I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Linjiang City, Gu Family Old House, Restaurant]

The evening news was playing on TV, and the kitchen exhaust fan had just stopped running.

On the table were two steaming plates of chive and egg dumplings, a dish of braised beef specially cut by Gu's father, and a plate of smashed cucumber.

"Come on, eat it while it's hot."

Mother Gu walked out of the kitchen carrying the last bowl of dumpling soup, a long-lost smile on her face. Since her son "recovered" and returned home, her energy and spirit had visibly improved, and even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes seemed to have smoothed out considerably.

Gu Qing sat at the table, reaching out to take the bowl of soup.

"Be careful, it's hot," Gu's mother warned, her fingers inadvertently touching the back of Gu Qing's hand.

At that moment, Gu's mother froze.

"hiss--"

She recoiled as if burned—no, frozen—and jerked her hand back. The bowl of soup sloshed, spilling a few drops onto the tablecloth.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Gu Qing reacted quickly, catching the soup bowl and placing it on the table.

Instead of looking at the soup, Gu's mother stared in horror at Gu Qing's hands.

"Aoko...why are your hands so cold?"

It's not just cold.

The sensation I felt just now was like touching a piece of frozen meat straight from the freezer, or a block of ice that had been frozen for millennia. It wasn't the temperature a living person should have; it even carried a chilling, deathly stillness.

"Really?" Gu Qing casually picked up a dumpling, put it in her mouth and chewed. "Maybe the water from the tap was too cold when I washed my hands. The water pipes in this old house don't insulate well."

"wrong."

Gu's mother was a sensitive person, especially after her son's serious illness, she was overly anxious about Gu Qing's health. She immediately went around the table and reached out to touch Gu Qing's forehead.

This time, her face turned completely pale.

Gu Qing's forehead was equally icy cold. It wasn't burning hot like someone with a fever, but rather had a hard, stone-like quality.

"Old Gu! Old Gu, come quick!" Gu's mother's voice trembled with tears. "Quick, get the thermometer! Qingzi... Qingzi isn't warm anymore!"

Gu's father was pouring vinegar when he heard this, and his hand trembled, almost dropping the vinegar bottle. He rushed over and touched Gu Qing's neck with his large hand.

It's also ice.

"What...what happened?" Mr. Gu panicked, his hands trembling. "Did he catch a cold over there? Or has this illness developed some complications? Come on, to the hospital, right now!"

Seeing the two elders' panicked expressions, Gu Qing sighed inwardly.

This is the trouble brought about by the [Innate Dao Body].

Since his mortal bones were removed and his physical body was reshaped last night, his bodily mechanisms have been completely altered.

Human body temperature is maintained at 36-37 degrees Celsius because cells are constantly undergoing oxidation reactions, generating heat to maintain enzyme activity. This is essentially a form of "inefficient combustion," with a large amount of energy being lost as heat.

But cultivators don't need that.

His cells directly absorb and release spiritual energy, with an energy utilization rate of nearly 100% and no waste heat generated.

In addition, he cultivates the "Primordial Qi", and his body's true essence circulates within him. In order to lock in the energy and prevent it from leaking out, his body automatically enters a state of "no leakage".

On a macroscopic physical level, this means that his body surface temperature is approaching the ambient temperature, or even decreasing due to the absorption of heat from the surrounding environment.

"Dad, Mom, don't panic."

Gu Qing put down his chopsticks and had no choice but to switch back to "deception mode".

"Bring me the thermometer, I'll take your temperature."

With trembling hands, Gu's mother rummaged through the medicine box and pulled out an electronic thermometer, pressing it against Gu Qing's forehead.

"Beep".

The screen lights up red and displays: [LO] (Too low/Error).

There wasn't even a reading. This means his body temperature was below 32 degrees Celsius.

Tears streamed down Gu's mother's face, and her legs nearly gave way, causing her to collapse to the ground: "This...this has no body temperature? Is she even human...?"

"Mom! Sit down!"

Gu Qing suddenly raised her voice, her tone carrying a calming power.

He grabbed the bottle of liquor from his father's hand, poured himself a small cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

Subsequently, he secretly circulated the only drop of "innate true essence" in his body, forcibly simulating the fluctuations of "fire attribute", urging his blood to flow faster, and even actively "dispersing his power" to release heat.

hum-

His skin instantly flushed a light red, and a surge of heat rose from his pores.

"Let me touch it again." Gu Qing reached out her hand.

With a mixture of disbelief and skepticism, Gu's mother reached out and cautiously touched the back of Gu Qing's hand.

Warm.

It was even a little hot to the touch.

"This..." The two elders looked at each other, completely dumbfounded.

"I already told you, this is a reaction to practicing qigong." Gu Qing said with a straight face, "The qigong that old doctor taught me is called 'Turtle Breathing Qigong.' When you practice it to a high level, you have to lock in all your yang energy. You usually look like an ice block, but the heat is actually hidden in your bones."

