A minute later.
Yu Xian and Nora were standing on a street in Ice City.
In the center of Ice City stood an enormous Deep Freeze Tree. It was the transformation of a man who had consumed a Forbidden Fruit six hundred years ago, which had left Ice City permanently locked in ice. Any non-human creature that entered the domain of the Deep Freeze Tree would rapidly be frozen solid.
Outside the city walls of Ice City lay a vast number of frozen beasts. The people of Ice City were never short on meat; if they wanted something to eat, they simply had to go outside the city and haul it back.
Just then, a gust of cold wind blew past. Yu Xian and Nora both shivered, and then couldn't help laughing.
"We're really back. I thought you were joking."
Wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing them for warmth, Nora spoke with a mix of surprise and joy.
She once had wonderful memories in Ice City, back when her father and mother were still together. She had always thought her family could go on happily like that forever.
"Give me your hand!" Yu Xian said then.
Nora looked at him shyly, extending her hand toward him, and her face abruptly flushed bright red.
"This is an Energy Guardian Ring. It can defend against any attack below Dragon-rank. Even if a Dragon-rank launches an all-out assault, it would take a million strikes to breach its energy film," Yu Xian explained to Nora as he slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand.
Looking up and seeing Nora blushing, he smiled, took out the bracelet, and put it on her wrist. Next came the necklace. Since Nora didn't have pierced ears, he had no choice but to place the final pair of earrings in her palm.
As he helped Nora put on the defensive gear, he explained the functions of each piece one by one.
Once Nora felt less bashful and her wits returned, she immediately realized how precious these defensive treasures were. She wanted to take them off and return them to Yu Xian, but he had already run off with a grin, leaving her no choice but to chase after him in flustered exasperation.
The two chased each other for a while, making their way from the residential area to the commercial district.
Owing to Ice City's unique environment, this icy city became remarkably lively at night, and ordinary people came out to bustle about.
A great number of shops saw people coming and going. Yu Xian came to a halt on the street and suddenly turned around. Caught off guard, the pursuing Nora bumped right into his chest.
At that moment, an undefinable flutter stirred in both their hearts. After a brief pause, Nora said in a soft voice, "These things... are too valuable. I can't take them."
"If you won't accept them, I won't let go," Yu Xian said with a smile, lightly holding her and closing his eyes.
Nora didn't resist in the slightest, though she whispered, "Let go quickly, so many people are looking."
"Then let's go somewhere quiet!" Yu Xian said, an uncontrollable smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
A red glow enveloped their bodies, and in an instant, they appeared at the top of Ice City's signal tower. There was only a circular platform here about the size of a basketball, just enough for the two of them to stand together embracing.
Because they wore the rings, the howling wind at high altitude had no effect on them at all, and the two quietly lingered in each other's presence.
Beneath the signal tower, lights flickered dreamily, and the pedestrians on the ground had become smaller than ants. A few patrolling combat police actually noticed the pair atop the signal tower, but after a glance through binoculars, they didn't pay it much mind.
"It's almost eight-thirty," Nora whispered suddenly.
With his eyes closed, Yu Xian smiled and said, "You can stay the night at your mother's place, and I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."
He knew that eight-thirty was when Nora's mother got off work, and Nora certainly wanted to give her mother a surprise.
"Then I need to let Caiying know so she won't worry," Nora said at once.
Yu Xian then perceived something through his Super Smell. Gazing out toward the pitch-black wilderness beyond Ice City, he asked, "Want to go test the defensive gear's effects?"
"How do we test it?" Nora asked.
Yu Xian chuckled. "A fat bear sneaking food—quite an amusing fellow."
With that, he enveloped both of them in red light. In the blink of an eye, they appeared outside the city, surrounded on all sides by frozen creatures.
Not far away, a five-meter-tall black bear was gnawing on a giant elk that had been frozen through until tender. When the black bear noticed someone behind it, it immediately whipped around and let out a deafening roar at Yu Xian and Nora.
"That's a Cassock-Stealing Bear spirit!" Nora exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the cassock patterns on the black bear's shoulders.
Yu Xian nodded with a smile. "That's right, a Tiger rank Cassock-Stealing Bear. Go on, you've been buffed."
"Wait, wait! Big bosses, please don't hit me, I surrender!" The black bear, who had just been putting on a fierce show, saw that neither showed the slightest hint of fear. Instead, they were completely calm, and the guy was even telling the girl to take him on. It instantly flopped onto the ground and spoke in a muffled, nasal rumble.
Yu Xian feigned surprise and looked at the black bear. "You understand human nature?"
"Of course I do! My great-great-great-grandfather was a human named Xiong Guan. He suffered qi deviation from cultivating the Black Wind Scripture and lost his sanity, ending up transformed into a black bear spirit and settling down in the wild. Damned if he didn't end up having cubs with my great-great-great-grandmother, producing endless generations of descendants until finally there was me.
