Dead faint. Gan Jin dragged his exhausted body back to the shore, the cold of the Extreme Ice Lake seemingly radiating outward as chill air.

Biluo had already prepared grilled fish, and Gan Jin didn't stand on ceremony, devouring several pounds of it to replenish his expended strength. Having grown accustomed to the Fiery Lake, he found the Extreme Ice Lake remarkably more taxing; a full day of training there consumed far more energy than before.

The three people sitting nearby watched in stunned silence as Gan Jin cleared out the four-person dinner Biluo had prepared, only for him to finally remark, "Not bad. I'm about eighty percent full."

Biluo busied herself again preparing dinner for the other two. Gan Jin squatted beside the dead fish, running his hand over the sharp, hard scales. The perilous scene from moments earlier in the water replayed in his mind.

"This thing," he mused, "is quite good." Gan Jin forcefully plucked off a hard, light scale, gently flicking his finger against its edge. "It’s practically a natural throwing knife. It would be even better if polished! While it can't compare to a real iron throwing knife, its advantage lies in being unexpected and much easier to carry."

Gan Jin continuously stripped scales from the dead fish with both hands, picking up a random stone to use as a whetstone. He ground the palm-sized scales into a more ergonomic conical shape suitable for holding, and carefully smeared fish flesh onto them to prevent the scales from drying out and becoming brittle from prolonged exposure to the air.

After the three had finished dinner, Gan Jin possessed sixteen roughly finished throwing knives fashioned from the scales. These knives were of extremely poor quality and needed much refinement, so Gan Jin planned to return to the cave to polish them properly.

While Biluo was busy cleaning the raw fish, Gan Jin patiently honed one of the scale throwing knives—not excellent, but passable—and began testing its performance and trajectory according to the teachings in Divine Archery.

A truly top-tier, world-class archer could instantly grasp the general performance of any projectile weapon they touched, especially concerning its flight trajectory.

Gan Jin acknowledged he had only skimmed Divine Archery for a few days and was by no means a top-tier archer. To fully master the potential of the scale throwing knives, extensive testing was necessary.

Thwack! The scale throwing knife left a faint golden streak in the air, embedding itself accurately into a tree thirty meters away. The exposed portion of the scale vibrated, emitting a continuous, soft buzzing sound.

"Huh?" Gan Jin scratched his head, looking at the knife now lodged halfway into the trunk when he had intended to hit a branch. "It seems its flight path is very different from a stone."

Shui Lian Ying'er approached the tree trunk, closely observing the knife sticking halfway into it. The flight was incredibly swift, yet there was almost no sound of an object piercing the air at high speed. "If used for a stealth assassination in the dead of night..."

The Elder watched Gan Jin depart, preoccupied with his new knives, his eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile. "You must study that Divine Archery text diligently. Bringing you to the Extreme Ice Lake today wasn't just for tempering your Dou Qi and the Golden Body of Wind and Cloud; it was also to help you better adapt to the cold environment. Across the vast snowy plains, remain still for days, and then—a single arrow pierces the throat! That is the mark of an archer!"

Night fell once more. Gan Jin finished polishing the last scale throwing knife. He picked up a Dou Stone freshly extracted from the ore vein, gripping it in his hand, and began the process of absorbing its Dou energy to convert into Dou Qi.

In just three hours, the grayish Dou Stone lost its last trace of luster; the Dou energy of another stone was completely absorbed, evenly distributed across his one hundred and eight Dou Apertures.

Gan Jin opened his eyes and looked at Huang Quan, who sat cross-legged, concentrating on meditating to transform her mental energy into magical power. A faint sense of admiration welled up in his heart. This woman was clearly at the critical juncture of condensing mental energy into magical power. Without the aid of a Magic Gathering Array, even successfully forming a magic core through sheer force would be a record-breaking feat, yet she steadfastly refused to take one of the cores, as they belonged to her younger sister.

To condense mental energy into magical power! To leap directly into the ranks of Great Magicians! How tempting that was! No magician could ever resist that temptation! Gan Jin's assessment of Huang Quan unconsciously rose higher. He wasn't admiring her terrifying magical talent, but her unwavering resolve to resist the shortcut offered by the magic core in order to protect her sister's dream.

The fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air grew more frequent. Huang Quan's body trembled rapidly; even the weeds and the heavy cloak beneath her seemed to respond to some unseen summons, vibrating faintly.

The flames leaping in the brazier, despite being in a sealed environment, appeared to be blown by some fierce wind, crackling with the sound of fire rushing against wind.

It was Gan Jin's first time witnessing someone at the crucial moment of converting mental energy into magic power. He couldn't help but clench his fists tightly. Huang Quan’s massive reserves of spiritual energy were reaching a veritable peak, like water about to boil but stubbornly refusing to turn to steam.

