Category: The Saintess Has A Showdown

Chapter 51: Resonance

“That woman just tried to use a mental attack to ambush you!!”

“…”

A few seconds after hearing her companion’s words, the scarred woman in the gray robe froze, her smug smirk disappearing as her face turned livid.

Meanwhile, Gong Lianyue looked aggrieved and innocent, completely clueless as to what was happening, the picture of wronged innocence.

“Are you sure the spirit energy fluctuation came from her—?” The scarred woman turned to her companion, her tone uncertain.

Before she could finish, a whooshing sound came from behind, a fierce gust of wind whipping her hair around.

A jade-colored scorpion pincer swung towards her, as if trying to cleave her in two.

The scarred woman’s eyes widened in shock.

“A Terror Carrion Wolf!!”

Clang—!!!

A deafening clang of metal on metal, a violent hurricane erupting, swirling mist and dust filling the air.

A few seconds later, as the dust settled, two massive, prehistoric beasts were revealed.

One was covered in a hard, shimmering ice shell, its two massive jade pincers even larger than its head—a high-rank Iron Jade Ice Scorpion.

The other, shrouded in a dense, bloody aura, was a skeletal wolf with ferocious fangs growing all over its white bone frame—a Terror Carrion Wolf.

The wolf was both larger and higher-ranked, but it was locked in a stalemate with the scorpion, cracks appearing on its bone claws from the impact of the jade pincers.

Beneath the two giant spirit beasts, Gong Lianyue and the scarred woman looked like insignificant insects.

Compared to high-rank spirit beasts, a Spirit Master’s power was negligible.

“You despicable woman!!”

The scarred woman glared at the girl, gritting her teeth. She had almost been killed by a Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master!

And that giant scorpion… it was clearly the one who had killed the other Storm Realm Spirit Masters.

Gong Lianyue stared at the massive skeletal wolf with a frustrated expression. Relying on its Dead Sea Stage physical strength, it was almost on par with the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion’s power, even without using any techniques.

And the scorpion’s passive technique, [Jade Shatter], was always active. This meant she probably couldn’t defeat it.

[Deep Sea]

Whoosh~~~

An invisible wave of energy rippled outwards, but before it could reach the skeletal wolf, it dissipated with a soft hum.

The mist around the other gray-robed woman dispersed, forming a transparent, cube-shaped barrier around the two Spirit Masters.

“A high-rank Terror Carrion Wolf and a mid-rank Wind Binding, huh…?”

Gong Lianyue felt utterly defeated. This was hopeless.

As expected of Gray Citadel Spirit Masters. With this combination, she couldn’t even scratch them.

The Wind Binding was a mysterious-type spirit beast with no offensive capabilities, but it could defend against any type of attack from any direction. Of course, it was only mid-rank. The Iron Jade Ice Scorpion could probably break through its defenses with a full-powered attack, but the Terror Carrion Wolf was watching intently.

“Battle Technique, Blood Demon!!!”

“Awooo—” Hearing the scarred woman’s furious command, the Carrion Wolf let out a putrid roar.

The blood mist surrounding it condensed, forming a layer of illusory crimson armor, its appearance even more terrifying.

Ignoring the wolf’s increasing power, the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion swung its pincer.

[Jade Shatter]

The white, cube-shaped barrier appeared before the wolf, instantly shattered by the massive jade pincer, which continued towards the blood-armored wolf.

Thud!!

A heavy clang, like the striking of an anvil.

The giant pincer slammed into the wolf’s head, but the wolf didn’t even flinch.

At the same time, barely a millimeter above the wolf’s head, ripples of wind appeared in the air, a second, transparent cube slowly materializing.

Heh~~

Seeing this, Gong Lianyue chuckled, exasperated.

She was standing at the edge of the lake, her eyes darting around as she took a few steps back.

“Die together and taint your family tree.”

Splash!

With a final parting shot, Gong Lianyue stumbled backwards into the water.

Recalling the little fox, switching to the Water Element.

Like flowing water, the girl’s hair shifted from silver back to its soft, water-blue hue. Her Wind Demon Palace uniform also reverted to the Sea Concubine Palace style.

A wave of water lifted her body, carrying her deeper into the lake.

With its master gone, the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion calmly followed into the water.

The skeletal wolf remained on the shore, not pursuing, clearly aware of the disadvantage of fighting in water.

“Coward! Why don’t you stay down there and drown!!” The scarred woman stomped her foot in frustration, her blood boiling.

“Big Sister, you forget that Sea Region Spirit Masters can hold their breath underwater for seven or eight hours. This woman can probably last even longer,” the other gray-robed woman said helplessly.

This lake was connected to numerous underground springs. The girl could easily escape their search.

They had lost their chance.

“I’ll kill her next time!!!” the scarred woman snarled, glaring at the lake’s surface.

Although furious, she knew she couldn’t fight in the water.

---

Deep beneath the surface, Gong Lianyue waited patiently.

After ten minutes, with no sign of pursuit, she relaxed slightly and recalled the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion to her spirit space.

Her personal best for holding her breath was 458 hours, achieved two years ago. She should be able to last even longer now.

She couldn’t deal with those two Spirit Masters at the moment. She would have to wait for an opportunity to catch them alone.

As Gong Lianyue was about to swim to a more distant part of the lake, her heart suddenly pounded, her vision blurring.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

Her heart raced uncontrollably, the soul cores within her restless, as if sensing danger.

At the same time, the deep blue spirit crystal of the Water Element, floating in the depths, began to glow, pulsing faintly.

What was wrong with the Water Element?

In that instant, Gong Lianyue’s teardrop eyes narrowed.

She saw—

Her vision pierced through hundreds of miles, to a snow-capped mountain not far from the Wind Valley.

A breathtakingly beautiful woman, wearing a shroud-like robe, her long, snow-white hair trailing on the ground for more than ten meters.

She glanced towards the Wind Valley, her eyes meeting Gong Lianyue’s across the vast distance.

As cold as ice, as indifferent as frost, a presence that seemed to freeze even time and space.

The Frost Snow Woman…

Chapter 50: Gray Citadel

–Wind Valley

Trees snapped in half, boulders shattered, the air thick with the stench of blood.

Four or five mangled corpses lay scattered on the ground, blood splattered everywhere, a gruesome scene.

Massive, beast-like fist prints were deeply imprinted on the ground, the surrounding area pulverized.

A woman in a gray robe frowned, squatting down to examine the scene.

“This is strange. They were killed without even summoning their spirit beasts. But judging by these marks, it wasn’t a speed-type spirit beast…”

“Big Sister, could it have been a peak Dead Sea Stage Spirit Master!?”

Behind the gray-robed woman stood another woman in a gray cloak.

Both their clothes bore the mark of a silver shuriken, like a small, spinning pinwheel, the symbol of the Gray Citadel.

The Storm Realm—Gray Citadel.

Unlike the low-ranking Wind Demon Palace, the Gray Citadel was one of the top factions in the Storm Realm, its reputation formidable. In recent years, a true Saint-rank monster had even emerged from their ranks.

So far, the Twelve Palaces of Ice hadn’t found a way to deal with that monster.

Including the Wrathful Saintess, if that monster entered the Wind Valley, all members of the Ice Shield Palace would retreat without hesitation.

“Peak Dead Sea Stage… no, I’m familiar with their auras. This one is different.”

Hearing the other Gray Citadel member’s speculation, the gray-robed woman shook her head gravely.

A deep scar ran down her face, from her forehead to her chin, as if she had almost been cleaved in two.

