In the frigid lands, after my exile, I began to slay demons and monsters.

Chapter 84 Soul-Sucking Creatures

In a small grove far from the wolf pack's battlefield, Ning Xiaoxi took out a small tent from her cave and set it up, thanking her brother for having her uncle prepare supplies for her to carry with her.

Staring at the spirit crystal in front of her, Ning Xiaoxi felt a headache coming on. "Did you just absorb the souls of those wolves and snow leopards?"

Lingjingxin floated listlessly, unable to understand.

[Absorbing souls to increase power is something only demons do.] Tuanzi sat next to Ning Xiaoxi, looking at Ling Jingxin with a serious expression.

"Where did you learn this skill from?" She hadn't taught her! Ever since she got the Spirit Crystal Heart, she had only ever seen Di Jie extract souls from afar, never seen anyone absorb souls. The earliest time was when the Three-Tailed Cat Demon absorbed souls, back when the Spirit Crystal Heart didn't even exist yet!

"That's not right, Dijie's wasn't absorbing, it was extracting!"

[Xiao Xi, have you ever considered absorbing souls?]

No! How could there be? Absolutely not!

[You have now mastered the skill of communicating with magical artifacts. The Spirit Crystal Mind Acupuncture is an unusual magical artifact, perfectly integrated with yours. It resonates with all your perceptions and consciousness and will strive to realize them.]

Ning Xiaoxi rubbed her forehead. "So, it learned it from me? But I really never even considered it! Could it have learned it on its own?"

Look at that drop of blood in the middle.

At the center of the Spirit Crystal Heart, there was originally a drop of Ning Xiaoxi's blood from when it recognized its master, a bright red embellishment on the Spirit Crystal Heart, quite beautiful. Now, the color of that drop of red blood has begun to deepen, although it is only a slight change, the difference from the previous bright red is still immediately noticeable.

[Why does it look a bit like it's about to come to life?] Even if it's her magical artifact, this is the first time she's ever raised one!

Tuanzi suddenly stood up and moved closer to examine the spirit crystal heart. [Impossible, even if a magical artifact is a demon, it's still a magical being.]

Ning Xiaoxi was stunned. A demon? Are you kidding me? This is her magic weapon, how could it be a demon? No, absolutely not.

【Oh dear, Tuanzi, don't be so sensitive. It's a metaphor, you know what a metaphor is, right? It's just saying it's like, not that it's like, understand?】

Ling Jingxin remained floating blankly, unable to understand or comprehend anything.

Ning Xiaoxi grabbed the Spirit Crystal Heart and returned it to her cave. She secretly decided that next time she discussed a topic, she would never bring Tuanzi along; they would discuss it secretly in her cave.

The spirit crystal heart, which had been taken back to its cave, exhaled a few breaths of spiritual energy around the heart on the fountain. The heart then beat violently twice, and the spiritual liquid in the fountain turned a faint blue color. The jade cabbage slowly spread a halo in the blue spiritual liquid, enveloping the main hall, but the front door and the back mountain were not yet covered.

Tuanzi watched Ning Xiaoxi retract the spirit crystal heart and solemnly reminded her, "Xiaoxi, if it becomes a demon, we can't keep it."

Ning Xiaoxi felt the movements of her heart and the cabbage, and responded haphazardly, "Mmm, I know, I know. If it dares to come back to life, I'll absorb its... spiritual power."

Then I quickly packed up the tent. [I need to get back soon; we've come quite far this time. Hopefully, I can get back before dawn.]

Damn it, why can't we keep the precious treasure she raised? If there's no life, then it's all over!

When Ning Xiaoxi returned to the camp, the entire camp was on high alert. Yin Biao and all the guards stood at the edge of the camp, while the prisoners were inside their tents. Chang Qing, Ning Ziqing, and two guards stood at the four corners of the camp, monitoring the four directions.

"elder brother."

"Xiaoxi, you're back. Are you alright?" Ning Ziqing quickly greeted Ning Xiaoxi, looking her up and down. "It's almost dawn. Your parents were worried sick all night."

"It's alright, brother. It was just a few crow ghost messengers, which I've already wiped out. It's just that they were all winged creatures, so they flew quite far, and it took me a long time to catch up with them, which is why I was late in returning."

"Xiao Xi, you've really worked hard, chasing after monsters all by yourself late at night." Chang Qing and Yin Biao walked over and heard Ning Xiao Xi's words.

"Brother Chang, this is what Xiaoxi should do. It's almost dawn. Brother Chang, you didn't get any rest all night, did you?"

Chang Qing nodded. "We are naturally at ease with Xiao Xi pursuing the Cold Crow Ghost Envoy. However, we detected the aura of a demon while patrolling the outer perimeter. Since we did not get close, we could not determine its rank. I was worried about being lured away from our base, so I dared not go too far. Although I am clumsy, I can only focus on defense."

"The aura of other demonic creatures?" Ning Xiaoxi frowned. Sure enough, the news had already spread.

"It's almost dawn. Xiao Xi, go back and wash up and rest first. After breakfast, we'll set off as soon as possible." Chang Qing didn't want any trouble. The trip in Jizhou had gone very smoothly without any major incidents. They would be arriving in Youzhou in just a few days, and he couldn't afford any mishaps at this time, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain to Lord Tianwei.

Before Ning Xiaoxi and her brother even reached their tent, they saw Ming Luoying leaning against the tent entrance, looking out. Upon seeing the siblings, she quickly pulled open the curtain and let them in.

"Xiao Xi, are you alright?"

"Mother, I'm fine." Ning Xiaoxi sat down by the fire with Ming Luoying's help, took the hot tea that Ning Shi handed her, took a sip, and felt the cold air in her body dissipate. She took off her shoes and put them by the fire to dry. "We'll set off after breakfast."

"Breakfast is ready." Ming Luoying brought over a bowl of sweet potato porridge and handed it to Ning Xiaoxi. "After we set off, Xiaoxi can take a nap in the carriage. Even if you're not feeling well, it will help you relax."

"Okay, Mother." Ning Xiaoxi smiled sweetly, took the sweet potato porridge her mother handed her, and drank it in small sips.

After finishing a bowl of porridge, Ning Xiaoxi felt full. Although she had been running around all night, she hadn't felt hungry at all. "Father, we need to be extra careful on our journey over the next few days."

"What happened?"

"This time, not only the Raven Messenger has come, but also the Snow Maiden. They've come looking for me."

Why am I looking for you?

“There’s a misleading message that’s reached me.” Ning Xiaoxi tried to downplay the severity of the situation. “I don’t know if any more demons will come looking for me. I was thinking of leaving the group to see if I could take the demons away, but then I realized we’re almost at Youzhou, and leaving for a few days won’t solve anything.” She downed her tea in one gulp. “In that case, let’s be careful. After all, Brother Chang is still in the group, so we can look out for each other if anything happens.”

Ning Shi paused as he refilled his daughter's tea. "We'll be in Youzhou in three days. Lord Chang has escorted us all the way. Regardless of your past relationship, he has done more than enough. We should thank Lord Chang."

"Yes, I understand, Daddy." Ning Xiaoxi nodded happily.