Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 167 Immersive Cultivation in the Ice Pool, Advancement in Breathing Technique

On the other side, beneath the dark and deep pool, lies a completely different scene.

Xiren did not die; in fact, he felt better than ever before.

The icy cold pool water completely enveloped him, and the low temperature, which could instantly cause an ordinary person to faint, was forcibly blocked when it touched the light black "coiled dragon" pattern on his skin.

With his eyes closed, Xilun floated in the pool about two meters above the surface, his body in an extremely relaxed posture.

He was slowly circulating the "Great Sea Whale Guiding Technique".

Although progress in this breathing technique is slow in the early stages, its underlying principles are extremely lofty.

At this moment, stimulated by the deep water environment, the true power of this technique finally began to reveal its peak.

Unlike most people, Xilun's chest did not heave violently; instead, his breathing became extremely long and deep, as if he had truly transformed into a primordial whale lurking in the deep sea.

He doesn't need to breathe as frequently as Marshall; the Great Ocean Whale Guidance Technique can create a perfect internal circulation within his body, making the most of every breath of oxygen.

As the technique was activated, Xilun's body seemed to become the center of a huge vortex.

The pure energy invisible to the naked eye in the surrounding pool was forcibly pulled towards him by an invisible and enormous suction force, flowing into his body continuously through his pores and with his breath.

In Xilun's perception, the world around him became incredibly clear.

He could feel the cold energy entering his body and being instantly swallowed up by the whale-like blood and qi. Then, it was frantically ground and digested in his meridians, turning into strands of extremely pure primal power that nourished his limbs and bones.

He slowly opened his eyes underwater; the deep blue pool water did not obstruct his vision much.

Xilun thought to himself, "The current refining efficiency is already quite good."

If I'm not mistaken, he's about twice as efficient as that impatient Marshall mentioned above.

He knew that this was not because he was particularly talented, but because the breathing technique "Great Ocean Whale Guiding Technique" itself had an absolute advantage in the underwater environment.

Giant whales are born in the deep sea, and this technique works perfectly in the water, making it twice as effective with half the effort.

However, Celtic is not satisfied with being only one time ahead.

His gaze pierced through the dark water, looking down into the deeper, colder bottom of the pool.

That's where the true treasure of this natural ice pool lies.

After a moment's thought, Xilun's eyes became incredibly determined.

Without the slightest hesitation, he stopped maintaining his levitation and let his body weight carry him slowly down to the bottom of the pool, which seemed to swallow even light.

As he went deeper, the surrounding pressure increased exponentially, and the cold air transformed into tangible ice blades, relentlessly cutting into his skin.

But Xilun gritted his teeth and pushed the Great Ocean Whale Guidance Technique to its limit.

The underground ice pool at Bath Abbey becomes increasingly dim as you descend deeper, until it turns into a suffocating darkness.

Siren's body, like a heavy anchor, plummeted straight into this dark abyss.

The water pressure squeezed in from all directions, as if to crush his bones, while the extreme cold, enough to freeze his soul, relentlessly tried to penetrate his internal organs.

But Siron's expression remained as calm as an ancient, unyielding rock.

He finally touched the frost-covered rocks at the bottom of the pool. The cold here was incredibly intense, and the pool water had a strange, viscous texture—a manifestation of liquefaction caused by extreme energy compression.

Xilun sat cross-legged at the bottom of the pool, completely releasing the restrictions on the "Great Sea Whale Guidance Technique".

boom!

Within his body, it was as if a slumbering ancient beast had suddenly awakened. He began to slowly inhale and exhale more and more energy, no longer absorbing it like a trickle on the surface of water, but like a giant whale opening its jaws to swallow the entire ocean!

The viscous, pure energy around him transformed into a surging undercurrent, rushing wildly into his body.

On the edge of Xilun's retina, on the pale red data panel that only he could see, the experience points representing the progress of his cultivation technique began to jump and rise wildly at a dizzying speed.

[Skill: Sea Whale Guidance (Tier 1)]

【进度：35/500————52/500——————368/500————】

Xilun secretly estimated in his mind, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes: "The efficiency is probably twice that of the above. The purity of the energy here is simply beyond imagination."