Although her appearance was frightening, the powerful aura she radiated was unmistakable. She was at the peak of the Dead Sea Stage.

“Could someone have contracted a new high-rank spirit beast?”

“Or perhaps it’s not from the Ice Shield Palace, but a member of another Sea Region faction training alone…?”

“Regardless, that person is dangerous. The Sea Concubine Palace Spirit Masters will be arriving soon. We can’t afford any more casualties.”

“Kill her!!!”

As the scarred woman’s vicious words echoed, a gray mist rose from their feet.

Like phantom ninjas, the two Gray Citadel women vanished instantly, leaving a swirling cloud of dust.

---

Meanwhile, not far from there, by a clear lake…

A beautiful, silver-haired girl in a Wind Demon Palace uniform stood by the shore, casually counting the tokens she had collected.

It had only been four or five hours since she entered the Wind Valley, and she had already collected thirteen Storm Realm tokens.

Watching the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion crush the Storm Realm girls into pulp, Gong Lianyue felt nothing, her heart as still as water.

“Have I killed too many? The Saintess selection is just a side objective…”

The girl sighed. She should probably keep a low profile. It would be dangerous to attract too much attention.

The little fox’s transformation abilities were limited. It could alter her clothing, hair color, and makeup, but it couldn’t change her physique or facial features.

Like creating a character in an online game, most people, no matter how hard they tried, could only create an ugly monstrosity.

The same was true for the little fox’s transformations. It could transform, but only into grotesque abominations that barely looked human. There was no way to maintain a disguise.

Not to mention that Gong Lianyue could see her own transformed appearance. She had vomited until she passed out last time.

Whoosh~~~

As Gong Lianyue pondered, a wave of illusory mist approached from behind.

The pale mist rapidly enveloped the entire lake area, engulfing the girl.

She paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked back, sensing a deep, despairing aura within the mist, like the deep sea.

“Have I been discovered?!”

“No, I shouldn’t have…”

For a moment, Gong Lianyue thought she had been caught, but she quickly realized the mist wasn’t targeting her specifically, but the entire lake area.

They must be searching based on aura. In that case, it would be easy!

She quickly hid all the tokens inside her clothes, and the little fox transformed into a silver Wind Shadow Fox with two antennae on its head.

A Dead Sea Stage Spirit Master! This was her first encounter!

Besides the Eight-Headed Mist Crow, Gong Lianyue hadn’t faced a Dead Sea Stage Spirit Master before. She couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Strange, the aura disappears here.”

As the mist dissipated, two figures in gray uniforms appeared, their voices filled with confusion.

Looking at the pinwheel patterns on their clothes, Gong Lianyue’s pupils constricted.

Gray Citadel!

She recognized their mark. They weren’t on the same level as the Wind Demon Palace or the other small fries she had killed along the way.

The woman with the ugly scar on her face was Dead Sea Stage, while the other, cloaked figure seemed to be at the Dawn and Dusk Stage, like herself…

“Hey, Wind Demon Palace, did you see any Spirit Masters from the Sea Region pass by?”

Hearing the scarred woman’s condescending question, Gong Lianyue narrowed her eyes, annoyed.

She wanted to talk back, but considering that an ordinary Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master wouldn’t dare to confront a Dead Sea Stage one, she held back.

“She went that way~~~” Gong Lianyue casually pointed in a random direction, her tone dismissive.

To her surprise, they actually believed her.

“…”

“Heh, she must have sensed my aura and fled. I didn’t even have time to deal with the others.”

The scarred woman sneered, walking past the (silver-haired) girl with an air of arrogance.

A Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master with a Wind Shadow Fox, from the Wind Demon Palace… not even worth her time.

However, as she passed by Gong Lianyue, the girl’s expression turned strange.

“Big Sister, watch out!!”

“What?”

Hearing the anxious cry from behind, the scarred woman turned around in confusion.

The cloaked woman was enveloped in a white mist, inexplicably entering a battle stance.

“That woman just tried to ambush you with an illusion-type spirit beast!!”

“…”

The scarred woman froze, dumbfounded, while Gong Lianyue looked innocent.

What was going on? Why wasn’t the Cloud Dream Flower’s Deep Sea illusion working?

Chapter 49: The Wind Valley

–The border between the Sea Region and the Storm Realm, the Wind Valley.

Mountain ranges stretched for hundreds of miles, fierce hurricanes raged, and the air swirled with chaotic spirit energy.

The reason the Sea Region and the Storm Realm couldn’t engage in large-scale war was due to the different types of spirit energy in their respective territories. Spirit Masters couldn’t replenish their spirit energy in enemy territory.

Only the Wind Valley, containing a mixture of wind and water spirit energy, served as the default battleground for both sides.

Beyond the Dead Sea, entry was forbidden.

Otherwise, if the terrain was damaged, neither side would benefit.

At this moment, a massive, deep blue whale rested within a crevice in a cliff, hidden from view.

This was a teleportation point established long ago by the Ice Shield Palace, unused due to its remote location.

A dozen women in Sea Concubine Palace uniforms gathered around the Sea Halberd Behemoth, quietly awaiting further instructions.

“This Saintess trial will be based on the number of tokens collected, determining the final four Saintess Candidates.”

“From now on, one member will depart every half hour. Until the last person leaves, no one is allowed to release their spirit energy, including the instructors.”

“If you encounter danger, you can seek help from members of the Ice Shield Palace or other Sea Region factions. This teleportation node will be removed soon. Do not return here.”

A Dead Sea Stage instructor spoke sternly, scanning the group with a serious expression.

There had been senior instructors escorting them, but they had remained in the secret realm, not following them out.

If anyone at the Dead Sea Stage or above entered the Wind Valley, they would be detected by defensive spirit techniques, exposing the surprise attack.

“…”

“That’s strange. What’s the point of these rules? Forbidding the release of spirit energy… is it to prevent spies from communicating?”

“I think there is a spy. Otherwise, how did the Storm Realm find us so quickly on Fallen Whale Island?”

“But is it really necessary to spend so much to activate the teleportation secret realm? Won’t they find out eventually anyway?”

“Yeah, even if we catch them off guard at first, it won’t cause them much damage, right?”

As the Sea Concubine Palace members chattered amongst themselves, the instructor called out, “First participant: Gong Lianyue!”

“…”
“…”

Everyone’s breath hitched as they stared at the blue-haired, teardrop-eyed girl.

Well, it wasn’t about whether it made sense anymore.

A Saint-rank entering the battlefield, while the enemy remained completely unaware… The casualties could be devastating.

And deliberately arranging her to be the first… this was clearly meant as revenge for the Storm Realm’s previous attack.

The blue-haired girl, her expression emotionless, radiated a chilling aura, seemingly indifferent to the upcoming trial.

Even if she crushed her enemies’ skulls into pulp, her cold face wouldn’t even flinch.

It was said that during the Fallen Whale Island incident, the Saintess had brutally slaughtered more than ten Wind Demon Palace Spirit Masters, the leader of the Eight-Headed Mist Crow meeting a gruesome end.

Killing was as easy as breathing for her…

They wondered what she would do this time…

Under their nervous gazes, Gong Lianyue stepped out of the crevice in the cliff.

“Whew~~~”

The fierce wind made it difficult for Gong Lianyue to breathe. This was the first time she had encountered such dense wind spirit energy. It felt… strangely violating.

However, the Wind Valley was quite fair. The wind and water spirit energy were almost balanced.

