Chapter 17: Under the Cold Lake Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios Under the impact of the Scarlet Flame Fruit’s searing essence, Su Zimo’s blood was already boiling. Each time he breathed out, his nose would release a scarlet airstream. The life span of the Perfected Golden Core was at most 500 years. A flower that blooms and bear only one fruit in a thousand years – What kind of concept would this spirit item possess? This flow of energy was rich and massive. Su Zimo could not endure it at all. He should count his blessings on having sustained for five minutes with The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness. “Ah!” Su Zimo hollered at the sky. He had no place to vent out the energy in his body. It was such a torture that he wished to die. “Bang!” Su Zimo circulated all the energy in his body and executed Mountain Pressing. He bumped against the stone walls in the cave with all his might. One-by-one, many rocks cracked and fell to the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! Both Su Zimo’s eyes were red. He repeatedly bumped against the stone walls, seemingly wanting to release all the energy in his body. Each time he bumped against the wall, the cave would shake violently, plummeting gravel. The cave looked like it was going to collapse at any point in time. If the cave were to collapse, it would be akin to a hill top or object weighing up to ten thousands of pounds crashing down. No matter how strong one’s body was, he would be crushed into mud. Death in this place was imminent for a man and a monkey! Su Zimo had already lost his sanity but not the spirit monkey. Obviously, Su Zimo was going to die. He was neither relative nor acquaintance to the spirit monkey. They only met by chance. Escaping from this place as soon as possible would be the wisest option for the spirit monkey. However, there was a flash of worry in the spirit monkey’s eyes at this juncture. The spirit monkey hesitated for a moment and did not choose to leave. Standing by the side, he was on pins and needles. He blinked his eyes constantly, seemingly hoping for a miracle to happen. “Bang! Boom! Boom!” At this moment, deafening sounds could be heard coming from the stone walls. The entire mountain trembled for a while! “Oh?” The eyes of the spirit monkey shone. He discovered that Su Zimo’s knock on this occasion had actually broke the cave’s stone walls and he had fallen into another cave. There was a cave within the cave! The spirit monkey quickened his steps and caught up with Su Zimo. The second cave was narrow and small and there was a small lake in the middle. The air was chilling and icy coldness penetrated one’s bones. Before he could approach the cave, the spirit monkey was already shivering in the cold. He quickly halted his steps. The cool air emitted by the pond was extremely strong and even a little creepy. When the spirit monkey inched closer, a layer of frost appeared and was spreading slowly on his body’s hair. Coldness penetrated him, as if countless steel needles were piercing through his blood and flesh! At this moment, Su Zimo was burning all over. When he sensed the bone-chilling coldness, he did not resist. Instead, he stepped towards the cold lake. The coldness was overwhelming and unbearable. However, Su Zimo, who had eaten the Scarlet Flame Fruit by mistake, seemed to have innumerable flames burning in his body, that could coincidentally offset the effect of the cold. Su Zimo jumped directly into the cold lake. Thereafter, sizzling sounds could be heard as if a striking hot iron bar had been immersed into the icy water. Cold and hot, ice and fire, these two distinct forces collided in Su Zimo’s body. Su Zimo rose and fell in the cold lake, his figure submerged and reappearing from time to time. Vapor rose and mist enshrouded. It felt like an immortal land. The spirit monkey stood and watched this scene from afar. He faintly guessed that Su Zimo had already survived this calamity under a twist of circumstances. As the ancient saying goes, the antidote to any venomous poison will always be present in the latter’s vicinity. Everything in the world mutually reinforced or countered each other. This was the order of nature that would never change. Since the cave had bred such a radical fruit like the Scarlet Flame Fruit, a contrasted and radically cold item should be growing within the vicinity in accompaniment. Su Zimo had taken the Scarlet Flame Fruit by mistake and could not endure the massive energy. Nevertheless, he discovered the cold lake by chance and borrowed the coldness to suppress the searing essence and sealed it into every inch of his flesh and blood! These searing essence had not yet been dissipated from Su Zimo’s body. However, a huge treasure trove had been sealed in his body. Each time he cultivated, he would refine the essence within him until he drained the energy of the Scarlet Flame Fruit! This was greatly beneficial to Su Zimo in advancing in the realms in the future. From the moment that he leaped into the cold lake, Su Zimo had already regained his senses. Soon after, he realized that the energy of the Scarlet Flame Fruit no longer posed a threat as it had been sealed in his body. Su Zimo wanted to jump out of the cold lake but his heart suddenly wavered. Since this place could breed the Scarlet Flame Fruit, could there be other such fruits breeding around the cold lake? The cave where the cold lake was situated was small and narrow. One could see everything in it at a mere glance. Su Zimo did not discover anything. If he had guessed correctly, there was a high possibility that they would be at the bottom of the lake! Su Zimo took a deep breath and plunged into the cold lake. The cold lake was extremely cold. Oddly, there were no signs of freezing. Su Zimo dived deeper and deeper, withstanding the intensifying pressure as he dived. The lakes waters were also getting colder and colder! After cultivating The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness, Su Zimo’s ability to