Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 355 - Ice Energy

Two drops of tears ran down Jian Xing'er's cheeks. Looking at Liu Wuxie's silhouette, she bit her lips and said, "Junior Brother Liu, I won't live either if you can't come out alive."

After Liu Wuxie ensured Jian Xing'er’s safety, he increased his speed and approached the Frost Yin Canyon.

Strange trees appeared before Liu Wuxie, and each bore white fruits resembling ice balls. Liu Wuxie didn't dare to touch them, fearing the potential danger.

The Frost Yin Canyon was small and spanned a few kilometers. Many large trees were growing inside, and seeing clusters of white fruits before him was a spectacular scene.

An adult Frost Demon Ape plucked a white fruit off a tree and started chewing on it, producing a crisp sound. Dense cold air began to spread from the Frost Demon Ape's mouth, permeating the surroundings.

"So...I ran into a Frost Demon Ape instead of a Profound Yin Butterfly," Liu Wuxie muttered. Jian Xing'er had been helping him with his missions for the past few days, neglecting her own. Now that he ran into a Frost Demon Ape, he decided to kill this ape to complete her mission.

He didn't dare to startle the Frost Demon Ape, as it was busy eating, unaware of its surroundings. Liu Wuxie stopped after he was ten meters away from the Frost Demon Ape.

The Frost Demon Ape seemed to have sensed his presence and stopped chewing on the white fruit. Instead, it turned around abruptly with its ferocious gaze directed at Liu Wuxie.

The Frost Demon Ape's eyes released a chilling aura. This was no ordinary Frost Demon Ape, but a sixth-grade demonic beast with a strength comparable to the third level of the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

The Frost Demon Ape's white fur, antenna, and nails were covered with a layer of frost. Whenever it moved, faint ripples spread in the surroundings.

Jian Xing'er had undertaken this mission in hopes of running into a less powerful Frost Demon Ape. She knew she had no chance of facing an adult Frost Demon Ape.

However, a demonic beast in the third-level Heavenly Dipper Realm couldn't threaten Liu Wuxie. His only concern was the terrifying ice energy.

As soon as it spotted the approaching human, the Frost Demon Ape unleashed ice arrows from its mouth.

"Elemental attack?!" Liu Wuxie's eyes flashed with a hint of shock. This was a sign the Frost Demon Ape had awakened a wisp of elemental bloodline.

It could harness elemental power, like how fire-elemental demonic beasts could breathe fire. However, it was hard for most demonic beasts to awaken their element, and most only fought by relying on their powerful physique.

Liu Wuxie continuously dodged the ice arrows. When the arrows landed on the surrounding trees, the trees began to snap, with hundreds of white fruits falling. This caught Liu Wuxie by surprise as a white fruit struck him.

The white fruit landed on his left arm, but he felt no pain as his arm had gone numb, covered in a layer of frost.

"What fruit is this? What powerful ice energy!" Liu Wuxie was shocked by the energy of the ice. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he could use it. He could mimic the Frost Demon Ape and shoot ice arrows to kill his opponents.

Elemental attacks required a technique, and the Frost Demon Ape's usage was crude, simply manifesting it into arrows to attack the enemy. For example, ice arrows could also take the form of shields.

As he circulated the fire attribute energy, the numbness in Liu Wuxie's right shoulder vanished.

The Frost Demon Ape was surprised at this scene. This human was different. Not only could this human dodge its attacks, but he could also neutralize the energy of the Spiritual Yin Fruit. This was enough to prove he was extraordinary.

The Frost Demon Ape wouldn't be so surprised if someone in the Heavenly Dipper Realm accomplished it, but Liu Wuxie was merely in the True Core Realm.

The Frost Demon Ape became enraged, baring its fangs and hammering the ground with white gas sprayed from its mouth.

Liu Wuxie leaned his body forward slightly with the Heretic Blade in his hand, ready to strike. He was prepared to use the Fourth Fatality Form.

The man and the beast stood still, and neither made the first move. The atmosphere was tense, and Liu Wuxie's aura continued to rise. When the Frost Demon Ape finally couldn't keep watching, it leaped forth, baring its fangs and biting at Liu Wuxie's neck.

When it leaped into the air, it shot ice arrows out from its mouth, nearly covering the sky with arrows. This would result in sure death if the Frost Demon Ape faced anyone else.

However, relying on Ghost Eye and Seven Dipper Steps, Liu Wuxie vanished and left behind afterimages in his tracks. He weaved through the barrage of ice arrows, creating a scene where the arrows barely brushed past him without causing any harm.

As the distance between Liu Wuxie and the Frost Demon Ape closed in, they traveled through the ten meters in the blink of an eye.

When they got within each other's range, Liu Wuxie swung the Heretic Blade down with all the afterimages overlapping to seek the Frost Demon Ape's weakness. Liu Wuxie could kill the Frost Demon Ape if he could resolve the Frost Demon Ape's elemental attack.

