The charming yet awkward contact in the ice crevice just now had also been quite a shock to him.
For the rest of the journey, the atmosphere between the two clearly became somewhat oppressive.
Zhang Lexuan continued to lead the way, but her pace seemed a bit faster than before, as if she wanted to use distance to dispel some invisible ambiguity.
Caelus tacitly kept silent, just following silently.
Fortunately, the passing of that One Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast was like an emperor on a tour; its terrifying pressure had driven away the Soul Beasts in a large surrounding area, unexpectedly clearing a relatively safe zone for them for the time being.
Zhang Lexuan found a sheltered depression in an ice wall, and after confirming that there was no immediate danger, she finally stopped.
She turned around, her gaze somewhat wandering, but finally, as if having made up her mind, she fixed her eyes on Caelus. Her tone carried a hint of calmness, but upon closer listening, one could detect a trace of imperceptible tension:
Turn around.
Caelus was slightly taken aback, a bit confused, but meeting Zhang Lexuan's gaze, which had returned to its usual coldness, he obediently turned around as instructed, facing his back toward her.
Take off your top.
Zhang Lexuan's voice sounded again, calm and waveless, yet it made the corner of Caelus's mouth twitch uncontrollably.
He subconsciously wanted to turn back to confirm if Senior Sister was joking, but in the end, he held back. With a strange feeling in his heart, he unbuttoned his clothes and took off the student uniform top, which was stained with ice chips and dust.
The cold wind of the Extreme North Land instantly attacked, touching his exposed skin and raising a layer of fine goosebumps.
Caelus couldn't help but shiver, but his physical fitness was far superior to ordinary people's, and his Soul Power circulated automatically, so he wouldn't catch a cold because of this.
However, when he took off his top and exposed his entire back to Zhang Lexuan's eyes, a very light, almost imperceptible gasp came from behind him.
The lines of Caelus's back were smooth, his muscles symmetrical and solid, not exaggerated but full of a sense of power. His skin was a healthy color, like fine white jade.
But at this moment, on this white jade, from below his shoulder blades down to his waist, there was a large, shocking patch of blue-purple.
The color was deep and the edges irregular, as if it had been smashed hard by a giant ice hammer, or as if it had been soaked in extremely cold ink, forming a sharp contrast with the healthy skin around it.
Frostbite, and deep frostbite at that.
Zhang Lexuan's gaze instantly froze on that blue-purple patch. The slight flush that had arisen earlier from seeing his sturdy upper body faded rapidly, replaced by a complex and indescribable emotion—guilt, heartache, and even more so, a sense of realization.
She remembered that in the ice crevice, in order to avoid getting too close to her, Caelus had pressed his entire back tightly against the icy, bone-chilling ice wall.
In order not to leak the slightest Soul Power fluctuation and attract the attention of that One Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast, he hadn't even activated the most basic Soul Power body protection, let alone used his exquisite airflow manipulation to isolate the cold.
He had just like that, relying on his pure physical body, forcibly endured the extreme cold of the Ten Thousand Year cold ice, which was enough to freeze blood and erode bone marrow, until the crisis was resolved.
As expected, it's frostbitten.
Zhang Lexuan's voice lowered, carrying a trace of imperceptible hoarseness.
Her eyes lowered slightly, her long eyelashes masking the emotions surging within them.
Caelus himself didn't feel much; the nerves in the frostbitten area were almost paralyzed by the cold, so the pain was very weak.
He smiled indifferently, trying to ease the atmosphere:
Senior Sister, I'm fine. It just looks scary, it's just a minor injury.
As he spoke, he went to pick up his clothes to put them back on.
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