All the way, the System was chattering on with a pile of grand principles. Luo Tangtang summed it up: It’s not my fault, there’s nothing I can do.
Tsk tsk! Luo Tangtang didn’t pay it any mind, not believing a word it said.
For some reason, as Luo Tangtang got closer to her destination, she felt the surroundings were eerily quiet. Not only did she not encounter a single demon beast, but there wasn’t even a bird in the sky.
A touch of doubt lingered in her heart… but there was nothing she could do. Looking at the deep black cave that appeared before her, Luo Tangtang’s footsteps paused slightly.
The cave entrance was large, about as tall as two adults. There wasn’t a sliver of light inside. Luo Tangtang pondered for a moment, then lifted her foot and continued walking in.
Inside, it was very dry, not damp at all. After walking forward just a few steps, the inside suddenly opened up, her line of sight becoming much wider, yet it remained dark, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Luo Tangtang stumbled when her toe accidentally bumped into something. In a panic, her hand frantically reached for the wall, preventing her from falling.
There was nothing else for it. She had to take out a luminous pearl the size of a baby’s fist from her storage ring. Instantly, the dim cave was filled with bright light, spreading outwards layer by layer before fading into the darkness ahead.
Luo Tangtang’s nerves were taut, her grip on the sword in her hand tight. She watched the front warily.
Any slight movement in the darkness would be magnified. It was so quiet, Luo Tangtang could only hear her own pounding heart and breathing.
After walking for who knows how long, light suddenly appeared ahead. There was no path forward; this was a cave within a cave. Beyond the cave entrance was another space entirely, and surging spiritual energy sprayed forth from within. Luo Tangtang felt much of her fatigue dissipate.
She quickly took several large steps forward, poking her head out. The scene before her eyes simply terrified her.
She had reached the edge of the cave, and below was a wide valley. She could see the sky above just by lifting her head. She glanced over but didn’t see any Snow Jade Flower. She only saw a demon beast below with two horns growing on its head and scales covering its entire body.
Luo Tangtang’s heart stopped for a second.
“Tangtang, your luck is really good. You’ve encountered a little Qilin here.” The System suddenly spoke, but Luo Tangtang felt its voice, full of joy, hid a hint of schadenfreude.
Joke! A Qilin was an ancient divine beast. Although a White Tiger wasn’t bad either, in her current state, transformed into her original body, she was like a cat. Running into it meant certain death.
Luo Tangtang swallowed hard with difficulty. That Qilin didn’t look very big, like a little pony.
But… Luo Tangtang’s eyes narrowed slightly. Why did she feel something was off about this Qilin?
The little beast in the center of the valley had somehow awoken and began to emit roars. The sounds were filled with pain and sorrow, and its entire body was constantly rolling on the ground. The intense movements made such a noise that Luo Tangtang trembled.
She frowned, watching as large patches of scales fell off the Qilin’s body, revealing a bloody and mangled abdomen. It was a truly miserable state.
“What happened to it?” Luo Tangtang felt a bit of pity and asked the System.
“Maybe it was due to insufficient spiritual energy at birth, causing a congenital defect,.” the System guessed.
Luo Tangtang found it hard to believe: “The spiritual energy in this cave is very abundant!”
Her gaze swept around. Above the cave, the spiritual energy was so dense it had even condensed into mist. Below, spirit herbs and Vermillion Fruits were countless.
The System silently shook its head and said: “This spiritual energy is probably the Heavenly Dao’s feedback when this little Qilin was born.”
What? Luo Tangtang’s body stiffened, and her face showed a hint of shock.
But then, thinking about it, it made sense. After all, the surroundings were all barren mountains; only this one mountain was an exception. Only because the Qilin was here could it be explained.
It seemed there were no Snow Jade Flower here. Luo Tangtang’s mood instantly dropped a little. It looked like she would have to go elsewhere to search.
She turned, wanting to leave, but the System spoke up at this moment: “This Qilin is full of treasures; are you just going to leave?” “Even taking one of the scales it’s shedding now, making it into a chest plate, would be enough to make people flock to it.”
The System’s voice carried temptation, almost saying: Go catch it, go catch it, you’d best capture the whole thing.
Luo Tangtang’s eyes almost rolled into the sky. She now deeply suspected that the System’s mission was: One Hundred Ways for the Host to Court Death.
“Not going,” Luo Tangtang refused decisively. If she turned back into her original form and fought it, she would definitely die. This little Qilin’s cultivation was similar to her human form, and when high-level demon beasts fought, bloodline advantages and such likely wouldn’t help much.
One was the last White Tiger. Luo Tangtang glanced at the little Qilin still rolling around.
This guy should also be the last Qilin, right!
The pride of ancient divine beasts forbade them from being imprisoned and living ingloriously.
Once she made a move, it was bound to be a fight to the death.
Then after this battle, it was certain that one race would disappear forever. Sheesh! She would never do such a harmful thing.
Just as Luo Tangtang wanted to leave, the originally bright sky suddenly turned dark, and a hurricane suddenly rose. The long hair scattered across her forehead was plastered directly in front of her eyes.
