The Goldwind Rac.o.o.ns blurred and phased into the stone gate as if they were never there.
Han Li was stunned. Before he could react, the stone gate flashed and it opened with a rumble. A sparkling pa.s.sage appeared before him.
The pa.s.sage was covered in a thick layer of frost as if it were a cave of ice.
The Goldwind Rac.o.o.n stood at the pa.s.sage entrance and looked at Han Li with bright eyes of intelligence. At that moment, the other racc.o.o.n emerged from hiding as well.
A chuckle sounded in Han Li’s ear, “Fellow Daoist Han, please come in! Please forgive me for not personally welcoming you in!”
Han Li raised his brow and wordlessly stepped forward.
When the Gold Wind Rac.o.o.ns saw that Han Li was following them, they turned around and leapt in the pa.s.sage.
Easily keeping close behind them, Han Li took several turns and felt the temperature sharply drop as he headed deeper in.
Suddenly, the pa.s.sage dropped straight down. His heart stirred and he briefly paused before dropping down.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li finally arrived at the end of the pa.s.sage and saw that the Goldwind Racc.o.o.ns pounce into a large hall filled with mist.
The large hall was made from translucent stone with lines of glacial light s.h.i.+ning from its surface. They seemed to be made from Myriad Year Profound Ice.
When Han Li stepped in the hall, he couldn"t help but s.h.i.+ver from the cold, but after purple flames roiled across his body, he appeared entirely unaffected.
“So it is true. You nurture a flame of extreme cold!” A delighted voice echoed through the hall.
In his alarm, Han Li looked up and instantly shouted, “The Celestial Ice Flames!”
At the corners of the hall, there were huge crystal pillars, surrounding the twenty-meter-large blue cauldron at the center. This cauldron released threads of blue flames, releasing a wondrous cold and spiritual pressure that Han Li was all too familiar with, much to his shock.
“Fellow Daoist Han recognizes the Celestial Ice Flames? What a surprise!” A yelp sound form behind the cauldron and a figure blurred from behind it to reveal a meter-tall figure.
A short old dwarf with deep wrinkles, snow-white hair, and blue robes was looking at Han Li with an odd expression.
“You are Master Arctic Dragon?” Han Li’s expression returned to normal and he saluted the old man.
“That’s right. I’m Arctic Dragon. However, that name is a t.i.tle that has been pa.s.sed down by all grand elders of the North Night Palace. Few know of my true name.” A glint flashed from the old man’s eyes when he spoke to Han Li and he calmly waved his hand, striking one of the pillars in the room with a spell seal.
With a flash, white light brightly glowed from several places from the hall’s floors, summoning several white meditation mats.
With a kindly tone, the old man said, “Because I rarely have guests, I don’t have any tables or chairs prepared. I hope you don’t take offense!”
“You are already being too polite. Cultivators like us aren’t supposed to pay attention to such things in the first place,” Han Li smiled and took several steps forward before taking a seat on one of the mats and taking another look at the huge cauldron.
At that moment, he realized that cauldron appeared rather similar to the Heavenvoid Cauldron. The Celestial Ice Flames were completely restricted by the cauldron, preventing any of its power from leaking, else the hall would’ve been long been frozen over.
This puzzled Han Li greatly.
Master Arctic Dragon sat down on the mat across from Han Li and sincerely said, “Although I have nothing to discuss with you in particular, my senses tell me you’re the one I’ve spent years searching for.”
Stifling his bewilderment, Han Li slowly said, “I’m a bit at a loss over what you said. Could you tell me what you meant by that?”
Arctic Dragon smiled and said, “Brother Han doesn’t need to be nervous. I’ve invited you here because you were able to consume two Ice Spirit Fruits without a problem. But now that I see that you cultivate flames of extreme cold, I have no further tests for you. You’re the person I’ve been searching for.”
Han Li pursed his lips and frowned, “Why would you be looking for me?”
Arctic Dragon’s face turned stern and he solemnly asked, “Could I ask the name of the purple flame of yours? Although I know of many purple spirit flames, I’ve never heard of one that was ice attributed. Please enlighten me.”
