Chapter 14
Everything around them was covered in white after the glowing light slowly faded. Inside a sphere, two shadows could be seen in each other's embrace, while everything in a wide area was like a winter scene in a hot summer season. The broken carcasses of flying Rock Ants and some demon beasts that did not escape the blast radius were all over the place, coloring the area with white and red.
"Are you okay?" Shin Jiao asked as he checked Cherry Lao's condition.
Her blushing face looked radiant as she lay in his embrace. Although their position was a little embarrassing, Shin Jiao didn't notice it. She had expended a large amount of her energy while they were escaping, and she was feeling the brunt of it now. Although she was tired, Cherry Lao was happy to be in the arms of the man she liked. But there was something that was bothering her as she slowly recalled their escape—the devastating effect of the artifact that Shin Jiao had just randomly tossed around. She had seen those spells before, as the first elder of her sect had actually shown them in one of their training classes.
According to the first elder, only those with high water and wind elemental affinity could use this spell. It was called the Ice Dragon spell. When this spell was cast, it would eat up a large amount of spiritual energy, so only those in the Nascent Realm could effectively use it. If someone below this realm were to cast this spell, it would almost always cost the caster's life.
"I think it's safe to break the sphere now; the sub-zero fusion effect is gone," Shin Jiao said as he tried to look outside using his goggles.
"Shin, what did you just do?" Cherry Lao asked with a befuddled expression.
"Oh, umn… What do you mean?... Oh... the freezing bomb?" Shin Jiao answered as he tried to find a way to explain things to Cherry Lao.
The confusion in her eyes showed that she couldn't understand what he was trying to say. She then knitted her brows as more confusion could be seen in her expression. So Shin Jiao helplessly had no choice but to explain it as simply as possible.
"The small trinkets I was making as we traveled were a combination of a beast core, an ice crystal, a metal casing, and some runes. I just made a trap, intending to slow down the advance of the beasts so that we could escape. I didn't know that it would be this powerful."
"Oh, I see, so it was just some traps... What a powerful trap. Well, I want some. Give me," Cherry Lao said, although she was still unable to determine what kind of trap it was. But she coquettishly extended her hand to Shin Jiao and asked for some freezing bombs, not intending to ask more questions.
"I could give you some, but not now. Those things are still far too dangerous. I still need to tweak them so that they can be used more safely and easily for the user."
"Okay, but you promise to give me some," Cherry Lao acquiesced to his explanation but still demanded he give her some of it.
"ROAR!"
But before they could relax, a booming and angry roar reverberated in the area.
"What was that?" Cherry Lao said as she suddenly jumped up, as the force of the roar broke the ice shell that enveloped both of them.
From afar, they could feel the oppressive aura of a very powerful beast. Then, all of a sudden, a giant creature about three meters in height stumbled from behind the frozen trees in front. Most of its body was covered in green and red blood, as some of its legs and carapace were already torn and broken. It seemed that it crawled and dragged its gigantic body toward this area in one dash. But because of the thickness of its carapace, the freezing bomb didn't damage its inner body. Just like the flying Rock Ants, their outer carapace was the only part frozen, but when they fell and broke their shells, death was the only outcome.
The horrifying beast in front of them made Cherry Lao shiver in fright as its oppressive aura emanated doom. She had an unbelieving expression on her face as realization dawned on her. The beast in front of them was a Level 6 beast, on par with a Nascent Realm cultivator or maybe even stronger, as beasts were innately more powerful than humans.
Because of the spiritual pressure it emitted, Cherry Lao found herself struggling to maintain her consciousness. But alas, no matter how much she tried, as she was only in the Gold Core realm, she was not able to hold on and fainted.
"Cherry! Wake up!" Shin Jiao shouted in panic upon seeing her slumping to the ground.
He held her in his arms as he tried to check her pulse to confirm her condition. Luckily, she didn't suffer any major internal injuries; it was just that she had expended her spiritual energy just to counter the spiritual pressure from the beast.
"YOU TINY HUMAN… HOW COME YOU'RE NOT AFFECTED BY MY PRESSURE?" the gigantic Rock Ant old queen asked in a loud, booming voice.
