Rewards to the Victor

When Shui first saw the giant face, he didn't think much of it, but that scream forced him to change his mind. That scream was not just an auditory nightmare, hidden within it were subtle fluctuations that would have given him internal injuries if it wasn't for his strong body. While he considered this new-born spirit a threat greater than the golems, the red spirit crossed her arms and confronted it without fear.

"Hmph, after barging into someone else's residence you dare tell me to leave? Know your place, child."

In response to the red spirit's arrogant reply, the new-born spirit shouted again.

"LEAVE!"

This time, the fluctuations hidden in the scream shook Shui's insides and made him feel dreadfully uncomfortable.

"Miss Spirit, what should we-"

Shui asked the red spirit for advice, but she dismissively waved her hand and said, "Stay there. I'll handle this."

He had no idea how she would fight the new-born spirit, but he obeyed her wish. Shui stepped back, leaving the two spirits to battle. The new-born spirit must have had a good understanding of their language, as it became even more enraged and tried to summon golems using the crystals in this room. However, before the body of the golem could be formed, the red spirit swung her hand and stopped that process.

"This is my property. You would do well to remember that."

Outside of the wall, the red spirit lost to the new-born's control, but now she held the advantage. The new-born then made several fireballs and clusters of rock and launched them at her, but with a snort the red spirit usurped the new-born's control over the fire and had it protect her from the boulders.

Fear began to show on the giant face as it realised how outmatched it was, but the red spirit had decided not to show mercy.

"Now then, how about you compensate me for this mess?"

Shui watched as the red spirit stretched out her palm towards the giant face, and how the face was pulled into her palm. It seemed unbelievable to him but this was the nature of spirits. As spirits were born from nature itself, they shared a common origin even if they were born in different worlds. Therefore, it was fairly simple and safe for an experienced spirit to suppress and absorb one with a less developed persona.

However, there was still a chance that pieces of the absorbed spirit would remain among other reasons so this technique was considered taboo for them. Even so, the red spirit did it. To her, that talk of taboo was something that the youngins who didn't take part in that cruel war would say. For a veteran spirit, it was only right for the stronger one to assume the will of the deceased.

Once the entire face had sunk into her palm, the red spirit clenched her fist, and murmured a quiet apology.

"Sorry."

Still in awe from what he just saw, Shui commented, "I didn't know spirits could do that."

The red spirit replied, "It would be more of a problem if you did. Thanks to taking that child in I should be able to regain a small portion of my true power after absorbing these crystals. While I'm doing that and cancelling the heaven and earth array, you're free to take that natural crystal."

The red spirit then shut the room off with the wall and flew towards the fire elemental crystals. Shui also approached the natural crystal but there was something he needed to ask.

"Thanks. By the way, how will I leave if I finish my business first?"

"...You can just touch the wall, I've registered your aura."

"Okay. I'll wait for you in town."

At Shui's response, the red spirit momentarily froze. They had both benefitted off the other, but after getting here she thought he would want to part ways. She had fun tagging along his journey, but she knew he was wary of her so she didn't expect him to be willing to wait on her.

'Hmph. Fool.'

Shui didn't notice the fluctuations in her emotions, so all he saw was her drifting towards the crystals before the fire elemental energy gathered to create a pulsing red orb around her.

Once she began her transformation, he decided to begin his. Before he attempted to improve his cultivation, he had to take ownership of the natural crystal. The way to do this was simple, all he had to do was feed it a drop of his blood and then influence it with his divine energy.

A natural crystal was a rare stone that could be found in elemental crystal deposits with more than one elemental crystal type at the core. Besides being a great source of energy it didn't have much use, but the best thing about it was that it could be dyed by different elements. By taking advantage of this property Shui could make it into a rainbow elemental crystal, which perfectly suited him.

Actual rainbow elemental crystals did exist, but mostly only in legend so this was his best alternative.

As he slowly bathed the crystal with his divine energy, wisps of various colours began to gather at its centre. When the wisps eventually gathered into a vibrant rainbow sphere, the blood that was on top of the crystal transformed into intricate runes that covered the crystal.

"It's complete."

Once he witnessed this sight, Shui knew that he had succeeded so he sat down with his back to the crystal. As he felt the compatible coolness of the crystal, Shui sunk into meditation and prepared to reach Soul Perfection.

Meanwhile, there was a great change occurring outside of the cave. The moment the red spirit began dismantling the heaven and earth array and absorbing the fire elemental energy in the cave, the rare mutated flora and evolved beasts began to leave. No one knew why they suddenly started the exodus, but they all had the same thought.

"Stop them!"

Every treasure hunter ran after their prey so that they could capture it no matter what. Because of this, there was much chaos so battles among treasure hunters became a common occurrence. Within this sudden battle, the strange group of one girl and four men were chasing a blue bunny with a red flower on its head. If you were only given a picture of the bunny you would probably just think that it was cute, but the fact that cultivators in the Earth Realm could barely keep it in their sights was proof of the bunny's extraordinary speed. Furthermore, the bunny wasn't an evolved beast but a rare-grade herb.

The group of five were already aware of the bunny's speed so they had planned to ambush it while it was at rest, but even while asleep it sensed the change in the flow of energy and decided to leave the area. The group of five didn't know this, but the young woman that led them was still pissed. She didn't know what made the creatures run off, but regardless of whether it was natural or not, she cursed it wholeheartedly.

"Damn it!!!!!"