Chapter 534: Sea Clan and Ice Realm

Take the Dragons, for instance; they dwelt within the Demon Domain, yet they resided in the Eastern Sea as well, where they were counted among the Sea Race.

Upon entering the currents of the deep aquatic realm, a sudden shadow cloaked the six travelers, plunging them into absolute blindness; only as the massive silhouette drifted further away did they discern its true nature.

"Those are whales, leviathans unique to the Eastern Sea, yet untouched by spiritual awakening."

Further along, the party encountered a shoal of creatures with human torsos and piscine tails, entirely female, with delicate faces and exquisite forms, their modesty guarded by pristine seashells, and eyes of deep sea-blue.

"This is the Jiaoren race, also known as the Merfolk, rumored to be the ancient lineage born from the union of early humanity and great transformed fish demons; they prefer to move in large schools, the females venturing out to hunt while the males tend to the domestic spheres."

Suddenly, another mermaid glided past them, her tail undulating gracefully; her features were far more striking than those of the Merfolk they had just observed, and casting a brief, sidelong glance at the travelers, she continued her swim.

"Is that a solitary Jiaoren, cast out by her kin?"

"No, that is one of my senior sisters possessing the Water Spiritual Root, Tang Fuling; she is currently researching how a Water Spiritual Root might generate actual seawater, and has recently taken to disguising herself as a member of the Sea Race."

Lu Yang’s curiosity was piqued: "Is there truly any difficulty in a Water Spiritual Root producing seawater?"

"Of course there is; a Water Spiritual Root produces water, so how is she to manifest the salt?"

Lu Yang conceded that this was indeed a formidable conundrum.

"Wait, that still makes no sense—what is the purpose of such research?"

Bai Ming assumed an expression of deep embarrassment: "Family shame should not be aired in public; since you have learned of this, please do not speak of it, lest it reach the ears of the Imperial Court."

"Rest assured, our lips are sealed," Meng Jingzhou guaranteed, speaking the absolute truth; their identities as the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Court Sect and its four Holy Sons remained unexposed to this day, a testament to their rigorous discretion.

Of course, from a certain perspective, it was merely their profound desire to avoid mortal peril should they be discovered, a reflection of their dedication to self-preservation.

"Senior Sister Tang is fond of wealth, and hearing that the illicit salt trade yields rapid fortunes, she intends to traffic in contraband salt."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

No wonder she dared not let the Imperial Court catch wind of it.

"With such an abundance of seawater here, would it not be simpler to just evaporate the water in the sun to gather salt?"

"Senior Sister Tang maintained that a true practitioner bears the sole consequences of their actions; using the ocean to harvest salt would make it far too easy for the Court to trace the illegal trade back to our Sect."

"My word, what meticulous forethought," Li Haoran marveled; to have already calculated the contingencies of her potential downfall spoke of a labyrinthine intellect that nearly rivaled Qin Haoran.

"Over there are the Turtles, those are the Sharks, and those are the Clams," Bai Ming noted, pointing out the origins of each aquatic tribe; recognizing the guests of the Five Elements Sect, the denizens of the deep nodded in polite greeting.

There were the Turtles, bearing their heavy, ancient carapaces; the Sharks, whose faces still retained the vestiges of gills; and the Clam Maidens, who lifted their voices in beautiful song.

"It is a pity that the apex lineages like the Dragons and the Kunpeng are unwilling to leave the Eastern Sea to dwell within our Sect; even when they do venture here, it is merely to glimpse the world before circling back to their domains," Bai Ming lamented softly, having never possessed the fortune to lay eyes upon a Dragon or a Kunpeng.

"The Kunpeng clan once begged me to grant them a favor," the Immortal Fairy chimed in; she had naturally encountered the Kunpeng, whose ancient ancestors would prostrate themselves before her in utmost reverence.

"What did they beg of you?"

Was it to spare their lives, or did they merely hope she would prepare them into a more delectable dish?

The silent warning of the Invincible Pill caused Lu Yang to forcefully swallow his words.

"Have you ever heard the ancient description of the Kunpeng race? In the Northern Abyss there is a fish, and its name is Kun. The scale of the Kun is so vast, none know how many thousands of miles it spans. It transforms into a bird, and its name is Peng. The back of the Peng is so immense, none know how many thousands of miles it extends."

