Aomi slowly turns his attention back to the crying Níng.
He spreads his legs, sits down, and gathers her into his arms.
After a long while, she finally begins to calm down.
Aomi gently nudges her.
She looks up at him with puffy, red eyes.
“W-what?”
Aomi hesitates before asking, “Are you okay now?”
“A little.”
“A little is still better.”
He glances at the corpses before asking, “You killed them all?”
Níng nods slowly.
Aomi is stunned when he notices the dead men’s robes.
They belong to Heavenly Court.
Oh…
They must be rank five immortals who came here to grow stronger, huh?
Well, I guess this Níng is more capable than I thought.
He looks around and counts twelve corpses, all of them rank five immortals.
Adjusting his hold on Níng, he lifts her onto his lap and leans closer.
“Níng, are you ready to leave?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not. We can stay here for a while.”
Aomi slowly lifts his robe, allowing the Winter White Fox to peek out.
Níng stares at it for a moment before her eyes light up.
She immediately pulls it out.
“Aww! Aomi’s spirit! It’s soo cute!”
Aomi watches as she hugs the little fox tightly.
I intended to burn the corpses, but now she’s busy taking care of it?
Ugh…
I seriously don’t know what to do.
But still…
He glances at the corpses again.
I have to burn them before anyone arrives.
Aomi straightens up and focuses his spiritual energy, creating flames at his fingertips.
I can still use all the spiritual paths?
He releases Níng, who is now completely occupied with the Winter White Fox.
Flames erupt from his fingertips as he slowly draws a circle around the corpses.
Once he finishes, he turns toward Níng and speaks firmly.
“Get up. We have to leave now.”
Níng finally looks up from the fox and points toward a section of the wall.
“I found a chamber.”
Aomi blinks, surprised and curious, before looking in the direction she’s pointing.
“Where?”
Níng gets up, picks up her spear, and carries the Winter White Fox in one hand.
She approaches the wall and touches a particular rock with her spear.
Aomi watches in surprise before peering inside.
The chamber contains a pot and several drums, with drumsticks hanging beside them.
They enter as the area behind them continues to burn.
Aomi follows Níng inside, and the entrance closes behind them.
The Winter White Fox leaps from her hands and returns to Aomi’s pouch.
“It looks more like a trial than a chamber.”
He inspects the drums one last time before walking toward the pot.
Níng follows him and peeks over its edge.
Inside lies a blue spider lily.
Aomi raises an eyebrow and leans closer, but Níng leans even farther over the pot, eyeing the flower curiously.
“What is this?!”
Aomi glances at her.
“A spirit, I guess. It can be a flower, an insect, or an animal.”
“Huh?! I remember that from the Xue Sect when I was small!”
Aomi simply nods and picks up the flower.
What power does it have?
He squints at the blue spider lily while Níng wanders over to the drums and picks up the sticks.
“Hey, what about this, Aomi?”
Aomi tilts his head toward her.
“I guess we have to make a beat to open another chamber of the trial.”
“Okay… Hmm… I think I know one.”
She begins striking the drums loudly, producing a surprisingly rhythmic beat.
Aomi turns toward her, still holding the blue spider lily.
Reminds me of rock back on Earth.
He shakes off the thought and looks back at the flower.
If I remember correctly, this is the Gang region.
I might be able to learn more about this spirit somewhere around here.
I can feel that it’s a rank five Stark spirit, though.
Before he can continue, the chamber trembles.
A hidden door opens, snapping Aomi out of his reverie.
Bright light spills from the new entrance, catching his attention.
He turns toward Níng in surprise.
“What?! I’m surprised I can play the drums!”
Níng raises one hand above her head, holding a drumstick triumphantly as she grins.
Aomi simply nods and walks into the next chamber.
It is much larger than the previous one, with flames burning all around them.
Scorching heat fills the space, making the air heavy and suffocating.
Soon, both begin to sweat as they survey their surroundings.
“What is this place? There’s nothing here except fire!”
Níng complains about the unbearable heat while wiping her forehead.
Aomi calmly examines the chamber.
Before he can say anything, the Winter White Fox pokes its head out of his pouch.
The little fox opens its mouth and blows a stream of frost into the chamber.
The temperature drops rapidly as ice spreads across the floor and creeps up the walls.
One by one, the surrounding flames weaken before being extinguished completely.
Aomi lowers his gaze toward the Winter White Fox.
I guess it knows what to do.
Suddenly, the ground begins to tremble.
Aomi narrows his eyes as the frozen floor shakes beneath his feet.
Crack!
Thick layers of ice rise from the ground and gather together as an enormous figure begins to take shape.
Snow and ice converge, forming massive limbs and a towering body.
Its broad shoulders rise toward the ceiling as its head slowly takes shape above them.
Before long, a gigantic stone golem stands before Aomi and Níng.
Aomi grins and draws his white-fall axe.
The Winter White Fox wraps itself around his neck, causing the veins in his arms and neck to glow blue.
Níng grins as well, gripping her spear while blue mist envelops her body.
“Aomiii! I think we finally got a challenge!”
Aomi nods and begins charging a white sphere of energy on his axe.
“Well, maybe. But I liked drowning those barbarians back in the forest.”
Níng chuckles loudly and leaps sideways, dodging the golem’s massive hand as it crashes down toward her.
“I guess you like inhuman methods, don’t you? Ao-mi?”
Aomi blasts off one of the golem’s legs, creating a thick cloud of smoke.
A streak flashes through the smoke as Níng slides forward on her knees, slicing through the golem’s other leg.
“Ha! Gotcha! Did you see that, Aomi?!”
“Yeah.”
Aomi answers before pinning the golem’s legs to its hands, preventing it from moving freely.
“Now that we’re done, we need something big to kill it.”
Níng grins and nods, looking around.
“What can we use?”
Aomi surveys the chamber as well.
Soon, both of their eyes land on a massive spike of ice protruding from the middle of the wall.
“Oh. It must have formed after everything froze!”
Aomi simply nods and prepares his axe.
…
With one swift strike, he shatters the base of the ice spike.
The enormous spike breaks free and crashes downward, decapitating the golem.
“It’s done, so—”
“What’s that?”
Níng interrupts him, pointing toward the golem’s neck, where another white spider lily is beginning to grow.
Aomi understands at a glance.
Oh, this trial is giving us items to refine with after all.
He approaches the fallen golem and picks up the flower.
Nearby, he also discovers a glowing stone.
Níng pulls the stone out of the golem and stares at it, still confused.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Aomi places both spider lilies and the glowing stone into his pouch.
Then, the stone wall slides open, revealing the entrance to the next chamber.