With the firewood knife on his shoulder, Chu Xuan walked back up the mountain under the moonlight. The stone steps of the mountain gate were like a bone gnawed by time, cold and hard. The wind blew from the back of the mountain, carrying a wet mist, which turned into tiny ice chips when it touched the skin and slipped through the cuffs.
"Chu Xuan of the Bingzi Academy has been ordered to cut firewood for a month." He handed the punishment card to the disciples on duty, his tone as relaxed as if he were going on an outing.
The disciple on duty was Zhou Ye, a notorious butcher in the outer gate at the early stage of foundation establishment. He glanced sideways at Chu Xuan and then at the rusty machete, and laughed: "Brother, who have you offended? At the back of the mountain, even the beast finds it cold. Three of them went in last month, one had his hair cut by sword qi, one was frozen like a dog, and the last one was scared out of his wits and went to sweep the hall."
Chu Xuan shrugged his shoulders and laughed his teeth white: "I have hard hair, I'm cold-resistant, and I'm braver. "Brother Zhou, open the door."
Zhou Ye raised his thumb and pressed the token against the stone wall. The fog curtain split open a slit as wide as a person, and the cold air "whoosh" rushed out like the breath of an ice dragon. "Go in, little monster." He added in a low voice, "If you see something wrong, don't pretend to be strong. Just shout and I'll pretend not to hear."
Chu Xuan chuckled, clasped his hands and stepped in. The fog curtain closed, and the world behind was cut off with a slash, leaving only the mountain wind howling.
...
There was no path in the forbidden area, only a path half-buried by fallen leaves, which made a rustling sound when stepped on, like walking on the back of a giant beast. On both sides, the ancient trees were towering, their branches crisscrossing, and the moonlight was so dark that it was pitch-dark. Chu Xuan used the firewood knife as a walking stick, and with each step, the silver thread trembled with excitement, surging in and out of his meridians like a Wolf smelling blood.
"Don't worry. Let's have some meat together." " Chu Xuan soothed in a low voice, his palm spread out, silver threads emerging from his fingertips, a wisp of light swept past, and the surrounding mist "sipped", revealing an open space three zhang square - the spiritual energy was so thick that it almost dripped water.
He took a deep breath, and the air seemed to hide countless tiny ice needles, which pierced his lungs and instantly turned into a warm current, surging towards his dantian. The silver thread cheered, opened his mouth and sucked hard, and the spiritual energy vortex quietly formed around him, and the fallen leaves were rolled up half a foot off the ground like a flock of frightened birds.
"Good guy, more than ten times stronger than the outer door." Chu Xuan was stunned, his eyes shining. "Elder Ling is indeed good at choosing a place. This is not a forbidden area, but a blessed one."
He found a sheltered rock, thrust his machete into the ground and began to work. The woodcutting is fake, the practice is real, and the silver thread is the oil-stealing mouse, gnawing on the wick that no one else can see. With the chisel, the ancient wood cracked with a "crack", but the cross-section oozed pale green SAP, and the spirit was on the face. Chu Xuan took the opportunity to inhale, each sip like drinking slightly hot wine, burning from the throat all the way to the dantian, warm and itchy.
Less than half a stick of incense, bundles of firewood piled up like small mountains behind him. He straightened up, exhaled a puff of white mist, which condensed and did not disperse, turning into fine ice crystals, clanging down all over his feet. Silvery rolled in her dantian, her body thickened in a circle, and she wagged her tail lazily like a stuffed cat.
"If I feed you any more, you'll become a fat pig." Chu Xuan laughed and scolded, just as he was about to change places, the mountain wind suddenly tightened, and a colder, purer spiritual energy gushed out from the depths of the forest, as if someone had opened an invisible door. The silver thread "whoosh" rose up and trembled with craving.
