45: Go deep into the cold pond and complete the practice

At this moment, in Yin Wind Cave.

The Young Master in white, holding a yellow Talisman in his right hand, suddenly rushed out of the cave.

The Talisman was swaying precariously, as if it would be destroyed at any moment.

Chang Shi and Black Lotus Elder soon emerged from the cave as well.

Chang Shi held a compass in his hand, while Black Lotus Elder held a white lotus that emitted a red glow.

Their faces were filled with anger, their eyes fierce, glaring at each other.

But upon exiting the cave, the various factions waiting outside had already departed.

The Young Master in white looked around, and suddenly, a slightly plump man in green robes appeared.

The Young Master in white immediately shouted sternly, “Yuan Hu, what’s going on? Where did Yuan Biao go?”

“Reporting to Third Young Master, just now…” Yuan Hu, the man in green robes, recounted in detail the changes that occurred after they entered the cave.

The Young Master in white was none other than Han Lin, the third son of the Martial Alliance Leader.

Upon hearing this, he became furious.

“Good! No one has dared to snatch food from this Young Master before.

I will definitely flay him and make a lantern out of his skin.” Han Lin’s eyes gleamed with malice, and his vicious gaze swept over Black Lotus Elder and Chang Shi.

These words were also directed at them.

However, both were resolute individuals and paid no mind to Han Lin’s threats.

Instead, they wanted to quickly search for the Mountain Spirit.

The compass in Chang Shi’s hand kept pointing in one direction.

He then ignored the others and moved with extreme speed, flying off into the distance.

Han Lin’s expression was cold.

Without a word, he led the two people behind him in close pursuit.

Black Lotus Elder did the same.

The next moment, they had traveled about ten kilometers.

A tall, burly man appeared before them, accompanied by two other teams, crowded and noisy, scattering to search for Chen Cuo’s whereabouts.

“Young Master, you’ve come out, that’s great!

Can we use the power of the Treasure Talisman to find that little thief’s tracks?

His trail ends here.”

The tall, burly man was Yuan Biao.

Upon seeing Han Lin approach, he showed a look of shame but still spoke to Han Lin with a look of pleasant surprise.

Yuan Biao continued, “Young Master, you don’t know, that kid’s movement technique is incredibly strange, too fast.

Even with all our Internal Energy, we couldn’t catch him.”

Han Lin was infuriated.

Upon hearing this, he was so angry that he nearly exploded.

“Useless!

You, an Acquired Martial Artist, can’t even catch a Lian Zang Realm little thief, useless! Useless!”

Another tall, burly man beside Yuan Hu, a large fellow even more robust than Yuan Biao, heard Han Lin’s scolding and immediately rushed forward, slapping Yuan Biao hard across the face.

A vivid red handprint instantly appeared.

Yuan Biao clutched his face, letting out a painful groan, “Brother Long, you!”

Yuan Biao saw Han Lin’s cold face and instantly understood, immediately falling silent and daring not to speak again.

“Hmph, hurry up and chase him! You bastard.”

While they were arguing, Chang Shi and the White Lotus Sect members had no interest in staying to watch this farce.

They had already employed their respective methods to search for the Mountain Spirit’s aura.

Chang Shi picked up a Talisman, which emitted a red light pointing in one direction.

Han Lin, along with the Yuan brothers, pursued relentlessly in that direction.

With the speed of an Acquired Martial Artist, Han Lin quickly reached the location of the aura.

Chang Shi, the White Lotus Sect, and the Wu Family members also arrived there soon after.

Yuan Long and the other two searched for several miles in the vicinity according to the Talisman’s indication, but found nothing.

“Underground?” Everyone discovered that the Mountain Spirit’s aura was hiding beneath their current location, not moving.

“White Lotus Descends!” The White Lotus Sect members were the first to act.

Numerous Martial Artists unleashed their True Force, converging into a blossoming white lotus phantom, which plunged fiercely into the ground.

The next instant, a violent aura moved intensely.

With a loud boom, the entire ground was blasted into a large pit.

The flying dust and mist obscured people’s vision, but everyone still spotted a figure moving rapidly.

White Lotus Senior Envoy was the first to step forward, grabbing at that figure, only to hear a crisp shout of anger.

“Don’t even think about it! Capturing Dragon Hand!”

It was Chang Shi, hidden in the crowd, who unleashed the Chang Family’s secret martial art, Capturing Dragon Hand!

Immediately, the palm force in Chang Shi’s hand transformed, forming a powerful suction force that pulled the creature in front of White Lotus Senior Envoy into his hand.

