With my final stroke, the contract diagram spun in mid-air, splitting into two. One part entered Bai Ling'er's body, while the other burrowed into my hand.
Instantly, I felt something new within me, a sense of connection, like a tether. I looked at the elder in confusion.
Simultaneously, Bai Ling'er, with its human-like eyes, also turned towards the elder. It too sensed something amiss within its body.
The elder coughed and addressed Bai Ling'er, "As you know, the Yin Nether Contract is not easily broken. Signing it is simple, but dissolving it is incredibly difficult. This contract will take at least three years to completely sever the link between you."
"So, we'll still be connected for three years? And it..."
"You don't need to worry about that. During this time, it can leave you freely. Your life or death is no longer its concern. However, if you die, it will suffer a severe blow and its cultivation will be greatly reduced. Its life, however, will be safe."
"So, you're still asking me to protect it for three years."
The elder shrugged. "I didn't say that. Whether you do it or not is entirely up to you."
Upon hearing this, Bai Ling'er's human-like eyes flickered rapidly. "Three years? That's nothing. I can stay with him, no problem. But all my food and drink during this period must be provided by you. Do you agree?"
Without a second thought, I immediately agreed to Bai Ling'er's terms.
The elder had said that Bai Ling'er could reach the level of a Ghost Emperor. Even now, its strength had only dropped to that of a Yin Soul due to crossing the Han River, but it was only a matter of time before it recovered to the strength of a Ghost General. Having such a powerful free bodyguard accompanying me for three years would be foolish to refuse.
"Of course. As long as we leave here, food and drink are on me."
"Then it's settled," Bai Ling'er said, its "face" showing excitement. "Now, quickly tell me how to retrieve your seal, and then we can leave this place as soon as possible."
The elder was not one for unnecessary words. He waved his hands in the air twice and then handed Bai Ling'er an energy mass the size of a soybean, emanating the aura of the Tiger Kui Seal.
"Carry this with you, and you can find the Tiger Kui Seal by following its energy."
Bai Ling'er swallowed the soybean-sized energy in one gulp, flicked its tail, and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment."
Seeing the elder call Bai Ling'er back, it looked a little confused. "What is it?"
"Be careful when you go to retrieve the Tiger Kui Seal. I sense a dangerous aura near it. Don't get hurt by it." Su Dan Novel Network.
Bai Ling'er nodded its human-like head, replied that it understood, and then leaped out the window.
As soon as it left, the elder let out a mouthful of silvery-white "blood," and the temperature in the entire cell dropped by several degrees.
"Elder, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"
The elder coughed a couple of times, causing the air in front of him to form pure white frost. "I'm fine. I just expended a lot of cultivation. I won't die yet. Cough cough..."
"It's not because of the contract..."
The elder nodded. "That's right. The Yin Nether Contract is not easily altered. As the contractor, I naturally suffered a backlash."
"This is all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have..."
The elder interrupted me. "You can't entirely blame yourself. If the contract's efficacy wasn't altered, that little white snake would never have helped us retrieve the Tiger Kui Seal, even if it meant death. But what good is its high cultivation? It's still being toyed with in my palm! Hahaha... cough cough..."
"Kid, whether you can subdue it in the future depends on you. Now, I need to recover my strength." With that, the elder sat cross-legged on the weeds, his silvery-white flames faintly emitting a soft glow.
"I..."
The words I wanted to ask had to be swallowed back down.
I could only tug at some weeds and move away from the elder. Ever since he began cultivating, the temperature in the entire cell had been dropping. I estimated it was close to zero degrees now. The bloodstains that had fallen on the ground earlier had already formed a layer of frost.
All I had was a tattered robe and a pair of half-cut denim shorts. The room was so small, even moving further away from the elder couldn't change the continuously dropping temperature.
Helplessly, I started running in small circles within the room to keep myself warm and prevent freezing to death here.
As I ran, I suddenly thought, why don't I meditate to restore the Xuan Yang Qi within my body?
"I'm so stupid."
I cursed myself and sat down.
At first, it was incredibly cold. It took several attempts to finally cross my legs. Then, I circulated the Xuan Yang Heavenly Dipper Art, the mental technique taught by my master.
In a short while, I felt a warmth emanating from below my abdomen. That warmth was like a small flame, slowly driving away the coldness within me. Once my entire body felt warm, the stream of heat began to circulate rapidly throughout my body.
The warm current, initially as thin as a strand of hair, became thicker as it circulated faster. After circulating thirty-six heavenly cycles, it had become as thick as a chopstick.
This was the limit of my Xuan Yang Qi.
Ever since I learned to control the Xuan Yang Qi Palm and master Yin Gua, my master had always told me to only circulate thirty-six heavenly cycles and no more, stating that the Heavenly Dipper number was immutable. Because of this, I had never tried to circulate even one extra cycle to see what would happen.
For some reason this time, the warm current within me was like a galloping wild horse. Even when I stopped circulating the Xuan Yang Heavenly Dipper Art, it continued to move rapidly. After half a cycle, I felt as if my body was on fire, and my meridians felt a burning pain.
It felt like a red-hot iron wire was darting through my blood vessels, causing excruciating pain wherever it passed. I felt as if my entire body was about to split open.
I started to panic. What should I do?
Just then, I suddenly felt another cold force enter my body. Instantly, all the heat from my Xuan Yang Qi turned outwards, focusing on this incoming cold force. As the two forces clashed, I felt a sweetness in my throat, and then I fainted.
When I woke up, I saw the elder looking at me with a worried expression.
The elder breathed a sigh of relief. "What are you doing messing around? Is this place suitable for cultivation?"
I scratched my head, somewhat confused. If you can cultivate, why can't I? My confused look did not escape the elder's notice. He casually gave me a rap on the head.
"Don't compare yourself to me. How many years have I been cultivating, and how many years have you? If I hadn't sensed a strange heat within the room just now, you would have been burned to death by your own Xuan Yang Qi."
"Could it be that this place is strange?"
The elder snorted. "It's more than just strange."
Estimating that Bai Ling'er would not be back anytime soon and that cultivating would be life-threatening, I pressed further, "Elder, since you know so many things, tell me about them so I can broaden my horizons and not foolishly cultivate myself to death in the future."
"That's your own business, what does it have to do with me? Keep waiting. It will call me when it returns." With that, the elder lay down on the pile of weeds, and his snoring filled the room.
"..."