Star Odyssey

Chapter 1663: Celestial Frost Pond

Elder Jiu Shen raised a hand and gently tapped his finger against the air, causing ripples to spread through the barren region. “There’s nothing dangerous else. Let’s go.”

They entered the region, and the force pulling at Lu Yin’s fatesand increased in strength.

He knew that they were approaching their destination.

A few hours later, Elder Jiu Shen exclaimed, “There’s someone else here.”

Lu Yin turned and saw a white figure walking in the distance. It was a woman.

Lu Yin kept staring at the woman’s back; why did she look so familiar?

At this moment, Bai Shui was very excited. She had finally found it—the Celestial Frost Pond! Her ancestors’ records were accurate, and it was right where she expected it to be.

Suddenly, she stopped and slowly turned around. She saw two people approaching, which astonished her. Why were there other people in this place? Could someone else be headed towards the Celestial Frost Pond instead of exploring the mountains?

Hmm? Bai Shui’s eyes flashed when she saw Lu Yin. It’s him?

Lu Yin and Elder Jiu Shen approached Bai Shui. “It’s you?”

Bai Shui slowly bowed. “Alliance Leader Lu, it’s been a long time.”

She glanced at Elder Jiu Shen but did not speak to the man. Elder Jiu Shen had a very youthful appearance, and if people did not know his identity, many would underestimate him. On top of that, Bai Shui was unable to detect Elder Jiu Shen’s strength given her own level of cultivation.

“If I remember correctly, your name’s Bai Shui, right?” Lu Yin asked hesitantly.

Bai Shui smiled. “It’s an honor to know that you still remember me. Thank you for helping me when the Daynight clan tried to kill me back then.”

“Why are you here?”

Bai Shui’s eyes flickered. She hesitated but then said, “I’m looking for the Celestial Frost Pond.”

Lu Yin was startled. The Celestial Frost Pond? He knew that the Celestial Frost Sect had a certain battle technique—Celestial Being Shows the Way—that required the Celestial Frost Pond. This battle technique was very well known throughout the Perennial World.

Bai Shui was from the Bai family, the family that led the Celestial Frost Sect. She was most likely one of their descendants that had been left behind in the Fifth Mainland, so Lu Yin was not particularly surprised that the woman knew about the Celestial Frost Pond.

“Do you know about Celestial Being Shows the Way?” Lu Yin asked.

Bai Shui was caught off guard. “You know about that?”

Lu Yin smiled. “I know more than you.”

Bai Shui warily looked at Lu Yin, but she kept her thoughts well hidden.

“Since we’ve bumped into each other, let’s travel together,” Lu Yin offered.

Bai Shui nodded and followed along with Lu Yin and Elder Jiu Shen.

They were already quite close to the Celestial Frost Pond, and they could even vaguely see it from where they had met Bai Shui. So without any issues, they soon arrived at the pond, where they took a closer look.

Lu Yin had assumed that the Celestial Frost Pond would be covered with mist and have an ethereal look, so he was shocked by the pond’s true appearance. “This? This is the Celestial Frost Pond?”

Bai Shui nodded.

The pond in front of them was only ten meters across, and there was absolutely nothing around it. The water within the pond was cloudy, and there even seemed to be mud in it—even a normal hot spring or fish pond would be better than what they were looking at. Regardless, the water was extremely cold.

Bai Shui bent down and touched the water with a hand, but her hand shot back as if she had been zapped. “This is definitely the Celestial Frost Pond.”

Lu Yin and Elder Jiu Shen looked at each other before also bending down and touching the water with a hand.

Given Lu Yin’s physical strength, he would not be affected by the Celestial Frost Pond’s water no matter how cold it could be. He actually could not understand why this pond was considered one of the Celestial Frost Sect’s most valuable treasures.

If his guess was not wrong, Bai Shaohong’s visualization method had been the Celestial Frost Pond.

“What do you know about the Celestial Frost Pond?” Lu Yin asked.

Bai Shui immediately answered, “The Celestial Frost Pond is essential to learning Celestial Being Shows The Way. In both the ancient records and what I heard from my ancestors, the greatest use of the Celestial Frost Pond is to learn that technique.”

Lu Yin solemnly observed Bai Shui.

Bai Shui panicked when Lu Yin kept staring at her. She turned to the Celestial Frost Pond. “However, not many people know that the true purpose of the Celestial Frost Pond is cryostasis.”

“Cryostasis?” Lu Yin was surprised. This did not sound overly impressive, as many cultivators throughout the universe chose to undergo cryostasis to preserve their bodies for longer periods of time. The most memorable encounter for Lu Yin was how the Royal Frost Continent had put an entire army into cryostasis.

“Cryostasis is indeed very common, but have you ever heard of anyone able to cultivate while undergoing cryostasis?” Bai Shui asked.

Lu Yin’s brows rose up at that. “Cultivate while undergoing cryostasis?”

Elder Jiu Shen looked at Bai Shui in shock. “I’m also curious. How can one cultivate while in cryostasis?”

Bai Shui glanced at the youthful looking elder and explained, “This is the primary purpose of the Celestial Frost Pond. As long as one remains within the pond or is submerged in the water, they can be put in cryostasis while also cultivating as normal. However, this type of cryostasis doesn’t work as well as other methods. For example, if a person can survive for a thousand extra years with cryostasis, they’ll only be able to live for a dozen years within this pond. In essence, it allows people to extend their life less than ten times that of normal cryostasis. Still, given the fact that normal people can’t even live for a few hundred years, this pond would allow such a person to live ten times their usual lifespan.

“And they would also be able to cultivate during this time.”

