Xiao Lan's eyelids snapped open, revealing jade eyes that flashed with the cold light of a breaking glacier. The serenity of her meditation shattered, replaced by a steely alertness. Her spiritual sense, already sharpened by her power at the peak of Foundation Establishment, was assailed by a cacophony of discordant energies: the pure desperation and the chaotic, weakened aura of an insignificant outer disciple who had crawled to the edge of her cultivation circle, and, far more alarming, the oppressive and malignant presence of a shadow beast that had just burst into her peaceful sanctuary.
Lin Feng lay curled up a few meters away, his breath an agonized wheeze, his robe torn and stained with blood and dirt. The last part of his plea—"...implores Your divine intervention!"—still hung in the frigid air, pathetic and desperate. Clutched to his chest, beneath the fabric, Lin Feng could feel Glob vibrating with an almost tangible terror, a small life born of chaos now facing near-certain annihilation.
But it was the other figure that seized Xiao Lan's immediate attention: The Shadow Devourer.
The beast slithered inward, its fluctuating body of darkness absorbing the scarce light, its multiple red eyes gleaming with hungry anticipation as they fixed first on Lin Feng, its cornered prey, and then, with a new, calculating intensity, on the far more potent source of Qi that was Xiao Lan. A low, guttural growl, like a thousand tombs opening, rumbled through the clearing, promising annihilation.
Xiao Lan's expression shifted from annoyance to steely seriousness. She recognized the beast instantly.
"A late-stage Shadow Devourer... What have you done to attract such a creature, outer disciple?" Her voice was cold, but there was also an underlying tension. This beast was a problem even for her.
Lin Feng, leaning on his shovel like a dying old man, could barely gasp, "I... I don't know... it appeared... after... after an energy explosion..." He couldn't explain Glob's birth, not now.
The Devourer didn't wait. With a hiss that chilled the marrow, one of its reptilian heads lunged toward Lin Feng, its jaws agape.
Damn it! Lin Feng thought. He was too weak, too close. He shut his eyes, bracing for impact.
But in that instant, he felt a surge of almost suicidal determination. He remembered his promise to Lin Xiao. He remembered the humiliation, the pain, the feeling of being trash. No! He wouldn't die like this, like a coward, without even trying to fight!
He opened his eyes, and a defiant light shone within them. He gathered the scarce, trembling wisp of Qi remaining in his first-stage meridians, an amount so pathetic any other cultivator would have laughed. But for Lin Feng, it was all he had. With a cry that was more frustration than power, he threw his fist toward the approaching Devourer's head.
Little insect! the icy wind seemed to whisper.
His fist, with its minuscule charge of Qi, struck the beast's shadowy head.
The result was… absolutely nothing.
It was like striking a mountain with a feather. The Devourer didn't even seem to notice. Lin Feng's energy dissipated without a trace, and his fist simply passed through the semi-corporeal form of the shadowy head without leaving the slightest scratch. A wave of shame and despair washed over him. Even in his moment of utmost determination, he was still ridiculously weak.
The Devourer's head continued its advance, its jaws ready to swallow him whole.
But just as darkness threatened to engulf him, a wall of incandescent golden-white flames erupted in front of him, intercepting the beast. Xiao Lan!
"Get out of the way, useless!" Her voice was a lash, cold and full of authority.
The Purifying Flame roared with majestic fury, forcing the Shadow Devourer to recoil with a shriek of pain and surprise. The beast hadn't expected such powerful resistance.
Xiao Lan interposed herself between Lin Feng and the monster, her sword "Purifying Light" now unsheathed, glowing with a power that made the very air sing.
"So it is you who disturbed my cultivation and lured this abomination to my resting place, outer disciple. You have a special talent for causing trouble."
Lin Feng, safe for the moment but trembling from the effort of his pathetic attack and residual terror, could only nod miserably.
The battle that followed was a spectacle of power and grace that Lin Feng watched with a mixture of awe and a growing despair at his own helplessness. Xiao Lan, at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, was a true goddess of war. Her Purifying Fire danced around her, forming flaming phoenixes, lotuses of annihilation, and shields of incandescent light. Every movement of her sword was precise, every technique imbued with a power that made the valley tremble.
The Shadow Devourer, however, was no easy prey. Its shadow body allowed it to dissolve and reform, dodging many of Xiao Lan's attacks. Its multiple red eyes fired beams of dark energy that sizzled upon contact with the purifying flames, and its shadowy breath attempted to corrode Xiao Lan's life energy. Its scorpion-like tail whipped about with lethal speed, seeking any opening.
It was a balanced fight, two primordial powers—pure light against devouring darkness—clashing in the heart of the frozen valley. Lin Feng, reduced to a mere spectator, felt more useless than ever. Glob, hidden, vibrated with a mixture of fear and a strange excitement, as if it wanted to join the fray but knew its current power was negligible.
