Chapter 145: A Few Extra Senses

Cold? What does that feeling feel like?

Ever since Liu Pan transmigrated to the Heavenly Peak Continent, he had never experienced the sensation of cold. Most of the time, the ambient temperature felt comfortable, to the point where he had almost forgotten what cold actually felt like.

Now, suddenly feeling the chill filled him with astonishment, and even more so, a sense of incredulity.

Initially, Liu Pan had assumed that his inability to feel cold was due to possessing an extreme ice constitution. Later on, however, he vaguely sensed that the matter was not so simple. It was only until some time ago, when he uncovered the secret of his physical body, that it dawned on him.

A physical body indeed requires low temperatures to be better preserved.

His soul had failed to merge completely with his body; naturally, the temperature most comfortable for his physical shell differed from the temperature deemed comfortable by his subconscious mind.

The physical body of a cultivator is far beyond comparison to that of an ordinary person.

If an ordinary person dies and their body undergoes no special treatment, after a few years or decades, not even a scrap of bone will remain. The physical body of a cultivator is different, especially for those whose cultivation has reached a certain realm.

A cultivator's physical body possesses an extraordinarily high adaptability. Originally, upon discovering that his soul had not fully merged with his flesh, Liu Pan had resigned himself to never feeling the cold again for the rest of his life. Now, it seemed he had been taking things a bit too for granted.

Much like water mixed with salt, although its freezing point is lowered, it is undeniable that as long as the temperature continues to drop, it will still freeze all the same.

Even though his soul was not completely fused with his body, Liu Pan's senses had not vanished; they had merely transitioned from the senses of a normal living person to the senses of a physical husk.

As for the physical body, it was inherently adaptable to the cold, and having practiced cultivation for such a long time, coupled with the refining absorption of the essence of the sun and moon, his body's adaptability could already be described as monstrous.

In fact, as long as it was not a place of extreme climate, given his current bodily adaptability, most of the temperatures he perceived would be comfortable.

With a thought, Liu Pan's spiritual consciousness expanded overwhelmingly. After confirming that there were nothing unusual around him, Liu Pan solidified his conjecture regarding his temperature perception.

Liu Pan was also somewhat startled. If even senses like his could perceive the cold, what would it be like for anyone else here?

Liu Pan could not be certain of the exact thresholds of his physical senses, but clearly, the biting cold of the far Northern Plains had reached an unbelievable degree; otherwise, his body would have been incapable of feeling it.

Lifting a hand to stroke a lock of hair frozen stiff, Liu Pan could not help but sigh at the terrifying might of nature's power.

In fact, on the second day of setting out toward the deeper reaches of the Northern Plains, Liu Pan had made an adjustment.

He had already cast aside his thick fur garments. Now, he went bare-chested, wearing only a single vest.

The reason for this was simply that ordinary clothing in the bitterly cold environment of the far Northern Plains would quickly freeze stiff, making movement extremely inconvenient.

Since Liu Pan's body could inherently withstand the bitter cold, he naturally would not do something thankless and troublesome. Furthermore, this was the far Northern Plains, where the probability of encountering another person was infinitesimally low, so Liu Pan had nothing to guard against. If not for a lingering shred of regard for his own appearance, he would have been too lazy to even wear a vest.

Without a doubt, if anyone were to see him appearing in the extreme cold of the far Northern Plains dressed in this manner, it would undoubtedly drop the jaws of a whole crowd.

Circulating his cultivation technique slightly, that trace of chill vanished instantly. Liu Pan shook his head. Perhaps this trace of cold had begun to pierce the marrow for others, but to him, it felt no different from washing his face with cool water in the past—truly of no consequence whatsoever.

Gathering his thoughts, Liu Pan resumed his stride deeper into the region. Although his perception of temperature currently deviated greatly from the past, it did not hinder him from searching for those things described in the book.

He remembered that in the book, Liu Kuang had traveled north from the Desolate City for seven days before discovering those three Ice Crown Lotuses in a towering glacial canyon. Thus, as long as he found that canyon, there would basically be no major problems.

For others, lingering in the extreme north for ten days or half a month would undoubtedly be a form of torture, but for Liu Pan, it felt like nothing at all. He walked and stopped each day, eating and sleeping as usual. If there was any single annoyance, it was that thawing food was extremely troublesome, and after eating, it brought no sense of warmth whatsoever.

As for finding the Ice Crown Lotus, Liu Kuang in the book had obtained an ancient scroll containing a rough location at an auction. Liu Pan lacked such a scroll; he could only estimate the distance Liu Kuang could cover during seven days of travel inward and then search across a vast area. Although somewhat troublesome, it was the only recourse available. After all, the ancient scroll Liu Kuang obtained had surfaced at an auction in the Central Plains, and Liu Pan currently had no way of acquiring that scroll.

Twelve days later, Liu Pan had no idea how massive an area he had searched, but to his relief, he truly found the canyon described in the book.

Two towering glacial mountains, a canyon whose end could not be seen in the distance. Liu Pan was struck with awe; nature could forge such wondrous and exquisite craftsmanship—it truly felt unbelievable.

Without any hesitation, Liu Pan lifted his foot, preparing to enter the canyon. The next moment, however, his brow furrowed, for right at the entrance of this canyon, he actually sensed the aura of life.

Ever since breaking through to the Martial King realm and actively cultivating by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for a period, Liu Pan had noticed some anomalies.

He possessed a few more senses than a normal person. Among them, the most direct proof and the one that most firmly convinced him of his bodily condition was that even if he closed his eyes and retracted his divine sense and spiritual consciousness, within a certain range, he could still sense the presence of living creatures around him.

And this perception relied upon the breathing of those living creatures.

Using breathing to determine the existence of living creatures in one's surroundings—Liu Pan had no idea how many living things possessed this ability. Yet, as someone from Earth in the twenty-first century who had watched countless ghost movies, he knew very well that ordinary zombies perceived living things precisely through their breathing...

If he were still on Earth, no matter how wild his fantasies while writing fantasy novels, he would have believed in science and known that zombies did not exist. But now, dwelling in a fantasy world, based on all the experiences he had undergone, he was more inclined to believe that nothing was impossible.

This kind of breathing... A grave look filled Liu Pan's eyes. This was not the first time he had sensed the aura of life through breathing; he could distinguish that this was human breathing.

Judging from the subtle sensations carried on the air, Liu Pan was certain that this was undoubtedly a formidable expert—moreover, the most formidable expert he had encountered since discovering his ability to sense life through breathing.

Could it be that person? At this moment, Liu Pan thought of the spiritual imprint he had left on the hair of the refined young woman.

If this was that person, then for them to discover and erase his spiritual imprint would be an absolute breeze with no difficulty whatsoever.

And if it was not, then who could it be?

Furthermore, why would such a formidable figure appear in a place like this?