Chapter 211 - The Forbidden Grounds
Name：Glamorous Journey Of The Female Protagonist Author：Nightsummer20
The day was coming to an end and all the Immortals were snuggled in front of the small fireplace that was built in the living room of the cabin.
It was not like they were feeling cold or anything. However, staying with their little late they had learned to do a lot of things that they used to never do before.
"Where has she gone? Is not it already time for our evening snacks? Yet I can't see her anywhere." Zhang Yong complained as he looked out of the small window to see if Li Ming was anywhere near the cabin.
"Are you missing her or the snacks?" Hei Long asked in a teasing tone which made smiles appeared on everyone's faces.
The Shadow Lord quickly turned around to glare at his bondmate as he replied, "Of course, it's my Ming'er whom I'm missing. I was just trying to say that she always returns at this time for the evening snacks but not today."
"Oh! So, it is like that. It's good that you explained otherwise all of us would have thought that those snacks are more important to you than your mate." Hei Long continued with his teasing.
This time the Shadow Lord sure was triggered as he took out his fan and started fanning himself as he replied in a sweet tone, "Don't worry, Second Prince. There's only one Important person in my life and she is well aware of this. Most importantly, I'm the one who has spent the longest period with her compared to all of you."
The smug smile on his lips was the indicator that he was well aware of the fact that the Immortals were always get triggered whenever he mentioned the last part.
"It's enough, Zhang. You have been bragging about meeting her the first for a long time. You should not tease all of us when you need to get even with Hei Long. This is not fair." Ruoshan said or more like complained.
"Who said that I'm trying to get even with the Second Prince? He is not that important for me to waste my time on him." Zhang Yong said as he continued fanning himself.
Miraculously the fan was producing warm air rather than a cold one.
"You...!" Hei Long stared at the Shadow Lord as his dark eyes promised revenge.
Whether the Shadow Lord was interested in taking revenge or not but Hei Long was sure eager to get even with him.
"Enough of you two. You two have known each other for thousands of years. Can you two just behave like grown-ups and stop trying to kill the other one with your words? It's so annoying." Wen Guiying reprimanded the two younger Immortals.
"Why? Are you suddenly feeling protective of your bondmate? It's so rare of you to say something about our bickering." Hei Long sure was in a bad mood or something.
The Supreme Immortal glared at the Second Demon Prince who just chuckled softly while shaking his head.
"What's wrong with you today? It's like you are purposely trying to trigger one of us. Please, don't end up saying something stupid in front of Little One. And you can always share your problems with us." Lord Yueliang said ss he looked at Hei Long with serious eyes.
Just like Li Ming, he too was aware that something was going on with the Second Demon Prince, and as far as he could tell the rest of the five Immortals were also aware of that.
However, they all knew very well that if they tried to pry too much into his personal space, he would create a huge gap between himself and the others.
The last time something like that happened, they had lost contact with him for more than seven years.
But now they had Li Ming with them. For the Immortals, seven years was equal to a few seconds but for their mate and the bonds that they were sharing with her, seven years was a long period.
For a moment it looked like Hei Long was about to say something, probably reveal a part of the problem that he was struggling to deal with.
However, right at that moment, the gate of the cabin opened and they all heard footsteps.
They were waiting for their mate but the person who entered was their Master who looked a little tensed as he made his way into the living room.
The Immortals quickly stood up to greet the old man, their whole focus was on the man who sat down on the couch.
"Is she not back yet?" The old man asked as he looked at his disciples.
"No! Not yet. Do you know where she has gone?" Ruoshan asked.
"She wanted to take a look at the entire Snow Fields, so I allowed her. It has been three or four hours since she left. I'm starting to worry about her well being." The old man said as he looked tense.
"Why are you worried? It's just the Snow Fields. She's smart enough to save herself from the snow." Zhang Yong said with a light chuckle.
"Yes, master. No need to worry. She will probably be back soon." Wen Guiying also tried to assure the old man.
However, there was something that was making the old man worry about the safety of Li Ming and the Immortals were still unaware of it.
"If it has been a normal day, I would not have worried about her. I know that she is both powerful and smart enough to stay safe. But..."
The old man trailed off as he looked at the snow-covered scenery outside of the cabin through the small window.
