We rushed forward without any agreement. The hideous screeching never stopped hitting my ears, and the blade seemed to get heavier with each blow. We quickly retreated inside the caves, fighting off the most frisky monsters, and Lee left fields of ice spikes in their path. At some point, there was no ice left at all, and the seemingly endless stream of monsters suddenly dried up.
"Have you strayed?" I asked after catching my breath.
"Thank Heaven! And the spirits," he squinted at Ryu. "They didn't tell you how to get out of here, by any chance."
"We have to keep going," the guy drawled. He was clearly not here with his mind right now.
"Did they tell you that, or did you get to that point yourself?" Lee grimaced. I was in solidarity with him. We literally had no other way — just a stone corridor filled with strange Qi. For some reason, I have an association with stagnant water. And there were no branches in the corridor.
"Do you know what kind of strange spiritual force it is?" I turned to Ryu.
"I know. This is water Qi. Most likely, there is an underground river flowing somewhere here," Lee unexpectedly replied. "Okay, let's go ahead. Unless, of course, you want to go back to the frost worms."
"Is this even normal? Why are there so many of them here?"
"These creatures barely feel Qi, so they're not afraid of the fort practitioners. Usually it's hard to cope with even an adult, but we fell into an incubator. Adult creatures are five times bigger than these... And what, they have settled in well — we protect them from predators ourselves, there is plenty of spiritual power here. We need to inform one of the elders."
"If we get out," I sighed. He only nodded briefly.
We walked for quite a long time and hardly talked anymore. The mood was lousy. For the first time, I was completely exhausted in terms of Qi reserves and began to feel something like phantom hunger.
At some point, from a natural cave, we abruptly found ourselves in an obviously man-made dungeon. The smooth walls were decorated with carvings, and I noticed an analog chandelier under the ceiling. Not working, unfortunately.
"Wow!" Lee exclaimed. "Brother Ryu, where did your spirits take us?"
"To the ruins?" He returned to reality for a moment.
"Something dangerous?" I couldn't stand it. I absolutely lacked knowledge about local realities.
"Dangerous?" The guy looked like he hit the jackpot. "Ha, I already thought that you brought trouble on us, but you turn out to be just a lucky guy!"
"Can you tell me in more detail what kind of place this is?" His obviously unhealthy enthusiasm strained me.
"Oh, you're new here. Once upon a time, the space of the frost ridge had its own civilization. Probably. I don't know much about it, I only know that ruins are found here from time to time. Except I've never heard of them being found near the Fort."
"Maybe we should try to go back? Perhaps they are already looking for us, and there is a chance to break through the worms," I cautiously suggested.
"And miss such a chance? Unlooted ruins — this is a real gift from Heaven! Yes, if you're lucky, there will be an artifact of the spiritual, no, even the heavenly level!" His eyes lit up.
"The spirits tell us to go ahead," Ryu mumbled.
"You see, the spirits are with us," Lee grinned. "If you want, go back to the worms, we'll get all the treasures!"
"You're crazy," I sighed, but he didn't even seem to be listening to me. He rushed forward as if he was afraid that someone would be able to find potential treasures before him. Well, at least there are no traps in the corridor, and that's good.
Gripping my sword tighter, I followed. The corridor gave way to a spacious hall, the floor and walls of which were covered with unfamiliar runes. I couldn't find any strength in them.
"The treasure is behind this door, I feel it!" Lee yelled, and tried to move the door. With a creak, it gave way.
Beyond the door was an even larger room. The walls were decorated with bas-reliefs depicting battles, and paths were laid along the floor and areas for flower beds were separated. Here, for the first time, I saw the altered vegetation — the floor of the room was covered with pale blue grass covered with luminous veins. Occasionally, beautiful flowers could be seen among this field of grass, illuminating the cave with a soft blue glow.
"Impossible... cold flowers! Kai, do you understand what this means?"
"No," I answered honestly. "They must be very valuable, right?"
