"The Transformation Cold Pool is one of Ice Heart Valley's most closely guarded secrets. No unauthorized personnel are permitted to enter. The pool is divided into twelve tiers — the deeper you go, the greater the difficulty and danger, but the greater the rewards as well." Luo Li looked at Yang Kai and continued her explanation.
"Oh? May I ask how deep you've been able to go, Senior?" Yang Kai asked with considerable interest.
"My best attempt reached the eighth tier. Any deeper, and I simply couldn't manage it." A trace of shame crossed Luo Li's face.
"Su Yan is in there?"
"That's right. Her talent is exceptional, and she possesses the Ice Crystal Jade Body. I had originally planned to let her enter the Cold Pool a few more years down the road to seek her own fortuitous encounters, but I never expected her to advance to the third layer of the Void Return Realm so quickly. She's more than qualified to enter now. Even though she's no longer a disciple of Ice Heart Valley, consider this my parting gift to her."
"Then I thank Senior on her behalf."
He understood perfectly well that Luo Li's primary motivation was to ease the tension between Ice Heart Valley and himself. The Transformation Cold Pool wasn't going anywhere — whether Su Yan entered or not made little difference to it. Letting Su Yan go in once would maximize the goodwill he felt toward Ice Heart Valley.
Luo Li offered a faint smile. "Ice Heart Valley owes her a debt. Young Hero Yang, please don't be so formal. Mm... she should be coming out soon. I wonder which tier she reached this time."
At her words, Yang Kai's expression shifted. Through their spiritual connection, he could indeed sense Su Yan's aura gradually rising from the bottomless depths of the Cold Pool.
A moment later, a small vortex appeared on the pool's surface. It spun faster and faster, carving out a hollow space at the pool's center, and an even more biting chill began to spread outward.
After another interval, a graceful figure shot out from within the vortex.
A flash of cold light burst forth along with the figure, and Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. At his current level of strength, merely seeing that frosty gleam sent a chill across his skin, as though every pore in his body were being pricked by a billion needles.
Yang Kai stared blankly, his gaze fixed on that point of cold light.
"That is..." Luo Li's face filled with astonishment as she looked up toward the sky.
High above, Su Yan hovered motionless in the void. The icy aura radiating from her body was several times stronger than it had been a mere dozen days ago. In her right hand, she gripped a three-foot-long sword that gleamed with cold radiance.
The piercing frost-light was emanating from that very blade.
Yang Kai's and Luo Li's gazes locked onto the sword in an instant. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the former broke into a broad smile of delight, while the latter's face drained of color, her slender frame trembling slightly.
The sword in Su Yan's grasp appeared rather unusual. Though it was three feet in length, it was exceedingly slender — nothing like the broad, heavy blades of typical longswords. It radiated an overwhelming sense of sharpness.
Waves of cold light flowed ceaselessly along the blade. Su Yan raised the sword in one hand and ran two fingers lightly along its surface.
The blade hummed, and frost-light erupted. An impossibly terrifying icy intent radiated outward from Su Yan, spreading in all directions.
The summit of Ice Peak, already unbearably cold, seemed on the verge of being frozen solid entirely.
The barrier around the drafty straw hut outside cracked and groaned, as though unable to bear the strain and threatening to shatter at any moment.
"Profound Frost?!" Luo Li could maintain her composure no longer. She shot to her feet with a gasp, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on the slender, narrow sword in Su Yan's hand, her gaze filled with disbelief.
Reading her expression, Yang Kai knew that Su Yan had stumbled upon something extraordinary this time — something Luo Li had never anticipated. He couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Su Yan seemed to have finally returned to awareness. She glanced downward, and the icy intent radiating from her body vanished in an instant, replaced by a warm, radiant smile. Her figure flickered, and she appeared before the straw hut. "Junior Brother, why are you here?"
"The Senior asked me to come," Yang Kai replied with a grin, a subtle glint flashing in his eyes.
He had just realized that Su Yan's aura was incredibly stable and dense — far more powerful than when they had parted a dozen days ago. She must have gained tremendously from her time in the Transformation Cold Pool.
His gaze fell once more upon the slender sword. Observing it up close, even Yang Kai, who had grown accustomed to Void King-grade Artifacts, couldn't help but feel a shudder run through him.
Within that narrow blade, a frigid will had condensed into an invisible edge, piercing into his consciousness of its own accord — as though it were resisting his very observation.
"Su Yan, that sword... might I take a look at it?" Luo Li had regained her composure, her expression grave as she spoke.
"Please, Supreme Elder." Su Yan respectfully held the slender sword out in both hands and presented it.
Luo Li reached out and grasped the hilt.
A shimmer of light flashed across the blade, and in the next instant, an unimaginable cold erupted from within, surging toward Luo Li's body.
Her delicate hand was encased in ice at a speed visible to the naked eye, a thin layer of frost forming across her skin.
But she had clearly anticipated this. With a single sharp shake of her wrist, the ice shattered with a thunderous crack.
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow, surprise flickering across his face.