hold his breath was very strong. He could hold it for fifteen minutes long. However, as Su Zimo dived deeper, the coldness in his body intensified, his limbs gradually turned cold and his blood circulation slowed down. This cold lake seemed bottomless. Su Zimo realized that he would freeze to death before he could see the bottom of it if he were to continue to swim. At this moment, a beam of red light suddenly streaked across the depths of the corner of the cold lake suddenly. Su Zimo focused his gaze towards the light but he could not see it clearly as the lakes waters were blocking his view. He could only vaguely see a rock with four words engraved present in the deeper waters. The words were very blurry. Su Zimo slid both his arms and dived downwards again. After covering some distance, he had already reached the limit of his physique. Su Zimo opened his eyes wide and looked at that piece of huge rock. Fire! Su Zimo distinctively saw ‘fire’, one of the four words on the rock. The other three words still looked blurry. Coldness entered his body and Su Zimo shivered all over. “If this continues, I’m afraid I’m going to die!” Su Zimo dared not continue. He moved all his four limbs and swam towards the surface of the water. Soon after, Su Zimo climbed out of the cold lake. There was a layer of frost on his hair and brows. His lips were purplish and his face was ghastly pale. Swoosh! Su Zimo panted heavily, white clouds of vapor rising from the top of his head. “Wowowo!” Not far away, the spirit monkey chattered while staring at him. He was gesturing to Su Zimo anxiously, seemingly asking how Su Zimo was doing. “I am fine.” Su Zimo smiled. After resting for a while, he stood up and left the cold lake. After this round of ‘torture’, Su Zimo had gained something from the misfortune. He had not only achieved initial success for the Tendons Transformation section but also sealed a massive energy source in his body. This meant that, henceforth, Su Zimo could cultivate at any point in time to refine and absorb the essence sealed in his body without the need to consume any food or drinks. Su Zimo’s mood improved tremendously. He patted the shoulders of the spirit monkey and said smilingly, “Damn monkey. Thanks.” “Chey!” The spirit monkey glanced at the sky and snorted ‘Hurmp!’. He did reciprocate Su Zimo’s gratitude. Su Zimo could not stifle his laughter. This monkey was very proud. Su Zimo understood it’s temperament a little. Su Zimo stood aside. He stood with his legs apart, parallel to his shoulders, in preparation to cultivate the three styles of Tendons Transformation – Sanguine Ape Tri-style. Sanguine Ape Fist Seal, Sanguine Ape Fruit Offering and Sanguine Ape Transformation. The first two styles were killing moves while the third style was the core move. Die Yue once told Su Zimo that one could not casually execute the Sanguine Ape Transformation unless he was on the brink of death. When he was surrounded by the packs of wolves in the valley, Su Zimo did not release the Sanguine Ape Transformation because he had not attained initial success of Tendons Transformation. If he were to do so, his large tendons would split, his body would explode and he would die on the spot. Anaconda’s tendons were flexible and resilient whereas ape’s tendons were both strong and soft. The outcome of cultivating ape first would cause the large tendons to burst and split, for they could not withstand the vigorous forces of the constant tugs and vibration. One would become paralyzed. This was the reason for the need to cultivate the anaconda prior to the ape styles. Su Zimo rested for a while. His body straightened. With his left fist guarding his chest, his right fist drew an arc in mid-air and smashed downwards. Sanguine Ape Fist Seal! Right on the heels of that, Su Zimo retracted his fists, bent his knees and shrunk his body like an agile monkey. Seemingly kneeling with one knee, he put his palms together as if he was holding a fruit and lifted them upwards. Sanguine Ape Fruit Offering! Be it name or posture, these two styles did not seem like killing moves. Su Zimo was baffled. He could not figured it out and had a hunch that he seemed to be missing something. “Gagagaga!” At this very moment, a fearless and bold laughter rang in his ears. Su Zimo looked back. He saw that spirit monkey sitting on the ground, laughing out loud and pointing at Su Zimo. His eyes were filled with contempt. He was only short of writing the word ‘fool’ and similar words on his face. “I have been looked down upon by this damn monkey again.” Su Zimo glared at him and said, “What is wrong with you again?” The spirit monkey stopped mocking. Leaping up, he suddenly dashed towards Su Zimo like an arrow. Both his hands were guarding the chest, his right hand cupped into a fist, drawing an arc in mid-air, charging and aiming at Su Zimo’s head. “Mmm?” Su Zimo’s expression changed greatly. The Spirit monkey’s punch was completely the style of Sanguine Ape Fist Seal. It was exactly the same and even more vicious, filled with a murderous and imposing aura! Su Zimo did not understand the meaning of the word ‘seal’ in Sanguine Ape Fist Seal previously. He had a moment of realization at the sight of the spirit monkey smashing down his fist. The spirit monkey clenched his fist. It’s greenish-black large tendons protruded, it’s flesh and blood expanding. The fist that swelled up like a huge seal suddenly dropped! There was an explosive sound in the air with this punch! So, that was the case. After easing the tendons, one could make use of the strength of the tendons to tighten the flesh and skin. When the tendons and flesh were knitted together, one would use the fist as a seal. This was the essence of the Sanguine Ape Fist Seal! How much force could a human create by smashing his fist? However, if a huge seal were to smash directly in the face, what would be the outcome? Both Su Zimo and the spirit monkey used the same style but at two completely different levels, there was a world of a difference in impact.