CHAPTER 132: CHAPTER 132: WHO GOES THERE? (SECOND UPDATE)

"Judging by the sound, it should be quite spacious down there." Bai Yunqi cautiously lowered his tail to sweep around. "It’s warm and there’s a breeze blowing, so it’s not a dead end."

Jiang Yuan rode on a paper crane, his gaze locked on the vertical cliff, tapping with a mining pickaxe. "I’ll find the Spirit Mist Stone first, then we’ll go down for an adventure. This thing is really tricky to dig up!"

He previously thought that with Bai Yunqi’s help and full assistance from the paper talismans, it wouldn’t be hard to dig out stones on the snowy mountain.

Unexpectedly, maybe the ice layer was too thick, or maybe the Spirit Mist Stone was a special material, even the skills from the Earth Mirror Book could only provide a reference. After digging into the mountain, the illuminated areas still showed only a 65% chance of finding the Spirit Mist Stone. If unlucky enough to hit the remaining 35% error, he’d have to start all over again.

The pangolin worked for another ten minutes, eventually only finding a large pile of ordinary materials beneath the snow-covered mountain—Ice Crystal Stones, which had randomly dropped more than thirty pieces during the digging process.

"Forget it, let’s just go down and take a look." It would be false to say he wasn’t disappointed. Jiang Yuan sighed, packed up the other paper talismans, and controlled the paper crane to slowly descend toward the light source within the crevices.

[Ten Thousand Years Ice Cave: Naturally formed, its unique environment has given rise to a large number of rare Ice and Snow Secret Realm plants]

The system details were directly ignored; his eyes were instantly captivated by the breathtaking scenery he had never seen before—light source unknown, yet it illuminated a rich layer of ice blue, the giant dome like a celestial screen. The flowing light leaped upon the glacier more actively than stars, more dazzling than fireworks; it was stunning beyond words.

Jiang Yuan once again regretted the system’s lack of recording functionality. If he could record and export this scene, it would probably be deemed as AI-generated scenery, impossibly existing in reality.

"Venerable Family, there are some sparkling stones here. Are they Spirit Mist Stones?" Bai Yunqi was unfamiliar with what he called "natural Earth Treasure", although he knew most herbs and spices; finding stones didn’t really help much.

[Luminous Stone: Small decorative stones that emit light at night, with no medicinal value. One of elves’ favorite items, can be given to them to increase favorably, or used for trade]

"Do you know about elves?" Seeing the system prompt, Jiang Yuan was a little confused. The background of Wilderness World was clearly ancient cultivation; why did it suddenly pop out a Western fantasy setting?

Bai Yunqi found his random question strange. "Of course I know, everything has spirituality, but not all spiritual items, animals, or plants can become Demon Cultivators. The small, deft spiritual movement born either in form or shapeless, small spirits are collectively known as elves.

More specifically, there are distinctions between ’spirit’ and ’inhabitant’, but they are so weak that with everything being chaotic nowadays, who knows where the elves have hidden? They are not easy to find."

So it wasn’t the ingrained imported elf concept he had in mind. Jiang Yuan felt really ignorant and clueless, deciding to collect all the Luminous Stones to play with his disciple later.

"Who goes there?"

As they were admiring the scenery and picking herbs, they suddenly heard a shout from the end.

"Venerable Family, be careful!" Bai Yunqi immediately became alert. If there is someone here, yet he couldn’t sense any presence, it means the opponent is far superior in power!

Jiang Yuan was also startled, clenching a stick in his right hand while his left hand was already pulling out a paper talisman, looking up as he went.

[A remaining trace of Oblivion Taoist’s obsession, you may talk to her or try to challenge her]

A straightforward prompt, the person seemed more like an NPC waiting for players in a game, just hidden in a secretive spot.

"It shouldn’t be hostile, let’s go see." He saw Xiao Bai had raised her horns, her cheeks faintly showing white snake scales with blood-red eyes full of murderous intent, and quickly reminded, "Relax a bit; it looks quite intimidating."

Bai Yunqi glanced at the Venerable Family’s calm demeanor, staying vigilant yet returning from a frenzied state to normal.

At the end of the ice cave sat a female Taoist dressed in a Hundred-Patch Robe, cross-legged.

If not for the system prompt, at a glance, one wouldn’t really notice she wasn’t a real person. She appeared about thirty years old, with a fair complexion and benevolent smile in her eyes. Seeing them, she spoke again, "Who goes there?"

"Loose Cultivator Bai Yunqi, Venerable Family Jiang Yuan."

Giving their names clearly didn’t match the code; the female Taoist nodded and smiled, "The scenery here is quite nice. If you like, feel free to walk around and explore. The destined one I await is not you."

Then she continued to meditate, her aura completely restrained.

"Odd." Bai Yunqi always felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint it, frustratingly finding his own realm had dropped so drastically that he couldn’t even probe on the other’s background.

Jiang Yuan followed the system prompt and clicked on the female Taoist, selecting "Talk" from the dialogue box.

"I am here waiting for the destined one, having waited for a long time," she opened her eyes calmly and said, "I wonder if he has forgotten the past promise, as he hasn’t appeared."

"May I ask what the name of the destined one you are waiting for is? Perhaps we can help to search?"

"I have forgotten because it’s been so long. If I hear his name again, I will surely remember."

Having said that, the "NPC" closed her eyes and spoke no more.

It seemed Jiang Yuan hadn’t asked the right question, failing to trigger the next step.

He clicked again to talk, as Bai Yunqi was bewildered at the repetition. The female Taoist repeated her words once more.

"What promise did you make to each other?"

"It’s not related to you."

Great, it ended again with no progress.

By the third repetition, Bai Yunqi began to doubt his serpent life. What changes had occurred outside during his long sleep that with his thousands of years of knowledge, he couldn’t understand their interaction?

Feeling rather foolish, he thought she seemed like a puppet just repeating a few sentences, yet had the aura of a cultivator. Could it be that someone made a puppet that cultivated to become spiritual?

On the fourth conversation, Jiang Yuan skipped other questions and directly asked, "After the person you are waiting for fulfills the promise, what will be done?"

This time, the female Taoist finally stood up and walked to the radiant ice wall, touching it with her hand and sighing, "The world we are in must eliminate the fragments that have fused into it, stripping them away from the attached fused ground in a timely manner to maintain stability.

Only then can the world gain more time.

Behind this ice wall, I have used all my lifetime learning to seal the polluted area so it cannot continue to expand and erode the world. I am waiting for the destined one to come and completely resolve it, thus removing my obsession."

She turned to look at the two of them and continued, "You are not the ones I am waiting for, but if you wish to contribute to this world, you may try to challenge me. If you can defeat me, I can gift the treasured Magical Treasure to assist the victor in completing the great task."

"Intriguing and fun!" Bai Yunqi praised repeatedly but had no intention of trying.

He couldn’t even feel her aura, how dare he casually take action? Losing the last avatar would mean the end of his existence.

Jiang Yuan also didn’t blindly challenge but instead opened the dialogue box again and chose the last option, "Trade."

The item list that popped up included various herbs and stones, priced from tens of Gold Coins to hundreds of Spirit Stones. Among them was a stone wrapped in a slowly flowing rainbow glow, catching his eye—it was the elusive Spirit Mist Stone.

Three hundred Spirit Stones, with only one piece available for sale.