Chapter 179 - Healing the Sacred River (1)

Xinyi got up at dawn, regardless of how tired she was. She went in her domain and marked the two spirit guardians. The old woman's name was Guang and the young lady was Shengkai. Xinyi named them according to their former powers.

She had them displayed their powers in the domain first before bringing them outside. They went to the mountain peaks for this. Xinyi was astounded to see their powers moved in tandem.

Shengkai could manipulate more plants in a bigger area unlike before. This also included the bigger plants, while Guang displayed a stronger power of light with healing properties compared to her former ability. It delighted Xinyi to have another guardian that had healing powers, so the two of them could help heal when the need arose. 

Xinyi's companions were already up when they went back to the cave. She introduced the two to the rest and was welcomed well, which made her at ease. She desired them to be united before they would start healing the river.

"Before we start, I need to mark three more spirit guardians here. We need all the help we can get to succeed. So, Kaosma, Meirga and little girl…" Xinyi's gaze went to the first two and ended at the little girl. "I need to mark you too, so you will receive more power from me. I need you all to get stronger so we can all prevail longer than when we tried to heal my husband."

"We understand." The three said and bowed. 

'That went well. I thought you would disagree?' Xinyi spoke to the fox-spider through voice transmission.

'How could I pass this opportunity after I've seen what Lengshui can do?' The little girl replied with a smug on her face but she eventually giggled like a happy and playful little girl. 'Thank you, my lady.'

Winning this fox-spider's respect was Xinyi's trial, and this little girl's cute smile lightened her heart.

"Okay, let's start," she said.

"Hey, how about marking us too so our powers will rise too." Tyriece shamelessly said. 

All eyes went to the two Godingans standing beside Lengshui and then to Xinyi in front of them, waiting for her decision with much anticipation. But Alva intervened in Xinyi and the spirit guardian's minds right at that moment.

"No, she must not. It's not that she can't but renaming two Chiangdas is another matter. It will drain much of her powers compared to marking spirit guardians." 

Her statement silenced the other spirit guardians.

The Godingans sensed something was amiss as they watched Xinyi's uneasy look.

"Ah, please don't mind what I said, Lady Wei. It was only a joke." Tyriece forced a laugh while smacking Lofey's shoulder to join him.

"Yes, my lady. He is only joking, so don't mind him. Let's proceed. Please tell us your plans." Lofey said in a jiffy, covering Tyriece's embarrassment.

Xinyi faked a smile and sighed inwardly. "Well anyway, the three of you, please step forward."

Kaosma, Meirga, and the little girl stood in the middle of the cave.

She tapped Kaosma's forehead. "You are now Kaosmandu." 

A red light emanated on his forehead and it became Xinyi's flower mark. He suddenly roared as a surging power gathered in his head. The cave became a lush forest in that instant. Blooming flowers and greeneries were everywhere. They almost thought they left the cave. 

He roared again, and the unpleasant cave appeared before them.

"Wow, my illusion power got stronger. It almost fooled me." He scratched his nape in embarrassment.

They had a merry laugh hearing his funny remarks and congratulated him, making him feel belonged to the team. He gladly shook back their hands.

Xinyi moved to Meirga. "You are still Meirga but stronger."

Meirga received the mark on her right upper arm. And she vanished before their sight and back again before they could blink their eyes. She pulled Xinyi and Nianshi and disappeared and reappeared again. They were all speechless with what they witnessed.

"Haha, I can teleport more people and faster. Yes!" She raised her hands up high as she shouted the last word. 

They all gave her a warm applause and Meirga blushingly thanked them.

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The last, the fox-spider. "Now what name do you want, girl?" Xinyi bent down, smiling at the cute girl.

"Please give me the name you think fits me the most." The girl said with big eyes and wide smiles.

"Fine, then. Are you ready?"

The little girl nodded with excitement.

"I name you Ah Lam."

As the flower mark appeared on Ah Lam's chest, white shimmering strands of webs danced around her. She opened her palm, and a web swirled fast, forming a white flower bud in her hand. She handed it to Xinyi. "Look, I can create better and pretty creations with my web."

Xinyi held it and was astonished to see a fresh-looking flower, but sturdy as steel in her touch. Al Lam made a blooming gesture, and the bud opened like a blooming flower, yet its sturdiness was still present. 

Xinyi thought it was a deadly weapon Ah Lam could manipulate with ease. This left everyone dumbfounded aside from Ah Lam, whose joy was incomparable.

"Well, let's go out now and begin the ceremony." Xinyi was still astounded with Ah Lam's display of power, but contentment was there to know she had stronger spirit guardians and friends to rely on at this time.

