Fairy Bingling

The two of them stood on the vast, empty ice field, looking around in all directions. There was nothing but ice as far as the eye could see, with no landmarks whatsoever. Even their sense of direction began to blur on this flat, endless sheet of ice.

The icy surface reflected the light from the clouds, casting the entire world in a cold, shadowless glow.

Lin Zhiyue spread her divine sense to feel the distribution of spiritual energy. The concentration of spiritual energy in the area was actually much denser than back in the snowy plains.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and Cen Xi'er asked, “Can you still find the way back?”

Lin Zhiyue fell silent for a moment. She looked up at the greyish-white sky, then down at the mirror-smooth ice beneath her feet, and replied honestly, “I'll try to find it.”

She summoned the system's light screen to see if the notification for completing the quest had arrived. The quest to escape the wolf pack was indeed marked as “Completed,” and five Premium Draw Tickets had been credited to her account. However, right below it, a new prompt had appeared: 【Environment detected: Host has entered the core region of the 'Northern Realm Ice Heart'. Exploration progress reward mechanism activated.】

Looking at the line of text, Lin Zhiyue exchanged a somewhat helpless look with Cen Xi'er.

Although getting lost on this ice field was a headache, both the concentration of spiritual energy and the system's prompts pointed to one thing—they had stumbled into a place that likely held quite a few treasures.

Just as Lin Zhiyue was calculating which direction to take, another line of small text popped up on the system's light screen, its tone highly suggestive: 【Environment detected: The current area 'Northern Realm Ice Heart' is highly compatible with the Ode to the Frozen Frost set. It is recommended that the host equip the Ode to the Frozen Frost. There may be a pleasant surprise.】

She froze for a moment, then remembered the attributes of the Ode to the Frozen Frost—an Ice-attribute dharma robe that granted an Ice and Snow Affinity effect when the full set was equipped.

She had actually forgotten all about the Ode to the Frozen Frost.

Without a second thought, she immediately retrieved the Ode to the Frozen Frost from her space and put it on.

A flash of light swept over her, and a silvery-white and ice-blue long dress trailed across the ground. Layers of frost patterns glowed faintly on the hem of her skirt, a hexagonal ice crystal crown rested on her head, and two translucent ice crystal wings unfurled behind her shoulder blades.

Finally, with a thought, she applied “Snowy Cascade, Drifting Clouds”—her originally jet-black hair faded into a silvery-white in an instant, with a faint ice-blue luster flowing through the strands. Falling below her waist, it reflected fine specks of frosty light under the greyish-white glare of the ice field.

The moment the complete Ode to the Frozen Frost set was equipped, she felt the surrounding cold suddenly soften.

The bone-chilling wind blowing across the ice field no longer stung her cheeks when it brushed past, leaving behind only a crisp, comfortable coolness.

She flexed her wrists and realized that the circulation speed of her Ice-attribute spiritual energy was about twenty percent faster than before.

Standing beside her, Cen Xi'er's gaze swept from the ice crystal crown on her head all the way down to the layered frost patterns on her hem, before finally landing on the two translucent ice crystal wings behind her shoulders. It took her a long moment to find her voice. “Junior Sister... is this another dharma robe?”

“Yes, they're all family heirlooms,” Lin Zhiyue replied smoothly, already squatting down to examine the icy surface.

Holding the scepter of the Ode to the Frozen Frost, she took a few steps across the ice. The ice-blue gem at the tip of the scepter, which had only been emitting a faint cold glow, suddenly brightened dramatically when she reached a spot slightly to the left of the center of the ice field. The ice-blue light became several times more intense than before, and the shaft of the scepter grew slightly warm.

Lin Zhiyue's eyes lit up. Is there a treasure?

She lowered the scepter and moved it close to the ice. The light of the scepter waxed and waned as she moved it, with the brightest glow focusing on a patch of ice about three paces wide beneath her feet.

She squatted down and tapped the ice with her finger. The sound was crisp and hollow, distinctly different from the solid ice surrounding it. The space beneath was hollow.

She looked up at Cen Xi'er. “Second Senior Sister, there's something down here.”

Cen Xi'er squatted down as well, and the two of them combined their spiritual energy to gauge the thickness of the ice.

The ice was thinner than expected, only about half a foot thick. A dark shadow was faintly visible underneath, its shape unclear, but when the scepter's blue light shone down, the edges of the shadow glowed slightly, as if something beneath the ice were responding to the spiritual energy pull of the Ode to the Frozen Frost.

