Chapter Twelve: Escape from the Pool

Unbeknownst to him, five months had passed while he lingered in the pool. The true energy within his body had grown so dense it pressed against the threshold of his dantian; even his meridians were overflowing with this power. Yet, the long-awaited breakthrough still eluded him—the invisible, intangible barrier remained stubbornly solid. Once he broke through, he would reach the seventh stage of Qi Refining, entering the late phase. The leap from mid to late stage would increase his strength tenfold. “It seems this breakthrough is a significant bottleneck for me,” Liu Junhuai thought helplessly.

Continuing to refine spiritual energy seemed futile; he needed something else to occupy his mind. His gaze turned to the bottom of the pool. “My body should be able to withstand the cold now,” he mused. “I want to see where this chill originates.” Speaking aloud, he began to descend slowly.

Activating his spiritual eye, he infused his entire body with true energy, embarking once again on an exploration. Deep within the pool, Liu Junhuai had already descended over fifty fathoms. The icy chill in the water intensified sharply, his skin clinging tightly to his frame as if sensing danger, muscles contracting, joints nearly locked.

He plunged even deeper, another several dozen fathoms, straining his spirit and muscles to their limits. Still, he could not touch the bottom. The range of his spiritual eye compressed to less than a meter; darkness enveloped him.

Just as he was about to give up, his outstretched fingertips brushed against something hard. It was bone-chillingly cold, covered in a layer of fuzzy slickness.

This must be the bottom. In his sight, the floor was scattered with round stones resembling pebbles, coated thickly with moss and exceedingly slippery, yet their weight was no more than ordinary rocks.

Swimming along the stone layer, he noticed a faint, flickering blue light in the nearby darkness. The glow was weak, surrounded by twisting blue curves.

Liu Junhuai felt a surge of joy but also heightened his caution, moving closer. As he approached, the blue light vanished, revealing a bone-like object wedged beneath a larger stone. The bone was unusually heavy, almost metallic.

He stowed the bone away, and another blue glow appeared a meter ahead—another bone. “This blue light must be phosphorescence,” Liu Junhuai realized. Circling a stone as tall as a man, more phosphorescent lights emerged. Beneath them lay an almost intact human skeleton, its upper body leaning against the stone, right hand clutching a purple stone tightly.

The purple stone radiated a chilling cold that pierced to the marrow, as if it possessed life, burrowing deep into his bones. Liu Junhuai was startled and quickly tucked it away.

“This must be Extreme Cold Crystal!” Searching his memory, Liu Junhuai was shocked. How could something from the far north appear here? There must be more, he thought, his mind racing but his hands still busy.

He rummaged through the bones and among the round stones found another small piece of purple crystal, then a third and a fourth, eventually collecting over a dozen pieces. No time for excitement, he kept running his true energy, feeling his strength wane, and quickened his movements.

“These bones are valuable too,” he muttered, his hands never stopping. “Eh, what’s this?” On the corpse’s left finger was a ring-like object. “Hahaha, I’ve struck it rich! Could this be the legendary storage ring?” He put it away, delirious with joy. If he weren’t underwater, he would have jumped up.

After gathering everything, he turned to swim back. “Wait, the spiritual energy in this pool is dense, the cold is overwhelming—there shouldn’t be just these few crystals,” Liu Junhuai reasoned. “Only a spiritual vein could nurture such abundance.”

Calming himself, Liu Junhuai doubled back for a careful search.

Circling to the other side of the large stone, he sensed a surge of spiritual energy at its base. Carefully lifting the round stones, he saw faint purple hues seeping out. Overjoyed, he drew his Shadow Blade, ready for a thorough excavation.

Suddenly, he felt the muscles in his back tense, a wave of terror rising unbidden. He lunged forward as a thunderous crash echoed behind him—a tremendous force struck where he’d just been. Pebbles were whipped into a whirlpool, then blasted outward as it collapsed. Liu Junhuai was slammed into the rubble at the bottom, his head buried half a meter deep.

The attack was so sudden, so swift, he had no time to react. His Shadow Blade remained in hand, but he couldn’t dwell on it; he retreated, launching himself sideways. Sure enough, another fierce blast sliced past his thigh, striking where he’d just fled.

No respite—a thick, trunk-like object swept toward him, sending him flying as if struck by a speeding train. Agonizing pain tore through his organs, nearly pulverizing them. Before he could stop, a mountain-like shadow loomed, reeking of blood. With nowhere to hide, Liu Junhuai’s consciousness shifted; he entered the Grand Pavilion.

He coughed up blood, mouthfuls of it, even bits of internal organs, the pain so intense he nearly lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he was lying outside the Grand Pavilion.

The injuries were grave, with every breath tearing at his insides, but at least he was alive. The terror of the recent attack lingered, but there was no time to ponder—sitting outside, Liu Junhuai began to restore his strength.

He didn’t know how much time passed before the pain eased and he opened his eyes. Activating his spiritual eye, he still saw nothing but darkness, likely still among the stones at the pool’s bottom. “Has that thing left?” he wondered, but decided not to care—survival was paramount. Struggling to his feet, he entered the Grand Pavilion.

Seven days passed before his wounds were mostly healed. He took out the ring, removed the seal, dripped blood to refine it, and sent his spirit inside. Liu Junhuai broke into a broad smile.

There was a wealth of treasures—magical artifacts, jade slips, materials, spiritual stones—all piled like a small mountain, dazzling to behold.

Liu Junhuai first examined the jade slips. The first contained only basic puppet crafting methods, beyond his current abilities, so he set it aside. The second described pill refining techniques, also set aside for now. The third, however, was exactly what he needed—an agility technique called “Glittering Shadow.” He placed it separately. Another slip detailed herb cultivation, which was useless to him. The last was finally a martial technique, a blade art called “Blade Evasion,” and he happened to have a blade at hand. Thinking of the blade, Liu Junhuai smiled bitterly—it was left in the pool; perhaps, for now, his sharpest weapon was his own fingernails.