Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 102: Ice Hot Spring

There are countless cultivators in the Qi Refining stage in the cultivation world, but the Foundation Establishment stage directly keeps more than 95% of cultivators out.

Besides the inherent difficulty of advancing in cultivation, the rarity and scarcity of spiritual objects that aid in advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage are also extremely important factors.

This is especially fatal for a lone cultivator, who has to rely on himself for everything and cannot get any help from the outside world.

Therefore, Tong Bingfeng was more curious about this icy hot spring than actually wanted to obtain any treasure that could help him advance to the Foundation Establishment stage and soar to new heights.

Even if we take a step back and assume that this icy hot spring has existed for more than a hundred years, if it really contained any high-quality spiritual items, it would have already fallen into the hands of the Chen family.

After all, what is a fatal danger to him is nothing more than a trivial matter that can be easily destroyed in the eyes of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. They would never allow a real treasure to fall outside the family.

As for relying on luck or knowledge to discover treasures that Foundation Establishment cultivators have never found, Tong Bingfeng never placed any hope on it.

He never believed that he was a chosen one of destiny, possessing heaven-defying luck, able to easily overcome one threshold after another, and smoothly raise his cultivation to an unbelievable level.

Five hundred miles of ice domain is not too far for a Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivator. The only obstacle is that the accuracy of the guide map decreases sharply as one ventures deeper into the ice domain.

Along the way, one needs to avoid the gaze of some powerful first-tier high-grade demonic beasts as much as possible, because the seventh level of Qi Refining is not invincible here.

If one does not proceed with utmost care and effort, one may fall into a trap meticulously set by some kind of monster specifically for hunting prey.

"These wicked cultivators have no fixed abode, so this spirit-shrinking tent is the most practical spoils of war for them."

As evening approached, Tong Bingfeng skillfully tossed out a fist-sized sphere, which, with the support of ample magical power, transformed into a normal-sized tent, large enough for one person to temporarily reside in.

This kind of shrinking tent has the functions of heat preservation and concealment of aura. It is a spiritual object that can protect cultivators from the low temperature and the spying of monsters when they temporarily spend the night on the ice field.

This spirit shrinking tent was also a spoil of war obtained from the storage bag of the chief evil cultivator. Because of its practicality, it was never sold and replaced with other spiritual objects to aid cultivation.

Of course, the Spirit Shrinking Tent is limited by its first-tier superior grade, so its functions are still limited. First, the cultivator needs to choose a relatively secluded location where no demonic beasts live in order to make it play its proper role.

If it is placed directly near the lair of a monster without any concealment, it will naturally have no effect.

With the protection of the Spirit Shrinking Tent, the terrifying night on the icy land did not bring him any negative harm, and he passed through the first night safely and smoothly.

Furthermore, with the help of the magical power refined from the spirit stones, Tong Bingfeng was able to replenish the energy consumed during the first day's rapid travel, returning to a state of near-perfect condition. As a result, Tong Bingfeng remained energetic on the second day.

"The icy atmosphere and billowing mist have completely obscured the entire icy region within a ten-mile radius. Leaving aside the discovery of the treasures hidden in the hot spring, simply confirming the location of the relatively small hot spring under this veil of mist is the first challenge we need to overcome."

At noon the next day, with the sun high in the sky, Tong Bingfeng frowned as he looked at the thick fog in front of him.

According to the intelligence he purchased at a high price from the trading point, the area shrouded in mist by the Ice Domain Hot Spring should only be limited to a radius of one mile around the hot spring.

"These unscrupulous merchants actually sold intelligence from at least three years ago as the latest information. They are truly despicable for harming cultivators."

Whenever Tong Bingfeng recalled the confident demeanor of the cultivator in charge of reporting on the attack, he could not suppress the resentment in his heart.

Whether in remote trading points or in markets of varying sizes on different spirit islands, there exists a group of cultivators who make a living by gathering and selling various kinds of information; they are known as "Xi Lingzi".

Back on Ice Spirit Island, I had purchased information from different sources from various Spirit Spirits on several occasions, which generally ensured a high degree of accuracy.

Unexpectedly, these Spirit Children, located in the depths of the Ice Domain, disregarded industry norms by selling information that was several years out of date at high prices without informing the buyers of the true situation.

This information from Xi Lingzi may seem unimportant, but in situations where preparations are insufficient, it could directly cause casualties among cultivators.

"Since we're here, let's make the best of it and explore the area first."

After calming down and regaining his composure, Tong Bingfeng unleashed his four flawless white front teeth, using his innate sensitivity to ice-attribute spiritual power to pinpoint the location of the hot spring as accurately as possible.

Of course, he did not step directly into the thick white mist that suppressed the cultivator's vision without any understanding of it.

"Big teeth, search, imperial edict."

When Tong Bingfeng stood about ten feet away from the mist, Big Fang decisively activated, and streams of ice-attribute spiritual energy flashed out from it.

However, as time passed, instead of quickly locking onto his target by exploiting the slight differences contained within the ice-attribute spiritual power as usual, he frowned, seemingly encountering a completely new situation and an unsolvable problem.

After a cup of tea, Tong Bingfeng put his big front teeth away again, but his eyes showed even more hesitation.

"Above the normal icy region, the biting wind is intense, and once ice-attribute spiritual energy passes through, it brings a kind of pain that stimulates the sensitive nerves inside the incisors."

"But here, the ice-attribute spiritual power, which should be extremely cold, has an added warm and neutralizing force, which directly breaks off half of Big Teeth's sensitivity."

The usually invincible Big Tooth suffered a crushing defeat at the nearby Ice Domain Hot Spring, leaving him in a state of extreme discomfort and panic, completely at a loss for what to do in this difficult situation.

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll build earth. Since Big Tooth has lost its purpose, let's rely on our own cultivation to break in and find out what's going on. How can we be afraid and not move forward?"

"Cultivators should naturally possess an indomitable spirit. How can they feel fear just because the large tooth has temporarily lost its function? It can only serve as an auxiliary means, and should never become an indispensable support on the path of cultivation."

After a long while, Tong Bingfeng shook his head, banishing all the fear from his mind. His sharp eyes and wise mind returned, and the hesitation in his eyes was completely banished from his mind.

Of course, he did not rush in. Instead, he began to circle around the white mist that covered a ten-mile radius of ice, hoping to obtain some additional information through some inconspicuous clues.