Deep inside Heavenly Pool Mountain, inside the Heavenly Pool.
The Heavenly Pool waters were peaceful and still. It looked like a mirror as it reflected the image of the sky.
Tremendous amounts of frost qi surged inside the Heavenly Pool waters. Occasionally, white Heavenly Pool energy would emanate outwards.
At the very center of the Heavenly Pool, a giant snow lotus stood proudly amongst the snowstorm. Each petal had an incredibly majestic Daoist Rhyme swirling within.
On top of this lotus' seedpod sat a woman dressed in white.
This woman looked at her surroundings with a dazed look, seemingly unaware of where she was currently at.
"What is this?"
The woman suddenly realized that white mists were continuously emanating from the seedpod of this lotus, which then seeped inside her body.
This mist made her feel extremely cold.
"What an astounding coldness. This snow lotus has got to be a rare treasure, but I still don't understand what is going on here??"
s
Just when this woman was about to get out from the snow lotus, several figures walked towards her from a distance.
These people looked overjoyed when they saw the snow lotus.
"The Frosted-Core Snow Lotus!"
"The rumors are true. A peerless treasure like the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus really exists!"
The group of people scurried to the edge of the Heavenly Pool. However, when they saw the woman on top of the snow lotus, their expressions suddenly changed.
"Who is she? Why is she up there?"
"D*mn. Has somebody else beat us to this item?"
They did not look too delighted at that.
A cold-hearted woman within their group could not stand it anymore. She lifted her arm and summoned her spiritual power. A bolt of snowy-white spider web, which contained immense spiritual power, gushed out.
This spider web contained an extremely strong power. As a reflex, the woman on the snow lotus put out her hand to defend herself.
However, before she could do so, the snow lotus petal underneath her feet vibrated slightly. Frost qi from all over the Heavenly Pool swirled and formed an ice wall in front of her, blocking off that spider web.
The woman exclaimed in shock, "This snow lotus, it's protecting me?!"
Noting that, she ditched her plans of leaving.
That group of people near the lake did not look like kind folks either. If she were to approach them, they would most likely harm her.
"D*mn. Why is the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus protecting this woman?"
"Who is she?"
At the other side of Heavenly Pool, a few of them looked perplexed.
"Rumor has it that the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus is a conscious being and that it will select its own owner. It seems that there is truth to this," a brawny guy said.
This guy was a sky-pride of the Snow Lion Tribe.
At this moment, he was staring at the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus with desire in his eyes. Yet when he saw the woman on it, his face immediately turned gloomy. "Guys, look. The Frosted-Core Snow Lotus's energy keeps on fusing with that woman's. If this keeps on, we won't have any share of this fortune anymore."
"We must think of a way to halt this process."
"Let's do it."
In a moment, those sky-prides began to launch their attacks.
Various types of powerful energies were unleashed, each having the standard of a Sage Ruler level of higher.
Nevertheless, the snow lotus quivered, and frost qi from the entire Heavenly Pool was amassed into a frost qi ice wall, barricading off all the incoming energies.
How tough was this Heavenly Pool frost qi?
It was not something these few sky-prides could easily break past.
Noticing that she was safe for now, the woman on the snow lotus started to investigate what was going on around her.
She found that ever since the white mist from the snow lotus seeped into her body, it had slowly altered her own physique.
This alteration seemed to be beneficial for her.
"Could this snow lotus upgrade my Deep Freeze Physique to another tier?"
Deep Freeze Physique. This woman was the person Chu Kuangren had been looking for, Shang Qingxue.
After finding out that there was a chance for her physique to be upgraded to a higher tier, Shang Qingxue felt like she was on cloud nine.
She sat cross-legged on the snow lotus, actively absorbing the energy that was emitted from the snow lotus.
"B*tch, you better get your *ss down from the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus right now!"
The sky pride at the edge of the Heavenly Pool could not resist yelling furiously.
Nonetheless, Shang Qingxue was not a fool. She knew that going down there would not be any good for her, so she did not pay any heed to those sky-prides.
