Heavenly Dao Child

Ryuu shivered not out of fright but cold it was so cold that he was sure that even his blood, the blood of a near peak Mystic Immortal Emperor seemed to be freezing from the insane cold.

'Brrrr… I should not have tried to move to the next level, it is so cold it is even colder than the 'Ice Abyss' back home.'

'Ice Abyss' was a part of Ayindril that Ryuu had been taken to by his master, he had stayed there for an entire day, and he swore never to return, though at the same time he met several familiar faces there, maids who were serving sentences for not being able to protect him during his hunt all those years.

Ryuu looked at those people living in such a cold and dreadful place as he could not help but ask out, "Teacher why are they here?"

Celestia looked at him with a kind smile on her face, a smile that made his hair rise at the back of his neck as she spoke, "Well you remember you got eaten by an Imoogi that was not even an Immortal, an ant compared to those idiots over there, well they failed to protect you as such they are serving some punishment which would be over sometime within the next decade I believe."

Ryuu's eyes widen as he spoke with alarm, "Are they here since then?"

Celestia nodded as Ryuu began to speak, "But that is not right, they..", he gulped upon seeing Celestia looking at him with one of her brows raised, gathering his courage he quickly spoke, "They are here because you all know what is right, how silly of me to question such a correct decision.", he finished with a nervous laugh.

Celestia simply smiled at him as she patted his head as she spoke, "Well since you understand let us move to the next destination since we volunteered to help our 1st mistress some precious herbs and we cannot waste time as they are needed urgently.

Ryuu nodded as he spared one last look at the maids that were being punished, as his teacher's voice came to his ears, "Ryuu you are not strong enough to fully withstand the cold without me partially shielding it from you so try to keep up with me."

Upon hearing a certain word Ryuu could not help but ask out loud, "' Partial'? Do you mean to say you can fully protect me from the cold?"

Celestia smirked at him as she spoke, "Of course who do you think I am."

Ryuu's jaw hung open as he spluttered at that, "B-but why?"

"No pain no gain dear, now move fast."

"S-so da-da-damn co-cold, w-we have t-to fi-find –sh-shelter, or we would d-d-die.", a severely shaking Zywia somehow manage to stutter which finally broke Ryuu from his reminiscing.

Ryuu looked at her as he winced upon seeing her face as Zywia's face was showing signs of hypothermia, 'Damn it we have to find shelter soon, the night is approaching without shelter and proper warmth we would all die.'

His eyes then fell on the clear white snow below, as he let out a tired sigh, 'I am already feeling numb on my face, and the snow is so hard none of us can dig in to create some form of an igloo, not to mention most of our KI is spent trying to keep us warm and safe for the time being.'

"Cave, Ca-Cave, over the-there.", a shout came as one of the cultivators spotted a cave as many broke into excited chatter before they pulled out there weapons, it would not do them any good if they suddenly stumbled upon a lair of some dangerous beast and dying.

Ryuu nodded at that he was in no condition to even speak as he simply nodded his head as the group dashed towards the cave.

As they entered the cave the smell of blood and decay hit their nose, as they became instantly alert dreading the confrontation ahead.

Ryuu grimaced as he saw the cave mouth was only big enough to let a group of four enter at a time side by side, and the height was not that much, to begin with.

'What kind of creature could be found here, in this place?'

His answers came in the form of small cute growl, the growl that made the group tensed before their eyes fell on what looked like to be the most adorable, cuddliest and cutest of soft toy a child would love to have, brought to life in front of them.

Everyone tensed as they saw the beast, a beast that they knew too well, a 'Cryo cougar', it suddenly opened its mouth wide as it glowed with white light only for multiple arrows to pierce through it, completely turning his head too small bits and pieces.

As Ryuu and Devaraj lowered their bows, as Devaraj spoke with mocking tone in his voice, "So much for a Mid Level Mystic Immortal trash."

Ryuu snorted at that as he spoke, "Well we have to keep an eye for any more, the cave is deep let us check it out, I hope it would be the shelter we desperately need."

Devaraj nodded as he along with two others followed after Ryuu as he went deeper into the bowels of the cave.

The group went inside the cave when all of a sudden the cave had a sudden incline, while the temperature dropped even further.

Devaraj looked at the dark bowels of the cavern spoke after he somehow managed to control his shivering, "We are going inside a cave, and a cave that is going down so why is it so cold, should the temperature not rise."

Ryuu nodded at that as he spoke, "Well it would if it were not for the fact that there might be some form of treasure down there or some extremely dangerous creature that is the cause of this we have to be careful, though if anyone of you wishes to substitute with someone who has a better tolerance to cold fell free to do so."

As Ryuu peered down, the two cultivators that had decided to follow him backed out as one of them spoke, "Well I will go and find someone to take our place."

Ryuu simply nodded at them as the two left towards the entrance of the cave to get someone else to take their place.

As the two reached the entrance the others looked at them with expectant eyes making them wince a bit as one of them cleared his throat as he began to speak, "Well we found a 'Cryo cougar', it was killed by Daoist Ryuu and Devaraj, they decided to venture a bit into the cave, which by the way is large enough to shelter us all, but as we ventured forth it went deeper into the earth and it became cold, too cold for us to bear, as such we returned to substitute with someone who would like to venture forth with them."

True-Spear frowned at that as he spoke, "So there can be another creature or a treasure."

The duo nodded as the speaker continued, "Yes that was what Daoist Ryuu said and asked for backup, I do not know what is down there but without dealing with it, the shelter is useless."

Frost Flames frowned at that as she spoke, "Well I will deal with it, Estelle would like to follow me."

Estelle simply nodded as the duo ventured forth, as they reached they found the two men standing near each other with Ryuu having produced a bonfire in his hand waiting eagerly for the arrival of the reinforcement, seeing her appear in front of him a small smile appeared unknowingly on his face as he spoke, "Shall we venture for my Lady."

Frost Flames simply nodded at that with a slight blush on her face as she ventured into the unknown depths along with Ryuu.

They had been travelling for a few minutes, but with each step, the cold became more and more unbearable it was only because they had an understanding of the Dao governing Ice and fire were they able to venture forth, but it was not enough, first it was Devaraj who gave up, the cold had become too unbearable, then it was Estelle's turn, but that did not stop the duo as they stepped forward.

Ryuu spared a glance at frozen solid ice that was covering the walls and floors of the cave, 'Damn if it were my old world I doubt anyone would have survived with the temperature being so low that air itself has frozen solid.'

As they took a turn the duo stopped as they looked at the sight in front of them with their eyes open wide as Frost Flames spoke with disbelief, "No way...."