Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

The snow was deep, up to my knees.

Every step was difficult. The wind whipped up snowflakes that stung my face.

Jiang Xiaochuan trudged forward, his eyes searching the snow-covered ground.

White snow, black stones, and occasionally a few clumps of withered yellow grass.

Spiritual materials? What do they look like? He didn't know.

"Little White, do you know what spiritual materials look like?" he whispered to the fox on his shoulder.

Little Whitey meowed once, then ignored him.

Jiang Xiaochuan sighed and continued walking.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all I found was snow and rocks; I didn't discover anything else.

He was a little frustrated and sat down behind a sheltered rock, wanting to rest for a while.

Just as he sat down, Little White suddenly jumped off his shoulder and landed in the snow.

It used its claws to dig away the surface snow, revealing the black frozen soil underneath, and then continued digging. The movements were swift, sending snow and frozen soil flying.

"Xiaobai, what are you doing?" Jiang Xiaochuan asked curiously as he leaned closer.

Xiao Bai ignored him and continued digging.

After digging about a foot deep, its claws touched something hard.

It pawed at it a few times and dug the thing out of the frozen ground.

It was a fist-sized stone, completely black, with a pitted and uneven surface, and very inconspicuous.

But upon closer inspection, one can see faint, silvery-white filaments of light moving within the stone, like tiny lightning bolts.

The stone feels cold to the touch, but after holding it for a while, you can feel a slight tingling sensation coming from your palm.

"This is... a Thunderstone?" Jiang Xiaochuan was both surprised and delighted. He remembered Lu Xueqi saying that the mountain's belly contained a Thunderstone.

Unexpectedly, Xiaobai dug it up with just a casual dig.

Little Whitey meowed in response. It shook the dirt off its paws and jumped back onto Jiang Xiaochuan's shoulder.

Jiang Xiaochuan held the Thunderstone in his hands, looking at it from left to right, and liked it more and more the more he looked at it.

Although he didn't know what the quality was like, at least he had found it. He carefully put the stone into his pocket, feeling very happy.

With his success, he was even more motivated and continued searching the vicinity.

After searching for another half hour, they found a few small fragments of the Heavenly Thunder Stone, but they couldn't find any as large as the ones they had found before.

As dusk approached, the wind picked up, and the snow fell heavier. Jiang Xiaochuan remembered Lu Xueqi's words and prepared to turn back.

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Just as I turned around, my feet suddenly lost their footing.

"ah--!"

He stepped into a snow-covered ice fissure and fell through.

He was falling incredibly fast, the wind whistling past his ears. Terrified, he flailed wildly, trying to grab onto something, but only felt the cold air. "It's over, it's over, I'm definitely going to die!"

Just when he thought he was about to be smashed to pieces, his falling speed suddenly slowed down.

It felt as if something was supporting him. He opened his eyes and found himself enveloped in a soft white light, slowly falling.

It was Little White. It transformed back into human form, one arm around his waist, the other supporting the ball of white light.

Her silver hair glowed faintly in the darkness, and her exquisite face remained expressionless as she glanced down at him.

"fool."

Jiang Xiaochuan blushed and couldn't speak. He really was stupid; he didn't watch where he was going.

The two landed slowly.

This place seems to be a natural cave inside the mountain. It's very dark, with only the faint light emanating from Xiaobai and the dim light from the Thunder Stone in Jiang Xiaochuan's arms.

The air was cold, but better than up there; there was no wind.

"Thank you," Jiang Xiaochuan said softly as he steadied himself.

Little White didn't speak, but simply looked around. The cave was vast, with no end in sight.

Beneath our feet lay solid ice, and thick layers of ice had formed on the surrounding rock walls, reflecting a faint blue light in the dim light.

"There seems to be something here," Jiang Xiaochuan said, pointing to a spot on the rock wall.

Behind the ice there, something seemed to be glowing, a soft, pale blue, unlike the silvery-white of the Thunderstone.

Xiao Bai walked over, reached out, and a glint of white light appeared at her fingertips as she pressed her hand onto the ice.

The ice melted rapidly around her fingertips, revealing what lay beneath.

It was a piece of jade embedded in the rock, about the size of a palm, crystal clear, like the purest blue crystal.

Inside the jade, a faint, water-like light flows, emanating a refreshing chill.

"Cold Iron Jade," Xiao Bai said, his voice echoing in the cave, "formed from the essence of ten-thousand-year-old mysterious ice, extremely cold."

Jiang Xiaochuan walked over and looked at the piece of cold iron jade. It was truly beautiful. Like a frozen blue sky, like the waters of the deep sea. He reached out to touch it, but before his fingertips were even an inch away from the jade, he felt a bone-chilling cold and quickly withdrew his hand.

"Is this also... a spiritual material?" he asked.

"Hmm." Little White nodded. "Top-grade ice-attribute. Better than the Thunderstone you have in your arms."

Jiang Xiaochuan's eyes lit up. A top-grade ice-attribute weapon! Just as Lu Xueqi had said, it was similar in attribute to the Tianya Sword! If he used this to forge a sword…

"But... how do we get it out?" He looked at the cold iron jade embedded in the rock, troubled.