Gong Lianyue summoned the Nine-Colored Cloud Dream Flower and tucked it into her collar.

This way, although there would be a slight bulge, no one would suspect it was a spirit beast.

Poof!

A puff of pink mist, like a fart, escaped from her clothes.

Swept by the mist, Gong Lianyue’s blue hair and teardrop eyes transformed, replaced by silver hair and dull gray eyes.

Even her elegant, sea-blue Sea Concubine Palace uniform turned a lifeless black.

“Another clichéd token-collecting competition…”

The girl muttered softly, her figure gradually swallowed by the endless wind, vanishing without a trace.

---

Ten minutes after the Sea Concubine Palace’s arrival, on a hillside three kilometers away…

Their vision obscured by the swirling wind and sand, two women in black uniforms looked towards the blurry figure at the foot of the hill.

“Be careful, someone’s coming.”

The terrain of the Wind Valley was incredibly open, with almost no cover, but the wind and sand limited visibility to about ten meters.

It was difficult to distinguish friend from foe until they got closer.

After observing cautiously for a while, the two female Spirit Masters from the Storm Realm relaxed as the silver-haired girl came into view.

This little sister was quite pretty, with such a nice figure. Which faction did she belong to?

[Deep Sea]

Instantly, a wave of deep blue rippled outwards from the silver-haired girl, engulfing the two women.

Their expressions contorted in pain, their hands clutching their throats, their eyes bloodshot, as their bodies sank into the depths of the sea.

Without the Eight-Headed Mist Crow’s Fear suppression, the Cloud Dream Flower’s illusionary power was unleashed.

As the two women lost their ability to resist, a massive, ice-blue figure appeared, its jade pincers sweeping towards them with a ferocious aura.

Bang! Bang!

Two sickening splats. Like being hit by a speeding train, the two women were reduced to mangled piles of flesh and blood.

The Dual Soul Body, the combined high-rank power of the Iron Jade Ice Scorpion and the Nine-Colored Cloud Dream Flower—unstoppable.

The silver-haired girl calmly collected their tokens.

Shui Qinghou had warned her before she left that there was a spy among the Saintess selection participants.

Not a suspicion, but a certainty.

The Sea Concubine Palace’s aggressive stance was all a facade.

No one actually cared about the outcome of the Saintess selection. It was all for the Frost Snow Woman on the outskirts of the Wind Valley.

Therefore, the more ruthless she was, the less likely the enemy would notice their true objective.

Chapter 48: A Feint Attack

The Saintess preliminaries ended, and, as expected, the three Saintess Candidates all made it into the top sixteen.

The other selected members were mostly the predicted elite seeds. Those with high-rank spirit beasts, like Lei Ji, had stable rankings.

She had fully revealed her high-rank spirit beast during the preliminaries: the weapon-type, Dance of Thunder.

The Dance of Thunder resembled a folding fan, capable of unleashing devastating lightning with a flick of the wrist.

Meanwhile, Gong Lianyue completed her study of the Lost Scroll, making, as was typical, no progress whatsoever.

The Sea Concubine Palace higher-ups considered this to be perfectly normal. The Lost Scroll didn’t care about talent or spirit beasts. Who knew, maybe it was actually a pervert attracted to certain body types~~

After resting for a few days, she asked Shui Qinghou for 1000 contribution points for spending money and bought ten more Life Fruits.

---

The final round of the Saintess ceremony officially began.

Inside a Sea Halberd Behemoth, the blue-haired, teardrop-eyed girl sat with her legs folded, sensing the silver Steel Moon within her soul core.

After finishing her study of the Lost Scroll, she had immediately researched it, only to find that the Ice Shield Palace’s progress on this page seemed to be even less than her own…

They had spent centuries just to extract the five characters [Heavenly Full Cold Moon of]. Of course, they could be deliberately withholding information.

After all, once the next character [Steel] was revealed, everyone could deduce the rest of the title based on the Cold Court’s progress, revealing the type of page it was.

The Cold Court, possessing a page from the same scroll, had already deciphered more than ten characters, revealing the title of their page:

[Flower Moon Chapter of the Heavenly Full Cold Moon]

Shui Qinghou had warned her that the people of the Cold Court were schemers and wouldn’t reveal their true progress.

Although a dozen characters seemed like a lot, unlike the Ice Shield Palace, which was busy defending the Sea Region’s borders, they were researching day and night. Their actual progress might be fifty or sixty characters.

They used the carefully chosen word “deciphering,” claiming to be deciphering the scroll for the entire Sea Region.

If Gong Lianyue hadn’t extracted eight characters herself, she might have actually believed them.

The characters on the scroll itself were meaningless. Only the Spirit Master who extracted them experienced any changes, like the Steel Moon currently residing within her soul core.

Otherwise, why wouldn’t they just make thousands of copies for everyone to study…?

However, the Cold Court had provided one crucial piece of information: based on the characters they had deciphered, the Lost Scroll, Heavenly Full Cold Moon, contained a total of ten chapters. The Ice Shield Palace’s Steel Moon Chapter and the Cold Court’s Flower Moon Chapter were just two of them. The remaining eight were still lost.

“Whew~~~~”

Gong Lianyue exhaled a stream of cold air, a strange glint in her teardrop eyes.

After several days of study, she had discovered the Steel Moon’s function: it could temper her soul and will.

The heavy aura of steel made it incredibly difficult to channel her spirit energy, like wearing invisible shackles. But it was like weight training for her soul core, constantly honing it, making it stronger, more resilient, and longer-lasting.

In just a few days, her soul core’s resilience had greatly improved. She might even be able to extract two characters at once next time she entered the scroll’s world.

With the double resilience of her Dual Soul Body, her speed of deciphering the scroll was practically cheating, surpassing the Cold Court’s centuries of progress in just a few days.

The Steel Moon Chapter, tempering the will, making one’s spirit energy as heavy as steel.

She wondered what the Flower Moon Chapter could do…

[All Sea Concubine Palace members, prepare yourselves. We are about to enter the Wind Valley.]

The sudden telepathic message from her teacher startled Gong Lianyue. What?

They had only been traveling for ten minutes. They hadn’t even left the Sea Concubine Palace’s territory, right? How could they have bypassed the Ice Shield Palace and reached the Wind Valley already?

It took three days for a Sea Halberd Behemoth to travel from the Sea Concubine Palace to the Ice Shield Palace!

Suddenly realizing something, Gong Lianyue’s surprise turned to a strange feeling.

---

Meanwhile, the giant whale swimming swiftly across the ocean suddenly stopped.

A hundred meters ahead, a massive, deep blue eyeball emerged from the sea, the swirling water patterns on its surface resembling the entrance to the Sea Abyss Secret Realm.

The Sea Region’s unique technology—an extra-large secret realm teleportation node.

By entering a secret realm through one entrance and exiting through another, they could instantly travel to a different location.

The Sea Concubine Palace hadn’t mentioned using this method. They must have been trying to prevent leaks.

The Storm Realm would never have guessed that the Sea Concubine Palace would use secret realm teleportation to bypass a three-day journey. This method was usually reserved for emergency reinforcements and consumed a massive amount of spirit crystals. It was incredibly extravagant…

The Storm Realm must still be preparing for a battle in three or four days. This surprise attack would surely catch them off guard.

If there was a spy, they must be panicking right now.

Having relayed false information, they might have inadvertently caused heavy casualties in the Storm Realm.

Whoosh!

