1199 The frozen depths

"Are you serious?" Eldrin stood in a daze.

"Yes, I am. You wanted me to take you to the spire of ascension, right? Or something like that? I will take you there soon enough." Liam laughed. "Why not?"

Eldrin couldn't believe it.

"I have some things that I need to do before that though."

"Sure. I don't mind. I am willing to wait. Decades if you want." Eldrin quickly obliged. With that, this matter was also settled and Eldrin willingly walked into the spatial artifact as well. 

Normally, the elf wouldn't take the risk of being shut in a random person's pocket space but the circumstance calls for it. Letting out a sigh, he entered the space with his fingers crossed.

Liam then turned to Lunaria and Elira. The two of them also followed the elf, though it was clear to them that their job was to keep the others in check. There were a lot of items inside the tower after all. 

Liam was not sure if anyone could access anything else without his permission but it was better to err on the side of caution.

With the last two entering the spatial artifact, Liam was alone with Luna and he took out the stone tablet. 

The next instant Liam appeared in the pocket world. It was the same serene world with no apparent change.

Liam briefly wondered if the nature of the world would change because he had sent in an entire unknown mysterious lake inside it from a B-ranked world that too but nothing. It looks like this was still not enough to get a response from the stone tablet or uncover more about it.

However, Liam did not care about these things at the moment. He only wanted the practical aspect of it which did not take long for him to find. A few miles ahead of him lay the lake that he was looking for. It lay still, as calm as ever.

As Liam approached the lake, the familiar chill once again assaulted him. "Perfect." Liam sucked in a big breath and dove into the lake head first. 

Thankfully, unlike the previous time, it seemed that he didn't have to go deep and freeze himself to near death. Ice elemental essence flooded his body and the fruit sucked in everything happily as if it was a black hole.

Surprisingly, the core formation this time was happening at an even faster rate when compared to the mana core formation. Liam was overjoyed to see everything proceed smoothly for once but soon nuances started cropping up. 

The ice essence still flooded his body but the rate of the core formation slowed down. This was still something he could work with so he continued with it. But a few minutes later, the progress came to a grinding halt.

Liam frowned. He did not know much about ice elemental core and this was the first time he was attempting something like this, armed only with the basic knowledge. However, he still possessed a dao seed in the ice elemental and had a very high affinity with the elemental.

So he could somewhat assess the core that was formed inside the third compartment of the fruit. It was only partially formed and needed a lot more essence. 

Liam was worried that there was some other problem but it turned out it just needed more essence, perhaps purer essence. This translated to him sucking up and further going down, once again braving the freezing cold. 

There went his easy and quick shortcut, once again proving that there were no shortcuts on the long path to power.

Liam did not care. In fact, he was motivated more than ever. This was his chance to improve himself as much as he could before facing that old monster. He did not want to return home unprepared and undo all of his hard work.

He sucked it up and dove in further deep. Just like he expected, the fruit once again vibrated with the flow of the essence and the rate of the essence absorption increased tangibly. He was definitely on the right track.

Time quickly slipped away as Liam slowly went deeper and deeper until he hit the same spot again. He activated his ice elemental dao seed to the fullest as he tried to resist the freezing cold and absorb the essence.

While this was impossible before, this time there was one minor difference. He had a fully functioning top-tier mana core.

Liam did not hesitate to push his mana core to the limit as he started physically enhancing himself with the mana pushing his defenses to the maximum. 

This combined with his activating the dao seed and filling it with ice elemental essence, he was brimming from top to bottom in frost power. It mingled with his aura and a bone-chilling killing intent seeped out.

In Liam's mind, there was only one man's image and that person was helping him push his body and his mind to the extreme. "Crawford," Liam muttered. "I will not lose again."

Firming his resolution he continued heading deeper. The icy depths of the lake were treacherous, but Liam's determination was unyielding.

As he descended, the essence of ice around him became denser, purer. Each cell of his body absorbed the essence, and the fruit within his heart throbbed with energy, the ice elemental core steadily forming.

Liam's mind was singularly focused. This time he was not going to leave anything to chance. Since it was possible, he needed to get this done.

He could have probably avoided all of this pain and trouble without pushing it so hard but he had no choice. He needed to go as fast as he possibly could.

Hours turned into days as Liam remained submerged. The depths of the lake seemed endless. But with each passing moment, his core grew stronger, and more stable.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Liam sensed a change. The core in his heart's compartment felt complete, resonating with a powerful icy aura. 

He could almost visualize it – a shimmering, crystalline structure, pulsating with the coldest of mana.