Chapter 71: Chapter 68: Special Effects of the Extreme Ice Attribute

’The preliminary preparations are almost complete. It’s time to get into the Cold Pool.’ At this thought, Mu Chen twisted his body. He seized the massive black case, weighing eight thousand jin, as if it were an ordinary box and pulled it out abruptly.

BOOM!

The massive case slammed rigidly to the ground, sending a spray of shattered Profound Ice fragments flying. Opening the lid, Mu Chen gave a gentle tug and pulled out an enormous, jet-black fan. He gripped the ring at the fan’s base tightly in his left hand, looking at the Giant Fan with fondness. With a nimble flick of his fingers, the Giant Fan snapped open with a SWISH, its massive surface covering a huge area.

’Profound Jade Fan, I can finally just about use you. Next, I will train in the Cold Pool until I’ve mastered the Beginner level of the Nine Waves Technique’s Combined Form.’

With that, Mu Chen turned, stripped off all his clothes, and leaped into the Cold Pool with a SPLASH. The eight-thousand-jin Profound Jade Fan dragged him straight to the bottom. The frigid water of the Cold Pool assaulted Mu Chen’s body, but just then, an icy-blue light erupted from his lower abdomen. After the light flashed, the chilling air inside him was completely dispelled.

’Extreme Ice Dantian,’ he murmured. With a swift chop of the Giant Fan, the pool water was instantly split in two. With a thought, Mu Chen doubled the density of the water in the Cold Pool. As expected, just one extra measure of gravity made his chest feel suffocated. But Mu Chen didn’t lower the density. Instead, he held the fan in one hand and floated quietly in the water... He was adapting.

The nine-colored figure performing the Nine Waves Technique from that day appeared in his mind. Every single move, every motion of his body, and the control of Primordial Power were all deeply etched into his memory. Closing his eyes, Mu Chen suddenly felt an empty clarity all around him. At this moment, everything else vanished, leaving only himself and the Profound Jade Fan.

The nine-colored figure in his mind slowly raised its fan-wielding arm. Outside, Mu Chen slowly raised his own fan-wielding arm in tandem. As if synchronized, Mu Chen’s body began to move with the nine-colored figure. The Profound Jade Fan in his hand continuously thrusted, chopped, swept, and smashed. Its opening and closing motions sent the surrounding pool water surging. But Mu Chen seemed to feel nothing, continuing to wield the Profound Jade Fan with great speed. The eight-thousand-jin Profound Jade Fan felt as light as a feather in his hands.

Mu Chen himself did not know that he was in a profound state rarely encountered by Martial Artists: Synchronization! Synchronization was linking one’s will with another’s, allowing for rapid learning or imitation of the other’s movements and techniques. And Mu Chen had entered this profound state unknowingly.

Mu Chen performed the Nine Waves Technique over and over again. Repeat, repeat, and repeat. Slowly, the once-calm water of the Cold Pool around him formed a giant Water Tornado five to six meters in diameter. This Water Tornado coiled the frigid pool water high into the air, where it crashed against the Profound Ice Ceiling of the palace, creating a huge splash. From a distance, it looked just like a fountain.

The Profound Jade Fan continued to dance. Time flowed on during Mu Chen’s arduous and monotonous Cultivation. As the density of the pool water increased daily, the water in the Cold Pool, when viewed from the outside, now looked like a viscous, paste-like liquid. But even so, the Water Tornado at the center of the pool never disappeared.

THUD!

With a muffled thud, the Water Tornado in the center of the pool crashed down as if its power source had been cut off. The moment the water fell, a slender figure was slowly revealed as the water washed over him. "It’s been almost a year."

The slender figure was none other than Mu Chen, who had spent an entire year in the Profound Ice Palace. He was now bare-chested, his fair skin covered in a web of vicious scars. But beneath those scars were streamlined muscles. They didn’t have the ferocious look of knotted cords, but they gave off the sense of a cheetah’s explosive power. It was as if any move he made would unleash devastating force.

A blue pearl floated before him. With a flash from his Storage Ring, the blue pearl vanished. That blue pearl was the Water-Repelling Pearl. Although his Master had said the birth of the Extreme Ice Attribute Spirit had rendered the Water-Repelling Pearl useless, it had been a great help during his training. Without it, he could never have cultivated so tirelessly in the Cold Pool for so long.

With a gentle flick of his left hand, the Profound Jade Fan traced a black arc through the air with a WHOOSH. A gust of wind blasted a Profound Ice Wall, slicing a long, narrow gash half an inch deep.

Mu Chen’s lips curved into a smile, satisfied with the result. In this past year, he had not only trained his strength to a level of ten thousand jin but had also begun to understand the unusual effects of his Ice Extreme Dantian. Its power was simply incredible to him.

As if to prove it, Mu Chen picked up a piece of shattered Profound Ice and flung it toward an empty space. The Profound Ice shot past like a meteor, its speed extreme. Mu Chen’s expression turned serious. He plunged the Profound Jade Fan into the ice beside him. Thunder Light surged under his feet, and with a CRACKLE, he vanished. He reappeared directly in front of the piece of Profound Ice. Given his current position, the speeding ice was certain to hit him.