"My lady, this Frosted-Core Snow Lotus is of utmost importance to us. Please kindly leave It alone. We can promise that we won't hurt you if you oblige. We will even reward you dearly. If you insist on not leaving, I assure you that even if you could successfully refine this Frosted-Core Snow Lotus, there is no chance you can escape captivity from the few great orthodoxies like us."
Just then, a gentlemanly sky-pride spoke to her.
His words were almost half-luring, but half-threatening. It was far smarter than that sky-pride earlier who merely lashed out on her.
Despite that, Shang Qingxue remained there, acting like she had not heard anything.
"Don't blame us for doing this then."
That gentlemanly sky-pride could not hold his act any longer as he, too, revealed a ruthless look and declared, "Everyone, continue with the attack. I don't believe we're not capable of breaking down the snow lotus' defenses."
…
Outside the Heavenly Pool, there was a barrier that was set up jointly by a few orthodoxies.
This barrier was incredibly powerful. Even an elite of the Sage Ruler level would find it difficult to breakthrough.
On the other side of the barrier, some Sages looked toward the Heavenly Pool with helpless glances.
"The Gu clan, Sima clan, Snow Spider Tribe, and Snow Lion Tribe are way too unreasonable. That Heavenly Pool by no means belongs to them, yet they act like it is their territory. They have kept all the good stuff to themselves, leaving only the unwanted junk outside for us. How is this fair?" a Sage lamented.
"Sigh, what can we do? They are way stronger than all of us, so they can afford to act this way," another Sage remarked solemnly.
"This time, the changes happening in Heavenly Pool are definitely pointing toward the emergence of a treasure."
"The most mythical item in the Heavenly Pool is none other than the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus. Legend has it that this unique treasure requires at least a hundred thousand years to produce. It has an overwhelming power to alter the course of one's life. According to the legends, there was once a great Emperor whose abilities were extremely ordinary, but after he got his hands on the Frosted-Core Snow Lotus, his physique experienced an overwhelming transformation. It became a crucial turning point in his pursuit of the Emperor's Throne."
The Sages were engaged in a meaningful discussion, all yearning for that treasure that laid within the Heavenly Pool.
Even so, their ambitions were shattered because of the interference of several past ancient orthodoxies.
"Look. Someone is approaching."
Just then, someone looked a distance away and exclaimed, seemingly startled.
It was because that person looked too extraordinary.
It was a white-robed person with black hair, whose face was covered in a thin layer of spiritual light. Nobody could see his face clearly, but the exposed outline of his face was enough to give away that he was no ordinary person.
His white robe was speckless, his demeanor elegant and otherworldly. He looked like he was one with this snowy landscape.
That person slowly walked towards the edge of the Heavenly Pool amidst all the snowstorm. Then, he stopped right in front of it.
"What is he doing?"
"Is he a member of one of those orthodoxies?"
"No way. If he is one of them, he could've just entered straight away. He didn't need to stop."
The crowd began to exchange whispers as they watched this scene intriguingly.
That person was none other than Chu Kuangren.
He glanced at the barrier in front of him before he slowly stretched out a hand to give it a touch.
Suddenly, electric arcs appeared out of nowhere, surging in Chu Kuangren's direction with a deafening screech.
These electric arcs had immense power, one that usual Sages would not be able to sustain.
Despite that, Chu Kuangren allowed those electric arcs to charge down on him. He felt a brief numbness, but it was unable to deal any damage to his Supreme Sage physique.
s
The Sages all around him began to gasp in terror.
This flesh body of his was way too outrageous.
Immediately after, Chu Kuangren made a move that appalled them even more.
They saw him grabbing at that barrier with both his hands, tearing it apart to both sides, and allowing those horrifying electric arcs to wreak destruction upon his body.
With a loud boom, that barrier that was set up by a few past ancient orthodoxies was torn apart by Chu Kuangren's bare hands and brute force. Just like that, he carved out a huge opening on it using nothing but his flesh alone!