Chapter 15: Little Coal Ball

Little Coal Ball

Is it because after becoming a top pharmacist, benefits poured in? Does she enjoy the feeling of others seeking her? Or is it because becoming a pharmacist was the only way to resolve her predicament at that time?

She never sorted it out; perhaps all are possible.

Fu Guang took a step, and the water-system spiritual power around her slowly condensed; golden patterns appeared on the blue egg in her mental landscape, and it twitched.

May all people in the world stay clear of birth, aging, sickness, and suffering.

May those who uphold this aspiration remain steadfast until death.

Even the will that remained unshaken through the ninety-nine eighty-one tribulations of lightning nearly faded upon her reincarnation.

She walked into the frenzied, indiscriminately attacking Sentinel; the mutated Sentinel's eyes had a black ring occupying his eye sockets, and strange black threads spread across his body, as if seeking to devour a person.

He lunged at her, carrying violence and despair, ferocity and bloodlust.

The already darkened pupils suddenly flashed a slit of heavenly light.

Sentinel mutation easily develops into chain contamination; only Guides can walk within a limited degree of contamination.

He embraced Fu Guang, and she heard the tremor of her own bones.

"Sentinel."

The cold, clear voice was like the snow‑capped mountains of the frigid river that never melt; after losing the ability to move, he lay on his back in the snow, and shards of ice fell into his embrace.

"Stop."

Fu Guang placed her hand on the Sentinel's forehead, extending a thread of spiritual power into his mental landscape to seek and guide the strand of her own power that had not yet been assimilated.

Outside, the Sentinels saw a point of clear blue light light up on the mutated Sentinel's forehead.

There was also the sound of surging sea waves and the salty taste of seawater.

Lishao pursed her fingers, and a hint of moisture appeared on her usually dry body.

Bai Gao stared unblinking at the silver‑haired girl's silhouette beneath the Sentinel's wings, feeling only an itch in her canine teeth.

What a Guide who brings surprises.

Everyone's reaction is somewhat different.

Some Sentinels who already coveted Guides had their eyes brighten.

Not quite like a D‑rank, yet it matches D‑rank.

D‑rank has no spiritual entity; Fu Guang's current guidance also lacks a spiritual entity, and aside from the sound of sea waves, everything conforms to normal.

Only when S‑rank Guides and Sentinels summon their mythic‑level spiritual entities do heavenly and earthly anomalies appear.

During usual training, the spiritual entities shrink severalfold, and the phenomena diminish accordingly.

The execution team members glanced at each other over this sudden interlude; the Guide seemed capable of handling it, otherwise they would not have stepped forward.

The thermal weapons inside the venue all lost their kinetic energy, yet remained stationary in place.

"Get ready; if anything goes wrong, the first priority is to rescue the Guide, understand?" The executors all wore half‑face coverings snug against their nose bridges.

The speaker was a female heterochromatic Sentinel, with a spiritual beast resembling Yin Zhu lying beside her.

"Understood." The squad members replied in unison.

A fierce cold wind swept the snowfield; upon first entering another's mental landscape, Fu Guang had no preparation, nor did she know what she would encounter, only feeling a shiver of cold, her hairs standing on end.

A trace of ice appeared on her fingertips.

Her spiritual thread was with the Sentinel's spiritual entity, but the snowfield was vast; contamination fell like meteors onto the snow, causing it to melt extremely quickly.

With contamination spreading this fast, it's uncertain what she will find, nor does she know what kind of spiritual entity it is, or where to search.

She was reckless.

Now she has nowhere to retreat; this is no time to conserve spiritual power.

Although the black meteors slowed their descent, the moment the snowfield completely melted was the Sentinel's death.

Moreover, there is contamination; if the spiritual entity is directly struck by a meteor, she also risks backlash.

If that happened, she would suffer a great loss.

Blue light points gradually outlined the girl's illusory form as she swiftly traced across the snow; this also helped because she was an ice‑type Sentinel, water and ice sharing the same source, saving her considerable effort.

Spiritual power resonated without cease, and Fu Guang suddenly realized something.

She seemed to be devouring the Sentinel's spiritual power to replenish her own depleted mental landscape.

Fu Guang felt for the first time that she herself was a miracle.

Alas, once discovered, she might as well go die.

Sentinels and Guides share a symbiotic bond; if one falls, the other fares no better.

Her smile was somewhat dangerous.

But if a Guide were to feed on Sentinels, being discovered by a Sentinel would likely result in a gruesome death.

Fu Guang halted her steps, gazing at a withered tree where a little black coal ball clung, barely alive.

In her embrace lay a thin blue line—her spiritual thread.

"Chirp." The little coal ball forced its eyes open, head dazed, and let out a fierce chirp.

The sound was swept away by the wind and snow; in the howling blizzard, nothing could be heard.

Fu Guang, taking three steps as two, scrambled up the tree and placed it atop her head, which resembled a matchstick figure's construction.

The meteors, reeking of foul odor, were about to crash down head‑on.

Fu Guang instantly shifted ten meters away; before she could steady herself, a gust flung her into a tumble and threw her outward.

"Chirp." The little coal ball's cloudy eyes were shaken awake by the fall, and it let out a pitiful chirp.

"Chirp." Fu Guang again drew spiritual power to form a hand, flexed her knuckles and flicked the chirping little bird several times, striking it so hard it wanted to flap its wings to peck at her.

"Come on." Fu Guang dodged all the bird's attacks, gave a thumbs‑up, then charged downward.

She saw the bird's fur explode all over its body.

Looks like this gesture works well; she's seen sentinels make this move many times, and whenever they do, it's strange if the two don't end up with bloody heads from fighting.

On the snowy ground, a matchstick figure runs ahead, while a pitch-black little bird chases behind her.

"Chirp-chirp."

As the little bird became lively, the mutation on the mutated sentinel's body also stopped.

"It's stopped." someone said softly.

All four eyes saw it; the sentinels' spiritual bodies smelled the guide's fragrant purifying power and came out one after another, some squatting, some sitting, some circling their master.

Fu Guang suddenly opened her eyes, and despite a stumble underfoot, she quickly darted to the side.

All that was heard was a "bang-bang," and the mutated sentinel fell straight forward.

Fu Guang's face was pale, she let out a breath of relief, and she managed to save her own head.

Because she had secretly absorbed the sentinel's spiritual power, her condition was still okay.

"Chirp-chirp." the little bird's mournful cry sounded dully.

Fu Guang released her hand, and the little coal ball hit her like a small cannonball.

She herself was fine, but she almost sent the already extremely weak spiritual body back to the opposing sentinel's spiritual landscape again.

She quickly grabbed the little coal ball's falling wing, and the tiny wing flicked open, revealing white down.

So, how could this Black Qiuqiu, this pitch-black and sturdy little coal ball, be white?

The sentinel lay unconscious on the ground, the wings that had grown on its back from contamination divided along the spine.

Fu Guang's apothecary occupational habit kicked in; she squatted down with bright eyes, wondering if the wing could be plucked.

What use is making medicine?

Moreover, Li Shao's initial mutation hadn't changed color; Fu Guang glanced at him unnoticed, but she was caught by his gaze.

It can be said that now Fu Guang meets anyone's gaze, and she is the focus of everyone's attention.

All that could be seen was Li Shao stepping on the flame lion's spine, restricting its movements.

Stepping on oneself?

Fu Guang saw many sentinels doing this to stop their own spiritual bodies, and before she knew it, the surroundings had turned into a botanical and zoological garden.

】chirp.

The little coal ball poked its head out from Fu Guang's thumb, and the unconscious sentinel also let out a muffled grunt.