"You bastard! You dare attack my eyes! I'll shatter you into ice shards!" The Ice Dragon roared, but to its horror, something unexpected happened.
Its power surged uncontrollably toward its eyes, intensifying the pain while rapidly draining its strength!
Simultaneously, the Dragon Jade used Qin Yang as a conduit, voraciously devouring the Ice Dragon's power.
The Ice Dragon desperately tried to resist, but the momentary surge of absorbed power was enough for the Dragon Jade to unleash its Dragon Might!
"Dragon Might!"
Overwhelming pressure descended, as majestic as the merging of heaven and earth, making all existence seem as insignificant as dust.
The Ice Dragon's power froze, its divine sense blurred, completely losing the ability to resist.
As the Dragon Jade devoured the Ice Dragon's colossal power, this torrential energy coursing through Qin Yang's body proved too much for his Qi Sea Realm cultivation to withstand.
In an instant, Qin Yang's body turned to ice, his blood and true qi solidified, even his spiritual consciousness seeming frozen.
"Disaster!" The Dragon Jade exclaimed in panic. "I've forgotten - this boy can't withstand the power I'm devouring!"
Dragon Jade prayed fervently: "Heavens, the Qin Family's bloodline must not perish by my hand..."
Simultaneously, Dragon Jade slowed its absorption rate and channeled the assimilated power into Qin Yang's body, refining his physique with pure frost essence.
Gasp! Cough! Qin Yang suddenly choked, regaining consciousness. He sensed something transforming within him, a mix of fear and exhilaration gripping his heart.
Fear came from the violent energy surging through his limbs and bones, threatening to destroy him. Yet joy welled up as this same force simultaneously healed and strengthened his body.
What should have been excruciating pain was numbed by the frost, leaving Qin Yang only with the sensation of his body growing increasingly powerful.
From the outside, Qin Yang appeared like an ice sculpture - no, more like a crystal masterpiece carved with divine precision. His muscles gleamed translucent, bones visible through the frozen flesh.
"You should be thanking me, boy! Frost Tempering is the world's premier physical refinement technique! After this, your body will rival even the mightiest beasts!"
Dragon Jade secretly let out a huge sigh of relief and quickly seized the opportunity to claim credit. He absolutely wouldn't tell Qin Yang how he'd nearly killed him by accident. Even the ice-quenching body refinement had come as a surprise to him.
Qin Yang assumed Dragon Jade was helping him and immediately began expressing his gratitude.
"Ice-quenching body refinement? What's that?" Qin Yang asked.
Dragon Jade explained, "Everyone knows cultivators strengthen their bodies during the Qi Refining Realm, but few realize they can continue refining their physique throughout cultivation. However, any such refinement method requires extremely stringent conditions. The slightest mistake could..."
"Could what?" Qin Yang pressed.
Dragon Jade hastily changed the subject. "There are many body refinement methods, each requiring tremendous fortune. Yes, fortune - you just happen to have that kind of luck..."
Though the excuse made Dragon Jade feel ashamed, Qin Yang couldn't deny it. His body was clearly growing stronger with each passing moment.
"Oh, and one more thing," Dragon Jade added. "After this ice-quenching refinement, your true qi will carry an ice attribute. This isn't like changing your qi through cultivation methods. This ice attribute becomes part of your innate power."
Qin Yang's eyes lit up. "If consuming the Ice Dragon can perform a freezing body tempering for me, altering my true qi's attributes, then shouldn't finding a fire-type or other elemental beast for you to devour achieve similar results? Wouldn't that further enhance my true qi's properties?"
Dragon Jade fell silent, at a loss for words. At its core, this freezing body tempering had been an accident... Fortunately, it hadn't killed Qin Yang. Now he wanted to repeat the process? No, wait—did he mean multiple repetitions?
Qin Yang frowned. "Is there a problem?"
"N-no problem at all! Not the slightest issue!" Dragon Jade stammered, its words tumbling over each other. The creature clung to one principle: under no circumstances could it reveal this was an accident!
Qin Yang's mind raced with possibilities. When he activated his cultivation technique, he could wield multiple elemental attributes simultaneously... Given the Yin-Yang All-Embracing Art's ability to replicate and integrate all copied techniques' strengths, he could unleash the full power of each elemental attribute!
Time passed slowly as the Ice Dragon's body continued to wither.
The Dragon Jade seemed to let out a satisfied burp. Though still a mid-grade magical treasure, it was now on the threshold of advancing to a higher tier. Simultaneously, Qin Yang completed his ice-quenching body refinement.
He exhaled softly, releasing a column of frosty air. Deep within his eyes, a glimmer of ice-blue divine light flickered faintly.
Clenching his fists, Qin Yang marveled at his transformed body. He casually picked up a stone and gently squeezed it, reducing it to powder.
This new physique was at least ten times stronger than his previous form!
His true qi flowed with unparalleled purity, remarkable density, and extraordinary stability.
Qin Yang sensed that with his current power, he might even stand toe-to-toe with Qin Li at his prime!
"Ice power..." Qin Yang murmured, waving his hand over the ground's flora. The plants instantly froze into crystalline sculptures.
He chuckled, then suddenly froze himself. Looking at the ice-encased plants, he realized he'd forgotten something.
Turning back, he saw Qin Dashan still unconscious. The Treasure Rat lay beside him, snoring contentedly with eyes half-closed in a crescent moon shape, thoroughly enjoying its slumber.
"Hmm? What did I forget?" Qin Yang frowned, then suddenly realized. He looked at Qin Dashan's hand and shouted, "Where's the fifth-order spirit medicine?"
Needless to say, the Treasure Rat had eaten the fifth-order spirit medicine. At that moment, the Treasure Rat was digesting the medicinal power!
Qin Yang's teeth itched with anger. Damn it, a fifth-order spirit medicine! The Treasure Rat hadn't left even a single hair of the medicine! It had eaten it all clean!
"Fuck! Why does this Treasure Rat eat everything? Who's the real Tian Swallowing Beast here?"
With no other choice, Qin Yang grabbed the Treasure Rat by the tail and stuffed it into his pocket like a piece of luggage. He could sense the Treasure Rat's aura - it was about to advance again!
He hoisted Qin Dashan over his shoulder and dragged him away from the scene.
Once Qin Dashan woke up and saw the Ice Dragon's pitiful state, there would be trouble again. Better to leave now.
They walked through the forest until they encountered a high-level demonic beast. Qin Yang didn't even use a martial technique - he crushed the beast's head with a single punch.
There was no bloody mess. The shattered head, its blood and brain matter, froze instantly.
Two hours later, Qin Dashan finally regained consciousness.
"I died so miserably!" The grown man suddenly burst into tears. Spotting Qin Yang nearby, he asked, "Are you dead too? How did we die? Did the Ice Dragon swallow us whole, or were we frozen into ice sculptures and shattered to pieces?"
"Dead my ass! We're still alive!" Qin Yang retorted irritably.
The Treasure Rat stirred in his pouch, apparently having woken up as well.
Qin Yang said, "What a shame. Even though we escaped with our lives, we couldn't retrieve the spirit medicine in time."
He spoke the words casually, though they were a lie.
"It doesn't matter," Qin Dashan said, relieved. "As long as we're alive!" He added gratefully, "You saved my life. You're my savior! I'll take you to the Tian Swallowing Beast right away!"
"Savior?" Qin Yang chuckled inwardly. Just wait until you find out who I really am and what gift I gave to Qin Wuyi. Then we'll see if you still consider me your savior!