I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 561: Chapter 452: Eerie Ice Lake, Lake Monster (Part 2)

1. Frozen Domain: Consumes a certain amount of Spiritual Energy to unfold a domain of ice with oneself at the center. All enemies within the domain will find their movements significantly hindered, and their pace of movement and attack greatly slowed, while continuously being eroded by the power of frost.

2. Ice Soul Puppet: Transforms Spiritual Energy into a Celestial Frost Ice Soul Puppet, which possesses independent attack awareness and can wield basic frost abilities.

A refreshing chill instantly circulated within his body, completely different from the cold of the lake water that had invaded before—this was the power of mastery belonging to the [Celestial Frost Ice Body].

Qin Tian lifted his hand, and a wisp of white frost naturally emerged from his palm. The surrounding air temperature plummeted, causing even the falling snowflakes to condense into tiny ice crystals near his palm.

To him, the overall attributes and minor skills of the [Celestial Frost Ice Body] were not outstanding. What he truly valued was the effect of “Ice Resistance increased to 600%.”

Qin Tian again dipped his hand into the icy lake, the freezing sensation still penetrating but no longer able to invade his body in the slightest.

With the protection of the [Immortal Sacred Body], [Celestial Frost Ice Body], and various Talents, the cold of the lake water was like a gentle stream, only staying on his skin’s surface briefly before dispersing without a trace.

“Then let me see what exactly is hidden beneath the lake.”

Qin Tian took a deep breath, his feet lightly touching the icy surface, and his figure like a nimble fish, leaping into the icy lake.

Ripples spread across the lake’s surface, quickly returning to calm.

The moment he plunged into the icy lake, Qin Tian sensed a cold distinct from the lake’s surface.

If the cold of the lake’s surface was “biting,” then the cold beneath was “bone-chilling,” as if countless ice blades were piercing through his pores, far more intense than when probing at the surface.

Qin Tian’s expression remained unchanged; the [Immortal Sacred Body] activated instantly, faint battle patterns emerging on his skin, covering his body like armor, shielding most of the cold outside.

Simultaneously, his Spiritual Energy circulated within, condensing a turtle-shell shield on the surface of his body, with fine spiritual energy patterns spread across, completely blocking out any remaining chill.

Under the dual protection, the erosion of the lake water could no longer affect him in the slightest.

Underwater, it was pitch black, a hand held out could not be seen, only the faint sound of flowing water echoed by the ear.

Qin Tian remembered the lake’s diameter was no more than ten meters, yet upon diving underwater, he found it far more expansive than imagined, with water flowing not still, but slowly like an underground river towards some direction, carrying an indescribable pulling force.

Luckily, his night vision ability had reached the ultimate level, and the dark environment was as clear as daylight to him, and everything underwater was vividly reflected in his eyes.

He moved his body like a real deep-sea fish, diving towards the lakebed.

On the way, he saw lifelike ice sculptures embedded in the lake walls, including snow bears, ice foxes, and arctic wolves…

These Snow Beasts probably strayed into the lake water inadvertently and were instantly frozen, their struggling postures perfectly preserved, the surface of the ice crystals shimmering with cold light like eerie artworks.

Upon diving approximately a hundred meters deep, Qin Tian’s gaze was suddenly drawn to a faint glow in the center of the lakebed.

The light was very faint, yet stood out in the pitch-black water, like stars hidden beneath ice layers.

His heart stirred, accelerating toward the source of the glow.

But just as he was dozens of meters from the lakebed, a strong instinctive alert rose in his mind—an intuition honed from countless lethal battles, ringing like a warning bell.

Qin Tian did not hesitate, immediately unleashing his Power of Space, his figure disappearing from where he was.

“Boom!”

No sooner had he teleported dozens of meters away, the water in the area he had occupied suddenly convulsed violently, as transparent water coalesced into a massive shadow, a giant claw covered in ice crystals swung fiercely, cutting through the water with tearing force, hitting empty water.

As the giant claw descended, the water exploded as if a bomb had been dropped, massive shockwaves raising turbulent water waves, causing the ice sculptures on the lake walls to shake and almost fall.

Qin Tian stabilized himself, his eyes solemnly fixed on the shadow.

It was only then he could see clearly the entity was not a coagulation of water flow but a creature entirely composed of ice crystals—it had a thick body resembling a black serpent, with several pairs of sharp ice crystal claws, its head devoid of facial features, only a core of ice crystal glowing cold, its whole body exuding a suffocating cold, yet without any signs of life, hence why he couldn’t sense its existence before.

As the ice crystal monster manifested, an aura far more terrifying than the lake water erupted suddenly, instantly freezing surrounding water into tiny ice particles, even causing a layer of frost to form on Qin Tian’s turtle-shell shield, as if it would be encased in ice the next second.

The monster slowly twisted its body, its ice crystal-composed long tail sweeping through the water, leaving cold trails, having evidently marked Qin Tian as an intruder that must be eradicated.

Qin Tian’s gaze sharpened, a completely black long blade suddenly appearing steadily in his hand, the blade gleaming with a cold glow, it was the Black Frost Blade.

As soon as he gripped the hilt, Qin Tian sensed something unusual.

In the cold waters, the surface of the Black Frost Blade rapidly coated with a thin layer of ice, ice crystals adhering to the blade patterns, adding an extra hint of chill to the blade.

More intriguingly, a weak yet distinct notion arose in his mind, an emotion conveyed by the Black Frost Blade’s spirit — not resistance, but an unmistakable excitement, as though this extreme cold water was a rare haven for it.