He narrowed his eyes and looked towards the wind - among the dark woods, there was a faint crack, and the cold, like white threads, pulled the silver strands. Chu Xuan pondered for a moment, threw the bundle of firewood over his shoulder and walked towards the crack. The steps were very light, like a hunter approaching his prey, with each step on the thickest part of the fallen leaves to avoid disturbing what might be in the dark.
The crack drew nearer and nearer, and the cold grew more and more bone-chilling, with tiny ice chips forming on the eyebrows. Silver Thread, however, was so excited that she tried several times to get out of her body, but Chu Xuan held her down forcefully. Further on, the forest suddenly cleared up, revealing a natural stone wall covered with moss, but in the middle there was a crack about an inch wide, from which cold air was gushing out like an ice spring.
Chu Xuan crouched down, touched the stone wall with his fingertips, and immediately the silver thread swam along the back of his fingers and plunged into the crack. In an instant, his eardrums buzzed as if he could hear the cracking of the glacier, and a stream of spiritual energy ten times more intense than before flowed back through the silver thread, straight to his dantian. The silver thread let out a contented sigh, and the body swelled up again, almost occupying the entire right arm meridian.
Chu Xuan's vision went black and he almost fell to his knees. He gritted his teeth, forcibly cut off the connection between the silver thread and the crack, sat cross-legged, and guided the violent spiritual energy to run along the small circle. Every time he passed the acupoint, it was like an ice cone scraping his bones, and the pain was so intense that he gasped, but managed to hold back. After thirty-six rounds, the spiritual energy was finally docile and turned into a sea of silver mist, hovering quietly above the dantian.
He opened his eyes, and there was a fleeting silver light in the depth of his pupils. The crack in the stone wall, with a "crack", closed on its own as if it had never existed. The cold was cut off, leaving only a wisp of white smoke, which rose into the air and was blown away into nothingness by the wind.
"Good stuff, but too much." Chu Xuan spat out a mouthful of white mist, and cold sweat froze on his forehead. He rubbed his arms, and the silvery obediently retracted to his dantian. He had gained some weight but was no longer fidgeting, like a well-fed cat, curled up and dozed off.
He looked up, the moonlight had faded, and the east had turned crab shell blue. The first night passed like this. In the depths of the forbidden area, it seemed as if something had been quietly awakened by the silver thread just now. The wind suddenly became quiet, and even the chirping of insects stopped.
Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes and looked into the darker forest - where there were very, very soft footsteps, like fallen leaves brushing against the ground, step by step, closer to him. Not a beast, but a "man"? Or something more dangerous than a human?
He rose slowly, pulling the firewood knife upside down, the back of the knife touching the arm, and the silver thread stretching out under the skin. In the air, the chill has not dissipated but is even colder, like an invisible knife slowly unsheathing.
The footsteps stopped. No more than ten feet away from him. In the darkness there was breathing, long, cold, like a snow snake's letter.
Chu Xuan held his breath, slightly raised the tip of his sword, and the silver thread moved along his arm, converging into a tiny, imperceptible silver light on the back of the sword. He spoke softly, his voice spreading in the wind:
"Who is here?" "Little Chu Xuan, ordered to cut firewood, no offense."
In the darkness there was no reply, only a wisp of colder chill, like a response, like a provocation, twirled and entwined.
The silver thread suddenly tightened, and in Chu Xuan's eyes, the fighting spirit flashed and vanished. He licked his lips and laughed until his teeth turned white: "Not speaking? Then I'll do it myself."
The machete was raised, and the back of the blade burst with silver light, and a silver thread as thin as a hair shot out along the blade, piercing deep into the darkness!
The silver line cuts into the darkness like a hot knife passing through butter, and with a whoosh, the chill is split in two. Ten feet away, the fallen leaves burst open, revealing a white shadow - not a human, but a section of ice crystal vine, as thick as a baby's arm, deep blue all over, with barbs growing at the nodes, slowly wriggling.
