842: Chapter 842 The Incredible Little Bear!

Ye Chen glanced at the large bird, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Is this... an Ice Feather Stork?"

The Ice Feather Stork is a descendant of an ancient exotic beast. Its temperament is extremely violent, and it possesses an intense sense of territory; any living creature that steps within a hundred zhang of its nest is regarded as a threat, and it will fight to the death.

The size and aura of the Ice Feather Stork before him clearly indicated it had lived for several hundred years or more, making it the guardian of this Ice Dew Fruit forest.

It circled above Ye Chen's head for half a turn before diving down like a bolt of white lightning.

Its claws spread open like iron hooks, wrapped in bone-chilling cold air as it struck directly at Ye Chen's face.

Ye Chen did not dodge; he lifted his foot and stomped on the ice surface.

A wave of air exploded from the soles of his feet, causing the ice layer beneath him to crack apart. The air wave surged upward, forcibly deflecting the Ice Feather Stork's dive by thirty percent.

"ROAR!!!"

The Ice Feather Stork let out an angry roar, its body tilting to the side. It flapped its wings violently, using the momentum to flip in mid-air, readjust its posture, and ferociously pounce at Ye Chen again.

This time, its speed was even faster.

Ye Chen raised his hand and flicked it, sending a Talisman flying out.

The Talisman exploded in mid-air, transforming into a three-zhang-high wall of fire that stood before the Ice Feather Stork.

"BANG!"

The Ice Feather Stork crashed headlong into the wall of fire, the collision between ice and flame exploding into a vast mist of water.

But the large bird did not retreat.

After the feathers on one of its wings were scorched by the flames, it became even more infuriated.

The next second.

It flapped its wings, and a circle of hazy white cold air suddenly exploded around its body, instantly freezing the remaining wall of fire into ice shards.

Immediately after.

It flipped and dived, its claws reaching for Ye Chen's shoulder.

Ye Chen dodged to the side, the claws grazing his collar and leaving three deep white gouges in the ice.

"Still quite fierce, are you?"

Ye Chen withdrew the hand he had prepared to punch with and instead struck the Ice Feather Stork's chest with a palm.

The palm wind, wrapped in True Qi, slammed into the Ice Feather Stork. The large bird was sent flying backward over ten meters, crashing into the valley wall and dislodging a patch of ice fragments.

But the Ice Feather Stork's resistance to blows was much stronger than imagined; after struggling for a moment, it stood up from the pile of ice again.

It shook its head, shedding the ice shards from its body, and stared fixedly at Ye Chen with its crimson eyes, slowly spreading its wings.

A thick layer of white frost began to condense around its body, and the cold air spread in all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing this, Ye Chen grinned.

"Fine, you want to play with ice, do you?"

"Then I'll play along with you."

He formed a simple seal with his hands, and his True Qi circulated within his body. A scorching aura emanated from his palms, steaming the ice at his feet until white smoke rose.

The Ice Feather Stork seemed to sense the change in Ye Chen's aura and, without hesitation, pounced again.

This time, its claws were wrapped in a thick layer of ice armor, and a half-foot-long ice spike had condensed on its sharp beak. Its entire body seemed to be draped in a suit of frost armor as it crashed toward Ye Chen, carrying an overwhelming chill.

Ye Chen stood in place, waiting for it to approach. The moment before the Ice Feather Stork was about to pounce on his face, he suddenly raised his hand.

"BOOM!!!"

A surge of scorching True Qi erupted from his palm, exploding like an invisible ball of fire before the Ice Feather Stork.

The frost armor shattered inch by inch in the heatwave, and the ice spike melted directly into water mist.

The Ice Feather Stork let out a shrill cry, losing its balance and crashing obliquely into the valley wall, dislodging a large patch of ice fragments.

It struggled to stand up again, but the feathers on one of its wings had been mostly scorched away by the heatwave, exposing the flesh beneath, making it impossible to maintain flight.

Ye Chen walked over.

The Ice Feather Stork glared at him and hissed.

Ye Chen did not hesitate; he raised his hand and pressed it onto the top of its head.

He unleashed his palm power.

The Ice Feather Stork's body stiffened, the red light in its eyes rapidly dimmed, its head lolled to the side, and it stopped moving completely.

"For the sake of this patch of spirit fruits, I'm afraid you'll have to die." Ye Chen withdrew his hand and said softly.

The Little Bear poked its head out from behind his feet, trotted out happily, and let out two "woo-woo" sounds.

