Chapter – 51 - Can I Absorb Both Ice And Fire Energy Together?

'Well....I am the Ancient Seed of this space....and you are the Master I am being forced to acknowledge! So of course....the more energy you send my way, the faster I can sprout and evolve. And the more I evolve, the more this space will also grow. This is an ancient spiritual artifact, and is bound by many layers of array. You can only unlock these boundations one at a time, by evolving your own cultivation level....Wait! How will you evolve your cultivation when you don't even have a spiritual seed?! Oh no! I am once again stuck with a trashy master!!'

Rihanna squinted her eyes at this last sentence.

'Trashy master....once more?....How many masters did you acknowledge before this? And to what level exactly have you managed to open this space before?'

'.....'

Whether it was due to anger or shame, but the seed suddenly went off into silent mode, as if completely ignoring Rihanna, putting her on its blacklist. Rihanna was left speechless by this strangely temperamental seed. She was actually arguing with a SEED! That in itself was ridiculous!

'Fine! I need to get out of this space, so I can send in more energy into this place. How do I go out?'

'Hmph! Can't even figure out such a simple task! Just close your eyes, and retract back your spiritual sense to your dantian and then back to your mind. And don't forget your primary task of giving me energy!'

Rihanna nodded speechlessly, then at once closed her eyes and retracted back her senses. This time the journey through the warped tunnel was over in the blink of an eye, and she found herself floating around her dantian once more. Feeling a slight headache, she didn't stop and returned back to her mind space.

Ummm.....she really wanted to take a break and talk with Little Purple. At least this guy was far more mature and dependable! But she needed to wait till she was out of this ice block. If she stopped absorbing energy now, she would probably freeze to her death. Oh well....might as well continue with what she was already doing!

Shortly explaining her plan to Little Purple, she continued to let her body keep absorbing the dense white clouds of ice energy circling around the pool.

'Little Purple....why do I feel a strange flow of warmth coming from between this cold ice energy?'

'....That should be the fire energy of the magma flowing beneath the pool. But that is really a long way underground....How did you manage to pull it towards you?!'

'Ummm....Is it dangerous to absorb both cold and hot energy at the same time?'

'Of course! Both have clashing properties. If you try to absorb them together inside, then they will attack each other and your body could burst with the force of repulsion from each!'

'Then I think we should get out of here quickly! This warm energy is really starting to rush upwards here!'

'Why is it the same thing every time?! Hmmm.....But you are currently frozen inside this block of ice.....I think we should allow some of the energy to come up. That will help in melting away the ice cage around you. But you need to be very alert. As soon as the fire energy reaches the block of ice and starts melting it, stop absorbing any more energy, and be prepared to get up and run as soon as you are free.'

Feeling speechless at this risky solution, Rihanna gulped down her panic forcefully, and continued with her energy absorption. The closer it came, the hotter it was becoming. Even from within the ice block, she could feel the burning sensation emanating from the fire energy particles. Already half frozen by the ice, if she came in contact with this fire energy, she would be burnt to a crisp within moments! Still absorbing, she channelized the energy around her veins and muscles repeatedly, removing all stiffness and blockages caused by the days of inactivity and deep chill, preparing to run.

The fire energy hit against the outer shell of the ice block, melting it with a loud hissing sound. The ice turned to pools of dense white water, soaking the ground all around her before seeping down through the cracks. One layer, then the next....then another. As the ice grew thinner, the heat surged upwards, till she felt as if she was seated at the core of a burning sun. Even Little Purple's energy barrier was incapable of keeping away the singeing hotness.

'The last layer.....I am increasing the layer of my energy around you. But it will last only for a very short while. Ready...run!'

Rihanna jumped up and ran, through the opening of the cave, through the passage, shoving and pushing at the hanging Frozen Magma Flower roots.....without a single glance backwards, she just kept running. In all her panic she even forgot to ask Little Purple when she could stop.

