168 A New Battle

Setting off once again for the orc altar, the party was slightly smaller in number than the previous time, yet their combat capability had clearly and significantly improved. This discrepancy was evident simply from the efficiency with which the group traversed the "Wind Tunnel"—previously, it had taken the orcs nearly two hours to make their way through, but on this occasion, that time was slashed by well over half!

The new party consisted of seven members. Needless to say, Lambert, Tanuki, and Theresa made up three of them; combined with Kina, Rebecca, Green-Mo, and Flora, this particular lineup gave the atmosphere within the group an exceptionally bizarre vibe. This was presumably one of the main reasons for the drastic surge in their traveling speed.

Returning to the viewing platform, the milky-white water still drifted down like a gentle sprinkle, with the mist swaying, entirely unchanged. However, the moment the group stepped through the doors of the platform, their expressions were noticeably completely different from when the orcs had first entered—

"Something is amiss." Green-Mo was the first to halt his steps. His eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned his surroundings, seemingly relaxed, but in reality, on high alert.

At his warning, the others likewise stopped in their tracks. Rebecca instantly tensed her entire body, entering a state of battle readiness. Right at that moment, a hand reached out from beside her and gently touched the hand she had resting on the hilt of the whip at her waist. She turned her head to look back—

It was Kina!

Kina gave Rebecca a gentle shake of her head and said, "A minor issue, no need to be so tense—you've been out gaining practical experience for so many years, how are you still so hot-headed?"

Rebecca stuck out her tongue, released her grip, shrugged both hands, and let them drop naturally and loosely to her sides. With her sharp eyes, Theresa noted that while this posture looked casual, it was actually the position most primed for explosive force. The moment an emergency arose, she could transition into combat stance instantaneously!

Not just Rebecca; among this group, apart from Theresa—who possessed no practical combat ability and was truly in a relaxed state—everyone else maintained this posture of outward relaxation and inward tension.

Walking once more amidst the swirling white fog, the perceptive Theresa soon discovered a new phenomenon: the traces left behind by people walking through the mist appeared shorter, and the fog converged back together at a much faster rate. This clearly indicated that the density of the white mist was much thinner than when they had entered the last time!

After advancing about fifty meters or so, Theresa suddenly felt a surge of burning heat in her upper arms—her two little fox spirits were acting up again. She hurriedly gathered her focus and made the two little fellows settle down. After all, most of the people in this group were outsiders, and there was no telling who might take a fancy to them. She certainly didn't have the capacity to protect the two little creatures then.

Just as Theresa was concentrating inward, a sudden change occurred!

She felt a surge of white mist before her eyes, and by the time she could see clearly again, the members of the party had swapped positions. Concurrently, Rebecca and Lambert were already locked in fierce combat with two bizarre-looking entities. Those were creatures roughly two meters tall, resembling giant jellyfish, hovering about thirty centimeters off the ground. Atop them were enormous, translucent, umbrella-shaped caps, while underneath dangled hundreds of slender, tentacle-like feelanders over a meter long. The "jellyfish" moved at extreme speeds, attacking by whipping about their long tentacles, generating arcs of lightning wherever they struck...

Because the moisture in the white mist was dense, the lightning from the impacts inevitably diffused irregularly along the water vapor. Viewed from a distance, it formed a quite beautiful and spectacular scene, but up close, it was truly nerve-wracking.

Gazing at those increasingly dense clusters of lightning, Theresa felt a sense of unease and involuntarily gripped Flora's hand—

"Theresa, don't worry. Uncle Mo and the others haven't made a move yet, which means Lambert and the others are definitely fine," Flora whispered soothingly, leaning close to her ear.

Only then did Theresa realize her unseemliness. She hurriedly let go of her hand and smiled sheepishly—though her reason told her she was safe, emotionally she still felt an involuntary sense of tension...

Why was this happening? Theresa could not help asking herself—when had she become so sensitive, so easily unsettled?

Prompted by this self-questioning, she instinctively reined in her mind, entering the sea of consciousness to trace down the root of any potential problems—

The moment she formed the thought, Theresa discovered something was wrong—her speed in entering the sea of consciousness turned out to be exceedingly difficult! Compared to the past, when a single thought was enough to enter, this time there was a delay of about ten seconds!

Her spiritual divine sense felt as though it were struggling and sinking into a quagmire, arduous and excruciatingly difficult to move!

The instant she broke into the sea of consciousness, the soul contracts of her little companions rushed straight into Theresa's embrace. In a split second, she felt an infinite flood of information pouring into her mind, crowding it so densely that her brain felt as though it had expanded several times over in an instant—

"Alright, alright, all of you quiet down, quiet down!" Theresa could not help but "roar" out loud. The moment her intent was released, the entire space instantly fell silent.

Only then did she single out the book spirit, who was dressed in traditional Hanfu and looked like a doll: "Ling'er, you speak first, what is going on? Why was it so difficult for me to enter the sea of consciousness?"

"You didn't even know that someone almost sealed your sea of consciousness, and you expect me to know what's going on?!" The book spirit put her hands on her hips and said poutingly, "A little slower, and you probably wouldn't have been able to get in at all! Just now, Little Yao and Little Hu kept sending you warning signals, but you completely ignored them. You are just utterly dull-witted!"