Snow continued to fall, blown on their faces by the wind when they went out from the warm shelter of the cave. They wore winter clothes, aside from the dragons, Lofey, and Lengshui.

They all faced the unending vast land of snow. Xinyi had the spirit guardians lined up at the river bank Kaosmandu pointed.

Meirga, Kaosmandu, Shenkai, Ah Lam, and Lengshui stood on colorful stone slabs. Xinyi instructed them to be there because she didn't want to see them drowning when the frozen river water melted, aside from Lengshui.

Chilly winds howled as Xinyi took a knee and let her spiritual sense reach out to the river spirit guardian. There, she felt the frozen beasts underneath, which were uncountable, were still alive but had this indescribable agitation.

With this in mind, she told the two Godingans what she sensed and warned them to keep watch from attacks from the river beasts when the water melts. 

She also excluded Guang from the healing ceremony and let her stand in the middle of the two Godingans. 

"Please keep her safe. She can help ward off the beasts and heal them while we're performing the healing ceremony." Xinyi said to the two Goding gentlemen. Both nodded.

Shijian remained inside the cave to watch over Ming.

Xinyi stood in the middle of the river with the stone slab under her feet. Nianshi was unsure for her to be there, but the river spirit was frozen underneath the midmost part.

However, as someone having the wind power, she believed she could keep herself afloat when the water melted and her shield could protect her from the beasts' attacks. All she needed was to hang on and wouldn't let anything distract her. 

As per the writings on the wall and from another book in her domain, it explained that she would reach into the landform spirit's innermost being and directly infuse her healing essence. And she would use a combined stone of Wag and Kreg in equal sizes to cleanse all impurities and give strength to the river spirit at the same time.

Thanks to Shenkai's guidance, Xinyi could use the ring to store her things in it, mostly the power stones. So, everything she had in Lifen's magical bag went into the ring. 

She scolded Nianshi and Alva for not telling her about the ring's properties before. The poor Nianshi only answered that their hands were full most of the time and he forgot to tell her. 

Alva was nonchalant about it and told her to explore everything she possessed and not wait for any spoon feeding from her mount and from the spirit guardians. This was way too embarrassing for Xinyi, but willingly admitted her mistake.

For now, she had to fix her mind on healing the river and Ming.

"Everyone, ready." Xinyi yelled at the top of her lungs and knelt on the three-colored stone slab. Blue light engulfed her entire body. A vine-like dark blue light flew out from her palms and dug deep into the bottom of the frozen river. 

The spirit guardians at the shore sent their essence toward Xinyi. Nianshi, in his dragon form, flew on top of Xinyi to protect her in case of unexpected attacks.

The dark-blue vine light submerged deeper and deeper, penetrating every inch of the iced water until it hit a frozen giant shell. Yet, the vine-light didn't stop there. It carefully seeped into the hard carapace and inside, it saw a sleeping pale young man with long white hair. Dullef golden scales covered its belly up to its toes.

The vine halted for a breath and the vine's tip bloomed into a giant flower. It gently wrapped the man and a soft light trickled in the man's chest and completely covered his heart.

The healing went on, but the man was still asleep. Xinyi glanced in the river spirit's essence and loudly gasped to see rune-like lights flickered all over in him. These were the same runes she saw on the beasts in the dry forest.

An hour after, she sensed the river spirit opened its eyes, but her heart grew anxious. She winced as the man twitched and cried out a long wail, but only she could here. At this moment, the runes inside him absorbed Xinyi's power without a break, causing him pain as the healing essence revolved in every cell of his body. 

Xinyi went pale, but thanks to the stone slab, it replenished her lost essence in no time. The spirit guardians' essences also helped her recover in no time.

With a thought, the Wag and Kreg stones in same sizes, flew out from her ring. Red and black light zoomed out from the two floating stones and permeated in the vine-like light. 

The flower wrapping the man became crimson red. And the runes inside the man slowly vanished until nothing was left of it. He calmed down and shut his eyes again, but an assuring smile broke on his face. That smile released all the tension in Xinyi's chest.

Above Xinyi, Nianshi observed the entire frozen water and heaved a sigh to sense nothing unusual. His eyes went back to Xinyi. Yet, before he could blink his eyes, he heard a cracking sound near Xinyi.

He instantly jerked his head toward the sound and horrified to catch a glimpse of a black gigantic eel flying out in lightning speed from the thick cracked ice with its enormous mouth opened-wide, revealing its sharp razor-like teeth, toward Xinyi's head.

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