His words piqued the attention of all the Immortals as they all felt suddenly worried about their young mate's safety.
"But what Master? Is something wrong?" Wen Guiying immediately asked.
The old man sighed as he started explaining, "There is again disturbance in the Forbidden grounds, and this time it's even stronger than the last few times. I'm afraid that girl would come across some harm. Not only that but the wards at the North end of the Forbidden grounds are also sending signals of an intruder. But the signals are of first grade, meaning that whoever is near those wards is not a person carrying any malicious intent towards the Forbidden grounds. If I'm not wrong then I think that person is probably the girl."
"How did she even end up at the north end of the Forbidden Grounds? Even we have not gone to that side for years." Ruoshan was amazed at Li Ming's capacity of ending up in the center of problems all the time.
"I think she is safe. The wards at the north end are build inside an illusion array. As long as she stayed out of the pond she will be safe." The Heaven Emperor told everyone and his words made the others relaxed a little.
"You are right. The wards canceled the link between a person and their powers, making the person a mere mortal. Right now she is unable to use her spiritual qi, she won't jump into the cold water knowing that she would end up freezing without her powers. In the meantime, we should go and get her out of there." The old man said as he looked at the Immortals.
However, he found that most of them had anxiety plastered on their faces.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he looked at them with confused eyes.
"Master, as far as I know her, she is not someone who will sit still and wait for someone to get her out of there. She would try her best to get out on her own and if that needed her jumping in that chilled water, she would do it." Zhang Yong told the old man.
Suddenly, the room was filled with tension as everyone's mind registered the meaning of the words that the Shadow Lord had just spoken.
As much as they wanted to deny with Zhang Yong's words, deep down in their hearts they all knew that he was speaking the truth.
"Then what are you morons doing here? Go and get her out of there before it's too late. Don't forget that the Northern part of the Forbidden Grounds is the most dangerous part. It would be a disaster if she ended up there." The old man looked horrified as he spoke those words.
The Immortals didn't need to be told twice. Before the old man could even blink, the silhouette of all the six Immortals disappeared from the living room of the cabin.
----
"You know what you have to do. Make sure that none of them can reach her before my orders. We can't let anything go wrong today." A person in crimson ted cloak ordered the shadow that had been standing behind them.
The shadow quickly bid goodbye to the red cloak person and disappeared into the vast land of snow.
"I have waited for such a long time for this day. We all have waited. The Immortals will need to wait for a little before meeting their mate. You should not ruin the destiny." The person in the crimson cloak muttered in the silence as they looked at the silhouette of the old man who was walking towards the entrance of the Forbidden Grounds.
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Chapter 212 - Finding Snowy
Name：Glamorous Journey Of The Female Protagonist Author：Nightsummer20
As she finally started returning to consciousness, Li Ming could feel her entire body shivering.
The cold had seeped inside her bones making her suffer as she felt like a corpse. She was feeling so cold that at first, she did not even notice the pain coming from her right ankle.
She slowly tried to open her eyes, attempting to focus her sight on the gloomy area around her.
She was lying at the snow-covered bank of what looked like a huge sea. In front of her was a huge ice cave and behind her was a sea filled with chilled water that would probably succeed in killing her if she ended up there.
"Aaahh!"
A painful cry left her quivering lips as she tried to stand up. The pain that shot out from her right ankle finally succeeded in diverting her attention from the cold that was killing her.
As her eyes landed on her right leg, she took in the torn shoes around her ankles through which blood was seeping out.
The snow around her right leg was drenched in her blood. There were several cuts and scratches all over her body and her clothes were also torn from many places.
As she slowly took in her appearance, the memories of all the things, that happened to her after jumping into that pond, returned.
After she jumped into the pond, everything was calm for the first few minutes. The only problem was the cold water of the pond that immediately started making her regret her impulsive decision.
But within after five minutes of her swimming underwater in search of any hidden clue, the first vine covered with weird-looking white flowers, came in front of her sight.
Before she could even grasp what was happening, the attacks started.
One after other several vines covered in that similar white flowers surrounded her, each one suddenly shooting tiny needle-like things in her direction.
Without her powers, it was already hard for her to swim in that cold chilling water and those attacks just increased her problems.
Though she tried her best to dodge as many needles as she could but a few eventually succeeded in scratching her skin, at least, not a single one ended up piercing through her skin.
