Chapter 96: The Mystery of the Ice Shell and Golden Pearl

Hearing Chu Feng ask this, the two Gao brothers were both taken aback, finding it rather difficult to answer his question.

Gao Guangying pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Nephew Chu, I recall that when you were at the Tianji Mu family, and you relieved Second Miss Mu Qiaoxue of her vein pain, you used your own mystical power to conjure two golden vein needles out of thin air. Is that so?"

Hearing this, Chu Feng's heart tightened at once. He asked, "Senior Uncle Gao, what are you suggesting?"

"Heh heh, what I mean is, could you perform such a feat of power once more, and conjure a batch of ice-shell golden pearls for the clansmen of the Wuhansnow clan as well? We don't need too many—just enough to tide them over for a while! Right now, the Wuhansnow clan's ice-shell golden pearls are running thin; this batch will soon be used up, and they have yet to locate a new nest of ice-mother pearlshells. They need time to search for the mother pearlshell's nesting ground..."

"Senior Uncle Gao, I'm afraid that won't do!"

Before Gao Guangying could finish speaking, Chu Feng shook his head and interrupted him, saying, "My mystical power can only be used four times a year, and I just used it once at the Tianji Mu family!"

"Oh, that's no problem—we've already considered this. We're not asking you to conjure a batch of ice-shell golden pearls right this moment. Hmm, your mystical power can be used four times a year, so that works out to once every three months, doesn't it? It's been about a month since you left the Tianji Mu family, hasn't it? In another two months or so, you can cast your mystical power and conjure a fresh batch of ice-shell golden pearls!" Gao Guangying said excitedly.

Chu Feng couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Senior Uncle Gao, you misunderstand. The way my mystical power works isn't calculated like that! Sometimes, I can cast spells for three or four days in a row, and other times, I can't manage a single cast for half a year!"

"Oh? Then before, at the Tianji Mu family, when you used your mystical power to conjure the vein needles for Second Miss Mu, and succeeded on the very first try..."

"That was pure luck! I can only say fortune was on my side—or perhaps on Second Miss Mu's side. My spells failing is a common occurrence, you know!" Chu Feng immediately explained.

Since discovering that the storage pouch could conjure metal-attribute items, Chu Feng had been constantly beset by matters great and small, busy with martial training, and had never found the time to study the pouch's mysteries in depth. So at this moment, he especially couldn't afford to speak too confidently.

Gao Guangying frowned and said, "Nephew Chu, by your reasoning, then using your mystical power to conjure a batch of ice-shell golden pearls for the Wuhansnow clan isn't a viable plan?"

"That's correct!" Chu Feng nodded. "First, I have no confidence whatsoever in it. Second, if you placed your hopes on me and in the end I proved powerless, it wouldn't matter if my own time were wasted, but if I delayed the important affairs of the Nine Mysteries Sect and the Wuhansnow clan, I couldn't bear that responsibility!"

"Nephew Chu, how can you know you lack confidence without even trying?" Gao Guangying said urgently.

"No need to try. This power of mine has a close connection with my inner state. I can sense that my mystic power is not surging enough right now, and it lacks the capability to conjure any object at all!" Chu Feng said with certainty.

"Alas!" Seeing that Chu Feng was unmoved, Gao Guangying rose to his feet with a troubled expression. "Nephew Chu, truly, if not for this business with the cloud-breaking eagle, we wouldn't have presumed to trouble you. But because the cloud-breaking eagle suffered internal injuries and can no longer soar over the Ice Nether Sea, and without the cloud-breaking eagle's help, the Wuhansnow clan finds it extremely difficult to locate the ice-mother pearlshell's nest on that frozen sea... one thing leads to another, and we've found ourselves quite helpless. That's why we've come to trouble you!"

Gao Guangying's meaning was clear enough: Chu Feng could not simply wash his hands of the matter merely because he had no confidence in conjuring ice-shell golden pearls. The cloud-breaking eagle had been injured because of Chu Feng, and Chu Feng couldn't just pretend to be an innocent bystander.

Gao Guanghe suddenly spoke up. "Nephew Chu, we've also heard about the decisive duel you've arranged with the Fear Gate, and we know your time over the coming months is extremely precious. However, if you're willing to think of some way—even if you ultimately cannot conjure the ice-shell golden pearls—the Nine Mysteries Sect will still be deeply grateful to you! And if you can conjure them, helping the Wuhansnow clan through this lean stretch, then your benevolent deed would be truly great—no less significant than the merit of resolving the Wind-Thunder crisis for the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall!"

Seeing Gao Guangying and Gao Guanghe—two prestigious martial artists at the eighth level of the Body Refinement realm—one pulling a bitter face toward him and the other wearing an expression full of pleading, Chu Feng found it hard to shake his head and refuse again.

After all, this current trouble had been born from his earlier struggle with the cloud-breaking eagle. Had he not fought against it back then, none of this would have come to pass.

To put it bluntly, one could even call Chu Feng the root cause of this entire affair.

Chu Feng thought it over, then asked, "So what do these so-called ice-shell golden pearls look like? Do you have any on you?"

"No, we don't! To the Wuhansnow clan, those ice-shell golden pearls are treasured like life itself—every single one is carefully and securely stored away, and they'd never hand them over to us. However, I know exactly what they look like! The large ones are as big as watermelons, while the smaller ones are the size of fists. They're perfectly round all over, radiating a faint golden glow!" Gao Guangying said immediately, his eyes filled with delight upon seeing that Chu Feng seemed somewhat stirred by the idea.

Chu Feng pictured the appearance of these ice-shell golden pearls in his mind, then asked, "The size doesn't matter all that much. The key question is: can you confirm what material the ice-shell golden pearls are made of? Are they ice pearls, or golden pearls?"

This question was of utmost importance to Chu Feng. If they were golden pearls, then he could give it a try. If they were ice pearls, there was no need to attempt it at all—the storage pouch could only conjure metal-attribute items, of that there was no doubt.

"The ice-shell golden pearls give off a faint golden radiance all over their bodies. I'm told they feel ice-cold in the hand, but I'm certain they're golden pearls, not ice pearls!" Gao Guangying answered with conviction.

"Oh? So they're golden pearls of solid substance?" Chu Feng found himself somewhat curious.

"You could say that! From what I understand, the ice-mother pearlshells that live on the Ice Nether Sea often surface above the ice to breathe and exchange air. The sea winds on the Ice Nether Sea are extremely fierce, sending countless shards of ice flying in every direction. When some of those ice shards fly into the ice-mother pearlshell's body, through the friction and grinding between its soft flesh and the hard ice, the pearlshell continuously secretes a golden liquid. Over years and years of secretion, the ice shard becomes wrapped layer by layer in golden liquid, and eventually the liquid and ice completely solidify together—and thus an ice-shell golden pearl is formed!" Gao Guanghe explained.

"So that's how it works!" Chu Feng nodded. All the myriad living things in the world truly possessed their own wondrous mysteries and abilities.

"Nephew Chu, your mystical power can only conjure metal-attribute items, and these ice-shell golden pearls are metal-attribute. Why not cast aside your hesitation and give it a try? Perhaps your mystic power will surge forth, and you really will conjure a batch of ice-shell golden pearls!" Gao Guangying said urgently. "And as I said before, even if you fail, the Nine Mysteries Sect won't let your efforts go to waste—we'll give you satisfactory recompense!"

" Very well then. I'll follow your lead and give it a try!" Chu Feng nodded.