Cool and refreshing, ever since all the spiritual energy in her body had been transformed into fire spiritual energy, Tang Muxi had never felt so comfortable.
It was as if a pot of extremely cold ice spring was pouring over her head, the chill penetrating her bones, extinguishing all the blazing flames within her body.
The cold aura gathered in every corner of her body, moisturizing the dried spiritual veins and filling them with power as if they were brimming with strength.
Tang Muxi slowly opened her eyes, and what met her gaze was a frigid and clear cold pool surrounded by frosty mist, extremely icy and cold, faintly emitting starlight like dazzling ice crystals, so cold that even breathing seemed to freeze.
Such an extremely cold place should have been uncomfortable, but Tang Muxi felt not only no discomfort but also a deep, nostalgic affection, as if she were in her mother’s embrace.
—Ding Ling— The crisp sound of Xuan Ice colliding came from behind, instantly shattering the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere.
Startled, Tang Muxi turned towards the sound, only to see a snow fox.
The snow fox appeared to be in its juvenile stage, no more than a foot long, with a body pure as snow and a pair of ink-colored eyes as beautiful as jade, clear and sparkling.
It emitted a cold light all over, carrying a chilly fragrance, clearly not an ordinary fox.
Upon its arrival, the cold frosty air hovering above the cold pool slowly gathered towards it, like shining gems adorning its surroundings.
Tang Muxi’s eyes widened slightly, having never seen such a cute little animal before.
She excitedly reached out to touch the snow fox’s fur.
However, this abrupt movement seemed to startle the little creature, which hastily retreated several steps, causing the sparkling frost in the air to scatter like fine sand flying all around.
With her hand missing its target, Tang Muxi coughed awkwardly and asked softly, “Is it you who has been trapping me here and not letting me leave?”
The snow fox, having opened its spiritual intelligence and able to understand human speech though not very capable of speaking, thought it was being reprimanded.
Its small head shrank back, and its crystal-clear eyes filled with panic.
Its snow-white left front paw trembled slightly, making it clear that it might turn and flee at any moment.
Flee?
That wouldn’t do!
She was still counting on it to help her leave!
Tang Muxi quickly changed her tone and reached out to keep it from leaving, “Don’t go! I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life at the end.”
It must be said, having been a villain for so many lifetimes, she hadn’t learned many skills, but she did have a knack for deceiving children.
Hearing that she wasn’t reprimanding it but instead thanking it, the little snow fox didn’t leave.
Still fearful of strangers, it continued to stand far away in the corner, hiding its back half in the dim, drifting ice fog, its round eyes timid yet curious as it watched Tang Muxi.
Since she wanted to express goodwill, she couldn’t come empty-handed.
Tang Muxi thought for a moment and took out some smoked meat strips from her storage bag, placing them on a piece of oil paper.
“Here, want to eat?”
Underneath Tang Muxi’s gentle smile was a cunning plan, much like a child trafficker luring with tasty food.
Tang Muxi had been unconscious for two days, and during this time, the little snow fox had been foraging on its own.
It wasn’t capable of making delicious food and had to eat raw, bloodied meat.
Now, with exquisite meat strips in front of it, it drooled profusely.
Its clever nose sniffed tentatively, and it took a step forward with its little paw, seeing no malice from her.
Using its spiritual power, it quickly snatched a few smoked meat strips and retreated into the thick fog, tilting its head as it ate.
Seeing it enjoying the food, Tang Muxi realized she was also quite hungry and simply took out some more to eat with it.
The little snow fox ate quickly; the few smoked meat strips were hardly enough to fill its stomach.
After finishing, it licked the grease from the corners of its mouth with its pink tongue and wagged its tail as it looked at Tang Muxi.
Its gaze was intense, almost writing “I want more” on its face, its tail sweeping back and forth, truly hard to ignore.
Tang Muxi raised an eyebrow, chuckled silently to herself, and thought, “Hooked.”
“Do you want more?”
She took out another palm-sized piece of meat, reluctantly placing it on the oil paper, “This is the last piece…”
The little snow fox was clearly timid, but when it came to food, it was anything but polite.
Even though Tang Muxi had said it was the last piece, the little creature didn’t hesitate and snatched it away.
Although small, it had a big appetite.
It had only eaten a few pieces today; how could it be full?
After finishing, it wagged its tail again, looking expectantly at Tang Muxi.
Tang Muxi inwardly smirked but appeared very troubled on the surface, spreading her hands, “There’s none left, that was the last piece, I’m not even full myself.”
Hearing this, the little foodie’s tail drooped down, quite disappointed.
However, before it could sulk for long, it suddenly thought of something and activated its spiritual power.
A blinding white light flashed, and next to the cold pool appeared a cow, its eyes bright and hopeful, clearly expecting her to help it roast the meat.
Tang Muxi was surprised; this little guy was not easy to please.
So, she frowned and thought for a while, then shook her head, “I’m sick, I can’t condense enough flames right now, can you make a fire? If you can, I can help you roast the meat.”
This time, she wasn’t lying.
Although Tang Muxi’s body was full of power now, the effects of her spiritual energy flowing in reverse hadn’t been resolved, and she could only operate her spiritual energy but not enough to condense flames, so she needed the snow fox to do it for her.
