Chapter 164: A Bountiful Harvest of Ice Stone Grass

At the front of the line were mostly people from the prominent families of Yuanling City and disciples from the top ten sects who were here for training. As soon as the entrance to the secret realm opened, Yuan Zhiyun led her five-member team into the realm ahead of everyone else.

Lin Xiao observed the people around him. Most of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, but there were also a few mixed in from the eighth and ninth levels of Qi Refinement. These Qi Refinement cultivators either had strong backgrounds, surrounded by Foundation Establishment protectors, or they were desperate individuals looking to gamble on a breakthrough.

Regardless of their backgrounds, these Qi Refinement cultivators all began to don various garments designed to resist the cold.

The efficiency of entering the secret realm was quite high, and soon it was Lin Xiao's turn. Gazing at the entrance just ahead, he followed the line and stepped through.

In the next moment, his surroundings rippled and transformed into a completely different scene. What immediately hit him was the biting cold that invaded from all directions, in stark contrast to the comfortable morning temperature outside the realm. The sharp drop in temperature even made Lin Xiao, who was in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, break out in goosebumps—let alone those still in the Qi Refinement stage.

He quickly circulated his spiritual energy, and the chill on his skin dissipated instantly. No wonder those Qi Refinement cultivators had been so heavily bundled up earlier.

Lin Xiao took in his surroundings. All around him was a vast expanse of white. Nearby was a solid, thick sheet of ice, and in the distance, variously shaped glaciers loomed. A few cultivators were already heading off in different directions, though their numbers were few, not matching the large crowd that had been queuing up outside the entrance.

Lin Xiao deduced that those entering the realm were likely dispersed randomly to different locations within it.

Fortunately, the secret realm had been open for over a hundred years, and most areas within had already been mapped by diligent individuals. These maps were sold back in Yuanling City, allowing groups to reunite after being separated upon entering the realm, provided they reached a prearranged location.

Lin Xiao had also purchased a map. He had gotten it from Wanwan Tong, the most authoritative information channel in the Southern Spirit Region, and this was his first experience visiting the so-called "black market."

Unfortunately, time and budget constraints prevented him from exploring more of the market. Concerned he might not make it out if he lingered too long, he had bought only the map before leaving. However, his curiosity about the black market remained strong, and he planned to return for a more thorough exploration after resolving Liao Pantu's soul fragment issue.

The map he bought for ten spirit stones was a mid-grade version, presented as a scroll with vividly rendered images in three-dimensional illusions. Naturally, there were also low-grade and high-grade versions. The low-grade map was merely a paper scroll with basic terrain and routes marked, priced at one spirit stone. The high-grade version was a jade token with unknown contents—Lin Xiao didn't buy it, finding the fifty-spirit-stone price too steep.

When he first examined his mid-grade map, he noticed that despite a century of calibration, some areas still remained gray and unexplored. These gray areas were few, just three or four, and relatively small. It's speculated that few people ended up in these uncharted regions, which explained why no one had yet mapped them.

The clerk at Wanwan Tong had explained this to him. Given Wanwan Tong's reputation for accurate information, Lin Xiao didn't doubt the map's quality. Later, he compared it with others on the market and confirmed that it was indeed the most detailed map of the Icefield Secret Realm available.

The cultivators who had appeared on the same icy plain as Lin Xiao quickly left, and soon he found himself alone. Not long after, however, a flash of white light signaled the arrival of another new entrant nearby. Taking this as his cue, Lin Xiao also hurriedly left the area.

He hadn't walked far when Liao Pantu, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke from within the Soul-Nurturing Pendant:

"I can feel it! Turn left a bit."

Lin Xiao obediently adjusted his direction slightly to the left.

"Don't move, don't move, yes, that's the direction—just keep going straight. My soul fragment is ahead!"

Liao Pantu's voice trembled with excitement, and the pendant swayed with his enthusiasm. If his soul were outside the pendant, Lin Xiao imagined he might see the old man hopping around in glee.

With that, Lin Xiao pressed onward in the direction Liao Pantu had indicated. It wasn't long before he came upon a vast, swaying field of white in the cold wind. Upon closer inspection, he realized that this mass of white was actually a large cluster of snow-white plants.

These plants were entirely white, with long, narrow leaves and no visible stems. Each plant had at least seven or eight leaves, each about 40 to 50 centimeters long. They bore a striking resemblance to a plant he had seen in the Icefield Secret Realm guide he had bought in Yuanling City—a plant known as Ice Stone Grass.

Back in Yuanling City, Ice Stone Grass sold for one spirit stone per plant, and here was a field of it stretching across at least five acres...

Lin Xiao quickly pulled out his map and checked it against the surrounding terrain. This appeared to be one of the remote areas of the secret realm, and the map only marked some scattered Ice Stone Grass in this vicinity—not this vast field before him.

However, when he purchased the map, Wanwan Tong had warned him that each year, secret realms could differ slightly from previous openings, due to uncontrollable factors.

Lin Xiao could understand such discrepancies. After all, this was the cultivation world, where anything was possible. Wanwan Tong's information was comprehensive, but they weren't omniscient, capable of controlling everything.

But that wasn't important right now. What mattered was this vast field of Ice Stone Grass!

"Elder, do you mind if I harvest this Ice Stone Grass first?" Lin Xiao asked.

Liao Pantu let out a light snort. Just as Lin Xiao expected him to urge them onward, the elder surprised him by saying, "Go ahead and harvest it. We have to stay in this secret realm for fifteen days anyway, so there's no rush."

Despite his eagerness to reunite with his soul fragment after so many decades, Liao Pantu seemed to have considered something and chose not to hurry Lin Xiao.

With permission granted, Lin Xiao immediately scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense, ensuring there were no other cultivators within a few hundred meters. Then, with eager anticipation, he pulled out the spiritual sickle he had previously crafted and approached the pure white Ice Stone Grass with a gleam in his eye.