Heartfelt Gratitude

"Attack it now!!" Xiao Xiang had already prepared her attack even before Xiao Dong's words; she could instinctively feel the danger looming ahead.

With swift precision, she conjured a spear of water with a golden radiance, an extension of her innate abilities, and directed it towards the approaching threat. However, to her dismay, the radiant spear, which had previously incinerated the abomination, lost its form and transformed into a watery veil, obscuring the mysterious orb.

█Huhu...█ 

Soon "it" took form, to the dismay of everyone; it radiated an otherworldly strength.

"This..." Xiao Xiang felt her hair stand on end as she "saw" the being in front of her. If the previous abomination felt deformed and had a nauseatingly sticky aura, this one was the complete opposite — a clear, defined form, an aura that is stable.

But that, in and of itself, felt odd, as if it shouldn't be that way, its very existence seemed unnatural, as if it defied the laws of the world. It was an anomaly that disturbed the balance, like a storm unable to move a leaf or flames that burned cold.

█A flawed creation, a little bush in a desert and finally... The fool, quite the company to have on my resurgence!█

The "being" spoke calmly, yet Xiao Xiang felt her heart beat faster with each passing word, "A flawed creation," she felt its gaze linger upon her when it said that.

Even though this being was most definitely weaker than her teacher, it just... felt odd...

█Ah... but first of all, let us rid ourselves of this pesky flea, shall we?█

In an instant, the world lost all color, as if creation itself had turned into calligraphy on a blank paper.

The strokes of dark ink outlining everyone's existence... And the ink spilled, fine lines spread out weaving into countless threads flying through the entire cavern, gathering at the being's spread-out palm.

The ink gathered and formed a new orb, a Taiji symbol... With this creation, the being's existence grew even clearer, and the world returned to normal; the threads had now grown faint and unperceivable.

[AN- Taiji= Yin-Yang symbol]

Feeling the control over her body return, Xiao Xiang began to act; however, her attention was soon diverted as...

*Thud!

She heard a sound from behind her, taking a glance towards her back she saw Xiao Dong who had collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been unraveled.

"You ba-!" Xiao Xiang growled at the perpetrator; however, once again, she was stunned as she looked at the person in question.

A man seemingly in his 20s, his skin as fair as the snow, and his hair as dark as ink. An air of superiority surrounded him as he looked down upon all with his odd-colored eyes.

His right eye, a deep dark abyssal black, a glimmer of blue buried deep within it, while in complete contrast, his left eye was white with glimmers of a crimson star clouded amid the white.

And finally, a faint resemblance toward someone that Xiao Xiang knew quite well...

█Now Then, I have much I wish to talk about with you all. But... I hardly believe any of you might be interested in such bland, lengthy talks. So...█

A slight smile graced the man's face as he paused,

█...Allow me to firstly give you my heartfelt gratitude!█

While greetings were to be exchanged among the people "outside", a tale had begun on the "inside".

...

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

...

"Oy! Wake up!"

"What ya doing sleeping in the fucking snow?!"

Jia█ndi, awakened from his sleep in the snow, was met with an urgent, harsh voice, and he opened his eyes, still groggy and annoyed.

However, his eyes soon widened as he set his eyes upon her.

"---!"

It was a woman with blood spattered onto her face and clothes, the carcass of a small swine-like animal hung by her shoulders as she yelled at Zhou Tiandi.

Annoyed, Zhou Tiandi decided to ignore the mortal woman and closed his eyes once again, however...

"Oyy! Don't close yer eyes or you'll die!" The woman yelled again, putting down the carcass as she lowered her body towards Zhou Tiandi.

"Just let me sleep..." Zhou Tiandi groaned as he turned to his side to face away from the woman in an attempt to make her give up.

"Hey!" The woman, however, didn't give up and pulled his arm, "Get... up! or you'll die from the damn cold!"

"Sigh..." Giving up, Zhou Tiandi let himself be pulled up, "Fine, I'll get up. Stop pulling on my clothes."

Getting up, Zhou Tiandi gracefully dusted off the snow from his robes. As he stood up, he also noticed the surprised face of the woman, but it was not one he hadn't seen before, as in this world most mortals were usually around 5 feet tall. However, his current form was about 7 feet tall, an unusual sight for a mortal so far removed from the larger civilization.

The woman was staring at him intently, but that was to be expected after all. Zhou Tiandi was, although under a disguise, his beauty was still beyond what a countryside mortal would've ever seen. Surely she must be enchanted by his appearance!

"You..." The woman closed in and reached out for his chest. Zhou Tiandi decided to intercept her attempts, as he did not wish for any trouble.

"Why are ya wearing such thin clothes?! It's snowing out here!"

However, it was all his misunderstanding.

He lowered his head in complete shame. Even as an immortal, no matter how shameless he had grown, this was exceptionally humiliating!

"Anyways, come with me for now!" The woman grabbed onto his hand and dragged him along, a slightly sympathetic expression on her face.

"Yes..." Still not having recovered, Zhou Tiandi simply continued to look towards the ground and responded without much thought.

"Ah! by the way, my name's Li Hua!" The woman smiled as she introduced herself, her smile had a warmth even in the cold snow.

[AN- art for abomination and inner devil]