She had no idea what those needle-like things were. However, they sure were not something harmless.
Even though she somehow succeeded in getting away from those vines but soon there were huge pieces of rock aiming towards her with huge force.
By the time she saw the light coming from above the surface, she was already injured very badly.
Somehow, she succeeded in getting both herself and Snowy out of those dreadful attacks and reached the bank.
She was too tired, injured, and cold that the moment she had land under her feet, her consciousness left her, bringing her into the world of darkness.
"Snowy..." Li Ming softly whispered as she realized that the little furball was nowhere in her sight.
When no one replied to her soft call, her heart started getting heavy as her eyes looked around her surroundings to find her little familiar.
"Snowyyyy!"
Li Ming shouted at the top of her lungs in hope that her familiar would hear her call. However, her current state was too weak and her shout ended up in barely a meek call.
Her hands flew to her throat as she cursed her luck. It was futile to keep calling for Snowy. She would need to look for him to find him as soon as possible.
She tried to stand up but immediately landed on the cold ground with a painful scream as pain erupted in her ankle.
Her breath was coming out in short gasps as she tried to get her body under her control.
She tried to call her healing powers but even though her powers were still present there but it was not responding to her calls.
At the same time, she could also feel the bond that she shared with Snowy. It was there, giving her warmth and spreading calm over her.
Although, she could not activate her link with him to know his current location or to talk to him through their mind link, but knowing that he was safe gave her strength.
It took her quite some time to settle in the lotus position.
Although, she could not use her spiritual or magical powers for the time being, but she could cultivate to regain at least a little bit of her energy.
The spiritual qi that was present around the area was not the most powerful one. However, it was far much better than the ones present in the Han or Wang Empire.
She closed her eyes and focused her attention on the spiritual qi that was surrounding her. She let her body and mind relax while trying her best to not let her focus return to the unbearable pain in her ankle that was making her grit her teeth.
For the next twenty minutes, Li Ming cultivated the spiritual qi to regain some of her energy.
By the time she again opened her eyes, the pain in her ankle had become bearable and the cold was not making her crumble into dust.
She relaxed and once again tried to stand up. Even though the pain immediately exploded in her ankle but this time she succeeded in keeping it under her control.
Slowly she started walking towards the huge cave that was standing in front of her. Other than ice there was nothing else in her sight.
"Snowy...!"
Li Ming once again tried to call for her familiar but she was again met with dead silence.
She could tell that she was on the other side of the wards that she came across at the mysterious waterfall.
However, the world that was present in front of her eyes appeared like a completely different magical realm.
It had been around half an hour since she was walking in search of her familiar. And that's when she finally picked the very faint sound that was coming from her left side.
She turned towards her left and came across a huge wall of ice. Another wall!
A sigh left her lips as she dragged her body towards that ice wall. She once again pressed her ear against the cave wall.
And it didn't take her long to recognize the sounds of wings and animal feet moving on the ground covered with a thick layer of ice.
She started following the voice against the wall and it led her to an opening in the wall which was covered by a huge ice rock.
"What's this now?"
She asked out loud to no one in particular. Her eyes quickly roaming around the ice wall to find a way to get on the other side of the wall.
And somehow she did find her way. But little did she knew that the thing waiting for her was going to become the reason for her getting tied to the Snow Fields for the rest of her life.
----
The Immortals split into two teams to reach to their mate as soon as possible.
The first team, consisting of The Heaven Emperor, Hei Long, and Zhang Yong, headed towards the main entrance of the Forbidden Grounds in case if Li Ming was already inside the caves.
The second team with Wen Guiying, Ruoshan, and Lord Yueliang headed towards the Northern Entrance of the Forbidden Grounds to look for their young mate.
None of these six Immortals were ready to be suddenly attacked by a group of people dressed in dark robes.
Both the teams were busy in dealing with those weird attackers who kept coming no matter how many they killed.
And then suddenly an intense feeling took over their souls, making panic erupt between them.
It did not take them long to realize that the feeling that they were experiencing was because of Li Ming.
"S-she's hurt...!" Ruoshan said as he swiped his sword through the three attackers who were going to attack him.
His mind was suddenly filled with worry and tension for his mate who was probably injured.