With a flash of blinding light from the deep blue vortex, the massive Sea Halberd Behemoth was sucked in and vanished from the ocean’s surface.

The vortex gradually dissipated, the churning waves calming down.

When the behemoth reappeared, it was at the very front lines of the Ice Shield Palace—the Wind Valley!

“Ah, this…”

“This is… a feint attack!!”

This time, not only the enemy but even the Sea Concubine Palace members had been deceived.

After the attack on Fallen Whale Island, the Sea Concubine Palace had become incredibly cautious!!!

Chapter 47: The Steel Moon Chapter

The black space and the silver crescent moon.

The patterns of these characters were incredibly familiar, the common language of the Spirit Master world, as if she could read them aloud at any moment, yet Gong Lianyue couldn’t recall them.

Whenever she tried to recognize the characters, a splitting headache almost knocked her unconscious.

Within this void, her prior understanding of these characters was completely blocked. Even if she recognized them, she couldn’t read them.

This frustrating and bewildering sensation tormented Gong Lianyue. She widened her teardrop eyes, her frustration growing.

Enduring the headache and the feeling of her mind tearing apart, she stared intently at the outlines of the characters, imprinting them deeply in her memory, attempting to memorize their structure stroke by stroke.

However—

The next second, time stopped.

Boom!

A deafening roar, and Gong Lianyue felt as if her head had been struck by a hammer. The silver crescent moon in her vision vanished.

Blood trickled from her orifices, staining her eyes, ears, and nose crimson.

She knelt on the floor of the ice chamber, coughing violently, her expression filled with an unprecedented shock.

She remembered!!!

She had broken through the Lost Scroll’s cognitive barrier, forcefully memorizing the symbols on the crescent moon.

Perhaps due to her Dual Soul Body, her mind and soul were more resilient than other Spirit Masters, allowing her to successfully capture the characters. Otherwise, she would have fainted midway.

With great difficulty, Gong Lianyue traced the symbols, writing them on her clothes with spirit energy. She recognized one character—

[Heaven]

Such a heavy price, just for a single character from the page.

Even so, she couldn’t contain her excitement. With enough time, she could completely master the contents of this page!

At the same time, Gong Lianyue understood the phenomenon Shui Qinghou had described, why so many Spirit Masters claimed to have seen the contents of the page.

They entered the black space, saw the silver crescent moon, and felt a sense of familiarity with the characters.

But upon returning to reality, they realized they hadn’t actually memorized anything, unable to bring it back from the dream.

Just like how actions in dreams often defied logic, unnoticed by the dreamer until they awoke.

Feeling a sense of familiarity with the unknown in a dream was perfectly normal.

After recovering slightly, Gong Lianyue pulled out a Life Fruit and swallowed it without hesitation.

The Life Fruit had been intended for the little fox, but she couldn’t worry about the contribution points now. Every character counted.

With her spirit energy and vitality replenished, Gong Lianyue once again channeled her spirit energy into the scroll, her consciousness pulled back into the void.

–Two hours later…

“Pwah!”

The moment she opened her eyes, Gong Lianyue spat out a mouthful of blood, accidentally splattering the scroll.

Before she could react, the bloodstains vanished, absorbed by the flowing water along the scroll’s edges.

That was close…

Lying on the floor with a flushed face, Gong Lianyue consumed another Life Fruit.

This time, she brought back one character: [Full].

Now, the two characters together formed [Heaven Full…].

The first line on the silver moon contained eight characters. She had memorized two, leaving six. She had six Life Fruits remaining.

She was determined to extract the entire first line within these three days.

Gong Lianyue repeatedly entered the dream and returned to reality.

Enter the scroll, memorize characters, wake up and vomit blood, eat a Life Fruit.

Repeating this process several times, her mind became increasingly exhausted, the time spent within the scroll lengthening.

As the three-day limit approached, she endured the agonizing pain and entered the scroll one last time.

After a long dream journey of seven or eight hours, the blue-haired girl slowly opened her eyes. Her face was pale and weak, but she couldn’t hide her excitement.

This time, she didn’t vomit blood, but felt a sense of relief and clarity.

After eight attempts, Gong Lianyue finally obtained the first line of text from the silver crescent moon.

Enduring the tearing pain in her mind, she carefully wrote down the symbols, forming eight shimmering silver characters:

[Steel Moon Chapter of the Heavenly Full Cold Moon]

Clearly, “Heavenly Full Cold Moon” was the complete name of the Lost Scroll, and “Steel Moon Chapter” was the title of this particular page.

The silver crescent moon she had seen in the scroll was the Steel Moon!

She had heard that the page held by the Cold Court was obtained from the same secret realm as the Ice Shield Palace’s. It must also be a page from the Heavenly Full Cold Moon…

Gong Lianyue carefully checked the characters written on her skirt, ensuring she wouldn’t lose or forget them.

Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation.

What? There was something in her soul core?

A clear silver crescent moon was now deeply imprinted within her soul core.

Whenever she channeled her spirit energy to examine it, the steel-like patterns of the silver moon caused a splitting headache, her mind reeling.

An unyielding, steel-like fighting spirit.

And it felt incredibly heavy, like an invisible shackle, suppressing her deep blue spirit energy.

“This… should be a good thing, right…?”

Gong Lianyue muttered uncertainly, carefully sensing the Steel Moon within her soul core.

Did this confirm that she had indeed established a connection with the Lost Scroll? It wasn’t just a delusion or a sign of her going mad.

The three-day limit was almost up, and she had only managed to read the title. She didn’t know when she would have another opportunity to examine the scroll…

This silver moon within her soul core was now her bargaining chip. With this as proof, the Sea Concubine Palace would surely grant her another chance!

“…”
“…”

As the three-day limit expired and the ice chamber doors opened, Shui Qinghou’s eyes widened.

The girl who emerged had disheveled hair and looked exhausted, dark circles clearly visible under her eyes.

But somehow, gazing into the girl’s indifferent, teardrop eyes, Shui Qinghou felt a profound, overwhelming pressure, completely unlike the aura of a Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master.

“So, did you gain anything!?”

“Nothing at all, Teacher,” Gong Lianyue tilted her head and replied softly.

Chapter 46: The World Within the Scroll

The next morning, the page of the Lost Scroll arrived as promised.

Escorted by four Palace Master-level experts from the Ice Shield Palace, it was delivered to the Sea Concubine Palace from thousands of miles away.

Even though it was just a single page, the fact that four Palace Masters personally escorted it spoke volumes about its value…

In the collaborative plan between the Ice Shield Palace and the Sea Concubine Palace, Gong Lianyue, the Sorrowful Saintess, as the key figure in the mission alongside Luo Kuxin, was granted the first opportunity to examine the page.

“A divinely gifted maiden like the Sorrowful Saintess, with such extraordinary grace… even in our Ice Shield Palace, she would undoubtedly be elevated to such a revered position.”

“Collaborating with the Variant Water Emperor is naturally beneficial, but I fear this woman might become a stumbling block for Luo Kuxin’s rise to the top of the Sea Region.”

Before leaving, a woman with ink-wash-colored hair sighed.

She was the one who had uttered “I see” when Gong Lianyue entered the main hall during the recent meeting.

“Hehe~~~”

Hearing the woman’s praise, Shui Qinghou’s expression was unreadable, a strange mix of pride and annoyance.

Was the Ice Shield Palace truly certain that the Frost Snow Woman would choose Luo Kuxin?

The pseudo-Holy Water Body with the Horn of the Depths talent of the Variant Water Emperor was no joke. Its allure to other Saint-ranks was no less than the Misty Heart Lotus, perhaps even greater.

