Jade Born of Bitter Cold

As he spoke, Lin Xiao poured spiritual energy into the jade, activating it. Then he let go, and the originally lifeless jade Soul-Chasing Sparrow suddenly came to life, flapping its wings and taking flight.

It didn’t fly very high, only maintaining a steady speed less than ten meters above the ground.

Seeing it turn to the right of the snow mountain, Lin Xiao immediately followed closely behind.

After they spent over half an hour circling halfway around the immense snow-covered mountain, Lin Xiao watched as the Soul-Chasing Sparrow flew ahead and then suddenly vanished into thin air.

Startled, Lin Xiao froze for a moment before quickly chasing after it.

When Lin Xiao reached the vicinity of the entrance and began walking inside, Tong Hua, who was meditating in a nearby tent, only then noticed the young man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He could not discern the boy’s cultivation level at all—he appeared as ordinary as a mortal.

He had only been distracted for a moment! Yet a boy like this had boldly approached the gray entrance without Tong Hua sensing a thing! For an instant, Tong Hua doubted his own existence.

The reason was simple: Lin Xiao’s concealment technique had hardly ever stopped working, combined with the system’s ability to block detection. Unless he walked directly into someone’s line of sight like now, it was nearly impossible for others to notice him.

As the boy was about to step into the gray entrance, Tong Hua shouted in alarm:

“Hey! Don’t go over there! It’s dangerous!”

The boy looked to be at most twelve or thirteen, unlikely to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator. At best, he might be a Qi Refining cultivator carrying some item that could hide his aura and cultivation. Even so, most gray entrances in these secret realms led to dangerous or hard-to-escape places. So Tong Hua instinctively tried to stop him.

Hearing his shout, Lin Xiao only had time to glance back at him, completely unaware that the foot he had already taken was halfway into the entrance.

In the next instant, a powerful suction force yanked him inside.

Somewhere in the Icefield Secret Realm, an unknown location.

It was a massive ice cavern with no sky visible overhead. The cavern was enormous—so large that it contained several sizable icebergs within it.

No sky could be seen, no ground could be seen—only cold, hard ice wrapped around everything, creating a world of ice and snow.

Lin Xiao was sucked in and appeared at the highest point of the entire cavern.

Standing at the cavern’s apex, he looked down at the scene below and was instantly stunned.

Beneath the ice cavern, in addition to icebergs of various sizes, there were exquisite, transparent crystal buildings everywhere!

Amid his shock, he plummeted at great speed.

Only when he was less than ten meters from the ground did he snap back to his senses, hastily using an Air-Walking Technique to steady himself. At least he avoided a close encounter with the ground.

Once he was on the ground, Lin Xiao realized how vast the place was.

Though he had taken in the entire cavern from above, now that he was inside, he saw that the crystal buildings and icebergs were actually enormous.

He walked up to a house built with carved beams and painted rafters.

Though this house appeared small, its material seemed the most superior among all the nearby structures.

Its surface looked extremely smooth and moist, completely obscuring the interior. Yet it also seemed remarkably translucent—a peculiar sight.

Just then, Liao Pantu transmitted his voice to Lin Xiao:

“I never thought that in such a small Foundation Establishment secret realm, there would be such high-grade Cold-Condensing Jade!”

Lin Xiao was confused and immediately displayed his fine quality of being diligent and eager to learn:

“What is Cold-Condensing Jade? What’s it used for?”

Liao Pantu, still marveling, extended one eyeball to closely observe the building before him, and said:

“Cold-Condensing Jade is spiritual jade that absorbs and concentrates cold energy. But that’s only the function of ordinary Cold-Condensing Jade—for example, the ones used in those other buildings nearby.”

As he spoke, he pointed to the other structures around them.

Lin Xiao looked around and noticed that indeed, only the building in front of him had a material that looked so special.

Liao Pantu continued:

“Currently, Cold-Condensing Jade is graded by its color and luster. The material used in this building before us belongs to the highest grade. The higher the grade, the more versatile it is—it can be used for making talismans, forging artifacts, setting formations, or refining pills. It is compatible with all elements and can enhance the quality of crafted items to varying degrees.

Not only that, but it also has excellent spirit-gathering properties. If combined with a spirit vein and given enough time, it can even improve the vein’s grade.”

After hearing his explanation, Lin Xiao clicked his tongue in admiration:

“Such remarkable stuff—why is it lying around in a mere Foundation Establishment-level secret realm? And it’s been sitting here untouched for a hundred years without being carted off?”

Liao Pantu paused for a moment, then said to Lin Xiao:

“Maybe it’s not that no one found it—maybe those who did find it all got left behind here.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiao’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately spread his spiritual sense to survey his surroundings.

In many corners, what he had mistaken for white snow turned out to be nothing but piles of bleached bones!

But this wasn’t Lin Xiao’s first time seeing such a scene. Compared to the sight in the Green Leaf Secret Realm’s heart back then, these bones held little shock for him.

He gazed at the exquisite house made entirely of high-grade Cold-Condensing Jade, studying its graceful eaves. The next moment, he pulled an enchanting pickaxe from his private storage.

Then, he lightly tapped the base of the building. Seeing that the Cold-Condensing Jade remained completely unscathed, he gave up any idea of dismantling the entire house. Instead, he aimed the pickaxe at the seam where the building’s foundation met the icy ground and began chipping away.

Seeing this, Liao Pantu was puzzled:

“What are you doing?”

Lin Xiao answered matter-of-factly:

“Chipping ice, of course.”

“Nonsense—I’m asking why you’re chipping ice?”

Lin Xiao replied with some excitement as he kept digging:

“I plan to lift this whole house and take it away!”

Liao Pantu was taken aback:

“You’re dreaming! My storage ring has size restrictions. Anything I put in can’t be too big. A house this size wouldn’t fit!”

Lin Xiao waved a hand dismissively and continued digging away:

“No problem—I have a way.”

At that, Liao Pantu fell silent.

After all, this kid was full of peculiarities. Since he said he had a way, he probably really did.

What way did Lin Xiao have? He had simply just asked the system: if he managed to lift the entire house, would his private storage be able to fit it? The system had given him a positive answer.

Meanwhile, the sound of Lin Xiao’s chipping soon drew the attention of a few people nearby in the ice cavern.

Several figures cautiously approached, following the noise.