He knew that this was an extremely luxurious form of cultivation.

If it were any ordinary extraordinary being outside, even a second-tier Ripper, without special protection, they would absolutely not dare to recklessly absorb the cold air at such a deep ice pool like he did. That would be tantamount to setting themselves on fire and they would be frozen into ice sculptures in an instant.

But he is different. He has the abnormal defensive talent of "coiled dragon" and the extremely inclusive and domineering technique of "giant whale guiding the ocean" as support.

And support for swimming...

"Not bad." Xilun calculated in his mind, "At this rate of development, in the end, he can probably leave about 20% of the pure energy for that guy named Marshall. That would be enough to live up to his mentor's shamelessness."

Xilun focused his mind, ceasing to think about the outside world, and poured all his will into this cruel yet wonderful transformation.

He kept breathing in and out, each breath accompanied by a thunderous roar within his body.

Between the skin and flesh, the light black dragon patterns began to emit a faint light. They were like a huge filter, tightly intercepting the violent cold air surging into the body, and then crushing and refining it little by little.

After the extremely cold energy was assimilated by the domineering blood energy of the "Great Sea Whale Guiding Technique", a strange reaction of reversal occurred.

With each breath, Xilun felt as if he were swallowing scalding lava.

The scalding heat, transformed from extreme cold, rushed down his esophagus and into his stomach, violently widening and burning the meridians along its path.

In the stomach of Xilun, it was as if an invisible, enormous furnace was suddenly ignited!

The immense energy no longer merely remained on the surface of his body for superficial enhancement, but was completely melted by this furnace, then transformed into a vast army, surging wildly into his deep red muscle fibers.

In his intensely focused introspective vision, Xiren clearly saw the astonishing changes taking place in his body.

The muscle fibers, which had appeared somewhat withered and dull due to continuous high-intensity battles and training, were now like parched land receiving rain after a long drought, greedily absorbing this vast and pure energy.

They began to expand violently, like dough fermenting, and then, under extreme stretching, emitted a faint cracking sound.

This is a deep, excruciating pain, a tearing and rebuilding of muscle fibers, akin to being cut into a thousand pieces.

But Xilun didn't even flinch.

Nourished by the immense energy, the ruptured muscle fibers regrow and intertwine at a visible rate.

The newly formed muscles are no longer rigid blocks, but become like tightly wound steel cables, taut and fluid, containing a terrifying explosive power that makes one's heart tremble.

Meanwhile, his strong heart was beating in a slow but extremely powerful rhythm inside his chest.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Each jump was like a war drum beating in the abyss.

The blood pumped by the heart, after being repeatedly tempered by ice and fire, has lost its original bright red color and turned into a deep and heavy mercury-like color.

This heavy, mercury-like blood surged through the veins, making a rushing sound, delivering surging vitality and power to every corner of the body, nourishing the ever-growing and stronger liver and spleen.

Under the frenzied forging of this furnace at the bottom of the pool, the essence of his life is undergoing a tremendous leap.

On the water's surface, however, time became an unbearable torment for Marshall.

As Siren remained submerged for longer, Marshall above became increasingly lost in thought, his mind in turmoil.

He sat cross-legged in the shallow water, his brows furrowed tightly into a knot.

"It's been half an hour—he still hasn't come up."

Marshall's breathing became rapid, and the whistling rhythm was completely disrupted. He couldn't stop thinking about what was happening beneath the surface.

On the one hand, he was extremely wary of Xilun, which even turned into anger and jealousy.

"Could it be that the other party is truly hiding their true abilities? Could it be that they can really cultivate in such a perilous environment as the bottom of the pool?"

This thought gave Marshall an unprecedented sense of frustration.

He has always considered himself a genius and believed that he is the future leader of the club. How could he tolerate a stray dog ​​from the slums surpassing him in talent and courage?

On the other hand, what drove him even more crazy was that he felt the power he had refined was far, far less than he had expected.

Originally, if he could have focused wholeheartedly on refining it, he was confident that with the advantage of the whistling rhythm, he could have at least obtained a portion of the essence in the ice pool, enough to raise his strength to another level.

