Chapter 207

Chapter 207: Icefire Nether Blossom
The tunnel was dark and narrow. Uneven rock walls rose on both sides, covered with icicles of all lengths. Cold air filled the passage, and even the spirit power inside the body slowed down.

Yu Zhao walked forward slowly, making each step very careful.

She had spent quite some time before finally finding, in an unremarkable crack, a passage that could lead into the Ice Mountain.

The passage seemed naturally formed, with no sign of being carved out by hand. Some parts were so tight that a person could not pass through at all. Yu Zhao had to force them open to keep going.

After walking for nearly half an hour, she saw a faint light ahead.

Yu Zhao’s face grew serious. She summoned the Mirror of Fleeting Lives and sent it ahead to scout. She soon found that the front was actually an exit.

However, it seemed that a special barrier covered the outside of the exit, so she could not check it with her Divine Sense.

Yu Zhao thought for a moment. Then she gripped the Heart-Guard Mirror in one hand and the Mirror of Fleeting Lives in the other and leaped through the exit.

Her vision blurred, and then she was standing inside a huge cave.

In the middle of the cave was a deep pool whose bottom could not be seen.

The water on the left side of the pool was a bright, thick red, like boiling lava. The water on the right side was an extreme ice blue.

The two sides did not mix at all, yet they appeared together in one pool, coming from the same source, just like this strange mountain itself.

Floating above the pool was a strange flower. The colors of its petals were just like the pool water, red and blue interwoven, beautiful beyond words.

A faint fragrance drifted through the cave. As Yu Zhao took a light sniff, a pleasant dizziness washed over her.

When she looked at the strange flower again, there was a hint of burning greed in her eyes.

She still had not figured out what this flower was, but she was sure that if she combined this flower with her Illusion Art, it would have amazing effects.

She had to obtain it.

A nameless excitement rose from the bottom of Yu Zhao’s heart. Her expression began to show a restless urge to move.

Just as she was about to act, she bit the tip of her tongue. The desire faded away like a receding tide, and her eyes became clear again.

She took a deep breath and murmured to herself: “What a powerful illusion effect.”

A chill ran through Yu Zhao.

If her will had not been strong, she might never have noticed the killing intent hidden behind that beauty.

She stepped back a few paces and carefully looked around the cave again.

She did not want to miss even the smallest detail.

The cave was empty. Besides the strange flower and the pool, there was nothing else.

That meant that if this flower had any demonic beast guarding it, the beast was very likely in the pool below. She just did not know whether it was in the red half or the blue half.

Yu Zhao glanced at the pool again.

The water was thick with color. Looking down from above, she could not see anything.

Yu Zhao became even more careful and did not dare to act rashly.

Outside the Water Mirror, Dean Mo Xin sighed and said with regret: “I also entered this stone cave back in the day. At that time, the flower had not yet matured, so I left.”

There was one thing he did not say out loud.

He had already told the disciples of Tai Bai Academy that if they ever ran into this mountain where ice and fire met, they had to go into the passage and check whether this flower had matured. He never thought Yu Zhao would still beat them to it.

Sect Master Ji Yuan smiled in a silly, harmless way as he asked: “Since you have seen it before, Dean Mo Xin, do you know what that flower is?”

Dean Mo Xin had just opened his mouth to answer when he caught the flash of sharp light in Sect Master Ji Yuan’s eyes. Only then did he realize that Ji Yuan was asking early to gather information for Yu Zhao.

He could only laugh and sigh: “You really do act like a proper Sect Master.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan answered with full confidence: “Of course!”

He, at least, was much better than a certain blind person.

Dean Mo Xin chuckled and shook his head. He was not a narrow-minded man, so he honestly shared all the information he had found with Sect Master Ji Yuan.

He said slowly: “This flower is called the Icefire Nether Blossom. Its poison is fierce. Just one breath of its scent can make a person fall into a strong illusion. Because of the different colors of its petals, the illusions are different. The red petals make people feel like they are trapped in a demonic pit, suffering endless torment. The blue petals make people feel like they are floating in heaven, forgetting all their worries.

“Its growth conditions are extremely harsh, and it only produces one blossom every few hundred years. I searched through all of Tai Bai Academy’s books and only found a few lines about it in one ancient text.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan rubbed his chin and muttered: “This Icefire Nether Blossom sounds scary, but it does not seem that useful.”

Sect Master Wu Sang shook his head and said: “That is wrong. In our hands, the Icefire Nether Blossom is just a spirit herb. But in the hands of someone who cultivates Illusion Art, it is a completely different matter.”

Back when Yu Zhao had borrowed Greenwood Sect’s alchemy room to forge her Life-bound Dharma Artifact, Sect Master Wu Sang had talked with her. He knew that among the artifact forging materials she had prepared, there was a spirit herb called Heavenly Immortal Herb.

Heavenly Immortal Herb and Icefire Nether Blossom both had illusion effects, but their medicinal nature was very different.

Yu Zhao could add the Icefire Nether Blossom into her Life-bound Dharma Artifact as well, making her Life-bound Dharma Artifact rise to a higher level.

Or she could use it along with other artifact forging materials to refine another magical artifact that worked together with her Illusion Art. That was also possible.

You could only say that the Icefire Nether Blossom and Yu Zhao’s cultivation technique complemented each other. Appearing in this cave at this time, it almost seemed like it had been prepared just for her.

When Sect Master Ji Yuan heard this, he was overjoyed.

He laughed and said: “Then it seems this Icefire Nether Blossom is destined to belong to Yu Zhao.”

Master Qing Yan gave a cold snort and said: “Not necessarily. Wait until she passes the companion spirit beast trial before you start bragging.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan really wanted to curse him out.

But under the watching eyes of the other Sect Masters, who were all enjoying the show, he forced himself to swallow the words.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth in a stiff smile and said: “I believe Yu Zhao can do it.”

Master Qing Yan did not answer.

Sect Master Ji Yuan clenched his fists, thinking in his heart: [Yu Zhao, go, smack Qing Yan right in the face.]

On the other side, it was as if Yu Zhao had heard Sect Master Ji Yuan’s silent cheer. She began to move.

She turned around and returned to the passage, walking back along her previous path. She widened all the tight spots again and set up several formation array arts along the way.

By the time she returned to the cave, half an hour had passed.

Yu Zhao landed carefully at the edge of the pool and started placing formation disks all around the rim.

These formation disks were trophies she had collected over many years. Some were for attacking, some for trapping enemies, all sorts of different kinds.

Yu Zhao did not know how strong the demonic beast under the pool might be. To be safe, she used almost every formation disk she could use.

If her guess was wrong, and there was no demonic beast in the pool or the demonic beast was too weak to matter, she could always take the formation disks back.

After finishing all that, Yu Zhao still felt a little uneasy. She reached into her storage space and pulled out a thick stack of talisman papers, then stuck them all over the cave, inside and out.

Watching from outside, Sect Master Chong Yang spoke in a sour tone: “Hehe, the Five Elements Dao Sect really deserves to be called the model immortal sect. Even their disciples are so rich.”

Among the Seven Great Sects, their Heavenly Sword Sect was the poorest.

Leaving aside the sect’s background, just the swords their disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect used for daily practice were a huge expense.

On top of that, the Heavenly Sword Sect was located in the far north, surrounded by ice and snow. Their secret realms, spirit veins, and other kinds of resources were not as rich as in the other sects.

Sometimes, just to keep the sect running, Sect Master Chong Yang had to lead the elders out to dig mines and beg for resources everywhere.

Now, seeing a young disciple casually take out countless formation disks and spirit talismans, he was jealous.

He was very, very jealous.