Although this was a purely conscious communication without any matters of volume, facing the book spirit's aggressively fierce "roar," Theresa still instinctively reached out to rub her ears, then cut straight to the point: "Who has the capability to almost seal my sea of consciousness without making a sound?"

"At the very least, it's an Eighth-Rank mental-type magical beast!" the book spirit said with glowing eyes. "I estimate it must be one of the guardians of the 'Source of Vitality.' Your group has brought it a sense of threat—I must say, Tess, your companions aren't very reliable. Not a single person reminded you of the abnormality in your sea of consciousness. I refuse to believe none of them noticed something was wrong!"

Hearing this, Theresa could only offer a bitter smile—even if she roughly knew that the only reliable people in this group were probably Lambert and Flora, what else could she do? Her skills were inferior to others, so she could only silently endure it for now...

Seeing this, the book spirit flew back to her side, tugged at her hair, and clamored, "Once the hidden injuries to your spiritual sense are healed, we are going into seclusion, seclusion, seclusion!!! You've been studying under me for so long, and you've only just mastered a single series of spell seals. This efficiency is simply too pathetic!"

Theresa rubbed her ear once more, conveniently moving the book spirit away from her hair, and then said, "Alright, let's solve the current problem first..."

***

Lambert and Rebecca were in the thick of battle with the two "jellyfish" when suddenly, the airflow around Theresa experienced an abnormal surge. Countless white white-mist particles, guided by an invisible force, rushed rapidly toward Theresa, wrapping around her in layers!

"Theresa!" Flora cried out in shock at the sight, reaching out a hand to touch her, only to be stopped by Green-Mo just as her fingers made contact—

"Do not disturb her."

"Uncle Mo, what is happening to Theresa?" Flora turned her head and asked anxiously.

"Nothing, she is breaking through," Green-Mo replied with a smile. "Her potential is quite remarkable. To discover the abnormality so quickly... it really is something to look forward to..."

Green-Mo's verdict set Flora's mind somewhat at ease. Though she still watched Theresa anxiously, anticipation outweighed her worry.

The mist gathered slowly, and before long, it actually collected the white fog within a radius of ten-plus meters, gradually forming a white, round, cushion-like object beneath Theresa's feet. It looked like a cloud, yet also like a prayer mat... Such a convergence brought an unexpected boon—not far away, the white mist surrounding the battling Lambert and Rebecca was also sucked dry, effortlessly shattering the lightning barriers the "jellyfish" relied on to conceal their forms!

The moment the lightning barriers vanished, no matter how fast the "jellyfish" were, they could not outpace the attacks of Lambert and Rebecca. In a short while, the two of them made quick work of the creatures. One after another, the jellyfish transformed into brilliant silver-blue clusters of light that exploded in mid-air, ultimately leaving behind only a layer of white, translucent membrane as thin as silkworm silk—

Lambert bent down to pick up the two membranes, gave them a gentle shake, and after expanding them to a massive size, the membranes rapidly contracted and shrunk down to smaller than a fist. He tucked the items into his robe, walked back to the group, cast a glance at Theresa, and then turned to Green-Mo to ask, "How much longer?"

Green-Mo turned his head and replied, "Soon—her progress is faster than I anticipated... Pay attention, something is approaching, intercept them!"

At Green-Mo's command, the group immediately entered combat readiness. A mere dozen seconds later, the surrounding white mist churned like ocean waves, rapidly surging toward the group. Mixed within the mist, faint outlines of over a dozen jellyfish-like entities were rapidly approaching. Arcs of lightning shot everywhere, continuously spreading, intersecting, and merging within the fog... forming a massive wall of lightning that firmly trapped Theresa and her companions within.

Theresa was entirely unaware of these anomalies unfolding around her. At this moment, she was putting her all into contending with the nameless energy that had invaded her sea of consciousness. Her spiritual power had transformed into a web-like structure. Through specialized reinforcement, this spiritual power network was akin to being lined with razor blades; wherever it passed, it swept through like a harvesting machine, cleaving the nameless energy blocking the perimeter of her sea of consciousness into countless microscopic fragments...

At first, her entire spiritual power network acted in unison. Although this increased efficiency, whenever she "scraped" through once and before she could turn back to perform another cleavage, the nameless energy would rapidly reorganize itself. After going through several rounds of this "destruction-reorganization-re-destruction-re-reorganization," Theresa grew wise. She consciously split the spiritual power network apart, layering, stripping, and intersecting them tier by tier...

Countless layers of the spiritual power network "sifted" through the exact same patch of nameless energy at different angles, layer after layer, continuously subdividing it over and over until finally, it was broken down into the most basic structural energy—at this point, Theresa did not even need to make a move herself. The few little fellows dwelling within her sea of consciousness had already rushed out eagerly, devouring these energies one after another with the momentum of a sweeping wind!

Thus, Theresa "sifted" at the front, while the five little creatures led by the book spirit "feared nothing and ate away" at the back. Through this joint effort of spiritual consciousness between one human and five pets, this formidable nameless energy was slowly and steadily nibbled away...

It wasn't until her spiritual power had been depleted by eighty percent that Theresa sighed, withdrew her spiritual energy back into the sea of consciousness, and sat quietly in meditation to absorb the new control techniques she had learned from this battle... (To be continued)