Chapter 160: Chapter 155: Ice Fist
Zhao Lin was stunned for a long moment. He picked up a piece of stone from the ground and found it was frozen solid.
He squeezed it lightly, and the stone crumbled into fragments and dust.
"This is too..."
Zhao Lin swallowed, unable to find the right words for a moment.
The result had far exceeded his expectations.
It was unexpectedly good.
In the martial path, starting from the Qi Realm, cultivators gradually branch out into various attributes. Some fist forces are fire-aspected, some palm forces are earth-aspected, and these different attributes provide varying degrees of enhancement to one’s force techniques.
Fire-attribute techniques are scorching, earth-attribute techniques are heavy and solid, metal is sharp, water is fluid, and wood is nimble.
Zhao Lin glanced at his own fist. ’With this kind of power,’ he thought, ’I don’t care if it’s metal, wood, water, fire, or earth—they can all step aside!’
The Stone Roar Fist had no attribute, which made it easy to learn quickly, but it was also the lowest grade. Now, with the help of the Cold Ice Silkworm’s Essence Soul, it had upgraded into the Ice Fist.
If he had cultivated an ordinary palm force, it would have become the Cold Ice Palm, and a finger technique would have become the Cold Ice Finger...
Zhao Lin rubbed his hands together. ’I really picked the right Essence Soul this time!’ he thought.
After the excitement passed, his stomach let out a loud growl, and he realized he was starving.
He quickly took a flatbread from his pack and took a hard bite, nearly breaking a tooth.
It was simply too cold in the cave. The temperature had plummeted when the Cold Ice Silkworm appeared, and now the flatbread was frozen into an iron disc.
Zhao Lin took a couple of deep breaths and pressed the flatbread against his chest to warm it up.
When the hunger became unbearable, he would break off a few pieces, let them moisten in his mouth, then slowly chew and swallow them.
As he was eating, the sound of footsteps echoed from the passage outside.
"Junior Brother Zhao, come on out."
Xiang Bao’s voice rang out. "I have the Silver-spotted Fox with me. You can’t hide."
"Forget it. It’s been a day, and I’m not angry anymore. As long as you hand over the herbs, I promise I won’t make things difficult for you."
Then, Xiang Shaofeng also spoke up. "Little brother, even if you don’t come out, we’ll find you sooner or later."
"I just discussed it with my brother. We’ll leave you at least one high-grade herb so you can still fight for a spot in the top ten. How about it?"
Zhao Lin’s heart tightened. He pressed his lips together and wondered, ’I don’t know if a Blood Realm martial artist can block my Ice Fist.’
"Still not coming out?"
The footsteps faded in and out. From the sound of it, the Silver-spotted Fox was following the same path Zhao Lin had taken.
Before long, the two of them were closing in on Zhao Lin’s hiding spot.
A smile played on Xiang Shaofeng’s lips as he turned and gestured to his brother.
With his level of cultivation, he could naturally sense that Zhao Lin was hiding to one side at the end of the passage.
’Interesting. He wants to ambush me.’
Xiang Shaofeng shook his head lightly. The gap in their cultivation levels was so vast, yet the boy still thought he could launch a sneak attack.
It seemed this person had never fought a Blood Realm martial artist before and didn’t understand the gulf between the two realms.
He deliberately quickened his pace and walked straight toward Zhao Lin’s hiding spot.
Xiang Shaofeng knew Zhao Lin was going to ambush him.
And Zhao Lin knew that Xiang Shaofeng knew he was going to ambush him.
But there was one thing Xiang Shaofeng didn’t know: Zhao Lin had already "learned" the Ice Fist.
Zhao Lin channeled all his force energy and the frigid yin qi to the acupoints in his fist, poised to strike.
He used the reflected ultrasonic waves to pinpoint Xiang Shaofeng’s exact position.
’He’s here!’
With a flash of movement, Zhao Lin darted out and threw a ferocious punch!
Xiang Shaofeng smiled faintly and met the attack with a punch of his own.
His fist was shrouded in a layer of red light, force energy radiating from it. In Zhao Lin’s eyes, it looked like a great, red-hot iron hammer.
The force technique Xiang Shaofeng had cultivated back in the Qi Realm was the same as Xiang Bao’s, the Fire Cloud Palm Force. After reaching the Blood Realm, it transformed into the Red Flame Force, which could be used with either palms or fists and was several times more powerful.