"It's the main ingredient for the meridian tempering pill! And there are hundreds of them here! Thousands! They're also blooming, I've never even seen them like this! Yes, if we get out, then we will have so many points that we will have enough to buy up all the equipment in the fort!"
"And you can also reach the highest level of meridian tempering," I grinned. But he no longer heard me, rushing to the coveted treasures.
"Wait!" Ryu suddenly reminded me of himself. "We can't collect them!"
"Why is that? Did your spirits advise you again?"
"No, brother. Otherwise, we can make him angry."
As if to confirm his words, a strange rumble suddenly echoed through the cave. The streams of spiritual power seemed to go mad, and then the surface of the lake swelled up, and a huge, snow-white dragon, like mountain snow, appeared from it. He was not a huge lizard from European folklore. His long, elongated body was filled with a kind of wild animal grace. But this creature was definitely not an animal. I immediately caught his gaze filled with malice and intelligence, as well as a colossal amount of spiritual power. It finally dawned on me where this strange Qi came from. It's not a river, or even a lake. The dragon was the source of spiritual power. He didn't push, but his power was amazing. This is clearly something much higher than the golden core realm. And such a monster is sitting right next to the Fort? He can take it down with one click!
"Little mortals, have you come to steal my flowers?" He growled, and I was instantly shackled by a terrifying cold.
"Most venerable dragon," I bowed deeply. After a little hesitation, my companions repeated after me. "We didn't want to steal your flowers, we just got lost and are looking for a way to the surface."
"Liar! I heard perfectly well what you two were talking about!" He blazed with power. "I'll tear your pathetic souls apart. No one dares to steal from the Great Xiu Xie!"
"Venerable Xiu Xie, have mercy!" Lee fell to his knees. "Sorry to disturb your peace, we just got lost! I'll do anything to save our lives."
"People. You're all the same. It's worth meeting someone stronger than yourself, and you lose even a hint of pride, just to save your miserable life," he showered us with a wave of contempt. A moment later, only his ice statue remained in place of the kneeling Lee.
"Walking the path of spirits, you can go. I honor the old treaty, and I will not touch the students of the Fort until he encroaches on mine. Besides, you can take one flower. You have served me well," at that moment, a passage opened behind him. Ryu just nodded and walked into it without even looking at me. He didn't pay attention to the flowers either, lost in his thoughts. He didn't seem to care at all! I wanted to follow him, but the passage just closed behind him. I was left alone with the dragon.
"As for you... You didn't want to steal my treasures, I can feel it. But the students of the Fort comprehend the Dao of Cold, and you reek of fire."
"Venerable Xiu Xie, but I am also a disciple of the sect! Here's my badge!" I handed him a piece of jade.
"I don't need your trinkets. I'm used to believing my own eyes, not someone else's words. And you're not from the Frosty Fort," the dragon snorted. "And besides, did you really think that I wouldn't recognize this sword?"
"A sword?" I asked. "What do you know about it?"
"Don't pretend!" he barked. "You have his blood in your veins! Why did you come to this world?"
"His blood?" Are you talking about Kao Shen?" I put two and two together.
"Is that what he calls himself now? No matter, coming here with this blade, you've doomed yourself anyway!"
Incredible pressure fell on me, my breath caught, and my knees began to tremble dangerously. But along with this, a spark of excitement and anger began to flare up inside. Are you playing with me? Or... A guess flashed through my head. You fucking overgrown lizard, I think I've got you figured out!
"You can't kill me," I stated. "You want to, but you can't. You said something about an old contract."
"That's right. Your ancestor and I made one. I really can't kill a Frost Fort disciple as long as he doesn't encroach on mine. But that doesn't mean I haven't left myself loopholes."
"After all, I have to make sure that you are really part of the sect. I'll give you a test. I have one very special heaven-level technique. If you can learn it in three days, I'll let you go, and your reward will be this technique. If you can't, you'll die."
The next moment, the air in front of me trembled and a stone obelisk with hieroglyphs carved on it appeared in front of me. Hieroglyphs completely unfamiliar to me. It seems that the lizard did everything so that I could not pass this test.