Cultivation System: Stronger with Age

The Cold Pool, tens of zhang wide, contained bone-chillingly cold water.

Lin Xuankong wore layers of Battle Armor, yet he could still feel waves of cold seeping through them. However, having activated the Blood-Burning Secret Technique, he could now easily raise his body temperature to seventy or eighty degrees Celsius. Consequently, the pool's extreme cold was nothing to him!

Weighed down by tens of thousands of pounds from his multiple layers of Battle Armor, Lin Xuankong didn't need to swim; his body simply sank rapidly.

During his descent, his Double Pupils carefully surveyed the surroundings. The pool walls were as smooth as mirrors, devoid of any footholds or handholds. As he sank deeper, the light within the Cold Pool grew increasingly dim.

By the time he had descended about a hundred zhang, darkness enveloped him completely. If not for his Eight Gates Celestial Eye, he would have been blind to everything.

However, this was a Cold Pool that might harbor Poison Corpses, and the absolute darkness weighed heavily on Lin Xuankong's mind. He circulated a small amount of his Qi Blood, and several bright flashes of Divine Thunder erupted from his right hand, illuminating the immediate surroundings.

Looking at the still-smooth stone walls around him, Lin Xuankong silently calculated his depth based on the time that had passed.

Moments later, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly. A hundred breaths have passed; I must have sunk over three hundred zhang by now. In my previous life, such a depth would have been a human exclusion zone; survival without large diving equipment would have been impossible!

However, for a Fourth Layer Martial Cultivator, this depth posed no pressure whatsoever. Even breathing was not an issue. Having cultivated to the Fourth Layer Late Stage, the refinement of his Qi Blood could sustain all his vital activities. With his current Qi and Blood Reserves, he could remain submerged at the bottom of this Cold Pool for hundreds, even thousands, of years without needing to surface for air!

After descending another two hundred zhang or so, Lin Xuankong finally touched the bottom of the Cold Pool. He raised the Divine Thunder in his hand and surveyed his surroundings.

The bottom of this Cold Pool was extremely wide, likely several hundred zhang across. This vast expanse was covered with countless bones—human bones, beast bones, and even Corpse Scorpion bones!

Retracting his gaze, Lin Xuankong raised his right hand, the one not holding the Divine Thunder. As his Qi Blood circulated rapidly, droplets of Essence Blood appeared at his middle fingertip, slowly diffusing into the stagnant water at the pool's bottom.

Preparing to search for Heavy Water Spiritual Objects in the Ba Mountain Secret Realm, Lin Xuankong had naturally consulted Zhao Yufei on the matter beforehand.

These Heavy Water Spiritual Objects generally appeared in Cold Pools hundreds or thousands of zhang deep within the Ba Mountain Secret Realm. Superficially, they looked identical to ordinary water, indistinguishable even with the Eight Gates Celestial Eye. The only way to find them was to use Essence Blood as bait, attracting the Heavy Water Spiritual Objects to consume it!

Although these Heavy Water Spiritual Objects were born from absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, they particularly craved the Essence Blood of Demons and Human Race Martial Cultivators. As they absorbed more Essence Blood, their Spirituality and volume would gradually increase. The numerous human, Demon, and beast corpses at the bottom of this Cold Pool had all been thrown here by Corpse Scorpions to nurture these objects.

Corpse Scorpions, like Human Race Martial Cultivators, needed to devour vast quantities of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects to break through their Realm and advance to the Fifth Layer. If not for this, the Tier Five Corpse Scorpions would not be guarding the vicinity of this Cold Pool. They hunted Human Race members and beasts nearby to obtain large amounts of Essence Blood, using it to nurture the Heavy Water Spiritual Objects for their offspring to consume.

Sensing his Essence Blood spreading outwards, Lin Xuankong decisively extinguished the Divine Thunder in his left hand. The bottom of the pool instantly plunged into utter darkness, without a single trace of light remaining.

In such profound darkness, it would be incredibly difficult for any other Martial Cultivator to spot a Heavy Water Spiritual Object coming to absorb the Essence Blood. However, Lin Xuankong's Eight Gates Celestial Eye was extraordinary; even in absolute darkness, he could clearly see the faint traces of his dispersed Essence Blood.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lin Xuankong's Double Pupils constricted slightly in the darkness. The dispersed Essence Blood, now about ten feet away from him, suddenly and silently began to coalesce, as if iron filings were being drawn to a magnet.

The coalescing Essence Blood formed a sphere about the size of a thumb-pulp. As more Essence Blood gathered and was absorbed, the sphere grew increasingly vivid red. Finally, after it had absorbed about a third of the Essence Blood Lin Xuankong had expelled, the crimson droplet silently drifted away into the distance.

Witnessing this, a smile touched Lin Xuankong's lips. This Heavy Water Spiritual Object truly possesses a degree of spiritual awareness; it's incredibly cautious. If I hadn't extinguished the Divine Thunder, it definitely wouldn't have revealed itself!

However, now that I've found you, and you've consumed so much of my Essence Blood, how could I possibly let you escape!

His Qi Blood surged. Like a bolt of lightning, he shot forward, creating large ripples in the water as he instantly closed the distance to the Heavy Water Spiritual Object and snatched it!

The Heavy Water Spiritual Object, brimming with Spirituality, instantly dissolved into countless, incredibly fine streams of water, attempting to scatter in all directions and slip from Lin Xuankong's grasp. Suddenly, flashes of Divine Thunder erupted, and twenty-four strands wove into a net, trapping the Spiritual Object at its center. The Heavy Water Spiritual Object continuously changed forms, thrashing left and right in an attempt to break free. Alas, under the relentless barrage of Divine Thunder, this seemingly sentient Spiritual Object was shocked into repeated twitches, utterly unable to escape!