The Immortals started fighting with double force to get rid of all the attackers as soon as possible. Their young mate needed them.
"Yueliang and Guiying, both of you should go ahead and find her as soon as possible. We will take care of these attackers." The Heaven Emperor ordered the two Immortals.
The two did not need to be told twice as they immediately left to continue with their mission of finding their mate.
While these Immortals were doing their best to get to their mate and safely pull her back to the safety of their arms as soon as possible, another force was trying to pull the injured and powerless Li Ming towards it.
The young girl was surrounded by hundreds of spiritual beings as she stood in the center of the opening where Snowy was currently sleeping inside a spiritual ball.
"Looks like we have a guest here today."
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Chapter 213 - The Healing Little Cubs
Name：Glamorous Journey Of The Female Protagonist Author：Nightsummer20
"Y-you...!"
Li Ming stared at the weird creatures that were surrounding her and her little furball who was completely lost in his dream world.
There was one foot to twelve feet tall flying white lions with a dark red fire symbol carved on their forehead, adding to their already marvelous beauty.
Another group of obsidian black colored tortoises with such unique eyes that could almost be called as hazel, were also present there.
However, what was the most surprising about those tortoises was the shocking scene when she noticed two baby tortoises sprinting in the back.
Yep! They were sprinting. Not walking in their usual slow mode but sprinting and hopping at full speed.
Another flock of birds, from babies to almost seven feet tall, was also there. Holding black, brown, white, red, orange, and yellow color in such an extraordinary way on their body that it was almost impossible for her to remove her eyes from them.
These were just a few of those amazing and unique creatures that were currently swarming the small opening of the huge cave.
As her eyes roamed over the hundreds of spiritual beasts that were surrounding her, she realized exactly how unique and rare they were.
She had never seen such beasts before in both of her lives and neither heard nor read about them.
"Wow!"
That's the first word that came to her mind when she finally decided to open her mouth.
She should be afraid of so many beasts who could turn her into their food within a few seconds seeing that she was currently completely powerless in front of them.
However, due to some unknown and weird reason, she was not even a little bit afraid of them.
"What have you all done to my familiar?" She asked the twelve feet tall flying lion who for some reason looked like the leader of the group of all the spirit beasts that were present there.
She looked so small in front of that huge dangerous beast who held the power of turning her bones into powder with just one of his feet.
"Your familiar?" The huge lion beast asked her in confusion, probably not understanding the meaning of the word familiar.
"Umm-hmm! It's something similar to a spirit beast. In your words, you can say that he is my spirit beast. What have you done to him?" Li Ming asked after explaining the meaning of familiar to the beast.
The beast stayed silent for the next few seconds as he keenly observed Li Ming whose neck had started aching because of her continuously looking up at him.
"Your spirit beast is completely fine. He was injured so we have made him cultivate in the Healing Qi Ball which would help him in healing quickly." The beast finally replied and noticed how the young girl's shoulders relaxed at his words.
"What are you doing here and what happened to both of you?" The lion beast asked the young girl who was trying her best to not give up under the wrath of cold and pain that was attacking her powerless body.
"We were roaming around the Snow Fields and ended up falling into a very deep pit. There were traces of some very powerful and ancient ward that sealed my link with all my powers. And then we found our way to a weird pond with an equally weird waterfall and cherry blossom tree. And when we tried to find a way out through the water, we got attacked underwater and ended up here...like this." Li Ming answered his question.
She had no reason why she told him everything truthfully but her instinct, which were still working thankfully, were telling her to tell them the truth without any lies in it.
"And that's how you and your familiar got injured, right?" The lion beast asked her.
Li Ming could see curiosity in his eyes as he tried to read her.
Unfortunately for him, she was one of those people who could not be read at all, no matter how much one tried.
"Of course! If not for my current powerless state I would never have ended up like this and would have never allowed my baby to get hurt." Li Ming replied with a huff.
"Baby?" The lion beast asked as he looked at her with confused eyes, probably trying to figure if she had a baby who somehow got injured.
"Oh! I'm talking about my familiar. He's my baby." Li Ming replied as she looked at Snowy with tender eyes.
"Ohhh!"
This time the reply came out in chorus as all the spiritual beasts nodded their heads in understanding.
