Yulong Snow Mountain.
In the valley.
The bamboo hut where Yu Shenfeng resided was still enveloped by a thick layer of ice.
Four hours after Yu Shenfeng had switched to cultivating "Heavenly Frost Profound Cold Qi", the frozen bamboo hut still showed no signs of reaction.
It made everyone wonder if Yu Shenfeng had perished inside.
Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying, who stood outside watching, paced anxiously, eager to find out what exactly was happening inside.
Even Mu Jinyu, who had great hopes for Yu Shenfeng, couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow at this time.
"Crack, crack, crack…"
Just then, a series of sharp cracking sounds suddenly began to resonate.
Hearing the noise, Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying instantly looked up toward the bamboo hut, only to see the thick ice wall outside starting to develop countless cracks, spreading in all directions like a spider web.
In an instant, the formerly solid and intact ice wall was filled with these fine cracks, as if it would burst open any second!
"Is master coming out?"
Seeing this scene, Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying couldn't help but reveal expressions of surprise, then turned to look at Mu Jinyu, urgently asking.
Hope tinged with a plea was evident in their eyes.
Mu Jinyu replied somewhat uncertainly, "Perhaps?"
As he spoke, the sounds of the ice wall cracking became faster and more intense. Mu Jinyu's eyes suddenly widened, then he shouted to Qiu Bai and the others, "Back, back, back!"
Hearing Mu Jinyu's cry, the disciples, having experienced this once before, glanced at each other and without hesitation, immediately followed Mu Jinyu to run farther away!
In moments, they had retreated another hundred meters!
"Boom!!"
Just then, accompanied by a thunderous roar, the bamboo hut, sealed in ice, exploded like a massive bomb!
Countless shards of ice shot in all directions!
"Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz!!"
The nearby Emerald Bamboo Forest was reduced to numerous fragments by the fiercely sharp ice shards in a matter of moments!
And the ground was also bombarded by the flying ice shards, forming one deep crater after another, each nearly a meter deep!
The scene was tremendously horrifying!
Looking at the wispy cold air steaming up and the mist-filled bamboo forest grounds, both Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying felt their scalps tingle, filled with immense relief.
This indiscriminate bombardment, with their strength, they could probably block a few hundred or a thousand ice shards, right?
But the ice wall had just burst, dispersing tens or hundreds of thousands of ice shards, each carrying the power of the Mid Stage of the Divine Realm. They probably couldn't fend off many before being chopped into mincemeat!
"Master? How is Master?"
With their relief mingled with fear, Chen Xiuying then thought of Yu Shenfeng's safety, who was right at the center of the bamboo hut.
The ice shards were incredibly terrifying, and since Yu Shenfeng was in the very center, it was unknown if he had been injured.
"Boom!!"
Just as Mu Jinyu was about to explain to them that this explosive attack must have been caused when Yu Shenfeng broke free and that he likely wouldn't have come to harm, another resounding boom thundered forth.
Subsequently, the mist-ridden ruins suddenly cleared, leaving only a field of bamboo debris and pocked earth behind.
Everyone looked up and saw that at the former location of the bamboo hut, there was now only a man in white, standing with his back to them, his white robe fluttering, standing tall and solitary.
It was Yu Shenfeng!
"Master!"
"Master, are you alright?"
Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying, seeing Yu Shenfeng appear, instantly had their eyes light up with joy, unable to refrain from calling out to him.
"Hmm?"
Hearing his disciples' shouts, Yu Shenfeng, who was turned away from them, immediately turned around to look at them, a slow smile curling on his handsome face. However, this smile lacked his usual gentle and refined charm and instead, seemed cold and ruthless.
"Your master is fine. You don't need to worry."
Yu Shenfeng spoke, his voice sounding cold and ruthless, no longer as smooth and mellifluous as before.
"Master..."
They felt the change in Yu Shenfeng's demeanor and voice to be very unfamiliar and stood speechless in shock.
The man standing before them, other than looking like a younger Yu Shenfeng, seemed as if his soul had been replaced, nothing like the master they knew.
More like a twin brother who resembled Yu Shenfeng, but had a different character due to dissimilar past experiences—one being as warm as a spring breeze, and the other exuding an ice-cold ruthlessness.
"Hmm? This is..."
Yu Shenfeng also realized that something was off about his transformation and after speaking to his disciples, he froze, reaching toward his Adam's apple.
"My voice..."
He tried speaking again, but still, that cold, harsh voice came out.
Mu Jinyu, seeing this, said, "Don't worry. There's nothing wrong. This is probably a side effect of cultivating the Ice Series Technique. Once you get used to it, it will be fine."
After finishing, Mu Jinyu thought of Jian Ruyan.
This girl probably wasn't originally this icy, right? No, perhaps she isn't really this cold now either. It could just be that cultivating the Ice Attribute Technique has made her seem unapproachable and cold, causing her to speak less over time.
In actual fact, having interacted with her, Ruyan is quite easy to talk to.
"Really?" Yu Shenfeng, hearing Mu Jinyu's words, felt relieved.
In fact, he wasn't particularly concerned about the change in his voice; after all, how could this change be worse than when he had been paralyzed in bed?
Now, he had switched to cultivating the "Heavenly Frost Profound Cold Qi," not only resolving the Cold Poison that had plagued him for years but also using this opportunity to enhance his cultivation to the Seventh Layer of the Divinity Transformation Realm, that is, the Advanced Divine Realm!
He didn't know the current strength of Li Zhexiong and the others, but he was confident that sooner or later, he would catch up with them!
"Hmm, now that your body has recovered, you can first acclimate to the changes in your True Yuan. I can go about my business now,"
Mu Jinyu, regaining his composure, stopped worrying about the side effects of the Ice Series Technique, and said to Yu Shenfeng.
"Alright, Dragon King, you go ahead," Yu Shenfeng nodded with a smile, though his expression was still somewhat cold and stiff.
Having said that, Yu Shenfeng also thought about what exactly Mu Jinyu wanted him in this secluded place for?
Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying didn't care about these things. After thanking Mu Jinyu numerous times, they quickly approached Yu Shenfeng, showing their care and concern for their master.
Mu Jinyu waved at them, signaling for the master and disciples to enjoy their reunion, then walked away with his hands behind his back, strolling through the valley, searching for the exact location of the hidden Dragon Vein!
It took him about fifteen minutes.
Mu Jinyu finally located the position of the Dragon Vein.
It was in a stream.
This stream, formed from the melting snow from the mountaintop, meandered down to flow into this eternally spring-like valley, but this was not a coincidence—it was because the Dragon Vein was here!
"I've finally found it!"
Mu Jinyu stepped into the river, feeling an ice-cold chill. As the "Green Emperor's Wood Emperor Art" began to circulate, he quickly dispelled this chill. Next, he raised his right hand and forcefully grabbed downwards in the air!
Instantly, a spectral, snow-white flow resembling an eel was seized out of thin air by Mu Jinyu.
It was indeed the Dragon Vein formed over the years by the Yulong Snow Mountain.
Once the Dragon Vein was grabbed by Mu Jinyu, it struggled fiercely, trying to return to the river below and flow back to the Yulong Mountain Peak!