peculiar, invasive energy permeated the area, one that seemed to slide through a cultivator's spiritual defenses like a needle. Even Su Min, with her formidable constitution, shivered uncontrollably. At the same time, she had to consciously and forcefully suppress the Vermilion Bird's Divine Flame within her dantian. If she unleashed the flame for comfort, the cold would vanish—but so would the glacial pool's unique energy, wasted. Her expression twisted in a brief internal conflict before she finally steeled herself.
"Hah—"
Taking a deep breath of the frigid air that burned her lungs, she got to work. She reinforced the surroundings with several layered formation diagrams. The blizzard would bury any physical traces in moments, and with the formations in place, she'd be alerted the instant anyone or anything approached.
Once her defenses were prepared, she formed a series of complex hand seals. She focused inward, suppressing both the raging fire of the Vermilion Bird and the vibrant life-force of the Eastern Azure Wood, leaving only the cool, adaptable flow of the Northern Water's Profound Origin active. It was a technique derived from the insights of the previous Five Elements Holy Body, usually useless but invaluable now. Unleashing her full elemental affinity would ruin the delicate balance of the pool.
With everything set, Su Min inhaled sharply. She stripped off her outer robes, revealing skin like flawless jade to the biting air.
"Hah—"
Without a second of hesitation, she plunged into the glacial pool.
Instantly, a cold so profound it felt like a physical blow seized her. It was a sensation she hadn't experienced in centuries. After becoming a cultivator, ordinary temperatures no longer affected her. But this cold defied all logic, sinking into her bones and threatening to freeze her very soul.
"No time to waste—absorb it quickly!"
She immediately activated the Water Chapter of the Five Elements Ancient Scripture. The Northern Water's Profound Origin surged within her meridians, creating a powerful circulation that greedily drew the pool's unique, frigid energy into her body.
"Perfect!"
As the technique took hold, the unbearable, mind-numbing cold faded, replaced by a clear, focused sensation of power flowing into her. The Netherfrost Soul Crystal, which she held in her hand, glowed brightly, acting as a conduit and filter for the purest energy. A shadowy, majestic Black Tortoise phantom materialized around her, its shell a testament to ultimate defense. Then—her long-stagnant cultivation finally began to climb.
Progress at the Divine Transformation stage was painstakingly slow. Su Min was also laying the foundation for the Dao Comprehension stage, so she refused to rely on cultivation-boosting pills that would create instability. Only rare, natural treasures like this could safely aid her. The alternative was to grind it out like ordinary cultivators, which could take millennia. But the world wouldn't wait for her. Within five hundred years at most, the fallen ones would awaken in full. Their peak strength wasn't something current cultivators could match—they were true Mahayana experts. Even initially awakening at only a Half-Step Dao Comprehension level, their retained understanding of Mahayana-level laws could annihilate even Unity-stage cultivators. It was an insurmountable hurdle that would see countless sects obliterated. And the fallen ones weren't even the final threat. Something else lurked beyond the skies, outside this world... All of this pressure forced Su Min to keep advancing relentlessly. Any stagnation would lead to a miserable end.
Five Years Later
Time flowed like water in the silent, frozen valley.
For mortals, five years was a significant portion of a lifetime. But for cultivators—especially Divine Transformation experts like Su Min—it was merely a short retreat. Most of their lives were spent in seclusion. Sometimes, they'd emerge to find the world outside utterly changed.
Now, within the glacial pool, Su Min's jade-like figure remained as motionless as a statue. The intense cold had vanished entirely—the pool itself had turned into ordinary, placid water, all of its unique energy fully absorbed. This five-year retreat had been immensely fruitful.
Then—
A radiant light erupted from her body, accompanied by the sound of a silent, internal barrier shattering. Her cultivation base, which had been simmering at the peak of early-stage, surged forward, solidifying firmly at the Mid-Stage Divine Transformation level.
"Hah…"
She exhaled slowly, a plume of white mist crystallizing in the air. She took a moment to sense the profound changes within her, a clear glint of joy flashing in her eyes.
"I've fully refined the residual Black Tortoise and Golden Dragon blood within me. And—" With a thought, faint, shimmering golden scales rippled into view across the back of her hand. Golden Dragon's Divine Hide—an innate talent of Ao Xue, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. This ability didn't conflict with external armor or artifacts; instead, it stacked with them, elevating Su Min's already monstrous physical resilience to something borderline inhuman.
"Now, I might be able to rival a Great Desolate Holy Body in raw toughness without needing any pills. Well… except for maybe Tian Hao himself." Her eyes narrowed slightly at the thought. While Great Desolate Holy Bodies were formidable, their potential varied wildly. That youth's innate mastery of his physique was terrifying even among his peers. She had never heard of anyone at the Golden Core stage enduring a direct confrontation with a Unity-stage Law Body without exploding. Though she had her own great fortunes, so did others. Xie Yingying's own prolonged, secretive seclusion was proof of that. Such ancient lineages often left abundant resources for their successors—not handed out freely, but attainable through effort. The path was paved; walking it depended entirely on the individual.
"Time's almost up," she said to the silent valley. "Breaking through to Mid-Stage Divine Transformation didn't just elevate my cultivation—it granted me new abilities. My odds against a Half-Step Dao Comprehension expert are even better now. I might even stand a chance to escape from a true, early Dao Comprehension cultivator."
"The fallen ones shouldn't have any Unity-stage beings active yet. With this, my combat power should be sufficient for what's to come."
After a thorough internal assessment, Su Min finalized her plan. She would head to the deepest, most dangerous region of the snow fields, find the entrance to the tomb, and prepare to support Yingying from the outside. It was time to move.