"How...ah?" Li Ming let out a surprised tone as her eyes immediately flew towards her right ankle where she had suddenly felt the warm touch.
Two flying lion babies were surrounding her feet as they lapped on her injured ankle, making soft tingles erupt over her right feet.
"This...?" Li Ming asked out loud as she looked at the lion beast in complete surprise.
She just stared at the two babies who kept lapping her ankle and slowly her pain started disappearing.
"Our saliva contains healing elements. And the young cubs have a special gift of fast healing." The lion beast replied as he looked at the two little cubs.
"I'm not feeling cold anymore." Li Ming said as she crouched down on the ground and settled in a sitting position.
She took out her right boot and let the two little cubs lap at her ankle. The wet touch of their tongue on her injured skin was so soothing and gentle that she soon started feeling relaxed and the pain completely disappeared.
She watched in amazement as the large and deep gash around her ankle started healing on its own.
Within a few seconds, the injury completely disappeared from her feet, leaving scarless skin behind.
Soon, little cubs, baby tortoises, the colorful birds, little serpents, and the other baby spirit beasts had surrounded her as they started playing with her.
"Looks like they are liking your company." One of the spiritual bird said as she too observed the babies playing with the young girl.
"By the way, you guys never told me exactly what this place is and....what kind of....spirit beasts are you?" Li Ming asked as she looked at the lion beast.
"This place is called Forbidden Grounds and we are the most unique, rare, and some of the most powerful species of the spiritual beasts." The lion beast replied.
"Forbidden Grounds? I think I have heard Lord Yueliang and the others telling me something about this place. Are we still in the Snow Fields?" She asked with curious eyes.
Her words left the lion beast and the other matured spirit beasts, who were standing close to her, amazed and surprised.
"Yes. The Forbidden Grounds are built deep under the Snow Fields, so you are still in the Snow Fields. But how do you know the Moon Immortal and who are these other people you just referred to?" A large tortoise who had been observing her quietly from the very starting finally opened its mouth and asked the question which was currently running through all of their minds.
"Oh! Well, the Moon Immortal is one of my six mates and the other people whom I mentioned are The Heaven Emperor, the Supreme Immortal, the Evernight Lord, the Second Demon Prince, and the Shadow Lord. They told me about how they needed to visit the Forbidden Grounds to take care of some matters a few days ago. I was not expecting to end up in this place too." Li Ming answered as she looked around the cave.
"The six Immortals are the pillars of the Forbidden Grounds while the Master of the Deities is the Caretaker of the Snow Fields as well as the Forbidden Grounds. The entire Snow Field is filled with illusion arrays and traps to ensure the safety of the Forbidden Grounds. Only a selected few are allowed to roam through the Snow Fields. And no one can break into the Forbidden Grounds, exactly why we did not attack you immediately and decided to talk first." The spirit bird told her.
"I'm thankful to you all for taking care of my familiar and also for treating me justly rather than pouncing me the very first moment you all noticed me." Li Ming bowed her head lightly to show her gratitude to the Spirit beasts surrounding her.
The little spirit beasts' babies that were still playing around her immediately started jumping on her and finally, a little cub came out as the winner as it settled down in her lap and started rubbing its head on her thigh.
"But....then why you are here?" She asked them as she rubbed the soft fur of the cub that was sleeping on her lap.
"A long time back, a dark and mysterious power started killing our species. By the time we realized that the situation was getting out of our control and we went to the Heaven Realm to ask for their help, many of our species had been already swept away entirely by that darkness, and those species that survived were not in any good state. After a long time of the investigation, there was no result and finally, the Forbidden Grounds was created to save those who were at the highest risk from that darkness."
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Chapter 214 - Towards The Weapons
Name：Glamorous Journey Of The Female Protagonist Author：Nightsummer20
"There are more than just spirit beasts here?" Li Ming asked as she looked around the cave in hope of finding those other rare and powerful things that were kept inside the Forbidden Grounds for their safety.
The moment the lion beast mentioned the dark mysterious power, her mind instantly went to the dark power present in the Evernight Province of the Demon Realm.
Whatever or whoever was behind that dark force, that thing or person sure had spread their reaches all over the Immortal World.
She did not need any genius to tell her that the dark mysterious power that was hunting these spirit beasts was the same that is present in the Demon Realm and killing it.
