Reaper of the Martial World

Book 8: Chapter 37: Cold Qi (4)

“But… It only seems to work in water. In fact, air seems like a natural barrier against it.” Ri said, lamenting the lost potential.

Ri’s words woke Dyon up from his fantasy. That was right. He had been using his divine sense the entire time up until they entered these waters. Yet, nothing happened.

If he wanted to take a step further than that, weren’t both he and Ri floating in the skies before they entered the water? That ability was something that fundamentally necessitated the circulation of qi. According to what Dyon understood, any activation of qi in the area of this cold qi would immediately cause it to latch on. Yet, Dyon hadn’t felt remotely uncomfortable floating above the ocean waters.

After settling down from his disappointment, Dyon still felt that this was a great opportunity.

“Even if it can only be used in water, it’s possible that we’d be near undefeatable in large oceans and seas if we could harness this power.” Dyon said after a moment.

Ri nodded in agreement. “Under normal circumstances, a cultivator would create a barrier between themselves and the water with a thin layer of qi so that they don’t get wet, but doing so here is seeking death. As long as someone enters the water, they’ll be bound from using their qi and soul.”

Ri’s explanation wasn’t even the best part. If someone entered these waters without knowledge of the cold qi waiting for them, they’d be subject to the same lag Dyon experienced.

For one, not everyone’s soul is as robust as Dyon’s. From Dyon’s estimate, even if it was a peak dao expert who wantonly released their divine sense, their soul would definitely suffer.

This was important in several aspects. Taking away a dao expert’s divine sense forced them to rely on their base observation abilities, handicapping them. But, this was just a minor point. The most important was that the soul was the basis used to communicate with the heavens and utilize wills!

If one’s soul was affected by the cold qi, there was a great chance that that individual’s wills would also be handicapped.

Secondly, as long as someone didn’t comprehend an ice will like Ri had, they’d be unable to efficiently dispel this qi.

“We need to figure out the limits of this cold qi.” Dyon suddenly said. “You said that your ice and water will improved after coming into contact with it. If that’s the case, then instead of helping us in war, this sort of cold qi might be strengthening our enemies instead.”

Ri nodded. If this cold qi could be absorbed indefinitely as long as you comprehended ice will, then it was better to not use it at all. Although not everyone had comprehended a water or ice will, obviously, they weren’t exactly rare wills, although ice will was a bit more difficult to comprehend in comparison to water will.

The husband and wife duo began to slowly descend, feeling the temperature around them dropping steadily. Although Dyon’s golden yacht could match a lower dao expert in speed, he didn’t dare to move so quickly in such unknown territory.

Thinking of the golden yacht, Dyon had another thought. Why was it that it seemed it was completely unaffected?

Technically, as a treasure, it too relied on qi. But, its barrier still managed to hold the water away without much issue.

But, soon enough, Dyon understood why this was. It wasn’t that the treasure was unaffected, but rather that the effects were slower and less obvious since it was an inanimate object. If this continued, Dyon’s supreme grade yacht would be ruined as well.

With a sigh, he could only put the yacht away, holding Ri close to him. Unable to use their qi, the water soaked them through completely. historical

The temperature continued to drop. At first, it wasn’t to excessive levels. Though a mortal would freeze, it wasn’t a big issue for cultivators. But soon, the waters began approaching approach -100 degrees Celsius, almost half-way to absolute 0.

One had to know that cold temperatures weren’t like incredibly hot ones. Although there theoretically also exists an absolute highest possible temperature, it was so exaggeratedly high that it couldn’t exist on the mortal plane. However, cold temperatures felt the same for mortals as they did for cultivators.

[Author’s Note: Sorry for the science lesson that’s about to happen, but it’s pretty important to understanding what’s happening.]

Cold is essentially a state of lacking energy. The slower the molecules of a substance vibrated, the greater cold they experienced.

For cultivators, it was incredibly difficult to slow the molecules that made them up. Due to their cultivating qi, lack of energy in the surroundings could be easily made up by qi they had within them. This was why they could so easily survive in space after entering the saint realm.

However, when ice will and related cold wills were added to the equation, suddenly, things could take a turn for the worst, even for cultivators.

Cold qi wielders and environments had the ability to negate a cultivator’s counter measures.

This was what was meant cold temperatures felt the same for mortals as they did for cultivators. If Dyon said he felt that they were rapidly approaching -100 celsius, it not only meant that a mortal would have long since experience absolute 0 should they be in his shoes, it meant that his molecules had slowed down by a drastic amount, to the point that even his robust body felt bitter cold.

If any cultivator experienced absolute 0, they would, without a doubt, die!

Ri was in a slightly better position because she cultivated ice will, so she was still experiencing temperatures closer to -20 degrees, which was still bearable for a cultivator. However, Dyon was slowly closing in on a highly dangerous situation.

It was at that moment that the husband and wife couple saw a mind-numbing scene in the distance…