However, because he was constantly distracted by Siren's life or death, he could never fully immerse himself in the subject.

Every time he just got into the zone, the image of Xilun's calm, mocking face and the unfathomable blue pool would appear in his mind.

If the mind is not calm, the breath will not flow smoothly.

The pure, cold air around him seemed to mock his powerlessness, resisting him no matter how hard he tried.

"Damn it! Damn it! You persistent bastard!"

Marshall cursed wildly in his heart, even maliciously hoping that the next second, Xilun's frozen, purple corpse would float to the surface of the water.

But there was nothing there.

Time flowed slowly and steadily amidst Marshall's anxiety and Celen's reflection.

Thus, more than three hours passed.

In the abyss at the bottom of the pool, Xilun's transformation is nearing its end.

As he exhaled the last breath of stale air, mixed with impurities in his body, his body temperature had reached an unbelievable level.

hiss hiss hiss—

The extremely cold pool water instantly vaporized upon contact with his body due to the terrifyingly high temperature.

In an instant, a large plume of scalding red steam rose from the dark pool bottom around Xilun.

The steam formed a huge, churning red bubble underwater, enveloping him completely, like an ancient whale awakening in the deep sea.

Xilun slowly opened his eyes, and in those originally dark eyes, it seemed as if dark golden flames were dancing.

He clenched his fist, feeling the terrifying power within him, as vast and boundless as the ocean, as if he could shatter mountains with a single punch, and a slight smugness appeared on his lips.

For Marshall on the water, the ordeal of more than three hours was more agonizing than enduring three long winters.

The chill in the underground cave was still biting, but Marshall's forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. As soon as the sweat appeared, it was condensed into tiny ice crystals by the surrounding low temperature, hanging on his face, which was slightly distorted by jealousy and anger.

He finally stopped that futile and inefficient "whistling rhythm".

Marshall suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with bloodshot veins and deep exhaustion.

He sensed the increase in his internal strength, and his face instantly turned ashen.

"Why is this all there is?!"

He clenched his teeth tightly, the muscles in his cheeks bulging from the exertion.

I had expected at least some improvement, or even more if I performed exceptionally well, but because of my impatience and constant distraction, I only managed to achieve this pitiful little improvement!

Perhaps, the energy he absorbed was less than half of what the other party had absorbed.

Although reason told him that this one-tenth of his pure energy was already equivalent to the amount he had gained from more than ten days of arduous training outside, enough to further enhance the power of his "Bear Fighting Technique".

But for Marshall, who always held himself in high esteem and longed to be transformed by this baptism in the ice pool, this was nothing short of a humiliating defeat.

The culprit behind all this failure was Xilun, who had been missing for more than three hours after diving underwater!

"Dead, right? Definitely dead!"

Marshall let out a hysterical growl in his heart, and he stood up, making a splashing sound.

He looked down at the deep blue pool, trying to find a trace of a corpse floating on the surface, in order to soothe his shattered pride.

"Spending three hours in that level of extreme cold would be brutal even for a third-order Aberrant without external assistance, let alone a newly baptized Extraordinary!"

Marshall kept searching for a reasonable explanation in his mind, trying to completely erase the deep-seated fear in Xiren from his mind.

However, just as he was about to turn away from the ice pool to report this "good news" to his mentor Rick, he was about to leave.

A sudden change has occurred!

The once calm and still ice pool suddenly began to churn without warning.

Glug glug ...

Numerous bubbles surged wildly to the surface from the depths of the pool, accompanied by a low, muffled sound, as if some giant beast were roaring underwater.

Marshall's steps froze abruptly. He turned around in disbelief, his eyes fixed on the water, his heart feeling as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.

Immediately afterwards, an astonishing heat wave erupted from the deep blue pool.

laugh-!

Vast swaths of white mist rose instantly, a phenomenon caused by the extremely cold pool water being violently vaporized after encountering terrifyingly high temperatures in an instant.

At this moment, the entire ice pool seemed to have turned into a giant steamer.

In the heart of the thick, impenetrable white mist and crimson steam, a tall and slender figure, like a peerless sword piercing the abyss, slowly rose from the pool.