17. New journey

"Your little friend awakened her blood potential. This is very rare for cultivators. Maybe she will be much stronger than you in the future, demon." After saying that, she teleported Mei Lin in front of her under the umbrella. She opened her crystal eyes and started looking at her. "Haha… You tried to save them so hard that you ripped the skin from both your hands. It's rare to see such devotion for someone after you've become a cultivator."

Li Wei looked at the deity in the chair without saying a word. He didn't know what to do. His mind started working. 'What should I do to convince that deity to take me with them? Should I go inside the snail shell?' As he thought about the entrance, the doors suddenly disappeared. Before he could start talking, the snail popped out of its shell, a spider appeared near Mei Lin, and the snail started moving.

He looked at them and didn't know what to say. "If you want to travel with your friend, you need to catch us. If you don't, we are going to the Green Jade sect."

As Li Wei observed the persistent movement of the snail, uncertainty clouded his thoughts. Realizing the creature showed no signs of halting, he wasted no time and initiated a pursuit. Night descended gradually, casting shadows on his singular hope to closely follow and await a pause. Though he remained oblivious to the deity's motives, he was certain they held purpose. Nothing she did was devoid of meaning. Determination fueled his mind. Capturing them was imperative for the smooth progression of his cultivation.

*****

The smiling deity continued to gaze at Mei Lin. Her hands appeared distressingly damaged, with the stark white of exposed bones gleaming within her palms. After a brief observation, the deity directed her hand toward Mei Lin's arms, commencing a healing process. In a matter of seconds, Mei Lin's hands showed signs of recovery, the wounds miraculously closing.

After completing the healing, she allowed Mei Lin to recline on the shell and closed her eyes once more. The spider, with its unnerving gaze capable of awakening even the dead, continued to peer at Mei Lin, who remained peacefully asleep. Despite the intense scrutiny, Mei Lin remained undisturbed. The arachnid, growing bored with its vigil, shifted its attention to Li Wei. The observation of Li Wei proved intriguing, as they moved slightly faster than him, eluding his attempts to catch up. After twenty minutes, the spider's luminous eyes vanished, leaving Li Wei to rely solely on the glimmering trail they left in their wake as his only hope of tracking the snail's progress.

The spider discerned that Li Wei would not catch them if he did not start running faster. Li Wei saw this change and started to get angry about the snail and spider. Even after living with the spider for half a year, he had only now discovered its personality. He knew that if he did not speed up, he would have no chance.

After the spider stopped watching the show, it disappeared into an emblem on the deity's cultivation robe. Early in the morning, the spider woke up Mei Lin. She was still dizzy, but after she discovered that she was moving on the snail's shell, she started panicking.

"Where am I? What are you going to do to me?" The spider scared itself after Mei Lin freaked out, so it jumped away from her and started staring from afar. The deity opened her eyes. "I healed your injuries, so I practically saved you from bleeding out. You should thank me, not ask nonsense questions."

Mei Lin was extremely surprised after hearing that, and tears started flowing down from her eyes. Unfortunately, her tears were not salty like before but bloody. She thought about her parents and Li Wei. After a while, she tried to wipe away her tears but discovered that her tears were bloody, and she became scared again. The deity started smiling. "You awakened your blood potential and became a blood cultivator." After hearing that, Mei Lin was scared. "Why am I crying blood?"

"Because you are a blood cultivator. You can create blood with your natural energy. Additionally, your dantian is transforming into a Cultivation Sea. Everyone attempting to reach higher realms needs to transform their donations to create their power. This process is typically done before entering the QI Condensation realm, but you have already achieved it. Furthermore, you've transformed it into a Blood cultivation Sea, indicating that you've grasped your cultivation element. It's very interesting for someone who hasn't even reached the first stage of Body Tempting. If your cultivation potential is as high as your friend's, you will be a cultivation monster, but with your potential, you are not."

"What happened to my parents? They were killed by someone from the Green Jade sect along with the entire village. Did you or Li Wei bury my parents?" Tears start falling again. "Of course, I buried them. You don't need to worry about that."

Mei Lin calmed down and started looking for Li Wei. As she stood up and walked around, she went behind the deity's chair and didn't see him running behind. He had been running all night, covering two hundred kilometers. Li Wei was near his limits. His shoes were torn, and his body was on fire. Every muscle was sore. In the night, he was enlightened, and now he only needed to enter the cultivation state so he could break through.

When his last strength was used up, his vision started blacking out, and he slowed down. In this moment, the snail stopped. His effort paid off. Li Wei started falling to the ground, instantly falling asleep.

The spider jumped off the snail and grabbed Li Wei, then dragged him to the snail's shell. The doors were already opened, so the spider put him on the ground and went back up. When Mei Lin saw that, she was very happy but didn't say anything. She turned around and went in front of the deity.

"Can you teach me how to read so I can study cultivation books?" The deity didn't open her eyes or say a thing. Before Mei Lin started to persuade deity, deity start talking. "I can help you learn, but you need to become my disciple, and I will be your master. Also, when your cultivation reaches a higher realm, you will need to give me a wisp of your soul."

Mei Lin didn't hesitate and agreed to it. She didn't know what would happen if she gave a wisp of her soul, but she already understood that, as a cultivator, she needed to sacrifice something for something.