During the primordial era when the celestial spheres still existed, the Kunpeng race inhabited a planet named the Northern Abyss.

"I have heard it, but what of those words?"

"Back then, the ancestor of the Kunpeng sought me out, explaining that due to the lack of unified weights and measures, the scales of different races varied wildly; in particular, the standard for a 'mile' or a 'meter' differed so greatly that whenever anyone wrote of the Kunpeng, it was impossible to determine exactly how large they truly were."

"The Kunpeng ancestor implored us, the Five Immortals of Antiquity, to unify the weights and measures of the realm; as it happened, we harbored the very same intention at the time, and so we granted his request."

Lu Yang: "..."

So that was the true context behind that legendary passage.

"Why does it suddenly feel so cold?" Yao Yaoye inquired after the party had swum for a short while.

Though cultivators of the Golden Core stage were impervious to ordinary heat and frost, they remained acutely aware of shifting ambient temperatures.

"Ahead lies the Ice Domain, originally constructed via formations by the first Elder of the Water Current; augmented by successive generations of Elders, its expanse has grown ever wider and its ice ever thicker; few venture there ordinarily, but would you care to see it?"

Techniques of the frost attribute were considered offshoots of the water element, much like how the Ice Spiritual Root was a mutation of the Water Spiritual Root; the Ice Domain was likewise an essential training ground for water-attribute cultivators.

Even as they spoke, a colossal iceberg drifted slowly into view; a giant whale appeared as miniscule as an ant before its monolithic presence, with nine-tenths of its mass submerged beneath the dark waters and less than a tenth exposed to the open air.

"Since the opportunity presents itself, let us take a look," Meng Jingzhou smiled; during his previous visit to the Five Elements Sect, he had been entirely consumed by his study of spells, neglecting to tour the five elemental branches in such detail.

To the north of the Great Xia Dynasty lay a desolate, frigid expanse known as the Extreme North; let alone the five of them, scarcely anyone from the Daoist Sect had ever journeyed there.

The Extreme North was devoid of life and barren of spiritual resources, offering virtually nothing but endless ice, rendering any journey there utterly pointless.

The deeper they ventured into the Ice Domain, the more the biting frost cut into them; under these extreme conditions, even their Golden Core cultivation could no longer shield them entirely, and the companions truly felt the weight of absolute zero as their spiritual energy slowed by thirty to forty percent, flowing with thick, sluggish friction.

Yet, none among them spoke of turning back, continuing their swim forward through the freezing depths.

"Very well, let us stop here," Bai Ming uttered, himself unable to withstand the freezing cold any longer, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

The crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief; someone had finally called an end to the journey, just as they too were on the verge of collapse.

"Since this Ice Domain was established by the first Elder of the Water Current, does it mean this place is filled with thousand-year ice, ten-thousand-year ice, and even hundred-thousand-year ice?" Man Gu asked curiously, his eyes shining bright; having spent his life in the sweltering heat of the Western Continent, he had never witnessed such an abundance of ice.

"Naturally, ten-thousand-year and hundred-thousand-year ice are scattered everywhere here, though they possess very little practical utility."

"Useless? I have heard that ten-thousand-year ice command an astronomical price."

Bai Ming dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand, enlightening Man Gu: "That is merely a deception conjured by unscrupulous merchants to create a grand illusion; they claim that ten-thousand-year ice possesses ancient heritage and ten millennia of concentrated frost to aid one's cultivation, but it is all a scam to make older things seem more valuable; they never consider that the spiritual qi we breathe has existed for millions or tens of millions of years, yet you do not see anyone selling that."

"Furthermore, this water and these stones have existed for far more than a hundred thousand years—they are millions of years old."

Lu Yang nodded repeatedly from the side, agreeing thoroughly with Bai Ming's perspective; however, catching sight of a strangely silent Meng Jingzhou, a trace of perplexity crossed his mind.

"Old Meng, what is wrong with you? Usually, you are the most vocal at times like this."

Meng Jingzhou transmitted his voice directly into Lu Yang's mind: "Keep quiet; it was our Meng Clan that artificially inflated the price of that ten-thousand-year ice."

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