Power was out this morning~~
The male Ice Spirit studied Yang Kai carefully for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "You are not." He pointed at Su Yan. "She is."
"We came together," Yang Kai said with a faint smile. "As you can see, your Ice God brought us here."
The male Ice Spirit shook his head stubbornly. "You are filthy. She is pure. Therefore, she is the guest."
The corner of Yang Kai's eye twitched. "Kid, the last person who talked to me like that already has grass growing on his grave." He was the Star Domain Lord, after all—everything within the Star Domain fell under his jurisdiction—and now some fellow was pointing at him and calling him dirty.
The male Ice Spirit frowned at him with undisguised disgust, truly unable to fathom why the Ice God would bring such a person to this place. His very presence defiled the purity here.
Su Yan patted Yang Kai's hand and addressed the male Ice Spirit. "Please take me to see your Ice God."
She knew that the key to refining the Ice Spirit Star's Source during this trip certainly lay with the Ice God, so she had no intention of wasting time.
The male Ice Spirit nodded, but instead of leading the way, he reached to his waist and detached an ice flask, handing it to Su Yan. "Drink." The flask resembled a water bottle, and its contents were unknown—a sloshing sound could be heard when it was shaken.
Su Yan accepted it and asked, "I must drink before I can see the Ice God?"
"You must drink to be a guest!" Seeing the Ice God apparently could not be done by simply walking over; there were clearly more trials involved.
"Very well." As she spoke, Su Yan opened the seal of the ice flask. A sweet fragrance immediately drifted into the air. Yang Kai blinked, having assumed the flask contained some kind of wine, but it seemed to be something else entirely—a specialty of the Ice Spirit race, most likely. Though he didn't know what it was, one thing was certain: whatever was inside that flask was not something an ordinary person could withstand.
Su Yan tilted her head back and drained it in one go, with a rare show of boldness.
The Ice Spirits gathered around had originally worn the expressions of spectators enjoying a show, but as time passed their faces gradually changed, especially the male Ice Spirit who had handed over the flask. His eyes slowly widened in shock, and he cried out in distress, "Enough, enough!"
Su Yan set down the flask and wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. "Does that count as passing?"
The male Ice Spirit retrieved the flask, gave it a gentle shake, and moved aside with a pained expression. "Please!"
Su Yan glanced at Yang Kai and shot him a look, silently telling him to stay calm, before gracefully ascending the winding ice path.
Before she had gone a hundred zhang, a female Ice Spirit leaped out and blocked her way. She held a plate carved from ice, upon which sat several snow-white objects resembling silkworm cocoons. She tilted her head and smiled at Su Yan. "Want to try?"
Su Yan pinched one between two fingers and placed it in her mouth. An icy flavor burst open on her tongue, accompanied by a tartness that was hard to describe.
In short order, the entire plate was consumed. The female Ice Spirit stared blankly at her empty ice plate while Su Yan brushed past her.
At the midpoint of the mountain, Yang Kai stood waiting in place. Though he was the Star Domain Lord, this trip was meant for Su Yan to refine the Ice Spirit Source, and it had to be done through her own abilities. Only that way would the Ice Spirit Source feel a sense of recognition and provide her with assistance for her growth in the future. Otherwise, with his current power, he could have subdued the Ice Spirit Source directly.
But that would defeat the purpose.
Since these were trials, there shouldn't be any serious problem. The Ice God—the Ice Spirit Source, most likely—probably hadn't anticipated that Su Yan was a Dao Source Realm cultivator at the second stage. The so-called trials were no real issue for her.
With nothing else to do, he set his sights on the male Ice Spirit's flask and said, "Let me have a taste too."
The male Ice Spirit immediately shook his head like a rattle drum. "No!"
He was still smarting from how much Su Yan had drunk.
"Stingy," Yang Kai scoffed.
The male Ice Spirit said, "If you drink it, you'll die."
Yang Kai sneered. "Dying isn't that easy. Come on, let me taste it."
"I'm serious—you'll die." The male Ice Spirit spoke earnestly. "You may not be the Ice God's guest, but since you came with that guest, I can't let you come to harm."
"Enough talk—just hand it over." Yang Kai extended his hand and snatched the flask. He tilted his head back and took a swig. A sweet flavor immediately flooded his mouth, and beyond that, an intensely frigid energy radiated outward, nearly numbing his entire mouth. Frost covered his head in an instant.
His heart lurched. He had no idea how this stuff was brewed—likely a fruit wine of some kind. He could taste the flavors of over a hundred spirit fruits, every single one of them ice-element.
If a Void King at the third stage drank this, they'd truly suffer. Drinking too much would be fatal. No wonder the male Ice Spirit had said he would die—had Yang Kai's cultivation not transcended the bounds of this world, his life could genuinely have been in danger.
Su Yan, on the other hand, had drunk so much without batting an eye. Clearly, that was thanks to her Crystal Ice Jade Body.
Seeing Yang Kai act so recklessly, the male Ice Spirit was alarmed. Though Yang Kai was not the Ice God's guest, he had come with the guest after all—if he actually died here, it would be difficult to account for.
Just as the Ice Spirit grew anxious, Yang Kai's body trembled, the frost on his face vanished in an instant, and he let out a hearty laugh. "Now that's refreshing!"
He raised his head and began gulping down the contents even faster than Su Yan had.