Evan Chu slowly infused wood element into the Soaring Feather Young Lord, but his eyes were busy studying the cold pool. This pool was shockingly large—dozens of square meters—and contained at least several dozen Sacred Snow Lotuses.
But what really caught his eye was that none of the Sacred Snow Lotuses here had seven-colored petals. That meant they were all still immature—even if he grabbed one now, it’d be useless to him.
A wave of disappointment washed over him. Unable to hold back, he asked Luna, the Sword Spirit, "Sister Luna, when will the Sacred Snow Lotus bloom with seven-colored petals? Is there any way I can pick one?"
“Evan, you’re always so impatient. This place is a rare Coldglass Domain, and the appearance of Sacred Snow Lotus here is a miracle. From my observation, a seven-colored Sacred Snow Lotus should appear in this cold pool before long—you just need to be patient and wait,” Luna said.
“Coldglass Domain? Is there some kind of treasure here?” Evan asked urgently—he knew nothing about what Luna was talking about.
“That’s right. There’s likely a heaven-grade treasure here, and if you’re lucky, you might get it. But you’ll have to wait a while. For now, focus on saving this guy first—the cold here isn’t something just anyone can handle. Even the Freewind Palace Lord would be in danger,” Luna said.
Evan was stunned—if even the Freewind Palace Lord was at risk, then Serena Dream would be in even greater peril. But apart from the bone-chilling cold, he didn’t sense anything else truly terrifying here.
“Evan, I know you’re puzzled. Since you’re using Watershift, you naturally can’t feel it. If you drop it even for a moment, you’ll sense the terrifying Glassflame Frost-Gale here. If it erupts, even a Fifth-Layer Saint Martial expert would be frozen into an ice statue, and the Mystic Ice on their body would be as tough as the stone inside a spatial black hole.”
The boulders outside this cave are actually the result of Glassflame Frost-Gale eruptions. Now do you understand?” Luna added.
Evan nodded, continuing to channel wood element into the Soaring Feather Young Lord until Luna told him to stop—then he lifted the Young Lord out of the cold pool.
At this moment, the Soaring Feather Young Lord was a true 'ice man.' Except for a faint pulse of energy at his heart, every part of his body was frozen stiff—utterly indistinguishable from a corpse.
Evan Chu turned to Luna, voice tight with anxiety. "When can we save him? The longer we wait, the more dangerous it gets, right?"
"Don't rush. You need to wait at least a full day and night before you can save him. Only when the gu poison is frozen solid into a single clump can you extract it. For now, find a safe spot to put him—the Glassflame Frost-Gale erupts at night, and if it hits, not even you could rescue him," Luna warned.
Evan stood up and searched the cave carefully. Soon, he spotted an ice pillar with a two-meter-wide gap behind it, not far away. He decided to hide Ethan there, trusting Luna's advice that the ice pillar would block the Glassflame Frost-Gale.
If the Glassflame Frost-Gale really erupted, the ice pillar would shield them. Evan quickly moved Ethan behind it, then dove back into the cold pool without hesitation.
The cold pool wasn't deep—the deepest part only reached his waist. Maybe only Evan would dare to swim here, since this was no ordinary water: it was Coldglass Water, colder than even Coldflame.
Evan didn't know any of this; with Watershift active, he felt nothing at all. Right now, he slowly dove into the Coldglass Water, intent on inspecting the roots of the Sacred Snow Lotuses.
After inspecting several Sacred Snow Lotuses, Evan discovered something crucial: every blooming lotus had part of its lotus root exposed, and each root was a different color.
Strangely, the lotus roots weren't growing in mud like ordinary lotuses, but in extremely hard Mystic Ice. Evan could tell this ice was tougher than the stone outside.
The world is full of wonders—lotus roots growing out of ice was unheard of, but the evidence was right in front of him. Evan couldn't help but marvel at the sight.
Evan tried using the Frostbane Sword to hack at the ice layer, curious to see what would happen. If a seven-colored Sacred Snow Lotus ever appeared and he couldn't break the ice to claim it, that would be a disaster. He wanted to figure out a solution now, so he wouldn't have to panic later.
The Frostbane Sword was normally razor-sharp, but against the ice layer beneath the Coldglass Water, it was like striking with scrap iron—completely useless.
"Evan, breaking this ice layer takes terrifying power. Don't waste your strength—focus on what's beneath the Coldglass Water instead. You might stumble on something unexpected," Luna advised.
Evan perked up at Luna's words and immediately started scanning with his divine sense. Using divine sense in the Coldglass Water drained his soul power rapidly, but Luna had promised a surprise, so he refused to give up.
He checked every Sacred Snow Lotus beneath the Coldglass Water several times, but nothing special turned up. Just as Evan was about to give up, he sensed a faint barrier in one corner of the cold pool.
This discovery lit a fire in him. Evan hurried to the corner, reached out to touch the spot he'd sensed, and was instantly repelled as if by an invisible wall.
"There really is a barrier here... Is this the heaven-grade treasure Luna mentioned, or the true source of the Sacred Snow Lotus?" Evan muttered to himself, curiosity blazing.
But Evan was clueless about barrier-breaking—this was way beyond him. He could only hand the problem to Luna: "Luna, how do I break this barrier?"
"Not bad—you actually found the barrier. It's a natural formation, almost impossible to detect without careful sensing. But now isn't the time to break it. Just remember, there's something inside you'll need," Luna said.
"What is it? Is it a seven-colored Sacred Snow Lotus?" Evan blurted out, unable to contain his excitement.
"Pretty much," Luna replied, a bit vague. "But you'd better go check on that guy now. All this investigating has eaten up a ton of time—it's about time to extract the gu poison from his body."
Evan hadn't realized he'd spent a full day and night investigating—how terrifying! He rushed out of the cold pool and headed straight for the giant ice pillar to check on the Soaring Feather Young Lord... (More at dawn, third update!)