13: Chapter 13 Mossy Bloodstain, Mysterious Ice Inscription

The sound of water stirred by the Water Essence of Gui faded into the distance, and the bone-chilling pressure slowly dissipated.

However, the chill in Lin Ye's heart did not recede; instead, due to the persistent burning sensation of the blood curse secret letter in his bosom, he became even more vigilant and... curious.

The blood curse left by Zhao Hansong before his death was not just a simple accusation against Chen Mo. Deep in this dark river, near the nest of the Guardian Essence Spirit, it had produced a distinct resonance.

This meant that Zhao Hansong had likely been here, or that the things he left behind had a profound connection to the secrets deep within this dark river.

Without hesitation, Lin Ye pushed his Qi Concealment Technique to the limit, his figure moving like a civet cat blending into the shadows, silently creeping toward the stone wall covered in thick moss.

The stone wall was located at a recessed corner of the main river channel, soaked by water vapor all year round. The moss was an inch thick and extremely slippery, looking no different from the surrounding rock walls.

But when Lin Ye approached within three feet, the burning sensation of the blood curse secret letter in his bosom reached its peak, even beginning to vibrate slightly. The ancient ring on his left hand still felt a pull toward something "sharp" deep inside, but it seemed to run parallel to the sensation from the stone wall, pointing in a slightly different direction.

He reached out his right hand and gently brushed aside the slippery layer of moss.

Underneath was still just moss, with nothing unusual.

Lin Ye frowned, pondered for a moment, and took the blood curse secret letter out of the ancient ring's space.

The dark brown letter, stained with Zhao Hansong's heart blood and containing his final resentment and obsession, now emitted a faint, chilling blood-colored light in the dim river channel.

He gently pressed the letter against the moss-covered stone wall.

Sizzle... It was like pressing a red-hot iron onto an ice cube.

The moss touching the letter instantly withered and charred, making a faint sound as it curled and retreated, revealing the smooth, mirror-like black rock wall underneath. And on the rock wall, centered on the point of contact with the letter, countless intricate, complex, and shimmering ice-blue lines emerged!

These lines spread and intertwined rapidly, finally forming an extremely complex, ice-blue seal about the size of a human face on the rock wall. In the center of the seal was a small, recessed, sword-shaped notch.

At the same time, Zhao Hansong's hoarse, broken, and residual thoughts, filled with endless hatred and a trace of relief, echoed in Lin Ye's mind:

"Latecomer... to bring my blood curse here... means I am not alone in my Dao..."

"This seal requires the 'Cold Jade Sword Soul' as the key... or... must be activated by the true Qi of the 'Ice Soul Sword Art'..."

"I... was ambushed by Chen Mo and the demons of the 'Yinkui Sect'... they stole my Sword Soul and destroyed my Dao Foundation... their plot lies in the 'mystic yin true water' and the 'Yin-Underworld Cold Iron Mine' at the bottom of the pool..."

"Hidden behind the seal... is the first half of the 'Ice Soul Sword Art' general outline that I obtained in my early years, and... a location map of a 'Mysterious Yin Ice Eye'... Chen Mo does not know..."

"If possible... kill Chen Mo... destroy the Yinkui Sect..."

The residual thoughts stopped abruptly there and dissipated completely. The blood curse secret letter also exhausted its final strength, turning into ash and falling from Lin Ye's fingers.

Lin Ye stood in place, digesting this sudden storm of information.

Yinkui Sect? Another new faction! Chen Mo had actually colluded with an evil sect from the outside world?

Cold Jade Sword Soul? It seems it was Zhao Hansong's life-bound object, and it had been stolen.

mystic yin true water, Yin-Underworld Cold Iron Mine... Chen Mo's plot was not small!

And behind this stone wall seal, it actually hid the general outline of the 'Ice Soul Sword Art' and a location map of another 'Mysterious Yin Ice Eye'! This was definitely an unexpected joy and the key to breaking the situation!

But the problem was—the key was the 'Cold Jade Sword Soul' or the true Qi of the 'Ice Soul Sword Art'. He had neither.

