< Chapter 28: Ice-Embracing Technique >
Ning Family’s patriarch gave a wry smile, “State your demands.”
With each condition Ning Xiaohui stated, his face grew darker.
After the fifth, the patriarch could no longer hold back, raising his hand to stop her: “Hold, let’s pause for a moment.”
Elder Grandma Ning, with her old credentials, spoke displeasedly: “Pause what? My granddaughter is risking her life this time.”
The family elder from the Talisman Hall also chimed in: “Patriarch, do you know? The Lord Mayor’s office has already taken action, deploying multiple squads of city guards to patrol continuously in Puppet Immortal City, beginning strict checks on cultivators who practice The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.”
“Once Xiaohui joins this competition, it’s not just the dangers inside the Lava Immortal Palace.”
Grandma Ning scoffed coldly, “We’re all from the main branch, all family, not outsiders from a branch line. What are you being stingy about?”
Ning Zhuo woke up the next day at noon, feeling much better.
“It seems I’ll need some nourishing pills to restore my soul.”
Although Ning Zhuo had stored many pills, he didn’t have many that were specifically for the soul.
From his first exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace, he knew such pills would be indispensable.
“Not only does the giant tree in room two weaken the soul.”
“When the soul is extracted and resides in a puppet, it also slowly loses soul power.”
“Therefore, the stronger the foundation of the soul, the more advantageous it is in exploring the Lava Immortal Palace.”
Thinking this, Ning Zhuo sprang into action.
He decided to purchase soul-nourishing pills from several Pill Pavilions and Medicine Shops throughout the city. Each time, he bought other pills as cover.
As he was on his way, he heard people complaining that the city guards were arresting people everywhere.
At the same time, he saw many notices posted on the walls—the Lord’s Manor was quickly checking the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, fearing it was a demonic technique disguised as a Taoist practice, and as a precaution, they had ordered that cultivators in the city temporarily refrain from practicing this technique.
Ning Zhuo immediately changed his plans, no longer daring to purchase pills from the Pill Pavilions or Medicine Shops.
On his way back, he heard more rumors, which made his heart tighten.
“Meng Chong, Zheng Jian, and Zhou Zhu were attacked and assassinated?”
“That’s terrifying.”
“These geniuses, even under the heavy protection of their families, are experiencing such things.”
“If someone like me were exposed, it would be even worse than them!”
“My mother was right, I really should stay hidden.”
Ning Zhuo returned home.
He needed to stockpile more soul-nourishing pills, but with the situation so tense, he decided to wait.
Ning Zhuo considered the black market.
But ever since the explosion at the Immortal Palace, his Cang Tie Han Armor had been greatly damaged. The armor, especially the back, showed significant wear.
Most crucially, one of the core components, the Foundation Establishment Pill, was down to only ten percent remaining.
This was Ning Zhuo’s last resort, and he could not afford to misuse it any longer.
“First, I’ll master the spell I received as a reward from the Immortal Palace,” Ning Zhuo decided. The spell, known as the Ice-Embracing Technique, allowed him to freeze any object he held in his embrace into ice.
After some study, Ning Zhuo’s first impression was that the spell seemed rather weak.
His main expertise had been in the Snow Region Talisman Atlas, which gave him control over frost-type mana and several spells like Ice Spear Technique, Frost Flower Technique, and Snowball Technique.
“The biggest drawback of the Ice-Embracing Technique is that it requires close combat to be effective,” he mused.
“Whereas spells like the Ice Spear Technique and Snowball Technique allow for long-range attacks.”
This was a significant limitation in actual combat situations, which made Ning Zhuo consider using the Ice Spear Technique, something he had thought about while in the Lava Immortal Palace.
However, there was a problem: he couldn’t use it!
This brings us to the differences and relationships between cultivation methods and spells. Cultivation methods, such as the Five Elements Qi Regulation Art and the Snow Region Talisman Atlas, are primarily used to cultivate mana.
Spells like the Ice Spear Technique, Frost Flower Technique, and Ice-Embracing Technique are techniques for utilizing mana in specific ways.
Spells rely on the foundation provided by cultivation methods. Cultivators’ mana varies widely, and mana of one element cannot easily invoke spells of another—those with frost mana, for example, can’t use Fire Dragon Technique, only Ice Dragon Technique or Snow Whale Technique, etc.
After acquiring Five Elements Mana, Ning Zhuo also tried using spells like the Ice Spear Technique, but he couldn’t activate them. With his mana encompassing all five elements, he needed to extract the specific type of mana required for each individual spell.
He mastered the Ice Spear Technique and The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art, but they were not compatible. This required the improvement of the spells. Such situations were quite common in the realm of cultivation.
If Ning Zhuo decided to learn another Ice-based technique, he could likely use the previous Ice Spear Technique directly. However, since the original spell and the current mana were not entirely compatible, there would be significant losses, and adjustments were needed for a perfect match.
The Ice-Embracing Technique was something Ning Zhuo could use directly because it was fully compatible with The Five Elements Qi Regulation Art.
After practicing a few times, Ning Zhuo was able to separate the water element from his Five Elements Mana and activate the Ice-Embracing Technique.
The wooden stool in Ning Zhuo’s arms was instantly covered with frost. The frost spread rapidly, becoming thicker with each moment, and within a few breaths, it turned into a block of ice.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t hide his astonishment: “Is the power of this Ice-Embracing Technique really so strong?”
Compared to regular spells like the Ice Spear Technique, Snowball Technique, and Frost Flower Technique, the power of the Ice-Embracing Technique was clearly superior.
Next, Ning Zhuo devoted himself to practicing this spell in the underground workshop. Benches, chairs, mirrors, bricks—all were frozen into blocks of ice by him. He became absorbed in his practice.
The floor and corners of the room were filled with large and small ice bumps, freezing various objects. The entire underground workshop was filled with chill, essentially turning it into an underground ice cellar.
“I faced three options in front of the first gate: a spirit stone, a hanging ring, and a gust of air.”
“Upon careful reflection, these three options should all aid me in passing the challenge,” Ning Zhuo analyzed logically, with evidence to support his claims. “Spirit Stones are self-explanatory. The hanging rings are likely similar to the Ruyi Rope I crafted, which could enable the puppet to change direction in midair, or even briefly float and fly.”
Following this line of thought, he considered the reward options he encountered before the second gate as potentially useful for his challenge as well. “Spirit Stones need no mention. I didn’t see clearly what the mechanical parts were, but considering the Ice-Embracing Technique, it seems likely that room three will require me to fight,” Ning Zhuo concluded, recognizing that the Ice-Embracing Technique was typically an offensive spell.
“Room one requires a cultivator to assemble a mechanical puppet, room two tests the puppet’s ability to jump, run, and dodge, and room three is likely for combat.”
Viewing it this way, the trials of the Lava Immortal Palace seemed to be both a rigorous selection of the excellent and a training in puppetry techniques. “It seems the three sect elders are interested not just in selecting the outstanding, but also in training them in puppetry arts.”
Sighing, he reflected on his recovery, “My soul is almost fully recuperated. It’s just that I don’t know when I will be able to re-enter the Immortal Palace.”
That night, an exhausted Ning Zhuo fell into a deep sleep. However, something felt amiss. He tried to open his eyes, only to find darkness still surrounding him. After a few seconds of astonishment, he sensed his surroundings and became excited.
“My soul has been extracted again, and I have entered the Lava Immortal Palace!”