Chapter 412: Re-entering the Scripture Cave

Chapter 412: Re-entering the Scripture Cave

"Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual?"

"Not the Arcane Ice Seven Ultimates?"

Su Mo looked at the words displayed on the wall, his eyes widening in surprise.

Yin Xiaoyu had said that the Dragon King Hall's ultimate martial art was the Arcane Ice Seven Ultimates.

Su Mo had thought that since this object was called the *Dragon King Mirror*, it must have some connection to the Dragon King Hall.

If there were any martial arts recorded within, it should have been the Arcane Ice Seven Ultimates.

How could it be the *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual*?

However, Su Mo didn't dare underestimate it.

This set of martial arts had been so jealously guarded within the *Dragon King Mirror*—it must hold unique properties.

Immediately, he began carefully examining the entire content of the technique.

In just a short while, he had committed to memory the entire manual.

He let out a long breath, his eyes still showing traces of shock.

"Turns out the Arcane Ice Seven Ultimates is just an offshoot from the *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual*.

"The core teachings stem from the *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual*...

"The Dragon King Hall has relied on the Arcane Ice Seven Ultimates to rule the Southern Seas for years, but do they even know this secret?

"Or perhaps... the Hall Master's inherited ultimate martial art is actually the *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual*?"

This was indeed possible.

Since the Dragon King Hall was famous in Jianghu for its freezing qi energy, how could they allow their sect's signature techniques to be commonly practiced?

The secret scroll's general principles should naturally be exclusive to the Hall Master to cultivate.

"However, after losing this *Dragon King Mirror*, I wonder if the current Hall Master of the Dragon King Hall still knows this technique?"

Su Mo's brows lifted slightly, but he shook his head lightly, choosing not to ponder further.

Instead, he turned his thoughts to the training methods recorded in the *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual*.

After a while, he let out another long breath:

"This technique is truly incredibly deep and comprehensive."

Since joining Jianghu, not counting his system-granted skills, this *Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual* could be considered one of the deepest and most refined techniques he had ever encountered.

The only comparable technique was likely the *Yin-Yang Life-Death Token*.

However, the *Yin-Yang Life-Death Token*'s uniqueness lay in its 'unorthodox nature.'

Although the Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual also cultivates the path of extreme cold, it follows the righteous orthodox path, a true Daoist lineage.

It is by no means some unconventional or bizarre martial technique.

As for the "Qiankun Great Solution" left by the Dragon Gate's Third Surprise under the Wraith Courtyard, Su Mo still regards it as "chaotic and supernatural claims" unworthy of belief.

Though the thought crossed his mind, he did not attempt it immediately.

He possessed the Yixuan Divine Art, and despite the difference between ice and fire, practicing this martial art posed no issue.

After all, he could even master the Zhouliu Water Force, so extreme cold internal strength wasn't impossible for him.

However, mastering this technique would still take time.

Now was not the time.

Moreover...

Su Mo turned his gaze back to the Dragon King Mirror, from which surges of extreme cold internal strength were gushing forth.

The power transmitted through the air, directly targeting the white tiger's belly.

The overflowing cold energy spread rapidly, turning the entire cabin freezing cold.

Frost formed on the floor, walls, and ceiling, spreading almost instantly until it covered the entire ship—even freezing the surrounding sea.

The tiger became encased in layers of frost, immobilizing it completely.

If this continued, things would take a turn for the worse.

With a thought, Su Mo channeled pure yang internal energy in his palm, blocking the ceaseless flow of extreme cold strength from the Dragon King Mirror.

The clash of forces caused the mirror to shudder violently before its glow vanished, all the cold energy retracting inside without further leakage.

Without its source, the frozen areas on the ship melted away instantly, restoring calm.

Yet the commotion drew the attention of everyone on board.

None knew what had happened—some even suspected Fu Hanyuan had went berserk while practicing his *Frostflame True Qi*, causing the cold to leak out.

But when they emerged, Fu Hanyuan himself seemed clueless.

From Song Yuanlong down, no crew member was a helpless amateur.

Being members of the Fallen Phoenix Alliance, they all had solid martial arts training.

The cold energy was never aimed at them, and they were barely affected.

The ones truly suffering were the ship's passengers.

Currently, these passengers were all elite fighters serving under the sea witch Yin Xiaoyu's command.