How things would unfold remained to be seen. They would have to wait for the upcoming trip to the snowy mountain.

Hee hee, she hoped they wouldn’t lose both the page of the Lost Scroll and a Saint-rank spirit beast in the process…

Learning from her previous mistake, Shui Qinghou was very careful when sending the message, afraid of provoking the Saintess’s “fragrant breath.”

“Yue’er, the scroll has arrived. Come quickly~~~”

Awakened by the soft, mosquito-like whisper, Gong Lianyue felt her teacher sounded incredibly weak.

Such a soft voice… was she trying to do ASMR?

“Could you speak a little louder?”

“Wah, okay~~ I’m sorry!!”

“No, I wasn’t criticizing you…”

Still half-asleep, Gong Lianyue quickly got out of bed and rushed over.

She couldn’t wait to witness the miraculous technique that was on par with a Saint-rank spirit beast.

Outside the ice chamber where the Lost Scroll was kept, a blue-haired beauty in a water-colored robe had been waiting for a long time.

“Yue’er, you have three days to study the Lost Scroll alone. No one will disturb you.”

“But I must warn you, don’t force yourself to comprehend it. Cultivating the Lost Scroll is an elusive endeavor. Even you will find it difficult to make progress.”

Gong Lianyue nodded silently, listening attentively.

“In the hundreds of years the Ice Shield Palace has possessed this page, fewer than five Spirit Masters have grasped its secrets. Some have even been driven mad trying…”

“They insisted they saw the true contents of the page, but their spirit energy remained unchanged.”

“If it were just a few cases, it could be dismissed as lies for attention. However… there was once a member of the Ice Shield Palace who mocked those who claimed to have learned it, accusing them of stubborn denial. Strangely, after she emerged from the ice chamber, she immediately insisted she had mastered it. The result, as you can imagine, was the same…”

“Is it really that mysterious…?”

Gong Lianyue blinked in surprise.

Shui Qinghou nodded. “In fact, ninety-nine percent of Spirit Masters feel nothing when examining the Lost Scroll, no reaction whatsoever. Perhaps those who went mad were actually close to succeeding.”

“Alright, I haven’t personally witnessed the power contained within the Lost Scroll. Cherish your time and study it carefully!”

Led to the door by Shui Qinghou, Gong Lianyue entered the ice chamber with a slightly nervous feeling.

The door closed behind her with a bang.

“A page of the Lost Scroll…”

“I’ll just take a quick look, right?”

As she looked up, a shimmering, azure water curtain enveloped her vision.

Strange, ice-blue snowflakes fell from the sky, instantly transforming the entire chamber into a flowing ink painting, the watery ripples shimmering, a canvas of frost and snow!

In reality, it was just a blank scroll, no images, no text, no symbols, the edges rippling like water.

“This is the Lost Scroll…”

Gong Lianyue touched the edge of the scroll, slightly awestruck.

A dense, almost tangible water spirit energy washed over her, radiating a pressure comparable to a powerful spirit beast.

A single page possessed such power. She wondered what a complete Lost Scroll would be like.

Gong Lianyue couldn’t see any images. She had expected this. Ninety percent of Spirit Masters experienced the same thing. No matter how long they waited, nothing would happen.

She gently stroked the scroll, releasing a faint wave of spirit energy.

As her teacher had said, there was no common trait among those who claimed to have mastered the Lost Scroll. Talent, constitution, bloodline, cultivation level, spirit beast—none of it mattered.

Saint-rank Spirit Masters failed, while low-rank nobodies succeeded.

Success with the Lost Scroll seemed to be purely a matter of luck.

Whoosh!!!

Ice-blue spirit energy surged from Gong Lianyue, like a tornado, or a spinning, two-toned globe, spreading outwards.

After waiting silently for more than ten seconds, the page remained unresponsive.

“Did I fail…?

Gong Lianyue’s heart sank, and she withdrew her spirit energy, disappointed.

It seemed she had no affinity with the Lost Scroll. The compatibility was too low to resonate with it.

However, the girl didn’t notice…

Two teardrops spilled from her eyes, landing on the scroll with a soft plink before silently sinking into its depths.

The next second, a wave of seawater rippled outwards, engulfing the entire room.

Everything in Gong Lianyue’s vision began to dissolve: the air, the walls, even her clothes and body evaporated in an instant.

When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by nothingness, a deep, dark void.

“Eh!？？？”

“What’s going on?”

“Where is this…?

The girl instinctively reached out, but she couldn’t even see the outline of her body.

In the darkness, a silver crescent moon hung in the void, its surface covered in tiny characters, a strangely familiar sight.

Gong Lianyue looked around, bewildered. How had looking at a scroll transported her to another dimension? Was she going mad?

Chapter 45: Penniless

After the attack, the preliminaries for the Sea Concubine Palace’s Saintess selection were disrupted. After several weeks of rest, they were rescheduled to a much more secluded location.

Within the Sea Region Alliance, along the coastline, beneath the Immortal Pot River, thousands of meters deep in the sea, lay a top-secret area encased in endless glacial remains.

“Immortal Pot River… Isn’t that near the Jade Pot Palace?”

Gong Lianyue was speechless. This seemed overly cautious.

The Jade Pot Palace’s location was surrounded by all the Sea Region Alliance factions, but it wasn’t part of the Alliance itself.

They were a faction that had defected from the Storm Realm hundreds of years ago, bringing valuable intelligence and seeking refuge in the Sea Region. Before leaving, they had severely undermined the Storm Realm, becoming their most hated enemy.

Surrounded by the ten factions of the Sea Region Alliance, they were both protected and monitored. This ensured that even Nether Traverse Stage Spirit Masters wouldn’t survive an attack.

Over the past few days, she had often heard battle reports from the selection.

The competition used a point system based on capturing tokens in a week-long survival battle. The top 16 members at the end would advance to the final Saintess trial.

The participants were all elites who had trained in the Sea Concubine Palace since childhood.

Although several Saintess Candidates possessed high-rank spirit beasts, they weren’t guaranteed a spot in the top sixteen.

For example, Hong Tao and Qing Yu’s spirit beasts weren’t water-attribute and couldn’t absorb the dense water spirit energy in the air. Their slow recovery speed would be a major disadvantage in a survival battle.

Bai He, on the other hand, had already reached the Dead Sea Stage, putting her on a completely different level from the other participants. It wouldn’t be surprising if she instantly eliminated the other Saintess Candidates.

“It should be ending in the next two days, right?”

–In the Sea Concubine Palace’s Contribution Hall, Gong Lianyue sighed worriedly.

The thought of potentially facing a real Saint-rank spirit beast in the final trial made her anxious and restless.

A Frost Snow Woman… just the name suggested a cold-tempered spirit beast, not to mention the legendary Snow Sovereign behind it. If they angered it, the entire Sea Concubine Palace could be wiped out with a single breath.

And they were sending her, a mere Dawn and Dusk Stage Spirit Master, into such a dangerous situation…

This was why Gong Lianyue had come here today, to the Sea Concubine Palace’s Contribution Hall, the marketplace where ordinary members exchanged resources.

Standing in the center of the water-colored hall, the blue-haired girl surveyed the dazzling array of goods on the counters.

Spirit techniques, spirit artifacts, various elixirs and spirit fruits—all showcased the Sea Concubine Palace’s vast resources, befitting the third-ranked power in the Sea Region Alliance.

