Chapter 24
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At the base of Glacial Overlook, Matthew’s eyes were bloodshot as others dragged him away. He’d been camped out at the valley entrance for two full days, refusing to budge. “I won’t believe she’s dead, not for a single day, not until we find her body.”
The other students responded calmly. “Matthew, the bottom of Glacial Overlook is riddled with storm vortices. Anyone who falls in there wouldn’t even leave bones behind.”
“What are you saying?” Matthew’s eyes grew even redder. “We’re just giving up on rescuing her?”
“It’s not that we won’t try. It’s that we can’t.”
The group fell silent, lips pressed tight as they watched him. Two months had dragged on, yet Matthew still insisted on holding them there.
What started as dozens of searchers had dwindled to just seven or eight. But two months was a long time.
Even these remaining few, who’d stuck by him at first, were done wasting effort on a hopeless cause. The cliff’s depths howled with brutal winds, freezing and unforgiving.
For any student below Foundation Phase, going down there was a suicide mission.
And for Linda, a traitor to the sect, they sure as hell didn’t think it was worth their lives.
Matthew’s eyes burned red. “But Linda, she…”
“Matthew, I’ll stick with you and keep looking,” the girl beside him said firmly, her voice pulling his gaze. “If we don’t find Linda today, we won’t head back.”
Matthew’s lips quivered as he looked at Marietta’s ashen face. He thought, ‘Marietta… Yet it was because of her that Linda was pushed to this desperate end.‘
In that moment, Matthew didn’t know how to even look at Marietta.
Her own eyes reddened. “I’ll find Linda no matter what and clear things up with her. I swear, I never meant to take her Gilded Core.”
With that, she stubbornly leaped toward the cliff’s edge.
Matthew jolted alert and yanked her back.
Marietta whirled around, tears pouring down her cheeks. “I really didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“I believe you. I do.” Matthew’s grief made it hard to breathe.
Noticing the oppressive mood settling over everyone, he finally stammered, “Let’s go. All of you, head out of
here.”
“But Linda…” Marietta hesitated.
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Chapter 24
“We’re done searching
A month after Matthew brought Marietta back from Glacial Overlook to recuperate, Toney returned from the Mystic Exchange. He’d moved on far sooner than Matthew had.
Seeing Matthew finally coming around, Toney said, “I always figured that girl was just faking her death to slip away. Who knows, she could be hiding out somewhere right now, laughing at our expense. And you actually bought into it, Matthew,”
Matthew’s face grew somber. “What if we really did wrong Linda…?”
The memory of Linda’s unyielding leap off the cliff‘ made Toney’s heart stutter for a second, but he shook it off with a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? So many people saw her shatter Marietta’s Gilded Core. How could we have gotten it wrong?”
Matthew snapped his head up. “Who exactly saw it firsthand?”
“Well, obviously…” Toney’s mouth hung open, but no name came out. Their eyes locked, and the realization hit them both.
The story had spread everywhere, but when it came to actual eyewitnesses, no one had ever come forward.
Toney chuckled awkwardly. “You’re not suspecting Marietta, are you? She’s way too innocent for that.”
Matthew looked away. “No. But maybe someone’s been deliberately sowing discord among us students.”
Toney dropped his gaze.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t pinpoint when he had started hating Linda. After all, back then, he’d actually been quite fond of Linda.
Toney glanced at the Focusing Stones cradled in his arms and, for once, held off on delivering it.
Marietta lingered outside the door, the medicinal broth in her hands growing cold, but she couldn’t bring herself to push it open, not for a long while.
Finally, after steadying her nerves, she knocked softly. “Matthew, I’ve brought your medicine.”
******
Linda ended her seclusion in the Pocket Manor ahead of schedule. She eyed the now–dull Luster Shards she’d just used, then tallied up what remained in her possession, just over a thousand pieces.
Linda popped open her stall page for a quick peek and noticed the second talisman had sold as well. The second buyer’s name rang a bell.
She checked the prior sales log, and sure enough, it was the same customer. “What are the odds?”
She listed her last Bulwark Rune–Stone and a handful of Mystic Silver–Leaf for sale, then picked up some seeds in the Mystic Exchange before signing off.
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Chapter 24
Once she logged out of the Mystic Exchange, Linda shut her eyes for some shut–eye. True, cultivators could restore their energy without sleep.
But she believed even immortals deserved a real break. So, cyes closed, covers tugged up.
Before the crack of dawn the next day, she sprinkled the seeds around the courtyard, then bolted for the Frost–Crowned Highlands to keep grinding away at her training.
Two weeks later, Linda stood before Mack, flashing two fingers. “Two hours, minus a quarter. Precisely, one hour and seven quarters.”
She cocked her head, flashing a cheeky grin. “So that puts me at number two on the leaderboard.”
Mack, looking every bit the ethereal snow spirit, said mildly, “Seems like something to crow about.”
Linda dusted off her sleeves. “Not really, not till I claim first.”
She fixed him with a look. “Once I smash through to under an hour and a half, I’ll be back for you.”
“But you’ve already cleared my bar.” Mack adjusted his pose, shaking off a flurry of snow. “I’ll go ahead and teach you a heart Liturgy anyway.”
Linda furrowed her brow. She wasn’t exactly eager to dive in just yet.
Mack drawled, “Memorize it now, practice later. Easy fix.”
“Makes sense.” She settled into a cross–legged position, ready to absorb it.
Instead, Mack tapped his finger, sending a spark of spiritual light straight to her forehead. In an instant, a fresh Liturgies of Primal Respiration bloomed in her mind.
It bore no resemblance to the High Sanctum of Archmagi’s arts, or to what Laura and the rest cultivated. “Is this some kind of Still–Lungs Charm? Like a Stasis Trance?”
Mack picked up on her intrigue. “Close, but not quite. Breathing’s still there, just channeled through the body.”
Linda thought, ‘Body breathing?‘ Linda scrutinized the mantra. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the
concept.
Mack elaborated, “When your form merges seamlessly with the essence of all things in nature, that’s when it’ll click. It’s tailored for Poly–Affinity cultivators, too.”
Linda paused, her eyes lifting to meet his, a hint of puzzlement flickering through them. He really did know about her Poly–Affinity. But she wondered, ‘Has he tailored this method specifically for me?‘
“This is my own creation,” Mack said casually, then dropped the bombshell. “I’m a Poly–Affinity cultivator myself.”
Her pulse quickened. She thought, ‘Mack… a full–fledged Mana Transcendence! So the so–called curse on Poly–Affinity folks forming a core, it can be broken after all?‘ Her breath came quicker despite herself.
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Chapter 24
Mack doused her excitement coldly. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Advancing hinges on your fortune and aptitude. Fall short, and you’re capped forever.”
Then he added, “I’m the outlier.”
Linda thought, ‘Okay then. You’re the outlier. But I’ll be the next one.”
Linda said, “Should I start committing it to memory now?”
Mack smirked faintly. “It’s already etched in your brain. Worried it’ll slip away?”
She caught his drift. He did too. They were both skirting around the obvious.
She wasn’t ready to apprentice; he wasn’t pressing for a student. So they’d keep it tacit, no need to spell it out.
Linda appreciated the mutual restraint.
That day, she lingered on the peak instead of heading down right away, working to grasp the Liturgy Mack had imparted. Step one: perfecting breath control, then transitioning to the body breathing he’d outlined.
But merely holding her breath almost wiped her out. It hammered home the difficulty of rerouting internal energy to an external flow, yet nothing in cultivation ever came easy.
And overcoming the impossible? That was exactly the thrill Linda lived for.
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
