Chapter 1023 - 1123: Bone-Chilling Cold

Ye Tianfan sensed the spiritual power contained within the cave and found it to be extremely sparse!

Moreover, Ye Tianfan discovered that if he absorbed the spiritual power in the air, it would replenish very slowly. In other words, if Ye Tianfan wanted to meditate and recover, after absorbing all the spiritual power in the cave, he would have to wait for it to replenish before continuing to recover. Otherwise, the air would contain no spiritual power, rendering meditation useless!

Ye Tianfan looked around and realized that the only way out was to leave here, and the only way to do that might be through the small lake in the center!

Since Ye Tianfan couldn't rely on any magical treasure to protect himself, he had no choice but to jump into the small lake. Most importantly, upon jumping into the lake, he would face the issue of oxygen deprivation without any means of protection!

Yes, that's right, the problem of oxygen deprivation. The spiritual power within Ye Tianfan's body could no longer supplement oxygen for him. This meant that Ye Tianfan now utterly depended on breathing to survive, as there was no spiritual power within him to convert into oxygen to nourish and supplement his lungs!

Furthermore, there might be unknown dangers in the small lake. If there were any dangerous water demon beasts, Ye Tianfan really wouldn't have any capacity to resist!

Ye Tianfan's physical strength wasn't particularly strong, at most just a few layers of the Wanxuan realm. The current lack of spiritual power made him feel extremely weak, and in the water, his physical strength weakened further!

Therefore, Ye Tianfan couldn't effectively resist in the water. Hence, he couldn't immediately jump into the small lake; he needed to observe first!

Ye Tianfan slowly approached the edge of the small lake within the cave. As he neared it, he became extremely cautious; vigilance was necessary. After all, should a demon beast emerge from the lake, Ye Tianfan might not even have the time to react!

Another problem was that Ye Tianfan felt like his Divine Sense was restricted in the cave, unable to effectively extend beyond a meter from his body!

But this one meter wasn't much help to Ye Tianfan. If any danger truly arose, given his current strength, even an extra name wouldn't benefit him. Even if Ye Tianfan managed to react, his body couldn't support such a quick response. Moreover, his current speed was rather slow. So, if any danger were to occur, a one-meter or two-meter range wouldn't be of much use!

Despite its inefficacy, Ye Tianfan still extended his Divine Sense. He thought that, at the very least, having his Divine Sense active would ensure he wouldn't die knowing nothing and might help him realize how he met his end. Perhaps his adversaries would attack slowly enough for him to respond!

Ye Tianfan slowly walked to the edge of the small lake and then crouched down so that his Divine Sense could probe into the water.

Afterward, Ye Tianfan circled the small lake once. He noticed no apparent danger on its surface, and his eyes didn't detect anything unusual either. The lake was quite clear, allowing him to see into its deeper areas!

Now, only one option remained: Ye Tianfan had to jump into the small lake and search for an exit, as no exit was found on the shore!

Upon realizing this, Ye Tianfan removed some of his clothing since swimming with clothes creates resistance. Moreover, finding the exit wouldn't be possible in one try, so he left his clothes here and planned to retrieve them after finding an exit!

After taking off his clothes, Ye Tianfan performed a set of warm-up exercises. He knew his current constitution would likely lead to cramps in the water without warming up. There, no lifeguard would save him, and failing to relieve the cramps would lead to a slow suffocation death!

So, after warming up on the shore and loosening his body, Ye Tianfan dove headfirst into the small lake.

The instant Ye Tianfan entered the small lake, he felt an icy coldness penetrating deep into his being.

Ye Tianfan nearly gasped in shock, but being underwater, he held it in!

Though Ye Tianfan desperately wanted to retreat back to shore, he knew he couldn't. Despite the intense cold, he could still tolerate it slightly. If he returned now, he might lose the courage to jump again, and even if he did jump again, nothing would change, and he would likely want to return to shore again!

Thus, Ye Tianfan gritted his teeth against the cold, opened his eyes, and groped around. In the small lake, only one light source was visible, so visibility underwater was poor.

Ye Tianfan swam swiftly in one direction, timing his oxygen needs, and looked ahead for any exit!

After swimming a few meters, Ye Tianfan looked back to see if the light source from where he entered was still visible.

If he lost sight of the light source while swimming, he might get stuck in the lake!

Therefore, Ye Tianfan frequently checked to make sure. After some time, he found that he hadn't reached the bottom, yet he already needed oxygen. Quickly, he swam back, knowing that waiting until he urgently needed air would be too late. The swim back required oxygen, given the distance he had already covered!

Though a bit of a letdown, Ye Tianfan turned back towards the light source.

Once ashore, Ye Tianfan quickly dried himself and performed another set of exercises to stimulate his blood flow, lest he catch a cold!

After completing his exercises and recovering, Ye Tianfan began to recall what he saw in the small lake!

In the small lake, he hadn't seen any edges. Although it was only from one direction, he hadn't glimpsed any boundaries. As Ye Tianfan observed from underwater, no light source was visible, and the edge seemed quite distant!