After several fierce exchanges, where Xiao Lan managed to inflict several severe burns on the Devourer but also took a few hits from shadowy energy that made her pale slightly, the beast, perhaps sensing it couldn't easily win against this unexpected fire expert, or perhaps simply having lost interest in the "lesser prey" that was Lin Feng, let out a final roar of frustration and began to dissolve into the deeper shadows of the valley, retreating.
Xiao Lan did not pursue. She stood, her chest rising and falling slightly, her Purifying Fire slowly retracting until it became a soft aura around her. She watched as the last wisp of the Devourer's darkness vanished.
Then, she turned slowly towards Lin Feng, who was still on the ground, looking at her with a mixture of gratitude and a renewed terror for having dragged her into such danger.
Her jade eyes scanned him up and down, cold and analytical.
"Outer disciple," she said finally, her voice devoid of any emotion. "Not only do you interrupt my meditation and profane the tranquility of my resting area with your unwanted presence, but you also bring with you a late-stage Shadow Devourer Beast. Explain yourself. And make it quick. My patience has limits, and my sword is still thirsty."
Lin Feng swallowed hard, fear chilling him to the bone. This was the moment of truth. Beg, flatter, offer something, anything.
With an effort that felt superhuman, he got to his knees, bowing his head until his forehead touched the icy snow.
"Noble Fairy Xiao Lan, Goddess of the Fire Phoenix!" he began, his voice trembling but with a note of calculated desperation he hoped sounded convincing. "This humble and despicable scum Lin Feng has no words to express his regret for disturbing your sacred cultivation and for endangering you! I deserve a thousand deaths for my incompetence!"
He paused dramatically, as if awaiting the killing blow.
"But if this Noble Fairy, in her infinite magnanimity and compassion, would consider sparing the life of this insignificant worm, I swear by the nine heavens and ten hells that I will dedicate what remains of my existence to serving you! I will carry your trophies! I will clean your divine sword of your enemies' blood! I will be the shadow of your shadow, the dust beneath your immortal feet! My only aspiration in this life will be to relieve the Noble Fairy of the most mundane tasks so that she may concentrate on her transcendental path to divinity!"
Glob, from its hiding place, emitted a pulse that Lin Feng interpreted as, "Seriously, are we stooping this low?" But Lin Feng ignored it. It was this or death.
Xiao Lan watched him in silence for what felt like an eternity, her face an impenetrable mask of ice. Lin Feng kept his head pressed to the ground, feeling the cold of the snow seeping into his forehead, his heart pounding with a condemned man's hope.
Finally, she spoke.
"Rise, outer disciple." Her voice was still cold, but perhaps, just perhaps, there was a hint of something else. Amusement? Curiosity? "Your eloquence is… surprising for someone who just escaped the jaws of a Shadow Devourer. And your capacity for self-abasement is certainly… notable."
Lin Feng slowly raised his head, not daring to meet her gaze.
"I do need someone to handle minor tasks during my stay in these mountains. My teammates had to return to the sect; one was injured and they decided to take him, but I chose to stay," she explained. "And the beast cores I collect must be organized and transported." Her gaze fell on the small, pathetic bag of cores Lin Feng still wore tied to his waist. "Though I doubt yours will add much to the hoard."
Lin Feng felt a wave of relief so intense his legs almost gave out. It had worked. His calculated humiliation, his offer of abject servitude… had saved him. For now. And more importantly, it had placed him under the wing, however precarious, of the most powerful cultivator he had ever met.
"Thank you, Noble Fairy! Thank you! This scum will not disappoint you!" he exclaimed, bowing deeply again, though this time, in his eyes, when no one could see them, a cold, calculating glint shone.
Xiao Lan simply nodded, already turning away to examine the area where the Shadow Devourer had been repelled, looking for any trace or useful material the beast might have left behind.
"Collect the cores from the Crystal Foxes I hunted before you arrived with your… shadowy entourage," she ordered over her shoulder. "And anything else that looks remotely valuable. From now on, you are my official porter."
Lin Feng slowly got to his feet, his body still a map of pain, but his mind now working at full speed. He had gone from being cornered prey to being the servant of the sect's ice and fire goddess. A precarious, humiliating position, but infinitely better than being a Shadow Devourer's feast.
Glob, from his pocket, emitted a soft pulse, as if agreeing and ready for the next phase of their strange adventure. The Spirit Beast Trial, indeed, had just become much more interesting. And his servitude, Lin Feng suspected with an internal smile that didn't reach his lips, was just the beginning of an even stranger, more dangerous, and unpredictable path.