Considering the huge disparity in their strength, Xiang Shaofeng only used thirty percent of his power. Even so, he was confident that one punch would be enough to incapacitate Zhao Lin.
However, halfway through his punch, the smile on Xiang Shaofeng’s face froze.
Zhao Lin’s fist force carried an incomparably frigid cold qi. The icy aura rushed toward him, so cold it made his face sting with pain.
’Celestial Frost Fist?’
Xiang Shaofeng was greatly alarmed, recalling a fist technique that someone in the inner courtyard cultivated.
The Celestial Frost Fist could condense the qi of frost. Its force was chillingly cold, penetrating straight to the bone.
However, this fist technique was extremely damaging to the body. Only Blood Realm disciples could cultivate it with the help of a corresponding medicinal formula; the Qi and Blood of a Qi Realm disciple was simply insufficient to support it.
The cold qi coming from Zhao Lin’s fist seemed even a notch above that person’s Celestial Frost Fist from the inner courtyard.
’How could this be?’
Xiang Shaofeng had no time to think. He pushed his Red Flame Force to its maximum, but it was too late.
Zhao Lin already had the upper hand in terms of raw strength, and his Ice Fist was the natural counter to the Red Flame Force.
With a dull THUD, Xiang Shaofeng’s Red Flame Force was instantly extinguished. At the same time, the cold qi invaded his body, and he was thrown backward.
He couldn’t catch his breath and passed out cold.
Xiang Bao, who was walking behind, had assumed that with his elder brother making a move, Zhao Lin would be taken down in a single blow. He never expected his brother to come flying back toward him.
He was shocked and quickly reached out to catch him, only to find his brother’s eyes shut tight and his body ice-cold.
"Brother!"
Thinking his brother was dead, Xiang Bao’s eyes turned red and tears instantly welled up. He laid his brother down, let out a great roar, and lunged at Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin hadn’t expected his punch to be so brutally effective, knocking a Blood Realm martial artist unconscious. Seeing Xiang Bao charge at him, he halved the power in his hands.
Even so, Xiang Bao couldn’t handle it. After just a few moves, he was thrown to the ground, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
He wanted to get up and fight again, but after struggling twice, he still couldn’t get to his feet.
"What fist technique do you cultivate? Is it the Celestial Frost Fist?"
Xiang Shaofeng said as he caught his breath and opened his eyes.
"Ice Fist."
Zhao Lin replied in a low voice, his whole body on high alert.
Although he had won a move by catching him off guard with the Ice Fist, he knew in his heart that if they were to truly fight, he might not be Xiang Shaofeng’s match.
"Ice Fist? That’s the first I’ve heard of it."
Xiang Shaofeng stood up, his expression normal. "Rest assured. Since I lost, I absolutely will not lift another finger."
Seeing his brother was perfectly fine, Xiang Bao wiped away his tears and said with a laugh, "Brother! You’re alive!"
Xiang Shaofeng shot him a glare, then untied the pack from his body, took out a herb storage box, and placed it on the ground. He said to Zhao Lin, "By the rules, I lost the fight. The herbs I gathered are yours."
Zhao Lin gave him a surprised look, thinking, ’This guy is surprisingly straightforward. He took a nasty loss but is just letting it go like that.’
But on second thought, Xiang Shaofeng was an inner courtyard disciple and shouldn’t have been on Five Finger Mountain in the first place. If he were to inform the elders, the punishment would likely be severe.
’Besides being a gesture of goodwill, he’s probably also doing this so I’ll keep this matter a secret.’
"Alright. Then I won’t be polite about it."
Zhao Lin nodded.
He didn’t want to blow the matter up and attract the elders’ attention either. How would he explain defeating Xiang Shaofeng with a single punch?
Besides, the Xiang family was quite powerful. Since the other party was willing to reconcile—whether sincerely or not—it was best to agree for now and see what happened later.
Xiang Bao was immediately unhappy when he heard this. "Brother, how can you admit defeat? You were just careless..."
"Shut up!"
Xiang Shaofeng scolded, "Haven’t we lost enough face already?"
Xiang Bao reluctantly shut his mouth.
"As for what happened today, I owe you a favor."
Xiang Shaofeng cupped his fists, then pulled Xiang Bao and left the rock cave.
