Chapter 690: Suffering From Frost
The crystals of extreme cold were each the size of half a fist. Pasted on the bottom of the coffin, they emanated extreme coldness. These crystals were formed from the energy of extreme cold and shared its characteristics. It went without saying that these crystals were extremely valuable.
The sight of them caused Xiang Shaoyun's eyes to burn with desire. He had a feeling these crystals could solve the issue with the physiques of the Han Clan sisters. Without a care for anything else, he charged toward the bottom of the ice coffin.
He wanted to first get these crystals before doing anything else. But he had only advanced a tiny bit when the coldness surrounding his body reached a level he could no longer withstand.
"Hold it!" Xiang Shaoyun circulated the power of Yun Flame with all his might and continued charging ahead.
He then reached for the crystals. Right at that moment, the black tortoise that had been asleep for an untold number of years opened its eyes. A column of air sprayed out of its nose.
The column of air was incomparably terrifying, and it actually created a whirlpool in the water as it surged. Although Xiang Shaoyun was maintaining his invisibility, he was still in the midst of the water. He had no way of escaping the whirlpool, and he was completely disoriented as it dragged him around.
The force of the whirlpool was extremely powerful, and he couldn't stabilize his body. His entire body was assaulted with pain, as if he was going to be ripped apart alive. Even the broken armor he wore seemed incapable of sustaining such pressure. Several new cracks appeared on it before it completely shattered.
Fortunately, the armor had still protected him during the most dangerous moment. The whirlpool's impact was too much for him, causing him to lose consciousness. After an unknown amount of time, he regained some of his consciousness. The tiny bit he had recovered was the consciousness of his soul, not his body.
Xiang Shaoyun's soul had long turned into a filthless soul, granting him a soul power comparable to a Sovereign's. His soul had long taken form, its strength far beyond the soul of an Emperor. Generally speaking, the recovery of the soul also indicated that the physical body would also slowly start recovering its senses.
But this time, Xiang Shaoyun could not sense his body at all. Along with his filthless soul's gradual recovery, he finally learned of his current situation.
The energy of extreme cold had frozen his soul and body. As for his soul, it had been able to recover due to the defensive properties of the Nether Dragon Soul Headband. It had slowly isolated the chill that had permeated his soul, preserving and awakening his consciousness.
Nether Dragon Soul Curse—Healing Mantra.
Unable to use his astral cosmos sea and the soul spring within, he had no way of hastening the recovery of his soul. His only option was to use the Healing Mantra of the Nether Dragon Soul Curse. Fortunately, the soul raising stone was embedded in his soul. With the Healing Mantra, the stone slowly started nourishing his soul. Slowly but surely, his soul recovered.
With the passage of time, Xiang Shaoyun's soul finally regained full consciousness. He sighed, "But my soul can't even control my body anymore. Have I entered an eternal state of suspended animation?"
He found that his entire body had been frozen, and since he couldn't control his body, he had no way of escaping his current predicament. Furthermore, when he checked his Nether Soul Domain, he found that all 8,000 of his ghostrunes had been frozen as well. It was unknown if they were even still alive.
As for his body, his flesh, blood, and organs had all been frozen. That was why his soul was unable to move his body. He had to defrost himself before he could recover control over his physical body. Otherwise, by the time he exhausted all his soul power, he would be dead.
What should I do now? Xiang Shaoyun asked himself anxiously.
One could say that this was the most dangerous situation he had ever gotten himself in. If he couldn't save himself, he would definitely die. As he searched for a solution, he suddenly recalled the scene of him sweeping the tombs under the gravekeeper elder's order. He thus hurriedly forced himself to calm down.
Anxiousness will not solve problems. I need to remain calm, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
He started chanting the Serene Clearheart Mantra, which was a mantra capable of calming one's mind. Soon, his mind regained tranquility. With the return of calmness, he regained his wisdom and intellect.
In my current situation, the only thing I can do is sense Yun Flame's existence. I have to get it burning as quickly as possible to slowly defeat the frost. Without my control, Yun Flame has frozen over, and I can't even sense it anymore. I have to first regain my connection with it, Xiang Shaoyun told himself.
A few other thoughts also emerged, but he decided to first defeat the frost inside his Nether Soul Domain. Restarting the Nether Soul Domain would give him more chances of survival. As he reached that decision, he acted on it using his filthless soul.
Powerful punches shot out from his soul body, smashing apart the ice in his Nether Soul Domain. Xiang Shaoyun's filthless soul was one that had been tempered by lightning and flame. After undergoing a torture of frost as well, the soul had grown even stronger. As he smashed the ice apart, the Nether Soul Domain slowly returned under his control.
Imperial Nether Prison.
With the initial control, he willed for numerous chains to shoot out and smash the remaining ice apart. After clearing a majority of his Nether Soul Domain of ice, he started working on the ghostrunes. He was the master of the Nether Soul Domain. Soon, he removed the ice around the ghostrunes.
Unfortunately, a large majority of them had died. Only a few Emperors had survived, which made Xiang Shaoyun gloomy. He had spent a large amount of resources to nurture these ghostrunes. He found it hard to accept that almost all of them had died just like that.
Even the surviving ones were in an extremely weak state. It was unknown if they would remain alive for long. That would depend on themselves. Surprisingly, the ghostrunes had their own way of survival. The surviving ghostrunes painstakingly approached the corpses of their dead companions and started devouring them.
Seeing that scene, Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed, "I seem to have forgotten this unique trait of theirs."
Gui Qi once said that consuming their companions' flesh to increase their bloodline power and strength was their ultimate shortcut to strength. Now, the ghostrunes were doing just that. They did not want to let these corpses go to waste, and they could recover their vitality by devouring them.
Xiang Shaoyun thus left them to their devices. With the recovery of his Nether Soul Domain, he could now sense his body's surroundings. He was overjoyed as he laughed, "Haha, I think I will be able to save myself now."