Meng Lin winced as she pulled the icy spikes from her flesh, her body trembling from the pain and the cold. Blood welled up from the wounds, staining the snow beneath her. She took a deep, shaky breath, steadying herself as she began to tend to her injuries.
She closed her eyes, focusing on circulating the Black Tortoise Essence Art, directing her remaining qi towards her wounds.
Blood began to stop flowing as Meng Lin's wounds began to heal, shooting pain throughout her body, slowly the pain subsided, replaced by a soothing warmth that was her qi.
Opening her eyes, Meng Lin looked at the fallen Crystal Lizard and the Crystal Serpent. Despite the victory, there was no joy in her heart. She knew that these beasts were only victims of the greater forces at play.
With the battle now over, Meng Lin's thoughts turned to the red treasure that was supposedly on the body of the Crystal Lizard. She reached into her storage ring and retrieved the Qiankun Treasure Map, studying it once again.
The red spot marked the location where the treasure was hidden, and her assumption was true as she turned her gaze to the dead Crystal Lizard lying beside her.
She wanted to know just what kind of treasure it was but she felt that she would pass out any moment now so she raised her hand, a small black vortex gathering in her palms, in a few seconds both the Crystal Lizard and the Crystal Serpent were stored within her inventory.
"Purple" Meng Lin called out to purple, which appeared within an instant, as if always there, it looked at Meng Lin, its eyes reflecting sadness, it didn't appear happy to see the condition Meng Lin was in and it was even more sad at it's powerlessness.
While within the Beast Garden, although it couldn't completely make out what was happening outside, it could still tell the situation Meng Lin had been put through, instinctively because of their contract.
Purple slithered towards her, its massive body coiling around her, providing a warm and comforting presence. Meng Lin climbed onto Purple's head, sitting cross-legged with closed eyes.
"Let's go, Purple," she whispered, her voice filled with a mix of exhaustion and determination. Purple understood where to go, its vibrant purple eyes gleamed as it began to move toward the cave Meng Lin had passed by before.
With her eyes closed Meng Lin could feel the weariness seeping into her bones, but she didn't pay attention to it as her thoughts became occupied by her companion.
It was not like she had not noticed the sadness within Purple's gaze but she knew that trying to comfort it would do the opposite, she knew her importance to the beast as she was there from the moment it was born to now.
It made her think that perhaps she had not been utilizing Purple correctly, if she could make it even stronger then it would work out since there was no chance that it would betray her.
'However' Meng Lin began thinking of the problem, it could only grow to the peak of the 2nd rank and it has already reached that, so it won't get any stronger than it is now, or so the system says.
But she wondered whether the system was talking about the snake without any alterations of its bloodline, there were a lot of bloodline elixirs within the Jade Crystal section of the system Market, and she wondered if she could alter Purple's bloodline, it's worth a try she thought.
As Purple slithered through the frozen landscape it didn't take long before it arrived at the environment with crystal ice spikes every few meters.
'The cave is close' Meng Lin thought without opening her eyes, she's currently using her spiritual consciousness, and everything within a 60-meter radius was caught within her consciousness.
For Purple it was different, because of their contract it would instinctively know what Meng Lin wanted, even if she didn't voice it out loud.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
As for why Meng Lin chose this cave, it was because it was no longer dangerous, the moment she saw the Crystal Serpent she knew that it had to be the other rank 4 beast within the ice crystal cave that she avoided before.
' It must have gone out to check out what the disturbance within the area was before it saw me and the Crystal Lizard fighting....' As Meng Lin was thinking this Purple was suddenly startled by an aura that shook it to the core, a peak stage rank 2 beast that resembled a cat, no smaller than a foot appeared from behind a crystal spike.
The cat was pure white and Its eyes were a striking shade of emerald green, its gaze bore into Purple with an intensity that was impossible to ignore.
The aura that the cat released was overpowering, even to a beast of the same rank like Purple, it caused ripples of fear to course through its massive body.
The cat held a gaze of playful ruthlessness as it thought 'Another food for the almighty me, this next one should allow me to breakthrough...'
Its attention was drawn to the figure atop its intended prey, a woman in tattered white robes. Her presence was unassuming and so the cat took a step forward.
Meng Lin opened her eyes and the cat stopped moving, its body overtaken by fear, all the hair on its body screamed danger.
This was a creature unlike anything the cat had ever encountered before. It was a predator, just like him, but there was something distinctly different, something far more terrifying about her.
It was a monster.
And in that moment, the cat was consumed by a fear it had never known. This was the fear of a prey, cornered by a predator far more powerful than itself. A fear that was amplified when the small beast locked eyes with her, her gaze piercing into the cat's very soul.