Their skills locked by Su Mo's Qiankun Acupoint Technique, they could only cluster together, shivering against the freezing cold.

In the guest room, Lan Wangyu and Zong Ming were locked in a death grip with each other, while Yin Xiaoyu huddled under a blanket, trembling like a leaf.

However, they were still relatively fine—the ones who suffered most were Xiao Daoren and Shu Jing near the cabin door.

Being the closest to the Dragon King Mirror, they were on the verge of freezing to death.

One on the left, one on the right, they were nearly frozen solid, resembling ice sculptures, curled up with their knees to their chests.

Su Mo, however, paid no mind to the situation outside and quickly checked the white tiger's condition.

With the Dragon King Mirror no longer emitting its frigid energy, the tiger settled. The Emperor’s Heart Sutra’s energy coursed briefly within its body before withdrawing, refusing to resurface readily.

The tiger unleashed a thunderous sneeze, like a thunderclap.

Finally, it gave its head a violent shake and gazed innocently at Su Mo.

Seeing this, Su Mo was assured of its well-being.

After a careful once-over to confirm there were no issues, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He told the tiger to stand guard on the ship, then took back the Dragon King Mirror and headed back to the room from before.

Little Situ Taoist looked up at Su Mo:

"Eldest Brother Su, what was that all about?"

"I’ll explain on the way back."

Su Mo glanced at the sky outside:

"Dawn’s breaking—time to go."

"Alright."

Little Situ Taoist nodded and climbed onto Su Mo’s back once more.

After leaving the room, he issued quick orders to Fu Hanyuan and the others before racing toward Dragonwood City.

Just before sunlight kissed the horizon, Su Mo returned Little Situ Taoist to her room and then went back to his own.

Yang Xiaoyun was seated in meditation on the bed and opened her eyes at the sound of movement:

"Out all night with some girl?"

"..."

Su Mo twitched his lips and couldn’t resist pinching Yang Xiaoyun’s nose:

"What kind of question is that?"

"Did you at least gain something?"

Yang Xiaoyun giggled.

Su Mo nodded:

"Quite a bit... though there are also many mysteries."

"I’ll have to piece it together later."

"Well, it's almost dawn. Let me hold you for a bit, and I'll tell you slowly..."

As he spoke, he took off his boots and dug under the covers.

Yang Xiaoyun gave him a look:

"Change out of your stealth outfit first."

"In a minute..."

He reached out and pulled Yang Xiaoyun into his arms, letting out a long sigh:

"Honey, do you think there are people who never die in this world?"

"...Perhaps there are?"

"Hmm?"

Su Mo paused: "You actually believe in such things?"

"The martial arts world is bottomless. No matter how strange things get, such things must exist.

"If we haven't seen them, it might just mean we haven't seen everything—we should never underestimate the people of this world."

Yang Xiaoyun smiled and glanced up at Su Mo:

"I remember you were the one who told me that.

"And, just look at you—your kung fu skills—how could ordinary people even believe such things exist?"

"That does make sense..."

Su Mo mused, one arm wrapped around his beloved wife while his hands inevitably started wandering. Meanwhile, he told her all about his night.

Yang Xiaoyun, her face flushed, half-heartedly tried to stop his wandering hands while listening to his story.

Her expression went from blushing to shocked.

Only after Su Mo finished did she finally swat his hand away fiercely:

"Xiao Mo... you're getting more and more shameless."

"Huh?"

Su Mo looked completely lost: "What do you mean?"

"...You don’t know what I mean?"

Yang Xiaoyun puffed her cheeks.

"Huh?"

Su Mo looked even more confused: "What are you talking about?"

"...Stop pretending."

Yang Xiaoyun grabbed Su Mo's arm firmly and pinned it under her neck, leaving him with only one free hand—now he couldn't misbehave.

Then she asked:

"You already saw that elderly man in the cavern who might have had his head replaced, yet you still pretended not to understand Ye Youchen's words... playing clueless.

"You don’t trust him, do you?"

Su Mo, down to just one free hand, met Yang Xiaoyun's fierce pushback and sighed helplessly. He could only take one of her hands and folded it into his grip:

"There are way too many red flags surrounding this man.

"He absolutely cannot be trusted."

Yang Xiaoyun flinched, but Su Mo gave a thin smile:

"However, we can discuss him later.