She was still trying to find something or even a single thing about that mysterious force from the books that were filling the library of her magical mansion.
"Other than the spirit beasts with rare and unique abilities, that dark mysterious power also attacked rare spiritual herbs, plants, and trees. Just like we lost a lot of our races, the spiritual herbs also suffered from this same problem."
"There are several columns in the Forbidden Grounds, each storing different rare species or items in it. This place is the home of us spirit beasts, next to us is the column of spiritual herbs, then there's a column of rare treasures like jewels and stones, next to it is the column of sacred books and scrolls which are storing the knowledge and answers of certain things in them, and the last column of this Forbidden Grounds held some of the rarest and most powerful weapons of the three realms."
Li Ming listened to the lion and the tortoise as they explained to her the reason behind the creation of Forbidden Grounds and all the things that were kept inside it.
Although, her mind was contemplating about all the things that she had learned about the Forbidden Grounds but deep down, her heart had already realized the destiny that was waiting for her.
"Where's the Weapon Section? Can you show me the way?" Li Ming asked the lion beast.
A sudden sound disturbed them as their attention was pulled towards the sleeping Snowy who was now back to consciousness and was trying to get out of the spiritual ball.
The lion beast clicked his feet on the ground and the spiritual ball disappeared as Snowy landed safely on the ground.
The very next second he was in Li Ming's arms as he immediately started licking her face.
"Looks like your spiritual beast loves you just as equally as you love him." The lion beast said as he looked at the little furball jumping around her as he tried to assure himself that his Master was alright.
"You did not answer my question." Li Ming looked at the lion beast as she patiently waited for the huge spirit beast to answer her question.
"Why do you want to go there?" The lion beast asked her. There was a slight flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
"I think the reason behind my visit to the Snow Fields can be found there." Her eyes held only sincerity in them which made the lion beast nod his head in understanding.
"Since you have already entered into the Forbidden Grounds and has been accepted by our younger ones, I think you can be considered someone who can be trusted. The only thing that I'm seeing in your eyes is honesty. Also, that mark on your wrist speaks on its own." The lion beast said ss he looked at her with tender eyes.
Li Ming's eyes immediately went towards her wrist where her soul mark was visible through the torn sleeve.
She touched her mark with such tenderness that she immediately started missing her mates and the warmth that always followed them everywhere.
She looked up at the lion beast and her eyes started right into his dark ones and for a moment she thought that she saw something in his eyes, something that was beyond her recognition.
For a moment she wanted to ask something but as soon as she opened her mouth to ask that her mind turned completely blank.
After a few seconds, she just shook her head and shut her mouth.
"Let's go then." The lion beast said as he stood up and after a nod from Li Ming started walking towards the opposite end of the cave.
"Why don't you offer him the position of your third spiritual beast? Trust me, with a spiritual beast like him beside you, we will be living the safest lives ever." Snowy whispered in her ears as he snuggled his wet nose in her nape.
"He can hear you." Li Ming replied as she continued to follow behind the lion beast.
Snowy's eyes popped up suddenly as he first stared at her and then at the back of the lion beast who kept walking ahead as if he had heard nothing.
"Let's forget about whatever nonsense I just spouted. As you already know, I love to joke around." Snowy said as he rested his head on her shoulder and immediately closed his eyes.
Even though Li Ming was looking far much better than her previous injured and frozen condition but only he knew that her soul and body were still in a far worse condition than what she was showing.
Her pulse was not in control and neither was her breathing. Her spiritual and magical energy, both were resting somewhere deep inside her and were not able to fight against the spell that the powerful wards of the Forbidden Grounds had cast on them.
She needed to get out of the Forbidden Grounds as soon as possible and the little furball feared that the thing towards which they were currently heading would only worsen her situation.
"Can't we leave this place first and return at some other time? I'm not feeling really well." Snowy gave a try even though he already was sure that it was not going to work.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you this time." Li Ming replied in a soft tone. This time it was a promise not to only Snowy but also to herself.
The guilt of letting her familiar get hurt because of her carelessness was eating her up and she was very well aware of the fact that whatever was waiting for her in the weapon section of the Forbidden Grounds could crush her into tiny dust particles, especially in her current situation.
