Chapter Nine: Unexpected Joy (Part One)

Page 1 of 3

Through the mist that drifted above the water like a sea of clouds, he gazed at the ever-rolling, milky-white waves. Kuangchi casually asked Xiaohua, “Xiaohua, have you noticed anything strange?”

Xiaohua seemed to concentrate for a moment before replying, “There’s a peculiar energy enveloping the surface of the water. This energy actually stirs and flows with the surging waves. What’s odd is that its properties are exactly the opposite of that strange energy found in the ant blood. If the energy in the ant blood is extremely yang, then the energy hovering over this Weakwater is extremely yin.”

A Divine Martial Beast’s sensitivity to energy was something humans could never hope to match—especially one of the plant type, like Xiaohua. The body of a plant-based Divine Martial Beast was the finest of sensors, but so far, apart from Xiaohua and Xiaohei, no one had ever heard of a plant-type Divine Martial Beast possessing intelligence. Thus, extracting useful information from them always required expert analysis.

After a pause, Xiaohua spoke again, “Master, I sense something odd beneath us. Although I don’t detect any powerful beasts through the energy, I still feel there’s great danger below.”

Kuangchi, in fact, felt the same unease. He nodded in agreement, his expression growing more serious as he stared at the water’s surface. “I have that feeling too.”

He watched for a long time but found nothing unusual at the foot of the cliff by the lakeshore. Finally, mustering all his courage, he carefully secured three long vines to three separate boulders, then slowly descended the cliff. At this moment, Kuangchi looked just like a spider with several long legs—strange and eerie.

When he reached the bottom, he hesitated to set foot on the sandy shore. Between the base of the cliff and the Weakwater pool, which could be called a lake, there was a stretch of about ten meters—a beach of golden, crystalline sand. It was this seemingly ordinary beach that made Kuangchi so reluctant to land.

After a long while, Xiaohua spoke beside his head, “Master, there’s something strange about this sand.”

Kuangchi had already sensed something was off with the sand. Xiaohua’s words now were hardly helpful—if he hadn’t been cautious, he might already have stepped onto it, and who knew what would have happened.

Annoyed, Kuangchi said, “I’ve been looking at it for ages, and you only now say the sand is strange? What’s the use?”

Xiaohua’s androgynous face showed a peculiar expression before she replied, “Please don’t blame me, Master. I was analyzing the energy components in the air here and wasn’t paying attention to the beach below.”

“Did you discover anything?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Xiaohua said, “Master, try absorbing the energy in the air and see what happens.”

Kuangchi found the suggestion odd, but still followed it. He cautiously circulated the Wild Dragon Manual, gently drawing in the energy from the air.

What set innate masters apart was their ability to draw the energy of heaven and earth into their bodies, allowing the meridians to slowly absorb it or blend it with their own true qi, thus increasing inner energy or quickly replenishing it.

Page 2 of 3

At first, Kuangchi felt only a bone-chilling current pour through a gap Xiaohua had deliberately opened in his energy shield, making his muscles tense involuntarily. But soon, he sensed an unusual energy welling up within him—something he had never perceived before. This new energy seemed innately to counter the cold current, and wherever it went, the chill gradually melted away.

Kuangchi initially thought this was what Xiaohua had wanted him to discover. But then he noticed something subtler: everywhere the strange energy drove out the cold, another unknown and nearly undetectable energy was generated. Most of this energy dissipated within his body, vanishing without a trace, but a small portion fused into the wild dragon true qi in his meridians. Without the mental acuity honed by the Starry Sky Manual, the change would have escaped him entirely.

Who knew how much time had passed before Kuangchi finally opened his eyes.

Xiaohua immediately asked with concern, “Master, are you all right?”

Only then did Kuangchi realize that a layer of frost several inches thick had formed on his body. He took a few deep breaths, smiled, and shook his head. “Did you notice anything after absorbing the energy here?”

Xiaohua nodded. “It seems the energy here can fuse with that unknown energy I absorbed from the ant blood pool, creating another strange energy whose effects I also don’t understand. At least, it doesn’t seem harmful—though I haven’t found any benefits yet, either.”

Kuangchi laughed. “That ant blood must be a good thing. We’ll need to soak in it more often.”

Xiaohua also smiled and nodded.

Having said that, Kuangchi’s attention returned to the sandy beach below. “Did you find anything unusual there?”

Xiaohua nodded. Then, a vine as thick as a pinky and nearly a meter long detached from Kuangchi’s neck. As soon as it touched the sand, there was a crisp crack, and the entire vine shattered to pieces before his eyes.

