Chapter 47

Chapter 47

"Linghu Xuan, in the forest!" Ranxi shouted back.

Unable to stop the sled, Ranxi leaped off, tumbling through the snow under the force of inertia, rolling several times before landing in a warm embrace.

Linghu Xuan lifted the little merman, brushing the snowballs from his face.

Ranxi: "Linghu Xuan, do you feel it?"

"I feel it."

Hand in hand, the two stood up and walked towards the birch forest.

Ranxi could distinctly sense the vast and subtle water elemental power within the forest.

A few dozen meters in, they were surrounded by tall, straight birch trees, with snow reaching up to their calves.

The elemental power felt similar all around, leaving him unsure of which direction to take.

Linghu Xuan suggested, "Let's call the others over for a thorough investigation."

The sled-pulling Huskies returned, enthusiastically circling Ranxi, their handsome blue eyes looking at him innocently, suggesting he rejoin them on the sled for more fun.

Linghu Xuan was nearly driven mad by these troublesome dogs.

Ranxi crouched down to hug the largest grey Husky, patting its head, "Good boy, wait a bit, I need to study what's going on here."

The lead dog gently licked his hand, then led the other dogs deeper into the forest.

As they still had the sled attached and circled Ranxi a few times, he was dragged along, working to untie the rope as he went.

Linghu Xuan cursed, "These damn dogs!"

Ranxi protested, "Don't say that, I think they're really cool!"

These working dogs seemed even more majestic and serious than the modern Huskies!

The lead dog turned back and whined softly.

Linghu Xuan, possessing the power of the Fire Phoenix, could understand the language of all beings.

Ranxi, having kissed him, could also understand somewhat.

The dog was calling them to follow.

Ranxi pulled Linghu Xuan forward.

Upon reaching the dogs, he distinctly felt something different.

Though surrounded by tall birch trees, here stood seven thick birch trees requiring several people to embrace them.

Typically, trees in a forest don’t vary greatly in age, and even if old trees exist, they wouldn’t be so closely packed.

Clearly, these trees were intentionally encircled.

Several dogs urinated at the base of the old trees, each picking their spot, barking at Ranxi.

"Our ancestors instructed us to urinate here."

"We often come here to urinate."

"We don’t tell people we dislike about this place."

"You should join us in urinating."

Ranxi: "…Linghu Xuan, could the guardians of the formation not be human?"

Linghu Xuan: "…"

After urinating, the dogs happily returned to circle around Ranxi.

Linghu Xuan raised his hand, firing a dozen fireballs, instantly melting the snow between the seven old trees.

After the snow melted, the ground revealed rough yet flat stone slabs.

The ground was marked with complex ancient characters and the Big Dipper formation.

Ranxi: "!!!"

"We found it so quickly!"

Linghu Xuan: "The northern is a water formation. Each formation consists of eight sub-formations and one main eye. This is just one of the sub-formations, but we can locate the other sub-formations from here, and then determine the main eye."

The nine Siberian Huskies started nudging Ranxi onto the sled, insisting on playing together.

Ranxi, laughing, said: "The Huskies have helped us, let's ride the sled for a bit. We can also ask around in the village."

Linghu Xuan, with a stern face, clearly reluctant.

But he also didn't want to chase after dogs a second time.

The two stood on the sled, and the Huskies joyously sprinted forward.

Ranxi, attentively sensing, noted that these Huskies had stronger spiritual energy than average animals, which is why they were exceptionally fast, even Linghu Xuan couldn’t catch up.

Perhaps they were pets of ancient sages.

Upon reaching the village, the Huskies dragged them directly to a household's doorstep.

Ranxi struggled to carry the innkeeper's leg of beef.

Linghu Xuan: "……"

Without a word, he took over and hoisted the massive leg of beef onto his shoulder.

His exquisite clothing got stained with grease from the dried beef leg, an image quite unbecoming of an emperor.

Ranxi moved his lips but said nothing, just watching Linghu Xuan, like any ordinary man, carrying the leg of beef, his hands dragging in front.

Ranxi, with a soft smile, went to knock on the door.

A young woman opened the door, looking at the two unfamiliar men before her eyes, then at the familiar dogs in the yard.

"Oh, did my dad ask you to help walk... no... bring something over?"

……

Ranxi and Linghu Xuan rested at the innkeeper's daughter's home for a while, drank hot milk, and inquired about the birch forest.

The villagers didn't know much, only that deities had once visited this place and advised that deities might come again in the future.

There used to be a shaman responsible for rituals, but the shamanic lineage was broken ninety years ago when the last shamanic heir left the impoverished village with a friend to trade silk in the Western Regions.

Ranxi: "……"

Linghu Xuan: "…… What about the dogs?"

"Do the dogs have a connection with the ancient deities?"

The young woman smiled, "The dogs in our village are all bred here. If the deities are our village's ancestors, then our dogs are also descendants of the deities' beloved pets."

Ranxi: "Well, that's somewhat of a connection."

They immediately returned to the inn, and everyone set off for the birch forest together.

The water formation needed to be activated by Lu Tianyao.

She absentmindedly channeled her spiritual power towards the formation.

The ancient formation, carved thousands of years ago by a high sage, began to flow with a faint blue glow.

Everyone stepped back.

Instantly, the formation was fully activated.

A surge of water element spiritual power soared into the sky, then poured into Lu Tianyao.

She was bathed in a blue column of light, her posture expansive.

Everyone could clearly feel her spiritual power growing stronger.

An hour later.

The column of light disappeared.

Lu Tianyao, looking at her own hands, said in disbelief, "I seem to have become stronger."

"Are there seven more sub-formations and one main formation, each of which will increase my strength?"

Linghu Xuan calmly replied, "Yes."

Suddenly, everyone became motivated.

Everyone wanted to become stronger.

After becoming stronger, maybe I can snatch the merman~