“The Mountain Spirit is mine.” Chang Shi secretly rejoiced.

As long as he obtained the Mountain Spirit, the consumption from using secret methods to forcibly maintain his Acquired Perfection cultivation would be negligible.

He had a plan in mind: once the Mountain Spirit was in hand, he would immediately break through with all his might, and with the secret method, he could calmly retreat.

However, to his surprise, the creature he had pulled into his hand with his ultimate technique felt like a furry ball and squeaked loudly in his hand.

It was, astonishingly, a large rat.

At this moment, the long pointer of his Seeking Opportunity Compass in his hand was also pointing at the rat in front of him.

Han Lin and the others were about to gang up on Chang Shi, forcing him to hand over the Mountain Spirit.

Although everyone was very curious as to why the Mountain Spirit, which Chen Cuo had clearly taken, would be hiding here, they still prepared to snatch it without reservation.

The moment the smoke and dust dissipated, Han Lin and the others finally saw that what Chang Shi was holding was actually a fat rat, and they instantly became dumbfounded.

Chang Shi was annoyed.

He crushed the rat to death with one hand, and a wisp of green smoke dissipated.

The compass on his body began to spin again.

Chang Shi then pursued into the depths of the mountain range.

Han Lin again used a Talisman, searching in one direction.

Until the Talisman in his hand turned into a cloud of ashes, scattering across the sky.

He let out a roar of anger, like a gambler who had lost everything, his eyes bloodshot.

“Damn it, damn it, how dare he trick me!

Go, go gather all the Loose Cultivators and small Family disciples who have appeared here, all the Martial Artists who have shown up here, and find him for me!”

Chen Cuo paid no attention to the movements of those outside the cold pool.

He was only immersed in Cultivating.

Chen Cuo desperately circulated the Great Boundless Ocean Skill.

The Internal Energy and medicinal power in his body gathered into a mass, transforming into streams of hot current to resist the low temperature and coldness of the cold pool.

The Great Boundless Ocean Skill had a breathing technique, and Lian Zang Martial Artists inherently had long Qi pulse.

Chen Cuo was even an outstanding Lian Zang Realm practitioner, able to hold his breath underwater for half an hour with one breath, so he didn’t need to surface frequently for air.

This cold pool waterfall, with its turbulent and rapid waterfall above and calm, waveless pool below, was truly miraculous, despite its bone-chilling coldness that did not freeze into ice.

Chen Cuo, upon entering the water, performed the Thousand Jin Drop technique, his body continuously sinking towards the bottom of the cold pool.

However, Chen Cuo had only descended less than a hundred meters when the coldness of the pool water was already bone-piercing.

The chill swept through his entire body, as if to freeze his blood, marrow, and even his thoughts.

“No, I can’t sink any further!” At this point, the pool water was so cold it felt like needles pricking his skin.

Even with his current skin toughness, he felt pain, and diving further would likely be very dangerous.

Immediately, Chen Cuo twisted his body in the water, brought up his fist stance, and simultaneously practiced the Mantis Returning to One Fist while frantically circulating the Mind-Cultivation Techniques of Great Boundless Ocean Skill and Seven-Colored Treasure Bottle True Force, switching back and forth, cultivating both internally and externally.

In the water, it was completely different from on land.

Every time he threw a punch, he faced thousands of times the resistance.

The mobilization of True Force throughout his body was also like a dam blockage, operating slowly.

However, each time he completed a cycle of Internal Energy, his Cultivation Technique proficiency soared.

“Great Boundless Ocean Skill proficiency +40.”

“Seven-Colored Treasure Bottle True Force proficiency +23.”

“Mantis Returning to One Fist proficiency +17.”

...

Under immense pressure, a unique Qi flow began to roam his entire body.

The Mountain Moving Skill started to operate.

The immensely powerful pressure from the surrounding pool water caused Chen Cuo to settle down like an old turtle carrying a mountain or a spiritual turtle suppressing the sea.

No external thoughts, complete silence!

The roar of the pool water was barely audible.

The only thing Chen Cuo could feel at this moment was the steady beat of his own heart.

He was at the center of the current, stable and quiet.

His fists and feet, initially sluggish, gradually became proficient.

Every movement was so standard and perfect, and the speed of his punching became faster and faster.

Time passed, he knew not how long.

The sun was already high in the sky.

Chen Cuo suddenly opened his eyes, startled awake: “My Cultivation Technique has reached Perfection!”