Meng Hao closed his eyes again as he floated there. Coldness poured into him, burrowing inside, fusing with his Qi and blood, circulating through him. He could sense his fleshly body growing stronger.
There seemed to be something strange in these waters, some Heavenly power that could use gentleness to cause the fleshly body to be remolded. There was no pain, but the coldness from the cold currents gradually caused Meng Hao's body to grow stiff. After fifteen or twenty hours, even his soul was showing signs of growing hard.
It was at that point that Meng Hao, floating there in the middle section of the pond, suddenly opened his eyes. Without hesitation he shot up, bursting out from the surface of the water to appear outside. His body quivered, and white mist floated up off of him. Cracking sounds could be heard from the ground beneath his feet as ice began to stretch out in all directions, with him at the center.
