EL 55 vouchers
Reflecting on her memories from her previous life, Linda realized they were starting to fade. She could still remember the key turning points in that life, but the finer details were slipping away little by little..
She wondered if it was because her current path was straying further and further from the one she’d followed. before, making those old memories disappear in the
process.
After all, in her previous life, she’d still be languishing as a mistreated outer student in the High Sanctum of Archmagi at this point.
Getting a spot in a Veil? Forget it. Even stepping off the mountain would have been a hassle.
But now, here she was, snagging one of those coveted two hundred slots for elite students in an event like this.
“Linda, what are you thinking about?” Claudio asked.
Linda gave Claudio a sideways glance. Claudio still had that faint smile on his face, but he was cold by nature. Even his smiles carried a touch of detachment. It came across more like sarcasm.
Linda steered the conversation elsewhere. “We’re here.”
Passing through the Veil’s entrance, she felt the token at her waist flicker for a split second. Then she glided through without issue, stepping into a whole new world.
In an instant, swirling yellow sand blotted out the sky, barreling toward her.
Linda frowned, gripping her Trial of Conscience Sword to hold steady against the gusts. Only once she’d punched through the sandstorm did she touch down. Glancing around, she saw nothing but endless sandy dunes.
Not a soul in sight. Laura and the rest were gone.
Linda dusted off her sleeves, cool as a cucumber.
Before they set off, Rafael had hooked them up with maps of the Dream–Weaver Fens, one for each of the four.
Students from other sects probably got the same treatment from their elders.
So this didn’t throw her off at all. She pulled out her map and, judging by the landscape, pinpointed her location as Battering–Ram Ridge.
“The whole Dream–Weaver Fens is shaped like a decapitated dire–ram. The head and body sit in separate spots, linked by a huge lake in between.
“The head area is packed with rare third–grade herbs and Sovereign Pips. Snagging one can bump up a Foundation Phase cultivator’s odds of forming a core by fifty percent.
“Refine it into a Transcendence Globule, and that shoots up to ninety percent.
Chapter 35
“It’s one of the hottest items everyone’s after on this run.
That snippet came from last night’s chat with Rafael.
“But most folks heading into the realm this time are at Condensation of the Primal Core. Sovereign Pips alone wouldn’t pull in a crowd this big, would they?”
Linda said, “Sharp as ever, Craig. You nailed the key question. But you’re missing one thing: sure, Condensation of the Primal Core cultivators don’t need ‘em, but Foundation Phase ones sure do.
“Plus, if those Condensation of the Primal Core students grab some and haul them back, they can swap ‘em in the sect for Vitality Lozenges to push through to mid–condensation. That’s no small prize.
“You sure know your stuff.”
“And you know too little, Craig.”
The back–and–forth from last night replayed in her mind. Linda muttered under her breath, “Sovereign Pips, eh?”
She thought, “They are practically made for me, aren’t they?‘ Most people only had to form a core once. She’d have to do it over and over. ‘Yep. These are as good as mine.’
Linda got her bearings and blasted off toward the Ram–Head section.
Sand streamed by as she rocketed forward at top speed, hitting a valley in no time. Unlike the blustery slopes outside, the inside brimmed with mist, heavy with moisture.
As she drew nearer, she caught sight of an Alchemical Arbor in the valley, bursting with blossoms and heavy with fruit, some as big as a fist, others no larger than a grape.
Sovereign Pips only ripened every eighty to a hundred years. Talk about lucky timing. She’d walked right into
a harvest.
Linda’s eyes sparkled. She thought, ‘Drowsy and someone hands you a pillow? This is straight–up served on a silver platter.’
Linda darted through the trees in a few quick leaps, zeroing in on the Alchemical Arbor. But as she got closer, a subtle killing intent prickled at her senses.
Linda froze on a branch, staying perfectly still.
A tree bursting with ripe fruit like that, some of it pushing a hundred years old and still clinging on, considering how the Veil opened.
She thought, ‘Every fifty years, right? So… there really shouldn’t be this much left unpicked.
Linda mulled it over and chose to hang back, watching things unfold for a bit.
She wanted the haul, sure, but not if it meant risking her neck.
9:4
Chapter 35
55 voucher
She slipped into hiding nearby without a whisper, unfurling her spiritual sense to probe the area inch by inch.
Her cultivation might be stalled, locked out of advancing from Gilded Phase to Astral Sovereign Form, but the Mind–Tempering Liturgy Mack had passed to her worked on more than just the body. It honed the spirit as well.
All the while it tempered her physique, it had been quietly bolstering her Astral Incarnation.
Once the body refining wrapped up, the Liturgy’s real strength would shine through: at its core, it was a technique for cultivating the Astral Incarnation.
It could push the Astral Incarnation’s realm to new heights.
Right now, it hadn’t fully kicked in, but the results were already solid.
That was why, even though her overall cultivation hadn’t budged, her Astral Incarnation had hit the pinnacle of Gilded Phase perfection, just a hair’s breadth from Astral Sovereign Form.
No clue when she’d shatter that wall. But for now, it was plenty.
Her sense swept across the valley in a rush, and right as she picked up on something off, outsiders wandered in. “There it is, the Alchemical Arbor!”
The Alchemical Arbor got fruits which looked like jumbo, rounded Gilded Cores.
Linda steadied her breathing, cloaking her aura entirely.
The three intruders from Nimbus Bastion had no idea she was there: two at early Condensation of the Primal Core, one at late Foundation Phase. The group barreled through the swirling sand and wind, zooming right in, charging ahead without a care.
Linda dropped her gaze. Folks these days had zero vigilance. She thought, ‘Perfect, let them be the test dummies.‘
“Wait!” The older senior brother barked the warning, halting the youngest right before he could snag a Sovereign Pip.
The junior blinked, confused. “What’s the matter?”
“Just be cautious.”
“You’re overthinking it. We haven’t hit a single snag on the way here. If there was some feral beast lurking, it’d have jumped us already. Why do you think it’s so dead quiet?”
The junior laughed it off, but his hands kept moving. He grabbed for the Sovereign Pip, only for his fingers to slice straight through.
He froze.
Unconvinced, he tried again, but same deal: nothing. It was like grasping at a hologram; his hand just passed right on by.
12:49 Mon, Jan 19
Chapter 35
Seeing this, the two seniors moved in, but poof, the Sovereign Pips vanished and popped up two steps over.
The trio pounced, only for the Sovereign Pips to zip three steps farther.
“It’s getting away!”
A running tree? Sounded absurd. But that was precisely what went down.
In plain view, the Alchemical Arbor yanked itself from the ground, roots fanning out like limbs, and sprinted off into the valley’s depths.
Linda was speechless.
The three students gawked, stunned. “Chase it!”
They bolted after it.
But the Alchemical Arbor was blisteringly fast and dodged like a pro. No matter their efforts, it slipped away every time. Tempers flaring, one drew his long sword.
“Halt!” Sword energy tore through the air, whipping everything into a frenzy. Winds howled across the valley, the earth rumbling as he unleashed the strike.
Target locked on the Alchemical Arbor’s roots. A blow like that would wreck the tree’s base for good.
Linda’s gaze turned steely.
田
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.