"Ice Soul Vine?" Chu Xuan gasped. The Outer Gate scriptures mentioned that this thing was born in extremely cold places. Touching it would freeze the meridians, and in severe cases even blood could freeze into ice. Apparently, the cold air that had just erupted from the cracks in the stone wall was caused by it.
The ice vine, cut by the silver thread, spewed out pale blue mist, twisted in the air and pounced again. With the tip of his foot, Chu Xuan moved backward and swung his saber, "ding-dong, ding-dong," forming a web of silver threads, cutting all the mist threads. With each strand cut, the silver thread greedily curls up, devours and refines, turning into its own nourishment.
The ice vine seemed to be provoked, its branches bulging and its barbs standing up, piercing through the air. Chu Xuan dodged left and right, but still got his sleeve cut by the tip of a thorn, and as soon as his skin touched the cold, a thin layer of frost formed. The silver thread immediately lunged up, emerged from the wound, swallowed the frost in one gulp, and returned to the main trunk of the ice vine like a tiny silver dragon, entwining the vine seven inches.
"Crack --" crackling, cracks appear on the surface of the ice vine, and the blue light fades. Chu Xuan seized the opportunity and charged forward. The back of the firewood knife struck the crack with a "splash", and the vine broke inch by inch, turning into a ground full of ice chips. The silver thread caught the largest piece of ice crystal, dragged it back to the dantian, rolled around and curled up contentedly.
The cold wind stopped abruptly, and the forest fell silent again. Chu Xuan spat out a wisp of white mist, and ice chips trickled down his eyebrows. He looked down at his arm. There was only a little red mark left on the wound, and the cold had been eaten and wiped away by the silver thread.
"Thanks, brother." He patted his tummy, and silvery shook his tail lazily as if responding.
After this battle, Chu Xuan had a new understanding of the forbidden land: it was not simply cold here, but was nurturing some kind of cold spirit. The cracks in the stone walls and the ice soul vine are its "tentacles". And the silver thread is the Nemesis - or natural enemy - of these tentacles.
He looked up into the darker depths of the forest, with flashes of fire in his eyes: "Since it's a treat, eat to your heart's content."
...
The night fell again, and Chu Xuan changed his route, bypassing the stone wall and sneaking in the colder direction. The silver thread leads the way, and wherever it passes, the cold mist automatically separates, like a subject welcoming a king. As we went deeper, the ancient trees thinned out, and large areas of bare rock appeared on the ground, with tiny ice crystals embedded in the crevices, shining like a starry river in the moonlight.
Ahead, a natural cave emerged abruptly, with its entrance about ten feet high, and a deep blue, cold air gushed out like the breath of a giant beast. Chu Xuan held his breath, his silver thread trembling with excitement, and tried to rush in several times but was forcibly held down by him. He walked around the hole, looking for the best entry point, his steps as light as a cat.
After walking around to the side of the cave and behind a protruding rock, he discovered a narrow crevice that was only wide enough for one person to turn sideways. The cold air seeped out of the crack, colder and purer than the entrance. Chu Xuan pressed his ear to listen, and there was a faint "tick-tock" sound in the cave, like water drops falling on a jade plate, clear and ethereal, yet with a chilling coldness.
He took a deep breath and pushed sideways into the crevice. The silver thread emerged first and wove a fine web ahead, filtering and devouring all the coldness coming towards him. It was pitch-dark inside the cave. He felt the fire fold and was about to light it when he felt something was wrong - as soon as the fire fold began to spark, it was frozen into ice chips by the cold and fell off.
"Good, it's so cold." Chu Xuan was stunned. He simply gave up the lighting and moved forward by the sense of the silver wire. The passageways in the cave were tortuous and the rock walls were covered with ice crystals. After walking a few steps, one had to use a hand knife to break the ice ridges blocking the way. The silver filaments feasting on each ice crystal they swallowed, growing a bit larger and even showing faint silver scales on their bodies, as if they were about to transform into dragons.
