After crossing the Wulong River, you enter the territory of the Maoluo Country. This area is far from the border port, with no roads or railways passing through, and the snow-covered forests stretch on endlessly, almost devoid of human presence.

There are surveillance facilities along the border, and border patrols are also present on ordinary days, but it is impossible to cover all areas at all times, especially in this kind of weather, crossing the Wulong River is not difficult.

But on both sides of the river are deep forests, making it impossible to use transportation, attempting to traverse it on foot is virtually suicidal.

Even with He Kao's cultivation, after crossing the river on a snowy night, he couldn't withstand the cold, so he paused in a sheltered area before returning to the hotel at Crane Ridge for a rest, and at midnight he went back to the Wutong Crown Cave Mansion in Pugang Town to cultivate.

The next day, after daybreak, the snowstorm north of the Wulong River had stopped, and He Kao set off again. He didn't have a clear destination, just heading north and appreciating the scenery along the way.

It seems due to the deep mountains and dense forests of Maoluo Country on this side, He Kao trekked across mountains and ridges for an entire day without seeing a single person!

After witnessing many landscapes, He Kao planned to travel north for another day before returning, even though he had taken another two weeks off after the festival, but at his pace of walking, he certainly wouldn't make it to the northernmost point of this continent.

The temperature was very low, and He Kao used the Stealth Skill to traverse the snow forest, wearing the Hidden Moth Gauze under his goggles and a hooded sable fur coat, practically unnoticed by the creatures of the mountain wilderness.

Sable is not an animal from this region, distributed in North America and the northern part of the Roba Alliance, and nowadays sable products mostly come from artificial breeding.

This sable fur coat of He Kao's was produced in the Roba Alliance, and he specifically bought one for this excursion, only wore it after crossing the Wulong River, where it proved quite suitable in the snowy mountains.

After crossing a mountain ridge, below was a narrow valley with a winding frozen river at the bottom. He Kao planned to temporarily stop here this time and make time to continue exploring in the future.

Therefore, he did not proceed northward, but instead took a walk around the valley where nothing existed aside from the ice layer beneath his feet, inspecting the ice layer as he walked, primarily to exercise his Divine Sense.

The frozen ice layer on this river was at least over a meter thick, which his Divine Sense couldn't penetrate for now. However, near the shore where the water was very shallow, the ice had frozen to the bottom, and with the Earth Spirit Banner in hand, his Divine Sense could sense the rocks and mud below.

Walking more than two miles along the riverbank, he discovered something unusual at the riverbed, though the feeling wasn't very clear.

After using a short blade to cut open a bowl-sized ice hole, he could feel it more clearly, realizing that thing couldn't be extracted, so he straightforwardly hacked open a large pit, feeling it was more laborious than digging wild ginseng a few days ago.

Half-buried among the rocks and mud was a river clam over a foot long. In such waters, a river clam growing to this size should be quite old, and it was already frozen to death at the moment.

This river is a tributary of Wulong River, where river clams are also distributed. River clams can endure very low water temperatures in winter, but the water temperature beneath the ice layer still remains above zero.

But if a river clam gets trapped in the cold ice layer, it will freeze to death. With his Divine Sense, He Kao discovered that inside the river clam was a pearl, not only very round but also particularly unusual.

He returned to the Gu Mountain Secret Mansion, boiled the hard-frozen river clam in a large pot, and retrieved the pearl inside. It was slightly over a centimeter in diameter, almost a perfect sphere, and looked incredibly beautiful!

Pearls were considered treasures in ancient times, but nowadays they are no longer rare, with advanced artificial cultivation techniques leading to high production, and pearl products being sold on tourist spots' stalls at affordable prices.

However, a natural pearl of this size and perfect shape is still quite valuable. He Kao took it out not because of its worth, but because he felt it might be one of the legendary Treasures of Heaven and Earth.

It's like this analogy again: if Divine Sense is considered as electric current, then refined Magical Treasure is equivalent to a superconductor, various Treasures of Heaven and Earth are equivalent to good conductors, and the short blade in He Kao's hand is nearly a superconductor.

And this pearl is actually a superconductor too, and if measured by this criterion alone, there is hardly any difference from a Magical Artifact; could it be that it's an almost natural Magical Treasure?

It's not as if He Kao hadn't seen pearls before; during his trip to Sawa Country, he saw quite a few in the shop, but this pearl gave him a completely different feeling.

Its texture was extremely smooth, and its color wasn't the standard pearl white, but almost snow white, glistening with a sheen in the sunlight, seemingly carrying a hint of translucence.

What kind of pearl is this? He Kao has mastered the Poison Detection Skill and also the Medicine Identification Skill, but unfortunately, he hasn't yet become proficient in the Artifact Identification Skill.

