Journey to the End of the Night

This tree was wrapped in abundant Spiritual Energy; even the fireflies, flickering uncertainly, perched on it, adding to its beauty.

Among the lush silver-white leaves dangled a fresh vine, from which grew two luminescent white fruits, resembling jade.

In the gentle breeze, the sweetness of the fruits was derived from them.

"Gurgle..." The deer's stomach grumbled even louder.

It paced with its four little hooves, trotting to the edge of the cold pond, tentatively touching the water with a tiny foot.

But as soon as it made contact, it quickly retracted its foot, making a woeful sound.

Baili An walked over and cradled its front hooves, examining them with concern; the hoof had merely grazed the water, yet it was thinly coated with ice.

"It's because you're greedy." Baili An circulated the Spiritual Power within his body, warming the hoof, but his gaze shifted to the two fruits.

He thought that anything guarded by the green-haired corpse demon was clearly no ordinary object.

Although Baili An was not greedy, he was no fool; he wouldn't just leave treasure lying around.

He chuckled softly, letting go of the deer's hoof, "I'll try to fetch it, you wait here for me."

The deer whimpered twice, biting his sleeve with eyes full of worry.

"Don't worry, if there's danger, I'll come back."

Baili An noticed that the small tree was enveloped by a very thin yet powerful Barrier, which must have been why the corpse demon had not yet succeeded in taking the fruits.

Although the pond was extremely cold, Baili An's body had long lost its warmth and thus did not fear the cold.

Nonetheless, he circulated his Spiritual Power inside to prevent his bones from freezing and sinking down.

Soon, he reached the outside of the Barrier surrounding the Silver Tree.

After a short hesitation, he didn't recklessly use his hand to touch the Barrier but rather cautiously drew the small silver sword from his waist and slashed towards it.

Unexpectedly, the Barrier split as easily as tofu, slashed cleanly in two.

Delighted, Baili An hesitated no longer, widening the opening in the Barrier.

To avoid any sudden crises, he quickly reached in, grabbed the two fruits, which felt icy to the touch.

Gently pulling, the leaves rustled, and he easily plucked them.

Even the composed Baili An couldn't help but laugh joyously.

As he returned to the ground, his clothing, hair, and eyelashes were all frosted over.

He dangled the fruits in front of the deer, smiling, "Look what I picked for you?"

Tapping its hooves more cheerfully, Baili An didn't dwell on how precious the fruit might be; he simply thought about filling the deer's hungry stomach.

Without a second thought, he fed one of the fruits to the deer.

The deer clamped down on it and swallowed it without chewing.

"This fruit is too small, probably not filling enough, eat the other one too."

Baili An tried to feed it, but the deer refused to eat, instead butting his hand with its tender antlers, indicating that he should eat it.

Baili An laughed helplessly, at a loss with the little creature.

Just as he was about to speak, the deer, nudging with its antlers, suddenly stiffened, its limbs went rigid, and it fell over stark, its body convulsing and eyes rolling back.

This terrified Baili An, thinking his random feeding had caused harm.

Frantically, he put the other fruit into his arms, squatting down to check the deer's condition.

Placing his palm on the deer's forehead, he found tumultuous and disordered energy within it; its body was convulsively twitching, its limbs and hooves spasming.

"What's wrong, little deer?! Don't scare me! I won't randomly feed you anymore." Baili An was anxious and at a loss.

He could only watch helplessly as the deer convulsed for a while, then gradually stilled, secreting a thick, muddy, foul-smelling substance over its entire body.

The cute plum-blossom deer had suddenly turned into a pitch-black, stinking creature.

But its previously rolling eyes had returned to normal, and briskly darted around.

It grumbled softly, got up swiftly from the ground, and started circling Baili An.

Stunned, Baili An scratched his cheek, somewhat relieved, "So it turns out that Spirit Fruit was beneficial, refining your marrow, expelling impurities from your body, transforming your mortal beast physique. Now, it seems you should truly be counted as a spirit beast."

The deer had been a mundane deer, and this patch of forest was surrounded by Immortal Mountain, blessed with numerous Spiritual Energy nourishments, which provided a touch of Spiritual Energy to the deer.

Though abundant, the energy nurtured creatures no more intelligent than the common beasts of mortal mountains.

Their mortal animal physiques remained hard to change.

However, having this opportunity today, the deer had consumed Spirit Fruit and naturally developed a cultivation spiritual vein within it; it was no longer an ordinary mortal beast.

This was truly its fortune.

Baili An also felt joy for it, "Alright then, stop jumping around; you're filthy. Come wash up."

Although the water of the cold pond was bone-chilling, the deer now possessed abundant Spiritual Power inside and hence had no fear of it.

Calling the deer over, Baili An scooped up some clean water to meticulously rinse it off.

The black mud washed away, revealing a gleam in Baili An's eyes.

The deer's fur was no longer ordinary like that of a plum-blossom deer but was luminously white, radiating vigorous Spiritual Power and vitality.

Its plum blossom pattern had disappeared, replaced by a pattern as beautiful as snowflakes.

Moreover, the deer no longer feared the bone-chilling cold of the pond, but rather frolicked about it, splashing disorderly.

Soon, its body was clean.

The deer swam ashore and began gnawing at his frozen hem, its round eyes urging, as if expressing the fruit was too wonderful and he should quickly consume it too.

Animals remember kindness and are simple-minded; knowing something is good, they think to share with those close to them rather than demanding endlessly.

Baili An smiled, looking down, "Alright, alright, I understand."

Just as he was about to reach into his breast, sudden hurried footsteps sounded from the long cavern outside.

The footsteps were extremely chaotic and rushed, as if someone was being pursued.

Baili An paused, his eyes abruptly sharp.

These were human footsteps.

Sure enough, after not long, a man covered in blood rushed out of the darkness, misstepped, and tumbled far away in a wretched heap.

Baili An watched cautiously, holding the deer and stepping back several paces.

Had it been a normal person, he would not have been so wary.

This man... his whole body emanated a profoundly deep malevolence, almost as though he had just fought his way out of Hell.

"Catch him! We can't let him escape!"

"Chase!"

Behind the man, five young people pursued.

They wore the uniform attire of an unknown sect; each wielded a treasure sword, rushing into the cold pond area.

The five young men's faces bore a stern killer intent, and while their attire resembled that affiliated with Li Jiujiu's Lihe Sect, they seemed to be from the families of the Immortal Sect's Righteous Sect.