Spirit techniques…

Browsing the ridiculously expensive, yet mediocre, spirit techniques, Gong Lianyue felt speechless.

The spirit beasts in this world were incredibly powerful, some even capable of destroying the world, yet the spirit techniques seemed underdeveloped, like infantile skills.

This stark contrast was like reaching max level in an RPG but still using basic skills like Water Ball or Double Slash—completely mismatched.

[Water Form: Allows the user to hear the flow of liquid within a hundred meters. 800 contribution points.]
[Water Armor: Allows the user to condense spirit energy into water armor as hard as steel. 1000 contribution points.]
[Tidal Wave: Allows the user to transmit their spirit energy several kilometers away. 2200 contribution points.]
[Ice Curse: Lowers the user’s body temperature, increasing affinity with ice-type spirit beasts. 4000 contribution points.]
[Long Flow: Increases the range of elemental spirit beasts’ battle techniques by three percent. 5000 contribution points.]

Water Armor was the technique Shui Qinghou had given her. She had thought it was impressive back then, but looking back now…

It was probably only useful in battles between low-rank Illumination Stage opponents, like against that Snowtooth Rabbit that had knocked itself out.

Against the mid-rank Dawn and Dusk Stage Black Mud Whale, it hadn’t lasted even a second.

Spirit techniques were useless; spirit beasts determined everything. This was the prevailing belief in the Spirit Master world, and Gong Lianyue agreed.

The only exception was the Lost Scroll…

It was said that the Lost Scroll contained miracles that could truly unleash a Spirit Master’s power, but mastering it was incredibly difficult. Only one in tens of thousands could learn it.

As compensation for assisting the Ice Shield Palace, the escorted fragment of the Lost Scroll would be delivered to Gong Lianyue first, allowing her three days to study it.

It should arrive today or tomorrow!

“…”

Actually, Gong Lianyue wasn’t interested at all. What could she possibly learn in three days? Thirty years might be more realistic.

It was like placing a million dollars in front of someone—not theirs, but they could smell it for three days.

She would rather have the contribution points…

Skipping the spirit technique and artifact sections, Gong Lianyue walked over to the counter selling medicinal herbs and spirit fruits.

She had considered buying special spirit artifacts to enhance her spirit beasts’ combat power, but the prices were ten times more outrageous than spirit techniques. A few hundred contribution points could only buy the most basic items with limited effects.

Elixirs and spirit fruits seemed the most helpful right now, like the Life Fruit she had used on Fallen Whale Island to temporarily maintain the little fox’s Saint-rank aura.

She regretted only buying two back then. The enemies she faced now were even stronger, requiring a larger supply.

“Then I’ll take eight Life Fruits first, and for the rest…”

Gong Lianyue hesitated, scanning the numerous elixir counters, her gaze finally landing on an exquisite, blood-red bead.

This bead, radiating a dense essence of spirit energy, immediately caught her attention, her teardrop eyes narrowing.

Compared to the usual elixirs and spirit fruits used by Spirit Masters, this looked more like… a pill?!

“Chirp, chirp!”

The little fox suddenly popped out from the blue-haired girl’s collar, pawing at the blood pill, drooling, radiating intense desire.

Eh? The Cloud Dream Flower wanted this…?

Gong Lianyue paused. It hadn’t shown such craving even for the Life Fruit.

She pushed the little fox back down, making it serve as her chest padding again, and turned her attention to the blood pill’s description.

Before she could even read the details, her expression froze at the price tag.

1000 contribution points? Never mind then.

“…”

Leaving the Contribution Hall, Gong Lianyue was penniless, unable to afford even a single spirit crystal.

She had just earned 3000 contribution points from the Fallen Whale Island battle, thinking it would last a while, but it was gone in an instant~~~

All that was left was to wait for the fragment of the Lost Scroll from the Ice Shield Palace. Although she was pessimistic about understanding it, a tiny spark of anticipation remained.

Most players felt the same way before pulling from a gacha.

Chapter 44: The Lost Scroll

The initial excitement over the Frost Snow Woman news quickly faded as a sense of unease settled in.

Realizing her lapse in composure, Shui Qinghou coughed delicately, smoothed her attire, and regained her dignified and elegant demeanor.

“So, why did the Ice Shield Palace inform only our Sea Concubine Palace, instead of convening a Sea Region Alliance meeting?”

“An Alliance meeting? Didn’t you see your reactions just now? They would undoubtedly shift their focus from the Frost Snow Woman to the Snow Sovereign. I fear the entire Sea Region would be destroyed, with no escape.”

“Our Ice Shield Palace only wants the Frost Snow Woman. We won’t get involved in anything else.”

Only the Frost Snow Woman…?

Shui Qinghou and the other two blue-haired women exchanged glances, understanding dawning in their eyes.

“Of course, we won’t resort to forceful coercion like the Serene Passage Pool did. To gain the Frost Snow Woman’s willing cooperation, besides our Wrathful Saintess, we also need a low-level Spirit Master with an offensive Saint-rank spirit beast.”

“So, with the Sorrowful Saintess’s assistance, we have a chance!!!”

As the higher-ups of the Sea Concubine Palace and the Ice Shield Palace negotiated, Gong Lianyue froze, petrified.

What kind of development was this? Were they really so certain she had a Saint-rank spirit beast? The little fox could only pretend to be Saint-rank!

The Ice Shield Palace’s intentions were clear. Few could resist the allure of a legendary being, but they had made their choice.

Abandon the legendary, target the Saint-rank!

Their Wrathful Saintess would team up with her to confront the Frost Snow Woman, convincing her to willingly submit. This way, even the Snow Sovereign would have no reason to intervene.

The Wrathful Saintess, whose Saint-rank spirit beast was suspected to be the Misty Heart Lotus. If she also contracted the Frost Snow Woman, she would become the only dual Saint-rank Spirit Master in the Sea Region Alliance.

With two Saint-rank spirit beasts, she would shed the title of the Sea Region’s strongest new generation fighter and become the undisputed strongest fighter in the entire Sea Region.

Truthfully, if the Wrathful Saintess and the Sorrowful Saintess joined forces, they might actually have a chance against a lone Frost Snow Woman.

The Misty Heart Lotus had no combat ability whatsoever. Ultimately, they would have to rely on the legendary Variant Water Emperor, which was why the Ice Shield Palace had contacted the Sea Concubine Palace privately.

Convening a meeting would not only alert the entire Sea Region but likely even the Storm Realm.

They might end up with nothing. It was better to conspire with the Sea Concubine Palace and secretly acquire the Frost Snow Woman.

This meant… she would soon have to face a real Saint-rank…?

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy Gong Lianyue felt, almost turning to stone.

“If the Sea Concubine Palace agrees to our request, the Ice Shield Palace will lend you a fragment of the Lost Scroll for a hundred years.”

“A fragment of the Lost Scroll…!!!”

As the woman from the Ice Shield Palace finished speaking, the breathing of the Sea Concubine Palace members quickened.

Gong Lianyue’s teardrop eyes narrowed slightly. She knew of this item, a true miracle of spirit techniques from ancient times.

Modern spirit techniques were merely flawed imitations derived from the Lost Scroll, categorized as advanced and ordinary. They couldn’t truly influence the outcome of battles, rendering the Spirit Master’s own power negligible.

Most Spirit Masters considered spirit techniques useless, preferring to spend their time meditating and cultivating. Even she, as the Saintess, had only learned the ordinary Water Armor and the advanced Tidal Wave techniques.