"This man is of some use to me. He wants to manipulate me with schemes, and I want to use him to get to the bottom of this Dragon Wood Island.

"Just depends who plays who."

"What I really wanted to tell you about... is this."

As he spoke, he reached into his robes and pulled out the Dragon King Mirror.

"Did you find this from the corpse?"

Yang Xiaoyun examined the mirror—cold to the touch, but otherwise nothing special about it.

Su Mo then laid out everything that had happened on the ship earlier.

After hearing his account, Yang Xiaoyun’s eyes went wide:

"This... rings a bell."

"Using an object as a vessel, passing down the same internal strength through generations."

Su Mo chuckled: "The White Tiger City, the holy relic of the White Tiger remnants."

"The sacred artifact of the White Tiger remnants, the internal strength passed into it is the Emperor’s Heart Sutra."

"And the internal strength within the Dragon King Mirror is entirely Extreme Cold Internal Strength..."

Yang Xiaoyun sighed softly:

"Dragon King Hall... is it the legacy of one of the four great martial arts masters of Da Xuan, who practiced Extreme Cold Internal Strength?"

Back then, the White Tiger remnants were invaded by the four great martial arts masters of Da Xuan. In the battle, their sacred artifact was shattered.

The four great martial arts masters of Da Xuan did not take all the fragments of the sacred artifact, but only the piece they had broken off, bringing it back to report to the Xuan Emperor.

After that, the sacred artifact of the White Tiger remnants continued to decay.

The immense stores of Emperor’s Heart Sutra internal strength stored within it constantly leaked away.

Left with no choice, they had to resort to nourishing the sacred artifact within the body of a tiger.

However, no one knew where the sacred artifact fragment taken by the four great martial arts masters of Da Xuan was.

Yet now, first the White Tiger reacted strangely to the Dragon King Mirror.

Then there were such powerful reserves of Extreme Cold Internal Strength stored within it.

Both details silently imply that the Dragon King Mirror... is indeed one of the sacred artifact fragments belonging to the White Tiger remnants that was seized by the four martial arts masters of Da Xuan back then.

Yet somehow, it has now been fashioned into the form of a mirror.

What’s more, it even hides a supreme martial art—the Nine Yin Mysterious Ice Manual!

Su Mo nodded lightly:

"That’s very likely...

"And if that’s truly the case, then this Dragon King Hall might not truly be the Dragon King Hall..."

"The Imperial Office!"

Yang Xiaoyun took a sharp breath:

"Who would’ve guessed we’d find traces of the Imperial Office here on Dragonwood Island!?"

Just basing suspicions on Frostflame True Qi to suspect a connection between the Dragon King Hall and one of the four martial arts masters of Da Xuan is pretty flimsy.

After all, Frostflame True Qi is also an extremely cold inner force.

But Su Mo never suspected that Fu Hanyuan might be linked to those events.

Earlier, Yang Xiaoyun mentioned that the martial world is as vast and unfathomable as the sea.

Freezing inner energy isn’t unique to one faction.

Such suspicions really don’t hold water.

But with the Dragon King Mirror in play—or rather, the fragment of the White Tiger remnants' sacred artifact—then the situation becomes entirely different.

Two unrelated things suddenly click together.

The couple shared a glance and smiled at the same time.

Yang Xiaoyun whispered:

"Once we’re done with Dragonwood Island, let’s visit the Qi family and figure out how to fix Sister Ziyi’s yin-yang imbalance.

"Then we’ll head to the Dragon King Hall, alright?"

"Before, we had no good excuse,"

Su Mo said with a smile. "But now we do."

"That’s the perfect reason, really."

Yang Xiaoyun also deeply nodded, but then she frowned:

"Who exactly was that Dragon King Hall master who came to this island back then?

"Carrying such a priceless treasure... Could it have been the Dragon King Hall’s Hall Master?"

Why would something so precious be given to just anyone?

If it was the Hall Master, that’d make sense.

"Yin Xiaoyu hasn't documented much yet, and there's no mention of the Hall Master going missing in what she's written.

"However, if the Hall Master of the Dragon King Hall truly disappeared, they'd probably keep it quiet."

Su Mo gave a slight shake of his head at this point:

"Let's table this for now. We can discuss it further after leaving Dragonwood Island.

"For now, while night still lingers, let's get some rest.