Local specialties are best asked of local people, so he took the pearl back to the hotel at Crane Ridge and shot a video in his guest room, sending it to his recent acquaintance, Second Uncle Xiao Guangnian.

Xiao Guangnian quickly returned the video call, judging by the background he appeared to be at his residence in Harbin, which was quite elegantly decorated. He Kao then showed him the pearl on-site, asking Second Uncle to identify it for him.

Xiao Guangnian inquired in detail about what feeling he got from probing with Divine Sense and where he obtained it.

He Kao didn't mention that he had crossed the border into Maoluo Country, only saying that over the past few days he found a frozen river nearby and wanted to try ice fishing like the locals, accidentally discovering a river clam with a pearl in the shallow water area.

Xiao Guangnian sighed directly: "You truly are lucky. This is a piece of Xue Guanghan."

He Kao: "What's Xue Guanghan?"

Xiao Guangnian: "It's a rare treasure of heaven and earth. With a bit of refining, it becomes a magical treasure. You need to keep it intact, don't fiddle with it, and definitely don't go poking holes in it!"

He Kao: "Is it very rare? I don't really understand, but since you get it, I'll give it to you later, as a token of respect from the younger generation!"

Xiao Guangnian waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, don't give it to this old man! Even if you want to become my son-in-law, it's too early for a betrothal, my daughter is still young!

Moreover, arranged marriages aren't trendy. Even when the time comes, it needs both your consent and her willingness…"

Why does this old man speak so unseriously? All He Kao wants is to give him a pearl, yet he rambles on with so much nonsense?

He Kao asked: "Is this thing very valuable? No matter how valuable, you still gifted me wild ginseng, sneaking it into my bag while I wasn't paying attention."

Xiao Guangnian: "It's different, completely different, it's not about money. In the eyes of common people, it might just be a top-grade Dongzhu, only a master like me can recognize it's Xue Guanghan, whose value cannot be measured in money…"

What's so special about Xue Guanghan?

Using various treasures of heaven and earth to refine magical artifacts always carries a risk of damage or failure. But Xue Guanghan itself is almost a complete natural magical artifact, requiring minimal refining, and almost certainly won't fail.

Once refined into a magical treasure, aside from its various other uses, which depend on the pearl's properties and the refiner's skills, it naturally possesses one extraordinary use, enough to amaze people—

Wearing it with you can make your skin supple, and it has the wonderful property of preserving youthful looks!

It can be considered as a passive magical treasure, suitable for ordinary people to wear. He Kao also understands the concept of passive magical treasures, like the beast claw pendant he has worn since childhood.

Ordinary people wearing such passive magical treasures need to keep them close long-term, and gradually they might see some effects.

However, if this item falls into the hands of a sorcerer, as long as they possess Tier Three or higher cultivation, activating it with divine sense can nourish body and spirit, with very noticeable effects. If they have Tier Four or higher cultivation, nourishing it with the artifact control technique makes the benefits even better.

Just from this, it's clear how precious it is!

But Xiao Guangnian himself doesn't need this thing. As for his wife and daughter, they are ordinary people. Even if He Kao dares to give it, Xiao Guangnian wouldn't dare let them wear it casually.

The reason Xiao Guangnian firmly refuses to accept it, He Kao suspects there might be another reason. Having lived in the Xiaohe Town area for many years, he possibly already possesses the Xue Guanghan, a specialty treasure of heaven and earth in the Wulong River basin.

Anyway, knowing what this is, He Kao felt very happy, his heart was genuinely elated. It seems as long as there is enough exploration, there will always be gains!

Of course, he also needs the corresponding knowledge and ability.

Later on, he can find a master to refine it into a magical treasure, or wait until his cultivation is higher and try refining it himself.

Since Xiao Guangnian mentioned that this item is naturally close to a completed artifact, the refining complexity isn't too high, and He Kao has received artifact refining inheritance from Elder Jiang.

Carefully storing this piece of Xue Guanghan, He Kao returned to the river valley, staying another day. He didn't visit other places, he just walked along the frozen river, inspecting as he went.

It's not that he is greedy. It's just youthful curiosity, much like a child who found a pretty stone on the beach and can't help but look for more.

Yet over the course of this day, he found plenty of river mussels in various sizes, and several pearls of differing quality, but no second piece of Xue Guanghan.

This is perfectly normal, as Xue Guanghan is a rare treasure of heaven and earth, it's not easily found, right? He Kao came here with a mindset of curiosity and exploration while training his divine sense, so there was no disappointment.

The next day afternoon, while walking in the winding river valley, He Kao suddenly smelled a scent of food in the wind and noticed wisps of smoke drifting ahead.

How could someone be camping in the deep mountains and valleys of this icy snowland?

**

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