Chapter Forty-One: The Mysterious Man of Black Ice Lake

Chapter Forty-One: The Mysterious Man of Black Ice Lake

Xia Zhe felt as though he had slept for a century. When he awoke, his mind was astonishingly clear, and his previously depleted spiritual energy was now abundant, its total volume seemingly increased by nearly twenty percent, if one were to quantify it.

He rekindled the campfire, took out the last bit of food he had, heated it, and ate it all. Despite feeling mentally drained yesterday, his appetite had been voracious, consuming nearly two days’ worth of provisions. In hindsight, it was unbelievable. Now, he could only settle for being three-quarters full.

After eating, Xia Zhe tidied up a little and approached the massive stone blocking the cave entrance. With a touch of spiritual power, the stone was easily moved aside—a vast improvement over yesterday.

The moment the first stone was shifted, Xia Zhe was startled by what he saw: a giant human-faced spider had smashed through the stone he used to seal the entrance, but it was now dead, seemingly killed by someone.

The spider lay collapsed, nearly two meters tall, its immense body blocking the entire entrance. Xia Zhe summoned his spiritual power to move it.

“Hm?” Xia Zhe noticed something strange. As he used his spiritual power to move the spider, he seemed to absorb traces of spiritual energy from it. Because he had cultivated the Soul Refining Art, his spiritual power had acquired a devouring attribute—when encountering similar spiritual energies, it instinctively absorbed them.

He decided to actively employ the Soul Refining Art, focusing on devouring the residual spiritual energy within the spider’s corpse. Such opportunities were rare; the last time he had forcibly absorbed Nalan Sheng’s spiritual power to interrupt her rampage, he gained considerable benefits, but suitable targets for devouring were hard to come by.

Sitting cross-legged, Xia Zhe concentrated on absorbing the lingering spiritual energy from the human-faced spider. At first, it was mere wisps, but gradually, it became streams, making his mind almost hum with delight.

As he continuously extracted spiritual energy from the spider’s corpse, its body seemed to shrivel, visibly shrinking as the essence within was drawn out along with the spiritual power.

An hour later, Xia Zhe felt his mind could absorb no more—the excess spiritual energy would need to be refined and purified through meditation with the Divine Forging Formula; too much absorption was actually detrimental.

Knowing when to stop, Xia Zhe opened his eyes and found the cave entrance clear. The giant spider that had blocked it was now reduced to a third of its original size, needing no further removal.

“How odd—could spiritual energy cause these blood beasts to grow larger?” Xia Zhe shook his head.

Stepping out of the cave, he soon discovered a red-furred lynx outside, stiff and lifeless, strangled by a massive silver python.

The horned silver python had its head bitten off by the lynx—a mutual destruction.

Nearby, another sight awaited: a giant blade-mantis blood beast, sliced in half by spider silk. Its left side was pulverized, and the right forelimb, armed with a blade, was impaled by a familiar chunk of spider body.

“What happened here?” Xia Zhe wondered, scanning the area. He realized these four blood beasts were far stronger than the B-grade beast he encountered yesterday, yet they had mysteriously died, apparently slaughtering each other.

Unable to unravel the mystery, Xia Zhe decided not to waste mental energy and instead cut off usable parts from the four high-level blood beasts, packing them for his journey. These were treasures—selling them to merchant caravans or hunter shops would bring substantial profit.

Regrettably, he could not carry more; if he could transport all the corpses, they would fetch an even greater price.

After packing, Xia Zhe gathered the four blood beasts together and burned their remains before departing.

His phone still had no signal, suggesting it wasn’t merely due to the remoteness—perhaps something in the region interfered with communications.

Fortunately, he had memorized the local map over the past days, and with compass apps on his phone, he had no trouble navigating.

“The Nalan family is located around Black Ice Lake, a hundred kilometers northeast of here. If all goes well, it should take four or five more days.” Mountain paths were far less forgiving than plains, and he had to beware the blood beasts along the way, so Xia Zhe’s estimate was conservative.

With his emergency rations depleted, he relied on hunting for food. Luckily, the mountain’s wildlife was abundant, and as winter hadn’t fully set in, food wasn’t difficult to obtain.

He traveled by day, and by night, he practiced the Divine Forging Formula to refine and absorb spiritual energy, steadily enhancing his power.

The blood beasts grew scarcer the farther north he went, likely because human influence intensified. The cold also increased, forcing him to craft simple coats and hats from hunted pelts to ward off the chill.

