Sincerely, The Thompson Family has a complete set of reference objects for the internal visualization and cultivation of cold-element true essence—winter’s chill, ordinary ice water, snow, ice cubes, Tianyi primordial water, millennial cold ice, thousand-year cold silkworms, three-thousand-year cold cicadas, juvenile ice chi, juvenile Xuanwu, and so on.

In short, it goes from the intangible to the tangible, from soft to hard, step by step toward the coldest substances. By visualizing these things, one can gradually and progressively gain powerful cold-element true essence.

However, Henry Thompson knew of a liquid with a relatively soft touch, low density, yet extremely cold power—dichlorodifluoromethane, which boils at -30°C under normal pressure, also known as ‘Freon-12’. The key point is, due to his previous work, he had actually seen the real thing.

Henry Thompson didn’t stop there; he continued recklessly down this path, trying out anhydrous ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methane, and all sorts of refrigerants one by one.

The result was surprising: Henry Thompson found that as long as the substance was in liquid or gaseous form, it wouldn’t put much strain on him.

These refrigerants could indeed replace the cold air and ice water he had previously visualized, granting him even stronger cold power while strengthening his true essence, with excellent results.

And today, Henry Thompson was preparing to push the limits again, attempting to visualize liquid nitrogen, which boils at -196°C under normal pressure!

Considering the extremely low temperature of liquid nitrogen and the potential risks, Henry Thompson also put a few Shaoyang Pills in his mouth.

—This is a spiritual pill uniquely refined by the sincere The Thompson Family family, used to dissolve the accumulated yin-cold energy in the body during the cultivation of ice-element true essence.

As soon as Henry Thompson began this visualization, he indeed felt an unbearable cold within, almost freezing himself stiff.

But as he controlled this mass of ‘liquid nitrogen’ to circulate inside his body, it actually went rather smoothly.

Delighted, Henry Thompson didn’t try anything else. Bracing himself against the biting cold from inside out, he obediently followed the energy circulation method of the ‘Hunyuan Celestial Phenomena Art’ and continued to move his internal energy through the body.

Another value of the ‘Hunyuan Celestial Phenomena Art’ lies in its energy circulation route: by following a special sequence through the meridians, it can greatly save time and increase efficiency, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

Henry Thompson circulated this walnut-sized mass of energy three rounds in total, and then felt mentally exhausted—this was a sign of excessive spiritual energy consumption.

However, his abdomen felt swollen and extremely full. The effect of this short cultivation session, less than a quarter of an hour, was actually stronger than what his predecessor had achieved in one or two months of hard training.

There was still some residual cold in his body, making him shiver uncontrollably.

Henry Thompson was overjoyed, thinking this could count as his own golden finger. Although he was a bit disappointed that he didn’t get a system or an old master after transmigrating, the combination of his own talent and modern knowledge was still something to look forward to.

—At this rate, he wouldn’t even need three months; in just a dozen or twenty days, he’d have a good chance of cultivating the ‘Hunyuan Celestial Phenomena Art’ to the third level, and his Cold Breath Fiery Palm would also become especially powerful.

By this point, Henry Thompson was already exhausted, not even wanting dinner. He just took three Shaoyang Pills, felt the cold energy deposited in his limbs and bones gradually dissipate, and then hugged his blanket and fell into a deep sleep, until a clanging noise came from outside the window.

Henry Thompson woke with a start, and when he opened the door, he found his personal attendant John Thompson furiously banging a pair of copper gongs.

“John Thompson!” Henry Thompson’s gaze instantly turned dangerously sharp. “Are you looking for death?”

He wondered why this guy was so reckless—dawn hadn’t even broken yet!

But then Henry Thompson saw, standing behind John Thompson, the sincere Earl Benjamin Thompson, who was watching him with a stern expression: “You have to go to Vermilion Bird Hall at the hour of Mao. If you don’t get up to practice martial arts now, when will you?”

Chapter 11: Three Feet of Ice

The hour of Mao refers to 5 to 7 a.m. In ancient times, government offices would usually check attendance during this period, which was called ‘checking in at Mao hour’.

From this, it’s clear that being a civil servant in ancient times wasn’t easy. Especially in the Six Paths Division where Henry Thompson worked, they usually had to be on duty from dawn until the first watch (7 p.m.), or from the first watch until the Mao hour, with occasional overtime, and only six days off per month. On the surface, this was much tougher than the modern nine-to-five civil servant life, comparable to the ‘996’ schedule.

Because of this, Henry Thompson had to get up at the fourth quarter of the Yin hour (exactly 4 a.m.), and finish practicing the two family martial arts before work.

When Henry Thompson arrived at the backyard training ground, he found that not only was his father there supervising, but his elder brother William Thompson was also present. The latter stood to the side, arms crossed, looking on with a gloating expression.

Benjamin Thompson was probably worried that Henry Thompson had neglected his martial arts for years and had become rusty, so he not only personally demonstrated, but also stared at Henry Thompson with eyes wide as lanterns, not moving a step as he watched him complete five rounds each of the ‘Cold Intent Heavenly Saber’ and ‘Cold Breath Fiery Palm’ routines.

The The Thompson Family’s ‘Cold Intent Heavenly Saber’ has only seventeen moves, and the techniques are relatively simple, taking just a minute to complete.

What takes time is the ‘Cold Breath Fiery Palm’, a Xuanwu supreme art with 365 moves, extremely complex. However, only the first thirty-six forms are actually used in combat; the rest are body-tempering routines, which also help him strengthen his cold-element true essence.