Deaths

[Rewards have been calculated]

[Host performance: Low.]

'Ding!'

[The host has received the legendary talent of their race, 'Snow Eyes'.]

'Ding!'

[Congratulations! The host has received a cultivation technique made specifically for the host.]

Sion looked closely at the rewards when he felt a pain in his eyes, and a coldness suddenly arose from the depths of his eyes, forcing him to close them. Then, after a few seconds, the pain passed.

After opening his eyes again, everything had changed. In front of him, countless blue and white dots appeared. His pupils had turned into two white snowflakes.

"What is this-

Soon another pain arose in his head, which also passed in seconds. Then, memories of a strange technique appeared in his mind. All that was left was for him to actually understand it.

"Damn it, the system seems to be trying to hurt me or kill me at any moment."

Sion said, frustrated.

At that moment, he saw Mei Li showing signs of waking up in the corner. Sion had already cleaned the bloodstains from her face.

He approached her and waited a few seconds.

Then he saw her eyes slowly open.

Their eyes met, causing invisible pressure in the air. Like an invisible conflict.

Sion soon felt his eyes hurt when he looked at Mei Li's, at the same time as he felt like he was being completely observed, as if Mei Li could see through him.

And Mei Li felt an intense coldness in her body, but it quickly disappeared when an energy coming from his eyes protected her.

'Ding!'

[Warning! Something is trying to look into the host's secrets. The Universal Will has been activated automatically.]

Then, the feeling of being naked in front of Mei Li disappeared.

At that moment, Mei Li had recovered and fully awakened.

Then, the two spoke together.

"Your eyes…"

Sion was surprised to see Mei Li's new eyes, they were completely gray with a large ancient symbol in place of her pupils, a symbol that Sion did not know the meaning of.

And Mei Li was surprised to see that Sion's crystal blue eyes had darkened, but his pupils had completely changed to a white snowflake.

"What happened?" Mei Li asked Sion in a low voice.

"I'm the one asking you that. Why were you here when I woke up? You could have died, you know? How could you be so…" Sion was about to continue, but he noticed that Mei Li was staring out the bedroom window with tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"My… eyes… have awakened again. I can't believe it." She got up from the bed and walked slowly to the inn's window.

Everything had changed in her vision, countless colors were present everywhere.

"That's Qi. I can see it…" Then, a sharp pain came from her eyes, and the countless lights began to fade.

But her eyes remained the same, with no signs of disappearing as before.

"Sion, thank you so much, I really don't know how to thank you. If it weren't for you, I don't know when my eyes would have awakened again. Maybe never…" Mei Li said as she bowed completely.

Sion was about to touch her and help her up, but he remembered what happened when someone had touched her before, so he gave up and just spoke.

"No need to thank me, to tell you the truth, I didn't do anything… Now tell me, why are you here? And how did you find me?"

"When I was leaving to do the mission with the others earlier, the skies suddenly darkened and everyone froze. It was as if the heavens had decided to punish everyone. When I thought I was going to die, the pressure suddenly disappeared, as did the dark clouds."

"But at that moment, a terrible snowstorm arose in the city and around it, and the temperature began to drop terribly. So… I thought something serious had happened to you. And the little plaque I left for you has a part of my Qi in it, so it's easy for me to find you if I'm within a certain distance, that's how I found you."

"But when I entered the room, you were… completely frozen, and I didn't know how to help you. I tried to use my eyes to see a way to help you, but I ended up fainting." Mei Li said with her head down.

"You're really stupid, aren't you? Why did you risk your life for someone you barely know? That doesn't make any sense." Sion said, not understanding this girl.

"I don't know, but for some reason, I feel attracted to you, mainly because my eyes reacted to only you after years… I thought that nothing bad could happen to you, or I would regret it," Mei Li replied sincerely.

"Even if it caused your death? Yeah, you really are stupid," Sion said, accepting that as the truth.

"Shut up!" Mei Li said, annoyed at being called an idiot.

"But I appreciate your concern. As you can see, I'm fine, actually, better than ever…" Sion said, feeling the changes in his body.

Now he knew how weak he had been before. Sion felt tremendous power in every part of his body. He had already been stronger than ordinary people, but now he was on a whole different level. He thought that, this way, he could probably kill that ferocious bear beast with just one punch. Not to mention the icy energy of his physique, which had increased several times over.

Mei Li then finally realized.

"Your cultivation… is about to enter the realm of Qi Accumulation. How the hell?!?! Yesterday, you didn't even know what cultivation was."

"I don't really know either, a lot has happened…" Sion, with a serious expression, thought he would die several times in the last few hours.

