Falling.
An endless sense of weightlessness enveloped Ye Chen's entire body. The howling gale and the increasingly deafening roar of rushing water filled his ears. The icy air scraped against his cheeks like knives, and the shadow of death had never felt so clear.
Ye Chen tightly gripped Wang Tiechui's arm, his other hand instinctively protecting the Ascension Token in his embrace. In the instant of falling, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, ultimately settling on a near-mad attempt—he desperately circulated that faint wisp of airflow, injecting it madly into the Ascension Token, while concentrating all his will, not on survival, but on... communication!
Communicating with this token that had led him onto the path of immortality and repeatedly displayed its divine wonders!
He didn't know if it would work, merely grasping at the last straw in his desperate situation.
Just before the two were about to smash into the surging, white-capped river below—
Buzz!
The Ascension Token trembled violently, not with heat, but emitting a peculiar, soft fluctuation like water waves! This fluctuation instantly spread, not lifting them, but seemingly resonating with some invisible force below!
Splash!
The icy river water instantly swallowed them both, the immense impact almost causing Ye Chen to faint. But he could feel that, at the moment of entering the water, the fluctuation from the Ascension Token seemed to have offset most of the fatal impact force, and like an invisible membrane, it briefly pushed aside the surrounding rapids by a sliver.
The Ascension Token resonated with the unknown environment, autonomously activating its protective effect for its master.
Suffered immense impact, physique damaged, Basic Body Tempering Art proficiency passively increased!
Fell into the extremely cold spirit stream, cold qi invaded the body!
There was no time to rejoice, as the bone-chilling coldness, like countless steel needles, pierced through that faint protective layer and stabbed deep into his marrow. This stream water was abnormally cold, far beyond ordinary, and it contained a pure yet overbearing cold energy that frantically eroded their vitality.
Ye Chen held his breath, tightly gripping Wang Tiechui, and desperately struggled upwards. His swimming skills were passable, but in such a swift and cold icy stream, carrying a comatose burly man, it was an almost impossible task.
Just as the air in his lungs was about to run out and his consciousness began to blur, his foot seemed to touch something—not the soft riverbed, but... a hard and relatively smooth rock slope angled upwards!
It was a submerged rock ledge near the bank!
The instinct for survival made him unleash his last bit of strength, dragging Wang Tiechui, and climbing upwards along that ledge.
"Splash—"
The moment he broke through the water, Ye Chen greedily inhaled the cold air, his lungs burning. He found himself on a shallow bank near a waterfall, shrouded in mist. Behind him was the roaring waterfall, and before him, a deep ravine.
He strenuously dragged Wang Tiechui ashore, then collapsed on the ground himself, coughing violently, each cough expelling icy water tinged with blood.
Successfully escaped danger, willpower tempered.
Status: Severely injured, extremely fatigued, cold qi invading the body, miasma poison not yet cleared.
There was no time to check himself; he immediately looked at Wang Tiechui. Wang Tiechui's face was dark blue, the wound on his chest was pale and bloated from soaking, and his breath was so weak it was almost imperceptible. The backlash from the Chaos Battle Body's activation, combined with the fall and the cold poison, had pushed him to the brink of death.
"Hold on, Tiechui!" Ye Chen gritted his teeth and forced himself up, looking around.
This was a hidden shallow bank located behind the waterfall. Above was a cliff shrouded in clouds and mist, its peak invisible. Below was the ceaselessly flowing icy stream, and on both sides were steep, slippery rock walls. The sound of water roared, and mist permeated the air, forming a natural barrier of sound and shadow.
His gaze quickly locked onto the base of the rock wall on the right. There was a clump of dense, faintly blue-glowing vines, and behind them, a dark cave entrance seemed to be hidden.
A cave!
A flicker of hope arose in Ye Chen's heart. He picked up Wang Tiechui again and stumbled towards the cave entrance. Pushing aside the blue vines emitting a faint cold aura, a cave entrance, just wide enough for one person to pass through and sloping inwards, appeared before him.
The cave was pitch black inside, but wisps of spiritual energy, purer and colder than that outside, emanated from it.
He fumbled his way inside. It was narrow at first, but after walking more than ten paces, the view suddenly opened up!
It was a natural rock cave, not large, only about ten zhang in area. Cracks in the cave ceiling allowed some daylight to filter through, illuminating the interior. In the center of the cave was a small pool. The water was clear to the bottom but emitted visible white cold qi, the source of the pure, icy spiritual energy that permeated the cave. Around the pool grew some shade-loving, strangely shaped, glowing white moss and a few small plants bearing ice-blue berries.
What shocked Ye Chen the most was that on the stone wall at the deepest part of the cave, several fist-sized crystals were embedded, emitting a soft, moon-white glow! These crystals were different from Star Stones; they emitted a pure, cold spiritual energy, bathing the cave in a clear, cold moonlight.
Discovered a natural cold cave, containing 'Profound Yin Spirit Spring' and accompanying 'Moon Radiance Stones'.
Environmental spiritual energy concentration: Medium, leaning towards Yin-cold attribute.
Mineral Identification proficiency +10! Herb Identification proficiency +5!
