Chapter 116: Progress at Ice Jiao Lake

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Progress at Ice Jiao Lake

"Even if you were being rebellious and chose Netherworld University, that would’ve been fine! Why did you have to pick Meteor University?! Do you have any idea what that place is? Huh?! You just went and put it down! You’re changing it!"

"I’m not changing it! Dad, I’m going to go practice my bladework!"

"Yaoyao! You...! Fine! Never mind! Then I’ll go change it for you!"

"You can’t!"

The father and daughter’s argument in the training room was so heated that their voices carried right through the walls, reaching the ears of Mrs. Bao, who was resting. She headed to the training room to mediate.

"Old Bao! What’s with the temper? It’s a good thing Yaoyao is training. Why are you..."

"The nerve of her! Do you know what she put down for her university application? Meteor University! And in the General Studies department, no less!"

Mrs. Bao was instantly on alert, her tone shifting on a dime. "Yaoyao! Now you’re the one in the wrong! How could you apply to Meteor University? Be a good girl and listen to me. We’ll change it! If you’re really set on it, just think about that Li Heng boy. Li Heng will definitely choose Bamboo Sea University—they’re known for excellent Swordsmanship. You could follow..."

"Li Heng applied to Meteor University..."

Before Mrs. Bao could finish, Bao Yaoyao’s sudden interruption made her face darken instantly.

Beside her, the still-fuming Bao Yongyan’s face darkened as well. The couple stared at their daughter, speechless for a long moment.

---

Li Heng had no idea that a conflict had erupted in the Bao Family over Bao Yaoyao’s application to Meteor University. He was busy with his Ice Luan, seriously tackling the Ice Jiao Lake Dungeon.

He had originally planned to just run the normal Wolf King Mountain Dungeon and call it a day. But since there was still some time before he needed to sleep, and he didn’t feel like getting his butt kicked in a god-tier Dungeon, he turned his attention to Ice Jiao Lake.

[Ding! Affinity with Ice Luan +3!]

The moment he entered Ice Jiao Lake and summoned the Ice Luan, a system notification announced that his affinity with it had increased.

SKREEE~

’Of course! An Ice-type Soul Beast really should live in a world of ice and snow!’

Watching the Ice Luan circle above him, Li Heng quipped to himself before drawing the Empty Cicada Longsword from his medium-sized Space Stone.

Though it had been a long time since he’d last visited Ice Jiao Lake, Li Heng had by no means forgotten the suffering and torment he had endured here.

If his feud with the Blood Wolf King was one of deep, bloody vengeance, then his hatred for the Cold Ice Pythons of Ice Jiao Lake ran nearly as deep.

Li Heng wasn’t sure what effect the Ice Luan’s ice-type Soul Energy Skills would have on the Cold Ice Pythons, but he ordered it to attack from the air anyway. As for himself, he would stick to his strongest attack combo.

HISS~

HISS~

Not long after Li Heng and the Ice Luan appeared, Cold Ice Pythons began bursting out from the snowdrifts one after another, their assault incredibly ferocious!

’Hm? Why... does their attack seem even more ferocious this time?’

Even though fighting these Cold Ice Pythons was much easier now, Li Heng could clearly sense that their offensive was different from before.

It was a suicidal assault; they completely disregarded their own defense, using every ounce of their strength and every means at their disposal to attack him!

Li Heng could only guess that, just as in the Wolf King Mountain Dungeon, the Ice Luan’s appearance posed such a great threat to the monsters here that they were willing to sacrifice their lives to attack it!

The Ice Luan in the sky didn’t conjure a blizzard. Instead, feathers made of solid ice condensed beneath its wings before shooting swiftly toward the pack of Cold Ice Pythons!

There were at least fifty Cold Ice Pythons in the pack. Previously, when Li Heng was alone and before he had upgraded his skills and equipment, he could kill ten at most, and that was if he threw everything he had at them without any regard for the damage he’d take in return.

But now that his power had risen to a new level and he had the Ice Luan’s help, the fifty-odd Cold Ice Pythons were nothing more than XP fodder. Before long, the man and his luan had cleaned them all up.

The Cold Ice Pythons mostly dropped monster parts. Li Heng was about to consider which ones to store in his medium-sized Space Stone, but the Ice Luan’s next move made the decision for him.

For the past few days, the Ice Luan had been eating Blood Wolf meat, and its affinity hadn’t budged. But now, seeing it peck at the Soul Energy Meat from the Cold Ice Pythons, its affinity suddenly increased again. The sight gave Li Heng pause.

Regardless, Li Heng decided that from now on, he would source the Ice Luan’s food from Ice Jiao Lake.

Name: Cold Qi Spirit Pearl

Category: Soul Energy Items

Value: Common

Effects:

1. Holder gains Cold Resistance +2.

2. When used to socket or temper equipment, has a chance to add an ice attribute. When held during cultivation, has a very low chance of increasing ice affinity.

3. Provides a weak amplifying effect for cultivators of Ice-type Soul Power.

4. Can be consumed directly by those with extremely high ice-type talent. Effects unknown.

[Would you like to consume 100 Soul Qi to upgrade this item?]

Besides the monster parts, the pythons also dropped a Cold Qi Spirit Pearl. But once again, before Li Heng even had time to think, the Ice Luan ate it.

Moreover, Li Heng could sense that the bird had never been this happy since he’d first subdued it. It flew and circled endlessly in the sky, its joyful cries never ceasing.

The Ice Luan’s happiness was a good thing for Li Heng, of course. He, too, felt a sense of inner joy. After all, it had been nearly a month, and he was finally making new progress in Ice Jiao Lake!

Ignoring the circling Ice Luan and the Cold Ice Python corpses behind him, Li Heng walked slowly forward. Beyond the snowy fields, he made a new discovery.

In the middle of the vast, snowy expanse stood tall, snow-covered trees, which immediately captured Li Heng’s attention.

The temperature was far too low for trees to grow, yet even covered in snow, he could vaguely see that these were not dead. They still had green leaves.

Name: Snow Wood

Category: Soul Energy Items

Value: Common

Effects:

1. Equipment crafted from this material has a chance of gaining an ice attribute, with an extremely low chance of mutating into a snow attribute.

2. Using this wood to refine elixirs has a low chance of making the elixir’s properties milder. When refining ice-type elixirs, it has a low chance of increasing the success rate of formation.

There were many snow-covered trees, but his ability only identified a small portion of them as Snow Wood. Li Heng took note of this and began to survey his surroundings.

The snowfield was vast and the trees grew thick, but Li Heng saw no sign of a "lake."

As if struck by an idea, Li Heng called the Ice Luan down. He climbed onto its back, and they flew into the air so he could get a bird’s-eye view of the Dungeon’s environment.

Once they were airborne, even with his high cold resistance, Li Heng felt a faint chill and instinctively hugged the Ice Luan a little tighter.

Below them, the landscape was a uniform sheet of white. Near the ground, the green of the trees was still visible, but from high in the air, everything between the sky and the earth was a boundless white expanse.

But the flight wasn’t for nothing. As the Ice Luan flew onward, Li Heng spotted a lake!

A lake that showed no signs of freezing, even in such frigid temperatures!