Lu Yin was astounded. He scooped up a bit of the water. “I never expected this water to be so useful.”

“On top of that,” Bai Shui continued, “Apart from cryostasis, this pond is also able to preserve any stellular energy that leaks out while practicing battle techniques, which helps in avoiding detection from the true universe.”

“You know about the true universe?” Lu Yin was shocked.

Elder Jiu Shen interjected, “Preserve stellular energy? That’s impossible. Stellular energy cannot be stored.”

However, Lu Yin knew that there was indeed a way to store stellular energy, which was by using the Mother Tree. The Mother Tree absorbed stellular energy and converted it into stellular liquid, which could then be illegally gathered and used by the four ruling powers. However, there was no way of storing stellular energy in the Fifth Mainland.

Bai Shui explained, “The energy can’t be stored, as it’s only preserved. Then, it naturally dissipates without being detected by the true universe.”

Elder Jiu Shen felt relieved. “That makes more sense. If the Celestial Frost Sect was able to store stellular energy, they would have been able to forcefully cultivate countless Envoys, and the Sixth Mainland would have never been able to defeat us. Also, they would have never needed to leave.”

Lu Yin thought of something as he stared at the pond. “You mentioned that a person can cultivate while undergoing cryostasis if they’re submerged in the pond water, right?”

He turned towards Bai Shui.

Bai Shui nodded.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “This means that we can take some water from the pond.”

Elder Jiu Shen stood up straighter and looked at Bai Shui excitedly.

Bai Shui’s heart sank. “Yes.”

Lu Yin and Elder Jiu Shen glanced at each other before they each started searching for their cosmic rings. It would not make sense for them to leave the ruins without gaining anything at all.

Elder Jiu Shen was no fool, but he was not as cunning as Lu Yin. When Lu Yin had mentioned that they could take the water away, the old man had quickly found a bottle, dumped it out, and then started filling it with water from the Celestial Frost Pond.

Lu Yin watched awkwardly as he was not able to find a bottle.

Bai Shui blinked. “Erm, if you want to gather any of the pond water, you need to use a special bottle made by the Celestial Frost Sect. Otherwise it’ll just become plain water after you leave.”

Elder Jiu Shen was speechless. “Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

Still, he kept filling his bottle. He might not have such a special bottle, but he also could not be bothered to find one. He just wanted to take some of the water back to test it out, and it would be fine even if it did not work out.

After cultivating for so many years, Elder Jiu Shen had understood something: everything had its own destiny, and there was no point in trying to force things. Another important thing that he had learned was that whatever he held belonged to him.

Lu Yin and Bai Shui silently watched as Elder Jiu Shen filled his bottle.

Elder Jiu Shen looked up and turned to Lu Yin. The old man frowned; something was wrong. According to his understanding of Lu Yin, there was no way the youth would pass up on obtaining such a treasure.

“What are you thinking about, boy?” Elder Jiu Shen asked.

Bai Shui also looked at Lu Yin in curiosity.

Lu Yin laughed. “Are you done, Elder?”

Elder Jiu Shen arched a brow and reflexively stored his bottle away. “I won’t give you my bottle. Figure something out yourself.”

Lu Yin smirked. “She already said that doing so would be useless.”

“I still won’t give you the bottle. Go figure something else out or find another bottle.” Elder Jiu Shen rolled his eyes.

Lu Yin coughed. “Actually, I’m not planning on taking any of the pond water.”

Bai Shui and Elder Jiu Shen both showed expressions of disbelief.

Lu Yin coughed again and looked slightly embarrassed. “Actually, the environment on my Zenith Mountain is pretty bad, and it could use some spring water as a decoration.”

Elder Jiu Shen was startled, and Bai Shui’s mouth fell open. “You’re taking the whole pond?”

Lu Yin felt rather bad. After all, the three of them had found the pond together, and Bai Shui had been the one to share the pond’s function. Despite that, Lu Yin was the one planning on taking the entire thing away. “Actually, you can just let me know if you ever need it and I’ll give you some.”

“Boy, you’re too shameless! You want to take this whole thing with you?” Elder Jiu Shen shouted.

Lu Yin helplessly defended himself. “I don’t have any other ideas, and I also don’t have any of the special bottles. If I don’t do this, then do you have any other suggestions, Senior? Other people might find it if we leave it here, and there will definitely be quite a few powerhouses interested in it, and there won’t be enough water even if everyone takes just a small bit. But most importantly-”

Lu Yin grew solemn as he continued, “I’m taking it away to help those close to me, such as the members of the Cosmic Sect.”

Elder Jiu Shen did not believe Lu Yin at all, but he also did not stop him. It would be a good thing if Lu Yin managed to take the pond away, as the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins would never be Lu Yin’s exclusive domain, not even though the Great Eastern Alliance had defeated the Daynight clan and taken control of the ruins.

Lu Yin would be forced to give some of the pond water to the Cosmic Sect if he took the entire pond, and that was better than leaving with nothing.

Bai Shui was annoyed; she couldn’t believe that Lu Yin would take the whole pond.

“The Celestial Frost Pond won’t be very useful if it leaves here,” Bai Shui tried to stop Lu Yin.

He just dismissively waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter. It’s better than just leaving it here. This pond can only hold a few people, and it wouldn't be good if a fight breaks out over it. I’ll just take it away, and even if I can’t use it, it will still be a decoration for Zenith Mountain.”

He took out Zenith Mountain and prepared to pull up the entire Celestial Frost Pond.

Bai Shui helplessly stared at the pond, but she could do nothing at all to stop Lu Yin.

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