"Profound Yin Spirit Spring? Moon Radiance Stones?" Ye Chen's heart trembled. The bottom of Dragon Fall Ravine actually hid such a Grotto-Heaven rich in spiritual energy! Although the attribute was cold, for him, who desperately needed spiritual energy for healing and cultivation, it was a godsend!
He carefully placed Wang Tiechui in a relatively dry and warm corner near the Moon Radiance Stones. Although the spiritual energy emitted by the Moon Radiance Stones was icy, it was neutral and peaceful, perhaps able to slow the dissipation of his vitality.
Next, Ye Chen immediately sat cross-legged by the Spirit Spring. He first tried to scoop up a handful of spring water, but the bone-chilling cold made his arm stiffen. He circulated the Basic Body Tempering Art, carefully guiding a wisp of the Profound Yin spiritual energy from the spring water into his body.
Cold! Overbearing!
This spiritual energy was far purer than that from low-grade spirit stones and the outside world, but it also carried a strong cold attribute. If his physique hadn't been tempered by Star Power and he didn't have the Ascension Token, he would likely have frozen his meridians instantly.
But at this moment, this cold qi became a sharp weapon against the rampant miasma poison within his body! Miasma poison belonged to the Yin and foul, while this Profound Yin spiritual energy was pure Yin and cold. When the two met, they actually consumed and annihilated each other!
Guided Profound Yin spiritual energy into the body, mutually canceling out the miasma poison within.
Meridians endured Yin-cold erosion, Basic Body Tempering Art proficiency +5!
Miasma poison erosion effect weakened.
Effective!
Ye Chen's spirits soared. Disregarding the stinging pain in his meridians, he began to draw in larger amounts of Profound Yin spiritual energy, washing through his limbs and bones, focusing on encircling the stubborn miasma poison entrenched in his Dantian and near his wounds.
At the same time, the Ascension Token in his embrace once again emitted a warm sensation, seemingly reacting to this pure Yin-cold spiritual energy. A faint suction force emerged, and it began to actively absorb the spiritual energy emanating from the Spirit Spring. After some form of transformation, it fed back more gentle, easily absorbable energy, assisting Ye Chen in healing.
Ascension Token assisted in converting Profound Yin spiritual energy, absorption efficiency increased.
Dantian injuries repaired at an accelerated rate! 45%…50%…
Time flowed by in silent cultivation. After an unknown period, Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a small pool of foul-smelling, blackish-red clotted blood. It was the mixture of miasma poison and cold poison forced out of his body.
He let out a long sigh. Although his face was still pale, his eyes had regained clarity. The stagnant, cold feeling within his body had largely dissipated, and the injuries to his Dantian were more than half healed!
Successfully cleared most of the miasma poison and cold poison.
Cultivation stabilized: Qi Refining Stage First Layer 35/100.
Basic Body Tempering Art proficiency increased to: Proficient 210/5000.
He immediately looked at Wang Tiechui, his brow furrowing again. Wang Tiechui's condition remained grim. The Profound Yin spiritual energy could suppress the miasma poison, but the physical trauma to his chest and the backlash from the battle body's activation required vitality and nourishment.
Ye Chen's gaze fell upon the small plants bearing ice-blue berries.
Discovered 'Ice Marrow Grass', its fruit 'Ice Marrow Fruit' contains pure life essence and ice spirit power, capable of repairing physical damage and neutralizing fire poison, but its medicinal properties are potent and require careful use.
Ice Marrow Fruit! Contains life essence!
Ye Chen no longer hesitated. He carefully picked a dragon eye-sized ice-blue berry. The fruit felt cool in his hand, with what seemed like flowing light within. He crushed it, carefully dripping the cool juice into Wang Tiechui's slightly parted lips, and used his true qi to help it dissolve.
As the fruit juice entered his body, Wang Tiechui's body trembled violently, and a thin layer of white frost instantly formed on his skin. But immediately after, a vigorous life force was stimulated from deep within his body, merging with the icy medicinal power, and began to slowly repair his damaged internal organs and the wounds on his chest. His dark blue complexion also receded at a visible rate.
Used 'Ice Marrow Fruit' on Wang Tiechui, his injuries began to slowly repair, and his vitality was replenished.
Herb Identification proficiency +15!
Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief, finally stabilizing Tiechui's life for the time being.
He stood up and walked to the Moon Radiance Stones, feeling their pure spiritual energy. He then looked at the Profound Yin Spirit Spring.
This Grotto-Heaven at the bottom of Dragon Fall Ravine, cold, hidden, rich in spiritual energy, with a spirit spring and spirit fruit, was simply an excellent place for healing and cultivation!
The pursuit from the Black Marsh was temporarily escaped, and the shadow of the mine seemed to recede.
Ye Chen clenched the Ascension Token, looking at the ceaselessly flowing icy stream outside the cave, his eyes flashing with determination.
"Right here, I will recover my injuries, improve my strength! Then... I will leave this Dragon Fall Ravine and head to the Azure Profound Dao Sect!"
A new journey would set sail again in this Grotto-Heaven where he had found life in despair.