However, legends claimed that a Spirit Master who mastered the complete Lost Scroll could even fight high-rank spirit beasts head-on.

Within the Sea Region Alliance, the Cold Court and the Ice Shield Palace each possessed fragments of the Lost Scroll, treasures that attracted countless Spirit Masters, driving them into a frenzy.

Now, the opportunity to study a fragment of the Lost Scroll was right before them. How could the Sea Concubine Palace members not be excited?

“A hundred years with a fragment of the Lost Scroll in exchange for a Saint-rank spirit beast…?”

“Indeed, that’s fair,” Shui Qinghou immediately agreed.

Gong Lianyue felt a lump in her throat. She had wanted to refuse, but the mention of the Lost Scroll made it impossible.

What excuse could possibly justify refusing the Lost Scroll? Her usual cleverness was useless now.

She didn’t know what would happen when facing a real Saint-rank spirit beast…

The Wrathful Saintess, Luo Kuxin.

Information about the woman surfaced in Gong Lianyue’s mind. Her early experiences were somewhat similar to her own. She too had been chosen as Saintess because of her pure, emerald-green hair.

Most Ice Shield Palace Spirit Masters absorbed wind-attribute spirit energy during battle, causing their hair color to change, becoming mixed with black. But hers was naturally green.

It was said that Luo Kuxin’s original spirit beast was only a mid-rank Jade Wolf King. But during a battle against a Saint-rank enemy from the Storm Realm, she had finally revealed her true companion spirit beast.

Decapitated dozens of times, limbs severed hundreds of times, body pulverized, disemboweled, turned into mush.

Yet, seconds later, she would reappear unharmed, fully revived.

After nearly an hour, reinforcements finally arrived, and the enemy retreated. Luo Kuxin’s name became famous throughout the Sea Region.

The Misty Heart Lotus was her true companion spirit beast, its existence concealed by her palace.

The Misty Heart Lotus… bringing the dead back to life. What a bizarre spirit beast.

Unlike the fake little fox, this was the true power of a Saint-rank spirit beast…

“But that location is too close to the Storm Realm. Won’t they notice something?” After some discussion, Shui Qinghou asked worriedly.

“Simple. Set the final trial location for the Saintess selection at the entrance to the Storm Realm. Claim it’s a practical combat exercise.”

“…”
“…”

Brilliant. After the recent provocation from the Storm Realm, such a move by the enraged Sea Concubine Palace would seem perfectly logical.

Using the Saintess selection as a cover to conceal their true objective—the Frost Snow Woman!

The three Vice Palace Masters of the Sea Concubine Palace looked at the woman from the Ice Shield Palace who had proposed the idea. For some reason, she seemed quite clever.

Chapter 43: Legendary Rank, Snow Sovereign

Many in the Sea Region couldn’t distinguish between the Ice Shield Palace and the Twelve Palaces of Ice. They were, in fact, two different concepts.

Ice Shield Palace was the general name for the faction hundreds of years ago. The Twelve Palaces were the twelve defensive lines originally stationed in the Valley of Wind, resisting the Storm Realm’s invasion for centuries, single-handedly preventing foreign Spirit Masters from setting foot in their territory.

Over time, the Twelve Palaces of Ice each gained renown, while the main palace responsible for issuing commands had long since declined into a second-rate support force.

Now, the Twelve Palaces of Ice each had their own names, jointly resisting external enemies while also competing amongst themselves. This was why the Ice Shield Palace, despite being hailed as the Sea Region’s top fighting force, was only ranked fourth.

–Sea Concubine Main Hall

If the interior of the Sea Concubine Palace resembled transparent ripples, then the main hall was like the sunless depths of the ocean, its oppressive atmosphere almost suffocating.

The water spirit energy in the air was so dense it seemed tangible. Ordinary humans couldn’t breathe here.

Wearing a water-colored uniform robe, the blue-haired girl with six teardrops at the corners of her eyes walked expressionlessly through the palace, her heart beating uncontrollably.

The Twelve Palaces of Ice… It was said that their Palace Masters were almost all Nether Traverse Stage super experts, some even possessing Saint-rank beings above the Nether Traverse Stage.

Why had they suddenly come to the Sea Concubine Palace? Weren’t they afraid of their defensive lines being breached? And… why did she need to attend the meeting?

Bang!

The doors to the reception hall swung open, all eyes focusing on the blue-haired girl.

Soft, water-blue hair, strange teardrop makeup on her cheeks—was it natural or painted?

Her strength, newly entered into the Dawn and Dusk Stage, was neither high nor low, giving off no sense of pressure, but rather an aura as calm and gentle as the ocean.

“I see.”

Suddenly, someone let out an inexplicable sigh, its meaning unclear.

What were they pretending for? Just by looking at the Sorrowful Saintess, what could they possibly discern?

Gong Lianyue cursed inwardly, nervously (though appearing expressionless) scanning the hall. She saw three familiar blue-haired women in Sea Concubine Palace uniforms and two unfamiliar black-haired women.

The two women from the Ice Shield Palace had hair that was more of a black-green mix than pure black.

Having spent years at the border between water and wind spirit energy, their internal spirit energy had become mixed, altering their hair color.

She didn’t know which palace they belonged to. It was said the higher the rank, the stronger they were…

Gong Lianyue bowed slightly and sat down beside Shui Qinghou, remaining silent.

Normally, Shui Qinghou would have already explained the situation via sound transmission, but in this setting, any fluctuation of spirit energy would be instantly detected.

“Now, we can begin explaining the situation,” one of the black-haired women from the Ice Shield Palace said with a smile after scrutinizing the Saintess for half a minute.

“Do you… remember the Serene Passage Pool?”

“…”

The Serene Passage Pool. Of course, Gong Lianyue knew of it.

It had once been the top power in the Sea Region Alliance. During its peak, hundreds of years ago, it had boasted over a dozen Saint-rank Spirit Masters simultaneously.

When the Serene Passage Pool existed, the Storm Realm wouldn’t dare set foot in the Sea Region. Unfortunately, they were later destroyed by some unknown catastrophe.

Since then, the Sea Region Alliance had been reduced to ten factions.

“A hundred years ago, the Serene Passage Pool, relying on its numerous Saint-rank Spirit Masters, besieged and captured a lone, wild Frost Snow Woman. And then…”

“Overnight, an area spanning thousands of miles turned into a snowfield. Countless human towns were frozen solid, with no survivors.”

“The Frost Snow Woman was merely the trigger. The real disaster was the legendary-rank spirit beast that followed—the Snow Sovereign.”

Hearing the calm explanation from one of the blue-haired Palace Masters, Gong Lianyue was shocked. This was the first time she had heard the truth about the Serene Passage Pool’s destruction—it was caused by the Snow Sovereign.

Although spirit beasts had many attributes and types, they could be broadly categorized into three: biological, elemental, and weapon.

Biological types grew larger with each stage. Though she had never seen one, it was said that legendary-rank biological types could blot out the sun and moon, spanning hundreds of miles.

Elemental types, even at the legendary rank, remained normal-sized, but their every move represented changes in weather, shifting landmasses, and natural disasters.

Undoubtedly, the Serene Passage Pool’s actions had angered the Snow Sovereign, leading to their annihilation.

Legendary rank… a realm beyond human reach.

To conceal the truth, historical records were vague, attributing the destruction to a natural disaster.

Gong Lianyue was inwardly shocked but remained outwardly calm. Shui Qinghou, however, was completely dumbfounded, her mouth agape.

