章 63: Ice Crystal

The ice made sizzling sounds and streams of smoke rose form where the liquid touched the ice. After the smoke cleared, there was small dent in the ice, about the size of the first joint on the adult human thumb.

[...What was that? To melt the ice that even I could not make a scratch on?] Xue Lang asked Shen Tianyu as it looked at the jade bottle.

"Corspe Dissolving Liquid." Shen Tianyu replied curtly. "Since it could even melt bones into a puddle, I thought it might just do the trick. But with this result... it looks like it would take a lot of the Corpse Dissolving Liquid to melt the ice... which I don't have." She sighed and turned to the enttrance of the cave. "Rong Jian, can you help me here?"

"Hm? Sure." Rong jian finally stepped further into the cave and walked towards where Shen Tianyu was squatting.

"Help me take out the Ice Crystal will you?" Shen Tianyu asked as she pointed at the Ice Crystal encased in the strange ice.

"Sure. Are you planning on absorbing it?"

"Of course. Why else would I want it?"

"But absorbing an Ice Crystal by itself won't be safe. Especially a Thousand Year Ice Crystal. The cold energy might completely wreck your cultivation."

"Then, what should I pair it with? Can I just cultivate while holding it without absorbing it? Will that help? I really want to break through."

"You'll need to pair it with a Yang object of the same degree. The second option would be safest for you right now since I've heard it can help with cultivation that way."

"Okay then. I'll cultivate in this cave, can you take it out?"

Rong Jian walked towards the Ice Crystal. He knelt down and put a hand on top of the pearl sized Ice Crystal through the ice and closed his eyes. Shen Tianyu and Xue Lang sat there, waiting for him and chatting through soul communication so as not to disturb him. After two incense sticks of time(1), something moved where Rong Jian was. Shen Tianyu and Xue Lang stared in amazement as the Thousand Year Ice Crystal slowly emerged from it's cocoon of ice, surrounded by a golden light. When the Ice Crystal was fully above the ice, Rong Jian closed his hands around it, preventing any attempts at escape. He then walked over to Shen Tianyu, one of his hands in a fist faced in front of him. He stopped before Shen Tianyu and took one of her hands with his free hand and cupped his fist into it, releasing the Ice Crystal into her outstretched hand. When his hand left hers, the Ice Crystal was still encased in a golden light, thrashing about.

Shen Tianyu broke out of her daze. "Wow, you actually got it. I didn't think you could even though I asked you. You even imprisoned it for me." Shen Tianyu delicately clenched her fists around the Ice crystal and looked up at Rong Jian with a smile. "Thanks." She then noticed his pale face and reached into her magic pouch to pull out another jade bottle from her space. She handed the bottle to him. "You must have used a lot of spiritual power, your face is pale. These are some pills Shue'er refined. It's called a Spiritual Energy Pill, it should help you replenish at least some spiritual energy." She said. "Okay. I'm going into cultivation now. You guys can join in if you want." Shen Tianyu looked at Rong Jian and Xue Lang before assuming a lotus position and closing her eyes, her hands still grasping the Ice Crystal. Xue Lang laid beside her to keep her warm and also began absorbing the rich spiritual power surrounding the Ice crystal and the spiritual power it sucks in to enhance it's own power. After he took a Spiritual Energy Pill, Rong Jian also sat down to cultivate. By this time, the sun was already past high noon and was about to start setting below the horizon.

At the end of the day, when the sun was setting, a loud boom resounded in the cave. Xue Lang merely peeped it's eyes open but closed them again. Rong Jian seemingly did not have any reaction at all. Shen Tianyu had finally broken through. Spiritual power surged into her dantian, the wall that had kept her at Peak Stage Foundation Establishment Level was shattered into pieces. After a while did the spiritual energy fluctuations finally calm down. She was now at the Meridians Level.

Ding!

An electronic bell sounded from within her soul. Shen Tianyu immediately entered her space.

This time, she stepped into a scene befitting the many depictions of hell., minus the souls of the dead. The land was barren and black with red flames blazing everywhere. However, they didn't seem to spread so there was still land that didn't have flames on them. They also didn't rush towards her or attack her. It was as if the flames were alive, only staying in their habitat and not going anywhere else. The land immediately surrounding her also wasn't on flames, thought the land was black. Curious, she walked towards the nearest flame.

'I know people say not to play with fire but this isn't exactly playing with fire is it?' She asked herself. Also, she trusted this space of hers that's been through two lifetimes with her. Though she has never seen this part of her space before, it was still part of it and she was't as afraid as others would have been. Also... she felt like something was telling her to do it...

She reached her hand towards the flame, feeling the temperature increase as she got closer to it. However, when she touched the flame, there was no searing pain or burning that she had expected. Instead, a blue light jumped out of the flames and floated in front of her. She withdrew her hands from the flames and stared at the ball of floating blue light. Inside the ball of light, she could see an ancient paper scroll, tied with a string in the middle of the roll. She reached her hand out and touched the ball of light. It then landed gently in her upturned palm and faded, leaving the scroll in her hands.