There were three statues depicting three people in the act of running. One was still on the surrounding walls of the courtyard. One was on the ground, apparently having fallen and never got the chance to get back up. The last one was ever so close to the corridors.
“Not bad. They managed to follow me all the way here,” Song Qiao said.
“Are these three the people that Senpai Senior was staying with?” Lei Xinfeng ask.
Song Qiao nodded. “Yes. There’s a total of seven people, but these three are Ninth Ring Sages. They’re not bad, running for so long in that cold. They were so close. Haha.” It was obvious he didn’t care about whether they lived or died.
Lei Xinfeng felt a chill in his heart. “Senior Song, do you know them well?”
“Well? Of course not. Of course, whether I was familiar with them made no difference in that scenario. After all, my life is most important, and it’s not like I could spare the time to help someone else.”
Lei Xinfeng jumped onto an ice wall and saw that there were quite a bit of ice statues. There were a few in every yard. He didn’t even know where to begin counting.
Xin Zhaolun also jumped onto the wall. “So many people died this time. More than usual.”
“Good! More is better!” replied Jin Daya.
“Why?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
“The best time to gather materials comes in the next few days. At that time, no one from the outer worlds can come in. Isn’t it better to have less competition?”
Lei Xinfeng nodded. “I won’t go for now. I’ll consider going after I finish my Lightning Stamp.”
“Other than the place we went to last time, there are other places we could go. I need other materials as well. Ah Feng, I think you’re a natural at mining. You gathered more than the rest of us combined last time!” Xin Zhaolun said.
Song Qiao was surprised. “What? Ah Feng is that good?”
Jin Daya agreed. “Of course. No matter how bad he is, I still can’t compare. He has talent.”
The way that Song Qiao looked at Lei Xinfeng changed. “Some people have a natural sense for mining. Hey, little fellow, I’m planning to go to a good place. Come with me!”
“I won’t! Not unless I finish my Lightning Stamp and ascend to Sixth Ring.”
Song Qiao thought for a bit. “I might as well wait for you. I’m in no hurry anyway.”
“Senior, where are you planning to go?” Xin Zhaolun asked.
“The Ice Cave!”
Xin Zhaolun was stunned and without words before he finally reacted. “We can’t go there. It’s too far.”
Jin Daya had a similar reaction. “We can’t stay at the Ice Cave for too long, at most twenty days. Starting from when the frost passed, we have an extra thirty or so days. It takes over forty days to get from here to there. Then we must leave when the wind picks up. There’s simply no time to mine!”
“It’s not like I can’t go just because you can’t go,” Song Qiao snarked. “I can get there in a few minutes.”
Xin Zhaolun understood. “The Hidden Door!”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I use it if I have it?”
Xin Zhaolun was instantly subdued. “No one said you couldn’t…” His thoughts turned dark. Everyone here are Sages. What the heck is a Monarch like you doing here? Having fun?
“In that case, I agree. After I finish my Stamp and ascend, I’ll go with you. However, there’s just one thing…”
“What?”
“We must take the others with us.”
“No problem,” Song Qiao agreed, easily.
The others quickly revealed a happy face. The Ice Cave is an excellent mining site but it was too far away from Hanya Castle. There weren’t many Sages that could get there. Only Monarchs could get there and still have enough time to mine. There were a variety of precious materials, and in large amounts there too.
Lei Xinfeng looked at the ice statues, heart sinking. So many Ninth Ring Sages died here silently, without fanfare, and via something as mundane as freezing at that. If he hadn’t come here, he’d never have believed anyone if they told him a story like this.
Suddenly, a bunch of natives appeared and began to clean out Hanya Castle, mostly those ice statues.
A hammer blow after, an ice statue shattered, and the chunks were tossed into a cart to be buried outside.
“After every frost, some hundreds of people die. It’s too dangerous here,” Jin Daya said.
“This isn’t a bad place,” Song Qiao said. “Some places…heh, a hundred dead Sages is nothing. Those places kill thousands! Now that’s dangerous. However, I’m sure your Master will never let you go to such dangerous places.”
“What place is so dangerous?” Lei Xinfeng asked.
Song Qiao laughed. “Fellow, it’s not that I’m looking down on you, but it’s just that with your level of strength, only death awaits you there! There’s not a single glimpse of a chance of survival. You don’t need to know. You don’t have the right!”
Lei Xinfeng grimaced. “Alright, then I’ll go back to creating my Stamp.” He knew that in the eyes of a Monarch, he truly was nothing.
“Okay, be quick. You should be able to finish in less than forty days.”
