Her finger landed on the spiritual lion's brow.
The spiritual beast contract was inscribed stroke by stroke on the lion's head.
It felt as if something under her fingertip had sucked her finger in.
Yaohua couldn't help but be taken aback. She lowered her eyes and saw nothing but empty space beneath her finger.
Maybe it was just an illusion.
As she finished the last stroke of the contract, something seemed to break through a shackle and suddenly gripped her hand tightly. Then everything went black before her eyes.
Drip—
The black curtain before her eyes gradually faded away. What came into view was a dimly lit water - curtain cave. Night pearls were inlaid on the ceiling. Inside, tree roots were intertwined, and there were patches of green leaves. The dripping sound was from the water collecting and falling above.
While the ice field was raging with wind and snow, this place was full of greenery. For a moment, Yaohua felt as if she had left the ice field.
However, this was the ice field, and it wasn't that easy to leave just by taming a spiritual beast.
Presumably, this should be the cave abode of some powerful figure who had been stranded on the ice field. She wondered if her sudden appearance here would cause any disturbance.
"Go in."
Curiosity killed the cat. Just as Yaohua was about to back off, the sudden voice of the system startled her.
"You're feeling better?"
"The spiritual current fluctuation just now woke me up." The system's voice still sounded a bit weak. "You mustn't have come here for no reason. Go in and take a look. Maybe there will be some opportunities."
Yaohua was curious. "You don't know what's inside either?"
She had always thought that the system knew everything and was all - powerful, only restricted by some prohibitions and unable to tell her all it knew. But now, from the system's words, it seemed that... she had misjudged it?
"Some things are beyond my prediction." The system was very frank. "After all, in this vast world, fate is something that no one can fathom."
Yaohua understood.
So, just like her master, the system couldn't predict what would happen in the future either.
As soon as she entered the cave, a red light flashed inside.
Yaohua subconsciously squinted her eyes. When she opened them again, a tall and imposing woman was sitting on the ground covered with a blanket, casually stroking a young lion.
There was a golden light covering her face, making it impossible for Yaohua to see her features clearly.
The young lion closed its eyes and lay comfortably on her fiery - red clothes, occasionally gently flicking its tail.
Could this be that spiritual lion? It was so docile.
"You're here."
Amidst her astonishment, the woman suddenly spoke.
Her voice was deep and powerful, as if she was used to giving orders to others, so even when speaking, there was a sense of unhurried calm.
Was there someone else in this room?
Yaohua hesitated at the entrance of the cave. Should she back out or go in?
"Since you're here, come in."
Yaohua waited for a while. Seeing no one else, she was sure that the woman was talking to her.
"I accidentally entered this place. I hope the senior can forgive me." She hesitated and walked over, looking around. Finally, her gaze landed on the woman's head.
Why did the golden crown on this senior's head look so familiar?
Yaohua always felt that she had seen it somewhere, but when she tried to recall, she couldn't remember anything.
The woman let go of the young lion and looked up at Yaohua.
Her focused gaze fell on Yaohua's face. Although Yaohua couldn't see the woman's face, she could still feel the inquisitiveness in her eyes.
"Your bloodline is pure, and your innate supernatural power is also of the highest grade. Ziying didn't misjudge you."
Fairy Ziying?
The woman's words were like a bolt of spiritual light that split the chaos in Yaohua's mind.
No wonder she felt the hairpin crown was familiar. She had seen it countless times on the paintings left in the ancestor's tomb.
Excitement instantly filled her chest, and Yaohua's voice trembled a little.
"I'm Yaohua, a junior. I pay my respects to the ancestor."
Since she had heard about the ancestor's deeds from the tens of thousands of books, Yaohua had yearned for her. She never expected that by some strange twist of fate, she would actually get to see the ancestor in person!
"Yaohua. It's a good name."
There was a hint of a smile in the ancestor's tone. She gently patted the young lion's back, and the lion quickly ran away. Then her gaze returned to Yaohua.
Yaohua subconsciously straightened her back and didn't dare to move. Her mind seemed to stop working. She just stared intently at the ancestor, not knowing what to do.
Her name was given by her master. Being praised by the ancestor made her extremely happy.
"Don't be nervous." The ancestor pointed in the direction of the steps. "I have a half - embroidered handkerchief. Go and get it for me."
Yaohua looked in the direction of her finger and indeed saw a few steps. There was an embroidery frame on top of the steps.
A big question mark appeared in her mind.
Did the ancestor do embroidery in her spare time from battles?
She took the order and walked over. When she saw the pattern on the embroidery frame, she was momentarily stunned.
"Do you think the phoenix I embroidered is nice?"
Although it was a question, the confidence in her tone was obvious.
However, looking at the bird on the embroidery cloth, Yaohua couldn't bring herself to say it was nice for a long time.
But this was the ancestor's work. Did it really matter whether it was nice or not?
"Nice." Yaohua said calmly, reached out to take the work, and presented it in front of the ancestor.
"My hand is injured, so I can't do such delicate work anymore." The ancestor sighed. "Since you're my descendant, do it for me."
Did the ancestor mean for her to finish embroidering this phoenix?
Yaohua was immediately in a difficult situation.
Although she had learned a lot of things since childhood, she had never done embroidery before. She had never even touched a needle!
"Are the descendants of my Phoenix Clan even unable to do embroidery?"
The ancestor sighed softly, and there was an obvious sense of disappointment in her tone.
"I'm not good at this." Yaohua told the truth, and she no longer thought the phoenix was not nice, because if it were her to embroider, it might be even uglier.
"It doesn't matter." The ancestor didn't intend to let her off. "I didn't know how to do it at first either. I learned it slowly."
Since the ancestor insisted that Yaohua do the embroidery, Yaohua had no choice but to sit down.
"I hope the ancestor can teach me."
"Just embroider as you like. I'm not one of those old - fashioned people. Embroider it however you can."
This made it difficult for Yaohua.
She picked up a needle and looked at it from all directions before figuring out how to thread it.
But then, looking at the colorful half of the phoenix, she was stumped again.
"If you really can't start, then forget it." The ancestor sighed faintly. "I didn't expect that the descendants of my Phoenix Clan today are even afraid to do needlework."
Yaohua gritted her teeth and stabbed the silver needle into the cloth.
It was like stepping into a swamp with one foot. A soft but powerful force kept entangle Yaohua and dragged her in.
For a moment, she uncontrollably transformed into her phoenix form.
Her fiery - red wings spread out, and her gorgeous tail feathers swept across the air. Only then did Yaohua suddenly realize that she had left the water - curtain cave.
Breaking through the clouds below, she saw that the land beneath was littered with corpses, and black vultures perched on the withered branches.