"This is called 'storing essence'."

"I was just circulating my internal energy to digest the heat, so of course it felt cool to the touch."

Gu Qing picked up a piece of braised beef and stuffed it into her mouth, saying indistinctly, "Look, now that I've finished my exercises, I'm hot, aren't I? If I were really sick, could I still eat such a big plate of dumplings?"

To prove he was alright, Gu Qingfeng devoured thirty dumplings in one go, even drinking the soup clean.

Seeing their son's hearty appetite and rosy complexion, Mr. and Mrs. Gu finally felt relieved.

"That scared me to death..." Gu's mother patted her chest, laughing through her tears. "This qigong is too terrifying. Don't practice it while eating in the future."

"Okay, okay."

Gu Qing smiled and replied, but her other hand under the table was clenched into a fist.

A faint white chill seeped out from between his fingers, freezing his trouser leg solid.

……

[Late at night, in Gu Qing's bedroom]

One o'clock in the morning.

Gu Qing locked the door and drew the thick curtains.

He reached out and gently pressed his hand on the glass of water on the writing desk.

clack clack...

No magic was used; it was solely through physical contact.

The half-cup of cold boiled water in the glass froze into ice cubes within two seconds, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Immediately afterwards, the glass could not withstand the sudden temperature difference and shattered with a "crack".

"This is troublesome."

Gu Qing frowned as she looked at the ice shards in her hand.

"System, please explain."

[System Prompt:]

[Host's current status: Innate Dao Body (Ice Skin and Jade Bones - Beginner Level)]

To maintain the purity of the primordial Qi, the host's body is automatically rejecting "thermal entropy." If left unchecked, the host's body surface temperature will remain constant at around 0 degrees Celsius.

While this is a characteristic of higher life forms (energy conservation), it can easily cause panic in mortal societies.

"Of course I know it will cause panic."

Gu Qing flicked the ice shards off her hands and looked at her palm. Even with the forced circulation of her qi and blood just now, the heat could only be maintained for ten minutes.

"I feel like a walking liquid nitrogen tank right now."

"It's alright in the summer, you can think of it as a human air conditioner; but winter is coming soon, and if someone gets frostbite from just a touch, then there's no way to explain it."

"We must find a way to balance the yin and yang in our bodies."

Gu Qing paced back and forth in the room.

"I am currently in a state of excess 'yin' energy (actually a cold state of high-dimensional energy), and I lack a continuous 'yang fire' to neutralize it. In other words, I need to carry a high-energy 'heat pack' with me."

His gaze, peering through the gap in the curtains, once again fell upon the dark, murky Linjiang River in the distance.

He had used his "spiritual vision" along the riverbank during the day, but there was nothing there.

But it is precisely because there is nothing there that it is the best canvas.

"The Dragon-Locking Well..."

A glint of light flashed in Gu Qing's eyes.

"Legend has it that dragons are extremely yang in nature."

"Since there are no real dragons at the bottom of the river, I will create a 'dragon ball'."

"Using the [Heavenly Crafting Workshop], I can materialize that abandoned legend. This will not only allow me to harvest a wave of faith power, but also to forge an extremely yang magic weapon to suppress the cold energy within my body."

Kill two birds with one stone.

Gu Qing glanced at the time.

It's 1:30 a.m.

The parents' breathing had become steady; they were already fast asleep.

He opened his wardrobe, took out a black tracksuit, changed into it, and then put on a baseball cap and a mask.

"Perfect timing, it's too stuffy at home, I'll go out and 'find some warmth'."

Gu Qing gently pushed open the window.

This is the fifth floor.

Instead of taking the stairs, he floated lightly out the window like a falling leaf.

With a light touch of his toes on the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, he vanished into the night like a ghost.

……

[Linjiang City, Suburban Scrap Metal Collection Station]

In the still of the night, only a few barks could be heard.

Gu Qing appeared beside the mountain of scrap metal. He wasn't there to steal anything, of course; he had left five hundred yuan on the table.

He started rummaging through the scrap metal pile.

"Too light...no."

"This has too high a carbon content... No way."

Finally, he pulled out a huge anchor chain, as thick as a wrist and about twenty meters long. It was taken from a scrapped cargo ship, weighed several hundred kilograms, and was covered in rust, exuding a sense of age and hardship.

"This is good."

Gu Qing lifted the several hundred-pound iron chain with one hand as if it were a straw rope.

He went to the chemical store's warehouse again (leaving money there as well), and moved a barrel of high-purity industrial alcohol and some sulfur and phosphorus powder.

Finally, after searching for a long time on the riverbank, he picked up a granite pebble about the size of his head with a smooth and rounded surface.

"The raw materials are all ready."

Gu Qing carried this large pile of things to the backwater bay called "Lock Dragon Well".

The riverbank was deserted at this moment, with only the sound of the waves continuing...