15: Chapter 15 Stealth Through the Ice Crevice, Straight to the Frozen Abyss

Retreat? With the Water Essence of Gui potentially still lurking nearby, retreating back to the river channel would be no different than exposing himself to the predator's sight once again.

The detour route guided by the map was long and unknown, with far too many variables.

The narrow, dark, downward-sloping rock crevice before him, while filled with unknowns and risks, appeared directly behind Zhao Hansong's Legacy hidden compartment, making it more likely to have some direct connection to the "Mysterious Yin Ice Eye."

Rather than passively hiding in the dangerous river channel, it was better to actively explore this potential shortcut!

"Zhao Hansong... I hope you didn't set me up." Lin Ye thought silently to himself. He carefully put away the animal skin map and the white jade slip, gripped a Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his left hand (his right hand was needed for probing the path), and began to move slowly and resolutely into the depths of the rock crevice.

The rock crevice was deeper and more tortuous than he had imagined.

Most of the area was so narrow that he could only squeeze through sideways, and the sharp edges of the rocks scraped against his body from time to time, leaving streaks of blood. In some places, he even needed to lie down and crawl along the cold, damp ground.

The air was thin and damp, carrying a heavy earthy smell and an increasingly distinct... chill.

The further down he went, the lower the temperature became. White frost began to condense on the surface of the rock walls, and his breath turned into white mist. For Lin Ye, who had just circulated the "Ice Soul Sword Art" and had a trace of icy spiritual power in his body, he actually felt more comfortable than before.

The faint light emitted by the ancient ring on his left hand barely illuminated a range of about a foot in front of him.

He moved very slowly, constantly alert to the movements ahead and the stability beneath his feet. Sometimes, the crevice would suddenly widen, forming a small chamber filled with stalactites; at other times, it would suddenly narrow, requiring him to remove all unnecessary items (such as his outer garment) to barely squeeze through.

A few times, he was almost stuck in the middle, unable to move forward or backward, and it was only through calmness and a little bit of luck that he managed to escape.

Along the way, he discovered some interesting things.

In some depressions in the rock walls grew a few clusters of crystalline, ice-like "Cold Jade Mushrooms," which were low-grade Spiritual Plants that grew by absorbing the subterranean cold and weak Spiritual Qi. They had the faint effect of calming the mind and assisting in the Cultivate of ice-type Cultivation Technique. He carefully picked a few of the best-looking ones and stored them in the ancient ring's space.

On the ground of a slightly wider crevice, he discovered a few scattered stones with obvious traces of artificial polishing, which seemed to be engraved with blurred runes. The age was long, and the rune's spiritual power had long since dissipated, but the style... had a certain resemblance to the ice-blue rune seal on Zhao Hansong's stone wall.

This further confirmed his judgment: this rock crevice was by no means naturally formed, but a secret passage that someone had deliberately excavated or utilized! It was very likely discovered and arranged by Zhao Hansong in his early years!

He did not know how long he had been traveling in the darkness, and the Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand had long since exhausted its Spiritual Qi and turned into an ordinary rock. Just as Lin Ye was feeling exhausted and hungry (the effect of the bigu pill was wearing off), a different change finally appeared ahead.

The narrow rock crevice came to an end, and the area ahead suddenly opened up!

No, it was not an open space, but a bottomless, vertically downward entrance to an ice cave!

The bone-chilling cold, like physical ice blades, surged up from below, making him shiver involuntarily. The edge of the cave entrance was condensed with thick, deep blue mysterious ice that had accumulated for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, emitting a chill and... pure ice-attribute Spiritual Qi a hundred times stronger than in the crevice!

He lay on the edge of the cave entrance and looked down.

By the faint, deep blue light emitted by the mysterious ice itself, he could see that below was a huge, inverted bowl-shaped underground ice cave. In the center of the bottom of the ice cave, there was a deep blue water pool about ten zhang in circumference, as smooth as a mirror. The pool water was viscous like paste, without a single ripple, and it was precisely the "Mysterious Yin Ice Eye" marked on the map! Wisps of visible white cold air rose from the surface of the pool and swirled in the ice cave.

And on the shore of the Mysterious Yin Ice Eye pool, on the side closer to Lin Ye, there were actually dozens of plants that were entirely ice-blue, shaped like orchids, and topped with translucent, pearl-like fruits!

[ice soul orchid, grows in the Mysterious Yin land, bears fruit every hundred years, the fruit is one of the main ingredients for the 'Ice Heart Jade Dew Pill'.] — Information appeared in his vision.

Spiritual Plant! And it was a Spiritual Plant of not low grade!

What made Lin Ye's heart beat even faster was that when he focused on the depths of the Mysterious Yin Ice Eye pool, a few lines of faintly glowing text appeared in his vision:

[Mysterious Yin Ice Eye: Formed by the gathering of trace amounts of mystic yin true water seeping out. There is weak spatial fluctuation in the depths of the pool bottom, suspected to be a secret water channel leading to the main pool of 'mystic yin true water' (blocked by mysterious ice).]

[Guardian Essence Spirit: Ice Crystal Snake (First Stage Middle Stage, approximately Qi Refining levels 4 to 6), likes cold, hides in ice layers or the bottom of the pool, sensitive to sensing. Quantity: 3. Status: Hibernating.]

A secret water channel leading to the main pool?!

And... three hibernating Ice Crystal Snakes at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining!

Danger and opportunity were laid bare before his eyes.

Lin Ye lay at the entrance of the ice cave, his brain working at high speed.

Go down directly? Facing three Ice Crystal Snakes at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, even if they were hibernating, he had no chance of winning. Once awakened, in this enclosed ice cave with nowhere to escape, it would be a dead end.

But those ice soul orchids, the pure icy Spiritual Qi of the Mysterious Yin Ice Eye pool itself, and the possible passage to the main pool at the bottom of the pool... the temptation was too great.

He needed a plan.

A plan that could safely obtain at least some of the ice soul orchids, utilize this place to Cultivate, and even... explore the entrance to that secret water channel.

His gaze swept over the craggy ice pillars and hanging icicles within the ice cave, then looked at the dark silver ancient ring on his left hand, and the general outline of the "Ice Soul Sword Art" in his mind.

A bold idea, utilizing the terrain and environmental characteristics, gradually took shape.

But the prerequisite was that he must first go down silently, without waking those three sleeping "Guardian snakes."