"Speaking of which, I still have one-tenth human blood, and I even gave myself a human name: Xiong Da. Once I strike it rich in the future, I'll eat whatever I want! Drink one bowl of honey and pour out another, just to show off how loaded I am." The black bear nodded repeatedly, chattering away like a total motor-mouth.
Listening to this, Nora couldn't help muttering, "You sure talk a lot."
"That's not talking a lot, that's being conversational! Don't you find me very approachable?" Xiong Da protested indignantly.
Nora couldn't see anything approachable about Xiong Da at all. Taking a slight step back, she whispered to Yu Xian, "Yu Xian, he can talk. What do we do?"
"Xiong Da, we don't have any malicious intentions. We just want to test out the defensive power of this gear. How about you spar with Nora, just a friendly match where we stop before anyone gets hurt?" Yu Xian gave Nora a reassuring glance, then negotiated with Xiong Da.
In truth, the moment he discovered Xiong Da with Super Smell, he had already seen through his background.
The reason Xiong Da could enter the range of the Deep Freeze Tree without being frozen solid was precisely because of that one-tenth human bloodline. Otherwise, forget sneaking food—the moment he dared approach Ice City, his body would immediately be encased in ice.
Over the course of six hundred years, the Deep Freeze Tree at the center of Ice City had grown strong enough to freeze Dragon-rank entities. Xiong Da definitely couldn't withstand it.
Hearing this, Xiong Da glanced at Nora and hesitated. "Just a spar? No bears will lose their lives?"
"Just a spar," Yu Xian nodded.
Xiong Da knew that his little life was actually held firmly in their hands.
He was, after all, a black bear spirit—in Huaxia, an animal without human rights. If Yu Xian and his companion really wanted to kill him, they could do so without facing any legal repercussions whatsoever.
Circumstances were stronger than the bear. He let out a sigh and agreed, "Alright, deal! No lethal blows!"
"Go ahead. It's a good chance to build up some combat experience," Yu Xian encouraged Nora, not at all surprised that Xiong Da had agreed.
Nora nodded. Pulling her handgun out of her storage ring, she slowly walked forward. Xiong Da glanced at Yu Xian and asked, "Can we start?"
"Begin!" Yu Xian nodded.
The very next second, Xiong Da's eyes widened, and he went into a sudden frenzy. Letting out a thunderous roar at Nora, he swept a bear paw forward, sending a gale of black wind swirling toward her.
In an instant, ice fragments filled the air, drastically reducing visibility.
Although Nora was mentally prepared, she ultimately suffered from her lack of experience. Having never encountered a situation like this before, she could only search around frantically for Xiong Da's silhouette.
When the swirling ice fragments and black wind struck her, they were entirely repelled by the halo of light emanating from the bracelet.
Without the defensive gear provided by Yu Xian, relying solely on the items she had purchased herself, all of her defenses would probably have been scrapped by the black wind in an instant, and she herself would have melted down to bone and flesh within it.
"Found you!"
Nora suddenly caught sight of a dark silhouette hiding in the wind and immediately fired into the gale, but every bullet missed its mark.
Where was the bear?
She frowned and looked left and right, bewilderment showing in her eyes.
Right then, Xiong Da sneaked stealthily behind Nora. First, he stole a glance at Yu Xian. Seeing that Yu Xian raised no objection, he ferociously slammed a paw into Nora's back.
*Boom!*
A tremendous roar echoed.
With a sharp "Oof!" of agony, Xiong Da clutched his paw and rapidly scrambled backward.
At the start of the spar, Nora had already activated [Thorn Reflection], the skill attached to the Ring of Thorny Iron Wall she had bought previously. While Zhenwo Changjing's defensive gear didn't possess offensive properties, this ring certainly did.
Moreover, a set-like synergy had emerged between this ring and the gear crafted by Zhenwo Changjing.
Thorn Reflection, which was originally only capable of deflecting energy damage below the Eagle rank, astonishingly reflected one hundred percent of incoming damage—and could now deflect any damage below the Dragon-rank.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Yu Xian knew full well that this was definitely no coincidence or accident. He immediately spoke to Zhenwo Changjing beside him.
Zhenwo Changjing had been present when they made the transaction in that shop; there was no way she didn't know the effects of the Ring of Thorny Iron Wall, nor could she have failed to anticipate the current outcome.
Yet Zhenwo Changjing merely said nonchalantly, "It has nothing to do with me. I only supplied the defensive gear."
"Right, Auntie only provided the gear. The reflected damage is entirely the fault of that Ring of Thorny Iron Wall—it's simply too naughty!" Yu Xian nodded along, holding back a laugh.
Zhenwo Changjing smiled without saying a word. Clearly, she was no unfeeling block of wood either.
Chapter 149