Huffing and puffing and almost bent over with exhaustion due to her high speed sprint, she stumbled into the little cavity where she had left Fluffy, and almost toppled over onto the ground.

'Eh! Why are you running so hard? Is someone chasing you again?!'

Fluffy, who had been nodding off in dreamland woke up, startled and started running around to check what was behind her. Seeing nothing and feeling disgruntled at being woken up abruptly, he kept muttering under his breath as he came back and fell back onto his butt.

'There is nothing! You scared me uselessly! Stupid girl.....always creating a ruckus! Broke my beautiful dream!'

Rihanna snorted through her breathlessness.

'Hmph! Beautiful dream? Then you must have been dreaming of Phantasm....you little cutie has been gone for so long....Do you miss her Fluffy?'

Fluffy felt his wrinkled skin straightening out in fear and disgust.....Little Cutie! Phantasm! How did she think that that was his beautiful dream?! That was a nightmare, okay!!

'Say....how long has it been since I went to the pool to absorb ice energy?'

'Who knows....It's not like you can make out day and night in this unending tunnel anyway! But, I think it must have been more than ten days.'

Ten days? Adding to the five days she had been unconscious plus two more days for recovering....it was well over fifteen days she had separated from the others.

'Any news from Phantasm?'

'No. I was inside the Ice block with you, and Phantasm cannot contact Fluffy directly. Let me try now.'

Little Purple went silent for a while before surfacing back again.

'There's probability of bad news. You should try contacting him.'

Rihanna frowned at this sudden statement, and immediately sat up in all seriousness, trying to contact Phantasm through their spiritual link. After a while she opened her eyes, her frown deepening.

'What is going on?'

'Either he is too far away, and the spiritual link is unable to work....or he might be unconscious or not in a state to make the connection.'

What do you mean not in a state?!'

'It might be that he was caught by someone and his spiritual sense is blocked, or might be injured to some extent, and is thus unable to accept the contact from his side...Anyhow, he is still alive, or you would have felt the contract connection between you both dissolving.'

'Can somebody forcefully remove the contract?'

'Not for an equal contract. You require the acceptance from both parties to dissolve such a contract. But if they are unable to dissolve the contract, they might drug her, and make her reach out to you in her trance state. That way they will just need to wait for you and drug you as well. Then in your drugged states, you will both wilfully choose to dissolve the contract. That would be the most fruitful solution for them.'

'But she hasn't tried to contact me yet!'

'Then that is for the best. It means she is still sane.....if not injured. Anyway, now that you absorbed enough ice energy, we can move on.'

'Leaving out the path through which we had come initially, and the tunnel leading to the ice pool, there is only one other tunnel. Should we go down that path then?'

'Okay.'

'Hey...before that, I wanted to ask. These Frozen Magma Flowers....do they have any worth outside?'

'....They are very precious! Both for alchemy and for refining artifacts! But I am not sure where you can sell them. And how exactly are you going to take them out? Those ice stones are very hard, and you'll not be able to break the flowers out of the stones easily....Do you have any plans?'

'Ummm.....before that, I think you need to know something. Do you remember that Ancient Seed of Spirit Space which attached itself to me and then disappeared?'

'Hmmm...'

'Well....its kind of inside me at the moment. Or rather I should say.....it has planted itself in the middle of my dantian, and the seed has transformed into the spirit of the space, and is demanding great amount of energy from me so it can sprout.'

'....I really don't want to repeat my curses on you! But what does that have to do with the frozen flowers?'

'Well....I can't absorb the fire energy....but I'll ask if the spirit space can use it. If it can absorb it for me, and lend me a bit.....then maybe we can try to cut through a few of the stones and dig out some frozen flowers for ourselves!'

'Even with the fire energy, it will not be easy to cut through the ice stones....but I might be able to add my energy to it and enhance its properties. Okay then...ask that fellow if he can help you.'

Rihanna closed her eyes and re-entered the spirit space, contemplating whether that little white thing in her space was a male or a female. And did she need to give a name to this one as well? She should figure out some unisex names....just in case!