Chapter 82 – Snowy Mountain’s Ice Coffin
Most of the pract.i.tioners escaped to the exuberant mountain woods, but their mood was not the same as before. If not because they were one mountain away from the Snow Jade Dragon, and had some leisure period to flee, then it wouldn’t be only as much as twenty people buried under the sea of snow.
Xiao Chen was searching this snowy region for a good while, but he didn’t find anything particularly special. After that, he set out for the depths of the snowy mountain to look for Keke and the three skeletons.
Two hours later, Xiao Chen found their tracks.
After he climbed up a snowy summit, Xiao Chen was dumbstruck. Other than the three skeletons who were meditating in the icy cave, he found there was a snow lotus about the size of a house, and Keke was currently sleeping soundly on top of it!
The entire snow lotus was emitting a glorious light, the ripple-like radiance circulated slowly, words can’t even begin to describe how magical it was. It made the spiritual influence around here very dense, multicolored radiance lingered around the snow lotus that seemed to be carved out of divine jade. It was so dazzling under the radiance of the sun.
And that Keke was just sleeping at the heart of the snow lotus, people couldn’t help but admit that this little critter was really miraculous. Every time it was able to find this kind of spiritual item, this was definitely not a stroke of luck, it must have something to do with its spiritual nature.
This little critter was really too carefree, it wasn’t even worried if a wild beast will swallow it whole, it was sleeping too soundly. G.o.d knows how does this little critter survive on this dragon island with so many monsters roaming around. Xiao Chen walked over there with light steps, and touched it with his hand. Something amazing happened as a result, a ball of gentle radiance was actually overflowing on the surface of Keke’s body, and protected it within. “Squeak……” The snow-white little critter was actually talking in its sleep, it flipped around after getting touched by Xiao Chen, and then it started to snore again, it didn’t even wake up at all.
This…… Seriously made Xiao Chen speechless.
Xiao Chen didn’t try to disturb it again. He sat on top of the snowy peak and began to adjust his breathing. Although he was cold-hearted to his enemy, Xiao Chen was very caring in regards to the people around him. He favored this little critter very much, this time it was thanks to Keke’s colorful jade sh.e.l.l, otherwise he might have died in the hand of that flying dagger.
Lunhui w.a.n.g and the other two discovered that Xiao Chen had returned. The spiritual light in their eye sockets were flickering, then it died out again as they continued to meditate.
Xiao Chen stayed like this until the latter half of the night, only then did he starts to feel refreshed. He had thoroughly recovered to the peak stage, thanks to him absorbing the essence of a few dragon eggs before, his life energy is now far more vigorous than ordinary people, otherwise his vital energy would have suffered greatly after the intense battle this time.
The rich and powerful life essence make Xiao Chen feel like he has two lives. If he was to run into an enemy close to his level, he could definitely fight until both sides suffered. He had abundant of life energy anyway, he could definitely make his opponent spent!
~The starlight flickered, the dim light of night resembled water~
Only until the latter half of the night did Keke get up lazily. After seeing Xiao Chen, it half consciously blinked its big eyes a few times. After that it suddenly recalled something, and painfully pointed its tiny paw at its round and bulging little belly. After that, it resentfully pointed at Xiao Chen, seemingly trying to accuse him wordlessly. Xiao Chen was tempted to smile all of a sudden, he was positive that this little critter must have wanted to eat this snow lotus, it was keeping watch on this spiritual item, yet it wasn’t able to eat it. It must have been really bored.
“I guess I need not call you a little monster anymore, I can totally call you a treasure hunting beast. Only you would be able to find this kind of snow lotus, you really are the bane of spiritual item.”
Keke seemed somewhat dissatisfied, it furiously waved its little paw at Xiao Chen. After that, it turned around and opened up a few crystal clear lotus petals found at the heart of the lotus, it scooped out a fist-sized jade-like object from within. The divine splendor was really dazzling, it was like a speck of star, this was the genuine snow lotus heart, it made Xiao Chen feel emotionally moved.
Keke was drooling continuously, it wanted to eat yet it doesn’t dare to eat.
“Haha……!” Xiao Chen couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud, and then he said, “Let me keep them for you first, you can enjoy it after your little belly shrunk.”
Keke looked at Xiao Chen doubtfully. In the end, it hanged its head dejectedly and nodded its head. It break off the lotus heart into two halves, one half is for Xiao Chen to keep it on its behalf, the other half was given directly to Xiao Chen as a present. At the same time, it was waving its little paw to warn Xiao Chen not to take advantage of the situation.
Xiao Chen was unable to restrain a smile, and said, “You little monster, so you still have some conscience and didn’t forget about me. Rest a.s.sured, I will keep them for you, I also don’t need the other half.”
After going to Keke’s old home, Xiao Chen felt the relationship between them had strengthened, he should be able to keep it by his side soon.
“Keke, I will tell you now how to shrink your plump little belly.”
Keke’s big eyes lit up instantly.
“To accomplish that, we need your treasured tree. Last time you saw how I merged with the treasured tree right? From today onward, you need to try and a.s.similate the divine sproutling into your little belly, and allow it to absorb the excess Sweet Dew of Life. Otherwise who knows how long it will take for you to completely digest those Sweet Dew.”
