"Brother Song, why aren't you eating the Frostfish?"
Seeing Song Yan put away the Frostfish instead of eating it, Bruce Xu asked curiously.
"I have three younger sisters at home. They need the Frostfish more than I do!" Song Yan explained with a smile.
"So that's it. Brother Song, you're truly a model elder brother!"
Bruce Xu praised sincerely.
Several days passed in a flash. The fragrance from the Frost Lotus grew stronger, and the color of its nine seeds shifted from milky white to gold, signaling they would mature within three days.
As for heavenly treasures, Song Yan wasn’t that eager. His cultivation didn’t depend on absorbing them, but on fusing techniques with qi luck to advance realms. If others knew how he improved, they’d go mad with jealousy.
Finally, after three days, the lotus seeds reached their final stage of maturity.
Yvonne Jiang, Hugo Jiang, and the blue-robed girl all stood by the Frost Pool, their eyes fixed eagerly on the golden seeds.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Half an hour.
Three-quarters of an hour!
"The seeds are ripe!"
The blue-robed girl shouted excitedly. Instantly, three figures shot forward, reaching out for the glowing, fragrant seeds.
The three were Yvonne's personal guard Gary Jiang, Hugo's personal guard Jiang Chu, and the blue-robed girl's stand-in guard.
"Careful!"
Song Yan suddenly sensed something and called out a warning.
Thanks to Song Yan's warning, the three immediately became more alert, but none withdrew their hands.
At that moment—
Three black shadows suddenly shot out of the Frost Pool, aiming straight for the three reaching for the seeds.
"Get lost!"
Gary Jiang roared and struck at one of the black shadows with his palm.
The other two also attacked in quick succession.
But the result was...
"Puff, puff, puff!"
With three soft sounds, the black shadows pierced straight through their attacks, entered their bodies, and all three screamed as they fell into the Frost Pool. Their bodies froze over, turning into ice sculptures that sank into the water.
"What—?"
Everyone present was stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Gary Jiang and Jiang Chu were both mid–Deity Transformation, and the blue-robed girl's personal guard was late–Deity Transformation.
Three Deity Transformation experts were killed in an instant by the mysterious shadows from the Frost Pool.
Everyone immediately backed away from the Frost Pool.
"What were those things?"
After a moment, the blue-robed girl recovered from her shock and asked.
No one could answer, and the glow of the nine lotus seeds was fading fast. Once the light disappeared, the seeds would drop and sink into the Frost Pool.
"Pick them from a distance!"
Someone suggested.
A guard of the blue-robed girl stepped forward, reaching out with his hand to grab the nine lotus seeds in the Frost Pool.
"Huh? What's going on?"
His spirit-energy hand, formed with spiritual power, dissolved the moment it reached above the Frost Pool.
"It's useless!"
An elder guarding the Frost Pool walked over and shook his head. "There's a special restriction inside the pool. Any magic treasures or spiritual power lose effect above the water. The only way is to pick them with your physical body!"
"Who will help us pick the lotus seeds?"
The blue-robed girl addressed her guards.
But everyone remained silent.
After what happened earlier, no one dared to take the risk.
"Any of you willing?"
Hugo Jiang turned to his own guards.
Still, no one moved. It was obvious this was a death sentence—no one would volunteer.
Yvonne didn’t bother asking Song Yan’s group. She knew it was pointless; they were paid guards, not death-soldiers. Forcing them to die was impossible.
"Whoever goes and succeeds, I'll give them one of my three lotus seeds!" the blue-robed girl said again, seeing the seeds’ glow fading and about to drop.
"I'll give one too!" Hugo Jiang added.
"Me too!"
Yvonne Jiang said.
For a moment, someone was tempted.
After all, Frost Lotus seeds were valuable even to Deity Transformation experts.
"I'll go!"
A Deity Transformation cultivator from the blue-robed girl's entourage stepped forward.
He donned a suit of black armor and shot forward at top speed toward the center, reaching out for the nine lotus seeds.
But just then—
Another shadow shot out from the bottom of the pool.
With a muffled thud, the shadow pierced his body. He dropped into the Frost Pool, instantly freezing into an ice sculpture that quickly sank out of sight.
The crowd looked grim at the sight.
Yvonne Jiang, Hugo Jiang, and Hannah Frost were thoroughly disappointed and stopped offering any more rewards—clearly, anyone who tried would just be throwing their life away.
"Let me give it a shot!"
Ian Song spoke up.
"Forget it, let's just leave the seeds," Yvonne Jiang waved her hand, sounding surprised.
Hugo Jiang snorted with a mocking laugh.
"But I want six out of the nine seeds," Ian added.
"Fine, I agree," Yvonne replied, her eyes tinged with sarcasm—she was sure Ian was just courting death.
"I agree too," Hannah Frost said.
Ian glanced at Hugo Jiang.
"Hmph, if you can actually grab them, you can have my whole share," Hugo sneered.
In a blur, Ian Song appeared at the center of the Frost Pool, reaching for the nine seeds just as they were about to fall.
Right then—
A black shadow shot out, moving impossibly fast.
With a loud bang, the shadow slammed into Ian, but was knocked away and shattered after flying a short distance.
All nine lotus seeds landed in Ian's hand. He turned and headed back toward the shore.
He actually did it?
Hugo Jiang was in disbelief.
Yvonne and Hannah both stared in shock, curiosity flashing in their eyes—how had Ian shrugged off the deadly black shadows?
Two more shadows shot out from the water, but both bounced off Ian and broke apart.
Once on shore, Ian flicked his wrist, sending three golden seeds to the trio, who each caught one out of reflex.
Ian tucked away the remaining six seeds, planning to give them to his three fox-spirit sisters later.
"Ian Song, I'll buy your seeds for five hundred thousand low-grade spirit crystals apiece. Deal?" Yvonne Jiang suddenly offered.
"Sorry, Miss, I have other plans for these," Ian shook his head.
"Six hundred thousand!" Yvonne pressed.
Ian shook his head again.
"Eight hundred thousand!"
Still, Ian refused.
"Hey, don't be so ungrateful. Remember, you're still a Jiang family guard!" Hugo said, clearly annoyed.
"What, are you planning to go back on your word?" Ian replied coolly.
Hannah Frost watched Ian stand his ground against the Jiang siblings, her expression growing intrigued.
Hugo was fuming.
Yvonne frowned but let the matter drop.
"Hey, what's your name?" Hannah suddenly walked over and asked Ian.
"Ian Song."
"You're pretty interesting. Why not come be my guard instead?" Hannah said.