In Leo’s dantian, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus once again conveyed an extremely excited and impatient message to him.
Through his mental connection, Leo naturally understood the meaning of the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
Celestial Artifacts of the same attribute typically devour and absorb each other to evolve.
Once the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus absorbed the Frost Essence Elixir, its power would undoubtedly increase significantly.
“Don’t worry, it won’t escape!” Leo muttered to himself.
The next moment, Leo swam directly towards the Frost Essence Elixir.
Inside the ice ball, the snow-white fish saw Leo approaching. With its newfound intelligence, it naturally wouldn’t wait to be caught by a human.
Just as Leo got within three meters, the spirit fish in the Frost Essence Elixir glared at him with its ice-blue eyes, emitting a dazzling ice-blue light.
The temperature in the ice pool plummeted instantly, and the water at the bottom seemed to freeze rapidly.
The immense pressure from the freezing seemed to want to crush Leo entirely.
Leo’s expression changed slightly as he circulated his spiritual power to resist with all his might.
If it were an ordinary mid-stage Spirit Saint cultivator at their peak, they would either be crushed or turned into an ice sculpture, unable to survive.
But Leo was different; he had the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus protecting him, allowing him to move freely.
With a gesture of his right hand, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus appeared above his palm.
As soon as it appeared, all the lotus petals began to sway and rotate slowly, looking very excited.
The cold force trying to invade Leo’s body was quickly absorbed by the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
After absorbing the cold force released by the Frost Essence Elixir, the previously dim lotus petals regained their icy white color.
A smile appeared on Leo’s lips as he held the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus and continued to approach the Frost Essence Elixir.
Seeing the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus above Leo’s palm, a look of obvious dread appeared in the spirit fish’s eyes.
With a flick of its tail, the ice ball moved, swimming towards the depths of the ice pool.
“Trying to escape? No way!” Leo snorted coldly, bursting with spiritual power and speeding up to chase after it.
The spirit fish controlled the ice ball to move faster and faster. Similarly, Leo’s speed increased as well, quickly closing the distance between them.
A few minutes later, Leo was within five meters of the ice ball.
“Now it’s your turn.” Leo activated the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
Ice-white threads spread out from the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus, wrapping around the ice ball.
The ice ball had no way to escape and was soon wrapped in an ice-white cocoon.
Leo smiled, reached out with his left hand, and used the art of controlling objects to grab the ice-white cocoon.
After obtaining the Frost Essence Elixir, Leo quickly swam upwards.
Before long, Leo emerged from the icy surface and stood on top of the ice pool again.
“Did you get it?” Seraphina looked at the ice-white cocoon in Leo’s hand. “What is it?”
With a thought, Leo controlled the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus to retract the ice-white threads wrapping around the Frost Essence Elixir.
When Seraphina saw the lively little fish inside the ice ball in Leo’s hand, her eyes lit up.
With her extensive knowledge from ancient texts, Seraphina quickly recognized what Leo was holding: “This is a Celestial Artifact, the Frost Essence Elixir!”
Seraphina’s ethereal voice carried a hint of surprise.
“Yes, I didn’t expect there to be a Celestial Artifact hidden here.” Leo nodded.
In front of Leo, all the petals of the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus danced, constantly revealing their desire for the Frost Essence Elixir.
Inside the ice ball, the spirit fish’s eyes were filled with fear as it swam uneasily in the liquid.
Leo knew very well that once the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus absorbed the Frost Essence Elixir, its power would greatly increase.
“Leo, what are you waiting for? Let’s begin.” Seraphina said softly.
Leo nodded and controlled the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus to land on the ice surface in front of him. He then enlarged it into an ice lotus seat big enough for one person to sit on.
With a toss of his left hand, he placed the ice ball wrapped in spiritual power above the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
The Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus trembled with excitement as white threads surged out and pierced into the ice ball.
The spirit fish inside struggled desperately to escape from being absorbed by the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus. However, given the limited space inside the ice ball, its struggle and resistance were futile.
In a flash, Leo sat on top of the lotus seat. He then released his divine sense to envelop the ice ball completely.
The large petals of the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus quickly closed around them, enveloping both Leo and the ice ball inside.
Next came Leo’s task of refining the Frost Essence Elixir so that the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus could smoothly absorb its energy.
In the valley, cold snowflakes drifted down. A slender figure in a white dress quietly watched the closed ice lotus flower.
As time passed, the light from the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus grew brighter and brighter…
Leo hadn’t expected that this refining process would last until nightfall.
Finally, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus burst forth with an incredibly dazzling icy white light.
The icy white light blossomed in mid-air, illuminating the entire icy valley brightly.
Within this light, numerous snow-white spirit fish shadows appeared, swimming around the ice lotus.
Such a wondrous sight was breathtakingly beautiful, leaving Seraphina momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Seraphina also realized that Leo had completely refined the Frost Essence Elixir.
The next moment, the closed petals of the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus opened up, revealing Leo sitting cross-legged inside. Snow-white spirit fish shadows swam around him.
Leo’s eyes remained closed as his hands formed changing seals.
Heaven and earth’s spiritual energy began converging towards the ice lotus. Leo’s aura gradually grew stronger.
“He’s about to break through!” Seraphina whispered in her heart.
As dawn broke in the sky, Leo’s aura reached its breakthrough threshold.
A massive vortex of spiritual energy formed above Leo’s head as vast amounts of spiritual energy poured into his body.
In his dantian, Leo’s golden core became increasingly radiant.
“Breakthrough!” Leo shouted inwardly as he observed his dantian.
It was like breaking through a barrier; the light from his golden core quickly retracted while an unprecedentedly powerful aura burst forth from him.
This powerful aura even raised temperatures throughout the icy valley by several degrees.
Leo had successfully broken through to an advanced Spirit Saint level.
Having absorbed part of Frost Essence Elixir’s energy and already being at mid-stage Spirit Saint peak level made this breakthrough a natural progression for him.
When he examined his golden core again internally, he noticed that it had become somewhat transparent. It seemed like something was being nurtured within it.