The cultivator stopped cultivating, and the temperature inside the prison cell rose considerably. Coupled with the fact that my own internal Xuan Yang Qi had fully recovered, I didn't feel too cold. However, waiting alone was boring, so I grabbed a large armful of weeds from the pile beside the cultivator and spread them out nearby, inadvertently dozing off.
As I was half-asleep, thinking about how I could ask my master to save my father once I returned, I felt something approach me.
Instinctively, I opened my eyes and saw that it was Bai Ling'er.
Its pure white scales were now patchy black and white, and its two human-like large eyes were slightly red, looking as if it had been crying.
I carefully held it in my hands, "Ling'er, what happened to you? Didn't you get the Hu Kui Seal? How did you end up like this?"
When Bai Ling'er left, the cultivator had told it that there might be danger at the Hu Kui Seal and to be careful. At the time, I thought that Bai Ling'er was a ghost general after all. Even if it hadn't fully recovered its strength, it should have been able to retreat safely even if it encountered Zuo Quan and couldn't win. How could it return in such a terrible state in the blink of an eye? Su Dan Novel Network
As I was speaking, I saw the cultivator's body move. Clearly, he had woken up, but for some reason, he hadn't sat up directly.
Bai Ling'er glanced cautiously at the cultivator, not realizing he was awake. After giving him a glare, it said, "This big liar, who is that ordinary person near the Hu Kui Seal? That's a Ghost King a level higher than me, and their strength is countless times greater than mine. If I hadn't sensed danger and run back immediately, I would have died there. Wuwu... look what he's done to me..."
Listening to Ling'er's words, it turned out it hadn't won the fight and had been beaten back.
While Bai Ling'er was crying, the cultivator had already sat up, his brow furrowed, and an unreadable light flickering in his eyes.
"Did he make a move on you?" the cultivator asked, a hint of dominance in his tone. If he weren't so disheveled, I might have mistaken him for a Ghost King.
Bai Ling'er, who had been crying heartbrokenly, was so startled by the cultivator's question that it stopped crying. It choked and said, "More than just making a move, look, he knocked off quite a few of my scales. How will I show my face to anyone after this!"
I was speechless and rolled my eyes, remaining silent.
"Hmph, is he trying to engage in a battle of wits with me from afar?" The cultivator closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before opening them again. "Then I'll let you know that even if I'm confined here, you people can't contend with me."
Then, the cultivator cut open his left wrist, and a stream of silver-white blood flowed out. He slightly curved his right hand, and Bai Ling'er appeared in his palm.
"You're lucky, have a drink!"
Bai Ling'er, whose human-like eyes had been filled with fear, now flashed with excitement. It cautiously asked, "Really?"
"Hurry up."
After receiving a positive answer, Bai Ling'er didn't hesitate. Looking at the gurgling silver-white blood, it became as excited as if it had seen its parents and immediately sucked it in.
A blood bead, the size of a grape, directly entered Bai Ling'er's mouth.
Then, Bai Ling'er's body began to swell and contract as if something was trying to break out from within.
"Mmm..."
"Greedy." The cultivator, using the bloodstain as ink and his finger as a brush, continuously painted in the air. A pair of wing-like things were drawn and then landed behind Bai Ling'er's eyes, making it look as if it had grown a pair of small wings, which was incredibly cute.
Then, the cultivator dotted three points on its belly. Bai Ling'er then returned to its original appearance, its scales still emitting a pure white jade luster, and its two human-like eyes shimmering with golden light.
"I have temporarily injected some of my power into you. As long as you get close to the Hu Kui Seal, you don't need to worry about the rest."
Bai Ling'er nodded excitedly and then left through the window without even looking at me.
Not long after it left, I heard a violent explosion from outside, the sound comparable to dynamite.
"Cultivator, what is this..."
"It's nothing, just the demolition of a pavilion."
Another loud bang followed, and I felt the entire prison cell shake. Dust rained down from the ceiling.
Just as I was worried if the prison cell would collapse, a white figure flashed, and Bai Ling'er appeared in the cell, the Hu Kui Seal in its mouth.
"Here, for you." Bai Ling'er directly handed the Hu Kui Seal to the cultivator and then turned back to return to above my head.
After the cultivator took the Hu Kui Seal, his entire aura changed. His eyes shot out silver-white light more than a foot long. Although it only lasted for a few seconds, the oppressive pressure made me feel as if an eternity had passed.
"We can leave here now."
The cultivator stood up, his imposing aura dissipating. He walked to the door, and without any visible movement, the unbreakable iron door flew outwards.
Boom—
After watching the cultivator leave, I followed in his footsteps. As I passed the iron door, I instinctively took a closer look and found that the iron door was nearly a meter thick.
"My heavens, this is simply too violent," I exclaimed in surprise. "But I like it, hehe..."
Then, after taking a turn, I saw more than ten guards holding weapons and facing me. I turned to run, but Bai Ling'er, from above, hit me with its tail.
"Why are you running? Are they all dead?"
"Dead?"
I curiously walked forward and found that they had all turned into ice sculptures. A touch of my finger turned them into dust.
"Ling'er, what do you think the cultivator's cultivation level is? How is he so powerful?" I asked with some curiosity.
"How would I know? Anyway, you just need to know that he's incredibly powerful." Saying that, it hit me again with its small tail. "Hurry up and follow, or you'll miss the good show if you're late."
Although I was unhappy about being treated as a "mount" by Ling'er, considering that it would be a great bodyguard in the future and I would have to rely on it to save face, I accepted being its mount.
Upon exiting the dungeon, I discovered that the entire prince's mansion had become a world of ice. The houses were frozen, the walls were frozen, and even the candlelight burning along the roadside was covered in a layer of frost, the flames frozen within the ice.
Thinking that all of this was the cultivator's doing, I couldn't help but shiver. "Heavens! Did he unleash an ancestor?"
The dungeon was located at the rockery behind the prince's mansion. The further I walked, the more severe the freezing became, the entire view a world of ice and snow.
It wasn't until I was nearing the main gate of the prince's mansion that I saw the cultivator confronting someone. The man was wearing a blue long robe, a jade belt around his waist, and his hair was casually tied up with a pine wood hairpin. He was currently looking at the cultivator with an angry expression.
"I knew that place couldn't hold you, but if you're coming out, why did you kill so many people?"
The cultivator said casually, "Are you feeling heartbroken? I told you before, as long as I'm here, you won't be able to reign supreme here. Now, die."
As he uttered the word "die," a snake tens of meters long and as thick as a bowl formed in front of the cultivator. The snake raised its head slightly, as if letting out a sky-piercing roar, and soared forward, directly striking the man in blue.