Chapter 3: Spirit Techniques
Sea Concubine Palace
A dark blue aura of sea currents permeated the enormous ice palace, clear splashes rippling through the air, making it resemble an underwater world.
In the center of a spacious hall, a beautiful woman in a snow-white uniform robe knelt on one knee, her head bowed low, but the corner of her eye constantly glancing towards the room in front of her.
“Saintess, I am a retainer under Saintess Candidate Bai He. I have come to invite you to the Water Wish Pavilion for a discussion.”
“…”
“…”
There was no response. A full ten minutes passed, and still no sound came from the room.
The woman in white remained expressionless, her lowered eyebrows tilting slightly downward as if she were asleep, showing no sign of anger.
The two maids at the side couldn’t stand it any longer. They nervously approached, their voices tense.
“Um, the Saintess went to the Ice Plains early this morning.”
“Then I’ll wait here until she returns,” the woman in white said indifferently.
A few seconds later, she lifted her eyes slightly, giving a puzzled glance at the two stunned young maids beside her.
The two maids were dumbfounded by her words. Could this woman be new to the Sea Concubine Palace? Didn’t she know that except for the days when the Saintess bathed in the sacred spring, she cultivated on the Ice Plains for almost 25 hours every day?
Following a normal person’s physiological schedule, it would be impossible to ever see the Saintess…
Sea Concubine Palace, Ice Plains
Whirling snow covered an area of hundreds of kilometers. Across the vast, endless icy plains, glistening snow dust drifted through the air.
The Ice Plains were where the Sea Concubine Palace artificially bred spirit beasts. Spirit Masters belonging to the Sea Concubine Palace could come here to hunt, or to capture lower-ranking spirit beasts. It was equivalent to a treasure trove in their backyard.
At this moment, a blue-haired woman wearing a thin white slip dress, with six teardrop beauty marks on her face, walked through this boundless expanse of ice and snow.
Her skirt swayed gently as she walked barefoot, her delicate, snow-white feet stepping on the soft snow. She looked around expressionlessly, seemingly impervious to the cold.
Having lived in the Sea Concubine Palace for seven or eight years, Gong Lianyue was very familiar with the environment of the Ice Plains.
However, she wasn’t here just for simple cultivation. She was also avoiding the provocations of the other Saintess Candidates. As long as they couldn’t even see her, they couldn’t do anything to her.
Avoiding confrontation wasn’t shameful, and it was effective.
“Coo!”
A white-furred rabbit, gnawing furiously on an ice rock, shook off the snow dust from its body and stared wide-eyed, curiously watching the blue-haired woman passing by.
Although it had the appearance of a cute rabbit, its physique was as large as a lion. Its entire body was covered in a layer of fluffy snow-white fur, making it look somewhat intimidating.
A low-rank spirit beast, a Level 1 Snowtooth Rabbit.
The Sea Concubine Palace bred Snowtooth Rabbits in large numbers on the Ice Plains, typically using them for food and medicinal ingredients. Very few Spirit Masters would choose to form a blood pact with such a weak spirit beast.
This Snowtooth Rabbit simply stared curiously at Gong Lianyue as she passed, its eyes showing no sign of aggression.
“Right here will do.”
Gong Lianyue looked around at the surroundings, then casually sat down on a nearby ice rock.
“Coo!!!”
Seeing the girl’s action, the Snowtooth Rabbit immediately roared furiously, its beautiful white fur standing on end.
Although Snowtooth Rabbits were generally not aggressive, their territorial instincts were incredibly strong. They would bite anyone who provoked them.
Its gentle face turned ferocious, its rabbit teeth growing rapidly until they reached its chin. It hopped across the snow towards the blue-haired girl.
“Come out, Water Element.”
Gong Lianyue called out softly, her expression unchanged. The water vapor that had appeared in the air condensed rapidly, forming a swirling, wave-like humanoid figure.
Facing the charging Snowtooth Rabbit in its ferocious posture, the Water Element floated in the air, the surrounding water currents rising and swirling with a roar.
Three basketball-sized water spheres spiraled into existence at its chest, then shot out like cannonballs with a deafening boom.
Boom, boom, boom!!!
The successive water blasts exploded on the Snowtooth Rabbit’s fur, sending it flying back more than ten meters. It tumbled pathetically across the smooth snow, wailing incessantly.
Gong Lianyue glanced at it casually and then lost interest. Having lived on the Ice Plains for so long, she knew very well that an ordinary Snowtooth Rabbit couldn’t possibly defeat a Water Element.
Although the difference in their strength wasn’t vast, Snowtooth Rabbits had vulnerable points like ordinary beasts, while the Water Element was composed of pure water, having no weaknesses except for its internal core.
This was why, in most cases, elemental spirit beasts were rarer and more valuable than biological ones.
The Water Element and the Snowtooth Rabbit grappled unattractively, while Gong Lianyue, as if nothing had happened, pulled out a spirit technique scroll from her bosom and began to cultivate silently.
It was common knowledge among all Spirit Masters in this world that even among the same type and rank of spirit beasts, their combat effectiveness could vary drastically based on battle experience, the quality and proficiency of their combat techniques, and the assistance and commands of their Spirit Master.
The Spirit Master’s assistance referred to the spirit techniques they could master through cultivation, which provided various buffs to their spirit beasts.
Gong Lianyue was currently a novice Spirit Master, so she could only cultivate the most basic spirit techniques.
[Water Armor Technique]
She lay comfortably on the large, cold rock, concentrating on studying the spirit technique scroll, not even sparing a glance at the commotion caused by the two spirit beasts beside her.
The Water Armor Technique was primarily used on water-attribute spirit beasts, adding a layer of water-based armor to enhance their defense.
After practicing for several weeks, Gong Lianyue hadn’t fully mastered it yet, but she could already cast an incomplete, rudimentary form. And here, she had readily available test subjects.
“Water Armor Technique.”
Gong Lianyue turned her head to look at the two spirit beasts wrestling, and with a gentle point towards the Water Element, shimmering, watery blue spirit energy gradually outlined an illusory water armor.
The flimsy Water Element suddenly looked as if it were wearing armor, appearing somewhat more robust and fierce. However, because Gong Lianyue hadn’t fully mastered the technique, this layer of water armor only covered its front, failing to protect its entire body.
Bang!
The Snowtooth Rabbit, still grappling with the Water Element, slammed headfirst into the water armor with a deafening clang.
With this impact, the liquid armor covering the Water Element’s front shattered and splashed, water spraying everywhere.
The Snowtooth Rabbit, dazed, wobbled a few times and then collapsed unsteadily onto the ground. Poor bunny.
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