The cat knew that it was a special beast from the moment it was born and growing up it commanded respect and fear from all other creatures it had never felt this kind of fear, the only thing coming close to this feeling was when it was gazing at the two overlords of this Artic Crystal Region, 'just what is she' the cat thought.
"Oh, an ancient beast" Meng Lin surveyed the cat curiously, her eyes narrowing as she took in the aura it was releasing. It was an aura all too familiar to her.
Meng Lin looked at the cat with an empty gaze and a thought surfaced within her mind all of a sudden, as if noticing the change within Meng Lin, the White Cat bent its legs wanting to escape but it was too late.
Puchi!
The cat didn't even have time to jump as its head was suddenly torn through by a beam of light, Meng Lin lowered her finger with the nail missing and opened her palm, storing the beast within her inventory.
She closed her eyes and said. "Purple", her voice barely a whisper, "Continue."
And so Purple did. It began moving again, its body slithering over the icy terrain with ease. The travel wasn't far and they arrived at the cave with Meng Lin dismounting from Purple, her body still sore but her spirit undeterred.
Storing Purple within the beast garden. Meng Lin walked into the cave. The inside was eerily silent, the sound of her bare foot against the icy ground echoed around her.
Meng Lin's spiritual consciousness spread out in the cave, scanning her surroundings. The cave was filled with crystal ice spikes, reflecting moonlight from small holes above and casting a pale glow around her. As she delved deeper into the cave, Meng Lin noticed something unusual.
There, at the far end of the cave, was a giant crystal ice spike, larger and more brilliant than any other in the cave. It pulsed with an energy that Meng Lin could feel, even from this distance.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in her body, she walked towards it, as she got closer, the crystal spike's shine became more intense until it was practically blinding.
Once she reached the crystal spike, Meng Lin reached out and touched it. A surge of energy rushed through her, causing her to gasp. It was an overwhelming feeling like a surge of icy water rushing into her veins.
In the blink of an eye, the crystal spike shattered, sending shards of ice flying in all directions but Meng Lin remained where she was, her hand still extended toward where the crystal spike had been.
In the place of the crystal spike was a small, glowing orb. It pulsed with soft light, casting a glow on Meng Lin's face. She reached out and picked it up, feeling the aura of the Crystal Serpent within it, she wondered what its purpose was.
After sensing no other stuff within the cave Meng Lin allowed herself a small smile, feeling fatigued, she thought for a moment before taking out a small scroll, she walked to the center of the cave and began to set up the soul-confusing array.
Within seconds a small fog began to surround Meng Lin before expanding to cover the whole cave, Meng Lin took a deep breath and finally decided to see what this red treasure was all about.
Taking out the corpse of the Crystal Lizard Meng Lin placed her hand on the carcass and released her spiritual qi through its body to search for the item.
After a few moments, Meng Lin's hand trembled slightly as she sensed a strong surge of dark energy from the lizard's stomach.
With a quick motion, her hand morphed into a claw, and a chaotic aura surrounded it. She easily tore open the creature's stomach, revealing an orb that seemed to absorb all light around it, radiating a powerful dark energy. It was the source of the Lizard's strength, although she suspected this was not the cause of its revivals.
She carefully picked up the orb, feeling the chilling cold of the orb through her gloves. The moment her fingers made contact, she felt a sudden surge of danger. It felt as if the orb was alive, and all her instincts screamed of an imminent catastrophe.
Feeling the ominous aura, she attempted to store it within the system inventory but was greeted by a panel that she hadn't seen in a long time.
Error
The next instant, the orb exploded in a burst of energy, throwing her across the cave. The cave shook violently, as if on the verge of collapse, but it remained stable.
When the dust cleared, a small portal appeared where the orb had exploded. A phantom figure of a demonic woman emerged from the portal, her eyes filled with malicious glee.
The woman glanced at Meng Lin before looking towards the ceiling of the cave. Above the Crystal Cave, a giant thunderstorm was forming, and the presence of something was approaching rapidly.
Meng Lin got up with a look of shock. She couldn't comprehend what was happening as she felt the imminent threat of death encompassing her. She quickly raised her hand intending to retrieve the Spatial Storm Talisman.
However, her actions seemed slow to the woman who raised her hand casually, causing space to bend towards Meng Lin. Who only felt an immense force coming towards her.
Boom!!!
Meng Lin didn't have a chance to struggle or scream. In an instant, her body was crushed, reduced to a bloody pulp on the icy cave floor.
The demonic woman looked towards the ceiling once more and quickly retreated through the portal from which she had emerged. She was not ready to reveal herself just yet.
Outside, the thunderstorm which was growing fiercer, suddenly stopped and abruptly dissipated, returning the tranquil back to the Arctic Crystal Region.