After a short while, when the Dragon City Spirit Masters received the information about the Fallen Soul Masters and rushed to the tavern, Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er had already disappeared, leaving only the bartender's corpse behind.
One of them examined the bartender's body and said with a solemn expression: "It's the Blood-Hand Butcher, Nie Yun. I didn't expect him to be hiding here."
"So many years have passed. His cultivation must have at least reached the Soul Emperor level by now. I didn't expect him to fall here. It seems the one who killed him is a master."
Another person looked around the surroundings and clicked his tongue in amazement.
At this moment, a burly man laughed and said, "That's normal. I know who killed him."
"Oh? Who is it?"
Hearing this, the rest of them all turned their gaze toward the burly man.
"The person you all know as well—Shui Wuhen!"
...
On the other side, Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er were already riding Articuno toward the western side of Dragon City.
As for why they did this, the timeline had to be moved back to fifteen minutes earlier.
"Brother, I might have a way to make that Fallen Soul Master talk."
Inside the tavern, Shui Bing'er suddenly spoke to Shui Wuhen.
Shui Wuhen looked at her in surprise. "Sister, what method do you have?"
Seeing Shui Wuhen looking at her, Shui Bing'er immediately explained: "Brother, after I absorbed the Spirit Condensation Wisdom Head Soul Bone, I obtained a spiritual-type soul skill.
Although its main function is to attack the opponent's spirit and control their movements, if used properly, it can also control a person's consciousness to a certain extent.
Although the conditions for using it are quite strict, it should still be enough to force that Fallen Soul Master to speak."
"Are there any side effects?"
Hearing this, Shui Wuhen's first reaction was not whether to use the skill, but whether it would harm Shui Bing'er.
If this ability would harm her, then he would rather search the entire area himself.
Shui Bing'er felt warm inside and shook her head. "No. My spiritual power is far above that of an ordinary Soul Saint. That Fallen Soul Master is only at Soul Emperor level; he can't possibly harm me.
Even if his spiritual power were stronger than mine, with the head soul bone protecting me, I still won't be affected."
"Alright, then try it. Be quick. They should be arriving soon."
After receiving Shui Bing'er's answer, Shui Wuhen no longer stopped her. At the same time, he snapped his fingers, instantly freezing the surrounding area.
Next, purple light emerged above Shui Bing'er's head. Under the influence of the purple glow, the bartender's expression turned dull. Under Shui Bing'er's questioning, he truthfully confessed everything.
"We've arrived!"
After some time, Articuno finally reached the location mentioned by the bartender and landed.
The moment they landed, Shui Wuhen immediately felt something unusual in the surroundings.
"This is not normal. Such dense and active ice elemental energy should not exist here."
Although he said this, Shui Wuhen was actually even more pleased inside. He had originally been somewhat doubtful, but now he was increasingly certain.
Tianxue Peak was a place he had specially chosen, and yet this place could actually rival it. If there were no external factors, how could this be possible?
Shui Bing'er also said excitedly: "Brother, does this mean there really is an ice-attributed treasure nearby?"
"Most likely. But whether it's the one I'm thinking of will have to be confirmed."
Shui Wuhen nodded and began searching according to the density of the ice elemental energy.
Seeing this, Shui Bing'er immediately followed and searched together.
Before long, they finally found a small icy pond inside a mountain valley.
"Brother, the ice elemental energy here is the strongest. It seems the cold aura is coming from here."
Shui Bing'er pointed at the icy pond, excited.
Shui Wuhen looked at the continuously releasing cold energy from the pond, then at the eager Articuno, and stroked his chin.
"We'll only know after going down and checking. Bing'er, wait outside. I'll go down with Articuno."
After speaking, Shui Wuhen and Articuno plunged directly into the icy pond.
"What intense cold!"
The moment he entered, Shui Wuhen felt a terrifying chill surge from all directions. The intensity far exceeded the coldest place he had ever been.
However, even so, this level of cold posed no threat to Shui Wuhen, who possessed Articuno as his martial soul.
As for Articuno, there was even less need to mention it.
As they went deeper, the temperature dropped further and further. If an ordinary Spirit Master were here, just resisting the cold would already consume a huge amount of spirit power. But for Shui Wuhen, it only made him more alert.
After some time, they finally reached the bottom of the icy pond. There was a spring eye large enough for one person to pass through, as if all the cold energy was being emitted from it.
"What pure cold energy… but there is no Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow here. Could it be beneath this spring eye?"
Shui Wuhen muttered while looking at the extreme cold spring in front of him.
"Wuu~"
Just as Shui Wuhen was about to continue descending, Articuno suddenly seemed to sense something. It turned and swiftly swam in another direction.
"Articuno?"
Seeing this, Shui Wuhen immediately followed.
After passing through a not-so-large passage, Shui Wuhen and Articuno arrived at an unfamiliar open space. Most importantly, they could breathe again.
However, the surroundings were still pitch black, so Shui Wuhen circulated his spirit power. A ring of icy blue light appeared in his hand.
In an instant, the icy blue light illuminated everything around them, causing Shui Wuhen's expression to freeze.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow? But… how can there be so much?"
What appeared before Shui Wuhen and Articuno was an entire cavern filled with deep blue crystals. These crystals were scattered throughout the cave in large and small pieces, and they looked almost identical—over ninety percent similar—to the legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
While Shui Wuhen was still stunned, Articuno had already flown forward. Using Three-Spin Strike, it broke off a piece of the deep blue crystal from the wall and swallowed it without hesitation.
"Ptooey! Ptooey!!"
The next second, Articuno immediately spat the crystal out, looking extremely disgusted.
Seeing this, Shui Wuhen stepped forward, picked up the crystal spat out by Articuno, and carefully compared it with his memory of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
After a moment, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.
"Although it looks very similar, unfortunately this is not Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. No wonder Articuno spat it out."