"What? It can talk?" Shin Jiao was in a daze upon hearing the loud voice.
"NO MATTER, I WILL KILL ALL THE HUMANS THAT DARE TO DESTROY MY HIVE. YOU WILL DIE!" the gigantic beast shouted in an angry, loud voice.
"Oh, crap. This is not good!"
The gigantic beast lifted one of its front legs, which was still intact, and quickly struck the place where Shin Jiao was crouching while holding Cherry Lao. But before its leg could come down, a silver flash suddenly appeared, and then a loud breaking sound could be heard.
Shin Jiao was now holding a BARRETT in one of his arms. The gigantic beast was stunned for a moment as it didn't expect the small human in front of it to have the power to destroy its leg. But before it could realize it, another silver flash appeared, and a large hole appeared on its head appeared, destroying its already weakened carapace.
"NO!!!" the gigantic Rock Ant old queen shouted, not resigned to its fate as it gathered its last will to strike the puny human that killed it.
"Holy shit! This is truly not good!" Shin Jiao shouted as he immediately threw the weapon he was holding and held Cherry Lao with both hands.
He then dashed sideways, trying to evade the gigantic ant's leg, which could crush them both into a paste. But then he realized something: he could not move. It was like space was locked, and he could not even move an inch. Shin Jiao didn't have any choice but to grit his teeth and receive the blow.
If he was facing a Level 6 beast in a normal setting, he should have died a long time ago. But luckily for Shin Jiao, the Rock Ant old queen was heavily wounded by the traps he had set up. But upon looking at the looming doom as it drew closer to them, Shin Jiao felt despair.
Then, all of a sudden, he suddenly felt the space lock was released, then he noticed that the gigantic creature's head tilted sideways, which signified its death. But the leg was still following its falling momentum as it neared Shin Jiao's location. When Shin Jiao was able to move, he quickly dashed to the side with all his might. Although he had successfully evaded the hard carapace of the leg, a short strand of the leg's hair was still able to reach him. It acted as a whip that struck Shin Jiao's back, leaving a deep gash.
"Arrrggghh…" Shin Jiao shouted as he gritted his teeth in pain.
Although his body was very sturdy—even normal blades would not be able to hurt him—the pure spiritual nascent energy enveloping the strand of hair was enough to break his skin.
He and Cherry Lao were thrown to an ice wall, which was smashed after being hit. Although he was hurt, he still made sure that she did not receive any damages.
Then Shin Jiao lay on the icy ground, still holding the unconscious Cherry Lao in his embrace, as his consciousness slowly dissipated and he was out cold. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he could feel someone taking care of the wound on his back and carrying him to a place.
After some time, his consciousness came back, and he found himself in a cave. Looking around, he noticed that the cave was man-made, judging from the rough edges and the hint of spiritual Qi on it.
"Ugh… Where am I?" Shin Jiao exclaimed as he lifted his weakened body up.
"Shin! You're awake!" Cherry Lao's voice suddenly entered his ears from the side.
Shin Jiao saw her sitting in a lotus position as she cultivated while waiting for him to wake up.
"I tried to heal you, but I guess the pills I have don't work that fast. And I'm sorry that…" Cherry Lao wanted to say something but became hesitant.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Shin Jiao asked in confusion.
Then a sudden bad premonition entered his mind. He quickly scanned his dantian, and there he saw the spheres were gone and had become a chaotic mess of energy. His dantian was damaged, and some traces of unknown energy had entered his body.
"What's this? What's going on inside me?" he asked himself in confusion.
Seeing his confused look, Cherry Lao sighed in regret. She had checked Shin Jiao's dantian and discovered that it was damaged. So whatever it was that made him strong and able to do those things he did before was now gone.
"Shin, because of me, you became like this. I can't help but feel responsible. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you, as you took care of me. Okay?" Cherry Lao said with teary eyes.
"You don't have to feel this way. I made my choice in saving you… both of us. So, you don't have to feel responsible. We need to get out of this place, as we have killed the old queen, maybe the new queen will hunt us down," Shin Jiao said, trying to appease her feelings.
