Immortal Soaring Blade

Although Zhao Jiuge didn’t know what the so-called secret method was, he felt his heart tense up when he heard Elder Dawn Wind talk about the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool.

The pain he felt inside the pool when he was reborn could not be described with words. When he heard about the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool, he wondered if they were going to make him experience something that was worse than death again.

Although he was thinking about this, he didn’t reveal too much emotion on the surface—his eyes remained very calm. No matter how much pain he had to experience, as long as he could improve his strength, he wouldn’t make a sound.

The six of them, including Fu Hongling, all arrived at the peak where Elder Dawn Wind cultivated.

However, they didn’t land on the peak, but on the side of the mountain. The sunlight pierced through the gap between the leaves.

Then, under the leadership of Elder Dawn Wind, they entered a cave under the steep mountain wall. The deeper Zhao Jiuge went, the more nervous he became; perhaps this was due to the darkness. Along the way, Zhao Jiuge was so nervous about what was going to happen that he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings.

After walking for a while, Zhao Jiuge felt the surrounding temperature rapidly dropping, and the path widened. Soon, the space before them opened up. This place was filled with a blue, crystal-clear light.

A pool several square meters wide appeared before everyone. The pool wasn’t large, and there was a thin, blue fog floating above it.

Zhao Jiuge took one look and couldn’t help but tremble. This had to be the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool. It was probably very cold, and just looking at it made him uncomfortable.

“Jiuge, this Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool evolved due to the formation of the spirit vein under the mountain. It's like a spirit vein and contains a large amount of spirit force. It has the same attribute as your spirit force. Later, we’ll use a secret method to help you improve your spirit core, so you have to go down there. It will be a little uncomfortable, but please bear with it.” Elder Dawn Wind’s expression became a little serious and his brows furrowed. However, he didn’t seem to realize it himself.

After hearing this, Zhao Jiuge revealed a bitter smile. He had indeed guessed correctly. However, improving his spirit core would not be as simple as going into the pool.

Jian Wuxian’s expression was also solemn, and the air of indifference he normally exuded had disappeared. Only Fu Hongling was the same as before. Even if Zhao Jiuge failed, he would still be her little junior brother.

Elder Dawn Wind looked at Elder Waning Moon. After seeing the agreement in Elder Waning Moon’s eyes, Elder Dawn Wind said, “Let’s begin.”

Then he turned toward Zhao Jiuge and warned, “After you go inside, release your spirit core and use it to resist the coldness from the pool.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t even blink before he jumped into the pool. After jumping inside, he noticed that the pool only reached up to his chest.

However, the next moment, a chill swept through his body. This chill pierced his bones and made it feel like his soul was trembling. He used the spirit force inside his body to resist and felt better. It was still very cold, but he could endure it. This situation was much better than when his body was reborn.

Besides, not only was his teacher here, the three pillars of the sect were also here. Although the pool had not frozen over, it was much colder than any ice. Since it was called the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool, it must have formed over 1,000 years ago. This was no ordinary cold pool, and it could be considered an ice essence pool. The liquid in it could be used as a material for refining treasures.

After going down, Zhao Jiuge cycled his spirit force to endure the pain, but his teeth still chattered. However, the remaining five people didn’t do anything, which shocked Zhao Jiuge. He had thought that there would be some follow up action, but they were all just quietly watching him.

Zhao Jiuge was too lazy to think about it, and everything would be done according to their will. A burst of blue and white light appeared, but it didn’t have much effect in his cave.

An egg-sized blue and white spirit core floated before Zhao Jiuge, its surface simmering with spirit force.

This was a grade-7 spirit core, which shocked Fu Hongling, Elder Dawn Wind, and Elder Pine Tree, who hadn’t seen it before. It was much larger than they expected.

The bone-chilling coldness from the water was rapidly draining his spirit force. Soon, he had consumed more than ⅔ of his spirit force and only less than ⅓ remained. However, his teacher and the elders didn’t do anything. Zhao Jiuge felt helpless and could only patiently wait.

The entire cave was very quiet and the cold mist shrouded the air.

The spirit core before Zhao Jiuge became more and more dim. Soon, the simmering spirit force around the spirit core disappeared, leaving behind only a dim halo.

Zhao Jiuge felt the spirit force inside his body stop, and an even more intense coldness surged into him.

“Now is the time!”

Elder Dawn Wind let out a roar and took out a jade gourd. From the looks of it, the gourd was made of Mysterious Warm Jade.

“Quickly, absorb the spirit force!”

After Elder Dawn Wind finished speaking, he opened the jade gourd. Soon, a torrent of red and blue rushed out. There was a bloody smell and a fierce aura.