However, not to mention the snow fox’s icy appearance, which likely couldn’t condense flames, just the cold and damp cave of the cold pool, even if there was fire, it probably wouldn’t burn.
As expected, the little snow fox clumsily used its magic, but it could never condense flames, at most producing some smoke, and then there was no follow-up.
Tang Muxi felt really bad, having fooled the little snow fox around.
But she was also forced into a corner; this creature had been trapping her, and without finding the big demon or clinging to powerful legs, it wasn’t a solution; she had to get out as soon as possible.
Since the snow fox couldn’t make fire and became disheartened again, its entire body slumped down.
Seeing the timing was about right, Tang Muxi spoke up again, “However, if you can take me out, the air outside is dry, I might be able to figure something out.”
Just this sentence couldn’t move the stubborn little guy, so Tang Muxi played the sympathy card, “My senior sister came in with me, she can’t cook, and has no ability to protect herself, and now we’ve been separated for over ten days. In this dangerous place, she could die at any moment. Can you take me out to find her? When the time comes, I’ll make as much meat as you want, I won’t let you starve.”
At this moment, Jiang Yin, who was riding on a vulture and matching wits with it, sneezed, looking puzzled: Who’s cursing me?
The little snow fox then hesitantly stepped forward, walking out from the corner.
Tang Muxi thought it had agreed, her heart leaping with joy, just about to flatter and continue to deceive, when she saw that one of the snow fox’s hind legs was bound by a huge Xuan Ice chain.
The chain was extremely thick, wrapped around the small hind leg forming a stark contrast.
Fortunately, the chain wasn’t tightly bound to the hind leg but floated around it, relying on the spiritual power emitted by the Xuan Ice, making it impossible for the little snow fox to break free.
The Xuan Ice circulated with runes, emitting an extremely gloomy aura, as if a gigantic creature stood before you, its oppressive power making it hard to breathe.
Tang Muxi was startled, finally understanding why the little snow fox had been unwilling to take her out.
It turned out that it wasn’t just about taking her out; it was trapped here itself and couldn’t escape.
Tang Muxi’s heart trembled fiercely, her heart racing as she gently stroked the little snow fox.
This time, it didn’t flee again, lowering its head very obediently.
“Have you always been trapped here?”
The little snow fox gently nodded, and with its movement, the thick ice crystals collided with each other, emitting a crisp sound.
Tang Muxi sighed and continued to comfort the snow fox, then carefully observed the Xuan Ice chain.
A question suddenly arose in her heart: The snow fox itself could manipulate ice, so why couldn’t it unlock the chain?
So, she asked.
This time, the little snow fox’s body lowered even more, shaking its head in disappointment.
It didn’t express itself verbally, directly showing her the answer through its actions.
The snow fox activated its magic, and the cold power on its body suddenly erupted, the ice fog around the cold pool obeying its summons, condensing in the air into dozens of huge ice spikes, each carrying the power of extreme cold, fierce and surging, and in an instant, all attacked the Xuan Ice chain.
Unfortunately, it was all bark and no bite; the imposing ice spikes, although powerful, disappeared like entering an ice lake the moment they touched the Xuan Ice, not even making a splash.
Not only that, after absorbing the ice spikes, the Xuan Ice chain’s radiance flowed, and after a while, the power condensed within it was even stronger than before.
Tang Muxi then understood that the snow fox’s cold power was all absorbed by the chain, adding to its bindings, no wonder it couldn’t break free.
If it couldn’t be destroyed in one strike, the Xuan Ice chain, which had eaten away at its own power, would only become stronger.
This was indeed a problem.
Tang Muxi couldn’t tell the snow fox’s strength, but judging from that strike just now, it must be at least at the Golden Core stage.
If even a Golden Core couldn’t break the Xuan Ice, how could she?
If she couldn’t break it, did that mean she had to stay here until the secret realm forcibly threw her out?
For a moment, both human and fox were lost in their thoughts, both sinking into a low mood.
Just then, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and Tang Muxi abruptly looked up, “Wait, Xuan Ice!”
How could she have forgotten, Xuan Ice was still ice, and if it was ice, it could be melted with fire!
She couldn’t produce a Golden Core’s flame, but she could, like the reverse flow of spiritual energy, directly transform the mutated power inside the Xuan Ice into fire spiritual energy!
Using the spear to attack the shield, the Xuan Ice would absorb the snow fox’s extreme cold power to strengthen itself, and she could also reverse the attributes of the Xuan Ice’s power, causing it to collapse from within!
The more Tang Muxi thought about it, the more it made sense, and she shared her idea with the little snow fox.
Although the little snow fox itself could go against its attributes and forcibly use other spiritual energies, its control power was greatly reduced, just like earlier, it couldn’t even condense a single flame.
By analogy, it was skeptical of Tang Muxi’s words.
But seeing the genuine surprise in her eyes, it reluctantly nodded, then opened its mouth and called out twice.
The cub’s whining sound came out, and it remembered that this person couldn’t understand beast language, so it condensed the ice fog into text, floating in front of her: If you can unlock the Xuan Ice, I can definitely take you to find your senior sister!
Tang Muxi was surprised and nodded with a smile, “It’s a deal.”
