Chapter 410 - The Ice Cave Predicament

“Thump!” The spot where Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue fell through closed off. What appeared to be a powerful gravitational force underneath pulled them down and they fell just like that. They slowly found each other in the darkness, where they crashed on the ground after falling for gods know how long.

“Are you alright?” Xiao Chen’s first instinct was to sweep their surroundings with his Divine Sense and check if there was danger anywhere. However, everywhere his Divine Sense could reach, the only answer was endless darkness and coldness.

“S-So cold! Where are we?!”

It was so dark that they couldn’t even see their hands and so cold that it pierced deep into their bones. Compared to the ice cave above, this place was many times colder, so much so that even Xiao Chen felt like he could barely stand it. The ground was also slippery; they must be stepping on ice.

Xiao Chen conjured a white light and gradually illuminated their surroundings. The lightray bounced back and forth. To their surprise, they were inside a sealed ice chamber. Thick walls of ice surrounded them. Even the passage that they fell through had disappeared. Ice covered every inch of the ground that they stepped on. Besides the boundless of ice, the only things around were some disperse slabs.

“S-So cold… Don’t tell me we’re in the Ice Prison that Yu Yangzi told us about…” Even wearing the Fire-heart Jade, Su Lianyue was still so cold that her voice was shuddering.

Xiao Chen was also trembling from the cold. He shook his head and said, “I don’t think so. There are no bones or much Rancorous Qi here…”

The two of them walked around the ice chamber but couldn’t find an exit anywhere. Xiao Chen whipped out his Blood Lotus Demon Blade and slashed the ice wall with force. Ice fragments swirled in the air, but all the blade did was left a little chink in the wall.

“Guifeng!” Xiao Chen yelled. However, the only response was his voice echoing inside the ice chamber. Here, he couldn’t summon Guifeng. Even Evernight and Su Xiaomei had fallen into a deep slumber.

Su Lianyue looked at him and said in a trembling voice, “There’s no use… This is a completely closed-off space…”

Xiao Chen frowned. He slashed his palm, wanting to melt the ice wall with his Nine Heaven-scorching Flames. To his shock, he couldn’t even summon his flames here. The restrictions placed here were very severe.

“Just what kind of place is this…”

The hour slowly slipped past and the temperature inside the ice chamber seemed to have dropped lower. A layer of frost had already formed on Xiao Chen’s eyebrows. Su Lianyue was even worse off; her lips were turning white and she couldn’t stop shivering. The Fire-heart Jade was gradually becoming ineffective here.

The two of them sat next to a large slab with their backs against each other. Su Lianyue said in a shaky voice, “I can’t… It’s too cold. If we can’t get out, we’ll freeze to death here…”

Xiao Chen was also trembling from the cold. It was bitterly cold here that he couldn’t ward off the chill even if he was circulating his energy nonstop. This place was no ordinary ice chamber.

“Stay here. I’ll try and find an exit.”

Xiao Chen moved as soon as he finished speaking, but Su Lianyue grabbed him tightly. “D-Don’t go. I’ll be even colder without you…”

Su Lianyue’s mind was beginning to turn cloudy from the cold. She was shivering nonstop and her lips were turning white. Xiao Chen removed her hold and took out her fire-igniter and a crumpled book from his Divine Vessel. The book was the Nine Heaven-scorching Flames secret manual. He ripped off its pages, started the fire-igniter, and made a small bonfire that finally warmed their surroundings a little.

“Wait for me. I’ll definitely find the exit.” Xiao Chen handed Su Lianyue the fire-igniter before going up to every ice wall and probing its exterior with his Divine Sense, slowly feeling for an exit.

Some fifteen minutes later, he finally discovered an anomaly under one of the ice walls. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was an ice door. This discovery excited Xiao Chen and he turned around to say, “Fairy, I found… Su Lianyue!”

In their previous spot, the small bonfire had long stopped burning and Su Lianyue was lying unconscious on the slab. Xiao Chen dashed over. The moment he touched her shoulders, he felt like he was grabbing a thousand-year-old iceberg. He retrieved his hand as if electrocuted. Panic began to sink in. How could her body be that cold?

But she was still breathing. He didn’t think twice before pouring True Energy into her body. A long while later, Su Lianyue slowly woke up and her body temperature was gradually recovering as well. She immediately pulled him into a hug. “C-Cold…” Her consciousness at the moment was a complete mess.

Xiao Chen caressed her back and said softly, “I found the exit. Come with me.”

“Exit…”

Su Lianyue seemed to have regained her mental clarity. Xiao Chen nodded and led her by the hand to the ice door. They hadn’t walked far when Su Lianyue suddenly slipped. She was about to fall when Xiao Chen hastily held her up. “Are you alright?”

“I, I’m fine… Don’t worry, Young Master…” Su Lianyue exhaled softly. She was currently very weak.

Xiao Chen frowned. When they reached the ice door, he carefully set her down on the floor. He then circulated all his energy and slammed the door with his two palms. “Boom!” Following the loud sound, the ice door crumbled into pieces and scattered all over the floor. Behind the door was a long ice tunnel.

“We’re alright now. Fairy, let’s go…” Xiao Chen spun around. To his surprise, he saw Su Lianyue’s body slanting and then falling to the ground. He immediately went up to her, helped her up, and poured more True Energy into her body.

Su Lianyue’s mind finally cleared up a little. Seeing the tunnel in front of her, she walked over, step after strenuous step. Xiao Chen supported her along the way, afraid that she would fall.