Lin Zhiyue and Cen Xi'er exchanged a glance. Both gripped their sword hilts tightly, poured spiritual energy into their blades, and struck down together at the edge of that patch of ice.

The moment the ice shattered, a wave of piercing cold air surged from the crack, carrying an ancient scent that had been sealed away for countless years.

Lin Zhiyue and Cen Xi'er poked their heads over to look down. Beneath the ice was a long, narrow shaft. The walls of the shaft were covered in a thick layer of frost, and the edges were as smooth as mirrors.

A faint, light-blue glow emanated from the bottom of the shaft, and spiritual energy rose from below, pure and steady.

The two exchanged a look and, without much hesitation, jumped down together.

The descent was short, taking only about three or four breaths before they touched the bottom.

Their feet landed on a flat, stone floor that was surprisingly dry, completely devoid of ice or standing water.

They looked up. The opening at the top of the shaft was closing at a visible rate, the ice self-repairing as if guided by some force. Within a few breaths, the entrance they had come through was sealed tight, leaving only a thick sheet of ice overhead.

Lin Zhiyue reached out to touch the stone wall of the chamber. The moment her fingertips made contact, a gentle but irresistible suction emanated from the stone, and the Ice-attribute spiritual energy inside her body was gently tugged.

Her spiritual energy was being absorbed.

“This stone wall absorbs spiritual energy,” Lin Zhiyue said, withdrawing her hand with a frown.

Cen Xi'er also reached out to touch it, and a wisp of her Gold-attribute spiritual energy was similarly absorbed upon contact.

The two searched along the stone walls and found the only door.

It was an entirely ice-blue stone door, its surface as smooth as a mirror, without any patterns or inscriptions. Even the seam of the door was barely visible, looking as if it had been carved from a single, solid block of glacial ice.

Lin Zhiyue tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. She tried pouring spiritual energy into it, but her energy was absorbed by the door's surface without a trace. Cen Xi'er tapped it twice with her sword hilt, but the echo was dull and short, suggesting it wasn't hollow.

The two of them took turns trying several methods, but the stone walls remained seamless, and the door refused to move.

Lin Zhiyue leaned against the stone door to catch her breath, wondering if she should try chipping away at the edges with her Azure Scale Sword, when the system's light screen suddenly popped up:

【Limited-time Quest Issued: Enter the dwelling of 'Fairy Bingling' and accept her inheritance. Quest Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x10, eligibility to unlock the limited Red Grade card pool 'Dusk Rose'.

Note: The current cave dwelling is highly compatible with the host's Ice and Wind Dual-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root and the Ode to the Frozen Frost set. It is recommended to try methods related to the set.】

Looking at the words on the light screen, a very subtle feeling rose in Lin Zhiyue's heart.

This felt exactly like when her advisor in her previous life would send her key literature on her research topic ahead of time—before she had even finished the experiment, the advisor was already hinting at which database held the answer.

She turned to look at the Ode to the Frozen Frost she was wearing, which was still glowing with a faint frosty light, then at the ice-blue stone door. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

She stepped up to the stone door once more and pressed her right palm against its surface. This time, instead of trying to push the door or channeling aggressive spiritual energy, she gently and continuously channeled her own Ice-attribute spiritual energy into it.

Half an hour passed. Her spiritual energy drained much faster than she had anticipated—if not for the Ice and Snow Affinity of the Ode to the Frozen Frost allowing her to rapidly absorb spiritual energy from her surroundings, she would have been drained dry long ago.

Just as she was about to reach her limit, there was a sudden movement from deep within the door. A wisp of cool spiritual energy slowly seeped out, carrying a gentle, probing touch as it brushed against her palm.

The stone door let out an extremely soft hum. A thin crack opened down the middle, and the two halves slowly slid aside.

A dense, pure wave of Ice-attribute spiritual energy surged from behind the door, wrapping around Lin Zhiyue's body as if penetrating every pore.

Standing nearby, Cen Xi'er let down her guard once she sensed that the spiritual energy carried no trace of hostility, and followed Lin Zhiyue inside.

The space inside the door was much larger than they had imagined. Dozens of pale-blue ice crystals were embedded in the surrounding ice walls, illuminating the entire cave dwelling as bright as day.

Floating right in the center of the dwelling was a core of Ice-attribute spiritual energy that had condensed over countless years. The spiritual energy was as rich and dense as a deep pool, crystal clear and utterly serene.