Keke’s pair of glittering big eyes were perfectly round, then it covered its plump little belly with both hands and shook its head vigorously. That means it will not do it even if you beat it to death. “Squeak! Squeak……!” It seemed to be saying it will definitely not plant the tree on its belly.
“It’s also fine if you’re not willing to do it. All the Sweet Dew of Life will be absorbed by yourself, it will be very beneficial. However, from now on until a certain period in the future, you must resist your desire to eat delicious food.”
Keke immediately became listless, it furiously climbed up the snow lotus, and continued to sleep.
“Keke, don’t just sleep all day, it’s about time to supplement your treasured tree, let your treasured tree take root on the snow lotus.”
Xiao Chen carried Keke into the icy cave, and planted the treasured tree on the snow lotus. An intense light lingered on the snowy peak under the dim light of night. On the palm-sized divine sproutling’s dragonet-like “tree trunk”, the inky jade leaf, the milky jade leaf, and also the jasper leaf immediately glowed with dazzling l.u.s.ter.
Early morning, Xiao Chen and the gang left this place, because when they surveyed the scene from an elevated position, they found a run-down ancient palace on a distant snowy peak.
When they arrived at this place, they found that it really wasn’t an illusion. There was really a remnant here, the run-down palace hall almost collapsed, only two of the originally grandeur halls remain standing to this day, but they could collapse at any given time. They didn’t find anything special here, it seemed to be nothing more than the remnant of an ancient palace, it wasn’t as bizarre and terrifying as those palace on the sacred mountain.
“Let’s use this ancient palace hall as a mark, and temporarily bury the dragon eggs here. It will also be easier to look for it later.” Xiao Chen wanted to stop absorbing the dragon egg’s essence. When he welcomed the morning sun yesterday, he had a flash of enlightenment, it gave him an all new understanding regarding the path of training. He wanted to begin his journey anew. It’s not like the dragon egg will run away anyway, he can come back to take it any time. Meanwhile, he was kind of expectant in his heart, perhaps he could really nurture one or two young Dragon King.
Xiao Chen absolutely never thought, after digging the ice and snow, they would actually find an ice coffin!
This is a big discovery! Could this be where an ancient deity was buried? When he thought of this, he fastened his pace and thawed the frozen earth in the surroundings, allowing the ice coffin to surface.
Under the glory of the sunlight, they could see what was within the transparent ice coffin clearly, it had a full body of wrinkled skin. One glance and people could tell it was the remains of an exceptionally old man.
This is seriously too bizarre!
There was only a layer of wrinkled skin, not even a body remains! This sent a chill down Xiao Chen’s spine. However, he could not be frightened by just this much. He lightly pushed the cover of the ice coffin, and exposed the human skin inside. He picked it up and discovered there was a breach from the head until the abdomen. Other than that, the rest are in good condition. There was no damage at all, even the almost nonexistent white hair, and the grizzled eyelashes were kept in good condition.
Who knows why, Xiao Chen suddenly felt this place was really eerie. Even though the morning sun shone upon this area, it seemed to have lost its warm, the sunlight seemed deathly pale. Instinctively, he suddenly thought of the cicada sh.e.l.l. This layer of wrinkled skin somehow resembled the insects shedding their sh.e.l.l, it seemed to share the same characteristic. ⌈1⌋
Xiao Chen didn’t stop here, he once again dig up the frozen ground in the vicinity. Beyond his expectation, he really did found another ice coffin. It was only two meter apart from the first coffin. Xiao Chen sucked in a mouthful of fresh air, could this place really be a bizarre burial ground? If that is the case, then wouldn’t that make this run-down palace an underworld?!
The second ice coffin was unearthed, inside the coffin was another incomparably wrinkled skin. This time it made Xiao Chen break out in cold sweat, that was because he discovered the two wrinkled skins looked almost the same. As a result of putting them side by side, he discovered they actually had the same appearance! ⌈2⌋
Same appearance! Moreover, after a careful comparison, Xiao Chen felt his scalp go numb. That was because he discovered there was no discrepancy with any of the birthmarks on both of the wrinkled skins, all of them looked exactly the same.
“How could this be, even if they are twins, there shouldn’t be this much resemblance……”
Xiao Chen felt this place was getting increasingly bizarre. This was a burial ground that sent a chill down people’s spine! He could not stop because of this, he continued to excavate the frozen ground. As a result, the third ice coffin was unearthed. He sucked in a mouthful of breath, he didn’t go see the third ice coffin, but rather continue to thaw the icy floor, and excavate the frozen earth.
However, after digging up the ground in the vicinity of the ancient palace hall, he didn’t find the fourth ice coffin. And these three ice coffins were only two meter apart, they were arranged very neatly. Judging from this, it seemed like there were only three ice coffins here.
Xiao Chen lift open the cover of the ice coffin, he was completely astonished. The wrinkled skin in the coffin was exactly the same as the former two. Those three birthmarks were also accurate to perfection.
How did it become like this? Xiao Chen felt this place was extremely eerie, why would there be three exact same copy of human skin here, and not a dead body to be found? Could it be that something had consumed the thing that was inside?
He started to look around after calming down, then his expression suddenly lit up, that was because he found an important clue! On the third coffin, he found a few drops of blood, it seemed to have dried up just recently! ⌈3⌋