Shen Miao was speechless. Luckily, she had a lot of high-quality beast crystals in her collection; otherwise, given this guy's greed, she really wouldn't have been able to leave this far north.
The white ice beast seemed extremely satisfied with the deal and mercifully said, "I'll escort you down the mountain. Although this area is my territory, occasionally some ignorant beasts come to provoke me. Someone like you will just be eaten by them."
"..."
Don't be angry, don't be angry. She'll go back and cultivate properly. If she has the chance to meet that foul-mouthed white ice beast again, she'll definitely beat that beast to a pulp.
After escorting Shen Miao down the mountain, the white ice beast prepared to return to the mountain. At Shen Miao's request, it escorted her a little further, and this part of the journey was indeed free from attacks by the strange beasts.
Even if you see the footprints of a strange beast on the snow, the beast doesn't come out, probably because of the White Ice Beast's imposing presence.
After bidding farewell to the White Ice Beast, Shen Miao immediately went to Fenghua Kingdom to find Huopa Miao.
When Shen Miao first heard the name Feng Hua Kingdom, she was also very surprised. It turned out that there was already a country here. It seemed that the place she lived in was too backward and closed off.
She tried hard to recall the original text, but unfortunately, because so much time had passed, she could no longer remember its contents.
I only vaguely remember that the original book seemed to mention something like this: she, the cannon fodder, had already died, and the male and female leads were supposed to go to some country later on.
That's all I remember; I've forgotten everything else.
But forgetting is forgetting; the original book has been so badly altered that even its own author wouldn't recognize it.
Fenghua Kingdom is called a country, but in Shen Miao's opinion, it's not even as good as a village in modern society. The houses and streets are incredibly rudimentary.
After several days of arduous travel, Shen Miao finally stood at the city gate of the capital of Fenghua Kingdom. The city gate was rather crude, just a gate made of bamboo, but it was still slightly better than other places in Fenghua Kingdom.
There were quite a few orcs on the street, coming and going, and people were loudly hawking their wares, making it seem rather bustling.
Shen Miao stood at the gate for a while before deciding to go in and look for her.
She didn't know where the Fireflower Seedlings were, so she could only try her luck in the capital.
Just as I was about to step inside, an old man flashed past me. I call him an old man because his hair was completely white, and one of his eyes was completely white with no pupil.
The way it looked at people was somewhat frightening, and Shen Miao was startled.
The old man looked at Shen Miao with his other eye. His face was crisscrossed with wrinkles, which made Shen Miao think that he must be over a hundred years old.
The old man's gaze was somewhat sinister, but Shen Miao remained impassive and quietly moved back a little.
The old man seemed oblivious, simply staring at Shen Miao and uttering a few words, "You're here to find something."
Shen Miao was startled. How did he know she was looking for something? She hadn't said anything yet. Had she given it away just now?
He couldn't help but reach out and touch his face.
The old man spoke again, "The thing you're looking for is not simple; you won't get it easily."
Indeed, the Firebird Seedling—just the name itself is extraordinary. Shen Miao didn't even know if it was a pipa or some other kind of seedling.
"Grandpa, do you know what that thing is? Can you give it to me? I can trade something for it," Shen Miao said quickly.
The old man shook his head: "No."
Shen Miao gave an "oh," her previous eagerness vanished, and she calmly said, "Never mind then, I didn't really want it that much anyway."
He then turned to leave.
This person didn't even say what it was before starting to try and fool her. Did they think she was stupid? She wasn't going to fall for it.
"Wait!" The old man stepped forward to stop her, his one eye fixed on her, and uttered three words.
Upon hearing those three words, Shen Miao stopped moving and said with a smile, "So you really do know. Tell me, how can I get what you're talking about?"
Her expression changed as quickly as turning the pages of a book, but the old man didn't seem to care at all. He just kept saying to himself, "I've already said that to get this, it depends on your ability. If you can pass my challenge, I will give it to you."
"Is it really that simple?" Shen Miao asked in surprise.
She thought the other party wanted her high-quality beast crystals again, and that she had really been emptied out. If this old man was as greedy as the White Ice Beast, she would be penniless when she returned.
The old man looked at her incredulously and emphasized, "This is not simple."
Shen Miao chuckled awkwardly, "Alright, then tell me, how exactly do you want the challenge?"
The old man told her, "You need to pass three trials. You must survive all three to return alive. If you die inside, you are truly dead."
Shen Miao listened attentively to the old man's explanation and became serious as well.
"Now, do you still want to continue the challenge?" the old man asked Shen Miao.
Shen Miao smiled and said nonchalantly, "Old man, you've forgotten, I came here specifically for that thing. No matter what you say to scare me, I won't back down."
The old man stared at her for a while, but in the end he said nothing and just nodded slightly.
The next second, Shen Miao felt a gentle push. Before she could react, the force sent her flying. When she came to her senses, she was already in another place.
This is a forest, filled with towering trees that reach into the clouds, yet it is as if there are no living creatures in the forest, not a sound can be heard.
This is clearly abnormal.
Shen Miao walked around the neighborhood and called out, "Old man, old man?"
Only endless silence answered her.
Shen Miao knew that this was probably the challenge the old man had mentioned. He had sent her to this strange place without even a word, which was a bit scary.
Shen Miao walked through the woods, the only sound being the faint rustling of her footsteps. The silence was almost maddening.
Shen Miao thought to herself, "If this is all it takes to pass, that would be wonderful."
Just as she was thinking this, everything suddenly went dark. Shen Miao paused, and a surge of spiritual energy gathered at her fingertips.
Something appeared, like the wind, moving incredibly fast. Shen Miao didn't see it clearly, but reflexively released her spiritual energy.
But when she channeled her spiritual energy, there was no reaction whatsoever; it seemed as if the other party had absorbed her energy.
Shen Miao's expression was tense, and she was in a state of utter despair.
What is this thing? Can't it just show itself? Hiding like this is really unmanly.
Suddenly, laughter came from behind.
Shen Miao was startled and quickly turned around.
I saw an extremely ugly face, really ugly, the kind that would give you nightmares.
The evil spirit let out a sinister laugh, "You've come to my forest, so obediently become my food."
So this whole forest belonged to that evil spirit; no wonder there wasn't a single living creature to be seen.
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