The cold wind howled as it scraped against the hard rock walls. Loose earth and stones were swept into the air, pattering against the stone with a soft, rustling sound.

The wind slipped through the narrow gaps in the rock, letting out a sinister howl. Mixed with the clatter of pebbles striking the walls, it kept Li Dogegg from sleeping soundly.

It opened its bleary eyes and rubbed itself against everything in sight. Then it closed those hazy eyes again.

Night Frost, who was holding it while meditating, nearly threw it outside to let it experience the biting cold for itself.

“Get lost!”

Night Frost finally snapped during her meditation and tossed Li Dogegg out whole.

The Eye Orb opened the membrane around its eyeball. After taking a careful look at Night Frost and Li Dogegg, it immediately understood why Night Frost was so angry.

A contracted pet could hide inside Night Frost’s body. That was simply another form made possible by their contract.

But Li Dogegg refused to return to Night Frost’s inner space. Instead, it insisted on disgusting her.

And now it had been thrown out.

Who else could it blame?

Li Dogegg crawled back into the pit bit by bit. It tiptoed toward the corner, curled its entire dragon body into a ball, and shook its stiff wings.

It sighed and began telling the wall about its former glory.

Back then, Night Frost hadn’t even been born. Yet now, Li Dogegg had become her pet, completely at her mercy.

Night Frost slammed a fist into the back of its head.

She wanted some peace and quiet. Li Dogegg’s endless muttering was driving her crazy.

That punch really packed a wallop.

Li Dogegg went silent at once. After dealing with it, Night Frost walked to the cave entrance and carefully patched the hole it had made with chunks of stone.

It really was freezing outside.

Even from inside the cave, the fierce wind could make the piles of rubble, stacked like little hills, sway and tremble. Without Night Frost’s Mana reinforcing them, the wind would have poured straight into the pit long ago.

“Oh… this weather.”

The wind was fierce, but it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

The heavy clouds in the sky were blown away, revealing a moon as round as a silver disk. Its cold light spilled down from the heavens and touched Night Frost’s cheek.

It was a different kind of cold from the wind.

The stars above were especially bright. They seemed far brighter than the stars in the lower world, as if they were right within reach.

Night Frost reached out to grab one. But when a chill ran through her, she pulled her hand back.

Looking up at the perfectly round moon, Night Frost couldn’t help thinking of life in the lower world.

She hadn’t been gone for long. Yet the longing had already sunk deep into her bones.

“I really want to go back soon.”

After exchanging a few more words with the empty air, Night Frost sealed the drafty gap.

She might as well spend the night meditating. That way, she could preserve her strength and return sooner.

After an unknown amount of time, Night Frost opened her eyes again.

The wind outside seemed to have died down. Li Dogegg was lying a short distance away. Night Frost had sent it over there because she couldn’t stand having it nearby.

The Eye Orb was sprawled across Night Frost’s body. The membrane over its eye was closed, but Night Frost could still see a flicker of blue light within.

It was thinking about something.

Night Frost had no idea what.

She brushed aside part of the layer of stones and looked up at the sun.

There was only one.

It was a safe period.

Night Frost picked up the Eye Orb, shook Li Dogegg awake, and checked her equipment. Then she continued on her way.

Since Night Frost was traveling alone, she didn’t move particularly slowly. If the ground had been flat, she would’ve gone even faster.

The fastest route was to climb over the steep rock walls. But after yesterday’s experience, everyone agreed to take a detour.

The road was longer, but it was much safer. After all, no one knew when the second—or even the third—sun would appear in the sky.

Once three blazing suns hung overhead, strange vegetation would cover the rock walls. One careless step, and a person could be dragged into a plant’s mouth.

Night Frost and the Eye Orb had only just arrived. They didn’t know the rules here.

For all they knew, there might not be any rules at all.

Night Frost unconsciously quickened her pace. She hurried around the cliffs beside the beach and entered a forest.

The forest stretched as far as the eye could see. A few wisps of breeze passed through, but before long, they turned into slow, gloomy winds.

The soil beneath her feet was wet and carried a faint scent of seawater. This land had probably been submerged for a very long time.

Night Frost had been hurrying forward, but her feet suddenly stopped.

Standing outside the forest, she hesitated to take another step.

Anyone with eyes could tell that something was wrong with this forest.

The trees and grass on both sides looked exactly like the vegetation they had seen yesterday. The entire forest was unnaturally silent.

There wasn’t even a birdcall.

If Night Frost walked in there, she’d have to be completely out of her mind.

She raised a flame. The fire at her fingertip drifted gently down to the edge of the woods.

Under Night Frost’s control, the Crimson Gold Flame ignited a plant nearby. The fire swallowed it in an instant.

At first, the plant burned quietly.

But the next second, a shrill cry erupted from its veins.

It was exactly the same as the plants they had encountered yesterday.

With that plant exposed, the nearby vegetation of the same kind could no longer remain disguised.

Some of them attacked Night Frost, determined to kill her entire group on the spot. The rest quickly withdrew into the forest and vanished without a trace.

