Inside the cave, the entrance looked like a pool of water. The pool wasn’t large, and it was surrounded by glistening ice, yet the water hadn’t frozen.
Ning Luoxi reached out to test the water temperature. Though it was icy, it was much warr than the air inside the cave.
She speculated, "Perhaps the unique geological structure and environnt here have created this spectacle. Also, the ice layers here are quite peculiar, giving off a soft glow."
"Do you know what’s going on?" Lin Tian asked curiously.
He had seen many ice blocks before, but glowing ones were a first. If these were polished into spheres, could they pass off as Luminous Pearls? He wondered if they would lt.
"If I’m not wrong, this ice might be Xuanbing," Ning Luoxi replied.
"Xuanbing? What’s Xuanbing?" Lin Tian asked, even more intrigued.
Ning Luoxi pondered for a mont before answering, "I’ve never seen Xuanbing before, only read about it in ancient texts; this is my first ti. According to the records, ordinary ice exists in a special environnt, continuously absorbing so unknown substances, and after thousands of years of transformation, it eventually changes in quality and becos Xuanbing."
"Due to the harsh conditions for its formation, Xuanbing is very rare. Its characteristic is high hardness. Ordinary ice is already quite hard, but if it becos Xuanbing, its hardness multiplies several tis, surpassing steel." Ning Luoxi added in amazent.
"Surpassing steel? Let try." Lin Tian said with interest, driven by curiosity, he made a fist, aiming to punch the ice layer on the ground.
Ning Luoxi quickly stopped him, "Don’t! Although Xuanbing is hard, it’s very brittle and can’t withstand your brute force. If you shatter the Xuanbing and trigger a chain reaction, the whole ice cave could collapse, burying us alive."
Not knowing how thick the ice layers of the whole ice cave were, a collapse would be disastrous. Lin Tian quickly retracted his fist but drew a dagger from his shoe.
Gripping the dagger, he jabbed it into the ice layer forcefully. To his surprise, it made a sound like tal clashing, and the ice layer didn’t even flake. He cut at the ice layer several more tis with force, yet the dagger couldn’t affect the Xuanbing; it was indeed harder than steel.
"Truly amazing," Lin Tian couldn’t help but exclaim.
"Let’s not focus on the Xuanbing. Our main goal this ti is the Blue Snake Grass," Ning Luoxi reminded Lin Tian, seeing his enthralled expression.
Lin Tian then put away the dagger. As he stood up, he noticed that his clothes had turned stiff; only then did he realize that the moisture absorbed by the fabric had frozen.
"Damn, I’ve turned into an armored warrior," Lin Tian said helplessly. At this mont, he envied Ning Luoxi, whose wetsuit kept her dry and thus unfrozen.
He shook his body, causing the thin layer of ice on his clothes to shatter into shards and fall to the ground.
"Alright, let’s move on. This ice cave seems quite large. I wonder if there’s any Blue Snake Grass?" Lin Tian called out, then shouldered his backpack and walked further into the cave.
The ice cave was wide enough to fit a large truck, and there was only one main path with no branches, so Lin Tian and Ning Luoxi didn’t need to flip a coin to decide which direction to go; they just had to follow the cave.
The cave twisted and turned, making one dizzy. Lin Tian counted, passing at least fifteen bends. Just when he thought the cave was long and would take much longer to traverse, a turn suddenly led to a clear, open space.
In front of them was an enormous underground space, as large as several basketball courts. Such large underground spaces were rare because the geological structure would be unstable and prone to collapse. The Island Country Shrine’s underground space wasn’t this big.
This space seed to have existed for a long ti, at least as long as the Xuanbing. And in the center of this space, there was a small pool, smaller than the one outside, with water still and smooth as a mirror.
But it wasn’t the pool that attracted Lin Tian’s attention; it was the blue plants growing along the pool’s edge.
These plants were only as tall as a palm but were entirely crystal-clear, with a mysterious blue glow, and looked extraordinarily exquisite and enchanting.
Blue Snake Grass! It was Blue Snake Grass! Lin Tian was overwheld with joy, the happiness ca suddenly and quickly, catching him off guard. The Blue Snake Grass they had searched so hard for unexpectedly appeared before them.
"Lin Tian, is this Blue Snake Grass?" Ning Luoxi’s voice was slightly trembling, indicating she was suppressing her inner excitent.
Just like Lin Tian, she thought they would have to go through great difficulties to find the Blue Snake Grass, or believe that the ice cave didn’t have any, and all their efforts would be in vain. Who knew it would just appear like this?
Their encounter was so sudden, yet seed so natural.
Lin Tian nodded vigorously, confirming Ning Luoxi’s question, and her tense expression imdiately relaxed, turning into excitent and joy.
"Lin Tian, we finally found it." Ning Luoxi suddenly grabbed Lin Tian’s hand and exclaid excitedly, like a little girl finally achieving her dream.
The usually indifferent and composed Ning Luoxi had never shown such a girlish deanor, leaving Lin Tian montarily dazed. Her heartfelt smile seed capable of lting the Xuanbing.
After the excitent, Ning Luoxi noticed Lin Tian staring at her blankly, causing her cheeks to flush before she returned to her usual calm deanor.
"Lin Tian, how should we collect these Blue Snake Grasses?" After regaining her composure, Ning Luoxi asked an important question.
The harvesting of dicinal herbs requires great care, especially for precious ones. Like the Thousand-year-old ginseng, every tiny root hair must be excavated completely to preserve the ginseng’s integrity. Although Ning Luoxi wasn’t a doctor, she understood such basic principles.
"These little things grow in the strangest of places, right in the Xuanbing. Speaking of which, how did they grow into such hard Xuanbing? Anyway, when harvesting, it’s like digging up ginseng; the whole plant must be extracted intact. Luckily I’m here, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to extract the Blue Snake Grass intact from the Xuanbing." Lin Tian chuckled.
Ning Luoxi was caught off guard, but when she saw Lin Tian take out the Crescent Blade, she imdiately understood. Nothing but the Crescent Blade could easily cut through the hard Xuanbing.
Lin Tian handed a Crescent Blade to Ning Luoxi, and together they walked to the Blue Snake Grass. He fished out a large box from his backpack, which Ning Luoxi had prepared to hertically seal and preserve the Blue Snake Grass.
The next task was excavation. Lin Tian squatted down and carefully inserted the Crescent Blade next to the Blue Snake Grass, drawing a circle around it. The Xuanbing was cut open by the Crescent Blade, and with a final pry, the Blue Snake Grass, along with the Xuanbing, was extracted.
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