The sight made Kuangchi break out in a cold sweat and filled him with lingering fear. Had he carelessly stepped onto that alluring golden sand, who knew if he wouldn’t have met the same fate as the vine?

Kuangchi knew better than anyone how tough Xiaohua’s body was. He’d never consider his own flesh and blood a match for Xiaohua’s vines.

But he wasn’t about to be deterred by what had just happened. Regaining his composure, he glanced at the ten meters of water beyond the sand—such a short distance, yet no way to cross it. He looked at the two-meter-long fishing spear in his hand and could only retreat to the top of the cliff.

He sat behind a large boulder, took a sip from the fiery red gourd of fine wine slung on his back, then asked, “Xiaohua, do you have any ideas for crossing this sand?”

Xiaohua shook her head. “Master, I can try searching along the lake for a spot where the shore is closer.”

For the next three days, Kuangchi cautiously avoided the beasts patrolling the lakeshore as he and Xiaohua circled the entire lake in search. In the end, he had to spend another three days returning to the original cliff.

The entire edge of the Weakwater Lake was ringed with this fine sand. Usually, the belt of sand was about twenty meters wide, but the widest stretch he saw spanned hundreds of meters—a veritable sea of sand. Even at its narrowest, it was about fifteen meters, and it turned out the beach below the cliff was the narrowest stretch. So, he had no choice but to return to the cliff.

Page 3 of 3

Leaning against a boulder, Kuangchi gently shook his wine gourd. After so many days of savoring, there was little wine left.

Suppressing his craving, he slung the gourd over his back and asked, “Xiaohua, what’s the maximum length your vines can reach?”

With that question, Xiaohua immediately understood his intention. “Master, you want me to tie the fishing spear to a vine and try spearfishing from here, right? You might be disappointed—the distance is too great, and with the cold of the Weakwater, even if I managed to spear a Profound Ice Fish, there’s no way I could reel it in. My body isn’t strong enough yet to withstand the icy Weakwater. The cold isn’t something you can imagine, and the water carries an even more intense chilling energy than what drifts above the surface.”

Hearing this, Kuangchi grew frustrated. “So what do we do now? We’ve been out here so long—Anna and the others must be worried. But we can’t just go back like this—what face would I have left?”

Flustered and irritated, the impulsiveness of youth showed in Kuangchi once again.

Xiaohua, amused by his demeanor, laughed. “Master, since we’ve come all this way and found the Weakwater Lake, why not just spend some time near the monster lairs by the shore, collect ten of those Frost Ice Pearls, and claim we got them by hunting Profound Ice Fish?”

Kuangchi was stunned, then burst out laughing, finally asking with wry amusement, “Xiaohua, when did you learn to lie?”

Xiaohua snorted, “Miss Zixia says it’s called being clever and resourceful. Only fools do foolish things—like you, Master. Smart people solve problems with clever plans.”

Kuangchi froze, then, realizing what she meant, yanked Xiaohua’s head before his eyes and half-growled, “Say that again—you called me a fool?”

Xiaohua seemed a bit intimidated—hosts always exerted a natural pressure on Divine Martial Beasts—but still replied resolutely, “That’s what Miss Zixia said about you last time.”

Kuangchi then recalled the incident—Zixia had indeed scolded him for a blunder in the Night Banquet Garden and made a similar remark. He hadn’t expected Xiaohua to remember it.

He glared at Xiaohua in annoyance. “No matter what, you can’t say that to me. Zixia can, but you absolutely can’t—you’re my Divine Martial Beast, part of me, understand?”

Xiaohua nodded and said no more, but her words had left a deep impression on Kuangchi.

After pondering for a while, he finally said, “You’re not wrong. Let’s do as you suggest—come on, let’s go gather some Frost Ice Pearls.”

With Xiaohua and Xiaohei helping in the search, it took only three days to find seven Frost Ice Pearls by the lakeshore. These pearls were actually crystalline bone beads found atop the skulls of certain transparent, meter-long monstrous fish inhabiting the Weakwater Lake. The fish’s skulls were exceptionally hard and bore sharp teeth.

The first time Kuangchi saw these teeth, he tried hacking one with the knife Old Tuo had lent him, but it left only a faint white mark. He even tossed one into Xiaohei’s vast maw to test its corrosive power, but nothing happened. It was the first time Kuangchi had encountered an organic substance that Xiaohei couldn’t dissolve.