About a quarter of an hour later, a faint blue glow appeared ahead. Chu Xuan slowed down, pressed against the wall, turned a corner, and suddenly saw a natural ice chamber with a dome hanging high and a forest of icicles in the center of an ice platform on which lay a fan-sized ice core, all dark blue and with natural patterns on its surface, like a blooming ice lotus.
The coldness was emanating from the ice nucleus.
The silver thread went wild and almost broke out of its body. Chu Xuan held it down tightly, but his eyes blazed with heat: This ice core is definitely a treasure! If swallowed, the silver thread would at least double in size and might even transform!
He took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, and closely observed the ice chamber - the arrangement of the icicles around it was in a pattern like a natural array, and if he stepped on it wrongly, it could trigger a cold storm. He did not dare to be careless. He sat cross-legged, guided by the silver thread, and probed the way bit by bit like a hunter setting a trap, slowly and carefully.
After a stick of incense, he finally found a safe path, rose, and walked step by step towards the ice platform. Each step landed precisely on the "safe spot" where the silver thread poked out, like dancing on the ice, elegant yet dangerous.
Ten steps, nine steps, eight steps... The closer to the ice core, the more bone-chilling the cold, and the eyebrows and hair tips frost again. Chu Xuan gritted his teeth, and the silver thread worked with all its might, weaving a thin layer of silver film on the surface of his body to resist the cold.
Finally, he stood in front of the ice platform, reached out and touched the core of the ice with his fingertips
In an instant, the ice core shone brightly, and dark blue threads rushed in through his fingertips like a burst of water, rushing into the meridians. Chu Xuan's vision went black and he almost knelt down, but the silver thread let out a cheerful hissing and lunged forward, entangling, devouring and fusing with the light thread!
The ice chamber shook, the icicles snapped with a "crack", and the cold storm formed instantly!
Chu Xuan bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the ice core. As soon as the blood drop, it was frozen into a ruby. He woke up by this and forcibly cut off the connection between the ice nucleus and himself. The silver thread rolled around the ice nucleus and dragged it back to his dantian with force!
Boom - The ice nucleus enters the body, the cold storm loses its source and stops abruptly. The ice chamber began to collapse, icicles toppled over, and the dome cracked!
Chu Xuan turned and ran, with silver thread leading the way, smashing the icicles all the way through the narrow crevices. Behind him, the ice chamber collapsed with a crash, and the deep blue light was buried by the rocks, like a dream.
He slumped into the rock outside the cave, gasping for breath, his eyebrows and hair covered with ice chips, but his teeth turned white with laughter: "I got it!"
In the dantian, silver threads are coiled with ice nuclei, like a cat holding a big fish in its mouth, looking very proud. The ice nucleus spins slowly, and with each spin it spurts out a wisp of pure cold air, which is quickly refined by the silver thread and transformed into its own nourishment. Chu Xuan could clearly sense that the silver thread was transforming - the silver scales on its body were becoming more and more distinct, and even fine barbs were growing, like a young silver dragon!
He looked up, the moonlight was just right, and the silver glow was falling, gilding him with a pale silver light. The mountain wind was howling, but it couldn't blow away the burning heat in the young man's eyes.
"A few more times, I can tear the skin of this forbidden land." He said softly, his voice scattered in the wind, like a vow, like a provocation.
In the distance, in the darker depths of the forest, a gaze seemed to light up, faint and cold, like some kind of being, awakened by the sounds just now, slowly opening its eyes.
Chu Xuan did not move forward. He patted the firewood knife at his waist and turned towards the way back - tonight was enough, the silver thread needed to be digested, and he needed to prepare a larger pot to serve the next feast.
As the figure receded, the silver light faded, and the forbidden area fell silent again. Only from the depths of the collapsed ice chamber, a wisp of colder, purer chill was slowly rising, as if responding to the young man's provocation, as if inviting him to come again next time.