On the fourth day of surviving alone, Xia Zhe crossed a snowy peak and saw ahead a deep, black lake stretching into the distance like an abyss. Despite the biting cold, the lake remained unfrozen—a marvel.

“So this is Black Ice Lake?” Comparing it to the data he’d reviewed, Xia Zhe realized he was only seeing a fraction of the lake; its waters stretched endlessly, occupying nearly a quarter of the Black Lake District. Ice Lake City, home to the Nalan family, ranked among the top three cities in the Federation’s northern frontier, with a population exceeding five million.

Legend held that Black Ice Lake was cursed; wherever its waters reached, eternal cold followed. Thus, the Black Lake District was the Federation’s coldest region—temperatures hovered around zero even in the height of summer, and in winter, could plunge to minus forty degrees or lower.

The Nalan family’s branch had deliberately chosen Ice Lake City, the coldest locale, to distinguish themselves from the southern main line in Evernight City—a curious decision.

However, according to Nalan Sheng, she wasn’t born in Ice Lake City, but rather in Dannut City near the south. The branch hadn’t originally settled in Ice Lake City, having migrated from the main line in Evernight City.

Descending the mountain, Xia Zhe spent another hour before reaching the lake’s edge and finally glimpsed its true form.

If the mountain was merely cold, the lake’s edge was punishing. The air above the water seemed frozen solid.

“This place is simply uninhabitable,” Xia Zhe muttered, preparing to leave, when he spotted a man in the distance fishing—yes, fishing. The man wore a thin white garment, seemingly unfazed by the lake’s brutal temperature.

Though curiosity tugged at him, Xia Zhe knew enough to realize that anyone who could fish leisurely in such a perilous environment was no ordinary person, likely not someone to be trifled with. He quietly began to withdraw.

“Kid, what’s the meaning of leaving without so much as a word?” The man’s voice rang out, and Xia Zhe smiled bitterly, realizing he couldn’t pretend not to notice.

Approaching the stranger, Xia Zhe saw that he appeared quite young, only five or six years his senior—about the same age as Chu Yan, though his manner was that of an old soul. Like Xia Zhe, he had black hair and yellow skin, but his pupils were gray, unsettling to behold.

“My eyes went blind some years ago,” the man said.

Xia Zhe was startled, but kept his expression neutral. Months of hardship had taught him to control his reactions.

“I’m here at Black Ice Lake for the first time. Sorry for the disturbance. I was chased by blood beasts and got lost,” Xia Zhe explained.

The man smiled. “No need to explain. I bear you no ill will. I simply wished to meet you.”

“Meet me?” Xia Zhe frowned in confusion.

The man gave no reply. With a flick of his arm, he seemed to sense a fish biting, and suddenly, the lake’s surface erupted as he hauled up a monstrous fish.

The creature was halfway between fish and snake, its head as large as a bull, its massive body the size of a truck. Xia Zhe stared at the man’s fishing rod in awe. To land such a beast required immense strength and skill, especially in manipulating power.

With a crash, the giant fish landed on the icy shore, leaving a dent, but nothing more.

The beast writhed, its head and body twisting restlessly. Seeing the man and Xia Zhe, it braced its tail against the ice, reared up, and spewed a blast of icy mist toward them.

Xia Zhe quickly deployed his spiritual power to block it, but the man’s sleeve flicked, dispersing his defense, leaving Xia Zhe astonished.

“No need. To subdue such a savage creature, you must use even more domineering force,” the man said, simply exhaling. Instantly, the space around them shifted; Xia Zhe felt a strange energy suppressing his own power.

The icy mist surged forth, but in the man’s concentrated breath, it melted away. Such a simple exhalation dissolved the monster’s ferocious attack—the difference in power was overwhelming.

The monster grew wary and tried various tricks: dropping egg-sized clusters of icy mist, conjuring terrifying tornadoes, churning the lake, summoning ice spikes that rained down. Yet each attack was effortlessly shattered by the man’s gentle breath—it was always just a breath, but its force was immense.

“Boy, did you see? This is absolute power. It possesses wonders akin to the manifestation of your spiritual energy. Do you wish to bring your own power to such a level?” The mysterious man turned to Xia Zhe, who stared back in silence.

The jet-black monster, ignored, roared in frustration.

“Noisy!” With a slap through the air, the man’s simple gesture shattered the beast’s enormous body, splitting flesh and bone, killing it instantly.

“Xia Zhe, do you desire this power?” The mysterious man fixed his gaze on him, tempting him with a devil’s voice.