Chapter 136: Unexpected Encounter in the Frozen Wastes

Bai Yu had only walked for a short while before the sky began to dim. A frown creased her brow. She was now certain of her location: a place where nights stretched long and days were fleeting. How little time had passed before darkness descended once more? She hesitated for a moment. Bai Yu knew nothing of the night in this place; if unknown monsters truly lurked, she would be in grave danger. She held no certainty of victory against the unknown. Yet, she possessed no tent or similar refuge, rendering sleep here an impossibility. She dared not simply fall asleep in such a place, fearing she might never awaken.

Bai Yu lowered her head in thought, then settled beside a particularly massive rock. The heat of Heaven’s Fire swept away the surrounding snow, its intensity so great that the melted water evaporated instantly.

“Forget it,” she muttered. “Since things have come to this, I might as well eat first.”

Bai Yu opened her wondrous item storage. She had, after all, prepared a considerable amount of food beforehand. In truth, high-tier Arcanists could theoretically forgo food entirely, provided the surrounding spiritual energy was sufficiently abundant. However, such circumstances were exceedingly rare, as locations rich in spiritual energy were few and far between. Thus, unless one possessed a unique arcanist technique or a spiritual core, food remained an indispensable necessity.

Bai Yu retrieved some small biscuits, popping them into her mouth one by one. By utilizing a wondrous item within a wondrous item, she had amassed an extraordinary amount of provisions—enough, at least, to stave off starvation. This was precisely why Bai Yu harbored less concern.

As Bai Yu ate with her eyes closed, a peculiar color suddenly caught her peripheral vision.

A flicker of confusion crossed Bai Yu’s mind. Everything around her had been stark white snow and dark rocks; by all rights, no other colors should appear. Even Bai Yu’s own dress was white, and her hair a shimmering silver, almost perfectly blending her into the snowy expanse.

Bai Yu quickly turned her head, only to discover what appeared to be a person lying not far from the rock.

‘No way…’

A dark premonition stirred within Bai Yu. ‘Could it be the corpse of a previous adventurer who had met their end here?’

Bai Yu swallowed hard. The figure on the ground, seen from a distance, wore standard athletic long-sleeved clothing and trousers. Long gray hair spilled around her, and by her appearance, she seemed to be a young maiden. An expedition to the Antarctic at such a young age? And judging by her attire, she was clearly a modern individual.

Bai Yu’s confusion deepened. That long gray hair… she felt as though she had seen it somewhere before.

‘Gray… long hair!’

Suddenly, it clicked. ‘Was this not the mysterious maiden she had glimpsed while spying on the sea? The one who had single-handedly slaughtered so many pirates, dispatching them with the ease of culling chickens. Why was she here? Had she also been transported by a spatial distortion? After all, they had both been in the same sea region, making it highly probable they were simultaneously affected by that creature.’

Bai Yu quickly rushed over, crouching beside the maiden. The maiden’s fair, delicate face was unblemished, her eyes tightly shut, with only the slow rhythm of her breathing discernible.

‘She’s alive!’

Bai Yu swiftly placed a finger beneath the maiden’s nose, confirming the faint wisp of breath. Bai Yu was astonished. The maiden was indeed only unconscious. Given the formidable combat prowess Bai Yu had witnessed from the maiden previously, surviving in such a place was undoubtedly no simple feat.

‘What should I do?’

Bai Yu furrowed her brow, contemplating whether to aid the maiden before her. After all, on this desolate continent, devoid of any human presence, there was no telling what dangers might arise. Moreover, night was fast approaching, and with it, the potential emergence of unknown monsters.

Bai Yu considered for a moment, ultimately deciding to lift the maiden into her arms. After a brief deliberation, she simply couldn’t bear to abandon the maiden here alone.

“Ah, consider this compensation for spying on you,”

Bai Yu murmured, lifting the maiden. The maiden was of average build, her figure not particularly striking, yet certainly not flat-chested—in fact, she was considerably more endowed than Bai Yu.

Bai Yu carefully observed the maiden’s face.

‘Now that I think about it, she’s quite cute.’

A flush crept up Bai Yu’s face, and she quickly shook her head. She truly detested this ‘sickness’ of hers, constantly getting flustered around other girls. ‘Could she not show some self-control? I’m saving her, not admiring her looks or anything.’

Bai Yu placed the maiden beneath the giant rock, where it offered some meager protection against the vast snowfield’s biting winds.

“I should still start a fire,”

Bai Yu mused, wondering what she could pull from her wondrous item storage to burn. She had tried before; even when Heaven’s Fire ignited ordinary objects, it merely produced a mundane flame. Heaven’s Fire burned by drawing upon spiritual energy and souls, serving both as an offensive ability and a means to sustain its blaze. However, its offensive effects only impacted those other than Bai Yu herself. After searching for a long while, Bai Yu still couldn’t find anything suitable to burn. ‘She certainly couldn’t incinerate her food or books, could she?’

“Ugh, fine. If I’m going to save someone, I’ll see it through,”

Bai Yu simply manifested Heaven’s Fire directly in her hand, sitting beside the maiden to provide her with a warm environment. She even adjusted it to an appropriate temperature, unsure of the maiden’s tolerance. After feeding the maiden some drinking water from her wondrous item storage, Bai Yu found there was little else she could do. Given that the maiden was currently unconscious, Bai Yu couldn’t force-feed her. ‘I can’t exactly feed her mouth-to-mouth, can I? I don’t even know her. That would be completely inappropriate. Even with someone I knew, that would be totally out of line.’ Despite the maiden’s undeniable cuteness, Bai Yu still had her limits; such an act was simply unthinkable.

Bai Yu sat beside the maiden, controlling Heaven’s Fire with one hand while munching on her biscuits with the other. Out of boredom, she even tried to toast a biscuit over Heaven’s Fire, only for it to instantly turn to ash.

‘My biscuit…’

Bai Yu’s mouth twitched. It seemed she still didn’t fully understand Heaven’s Fire; there were likely many more uses she was unaware of. The crunch of biscuits echoed in the silent night. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet; in this place, truly a forbidden zone of life, only Bai Yu and the maiden beside her existed.

“Ugh, why are there so many troublesome things happening?”

Bai Yu felt a surge of displeasure. She had merely intended to visit an academy, yet so many complications had arisen. ‘Was she truly cursed with a trouble-prone constitution? Did every troublesome matter seek her out?’

As Bai Yu pondered, a sudden cough emanated from the maiden beside her.

“Cough! Cough!”

Bai Yu quickly glanced over, noticing signs that the maiden’s eyes were opening.

‘Is she waking up?’

Bai Yu swiftly helped her sit up, leaning her against the rock. The maiden’s eyelashes fluttered, and finally, her eyes opened. Two distinct eyes, one white and one gray, met Bai Yu’s gaze. Unlike Bai Yu’s own silver-white eyes, the maiden’s white eye held a piercing, almost chilling quality. This made Bai Yu instinctively lean back slightly. While she didn’t believe the maiden would attack her, caution was always prudent.

The maiden gazed around blankly, and after a full survey, her eyes settled on Bai Yu.