Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Spirit of Living Water

Li Shuang quietly explained the rules. This ice lake was a trial point set by the Langya Secret Realm, so it had rules. Each guardian beast had a different weakness. If you found and used that weakness, you could gain entry.

If you only looked around and left, you wouldn’t face too much danger. But who would be happy with a simple stroll? After working so hard to enter, everyone wanted a chance. Li Shuang herself had come for the Lotus Seed.

But to get a Lotus Seed, you had to touch the Ice Lotus. That would trigger a chase from the guardians. If you escaped, you gained a heaven-shaking opportunity. If you didn’t, you died for real.

Opportunity and risk came as a pair. How to weigh them was up to each person.

The Ice Lotus was freezing cold. Except for someone like Li Shuang with a top-grade Ice Spiritual Root, even cultivators with ordinary Ice Spiritual Roots could not get close.

Liu Jun Cheng’s chance wasn’t the lotus. “Second Senior Brother,” Li Shuang whispered: “Once we enter the lake’s boundary, we’ll break the ice. In the water below, there is a Spirit of Living Water. It’s a treasure that can raise the quality of a spiritual root. Our goal is to obtain that Spirit of Living Water.”

In the cultivation world, spiritual roots varied widely. Even among Single Spiritual Roots, there were different grades. Usually, the grades were Common-grade Spiritual Root, Mystic-grade Spiritual Root, and Peerless-grade Spiritual Root. People said that above Peerless-grade, there was an even higher Supreme Spiritual Root, but that only appeared in ancient records from a thousand years ago.

Li Shuang’s Ice Spiritual Root was Peerless-grade, which was why the sect made such a stir when she entered. Liu Jun Cheng’s Water and Wood roots were both low Mystic-grade. If his Water root could be nourished by the Spirit of Living Water, it might rise to high Mystic-grade.

Treasures that acted directly on spiritual roots were the rarest in the Immortal Realm. Their value was beyond measure. Even with the Heaven and Earth Furnace, which could exchange for all kinds of treasures, the price for a Spirit of Living Water was a full one hundred thousand Value Points. Even if she squeezed everything dry, Li Shuang couldn’t produce that many Value Points right now.

“Spirit of Living Water!” Liu Jun Cheng’s heart trembled as he spoke. A treasure like that would tempt seniors from the Spirit Refinement Stage all the way up to the Tribulation Crossing Stage. Within the Langya Secret Realm, this was one of the very top-tier chances.

And Li Shuang was sharing it with him.

“Junior Sister,” Liu Jun Cheng said, moved, “you could sell this yourself. Even selling just the information would fetch a sky-high price.”

“But it helps you, right?” Li Shuang looked at him and said: “And you told me not to be too polite.”

Liu Jun Cheng fell silent, then smiled: “Alright. I was overthinking.”

Li Shuang smiled back: “Then let’s get ready to enter.”

“Wait,” Liu Jun Cheng said, stopping her. “What about you? Why did you come? I can’t be the only one to gain. The Ice Lotus should help your Ice Spiritual Root a lot. I’ll help you get the Ice Lotus if you help me get the Spirit of Living Water. How about that?”

Li Shuang hesitated: “I do want a Lotus Seed. But touching the Ice Lotus will for sure bring the guardians down on me. Ten years ago, I escaped once, so I have some confidence. If you try to help, you might throw me off. After we get the Spirit of Living Water, you should leave first. When I shake the beasts off, we’ll meet again at the boulder.”

Liu Jun Cheng felt a little embarrassed: [So direct?] [Will my help only get in the way?] Still, he said: “Don’t worry, Junior Sister. I won’t drag you down.”

They settled their plan. Li Shuang handed him a bottle of fine wine and kept one for herself.

Carefully, they walked toward the southeastern guardian.

This Demonic Beast had two huge horns like a giant bull. Its features were bull-like, but its nose was oversized, almost filling its whole face. Steam puffed from that nose as it slept.

Li Shuang pulled the cork so the scent could drift over.

At first, the beast only twitched its nose a little. Li Shuang waited patiently and let the fragrance keep spreading. The nose twitched more and more often.

At last, its eyes snapped open. With one small movement, its massive head appeared right in front of them.

The strange face looming so close made Liu Jun Cheng’s back stiffen. Li Shuang, who had been through this once before, stayed calm. She smiled warmly and said: “Senior, I heard you enjoy good wine. I brought a bottle just for you. Do you like it?”

She held out the wine. The beast sniffed hard, then looked pleased. It snatched the bottle and poured it straight into its mouth.

As the wine slid down, pleasure showed on its face.

“Senior, I also brought a good bottle,” Liu Jun Cheng said, offering his.

The Bull-Headed Demon didn’t refuse. It threw back its head and drank the second bottle in one go, then let out a boozy burp and looked very satisfied.

“Senior, we love the scenery here,” Li Shuang said at once: “May we go inside and look around?”

After two bottles, the Bull-Headed Demon was in a fine mood. It swayed its head and said: “You can go in. But you had better truly be only sightseeing. The things in there, especially the Ice Lotus in the center, you’d best not touch. Otherwise…”

It showed a few sharp teeth and added: “If you draw the other Demonic Beasts’ attention, I cannot save you.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll only take a look,” Li Shuang said sincerely.

The Bull-Headed Demon gave her a glance, then slowly shut its eyes. Its snoring shook the air as it fell asleep again.

Without hesitating, Li Shuang led Liu Jun Cheng inside the lake’s boundary.

Only then did she breathe out: [Good. My guess was right. Ten years have passed, and the beasts’ memories have been reset.] Ten years ago, she had taken a Lotus Seed while the guardians chased her. If not for the reset, the Bull-Headed Demon would never have let her in again.

“Second Senior Brother, time is tight. Let’s find the Spirit of Living Water quickly,” Li Shuang said. “The Bull-Headed Demon didn’t say there’s a time limit, but from my last experience, the limit is half a shichen, about one hour. If we don’t find it by then, we retreat. If we want to enter again, we can’t come from this side. Each direction only works once.”

Liu Jun Cheng noted every word.

Sensing the area, Li Shuang found a thinnest patch of ice. She took out two hammers with practiced ease, kept one, and handed the other to Liu Jun Cheng.

The two of them began pounding the ice together.