"No, it's okay now. Since we finished the old queen, the entire colony will retreat back to its colony to protect the new queen, this is according to the records," she explained.
"Ugh… I guess my body will not heal as fast as it should be."
"Roar! Roar!"
From afar, sounds of beast roars and loud fighting could be heard. As rumbling and breaking of ice echoed through the forest, it was evident that the beasts had noticed that the Rock Ants had retreated, and they were fighting over the remains of the frozen beasts.
"We have to go far from this place, or else we'll face more danger," Shin Jiao said as he attempted to stand up.
Cherry Lao also felt the same, so she moved toward his side and helped him to stand up. Then they walked out of the cave.
The sun was already almost out, and darkness started to blanket the endless forest. Two shadows could be seen dashing from tree to tree, while the other was helping her companion. Although she had already applied some healing panacea on his wound, it still did not heal quickly as the energy that invaded Shin Jiao's body was trying to reject any other spiritual essence that entered it.
Although it was like this and Shin Jiao's body was weak as a mortal now, he didn't feel too much pain from his wound. And his body's vitality was not ebbing away, but instead, it just hung in there, maintaining his life. It's as if the law of the world was telling him that since he was a mortal, then he should act like one. The feeling of being suppressed by the laws of the world was not a good thing for Shin Jiao. He felt insulted and outcast. "Why do the heavens interfere with his cultivation style? Why does the earth bring him down?" These questions were always in his mind as they traveled. As no matter what he tried to do, he could not put his mind on his situation. He felt that the cause of this was the unknown matter that entered his body.
"Shin, my spiritual energy is getting low, and my spiritual stones are almost depleted. We have to rest," Cherry Lao said as she felt a little fatigued from continuously running.
She had used a lot of her spiritual energy so far as they tried to evade the territory of higher-level beasts. As Shin Jiao was the one carrying the beast cores, and he could not use his ring due to him being unable to control the energy inside his body, he could not give her any beast cores to use to replenish her spiritual energy. Without a choice, Shin Jiao let her use the goggles so that she could see the beasts in the area clearly.
As they landed on the ground, the sun was already shining on the horizon, breaking through the darkness of the night.
Although they landed, they never stopped traveling. Shin Jiao persevered just to escape the danger of the forest. Since he was unable to use any of his strength or even make higher runes, only lower-level runes were not a problem for him to make, but they were not effective against the beasts in the area. He tried teaching Cherry Lao, but she herself was not too proficient with runes, so it was also hard for her. And she didn't have time to learn more as every corner of the forest was a danger zone, where beasts of every kind were slowly returning to their territories.
As they were walking, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of them. It was already nearing noonday, and the sun was already high in the sky. When the shadow appeared, they immediately noticed that it was a man wearing black clothes.
"Fellow Daoist, greetings!" the man said as he bowed and cupped his hands.
"How might we help you, fellow Daoist?" Cherry Lao asked, returning the greetings.
When he saw her face, he was stunned as he was not able to reply immediately. As Cherry Lao's beauty was always evident no matter what her condition was, men and women would always be attracted to her. Right now, although her robe was a bit disheveled from their constant travel, her hair, which she had just tied up in a simple ponytail, stayed in place, making her look more heroic and grandiose.
"Ah… I'm Xiao Liang, the scout leader from the town of Dis. May I ask, where were you coming from?"
"We came from the middle part of the forest and just barely escaped the wave of Rock Ants," Cherry Lao suddenly blurted out after hearing that the man was a scout from the nearest town.
"By the way, is the town of Dis near this area?" she asked.
"Yes. How might I call you… Senior?" the man suddenly asked but became a little respectful when he suddenly noticed the aura of Cherry Lao.
"I'm Cherry Lao and this is Shin Jiao. Thank you for your direction, we won't bother you anymore and will be on our way," she said as both she and Shin Jiao walked toward the direction that the man pointed.
"Senior, I might be presumptuous but I see that one of you is injured. Would you like to follow our group?" he offered.
Seeing the man's sincere eyes, both Shin Jiao and Cherry Lao accepted his offer and began their travel toward the town of Dis.