Han Li glanced at the purple flames wrapping around his body and calmly said, “The flames were something I produced from wanton cultivation. There is no official name for them. For the sake of convenience, I’ve named them the Purple Apex Flames. Their power can’t be much better than the Celestial Ice Flames, as powerful as they may be.”
Of course, Han Li wouldn’t give the truth until he understood how things stood.
When Arctic Dragon heard Han Li, he smiled with satisfaction and said, “Your words are true. Although the Purple Apex Flames were born of a fusion, its cold nature is impure. If it had gone through specialized refinement, its power should be even greater.”
A trace of amazement was betrayed from his face. “Even greater? I’ve already refined the flames once before. How can they become purer?”
“Hehe, it seems Brother Han doesn’t understand much of cold flames. Few ice flames of these kinds exist in the world. However, all of these flames have a particular method to purify them further, with the exception being flames used for refinement. Of course, the final increase in strength would depend on one’s personal skill and the strength of the flame itself. That doesn’t mean it can become several times greater in strength like the Celestial Ice Flames.” The old man twirled his beard and looked at the huge cauldron with a trace of pride.
Han Li gasped in shock and he immediately lifted his fingers and produced a thread of purple flame on top of it. “Several times its strength? You mean to say that this flame can be purified?”
“That is an ice flame that has been refined once before, but the process is not complete. Did Fellow Daoist compress it with magic power to reach that stage? Not only does such a reckless method waste your magic power, but it only results in a sliver of flame being refined.”
“Many thanks for your guidance.” Han Li paused for a moment and took another look at the old dwarf, “Could Fellow Daoist tell me why you were looking for me?”
“Before I answer that, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you. The Celestial Ice Flames are known to spa.r.s.ely few, but you were able to recognize them at a glance. Could it be you’ve seen them before?”
When Han Li heard this, his heart roiled and he calmly replied, “I’ve seen the flames before in a record, but because it was unique I’ve kept it in mind.” Since North Night Palace had an unclear relation to Heavenvoid Hall, he didn’t dare to utter the truth.
Han Li’s blunt answer momentarily stunned Arctic Dragon, but he soon chuckled, “It seems I’ve been meddlesome. The Celestial Ice Flames is something that can be considered exclusive to our North Night Palace. In that case, I will speak truthfully. As you may have guessed, I need the a.s.sistance of Brother Han’s ice flames.”
With that said, the old dwarf’s expression turned grave. Han Li remained silent, knowing that Arctic Dragon would be sure to continue and explain himself.
But then, Arctic Dragon paused and looked at Han Li with a strange expression, asking, “Brother Han, what do you feel about my cultivation? Are you able to tell any difference between me and other late-Nascent Soul cultivators?”
Given what Arctic Dragon said, Han Li used his spiritual sense to examine him without any reserve. He then hesitantly said, “You are undoubtedly a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but your spiritual sense and cultivation is much stronger than other grand cultivators I’ve seen before. In this manner, you are a bit different.”
Arctic Dragon calmly said, “As of current, my cultivation has reached the peak of late-Nascent Soul stage. I am only a half-step away from Deity Transformation stage. To tell the truth, I’ve been lingering at this stage for three hundred years. I’ve taken several medicine pills and used many secret techniques before finally breaking through halfway to Deity Transformation cultivation. My current appearance is a result of consuming medicine pills recklessly.”
A sudden realization shook Han Li, “So it was like that! Have you comprehended a few abilities of Deity Transformation stage?”
“Hehe! With my current appearance, I’ve been avoiding seeing other people. I’ve remained in secluded cultivation, researching methods to breakthrough the last meager barrier to Deity Transformation stage. As a result of those years of hard work, I eventually found a final solution after looking through several ancient records. The method is said to have a thirty percent chance of breaking the bottleneck and allowing me to ascend to Deity Transformation stage.”
“You wish to draw the support of a flame of great cold? In that case, shouldn’t many cultivators in your sect cultivate ice attribute techniques? It shouldn’t be hard to find an elder who cultivates ice flames. Why me?”
“This method requires five different Nascent Soul cultivators, each wielding a difference ice flame. The North Night Palace has two cultivators that possess an ice flame, and I also managed to find two from outside the sect. I’ve been searching for the final user for several years, but I’ve yet to find one until now!” With that said, the old dwarf’s face was filled with excitement.