Chapter 28: The Embrace of Ice Technique

The head of the Ning clan gave a bitter smile. “State your conditions.”
With each condition Ning Xiaohui listed, his face grew darker.
After five conditions, he could no longer restrain himself and raised a hand to interrupt. “Enough, let’s stop here for now.”
The elderly matron of the Ning family, her seniority unassailable, spoke with displeasure: “Why stop? My granddaughter is risking everything this time.”
The elder from the Talisman Hall added his support. “Clan leader, are you aware? The City Lord’s manor has already taken action, deploying several squads of city guards to patrol Fire Persimmon Immortal City, rigorously investigating any cultivator practicing the Five Elemental Qi Law.”
“If Xiaohui joins this contest, the dangers will not be limited to those within the Lava Immortal Palace.”
The old matron snorted coldly. “We are all of the main bloodline, family through and through—not some outsider branch. Clan leader, why the stinginess?”

When Ning Zhuo awoke, it was already midday the next day.
He felt much better.
“It seems I’ll need some nourishing pills to restore my soul.”
Though he usually kept a good stock of pills, those for the soul were scarce among them.
Judging from his first exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace, such elixirs would become indispensable.
“It’s not just the giant tree in room two that weakens the soul.”
“When the soul is extracted and housed within a mechanical puppet, it’s also slowly drained.”
“Thus, the deeper my reserves in soul cultivation, the greater my advantage in the palace.”
Ning Zhuo acted as soon as he thought of it.
He decided to purchase soul-nourishing pills from several different pill pavilions and apothecaries throughout the city, disguising each purchase with other medicines.
But halfway through his errand, he overheard complaints about the city guards arresting people everywhere.
He also noticed many notices plastered on walls—the City Lord’s manor was urgently screening for the Five Elemental Qi Law, fearing it was a demonic art disguised as Daoist practice; cultivators in the city were forbidden from training in it for the time being.
Ning Zhuo immediately changed his plans, no longer daring to buy pills openly.
As he hurried home, he caught wind of more rumors that made his heart clench.
“People like Meng Chong, Zheng Jian, and Zhou Zhu have all been attacked or ambushed?”
“It’s terrifying.”
“Even with their families’ protection, these prodigies are being targeted.”
“If an ordinary person like me were exposed, I’d fare far worse!”
“Mother was right—I should keep myself well hidden.”
Ning Zhuo returned home.

He knew he needed to stock up on more soul-nourishing pills, but with the current climate so tense, he chose to wait.
He considered the black market.
But ever since the explosion in the Immortal Palace, his Ironclad Armor had suffered serious damage. Its exterior, especially the back, was badly battered.
More critically, the foundational component—a Foundation Establishment Pill—was down to just ten percent.
This was his trump card; he dared not squander it.
“Better to start practicing that spell awarded by the palace.”
The spell Ning Zhuo had obtained was called the Embrace of Ice. When invoked, it could freeze anything held in one’s arms into solid ice.
At first glance, he found the spell rather weak.
His primary cultivation was the Snowfield Talisman Canon, which endowed him with ice-based mana and several related spells—such as Ice Spear, Frost Petal, and Snowball.
“The biggest drawback of Embrace of Ice is that it requires close combat to take effect.”
“Spells like Ice Spear or Snowball can be cast from a distance.”
In actual combat, this was a crucial flaw.
It made Ning Zhuo want to use Ice Spear instead.
In fact, during his time in the Lava Immortal Palace, he had wanted to do just that.
But he couldn’t!
Here, the distinction and connection between cultivation arts and spells becomes clear.
Cultivation arts—like the Five Elemental Qi Law or the Snowfield Talisman Canon—primarily serve to generate mana.
Spells—like Ice Spear, Frost Petal, or Embrace of Ice—are techniques for wielding that mana.
Spells are built upon the foundation of the cultivation art.
A cultivator’s mana can take many forms; ice mana cannot cast Fire Dragon, but might cast Ice Dragon or Snow Whale.
After acquiring Five Elemental mana, Ning Zhuo tried to use Ice Spear and similar spells, but could not activate them.
Because his mana now contained all five elements, to use a single-element spell he’d have to extract the corresponding mana first.
The Ice Spear and the Five Elemental Qi Law were simply not compatible.
The spell would have to be modified.
This was a common predicament in the cultivation world.
If Ning Zhuo switched his main art to another ice-based cultivation method, he could probably use Ice Spear directly. However, the original spell and the new mana would not match perfectly, leading to losses and the need for further adjustment.

Embrace of Ice, however, was fully compatible with his current art.
After a few trials, he managed to draw forth just the water-aligned portion of his Five Elemental mana, activating the spell.
The wooden stool in his arms was instantly covered in frost. The ice spread rapidly, thickening with each breath, until the whole stool was encased in solid ice.
Ning Zhuo could not hide his astonishment. “Is this spell truly so powerful?”
Compared to Ice Spear, Snowball, and Frost Petal, the might of Embrace of Ice far exceeded them all.
He devoted himself to practicing the spell in his underground workshop.
Benches, chairs, mirrors, bricks—everything was frozen solid.
He grew so absorbed that the floor and corners became littered with icy lumps, everything sealed in frost. The underground room was now a veritable ice cellar.
“At the first gate, I encountered three options: a spirit stone, a hanging ring, and a gust of energy.”
“Looking back, each of these must have helped me clear the challenge.”
“The spirit stone’s use is obvious. The hanging ring likely functioned much like the up-and-down cord I built, and the gust spell could allow the puppet to change direction midair—even float briefly.”
“By this logic, the rewards offered before the second gate must also aid in the trial.”
“The spirit stone is self-explanatory. I didn’t get a good look at the mechanical part, but from the Embrace of Ice, I suspect the third room will require combat.”
Ning Zhuo’s analysis was methodical, his reasoning sound. The evidence was clear—Embrace of Ice was a classic attack spell.
“The first room required the assembly of a puppet; the second tested its ability to jump, run, and dodge; the third will likely demand combat.”
“Viewed this way, each trial in the Lava Immortal Palace is also a lesson. The three sect masters seem intent not only on selecting the worthy, but also on teaching the arts of mechanism.”
“Alas, my soul is almost restored. But when will I have another chance to enter the palace?”
That night, exhausted from training, Ning Zhuo fell into a deep sleep.
He felt something amiss, tried to open his eyes—only to find darkness.
After a few moments of bewilderment, he sensed his surroundings and was instantly elated.
“My soul has been drawn out again—back to the Lava Immortal Palace!”