“The moon appears, condense the core!”

A ray of spirit force erupted from Elder Dawn Wind along with this roar. The spirit force wrapped around this explosive torrent and Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core.

Hearing Elder Dawn Wind’s roar, Zhao Jiuge immediately began to obediently absorb the spirit force. However, at the next moment, his spirit core was surrounded by spirit force. If his spirit core was destroyed, then his cultivation would be destroyed, and this shocked him. However, he soon realized that the spirit force was gentle and was not an obstacle.

Then his spirit core was like a crazed sponge. After spending so much time in the pool, his spirit force was completely exhausted. At this moment, the torrent of red and blue and the rich spirit force from the pool surged. The grade-7 spirit core suddenly revealed a dazzling glow.

Although Zhao Jiuge still didn’t understand what was happening, he quickly closed his eyes and began to absorb the spirit force. This was only possible because his elders were here; otherwise, he wouldn’t dare to release his spirit core like this to absorb spirit force.

When the torrent from the jade gourd touched the spirit core, ripples spread across the blue and white spirit core. The nearly exhausted spirit core began to absorb the torrent like crazy along with the spirit force coming from the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool. The spirit core was like a vortex crazily absorbing the surrounding spirit force to recover itself.

After doing all of this, Elder Dawn Wind looked at Zhao Jiuge inside the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool and sighed. “We have done all we can, everything else will depend on fate. We have done the best we could.”

Elder Waning Moon silently stared at Zhao Jiuge. Elder Pine Tree had the same feeling and  nodded. “That’s right. After all, the cost this time is so great that even we feel pained by it. Even with the foundation of the sect, we can’t withstand a consumption like this.”

Jian Wuxian suddenly said, “As long as he succeeds, it will be worth it. A grade-8 spirit core is something that hasn’t appeared in the other holy lands in a long time! Once Ceng Qingniu returns, we will have him, the demonically talented Sha Sha, and Zhao Jiuge. Those three will be enough to support the sect in the future. They are the ones most likely to reach the peak. When that time arrives, our Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect will be worry-free for a few thousand years.”

Even though Fu Hongling and Wu Tianshan were very talented, they still lacked a bit for the last step.

Then the cave was as calm as before, each of them looking at the person inside the cool. They all secretly prayed for success!

Although all of this looked very simple, Zhao Jiuge didn’t know that the sect had paid a great price for him to attempt to improve his spirit core.

When Elder Waning Moon had gone to the Barbarian Forest, looking for Ceng Qingniu was only the by-product. The main reason was to get the inner cores of several kinds of spirit beasts, and a spirit herb called Mountain Niu Jie. Even the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect didn’t have it in stock—it was simply that rare.

Elder Dawn Wind had gone out to find the secret method to improve spirit cores. This secret method was rare, and considering the grade of Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core, it was even more difficult to find one that could work. It had taken him a long time to find it and succeed in cultivating it.

As for Elder Pine Tree, he had to guard the sect. People at their cultivation could easily cover several thousand kilometers with their divine sense. Since the other two had to leave, he had to hold down the fort.

Jian Wuxian had been preparing the rest of the materials and spent several days inside the Treasure Pavilion. Elder Waning Moon had returned a few days ago and prepared everything.

The four people with the highest statuses in the sect had spent more than a month on Zhao Jiuge! It was clear how important Zhao Jiuge’s grade-7 spirit core and its phenomenon were to the four of them.

The red and blue liquid inside the jade pot was something called the Core Condensing Spirit Liquid.

The Core Condensing Spirit Liquid Zhao Jiuge had used was made up of 72 inner cores of spirit beasts and hundreds of precious spirit herbs. This was why Elder Pine Tree had said that the price they had paid was too great. Ignoring all those spirit cores filled with spirit force, there were some spirit herbs that the sect didn’t have much of, and they had used all of their remaining stock to make this. They wouldn’t even be able to refine another one. However, they only had one chance, and it wouldn’t work a second time. Cultivation was always a heaven-defying path, and heaven only ever left one chance open.

However, this was also because Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core was already a very high grade. That was why so many precious herbs and 72 inner cores were used. Those with poor spirit cores only needed a few inner cores and herbs. The Core Condensing Spirit Liquid had different grades of it as well.

Zhao Jiuge had to exhaust most of his spirit force inside the Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool first before he could use the Core Condensing Spirit Liquid. If his spirit core had been filled with spirit force, how would he be able to absorb it this fast?

This Thousand Year Chilling Ice Pool was very rare and was filled with spirit force that could help raise the grade of one’s spirit core. It could be said that they had done everything they could to improve Zhao Jiuge’s spirit core.