Gan Jin quietly pulled out a magic core and gently tossed it near Huang Quan’s moon-saber. Her vast mental energy immediately began drawing upon the core's magic power. The seemingly unboiling water instantly erupted like a volcano!

Mental energy transformed continuously into magical power. Gan Jin felt the other magic core stored in his clothes vibrating incessantly. Huang Quan, having just crossed the threshold into Great Magician status, displayed a healthy appetite. While she couldn't touch Biluo's cores, she showed no excessive courtesy to Gan Jin, a man who was barely a friend. Her magical power repeatedly drained everything from the core.

The process lasted for half an hour before Huang Quan's magic power conversion was complete. She slowly opened her eyes—eyes that were identical to Biluo’s, yet constantly held an icy coldness—and gave Gan Jin a slight nod. "Thank you."

Gan Jin shrugged dismissively. "You're welcome."

Huang Quan slowly stood up and walked towards Gan Jin, executing a crisp ninety-degree bow. Her black, waterfall-like hair flowed downward as she bent, almost touching the ground.

Huang Quan remained bent over, showing no sign of straightening her back, and spoke again with words carrying a breath of frost: "Thank you."

Gan Jin's body stiffened slightly. It was the same thanks, but it carried a completely different degree of coldness. Compared to the first expression of gratitude, this second one, though frigid, was equally filled with emotion.

This thanks was not merely for the magic core that helped her ascend to Great Magician. Huang Quan was confident that even without the core, she would have succeeded in a few months, perhaps with more hardship, but nothing insurmountable.

"Biluo, I apologize for the trouble I caused you." Huang Quan maintained her bowed posture. "I... I have nothing to repay you with in this situation. Thank you."

"It's really nothing." Facing this woman, who was usually cold as ice, even bordering on arrogant, Gan Jin suddenly felt awkward and embarrassed by her deference for her sister's sake, scratching his head nervously, wanting to break the situation that was surprisingly bringing a sting to his eyes. "I can understand her feelings."

The cave fell silent, save for the popping sound of wood burning in the fire. Huang Quan suddenly straightened up and moved toward Gan Jin with the silent grace of a wild cat. Her supple waist bent slightly once more.

Smooch.

The soft sound of a kiss on his cheek was like an exploding thunderclap in Gan Jin's world, freezing his hand mid-scratch.

Huang Quan's lips were cool, icy, soft, and carried a faint fragrance, a coolness unlike that of a normal person. Gan Jin touched the spot she had kissed, slightly disbelieving. This cold, unreadable woman, colder than the Extreme Ice Lake itself, behaved in a way that was utterly baffling.

Huang Quan quietly and gently returned to her original spot, lying down on a heavy cloak. The soft material of her magic robe immediately outlined her petite but well-proportioned figure. Another cloak was slowly drawn over to cover the shape delineated by the magic robe.

The cave returned to absolute silence, punctuated only by the crackling of burning firewood.

Gan Jin rubbed his kissed cheek, shook his head with a faint smile, pulled his magic hood over his face, and re-entered the "Endless World."

In Blackrock, just as usual, he spent twelve full hours. Gan Jin then opened his status screen.

Shadow Weaving: Level One, Proficiency 105,732/732. Eighteen Hammers of Ascension: Level Two, Proficiency 25,3977/3,977.

"It still seems like it will take a very, very long time before I can truly master this," Gan Jin noted. He realized he had shaken his head far more times in the last few days than in his previous fifteen years combined. "How can I learn faster? Hard work is indispensable, but I must find the right way to study. The wrong method slows down learning; the correct method accelerates it."

Standing before Oulala's Mysterious Potion Shop again, Gan Jin felt an unprecedented urge to turn and flee. Yesterday's potion had offered extreme benefits, but who knew what kind of ordeal awaited him today? Moreover, that potion was a hundred times more potent than the Extreme Ice Lake!

The hardest fortresses in this world are always breached from within. The mysterious potions caused chaos directly inside the body, and though the attacking force was the same, the sensation of pain varied a thousandfold.

"You've arrived? Hurry inside, don't waste time."

Oulala's queenly voice pierced through the deep courtyard, slipping past the counter and into Gan Jin's ears, causing him—a man who faced the Beast-Fighting Bear Fish without flinching—to get goosebumps.

The moment Gan Jin stepped into the room, he felt the floor beneath his feet collapse. He used the force from his feet to leap backward just as the ground gave way. In the air behind him, a net made of a special black silk dropped down. The moment it touched him, it immediately wrapped around him. Following that, a dozen more nets lunged forward, binding him up like a zongzi dumpling.