“Hah! I knew it…”

Night Frost let out a cold snort.

Flames surged from her body and wrapped around every plant lunging at her. Fire streamed through the Crimson Gold membranes over her eyes.

Flames danced continuously in her palms, setting every plant ablaze. Then the fire rapidly spread, turning everything within ten meters into a world of flames.

The plants surrounded by fire were quickly reduced to ash.

Only a scarlet fire lotus remained.

The plants seemed to like high temperatures, but they were terrified of flames. Once they saw that Night Frost could wield fire, they shrank back in fear.

And for some reason, Night Frost’s flames were even more effective against them than ordinary fire.

When Night Frost saw them retreat, she withdrew her flames and shook her hand.

These plants weren’t much of a threat. But they kept bursting out of dark corners without warning.

They were seriously creepy.

Still, things were temporarily safe now.

With Night Frost—their overpowered protector—around, the vegetation probably wouldn’t show itself again for the time being.

“So, are we going in?”

Night Frost looked toward the forest.

The entrance checkpoint was guarded by those plants. She had no idea what they would encounter afterward.

But according to Li Dogegg, this place seemed to be a shortcut.

Of course, even Li Dogegg wasn’t certain about that.

Li Dogegg was incredibly unreliable. Still, it counted as half a native at least, making it the only source of information Night Frost had.

As for why it was only half a native, that was because it hardly ever traveled anywhere.

Night Frost was already grateful that Li Dogegg even knew how to navigate this continent.

“Let’s go. We don’t have any other choice.”

The Eye Orb couldn’t see the forest’s depths at all. It had inspected the nearby routes, but they all seemed blocked.

This path appeared to be the easiest.

It was also the only viable path for now.

The second sun slowly rose.

Without a sound, the land began to sink.

Before Night Frost and the others could react, seawater rolled over and soaked her ankles.

“It’s the second sun!”

The second sun had risen.

The coastline began to sink.

Seawater surged forward with a violent, unstoppable force, swallowing everything within sight. Waves rose high, and Night Frost’s group was submerged.

The seawater was bone-chillingly cold, with a faint fishy smell.

Night Frost used Mana to push the water away. She stepped across the sea’s surface, spreading gliding wings behind her.

Mana gathered beneath her feet and carried her forward.

The forest hadn’t been submerged yet. After thinking for a moment, Night Frost charged straight toward it.

She seemed to have come up with a decent plan.

The waves were so powerful. Surely they could carry her a long distance?

Riding the waves, Night Frost used Mana to propel herself toward the center of the forest.

“But did you ever consider that we might have to drift on the sea all night after the continent sinks?”

The Eye Orb’s nerve endings clung to Night Frost’s neck.

Clearly, Night Frost hadn’t thought of that either.

But at this point, there was no way to return to the previous island. They didn’t have many options left.

They could either drift at sea, or sink beneath the waves along with the forest.

Thinking it over carefully, Night Frost’s plan wasn’t actually that bad.

The forest was slowly swallowed by the sea. The surroundings gradually became a vast ocean.

The water rose rapidly. After submerging the entire continent, it finally began to settle.

Night Frost landed on a piece of driftwood. She had no idea where it had come from, and she couldn’t be bothered to investigate.

The entire group floated silently on the surface.

The scorching sunlight baked the sea, sending pure-white steam rising into the air.

The sun glittered across the water. Whenever the wind blew, it stirred the sparkling surface into rippling waves.

It was beautiful.

But it was unbearably hot.

Night Frost wasn’t particularly bothered by the heat. The Eye Orb, however, was beginning to dehydrate.

Li Dogegg had stubbornly refused to return to Night Frost’s inner space. Now, it had learned its lesson and went back inside with a very sincere lack of resistance.

Night Frost tried carving several Array Patterns into the plank to ward off the heat.

But how could this soft, rotten driftwood withstand Array Patterns filled with Mana?

It broke apart after only a few strokes.

The plank split into several pieces. Night Frost barely managed to find one large enough to use and continued drifting across the sea.

“I can’t stay in this place another second.”

Night Frost complained.

The Eye Orb tugged at Night Frost’s sleeve and soaked in a bowl woven from Mana. The bowl was filled with fresh seawater, and the Eye Orb looked extremely comfortable.

“You’re having a pretty good time.”

Night Frost secretly poured a little of the seawater away.

The Eye Orb didn’t notice.

But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to be too cruel. The Eye Orb had helped her quite a lot.

The second sun had barely risen when the third sun followed close behind.

The calm sea began churning again.

Countless shadows circled beneath the driftwood under Night Frost’s feet.

“There’s something in the water!”

Night Frost immediately rose into the air.

But emerald vines burst through the surface and wrapped around her ankles.

Night Frost gathered flames in her palm and hurled them at the reckless vines.

At that moment, even more vines surged up from the seafloor. The water droplets they flung struck Night Frost’s flames.

The effect wasn’t obvious, but it weakened her flames to a certain extent.

Protected by the seawater, the vines weren’t burned to ash right away.