Then.

It circled around Ye Chen a few times.

It looked as if...

It was celebrating.

Ye Chen shook his head, unable to laugh or cry, then turned and walked toward the Ice Dew Fruit forest, crouching down to begin harvesting.

Seeing this, the Little Bear followed, crouching beside him and looking up as he picked the fruits, its drool almost dripping onto the ground.

Watching this scene.

Ye Chen smiled and casually tossed a fruit he had just picked into the Little Bear's mouth.

"Here, have a taste, don't overeat."

The Little Bear opened its mouth, caught it, and swallowed it directly.

Then...

Its whole body stiffened.

That familiar heatwave exploded within the Little Bear's body again, and its fur instantly changed from white to pale gold, as if a layer of warm luster was shining from beneath its skin.

Ye Chen squatted in front of it, watching the changes on its body, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "Breaking through again?"

The Little Bear curled up on the ground, its body trembling slightly, and its aura climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Heavenly Realm Peak!

Early-stage Tianyi Realm!

It only completely stabilized when it stepped into the Mid-stage Tianyi Realm.

Ye Chen reached out and stroked its head, unable to laugh or cry.

"A single Ice Dew Fruit let you step into the Mid-stage Tianyi Realm?"

"The medicinal effect of this thing is way too intense!"

The Little Bear climbed up from the ground, shook its head, then looked up and barked twice at Ye Chen, its tail wagging like a windmill.

Ye Chen laughed: "Alright, go stay over there, I still have work to do."

The Little Bear obediently crouched to the side, watching him eagerly.

Ye Chen turned around, squatted back in front of the patch of Ice Dew Fruits, and began to harvest them one by one.

Ye Chen's technique was very deft, harvesting almost one per breath, and he casually tossed the picked fruits behind him.

Then.

The Little Bear would open its mouth and suck them into its stomach to store them.

The man and the bear were working together with quite a tacit understanding.

About half an hour passed.

Ye Chen finally picked the last one, stood up, and stretched his sore waist.

"Good heavens!"

"Three hundred and seventeen in total!"

Damn it!

Over three hundred of them!

What does this mean?

It means that if they were given out, it could allow over three hundred Heavenly Realm cultivators to step directly into the Tianyi Realm!

This is absolutely unimaginable!

Ye Chen couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"I've struck it rich, I've struck it rich! This trip to the Antarctic wasn't in vain!"

Ye Chen was in a great mood and was just about to split the loot with the Little Bear...

The Little Bear suddenly turned its head, looked at the corpse of the Ice Feather Stork, and tilted its head.

Then.

It trotted over on its short little legs.

Ye Chen was puzzled and was just about to ask, but the words died on his lips as he was stunned by the scene before him...

He saw.

The Little Bear crouched beside the corpse, opened its mouth, and took a sharp breath.

The Ice Feather Stork's corpse rapidly shrank amidst a current of air, spinning as it flew into the Little Bear's mouth.

Then.

It disappeared.

Ye Chen: "???"

No...

This guy, does it not even spare the corpse?

But he soon realized that he had been a bit careless.

Because...

The Little Bear hadn't stored the corpse; it had swallowed it directly.

So much so that.

It let out a very loud burp on the spot.

Immediately after.

A majestic aura erupted from within the Little Bear's body, and it actually...

Entered a breakthrough state once again!!!

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed.

The speed at which this aura was climbing was much faster and much more violent than the previous two times.

The next second.

The aura within the Little Bear climbed crazily...

Late-stage Tianyi Realm!

Tianyi Realm Peak!

Early Golden Core Stage!

...

Its momentum skyrocketed all the way!

Its power climbed crazily!

It only barely stopped its breakthrough momentum when it reached the Golden Core Peak.

When the Little Bear opened its eyes again and came over to rub against Ye Chen...

Ye Chen finally believed that all of this was real.

He stared blankly at the Little Bear and asked in astonishment: "Damn... what exactly are you?"

The Little Bear tilted its head, blinked its eyes, and barked twice at him.

Indeed...

It looked innocent and naive, no different from an ordinary polar bear cub.

But Ye Chen knew clearly in his heart that this thing could absolutely not be a polar bear cub.

No matter how much a polar bear cub might mutate, it would be impossible for it to swallow an Ice Feather Stork that was a hundred times its size.

Then.

And to skyrocket all the way from just entering the Heavenly Realm to the Golden Core Peak within half an hour.

This speed was so outrageous that even he found it unbelievable.