This jade seems to have grown together with the rock, and it's so cold that you definitely can't dig it out with your bare hands.

Xiao Bai didn't say anything, but simply stretched out his hand and gently traced a circle with his fingertips on the rock surrounding the piece of cold iron jade.

Her fingertips seemed sharper than the finest knife, slicing the rock as easily as tofu. Then, with a swift motion of her palm, she extracted the piece of cold iron jade, along with a small piece of surrounding rock, intact.

The jade stone, now separated from the rock face, felt even colder. The temperature inside the cave dropped several degrees in an instant. Jiang Xiaochuan sneezed from the cold.

Xiao Bai looked at the Cold Iron Jade in his hand, then at the faint glow of the Thunder Stone in Jiang Xiaochuan's arms, lost in thought.

"Ice and lightning complement each other..." she murmured.

"What?" Jiang Xiaochuan didn't hear clearly.

Xiao Bai didn't explain, but simply handed him the Cold Iron Jade. "Take it."

Jiang Xiaochuan took it. The jade was icy cold to the touch, so he quickly wrapped it in his clothes and held it to his chest.

Even so, he was still so cold that his teeth chattered.

"Let's go," said Little White, transforming back into a fox and jumping onto his shoulder.

"How do I get there?" Jiang Xiaochuan looked up. The hole above him was very high and dark, and he couldn't see the top at all.

Little White swished his face with its tail, gesturing for him to look in the other direction. From deep within the cave, a faint light seemed to be filtering in.

Jiang Xiaochuan carried Han Tieyu and walked unsteadily toward the light.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the light grew brighter and brighter, and the sound of water could be heard. Turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up before us.

It was a larger cave with a small pool in the center. The water was deep blue and emitted a cold aura.

Above the pool, a crack appeared in the cave ceiling, letting in sunlight that illuminated the entire cave. Beside the pool, several clumps of small, shimmering blue grass grew, like ice sculptures.

On the opposite side of the pool stood two people: Lu Xueqi and Tian Ling'er.

Lu Xueqi held a crystal-clear, chilling white tree branch in her hand, like an ice sculpture. Tian Ling'er also held several small stones that flashed with lightning.

They also saw Jiang Xiaochuan and the piece of cold iron jade in his arms, which exuded an astonishingly cold aura.

Lu Xueqi's eyes lit up, and she quickly walked over. "You found the Cold Iron Jade?"

"Hmm." Jiang Xiaochuan nodded and showed her the jade in his arms. "And this too." He then took out the Thunderstone.

Lu Xueqi took the Cold Iron Jade, examined it carefully, and nodded: "The quality is excellent." She then looked at the Thunder Stone, "This one is not bad either."

She glanced at the Cold Iron Jade, then at the Thunder Stone, then at the Ice Crystal Tree Branch in her hand and the Thunder Stone in Tian Ling'er's hand, lost in thought.

"Ice and lightning complement each other..." she whispered, just as Xiaobai had said earlier.

"Junior Sister Lu, you mean..." Jiang Xiaochuan seemed to understand something.

"Using Cold Iron Jade as the main material, Thunderstone as the auxiliary material, and then blending it with this Ice Crystal Branch, perhaps..." Lu Xueqi looked at him, her eyes bright, "that we could forge a sword that simultaneously possesses the attributes of ice and lightning. Ice is for confinement, lightning is for offense, complementing each other. Moreover, both ice and lightning belong to the Heavenly Dao, righteous and awe-inspiring, which aligns with your temperament."

Jiang Xiaochuan's heart pounded. Dual attributes of ice and lightning? That sounds incredibly powerful!

Moreover... his upright and righteous spirit resonated with his own temperament? He felt a little embarrassed, but more than that, he was looking forward to it.

"But... is it even possible to refine it?" he asked. "Won't the two attributes conflict?"

"I'm here," Lu Xueqi said with certainty. "Besides, ice and lightning can be mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining; the key lies in balance and harmony. This ice crystal branch is an excellent harmonizer."

She paused, then looked at Jiang Xiaochuan, her eyes serious: "If you're willing, we'll take this as our goal. We already have the Cold Iron Jade and the Heavenly Thunder Stone, and I've found the Ice Crystal Branch. We still need a few auxiliary materials and a suitable place for refining. The time... could be several months, or even several years. Are you willing to wait?"

Jiang Xiaochuan looked at Lu Xueqi, at the earnestness and expectation in her eyes, then at the cold Iron Jade in his arms and the slightly numb Thunder Stone in his palm. He took a deep breath and nodded emphatically.

"willing."

It's only a few years, right? He can wait that long. Besides, with Lu Xueqi around, he believes they can definitely succeed.

Watching from the side, observing the exchange of glances between Lu Xueqi and Jiang Xiaochuan, and the natural, unspoken atmosphere between them, a bitter feeling welled up inside her again. She gripped the lightning stone tightly in her hand, the stone digging painfully into her skin.

Little White perched on Jiang Xiaochuan's shoulder, squinting as it looked at the reflection of the sky in the pond, its tail swaying gently.

Finding the main material is just the beginning.