Edmund sighed contentedly.
“You humans really are slippery bastards. You intentionally revealed your Spirit Treasure armor to trigger that Spirit Severing cultivator’s greed. He was terrified of damaging it, so he held back from killing you outright.”
Lauren exhaled tiredly.
“I misjudged them. I thought I could kill all three by myself… and ended up wasting the avatar Master Light gave me.”
Edmund shot her a sharp look, clearly resisting the urge to snap back.
You? A half-dead Nascent Soul cultivator? Who do you think you are?
He swallowed his words.
Thinking back to his own past… he had once looked down on human cultivators the same way. He’d believed such absurd reversals were impossible.
And yet…
He sighed again.
Humans—especially the scheming ones—were terrifying opponents.
After collecting their storage rings, Lauren swallowed another recovery pill and sat cross-legged.
“White, I can’t open these rings right now. We’ll divide the loot after we return to the Righteous Sect.”
White lowered her head apologetically.
“Sister killed them all…”
Lauren smiled faintly.
“If you hadn’t watched the perimeter and restrained that last cultivator, I wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”
White brightened slightly.
“Then I’ll continue guarding! I’ll patrol the mountain.”
“Good.”
White flew off, deliberately harassing any cultivators who approached.
If they chased her, she fled.
If they gave up, she circled back and provoked them again.
It took Lauren half an hour to recover.
Staring at the spiritual spring, she sent a telepathic message to Edmund.
“Is the pit ready?”
“It’s done. But there’s no lava down there, so the water will be colder once transferred.”
“Will it lose spiritual energy?”
“This location is naturally formed into a Spirit Gathering Array, and magma flows beneath it—”
“We’ll analyze geology later, okay?”
“…Fine. It won’t lose spiritual energy immediately, but it also won’t regenerate after you absorb it.”
“Good enough.”
Lauren immediately transferred the entire spiritual pool into her inner dimension.
The pit Edmund had excavated was the perfect size.
Once the pool emptied, the ground temperature rose rapidly. Meltwater from the surrounding ice cliffs flowed downward, slowly refilling the basin.
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Edmund had been right.
Nature itself had crafted this flawless spiritual reservoir.
Lauren estimated that once the Icefield Secret Realm reopened, the environment would eventually restore itself… and another powerful beast would claim it as territory.
Her gaze shifted toward the Earth Core Red Lotus.
Without the spiritual pool’s protection, the lotus now hovered naked in the open air. Its crimson petals curled inward defensively, forming a tight bud that swayed uneasily.
Lauren retrieved the Ice Lotus and suspended it above the Red Lotus. Carefully, she extended her spiritual energy and attempted to pluck it.
The moment external energy touched it—
The Red Lotus exploded with violent resistance. Blazing crimson light surged outward.
Lauren increased her power, channeling the Ice Lotus’s frigid energy to suppress the raging fire element.
WHOOSH.
A jet of flame erupted toward her face. She barely dodged in time.
The harder she pressed, the more violently the Red Lotus resisted.
Gradually, realization dawned on her.
This wouldn’t work.
Her ice-aligned spiritual energy was triggering the lotus’s natural defensive instincts… making it fight her with everything it had.
Lauren paused, then bit down on her fingertip. A bead of blood infused with spiritual energy welled up, dripping slowly onto the Ice Lotus hovering above her.
She had long since refined the Ice Lotus. It was deeply bound to her soul and responded to her will almost instinctively.
The droplet of blood stretched into a thin crimson thread, linking the Ice Lotus to the Red Lotus below.
These two Strange Fires naturally opposed and reinforced one another. Ice and fire were fundamentally incompatible, yet with precise control, they could be forced into balance—fused into a single, inseparable lotus.
Time passed slowly.
The Red Lotus gradually stilled. The violent resistance faded, replaced by a cautious acceptance as it began absorbing her blood.
Lauren watched carefully, controlling the flow. The moment the spiritual energy within her blood reached the threshold necessary to influence it—
She cut the connection instantly.
Now.
Time to close the trap.
She murmured a sealing incantation and lunged forward, gripping the Red Lotus firmly before wrenching it free from its roots.
The blood-thread connection tightened around both Strange Fires, binding them together.
At the exact moment she uprooted the Red Lotus, Lauren commanded the Ice Lotus to descend and merge with it.
The two Strange Fires collided.
They struggled violently. Flames and frost clashed in a storm of opposing energy. For a tense moment, they appeared ready to annihilate one another.
Then… they twisted together.
Entangling.
Interlocking.
Refusing to separate.
Lauren exhaled slowly. The rest depended entirely on the Ice Lotus stabilizing the fusion.
She withdrew her spiritual energy and staggered back several steps, raising her injured finger to her lips. She gently sucked the wound clean.
It looked like nothing more than a pinprick, but she had lost a disturbing amount of blood.
She quickly swallowed a recovery pill.
“It’s done,” Edmund said as he slid out from her sleeve.
Lauren nodded, her eyes still fixed on the Strange Fires.
“Yes… they’re cooperating now.”
The violent turbulence between the two lotuses gradually settled. Their energies flowed in quiet harmony.
Moments later, two breathtaking lotuses—one crimson, one sapphire blue—floated toward Lauren like obedient spirits.
She smiled faintly and extended her hand.
The twin lotuses dissolved into streaks of light, sinking into her body.
“These Strange Fires are fully fused,” she murmured. “They exist within me now. There’s no need for further refinement.”
Edmund gave a low chuckle.
“Impressive. Truly.”
Lauren summoned White, and together they relocated to continue searching for a safer battleground.
Two days later, Edmund suddenly spoke.
“Are you heading to the fifth level?”
Lauren glanced at him. “Why?”
“Light opened the passage to the seventh level. I need to go.”
Lauren’s expression darkened with hesitation.
“Can you manage alone?”
“If I don’t run into one of your scheming human cultivators, I’ll be fine.”
“…Fair enough.”
She exhaled quietly.
“I’ll escort you to the entrance of the sixth level. There shouldn’t be many cultivators there. After that… you’re on your own.”
“Good. I’ll leave after nightfall once I’m inside.”
That was sensible. Cultivators were powerful during the day, but at night most of them became cautious as rats hiding from lamplight. Edmund would have better odds moving unseen.
Still…
The fifth level was a different story entirely. It housed sixth-tier demonic beasts. Entering as an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was practically suicide.
Lauren clenched her jaw.
Without another word, she found an isolated clearing and began drawing Explosive Spirit Talismans with relentless focus.
Whether she could carve a bloody path for Edmund through the fifth level would depend entirely on these.
Several days later, her preparations were complete.
“White,” Lauren said gently, “you should return now. I have to enter the fifth level. The beasts there are far too dangerous for you.”
White’s eyes widened.
“The fifth level? That’s insane! Sister, don’t go!”
Lauren shook her head firmly.
“I have a mission. I don’t have a choice.”
White stared at her, clearly torn. Her pale cheeks flushed faintly, her expression delicate and visibly distressed.
Lauren smiled softly.
“I’ll visit you in the South Sea in a few days.”
White hesitated before asking quietly, “When are you leaving, Sister?”
“Today.”