Then, suddenly, many footsteps sounded, and people were climbing the stairs of the inn. In just a few seconds, they arrived and entered through the door that had exploded.

Sion raised his guard immediately, looking at who had arrived in such a manner.

Mei Li recognized them immediately. Elder Wei, the deacon, and the Ji brothers entered through the door.

As soon as Elder Wei saw Sion, his expression changed rapidly as his cultivation aura was released immediately. Sion suddenly felt a strong pressure, but it quickly disappeared. The Universal Will had activated.

Seeing Sion calm despite releasing his cultivation, Elder Wei's face became even more serious.

"What are you doing? Why are you attacking?" Mei Li suddenly appeared in front, standing between the elder and Sion.

Elder Wei, upon seeing Mei Li's eyes, was even more surprised.

'Her eyes… perfect! That's perfect!' Elder Wei thought.

Right behind Elder Wei, Deacon Fei and the Ji brothers saw Sion and also recognized him from the forest.

But they said nothing and let Elder Wei take the lead.

"Why are you protecting him? He is the enemy who caused the blizzard that was like the entrance to the Frozen Forest. Thousands of children and families froze to death in their homes without even understanding what was happening, and you are protecting him?" Elder Wei asked, showing his anger.

Before, he didn't know what had caused these anomalies, but when he saw Sion, he was sure it was related to him. Only Snow Spirits could bring such a blizzard and change the weather so easily.

And now, as he was temporarily ruling the city, it was his responsibility to understand what had happened, even if he didn't want to.

After hearing the man's words, Sion trembled.

"What did you say? Repeat that now!" Sion said in disbelief.

"Do you think you have the right to speak on human territory?" Elder Wei said, increasing his pressure. Sion remained the same, but Mei Li, in front of him, almost knelt down. But a mysterious energy coming from his eyes kept her standing.

"Elder Wei, I can say that even if this happened, Sion didn't do it on purpose. I know him, he wouldn't do that. He's not an enemy." Mei Li continued to protect Sion, who was now thinking about the elder's words.

'Thousands of people died because of me?' Sion was lost in thought, not knowing what to do.

"Mei Li, are you going to protect a being from another race that caused so many human deaths? I thought it was strange that you suddenly ran when the snowstorm appeared, so you knew he was connected to the Snow Spirit. And even knowing that, you're still protecting him? You know I have permission to kill him now?" Elder Wei said as his only arm pulled a sword from his back.

Sion, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly looked at the elder.

"She doesn't need to protect me, for no one can hurt me while my master is here. Besides, Mei Li and I have nothing more than an agreement that I would help her awaken her eyes. Now that I have done so and my debt is paid, I will be leaving!"

'Stupid girl, I hope you understand. I don't want you to become an enemy of the people in your sect because of me,' Sion said mentally when he saw that the clothes of those at the door were similar to Mei Li's.

Sion saw that the elder could easily kill him, but he seemed to be hesitating for some reason. Then, he realized. Sion looked weak, so it should have been impossible for him to cause a blizzard that killed so many people. Plus, Sion was enduring his cultivation pressure without even changing his expression. Elder Wei hesitated, probably afraid that there was another, stronger Snow Spirit nearby, protecting him.

Sion, sensing the imminent danger, decided to put aside his thoughts of killing him for now and leave this place.

Sion then passed by Mei Li and slowly approached the three at the doorway.

Elder Wei thought about attacking him, even though he knew there might be someone protecting him. But at that moment, he heard an unfamiliar female voice in his mind, causing him to stop.

"Don't do anything rash."

Sion passed the three with an extremely calm expression, as if he were strolling through the park. This only made Elder Wei give up on attacking. He knew that if there was a superior Snow Spirit protecting Sion, he would die without a grave. Besides, whoever was speaking in his mind was much stronger than him.

Sion then left the inn, heading straight for one of the city exits. On the way, with his hearing now much better due to his increased cultivation, he heard several screams, men and women crying as they carried bodies, the vast majority of which were children who did not yet have any cultivation. They were pale, and their bodies looked frozen from the inside.

Sion understood that the old man had told the truth. While he was trapped in the ice crystal, cultivating… without knowing it, he had killed many people who did not have strong enough cultivation to survive the cold weather caused by the snow and freezing energy.

A different weight hit Sion, who had never killed anyone before. Especially knowing that it was not just a few people.

Quickly, Sion was at the entrance where he had entered the city. He found it a little strange that the old man, who he felt was very strong, had let him leave so easily. But he wasn't in the right frame of mind to think straight. What mattered was that it had worked.

Sion left the city and walked toward the frozen forest with his head full of thoughts.

But he didn't know that at that moment, an old woman was watching his every move not far away.