Luo Tangtang laboriously pushed her hair away. Just as she lifted her head slightly, her entire body froze in place. The entire open cave mouth above the valley was blocked by a giant beast eye. Luo Tangtang’s face lost all color, as pale as paper. She felt all her blood flowing backward, chilled to the bone.
Just an eye was this big; Luo Tangtang simply couldn’t imagine how huge this beast was.
In a flash, the beast moved. It quietly moved its eye away. The next moment, a sharp claw descended from the sky, reaching for the Qilin.
Oh no! Luo Tangtang’s pupils contracted sharply. The Qilin, which had been wailing on the ground, also seemed to sense the danger. A protective shield lit up in front of it, but was easily shattered.
Its entire body was grabbed into the air. In an instant, the two horns on the Qilin’s head suddenly emitted two beams of golden lightning, striking directly onto the beast’s sharp claw.
For a moment, the entire valley echoed with the beast’s roars, shaking the heavens. Luo Tangtang’s spiritual sea was impacted, waves of stinging pain assaulted her.
The little Qilin was fiercely thrown onto the ground. Its eyes were sorrowful, filled with tears. From its angle, it just happened to see Luo Tangtang.
As if asking for help, the Qilin’s mournful cries became even more miserable. The beast above was enraged. It seemed to want to directly break through the restraints and rush in to tear the little Qilin to shreds.
But as it was about to break through, faint runes lit up above the cave entrance. It must have been a magic formation set by someone.
Luo Tangtang immediately jumped down from the cave edge. She didn’t know why her strength was so great. She picked up the little Qilin and immediately flew back into the original cave on her sword.
She ran in one breath for who knows how long, until she and the little Qilin’s figures were hidden in the darkness.
The little Qilin was still crying, putting its big head on Luo Tangtang’s neck. Its eyes were big, and tears kept falling as it cried. She felt like the collar of her shoulder could be wrung out.
“There, there, don’t cry,” Luo Tangtang was also a bit tired, but her nerves were still highly tense. However, the little Qilin’s crying made her uncomfortable, so she gently rocked it like coaxing a child.
“It’s over… we’re all going to die now.” It was the voice of a little boy, ringing out in Luo Tangtang’s mind, with sobs, intermittently.
Luo Tangtang found a bit of dark humor and with difficulty managed a smile: “You’re a boy! Then you absolutely shouldn’t cry so easily.”
Just as Luo Tangtang wanted to pinch the little Qilin’s face, the cave suddenly shook violently. Some unstable places even began to crack, and rocks fell.
Her body also swayed along. Just as she was wondering why, a giant screeching sound came from overhead.
“Oh no, it’s that bad bird again, it wants to eat me.” The little Qilin cried even harder.
“System, help!” Luo Tangtang wanted to cry along too.
She had saved this crying little Qilin out of temporary softheartedness. Now who would save her?
“I can hide your presence, but only for a quarter hour. Run!” the System finally spoke.
Luo Tangtang instantly looked up, picked up the little Qilin, and ran with all her might.
The moment she ran out of the cave mouth, she finally saw what the beast looked like. It was a Golden-winged Great Peng, as big as a small mountain peak, its wings spread open, casting a huge shadow. It flew from the clouds, slammed its wing down fiercely, and a large chunk of the mountain peak was instantly sliced off. A trace of terror flashed in Luo Tangtang’s eyes.
“Run!” The little Qilin shook its little short legs, signaling Luo Tangtang to quickly escape with her life.
Luo Tangtang came back to her senses. Her speed was faster, and she turned into an afterimage and disappeared from the spot.
She didn’t know if it was due to her extremely bad luck, but Luo Tangtang looked at the cliff ahead with a face full of despair—the Cliff of Death.
Everyone who had come to the Extreme North Realm had said there was a kind of cliff there where spiritual energy would be suppressed, unable to be used at all.
Luo Tangtang immediately decided to change paths, but an agitated bird cry suddenly came from behind her.
That Golden-winged Great Peng likely sensed the little Qilin had disappeared. It was now searching for its figure.
Tears just plopped down Luo Tangtang’s face. This luck, too bad, right!
The little Qilin’s hope that had originally been kindled was also somewhat shattered. It also cried along.
“Change paths!” The System couldn’t watch anymore and spoke up to remind her, its voice tight with gnashing teeth.
“It’s too late!” Luo Tangtang also gritted her teeth.
She looked at the cliff, then looked at the figure that might appear behind her at any moment. A quarter hour had passed. According to the Golden-winged Great Peng’s speed, it would catch up in no time.
She was definitely not its match.
Never mind, let’s risk it.
Luo Tangtang turned, lowered her head, and said to the little Qilin: “Get ready.”
Then, under the other party’s Are you stupid? expression, she took out a rope and tightly tied herself and the little Qilin together. Under the little Qilin and System’s horrified gazes, she jumped down, leaping off the edge of the cliff.
She gambled—on the ‘cliff-jumping doesn’t kill you’ law from novels!
“Aaahhhhhh——”
An intense feeling of weightlessness assailed her. The sharp wind scraped her face raw with pain.
When Luo Tangtang hazily opened her eyes and saw the scene before her, she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. The trope never fails, how good!