Chapter 180 - Healing the Sacred River (2)

When the ceremony began, Nianshi hovered above Xinyi. So far, there was nothing unusual worth noticing. The ceremony went on without a hitch, but his alertness didn't glimmer in any way.

As time passed, he saw Xinyi's face cringed and guessed she might have difficulties with the healing. But she commissioned him to help watch, so he couldn't meddle or involve in sending the essence to her. Unless the situation turned south, he had to remain vigilant. The two Godingans and Guang were the same.

The wind howled, and the snow worsened as the ceremony went on. The temperature dropped as time went by. Shengkai and Ah Lam pulled their jacket hoods up to protect and warm their heads from the chilly wind. 

Lengshui's body became ice to adapt to the atmosphere. General Lofey let his fire essence surround him, Guang, and Tyriece, keeping them unaffected as they stood behind the five spirit guardians infusing their essences to Xinyi. Meirga and Kaosmandu were the least affected for possessing the Draconian and reptilian blood.

Under the frozen river, the river spirit woke up but went back to sleep again as it recovered its strength. The surrounding ice around the giant shell melted. The nearer spirit beasts who stood guard around the shell stirred and exerted powers from their bodies. 

Unfortunately, their minds were still muddled because of the imbalance essences running in their veins. Unknown to Xinyi, these were the flickering runes she saw. This was also the reason she was the only person who could see it. Only the Chief Guardians were capable of such vision.

Those on the surface were oblivious to the fact that the water underneath began to melt. 

The beasts within the frozen water got excited in a horrifying manner. Their eyes were bloodshot, ready to kill the unwelcome foreign beings above the surface. 

However, the targets of their agitation were clueless of this premeditated animosity because of the thick frozen water and unending howling of winds with snow above.

The first spirit beast who got freed from the ice prison was the giant lightning eel. One of the river's spirit's protectors. Although muddle-headed, its intelligence and sense of duty didn't lessen somehow, aside from its moral sense. Instead of protecting, it was out to kill the nearest person he could attack, Xinyi.

Although it was physically weak, it stealthily dug up the ice using its tail while flickering runes scattered on his skin. It couldn't use its lightning with its low essence at the moment. 

It unhurriedly made his way up and halted as it sensed a terrifying presence hovering above its target. It was Nianshi. But instead of cowering in fear, its excitement grew, sneering with the full intent to kill. It was as if injected by an evil elixir and wished to compete against this protecting legendary being. Nonetheless, this giant eel was also considered as one of the legendary beings. No wonder it had no sense of inferiority complex against the legendary lion dragon.

Its blood boiled as it eerily grinned with great anticipation to outwit Nianshi's speed. 

Nianshi was ignorant of the impending danger while more of the river spirit's protectors stirred and dug their way up.

While the impending danger was stealthily approaching, Xinyi's mind brought out the red and black stones from her ring and sent the stones' essences to the river spirit. The Wag stone's power purified the essence in the spirit guardian's body, while the Kreg strengthened its essence from the constant absorption by the power chain, stabilizing the river spirit's essence. 

However, it was not enough to wake him. The prolonged depletion of essence for decades completely weakened his mind and body.

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Two meters more and the eel would reach the surface, but it stopped. His head slowly glowed brighter and brighter, gathering all of his strength in his head. When it could feel it had enough lightning essence and saw Nianshi was totally unaware, it forcefully bumped its topmost part of its skull and smashed the ice above.

In a breath, the eel jumped out from the cracked ice, jumping straight to Xinyi with its enormous mouth opened-wide, revealing its sharp razor-like teeth. Its premeditated aim was to snap Xinyi's head off her body in one bite.

But Xinyi was no longer the ignorant person she had been. As she dared to stand alone there with only Nianshi with her, she had totally prepared and expected even a hundred or more attacks from the river beasts. 

In fact, she had felt its presence before it smashed its head on the ice and prepared herself to heal this incoming predator. She divided her healing essence. Quarter of it went to the spirit while a portion intermingled in her blue light shield. 

When the giant eel's salivating mouth bit her head, hair and neck in one, she didn't dodge. As it bit, she let her healing essence enter the eel's mouth into its throat, lungs, and up to the tip of its tail. Her inner sense swiftly examined the eel's essence and clearly saw the imbalance. 

However, it was not the only thing she saw. There was another reason of which she considered the striking truth. The real trouble brought about by the dwindling power chain to these beasts. 

She saw the eel's lightning essence had this push-pull movement within. The beast's last sense of morality left in its brain tried to pull back the losing essence, while most of its essence was leaking fast out of its body. She believed this caused its scary insanity, agitating it to attack her.

Above Xinyi, Nianshi was taken aback when the eel literally bit Xinyi's head, making him somewhat panic. However, he was dumbstruck to see the eel's body froze in mid-air while lightning ran on its body. 

Looking at the unperturbed kneeling Xinyi with her blue shield around her, he didn't interfere. He trusted she was in full control of the situation at hand. Instead, he intensified his Draconian sense and field of vision, covering the entire frozen river for more incoming attacks. This time, he noticed faint glowing lights in various colors underneath the iced water of which he didn't realize before because of the thick snow above. 

His claws sparkled, ready to pierce any beasts who would dare attack Xinyi. But he wouldn't dare kill the beasts. He knew Xinyi well to do this. She wouldn't lay a hand to a beast unless it was a matter of life and death. Somehow, if she saw there was still a chance to turn the tides in her favor to heal these beasts, she wouldn't think twice and choose this path even in the direst times.

Xinyi continued with her multitasking until the eel let go of her head and fell on the snowy surface. It slithered near Xinyi's feet and with a tired voice it spoke.

"Your Honor, thank you for healing me, but my fellow protectors are coming intending to kill you."

"Protectors? What do you mean?"

"I'm one of the river spirit's guards and protectors of this river," said the eel with drooping eyes.

"Understood. Go back down and protect the river spirit. Don't attack any beasts unless it would dare attack you or your weak master. You still need to recover your strength."

"Yes, my lady." He was about to jump back on the cracked ice, but Xinyi called out again.

"Wait, keep these stones in your mouth and give the other pair to your master, so both of you won't lose more of your essences." 

With a thought, Xinyi threw two pairs of Kreg and Wag stones to the eel from her ring.

The eel's body roiled and jumped up, catching the stones with its mouth in a swift and smooth movement. He slithered down the iced river until he reached the melted water. It saw the giant unicorn-horn-shaped shell and coiled its twenty meters gigantic body around it while its mouth spat out red and black stones inside the shell. His head stood alert, guarding the shell's entrance hole.

As the river spirit's body slowly recovered its strength, almost half of the water below melted. More beasts in different sizes and shapes rose to the surface. Xinyi was their major target. 

Those beasts near the river banks jumped out, attacking the standing guardian spirits, but Tyriece and Lofey were ready for it after witnessing the eel's hideous attack at Xinyi, but careful as to only leave the beasts immobile. 

In a span of minutes, a mass of wriggling and shrieking beasts lay in front of the five spirit guardians. 

Red coagulated blood covered the once snowy land before them. Reeks of blood assailed their nostrils. But the spirit guardians' streams of essences didn't skip even a beat toward Xinyi. 

Somehow, only small up to two meters long beasts rushed to them. The enormous and fearsome ones gathered around Xinyi, their prized prey.

While they were busy fighting, defending and healing the beasts, a massive red ink found its way toward the river spirit's shell.

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