They had been walking down the tunnel for quite some time but still couldn’t see the end of it. It was even getting colder. Su Lianyue was staggering like she was drunk. Her head rested on Xiao Chen’s shoulder, her eyes open with great difficulty. If it weren’t for Xiao Chen supporting her, she might not even be able to stand up.

They walked for another hour. The length of this ice tunnel had greatly exceeded Xiao Chen’s expectations. Their surroundings were also getting more frigid and Su Lianyue’s breathing was weakening. She was about to die. Xiao Chen was also beginning to feel like he couldn’t stand anymore.

Suddenly, Su Lianyue’s legs turned soft and she finally fell. Xiao Chen wanted to catch her but slipped and crashed onto the ground. The two of them fell on the ice floor just like that. Su Lianyue’s breathing was becoming as thin as silk. “Young Master… I’m cold…”

Xiao Chen tried his best to edge closer to her and pulled her into a hug. Su Lianyue lay in his embrace, clutching both his arms. She was still shaking from the cold.

“Don’t sleep. We’ll make it out of here…” Even talking felt strenuous for Xiao Chen. He had never imagined that he would one day fall into such a predicament. So what if he was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? So what if he was a Nirvana Realm cultivator…

Su Lianyue didn’t reply. Her breathing was getting weaker. She weakly released her hold on his shoulders. Alarmed, Xiao Chen immediately poured more True Energy into her body.

“Young Master… I… I can’t anymore… You should go…” Su Lianyue opened her eyes weakly. Even talking took a lot of her strength.

“Don’t talk… Let’s go!”

Xiao Chen pulled her up strenuously and helped her keep walking. Right now, he didn’t want to think about the difference between Orthodox Path and Devil’s Practice. Since the two of them came here together, they were going to leave together too. If he abandoned her here and left by himself, the guilt would cause him to fail his ascent to immortality in the future.

After walking for nearly 500 meters, Xiao Chen saw a block of ice. He immediately struck it with his palm so that it would be loose. The block of ice happened to be the right size for both of them to sit on it. Xiao Chen helped Su Lianyue sit on the ice and sat down next to her. He then struck the block of ice with his energy and it slid forward, carrying both of them with it.

Su Lianyue was leaning onto him, her mind becoming blurrier. “Young Master… That night, you mentioned the people, her, and your own life… I want to know. The people and her… Which is more important to you…”

Xiao Chen hugged her tightly. “Don’t talk. We’re nearing the exit.”

Moments later, Su Lianyue finally fell quiet but so did her breathing. Her body was turning colder and colder, alarming Xiao Chen. Why was her body this cold? He immediately propped her up and pushed more True Energy into her, but it was all in vain.

“Su Lianyue! Wake up! Don’t fall asleep!”

After shaking her for a while, Su Lianyue gradually woke up again. Xiao Chen immediately pulled energy from his Elixir Field and kissed her on the lips. Su Lianyue trembled when she felt his lips on hers and hastily turned her head. Anger seeping into her voice, she said, “What are you doing… If you dare to do anything improper, I’ll kill myself!”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not taking advantage of you. I’m just giving you a breath of Pure Yang Qi.”

Xiao Chen pressed his lips on hers again as he spoke. Even though Su Lianyue wanted to push him away, she felt her body suddenly going numb and all her strength leaving her. Soon, a warm sensation entered her body through her throat and moved to every part of her body. Haziness gradually filling her mind, she couldn’t help crisscrossing her hands behind his neck.

Xiao Chen cautiously ushered his Pure Yang Qi into her mouth, bit by bit. He dared not get distracted. Su Lianyue could feel warmth throughout her body; even her head was spinning a little. Their lips pressed against each other produced a rather curious sensation. Gradually, she began to lose focus and poked out her tongue ever so slightly. A little more, then a little more. Her heartbeat sped up. She felt a little timid, yet also a little uncontrollable…

Xiao Chen was concentrating on ushering his Pure Yang Qi when he suddenly felt a cold, soft object touching the tip of his tongue. He instantly shivered. Su Lianyue’s mind cleared up right then and the two of them separated at lightning-speed.

Su Lianyue’s cheeks were burning red. She was much better now thanks to Xiao Chen’s Pure Yang Qi. However, after that lapse of judgment earlier, she dared not raise her head and look at him. She muttered, “Why do you have Pure Yang Qi in your body? Don’t tell me, you’re…”

Xiao Chen was stunned but soon recovered his senses. “I, I don’t know either. I only discovered it when I reached the Corpse Refinery Sect a few days ago…”

The two of them became very awkward. Then, out of the blue, their bodies were flung forward and they knocked into each other. It was because the block of ice under them had stopped after hitting something.

Xiao Chen’s hands were on Su Lianyue’s shoulders, supporting her. He looked up and saw an ice wall blocking their way. The wall wasn’t thick but he couldn’t see through the other side. To hide her embarrassment, Su Lianyue stood up and said, “Let’s see if we can shatter it.”

Xiao Chen nodded. The two of them worked together and used all of their strength to strike the ice wall with their palms. “BOOM!” The ice wall easily fell apart, but a strong gravitational force suddenly emerged from the other side and instantly pulled them in.

“Ahh!”

Caught off guard, Su Lianyue let out a yell. Xiao Chen hugged her tightly and said, “Don’t be scared.” Despite his words, he wasn’t fully confident. It was completely dark around them and the gravitational force was so powerful that he couldn’t even circulate his energy.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. It was as if he had knocked hard onto something. The two of them then found themselves suspended in midair, their surroundings brightening. The scene around them gradually became clearer. Su Lianyue cried out in fear, “Wh-What is this place?!”