Crossing the snow-white foothills, passing through frost, snow, and mist, they trudged through the snow for half an hour. Weilin finally followed Elizabeth back to her home.
—A hidden cave beneath a mountain stream.
Lega Weilin followed Elizabeth inside and looked around. She found no signs of life in the vast, empty cave besides the two of them. Surprise flickered in her heart. If Elizabeth had always lived alone… how lonely that must be?
“A very pure… but very faint crystal aura… Hm?”
Sensing something, Weilin’s gaze swept down to the unnaturally smooth and level ground beneath her feet.
The floor, laid out like a layer of crystalline ice, was scattered with tiny, glimmering ice crystals.
Looking up, she saw the cave ceiling was also covered in fine ice crystals, twinkling like a starry sky… They were as tiny as grains of sand, but the purity of their aura surprised even Weilin.
“This cave… it actually gathers the leyline spiritual energy of the entire Snow Domain mountain range. Logically, nurturing a crystal mine shouldn’t be difficult.”
As Weilin spoke, her gaze shifted to Elizabeth. The latter had her head lowered, biting her tender lip, her chest heaving.
“…Big Sister is right.”
Her voice was full of the grief, indignation, and hatred of the powerless.
“This place was originally a naturally formed crystal mine. Our Crystal Companion White Mouse clan lived here for generations, happy and peaceful, without conflict with the world. Until that day… a group of humans broke in. The clan members were all…”
“The White Mice… were they killed?”
If they had truly been killed or violated, Weilin felt that even if she didn’t fly into a rage on the spot, she would absolutely harbor deep hatred… and repay it whenever she encountered the perpetrators!
“No.”
When Elizabeth lifted her head, her eyes were already reddening. “Those humans not only took all the crystal ore, they also abducted all the clan members… And I, I only narrowly escaped because everyone pooled their strength to use a high-level illusion magic on me…”
“Later, I went to Snowcell City and inquired through every possible channel before I learned that everyone had been sold to the Cloudstride Merchant Guild. I ran to beg the Guild people, but they only recognized money… they gave me a one-month deadline. They said if I couldn’t gather 10,000 Gold Coins to redeem them, the Guild would transport them all to the main headquarters…”
“10,000 Gold Coins…” Weilin couldn’t help but shake her head inwardly, though her face remained impassive. She asked, “The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Sand should fetch about 3,000 Gold Coins if resold. Adding this 3,000, can you make 10,000?”
“Today is the final deadline. I must set out immediately! As for the money… it’s not enough, but the difference isn’t that much. As long as I’m persistent enough, I believe they will make an exception………… right?”
Saying this, she lowered her head again. Clearly, Elizabeth herself wasn’t very confident.
“…”
Weilin didn’t want to speak.
Firstly, with her power, where in the world couldn’t she go? There was absolutely no need to hire some guide who would only slow her down.
Yet the payment had already been made, but the White Mouse hadn’t even fulfilled her duty as a guide. And now, without even a moment’s rest, she was preparing to rush off to the city…
Was she supposed to wear herself out running alongside her? Hah, impossible.
“Ah, right, I haven’t forgotten my duty as Big Sister’s guide… If Big Sister is tired, please don’t hesitate to rest here first. I’ll come back as soon as possible after redeeming everyone. When I do, I won’t just fulfill my duty as a host and complete my work for Big Sister… our clan will treat Big Sister as a great benefactor.”
Elizabeth walked on her short little legs towards a large rice vat. She struggled to jump up, retrieved a heavy bag of gold coins from inside, placed the coin purse into the wooden basket on her back, and then took a black bamboo hat and a black cloak hanging on the wall.
…Finally, she turned to face Weilin.
She bowed deeply, her attitude deeply apologetic yet absolutely resolute:
“Now, I must go. …Regarding Big Sister’s matter, Elizabeth will not break her promise. Please wait for my return with peace of mind.”
“I’ll go too.”
Weilin gazed at her and suddenly spoke these simple words.
In the end, she couldn’t rest easy about this fool. To actually believe that 10,000 Gold Coins could redeem all her clan members.
Elizabeth thought she was hallucinating, but then she heard Weilin take the lead in explaining: “I’m afraid you’ll run away.”
“I… I would never run… couldn’t bear to either (super quietly)…”
“Then I’m afraid you’ll be sold off without even knowing it. If you get sold, what about the payment I gave you? Go find another one?”
“Big Sister… do you really intend to come with me? Snowcell City is forty to fifty li from here. We might not even have time to rest on the road. Even so…?”
“My god, what are you worried about? Twenty Spatial Warps and I’ll be there in a few minutes. You’re the one who has to slowly walk there, right?” Weilin facepalmed.
“QAQ…………”
She accidentally pointed out a sad truth.
But ultimately, Weilin wasn’t heartless enough to make Elizabeth travel alone.
Spatial Warp couldn’t be used on others, and she hadn’t learned any group acceleration magic.
She had no blueprints for crafting a transportation tool; her Divine Craftsman title was useless without them.
Even if her home had a mine, she’d never even been to Snowcell City, so setting up a Teleportation Array was even more out of the question.
For these reasons, Weilin could only set off on foot with Elizabeth.
Fortunately, there was still plenty of time, as long as they arrived before the city gates closed at sunset.
Along the way, Elizabeth even had the good fortune to taste Weilin’s personally made cuisine.
Weilin was indeed the successor of a Magic Cuisine Master. After finishing that bowl of ‘Crystal Rice in Gemsap’, Elizabeth felt a numbing sensation throughout her body, as if her clothes were about to burst open from that pinnacle of deliciousness. Afterwards, her entire body collapsed limply onto Weilin’s arm, dazed and entranced…
Because she possessed the Eye of Truth that could quantify strength, Weilin could see that after Elizabeth ate the ‘Crystal Rice in Gemsap’, all her attributes had surged by nearly ten percent. Her Mana of 420 directly rose to 460!
A ten percent increase in Mana might not seem like much; a low-grade Mana Amplification Potion could achieve the same… But if it was a permanent increase, that was a concept on an entirely different level.
However, Lega Weilin felt that even without the permanent stat-boosting effect, based on the taste alone—no less exquisite than the apothecary king’s personal cooking—it could still make the entire world flock to her.
Four hours later, the two successfully arrived at Snowcell City.
·
【Spatial Warp received an epic-level nerf】
【Spatial Warp: Allows for non-delayed spatial warping within a maximum range of 999.99 meters (related to Mental Strength)】