But Mu Chen just stood there quietly, without a hint of a defensive stance. He wasn’t even using his Primordial Qi. In an instant, the flying Profound Ice was right in front of him. But just as it was about to strike, the Water Attribute Primordial Qi in the air around Mu Chen suddenly erupted! It then rapidly condensed at a visible speed, forming a one-inch-thick wall of ice!

BOOM!

With a loud roar, ice fragments scattered everywhere. The one-inch-thick ice wall was completely shattered by the flying Profound Ice. However, the piece of Profound Ice also shattered into a cloud of ice dust.

That’s right. This was Mu Chen’s greatest discovery of the year. Ever since he had merged with the Extreme Ice Attribute, whenever he faced a threatening attack, the Water Attribute Primordial Qi around him would spontaneously form an ice wall.

Primordial Qi Materialization. For the Extreme Martial Continent, this was practically impossible. They could only use their own Primordial Power to guide Combat Skills, materializing that power through their bodies as Elemental Power Materialization. They could not spontaneously trigger changes in the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi without using their own power. On the entire Extreme Martial Continent, he was the only one who could do this.

Spreading his fingers, Mu Chen targeted the area in front of him and clenched his fist. The Water Attribute Primordial Qi in the targeted spot went wild. Immediately after, countless Profound Ice Spikes appeared in that area. If an enemy had been standing there unprepared, they would have been turned into a pincushion.

Taking a black robe from his Storage Ring, Mu Chen frowned. For some reason, he had grown accustomed to wearing white robes and now detested black ones. But he had no choice now, as this was the only piece of clothing left that fit his height.

Thunder Light surged under his feet again, but this time, three orange Martial Rings appeared beneath him. That’s right. Over the past year, as Mu Chen continuously broke through his physical limits, his Martial Artist Realm had also risen rapidly. In three years, he had gone from a cripple who wasn’t even a Martial Disciple to a formidable Third-Ring Martial Master capable of holding his own. In the eyes of the world, this was nothing short of a myth.

The only exception, of course, was the man his Master had mentioned, Xingtian, who had become an Emperor in ten years! Mu Chen shook his head. He even doubted if such a person truly existed. Gently pulling the Profound Jade Fan from the ground, Mu Chen once again shouldered the black case. The only difference was that this time, he had increased its weight to eleven thousand jin.

Looking at the number of days carved into the Profound Ice Wall with a dagger, a confident arc formed on Mu Chen’s lips. "The three-year promise... It’s time to go back. Sister... will you be able to recognize the Chen’Er of today at a glance?"

After one last, longing glance at his surroundings, a Flash of Thunder appeared under Mu Chen’s feet, and in a few quick movements, he left the Cold Pool...

The Imperial Academy of the Xuanling Empire was the number one academy in the nation. It could be said that most of the Xuanling Empire’s experts were graduates of the Imperial Academy. This was because its graduation requirements were extremely strict: one had to reach at least the Grand Martial Master Level to graduate.

These were incredibly harsh conditions. Some Martial Artists could strive their entire lives and never reach the Grand Martial Master Realm. Consequently, its admission requirements were even more demanding. Besides requirements for talent, there was also an age limit: under twenty. Whether one was the descendant of nobles and generals or a commoner, the Imperial Academy treated everyone equally. Therefore, the annual admission period for the Imperial Academy was always the liveliest time in the Xuanling Empire’s Royal Capital. As citizens of the Xuanling Empire, who wouldn’t want to study at the Imperial Academy?

Getting admitted was an honor and the first step to becoming an expert. And right now, countless new students were swarming the gates of the Imperial Academy. Though they came from different towns and families, they were all, without exception, beaming with confidence.

You see, the Imperial Academy was a place countless Martial Artists dreamed of. Not just because its facilities were more complete than anywhere else, but because its teaching staff was immense. It was said that to become an instructor at the Imperial Academy, one had to meet the graduation requirements and become a Grand Martial Master. What Martial Artist wouldn’t want to enter an academy where even the lowest-ranking teachers were Grand Martial Masters?

What was even more astonishing was that if your talent was abnormal enough to be considered Defying the Heavens and you gained everyone’s recognition, you would have the chance to enter the Imperial Academy’s Holy Hall. You would become a Core Disciple, and your instructor would be promoted from a regular teacher to the Elder Level. Furthermore, you would enjoy all the rights and privileges of a Core Disciple within the academy—an irresistible temptation for any Martial Artist.

However, this was just something to dream about. Ordinary people could never get in. To enter the Imperial Academy’s Holy Hall, one had to be a genius among geniuses, or, to put it another way, a freak of nature.

But, even if one didn’t enter the Holy Hall, it didn’t matter. As long as you performed exceptionally well in the academy or were noticed by an instructor, you might be able to obtain some High-tier Combat Skills and Cultivation Techniques. With these, you would at least pull far ahead of students from other academies. Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills were the two most attractive things on the Extreme Martial Continent, and the Imperial Academy was never stingy with either. Therefore, as long as one set foot in the academy, their future was basically secure. And once you graduated, you would become a target coveted by all major powers. The future was truly bright.