"Cold Jade Sword Soul..." Lin Ye murmured to himself, his gaze falling on the dark silver ancient ring on his left hand. The ancient ring contained the Sword Intent and Evil Qi of Outer Sect Deacon Zhou Yuan; although not of the same origin, they were both of the "sword" and "metal" attributes. And the 'Mysterious Yin Ice Eye'... it had the word 'ice' in it, so could it be related to the 'mystic yin true water'?

He tried to press his left index finger, wearing the ancient ring, gently toward the sword-shaped notch in the center of the seal.

The size did not match, but when he injected a sliver of weak Spiritual Qi into the ancient ring, triggering the intent within that had newly absorbed the Geng Metal Qi and become increasingly sharp, and tried to contact the seal—

Hum!

The ice-blue seal trembled slightly, and the sword-shaped notch in the center slowly changed shape, its edges becoming blurred, as if it were adapting to and sensing the "sword" intent emitted by the ancient ring!

Although the change was slow and the seal's light flickered uncertainly, extremely unstable, it... it was indeed reacting!

"There's a chance!" Lin Ye's spirits lifted, and he continuously and steadily outputted weak Spiritual Qi, nourishing the ancient ring and stimulating the sharp Sword Intent within it.

This process was extremely exhausting for his mind and Spiritual Qi. Sweat appeared on his forehead, and the meager Spiritual Qi he had just used to reach the first level of Qi Refining was rapidly bottoming out. Without hesitation, he took a Low-Grade Spirit Stone from the ancient ring's space, held it in his hand, and frantically absorbed it to replenish himself.

Time passed little by little.

Just when he was about to be unable to hold on, and the Spirit Stone in his hand was about to be exhausted.

"Click."

An extremely faint, yet crisp sound of a mechanism came from inside the stone wall.

The ice-blue seal shone brightly, then recessed inward, and the entire human-face-sized stone wall slid backward silently, revealing a dark, small hole that could only accommodate a fist.

The small hole was not deep, and by the faint light of the seal, one could see two things placed inside.

A palm-sized, thin-as-a-cicada's-wing, cool-to-the-touch white jade slip.

A roll of ancient scroll, tanned from some unknown beast hide, yellowish in color, and tied with silver thread.

Lin Ye suppressed his excitement and first took out the white jade slip. The moment it touched his hand, a large amount of information regarding the general outline of the 'Ice Soul Sword Art', Qi Circulation routes, and Sword Intent essentials flooded into his mind. Although it was only the first half (up to the Foundation Establishment Stage), the system was complete, profound, and mysterious, far beyond what the 'Qi Concealment Technique' and those three incomplete Sword Intents could compare to! The jade slip itself seemed to be some kind of Legacy Magical Artifact.

Next, he took out the beast hide scroll. Unfolding it, it was a more detailed and wider-ranging map of the underground veins, which not only marked the dark river and the 'mystic yin true water' pool but also marked an ice-blue light spot in another extremely remote corner far from the water pool, with small characters written beside it: "Mysterious Yin Ice Eye (a small amount of true water seeps out, the cold Qi is pure, can assist in cultivating ice-attribute Cultivation Techniques, guarded by low-grade ice-type Essence Spirit)."

On the edge of the map, there was also a note from Zhao Hansong: "This Ice Eye is associated with the 'mystic yin true water' pool, and their Spiritual Qi is interconnected. Chen Mo should be unaware of this place; one might be able to start from here to investigate his conspiracy, or even... intercept some of the true water!"

Intercept the true water! A different path!

Lin Ye's heart rate accelerated. Going directly to the 'mystic yin true water' pool to face the Water Essence of Gui was suicidal, but if he started from this hidden 'Mysterious Yin Ice Eye'...

He was focused intently on studying the map, thinking about his next step.

Suddenly!

From the deep, dark river channel behind him, that heart-palpitating "swish—swish—" sound of water returned!

And this time, the sound was closer and more urgent!

The Water Essence of Gui, it's back?!

Not only that, the direction in which the Essence Spirit was swimming seemed... to be heading straight for the stone wall where he was!

Was it the Spiritual Qi fluctuation from opening the seal just now that alerted it? Or did this stone wall itself have some kind of connection to it?