They kept walking for a long time and on their way towards the most dangerous and protected part of the Forbidden Grounds, they came across various sections where Li Ming caught a quick glimpse of the other treasures that were kept securely inside the protected wards of the secret underground ice cave.
"Here we are." The lion beast said as they stood in front of a huge opening which was guarded by two illusion arrays and a protection ward.
"How are we going to enter? Both the arrays and ward are too powerful to be dealt with in your current condition." Snowy said as he looked at his Master with worried eyes.
The cold had once again started attacking her powerless body as the long walk through the Forbidden Grounds had abolished almost all the energy that she had regained previously.
Li Ming's eyes landed on the lion beast who kept standing in front of them facing towards the front at the opening of the cave.
Somehow, she had an inkling that the lion beast was aware of her body's current state. However, none of them voice out their thoughts.
Rather, Li Ming decided to thank the lion beast for his help as she walked in front of him and said with a slight bow of her head.
"We are really thankful for the help that we received from you and your people. We would always be grateful to you all. If you have anything that we can help you with, please free feel to tell me. I will make sure to do my best as long as I can."
The lion beast looked at the young girl with tender eyes as he replied, "There is nothing that any of us want. If there's one in this world that we ever want is to return to a world where we won't need to hide to save our lives, a place where our younger ones can roam freely. But that's only a wishful dream of ours. You don't have to return any favor to us. Just stay happy and keep spreading your positive vibes throughout this world. That would be enough."
Li Ming watched as the lion beast gave her and Snowy a last warm look before turning around as he started walking back towards the direction of the northern end of the Forbidden Grounds where the column of Spiritual beasts was located.
"How are we going to enter, Ming?" Snowy again asked after a few moments as he looked at the Weapon Section that was standing right in front of them.
"With this..." Li Ming replied as she showed Snowy the answer to his question.
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Chapter 215 - Suffering Of The Souls
Name：Glamorous Journey Of The Female Protagonist Author：Nightsummer20
"This is cheating, Ming. You can't leave me here!!"
Snowy kept complaining as he stood in front of the opening of the Weapon Section of the Forbidden Grounds.
Li Ming betrayed him as she suddenly put him down on the ground and hurriedly entered into the column of Weapons using her soul mark.
The soul mark carried the essence of her six mates who were also connected with the wards and portals of the Forbidden Grounds.
Since she was carrying the essence of her mates, the Illusion arrays and the protection ward created at the opening of the Weapon Section did not stop her from entering inside the section.
"Ming! Are you listening? Come back and take me inside with you. Are you planning to freeze me to death here?" Snowy shouted at the top of his lungs and his voice boomed through the high walls of the ice cave.
"Ming!"
However, no matter how loudly he shouted there was no trace of Li Ming anywhere. His cries were met with dead silence.
"If you once again tried to trick me and ended up dying, I'm not going to forgive you. No matter whatever excuse you would make later, I won't listen to you."
Sobs were leaving Snowy's mouth as he stared at the protection ward in front of him with teary eyes.
For the first time, he regretted existing as a mere puppy with no powers or use. He had always been the naughty and tricky familiar who never paid attention to any important stuff.
Only if he had given more attention and importance to learning magic and spells, rather than having fun all the time then he probably would be able to accompany his Master through all her ups and downs.
The poor furball sat outside the Weapon Section as he waited for his Master to return and take him along with her.
----
Li Ming rubbed her hands as she tried to save her body from the cold that was about to kill her.
If the rest of the Forbidden Grounds were cold enough to freeze her into ice then the Weapon Section was chilled enough to make her suffer through a hell of ice.
Her hair was covered with white powdery ice just like her face, eyelashes, and eyebrows. Her teeth were making a chattering sound as she kept walking towards the familiar pull that had once again taken control over her body.
The pull that she was feeling at that moment was far more powerful than what she felt before. Probably hundreds of times more powerful.
It was like a siren's song that was luring her towards her death and she was spellbound, completely unable to do anything against the wish of that song.
Her eyes landed on the flicker of bright blue light that started going on and off at a little distance in front of her.
Actually, it was quite far away from her, probably at the very end of the Weapon Section.
She could make out dozens of ice stairs that were leading to a high platform and in the very middle of that platform was that blue shining light levitating in the air at some height from the ground.