"Tomorrow, I’ll check out the underground cavern again and take care of some business..."

"Mmm."

Their late-night talk ended there.

Before they knew it, dawn arrived once more.

As usual, Su Mo made his way to the Scripture Repository after breakfast.

However, he noticed that the number of Dragonwood Island disciples inside the repository today was way more than usual.

No doubt from Ye Youchen’s bloodbath last night.

As he walked further in, he saw someone rushing out of the repository.

Looking up, it was Xie Yun.

Su Mo arched a brow slightly before smiling:

"Secretary Xie."

‘Xie Yun’ seemed not to hear him.

Holding back a smile, Su Mo cupped his hands in greeting and spoke again:

"Secretary Xie?"

"Ah?"

‘Xie Yun’ jerked his head up, flustered, finally realizing he was being addressed.

He quickly replied, "Ah, it’s the honored scripture scholar! My apologies, my apologies! I was lost in thought just now and didn’t notice you calling me. How can I help you?"

Su Mo smiled. "No need. I just noticed you seemed in a hurry, as if troubled by something. Thought maybe I could help?"

"No, no."

‘Xie Yun’ paused briefly, instinctively wiping his cheek. He inhaled sharply, glancing at his fingertip—where a smudge of something black lingered.

He averted his eyes quickly as he said to Su Mo,

"Forgive me, honored guest, but I have urgent matters to attend to. I should be going now. Please excuse me."

"Of course, of course."

Su Mo smiled. "Secretary Xie, go ahead."

"Take care."

After leaving a single word, 'Xie Yun' hurried away.

Su Mo watched his departing figure, a peculiar gleam flickered in his eyes.

What exactly was that black potion?

Why did it seem like it could be used in any conceivable situation?

Just as he was puzzling over this, a voice suddenly reached his ears:

"Longmu Island is full of masters of deception and trickery.

"Secretary Xie... Heh, if they wanted, they could dispose of a group and replace them with another at any time.

"The only ones who suffer are their wives—none the wiser, their bedmate has already been swapped out...

"Tell me, do they really not recognize the difference?"

"..."

Su Mo arched a brow and glanced around, only to stop short.

Standing by the cave entrance was a woman.

She appeared to be in her thirties, radiating womanly grace.

Her eyes held an amused glint as she gazed at Su Mo.

Yet the voice that reached his ears was unmistakably male—none other than Ye Youchen's voice from last night.

"Just a mere trick of disguise. I must apologize for the poor impression, Chief Escort Su."

Ye Youchen's voice sounded again.

Only then did Su Mo confirm that this woman before him was indeed Ye Youchen.

He couldn't help but shake his head slightly and stepped closer:

"So it's the renowned 'Miraculous Hands and Pure Heart,' Senior Zhen. Su Mo pays my respects."

"You flatter me."

The woman Ye Youchen had disguised himself as was someone Su Mo had heard Zhou Wenjing mention before—Zhen Suren, known as "Miraculous Hands and Pure Heart."

Her skill in medicine was extraordinary, on par with even Gai Huatuo.

Her martial arts, however, were even more formidable.

Her family passed down the "Pure Heart Scripture," which mastered fists, palms, swordplay, and finger techniques. Surprisingly, her medicine skills were learned afterward under a master's tutelage, yet they eclipsed even her martial reputation.

To think that this person was actually Ye Youchen?

Was Ye Youchen using Zhen Suren's guise to enter the Scripture Repository?

Or was there a deeper scheme at play?

Additionally, Su Mo hadn't expected Ye Youchen to be such an adept at female disguise.

That's truly impressive.

The two walked side by side into the Scripture Repository when Ye Youchen's voice reached their ears:

"Today is the second day; we have at least seven more days left."

"If we don't take the Good Thought Pill within seven days, they will abandon us."

"Instead, we'll be captured and sent to the Labyrinth of the Lost, either turned into Abominations or used for medicine trials."

"Each of us will demonstrate what we've learned from the medical classic for one day, with each session must last at least an hour."

"No matter the outcome, we must return within that hour."

"Otherwise, we'll definitely blow our cover. Please remember this, Chief Escort Su."

While transmitting his voice, 'Zhen Suren' surreptitiously passed something to Su Mo, who quickly slipped it into his sleeve.

It contained the decoded portions of the scripture.

...

...