"This is the Cave of Mystical Jade, this Xu Spirit Palace's greatest hidden treasure. Though the cave itself is not large, the mystical jade within has existed since the primordial age. Ancient cultivators used tremendous magical power to compress an entire vein of mystical jade ore into this very cavern. Although 'ten-thousand-year mystical jade' and 'ten-thousand-year mystic ice' differ by only a single character, you Fellow Daoists surely understand how vast the difference truly is. And even if you scoured the entire Northern Region outside this palace, you would never find more than a handful of pieces of ten-thousand-year mystical jade." Elder Hanli stared at the fissure in the altar, a trace of pride showing on his face.
The green-robed middle-aged man and Bai Mengxin both let a flash of excitement show in their eyes.
"Indeed. Had you not mentioned the Cave of Mystical Jade to us beforehand, Fellow Daoist, we would never have believed that your palace harbored such a secret treasure. You need only a fist-sized piece of ten-thousand-year mystical jade infused into a treasure to grant it ice-attribute powers capable of unleashing devastating cold to harm enemies without them even knowing what struck them. How could common mystic ice even compare?" The gray-robed monk gazed at the fissure, his voice tinged with emotion.
The old woman also stared at the fissure, her eyes gleaming.
Han Li simply stroked the smooth surface of a small golden sword hidden within his sleeve with a faint smile, saying nothing.
"I have already discussed this with Junior Sister Bai and Junior Brother Ouyang. Regardless of whether the three of you can help me break through the Deity Transformation bottleneck, I will present each of you Fellow Daoists with a piece of ten-thousand-year mystical jade as a token of our palace's sincerity." Elder Hanli took in the expressions of Han Li and the other two, then suddenly smiled faintly.
"Elder Shi, do you truly mean this?" Even the old woman, cold and haughty as she was, could not help but ask with undisguised delight upon hearing this.
"As the Grand Elder of the Minor Extreme Palace, this much I can certainly manage." Elder Hanli nodded with satisfaction.
Even the gray-robed monk's brows softened with joy.
After all, ten-thousand-year mystical jade was a material that had virtually vanished from the outside world — something priceless that money could not buy, no matter how many spirit stones one possessed. And if one could obtain such a piece and infuse it into one's own life-bound treasure, it would naturally boost the treasure's power by a considerable margin.
Hearing Elder Hanli's words, Han Li could not help but silently admire the little man's generosity. But with such a lavish reward on the table, the three of them would hardly be able to hold back their full effort when the time came.
"Good. Let us now enter the Cave of Mystical Jade. The cold energy within is extraordinarily severe — once you enter, you must use your extreme cold flames to shield yourselves, or you may not be able to withstand it. Fortunately, there is a specially carved-out area within the cave that can resist the erosion of the mystical jade's cold energy, where we can sit and recover our magical power. Without it, even I would not be able to stay inside for long." Elder Hanli offered this reminder.
The little man then opened his mouth, and a ball of brilliant blue fire shot out, transforming into a large blue bird that soared upward. After circling overhead once, it spread its wings and dove back down, plunging straight into the dwarf's body.
With a clear cry, the phantom of a great bird flashed behind Elder Hanli and vanished, replaced by a layer of blue ice-flame that erupted outward, enveloping him entirely.
He formed a seal with both hands, and with a flicker of movement, drifted down into the fissure.
Bai Mengxin, the old woman, and the others all cast their techniques one after another, releasing their own cold flames once more and flying toward the crack.
Han Li, however, furrowed his brow. He glanced at the pale golden side doors on either side, then looked up at the enormous cauldron floating above the fissure, hesitation flickering across his face. But then something occurred to him, and he shook his head with a soft laugh before following after them under the protection of his Purple Extreme Fire.
The moment he flew into the fissure, a wave of milky-white cold light surged toward him. The instant it made contact with his purple flames, a strange sizzling sound erupted, as though fire and water were utterly incompatible. The purple flames flickered and wavered alarmingly.
Han Li's expression grew solemn. Without pausing to examine his surroundings, he rubbed his palms together and released another stream of Purple Extreme Fire to reinforce his shield, finally stabilizing the flames around him.
Only then did he have a moment to take in his surroundings.
The so-called Cave of Mystical Jade was essentially an underground cavern.
But this cavern had been formed from a vein of mystical jade — a substance rarely seen in the world. These strange materials, even several times colder than ten-thousand-year mystic ice, were the size of rice grains and lined both walls of the cavern, shimmering with milky-white cold light. The deeper he descended, the denser this light became, and the sound of it striking his purple flames grew steadily more rapid, like rain drumming on banana leaves.
A chill ran through Han Li, and something felt amiss. He glanced downward and noticed that none of the others seemed to have noticed him yet. Without further deliberation, he reached toward the floating motes of cold light with a bare hand, using his formidable magical power to forcibly draw a wisp of the light into his grasp, then examined it closely while wrapped in his purple flame.
It seemed like ordinary cold energy with nothing special about it. But Han Li frowned, then abruptly channeled spiritual power into his eyes. His pupils flashed blue, and a look of surprise crossed his face.
Under the scrutiny of his Bright Spirit Eyes, those milky-white wisps of cold light revealed an actual physical form — writhing tendrils that stretched and contracted ceaselessly within the purple flame, almost as if they were alive. They showed no fear whatsoever of the Purple Extreme Fire's extreme cold, and the two forces simply refused to merge.
"What is this? It seems like cold energy that has gained sentience, but that doesn't quite seem right either!" Han Li's astonishment was beyond description.
These wisps were merely the cold energy's autonomous attacks. If someone were to gather large quantities and focus them on a single point, even his Purple Extreme Fire might not be able to withstand it.
His thoughts racing, Han Li suddenly recalled something. His hands blurred as he rubbed them together once more, and this time a thread of crimson appeared within the purple flames.