The Frost Demon Ape did not have a powerful physique compared to other demonic beasts, and it mainly relied on their ice-attribute energy.

The blade ray sealed the Frost Demon Ape's path. It looked as though the Frost Demon Ape crashed into the Heretic Blade, and its purple blood dyed the black ground as it collapsed onto the ground.

When the blade slashed, a scalding black core appeared in Liu Wuxie's hand, completing Jian Xing'er's mission. After storing the beast core, the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron appeared and devoured the corpse, converting it into white liquified spiritual energy above the cauldron.

"What dense ice energy!" Before infusing the spiritual energy into his dantian, Liu Wuxie could sense the dense cold energy through the cauldron.

"Let's try infusing it!" Although he could not make a breakthrough with this little energy, it could strengthen his ice-attribute energy.

When the liquified spiritual energy flowed into his dantian, fluctuations came from the world in his dantian. A surge of ice energy was sent back and coursed through Liu Wuxie's body.

The ice energy instantly numbed Liu Wuxie's entire body. Apart from his soul sea, he couldn't sense any changes within himself as he was transformed into an ice statue, encased in thick ice.

Liu Wuxie could only move his eyes, and the thick layer of ice was like armor sealing him within.

"How did this happen?" Liu Wuxie's face flashed with a hint of solemnity. If he was trapped here, didn't that mean any passing abyssal devil could easily kill him?

He was fortunate that the temperature here was low, and abyssal devils did not like this place. But as time ticked by, the layer of ice enveloping him showed no signs of thawing.

Moreover, the ice energy in the surroundings showed signs of thickening the layer of ice around his body, making Liu Wuxie feel despair.

"Wait, why don't I feel cold despite being covered in ice?" Liu Wuxie soon calmed down and noticed a strange situation. Logically speaking, he should be frozen to death after being covered by a layer of ice.

But that wasn't the case because he didn't feel cold other than immobilized. His internal organs were fine, and his limbs were frozen.

"It must be because my body hasn't adapted to it yet!" Liu Wuxie immediately circulated the Desolate Devouring Art and absorbed the surrounding ice energy.

He didn't use his fire-attribute energy because his meridians were frozen, and using fire could cause his meridians to shrink. There was no way his meridians could withstand the alternating cold and heat.

The only solution was to wait for his body to adapt to the ice energy. Since it wouldn't melt, he had to absorb it entirely.

The ice energy in this dantian began to increase, converting the ice layer on his body's surface.

Two hours passed in a flash, and the ice on his body finally showed signs of melting. Most importantly, a snow mountain appeared in the world in his dantian, and another realm began to emerge.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Liu Wuxie to reach the ninth level of the True Core Realm. But it still pushed his cultivation to the pinnacle of the eighth level.

When Liu Wuxie's hands finally regained feeling and could move slightly, he shattered the layer of ice encasing his arm, then the one on his body. Upon breaking free, he collapsed to the ground.

The first thing Liu Wuxie did was circulate his true essence, and he finally felt relieved after feeling no discomfort in his body.

Simultaneously, the Heavenly Dao Book opened up with the addition of a white rune.

Liu Wuxie mobilized the ice energy, directing it through his meridians and into his right index finger. When he pointed, he shot out a sword ray that flew ten meters away.

The sword ray left a mark on a black tree ten meters away, which looked as though a sword had left it.

"Attacking from a distance; is this an elemental attack?" Liu Wuxie rejoiced, and only he dared to attempt this. Even if others could refine the ice energy, it was impossible for them to mobilize it so quickly.

"This won't do; the usage of ice energy is too simple. It looks like I have to find a way to comprehend a dao technique." Ordinary arrows could hardly kill anyone, and it was best for him to come up with a technique for it.

Ordinary techniques were called martial techniques, and the more advanced ones were called dao techniques. Dao techniques weren't limited to forms like martial techniques; they could change according to one's wishes.

Only those who had reached the Astral River Realm were qualified to comprehend their dao technique. If others knew that Liu Wuxie sought to understand his dao technique in the True Core Realm, he would likely face ridicule.

The more advanced version of dao techniques was called dao principles

But Liu Wuxie wasn't in a hurry because comprehending dao technique wasn't something he could accomplish overnight. After all, even the most powerful martial technique was nothing before a dao technique.

For example, a Heavenly Phase Realm cultivator was no different from an ant before someone in the Astral River Realm, no matter how strong they were.

"These fruits contain powerful ice energy. If I can refine them all and store all the ice energy, I can strengthen the ice attribute in my true essence. At that time, I can use the ice energy to freeze my enemies to death even if I can't comprehend a dao technique."

A bold idea formed in Liu Wuxie's mind. Since the Frost Demon Ape could absorb the ice energy from the white fruits, he should be able to refine them as well since he had refined the Frost Demon Ape's corpse.

He decided to attempt refining the white fruits using the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. However, cautious of their effects, he refrained from picking them by hand and instead summoned them with a swing of the Heretic Blade before consuming them with the cauldron.