Three Winter Forest—

  Nan Gong Huan stood atop a cliff, a half-eaten stick of candied hawthorn in her hand. She had bought several of them in the city earlier. Peering down at the faint mist below, she deftly tied a rope to a nearby boulder and swung down with practiced ease.

  "Be careful, child," Elder Ling reminded her.

  "Don’t worry, Elder Ling. I’ve already spotted the cave," Nan Gong Huan replied, her voice steady. With a few agile leaps, she landed safely at the entrance of the cave.

  According to the information she had gathered, the Iris Glaze herb was inside this cave, held by a frozen figure surrounded by strange, ominous runes. Whether it was cursed or not, she was determined to get it.

  Nan Gong Huan took out a luminescent stone and stepped into the dark, chilly cave. She moved cautiously, her senses alert. The cave wasn’t deep, and after walking about twenty meters, she reached the end.

  There, she found a vast chamber. The walls were covered in ancient golden runes, but the most striking feature was the massive ice pillar in the center. Encased within it was a boy with his eyes closed, standing as if frozen in time.

  He looked as though he were peacefully asleep.

  Nan Gong Huan moved closer and was struck by his breathtaking beauty. His features were sharp and perfectly defined, his pale face devoid of color. His high nose bridge and slightly pursed lips gave him an air of mystery, as if he were smiling faintly. A few strands of silver-white hair fell over his forehead, framing his handsome brows. His long hair, streaked with icy blue highlights, cascaded like silk, making him look like a king from a snowy realm.

  He wore a white robe embroidered with a majestic golden qilin, his slender hands forming a seal over his chest. In one hand, he held the Iris Glaze herb. His beauty was surreal, as if he had stepped out of a painting.

  Nan Gong Huan couldn’t help but stare. This guy was ridiculously handsome!

  "To get the herb, you’ll need to break the formation," Elder Ling said, his voice tinged with excitement. The thought of his disciple finally building her spiritual platform made him tremble with anticipation.

  "Just a nine-step ice formation. Piece of cake," Nan Gong Huan said with a confident blink.

  With a single glance, she recognized the ancient and intricate ice formation. Over the past three years, though she couldn’t cultivate spiritual energy, she had learned many skills from Elder Ling.

  "Forgive the intrusion," Nan Gong Huan murmured. She placed fire-attributed spirit stones at several key points of the formation. Soon, the ice pillar began to melt rapidly from top to bottom, droplets of water forming small puddles on the ground.

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  The boy inside the ice gradually became exposed to the air, though his rigid posture remained unchanged. Only his hair fell softly.

  When the ice melted enough to reveal the herb, Nan Gong Huan reached out to take it. Forcing it would damage the herb’s roots, so she had to carefully pry open the boy’s icy hand.

  But no matter how hard she tried, his hand remained as stiff as welded steel.

  "Hey, buddy, can you let go? I’ll trade you this candied hawthorn, okay?" Nan Gong Huan grunted, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. His hand was freezing cold.

  Whether it was her words or sheer luck, the boy’s fingers finally relaxed, and Nan Gong Huan easily retrieved the Iris Glaze herb.

  "..."

  She stared at the herb in her hand for a moment, then shoved the half-eaten candied hawthorn into his hand.

  "Here, it’s yours."

  She tossed the herb into her spatial storage for Elder Ling to refine into an advancement potion, then stood in front of the boy, examining him closely.

  He was undeniably beautiful, a sight to behold. But the more beautiful something was, the more dangerous it tended to be.

  While Nan Gong Huan was busy studying the boy, Elder Ling finished refining the potion and instructed her to drink it.

  Her body trembled slightly as a glowing golden platform began to form in her dantian. Earthly spiritual energy surged into her body through her feet, flooding her limbs and meridians.

  A faint golden aura spread outward from her, causing the trees to sway and the lake water to ripple.

  Unlike spiritual roots, a spiritual platform was more robust, absorbing and converting the energy of the earth into a more powerful natural force.

  A sense of unity with the earth’s energy washed over her, as if she had become one with it.

  It felt like her meridians had been thoroughly cleansed, more soothing than soaking in a hot spring.

  "This power is incredible! It feels like I’ve reached the strength of a two-spirit or even three-spirit cultivator!" Nan Gong Huan exclaimed, her face lit with excitement.

  "Of course," Elder Ling said, his voice brimming with pride. "The spiritual platform’s potential is something you’ll gradually understand. With each platform you build, your strength will leap to new heights. Those pathetic spiritual roots won’t even stand a chance against you!"

  "I can sense the locations of all high-level creatures nearby!" Nan Gong Huan activated her spiritual platform, scanning her surroundings. It felt like she had gained a form of x-ray vision. The spirit birds hidden in the trees, the red-spotted centipedes buried in the soil—she could sense them all clearly.

  More accurately, she could sense the flow of spiritual energy within them.

  Elder Ling hummed. "Following the order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, purple represents low-level beasts, while red signifies divine beasts. The same goes for people—the stronger they are, the closer their energy is to red."

  "A red divine beast!" Nan Gong Huan’s eyes widened as she exclaimed.

  "That’s right, red is for divine beasts," Elder Ling repeated.

  "Elder Ling, I see a divine beast!" Nan Gong Huan was certain she wasn’t mistaken. With a surge of excitement, she sprinted toward the towering Spirit King Tree, a hundred meters tall.

  The divine beast was at its base!

  "What? A divine beast?" Elder Ling’s voice rose in pitch. "You’re one lucky girl! Go after it!"

  Nan Gong Huan’s figure quickly disappeared into the cave.

  Behind her, the boy who had been completely freed from the ice fluttered his eyelashes and slowly opened his eyes.

  His deep blue eyes shimmered like fireflies in a quiet forest, mysterious and dangerous, yet irresistibly captivating.

  Dong Yan Cuo stepped gracefully onto the ice, landing as lightly as a feather on the water puddles below. He brushed his sleeves, flicking off a few droplets of water, and glanced at the fleeting light at the cave’s entrance.

  "Run, little thief," he whispered. "But winter always catches its prey."