Lei Xinfeng was also impatient. If it wasn’t for the Stamp, he’d have long been able to ascend. Sixth Ring Sages were on a whole other level compared to Fifth Ring Sages. If they went back to their original world, Sixth Ring Sages were already extremely skilled experts. Even large sects must respect their power.
“Your room is utterly destroyed. Pick another. These few days, we’ll fix up the rest of the rooms,” Xin Zhaolun said.
Lei Xinfeng nodded and went to find a room that wasn’t completely destroyed.
He continued from where he was interrupted by the frost.
Lei Xinfeng took out the bone. The red threads in the nine holes have already been completed, and the next step is to create three little objects to insert into the three larger holes. They weren’t complicated to make and was made of metal. He’d already processed the metals needed so he could start constructing immediately.
Following the instructions, Lei Xinfeng made the objects bit by bit.
He didn’t know why, but the instructions on the Star Python Record was extremely detailed with diagrams. However, it made his job much easier.
The three objects were called something like Ersi. After he finished it, he shoved the objects directly into the holes. The strange thing was that when he tried to press the object in, the Ersi and the Red Gold lining on the hole walls would not touch, and the Ersi just floated above it.
Lei Xinfeng didn’t delve into it too much and went to make the objects for the other six holes.
After checking over the results for a while, he inserted the beads into the six holes. It was delicate work, and it took Lei Xinfeng several days.
Finally, the final step came. He must use the electricity produced by his own body, and shock the Lightning Stamp into activation.
Sparks of lightning jumped on the Lightning Stamp’s surface. Lei Xinfeng put up both his hands and instantly, lightning began to arc between his hands and the surface. It grew louder until it became a loud rumble of thunder.
The blinding light caused Fengying, Shihu, and Jin Daya to squint. Those three had been keeping guard all this time since Lei Xinfeng started, to prevent anyone from interrupting him.
Lei Xinfeng’s body began to glow with blue light as his entire being resonated with the Lightning Stamp.
The Lightning Stamp pulsed with thunder as if the Stamp itself was a heart, continually beating, alternating between blinding light and darkness. Lei Xinfeng’s breathing became rough and he fixed his gaze on the Lightning Stamp, establishing some kind of ethereal connection between the Stamp and his heart.
Lei Xinfeng knew he succeeded. All this was recorded in the Star Python Records. The next step was to meld the Stamp into his body, as well as the most important step. It was something utterly unthinkable with the logic from his previous world, but it something was totally normal here.
The Lightning Stamp began to spin violently, and the nine holes began to shoot out arcs of lightning that connected to Lei Xinfeng’s palm. Slowly, the Lightning Stamp began to blur, the popping of electricity never ceasing. Lei Xinfeng’s face darkened, and he began to close his palms together.
It took extreme power. Whenever the palms seemed to press, some enormous power forced them apart. Lei Xinfeng had already tried many times, but he continued to persevere.
Finally, Lei Xinfeng’s palms slammed together, reminiscent of the twin palms of the Buddha.
His three bodyguards’ eyes bulged. The Stamp was clearly the size of an egg, but after Lei Xinfeng’s palms met, it became clear that it couldn’t have had enough space to hide it. In other words, the Stamp vanished.
The corners of Lei Xinfeng’s mouth tugged upwards, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop his smile.
“I did it!”
The Lightning Stamp was finally finished and merged into his body. Lei Xinfeng already had a Lightning Stamp in his body, inherited from Lei Bao. However, when the stamp he created entered his body, it engulfed the Lightning Stamp that Lei Bao gave him in an instant. It gave off an utterly dominating power, surprising even Lei Xinfeng.
“Did you succeed? How did it feel?” Jin Daya asked. “It’s my first time seeing this kind of Lightning Stamp condensation.”
Lei Xinfeng was silent. He was adjusting the position of the Stamp in him. According to the Star Python Record, the best location was the heart. He had his suspicions. If he put the stamp in his heart, wouldn’t it burst? However, when he finally place the Stamp in his heart, he felt his power surge, and his entire body felt so refreshed it was without words to describe.
“How do I feel? I feel so fucking good… Excellent!”
Ice Cave (Bing Xueyuan) is translated from 冰穴原, which is literally Ice Cave Origin. Tell me what you prefer.
By the way, has anyone noticed my transition from “coldest days” to “the frost” when referring to that dangerous period?
I have homework so I will start translating again when I finish. If at all today. Isn’t it the worst when someone on a translating team has work or homework. If only we can just sit around and translate all day without a care in the world.
*Continues slipping in Senpai‘s in every chapter until Song Qiao stops appearing.* If you guys see any Senpai‘s that aren’t crossed out, let me know.
Does anyone know what’s up with this site? Grr, I can’t get in touch with the author, so I can’t even ask them to take it down.