"You are finally here..."
It did not take her even a second to recognize that velvety soft voice. It was just as she remembered.
"W-wh...w-who....?"
Li Ming somehow succeeded in letting that one word escape her lips even though it took a lot of her energy to just whisper it.
She was sure that not a single soul was able to hear her question but then she got surprised when that velvety voice answered her.
"How can you forget me so early? It's not that long since we last met in your dreams. Though I must say that you are even prettier in real life."
Li Ming was too exhausted to pay much attention to anything and thus she could not focus on the blue light that was hiding the answer to many of her questions.
"W-what.....what d-do.....y-you wa-want?" Li Ming asked as she stopped at the foot of the staircases.
Her entire body was trembling under the chilliness that had once again succeeded in penetrating inside her body.
"You are actually more or less ready for what is waiting for you here. However, looking at your current state it's very hard to say anything about the results. You are too weak to survive a bonding at this moment, but we don't have any time left. Now everything is up to your fate."
The velvety voice whispered in a soft tone. Its words were really nerve-wracking, however, Li Ming suddenly started feeling lightheaded at that very moment and did not get the chance to pay any attention to whatever nonsense the voice was muttering.
"T-this..."
Her hands went to clutch her head as the ice walls around her started spinning in a circle, making her head taken over by heaviness.
"There is no time left to waste. Even though you can barely understand whatever is happening here but you need to step forward and grasp that blue light before it's too late. Don't waste any more time. Hurry!"
Li Ming felt her legs started moving up the stairs as she slowly started getting closer to that blue light.
At first, she thought that the velvety voice belonged to that blue light but then she realized that it was not.
The voice never belonged to that light, not there in the middle of an ice cave, and neither it did in her dream when she first encountered that blue light and that velvety voice.
"Hurry up! Don't hesitate. Don't think about unnecessary things. Right now, in this very moment, only one thing matters and it is that blue light shining right in front of you. Get closer to it and grasp it. Mark it as your own..."
The velvety voice kept talking and directing her as she climbed up the dozens of stairs that suddenly started feeling like hundreds.
And then she was standing right in front of that blue light. She still could not see anything except that blue light.
She did not even realize what she was doing until her hand closed around that shining light and for a few seconds, the entire cave was filled with darkness.
And as after the count of three seconds, the light returned in the huge cave, a loud ear-piercing scream boomed through the ice walls of the cave carrying enough power to cause a little earthquake.
---
"What are you doing? We don't have much time to waste. We need to get to Little One as soon as we can. I'm having a heavy feeling in my heart."
The Moon Immortal started moving back and forth as he watched the Supreme Immortal who was sitting at the ridge of the small pond with the cherry blossom tree in the very middle of it.
They reached the northern end of the Forbidden Grounds around half an hour ago but unfortunately, they were met with two bad news.
The first bad news was that there was no trace of their little mate. However, they found her fur cloak resting there beside some rocks which told them that she was also present there at some point.
The second bad news was that a group of those attackers succeeded in following them which made them delay in their search of their mate.
No matter how many they killed, the number of attackers never decreased.
Right at that moment, the Moon Immortal had formed a barrier around themselves which kept the attackers away from them.
However, looking at the cracks that started appearing in the barrier it was clear that very soon the attackers would succeed in taking it down.
"Trust me. I know how to take care of these assailants. If I did not stop them now then they would only keep increasing by every minute." Wen Guiying replied to the Moon Immortal's question as he started forming a balk of energy between the palms of both of his hands.
It was not an easy task for him to focus his attention on the task of creating the spell which would help them in destroying those weird attackers since her mind kept filling with the thoughts of his young mate.
The mere thought of her getting hurt was making panic arise in his soul that wanted nothing but to get to his mate as soon as possible.
Somehow, the Supreme Immortal succeeded in completing the spell and as he launched the huge energy ball filled with green light, it barely took a few seconds before all the attackers, that were previously trying to take down the protection barrier, suddenly disappeared.
"What did you...."
The Moon Immortal never got to finish his question as the very next a tremor appeared throughout the Forbidden Grounds and the area around her and an ear-piercing scream entered the ears of all the six Immortals.
However, what left them in terror was the person behind that scream and the pain that suddenly shot through all of their souls.