Chapter 117: Young Ice Jiao

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Young Ice Jiao

Riding the Ice Simurgh, he descended to the lake, the only place in the entire Dungeon not covered by ice and snow. A cool breeze from the water blew against his face.

’This must be Ice Jiao Lake...’

Considering the Dungeon’s name and the unfrozen lake before him, Li Heng immediately made the connection. There was probably a "juvenile Ice Jiao" in this lake.

Like the Simurgh Bird, Li Heng had only ever heard of Jiao dragons in legends. He had never seen one with his own eyes.

’If I could get an Ice Jiao as a Soul Energy pet, that would be perfect. A Jiao dragon would be incredibly cool.’

Li Heng figured, ’In for a penny, in for a pound.’ Raising one more pet like an Ice Jiao wouldn’t make much difference.

However, he dismissed the thought after just a few seconds. After all, he’d already run countless Dungeons, and the drop rate for Soul Energy pets was practically zero.

Farming for Soul Energy pets in Dungeons already felt like a bit of a joke to Li Heng.

But getting back on track, feeling the cool breeze and gazing out over the vast lake, Li Heng suddenly felt refreshed and clear-headed. It was a rare moment of peace.

’So, where exactly is the juvenile Ice Jiao? At the bottom of the lake?’

He scanned his surroundings. The lake’s surface was completely calm, and he couldn’t sense any blue threads of ice-type Soul Power. Still, according to the system prompt, the boss of this Dungeon was the juvenile Ice Jiao.

And the only conceivable hiding place for a juvenile Ice Jiao was this unfrozen lake.

Li Heng dipped his hand into the water. It wasn’t freezing; he felt he could handle it. He decided he would dive in and take a look.

’No need to rush in a Dungeon, anyway!’

However, Li Heng didn’t get in the water right away. Instead, he chose to exit the Dungeon. Before leaving, he used his Longsword to cut off a few branches from the snow-covered trees.

After all, his biggest gain from this Dungeon run so far was the Ice Simurgh’s affinity. If he died in the lake, that affinity might be lost.

So, he spent 200 points of Soul Energy to enter Ice Jiao Lake again.

Compared to the first time, killing the Cold Ice Pythons was much easier. The Ice Simurgh’s affinity also increased by a smaller amount. Again, he cut off a few branches from the snowy trees.

He kept entering and exiting the Ice Jiao Lake Dungeon like this until the Ice Simurgh’s affinity was capped at 143 and would no longer increase. Then, Li Heng dove straight into the lake.

[Ding! You have bathed in Ice Jiao Lake. Ice and Water-type Soul Power Perception +1. Ice and Water-type Affinity +1.]

!

Li Heng had been submerged in Ice Jiao Lake for only about a minute when he heard the system notification. He didn’t feel the slightest bit of cold and was able to continue diving deeper.

Li Heng’s vision underwater was decent; it didn’t grow dark even as he dove deeper.

After about three minutes of diving, Li Heng suddenly felt a sense of pressure welling up. As the seconds ticked by, he began to feel the "source" of this pressure.

Holding his breath wasn’t an issue, so he swam toward the source of the pressure.

’This is...’

After holding his breath for what he estimated was five minutes, Li Heng finally saw the bottom of the lake!

The moment he saw the lakebed, Li Heng finally understood why the water hadn’t been dark. There was "light" at the bottom!

And the source of the light was a multitude of glowing eggs!

Name: Cold Ice Python Pet Egg

Category: Soul Energy Items

Value: Common

Effects:

1. Can be hatched into a Tier One Low-Grade Soul Beast: Cold Ice Python.

2. Under specific conditions, can be hatched with a drop of blood to become a Soul Energy pet: Cold Ice Python.

3. Using special techniques, can cause the Cold Ice Python egg to mutate.

The lakebed was covered in densely packed Cold Ice Python eggs, all faintly glowing. However, only a few of them registered as Soul Energy Items.

’Does this count as me finally breaking my unlucky streak? Did my fortune suddenly turn?!’

Li Heng mused to himself, then swam toward the few Cold Ice Python pet eggs that were classified as Soul Energy Items.

After running so many Dungeons, he had finally seen something related to "Soul Energy pets."

A Cold Ice Python pet egg was, to put it simply, a pet egg!

Li Heng had played Pokémon, so he had a good idea of what this meant. This was definitely a good find.

Hmm?

But Li Heng had only swum a few meters when blue threads appeared in his vision.

Ice-type Soul Power!

And this time, the blue threads he was seeing were "terrifying"!

Even when he saw the blue threads of ice-type Soul Power on the Ice Simurgh, Li Heng’s scalp hadn’t tingled. But these threads—unbroken and strung together—were truly a shocking sight.

He made a rough estimate: connected, the threads would stretch for more than ten meters, and they were constantly growing thicker.

But he was underwater now. If he died, he would probably lose the Cold Ice Python pet eggs even if he managed to collect them first.

Considering he had never fought underwater before, Li Heng knew his combat effectiveness would be drastically reduced. Nevertheless, he drew his Empty Cicada Longsword.

’This is a Dungeon, anyway. Nothing to be afraid of!’

HISS~

Li Heng hadn’t felt any water pressure before, but after a low, deep sound reverberated through the water, his heart sank. The hand holding the Empty Cicada Longsword couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

A few seconds later, sharp icicles shot toward Li Heng with ferocious speed. His eyes narrowed as he raised his sword to block.

Swinging his sword underwater, Li Heng felt significant resistance. The movements of his Ghost Butterfly Illusion Sword technique felt sluggish and didn’t flow as smoothly as they did on land.

As a result, his slightly faltering sword moves seemed clumsy and inadequate against the ferocity of the icicle assault.

Facing the dense barrage of icicles, Li Heng only managed to block a fraction of them.

His abdomen!

His left arm!

His right thigh!

All of them were pierced by icicles. At the same time, an unbearable pain wracked Li Heng. He felt he had reached his limit for holding his breath, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

Mere moments after being pierced by the icicles, powerful currents slammed into Li Heng, making him feel even worse.

And then Li Heng was finally able to get a clear look at the Dungeon boss of Ice Jiao Lake.

Ice Jiao: Juvenile

Level: 31

Rank: Tier Three Low-Grade Soul Beast

Strength: 31

Agility: 35 (+3)

Spirit: 31

Soul Energy: 750

Soul Energy Skills: Frost Breath, Jiao Dragon’s Pressure, Ice Glide.

It was over ten meters long and covered in frost. It looked exactly like the Jiao dragons depicted in anime and movies.

Seeing a legendary Jiao dragon with his own eyes didn’t bring Li Heng any happiness. Instead, he was overwhelmed by the complete opposite emotion.

He was already grievously wounded, and now his expression turned grim.

’A Tier Three Low-Grade Soul Beast, and you’re telling me this is still the juvenile stage?!’

"Exit Dungeon!"

Li Heng knew he couldn’t take any more. If he stayed in Ice Jiao Lake, he would definitely be mauled to death by the juvenile Ice Jiao.

Although his reckless dive into Ice Jiao Lake and staying underwater for nearly five minutes was basically courting death, the information he had gathered—aside from the experience of being grievously wounded—was a massive haul.

Li Heng felt he had figured out seventy to eighty percent of the Ice Jiao Lake Dungeon. In a way, the resources this Dungeon had to offer were far more important than those of Wolf King Mountain!