Chapter 128: A Little Progress II

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: A Little Progress II

"We really need to find that Zone Heart," Caelia said one afternoon.

Damon nodded.

"Yeah."

He looked ahead.

"If the instability keeps spreading, killing the beasts will only buy us time."

Caelia sighed.

"Then let’s hope Shiro is right."

Damon looked down at the Frost Qilin walking beside them.

"He’s getting better at sensing it."

Shiro had changed quite a bit over the past few days.

His body had grown again, and his senses had become sharper.

The longer they stayed in Frostveil, the more familiar he became with the Ice Elemental essence around them.

He was also much more confident now.

The shy Frost Qilin from before was slowly becoming more comfortable with his own abilities.

Damon communicated with him through their connection.

Anything?

Shiro paused.

A moment later, he turned toward a different path.

Damon’s eyes narrowed.

"Let’s follow him."

Caelia nodded.

They changed direction.

The difference became noticeable after they traveled for a while.

The Aether around them wasn’t as chaotic.

The further they went, the more stable it became.

And the monsters changed as well.

The beasts here weren’t as violent.

They were still dangerous, but they weren’t behaving like the creatures closer to the unstable areas.

Caelia looked around.

"It’s working."

Damon smiled.

"Looks like it."

They picked up their pace.

They still didn’t know whether they were moving toward the Zone Heart, but this was the first clear sign that their search was leading somewhere.

They only stopped when it started getting late.

The routine continued from there.

Explore.

Fight.

Collect resources.

Cultivate.

Then start again the next day.

With so many resources from the Winterbourne battle, cultivation had become much easier.

Even Caelia’s progress accelerated.

Eventually, she reached another breakthrough.

Master Rank.

The moment she felt the change, she opened her eyes.

Damon was sitting nearby.

Caelia stared at him for a second before her face lit up.

"I did it."

Damon smiled.

"You did."

"I’m a Master now."

"I noticed."

She immediately moved toward him.

Damon barely had time to react before she threw herself at him.

"Hey."

Caelia hugged him tightly.

"I finally caught up."

Damon laughed.

"You still have a long way to go."

She pulled back and glared at him.

"You could at least let me celebrate."

"I’m letting you."

"You’re teasing me."

"That too."

She laughed and hit his shoulder.

Damon smiled.

He was genuinely happy for her.

Caelia had been putting in more effort every day, and seeing her breakthrough made all that work worth it.

She tried to hug him again.

Damon caught her before she could.

"Again?"

"Of course."

"You just wanted an excuse."

"Maybe."

He shook his head, but he didn’t let go immediately.

The two stayed like that for a moment before Caelia finally settled down.

Their relationship had become much more comfortable during the exploration.

They could tease each other now without either of them thinking too much about it.

Damon liked that.

It made the long days inside Frostveil easier.

Later that evening, while Caelia rested, Damon sat alone with several resources arranged in front of him.

He had been thinking about something for a while.

This mission had only made the thought harder to ignore.

What would happen when they found the Zone Heart?

Finding it was one thing.

Stabilizing it was another.

Damon had already considered the possibility that the Spirit Origin could purify unstable elemental essence.

But could it do more?

Could he use that purified essence to stabilize the Zone Heart itself?

He didn’t know.

And that was exactly why he needed to test it.

Damon looked at the Ice Elemental resources he had collected.

Then he sighed.

"This could go very wrong."

He rubbed his face.

"If it works, though..."

He looked at the resources again.

He could solve two problems at once.

He could learn how to purify Ice Elemental essence outside his own cultivation.

And if the process worked properly, he might eventually be able to use it on the Zone Heart.

The thought alone made him uneasy.

The amount of essence needed to stabilize an entire Distorted Zone would probably be enormous.

Damon took a slow breath.

"Which means I need to practice now."

He turned toward Caelia.

She was already watching him.

"What are you doing?"

"Something."

Caelia stared at the resources.

"That’s not an answer."

"You know how I am."

She sighed.

"Unfortunately."

Damon smiled.

"I’ll be careful."

That was enough for her.

Caelia had already accepted that Damon had his strange ways of solving problems.

Trying to understand every single one of them with common sense was exhausting.

As long as he wasn’t putting himself in unnecessary danger, she had stopped questioning everything.

Damon looked toward Snow.

"Can you bring her closer?"

Caelia understood immediately.

Snow came over and stopped beside Damon.

The Frost Lynx looked at him carefully.

She trusted him now.

But this was different.

Damon had never tried anything like this with her before.

Snow hesitated.

Damon didn’t force her.

"It’s alright."

He placed his hand near her.

"You don’t have to do anything. Just stay close."

Snow looked at Caelia.

Caelia nodded.

"He’s fine."

Snow slowly approached.

Damon waited until she was comfortable before beginning.

The resources in front of him contained Ice Elemental Aether.

He reached out and absorbed a small amount.

The moment it entered his body, Damon directed it toward his second core.

His Spirit Origin reacted.

The essence changed almost immediately.

The impurities were stripped away.

The unstable parts disappeared.

What remained was clean Ice Elemental essence.

Damon’s eyes narrowed.

It worked.

Again.

He repeated the process with an even smaller amount.

The same thing happened.

His Spirit Origin purified it without resistance.

Damon felt the process carefully.

It wasn’t simply absorbing the essence.

The Spirit Origin was refining it.

Making it purer.

More compatible.

Almost like that was exactly what it was meant to do.

Damon’s thoughts began racing.

Why could he do this?

Why had he awakened a White Core with no normal element?

Why had he developed the Spirit Origin?

Why could it nurture incomplete Spirit Elementals?

And now it could purify elemental essence.

There were too many connections.