'So.....how do we go about this?'
Rihanna was sitting on the bed. The frozen body of Fluffy lay on one side of the bed, the ice still melting. Looking at him, she felt like she was thawing a chicken...hmmm.....then marinate....heat the oil....and deep fry....!! What was she thinking? Was there a master as evil as her?! No-no....she meant, once the ice had all melted away, she could collect Fluffy's soul from the Spirit Space and then help them to meld together! Yes....that is exactly what she meant!
'Hmph! I can tell what nonsense is running through your mind even without peeping into it.....devil girl!'
'Tsk! Focus on what I said....not what I did not say!'
She had just returned from taking a tour of the Mayor's office.....well, at least she had taken a stroll around the gates and outer courtyard! She dared not venture any further once Little Purple said that he could sense some high level cultivators within the inner part. Still, she managed to obtain some valuable information from the guards and other low level officials. Like....the exact location where the three groups had gone missing.
And some know-how about the Dormions. Well, they were basically bandits....a group of cultivator bandits. Like Beyi, Cetra too didn't much care for what happened outside the cities, leading to a number of small and big rogue groups emerging in various places. However, in Cetra, most of these bandit groups were under the surveillance of the government, and they would be nabbed immediately if they created too much trouble. The Dormions were a small group of such rogue cultivators.
They survived by robbing other cultivators who came to hunt for resources in Ice Fire Desert, or snatch and kill small groups of mercenaries out on missions. The government more or less knew their location, and since their spread area was too small for them to be concerned, they had let them alone for many years.
But a few weeks ago a pocket formed somewhere in the desert. A pocket was a separate dimensional space, naturally formed when the two different energies grew in concentration. As their strength grew, the collision between the two opposing energies would create great friction, either resulting in an explosion, or sometimes, resulting in a separate dimensional space. These pockets were unstable, and did not last long before they collapsed, unable to maintain the amount of colliding energy required. But due to the intensity of energy inside, they often gave birth to rare and precious plants, minerals, ores and even beasts. Thus these pockets were highly sought.
Unfortunately, the Dormions this time were hit with rare luck, having come across this high grade illusion hog around the time the pocket formed. Living in the desert their whole lives, they found the place where the pocket had formed very quickly, and using the illusion hog, they completely blocked off the entry to this place, becoming the sole owners of this dimensional space and all the things inside it.
Of course, others couldn't allow them to hog the entire place, but all the groups who had gone after them had gone missing, probably still stuck in the illusion, or maybe even killed. Now the government was also growing antsy, and they were actually wanting to recruit the lone cultivators in the city to form teams and eliminate the Dormions. But illusion hogs were known for their powerful and almost unbreakable illusions, and as yet they had not found a method of breaking this illusion.
'We should leave before the government here sends its own team. Once the teams reach the place, there'll be too many people, and there is not only danger for you, but even Phantasm might get seriously injured from backlash when they try to break the illusion. It would be best if we can leave by tonight.'
'Ditch the Uncle's once again?....No....I should just inform them that I am leaving for the ancient Beast Sect a bit earlier.....but how do we tackle the Dormions? Do you think I can handle them?.....I did knock out a few foundation level cultivators before.....'
'First....they did not expect a commoner to be able to use elemental attack. I am sure they still think that you used some sort of spiritual tool. Second....they were not ready for an attack at all, and you took them by surprise. Third....you were wholly dependent on your emotions being out of control, which lead to a sort of berserk mode. Fourth....the space was very small, which made the effects of the sudden attack even larger. Now, do you think such a coincidence is really probable once again? Get off your high horse....at your current level, you will not even be able to manage one foundation level cultivator once he is prepared for you!'
Rihanna felt her self confidence deflating fast, and tried to shift the topic away from herself.
'Then....do you have any idea how we are supposed to go about it?'
'Hmmm....Phantasm is your contracted beast. Though you only have an equal contract, but you will not be affected by the illusion she creates as long as she is contracted to you. You have a chance to penetrate the illusion and approach her. But you must be careful, as those people must be on the lookout for the master of the illusion hog coming to take her away.....Hmmmm....It is quite a difficult task for you currently.'
Rihanna was feeling muddled the more she thought about it....she really needed to read up on some tactical books as well...she was participating in more and more rescue operations as she progressed in this world!
'Looks like we need to take things as they come, and make plans on the go. I will go out and take a tour of the markets in this city. I think I saw a lot of interesting plants and other stuff.....we should replenish our stocks.....they might come in handy. Tell me if you see anything that might help us on this mission.'
Rihanna once more turned her attention to Fluffy's body. The ice had almost completely melted. She closed her eyes and entered the spirit space. She had made it a point to come to this space every night before going to sleep. She didn't want Fluffy to feel unloved and lonely. And she also didn't want the weird temperamental seed to bully him.
In a short span of time, the space had already changed quite a bit. The seed had somehow managed to absorb and refine all the fire and ice dragons she had brought into the space, making her feel that this seed was actually a bottomless pit! But thankfully, the space had apparently gone through a minor upgrade!
The first and best thing was that the seed had grown roots, and was now firmly embedded into the soil. So, though it was still the boss of this space without her, at least it could no longer go chasing Fluffy and hitting him with his hard seed body!
The white clouds around the space had also lessened some bit, making the surroundings a bit more visible. She could now see a larger area of the ground in the space. It was still as bare as nothing...but the seed wouldn't tell her what all things she could plant in this space! Well....since she was the mistress anyway, she would hunt around for some good things tomorrow, and plant them in the space, regardless of what this wretched seed thought!
Fluffy was curled up in a far off part of the space, fast asleep. Actually, in spirit form one didn't need to rest much. However , with the regular threats from the seed, and basically having nothing to do in this nothingness, all he could do was sleep! Rihanna felt pity, at the same time couldn't hold in her laughter. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen this adorable and restless fox this well behaved!
Hearing her sniggering, both the seed and Fluffy looked over. Fluffy bounded over to her, whilst the seed looked thoroughly annoyed.
'Are you here to take this thing away as yet?! Even in its spirit form it gives off such a dog like stink! It is completely destroying the balance and fragrance of this beautiful space!'
'Who wants to stay in this stupid place with a devil like you! You are an evil, malicious plant!....No....You are not even a plant! You are just a seed and you are already so horrible! Who knows how you'll grow once you become a plant! I will definitely come here once I grow up, and I'll gnaw you...!!'
Rihanna hurriedly covered his mouth....she might still need to send in the spirit of this fellow here in the future....and this stupid thing was trying to chop off the branch he was sitting on!! She hurriedly spoke whatever came to her mind to override the words of the silly fox.
'You have taken great care of this place! I can already see so much of the ground now!'
'What are you driving at? You already said this before!'
Rihanna closed up her mouth.....truly...this thing didn't even bother to give her some face! She felt like cursing him alongside Fluffy!
She turned in a huff and returned back to the outside with Fluffy's soul.
After a while, the motionless body jerked. Then the limbs stretched outwards, trying to fully stretch off all tensions and rigidity of the past so many days. Then finally the eyes blinked open, and Fluffy turned to look at Rihanna with his puppy-dog eyes.
Rihanna heaved a sigh of relief. This was the first time experimenting with such a method.....and looks like it was successful. Now she needed to gather all she could find in the market before leaving to search for Phantasm. She could only hope everything would pass smoothly, and she would be able to find all of them.