“You didn’t know!?” Seeing Shui Qinghou’s stunned expression, another blue-haired woman asked incredulously.

“Yes, this is the first time I’ve heard…” Shui Qinghou replied blankly. She, a Vice Palace Master, didn’t know this. How could others?

“Then how did you pass your senior instructor training?”

“Didn’t you help me cheat?”

“…”

“…?”

The two women from the Ice Shield Palace were speechless. It seemed everyone in the Sea Concubine Palace was a bit… off.

“A few days ago, near the border with the Storm Realm, on a snow mountain, we discovered traces left by a Frost Snow Woman.”

Bang!

Instantly, besides the Sorrowful Saintess, the other three blue-haired women shot to their feet, nearly knocking over their chairs.

They exchanged horrified glances, then, noticing Gong Lianyue’s indifference, awkwardly sat back down, embarrassed.

“Ahem!”

“The appearance of a Frost Snow Woman inevitably means the Snow Sovereign has returned to the Sea Region.”

“This is another chance for us to make contact with a legendary being…”

“The Sea Region Alliance’s thousand-year-old Saintess tradition hasn’t attracted a legendary being. This is a new lead!!!”

Gong Lianyue had no idea why they were so excited. She silently took a sip of tea.

Legendary beings wouldn’t likely form contracts with humans anyway. They spoke as if they could actually contract with one.

The Snow Sovereign… a single breath could shatter mountains and rivers.

Even the mighty Serene Passage Pool had been like ants in its eyes. What chance did the current, weaker Sea Region have?

Chapter 42: I Cuckolded My Wife, and She Loves Me Even More

[The Soul Prison Trial, held once a millennium, a secret realm passed down from ancient times, its origins and purpose unknown.]

[For those eliminated, everything that transpires within is but a dream, an illusion.]

[Those who successfully reach the higher levels will discover that even having reached the peak of their own world, they are still utterly ignorant of the truly powerful beings that exist.]

[—Legend says it is a gateway connecting countless worlds, a path to mythology—]

[Title: My Soul Prison Trial]

[Author: An anonymous participant of the Soul Prison Trial]

Sea Concubine Palace, Library.

Due to the rescheduled preliminaries for the Saintess selection, the library was empty, even the librarians replaced by prospective members.

In a corner of the first floor, a blue-haired girl with six teardrops on her cheeks quietly read a book.

As she read, she smiled.

Normally, books about the Soul Prison Trial wouldn’t be placed on the first floor’s open shelves, but this one was an exception.

A thousand years had passed since the last Soul Prison Trial, yet this book looked brand new. The historical context was full of holes, inconsistent with events from a thousand years ago.

The narrative style, more like a mindless power fantasy than a historical record, clearly indicated a fabricated, sensationalized novel.

The Sea Concubine Palace, aware of this, had placed it on the first floor for ordinary disciples to browse.

However, it was quite interesting~~~

It mentioned many exotic spirit beasts she had never seen or heard of before. She wondered if they were the author’s inventions or actual species.

Engrossed in the book, Gong Lianyue didn’t notice the little fox beside her rolling around on the floor out of boredom.

Today, the Nine-Colored Cloud Dream Flower had transformed into an unremarkable, silver-gray fox, a Silver Mountain Velvet Fox, a rather ordinary low-rank spirit beast.

Its color changed based on its mood. When happy, it turned pink, blue, gold, or green.

When annoyed, it turned black or silver-gray, more subdued colors.

It seemed this morning’s beast treats were past their expiration date…

“Chirp!”

Half an hour passed unnoticed. The little fox suddenly yelped and darted behind the blue-haired girl.

“What’s wrong?” Gong Lianyue was puzzled, then heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Rustle—

Someone was coming. Gong Lianyue put down her book and casually picked up another one.

She didn’t want anyone to know she was interested in the Soul Prison Trial.

A few seconds later, a green-haired girl in simple clothing appeared from around the bookshelf.

She had a rather delicate face and wore very anime-style, low pigtails, giving off an energetic vibe.

The girl seemed oblivious to the teardrops on Gong Lianyue’s cheeks, ignoring her as she pulled out a novel and began to read.

An assassin?

Gong Lianyue became wary. Based on her years of experience as the Saintess, anyone who ignored her true face must be an assassin.

It was currently the Saintess selection period, and the Sea Concubine Palace was less crowded than usual, a perfect opportunity for an assassination.

Besides, shouldn’t this girl be participating in the Saintess selection?

Her teardrop eyes discreetly rotated ninety degrees, focusing on the green-haired girl.

The girl’s gaze drifted, glancing at Gong Lianyue from time to time, her mind clearly not on her book. She had definitely come here for her.

She just didn’t know if it was an assassin or a spy from another Saintess Candidate.

Judging by her seemingly innocent yet calculating appearance, she ruled out Bai He. Hong Tao was a lone wolf and constantly suppressed due to her strained relationship with the Sea Concubine Palace, so it probably wasn’t her either.

That left Qing Yu. That woman was always spreading rumors about her and had recently been seen with Lei Ji…

Suddenly, the green-haired girl’s body trembled, a look of shock on her face.

What was wrong?

Following the girl’s gaze, Gong Lianyue realized what she was holding in her hands—[I Cuckolded My Wife, and She Loves Me Even More].

“…”
“…”

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Gong Lianyue’s forehead. She continued to read, trying to maintain her composure.

She hadn’t expected to be caught red-handed like this. The Sorrowful Saintess’s hobby was reading this kind of novel? If they spread this around, her reputation would be ruined.

Wait!!!

Not necessarily. Maybe her popularity would increase?!

She had already received several “lay eggs for you” letters, and this book happened to be a yuri romance. It could be a good opportunity to cultivate her persona.

A cold and aloof Saintess on the surface, secretly fantasizing about a passionate yuri romance. Young people loved this kind of gap moe.

As Gong Lianyue was lost in thought, the green-haired girl’s gaze suddenly fixed on the little fox, unable to look away.

A few seconds later, she collapsed to her knees, clutching her arm and trembling, her face contorted in pain, her head throbbing.

“……?”

What the hell?

Ugh, how unlucky, she was just a weirdo.

Even if she looked like she was about to have a seizure, Gong Lianyue wouldn’t pay any attention to her.

She had been overthinking things.

Gong Lianyue silently placed the book back on the shelf and stepped over the kneeling girl without a second glance.

This was probably how most people reacted to chuunibyou.

However, even after Gong Lianyue left the library, the green-haired girl continued to clutch her arm, her body drenched in sweat, her face pale, as if she were genuinely in pain.

“Slurp~”

A moment later, a small, green blade of grass emerged from beneath her skirt, bouncing around human-like.

Then, to the girl’s astonishment, the blade of grass began to frantically lick the floor.

Like a desperate simp, it devoured the little fox’s scent and tracks, rubbing itself against the ground.

A few minutes later, the blade of grass lifted its head contentedly, its dew-covered leaves swaying, forming a heart shape.

“…”

---

Back at her quarters, before Gong Lianyue could even enter, the two maids rushed out.

“Saintess! You’re finally back!!!”

“Vice Palace Master Shui Qinghou has summoned you to the main hall immediately!!”

“What’s so urgent that I need to go to the main hall?” Gong Lianyue blinked in confusion.

Her teacher usually met her at Sea Moon Peak. She had only been to the main hall once, for her Saintess inheritance ceremony.

What could have happened that required a meeting in the main hall?

“Representatives from the Twelve Palaces of Ice have been waiting for you for half an hour!”

“……?”