1618 Icy Rain’s Ability

“Everyone, look. That black thing in my shoulder seems to have weakened a bit,” Traveling Buddha pointed at his bare shoulder.

They had just made friends with Icy Rain, and everyone was fond of this chubby Water Elemental. Thus, after a night’s rest, Xia Fan, Traveling Buddha and Nikai went to the pool again, to bring even more tasty food for Icy Rain to eat.

Xia Fan was startled and hurried over to look.

He noticed the black mark Traveling Buddha’s broad and muscular shoulder did appear smaller, and its spread had temporarily halted. The blackness did not seem to be as intense as before, almost like someone had applied a light layer of foundation cream to it.

“It definitely is a shade lighter. Could this be due to the spring water?” Nikai asked.

Xia Fan’s mind raced. His nose was very sharp, and he could differentiate the main components to the spring water through his sense of smell alone. There was a trace of minerals in the water, as well as the faint smell of sulfur. Their skin would feel smooth after a soak, which meant it might promote better metabolism and improve coarse skin.

But Xia Fan did not believe that the hot spring could cure the darkness energy that had invaded Traveling Buddha’s body. It was far too illogical and unscientific. If all it took was a hot spring to take care of the Demon Race, then why would anyone need to fight against them? Everyone could just grab a water gun and have a water fight with the demons instead!

His eyes suddenly sparkled as Xia Fan said to Icy Rain, who was in the middle of swallowing a piece of cake, “Big oaf, did you do something to Traveling Buddha?”

Icy Rain raised his head and looked at Traveling Buddha’s shoulder, then said glumly, “Bad things are best to be removed.”

Everyone was stunned. Elemental lifeforms depended on constantly absorbing the elements of nature and then releasing them after in order to exist. Every Elemental was like a sea sponge, absorbent.

But logically speaking, Water Elementals could only absorb two kinds of elemental energy: nature energy and water energy. Could Icy Rain have the ability to also absorb darkness energy?

Seeing Icy Rain still happily eating his cake, Xia Fan suddenly realized that there was actually a very big difference between Icy Rain and the twins Star in Water and Moon in Water. He could eat food by breaking them down into their molecules and absorbing them. Meanwhile, Star in Water and Moon in Water never ate food, and he could not recall a time when they showed the ability to convert matter.

“Big oaf,” Xia Fan tried to ask. “Could you help Traveling Buddha absorb the bad thing inside his body? What I mean to say is to absorb it into your body, and then convert it. Would removing the bad thing cause you to become sick?”

Icy Rain used his slightly simple mind to think for a while, “I can do that, but it’ll take some time. Last time, when my elder brother got hurt, it was I who helped absorb it away. Though absorbing the bad things would give me a tummy ache, I can just bear with it a little.”

“Do you mean to say your elder brother isn’t able to absorb bad things?”

“Yes. Big brother’s too skinny, and I’m fat, so I can eat anything.”

Xia Fan gave Icy Rain a hug, ecstatic at the news. This big fat oaf was practically a gift from the heavens! His big fat body contained some sort of amazing power that could absorb and convert even the Seed of Darkness from the Demon Race. It was definitely a miracle!

Xia Fan immediately decided that Traveling Buddha would not need to participate in the scouting work today, and would instead stay by the side of this big oaf and properly recuperate. At the same time, he reminded Icy Wind to be very careful when treating Traveling Buddha, and that he must not absorb too much darkness energy and end up harming himself.

“I’ll give this to you!”

Xia Fan was simply too happy. What else could be more important than saving his sworn brother?

He immediately took out three precious Grade Nine energy crystals and gave them to Icy Rain. Converting dark energy took a lot of power, and these were there to help the big oaf replenish.

“Wow! What pure energy! Looks like I’ll be becoming fatter this time, though big brother did say that I’m much cuter when fat, hehe!”

Given Icy Rain’s intellect, he did not understand the process of politeness, where a show of rejection was needed. He simply happily accepted any good thing that others gave him, and then said his enthusiastic thanks.

Xia Fan checked his spatial ring. Forty three minus three meant he was left with just forty Grade Nine energy crystals. It was fine. As long as Traveling Buddha could live, Xia Fan was willing to give them all to Icy Rain, nurturing him to become even fatter than he was now!

“Brother, are you sure you can manage without me?” Traveling Buddha protested. “It’s not that I’m tooting my own horn, but without me, the Battle Buddha, you’ll very easily find yourself getting targeted with just your speed alone.”

Xia Fan pointed at Nikai. “Well, Nikai is still with us, and she’s also a defensive-type!”

Nikai promptly blushed the moment she thought that she was about to go on a mission with just the two of them, smiling shyly, “That’s right. My Divine Wings of Color might not be as strong as you, but they will at least be equivalent in defensive strength to several layers of alloy armor. Safeguarding Xia Fan shouldn’t be a problem.”

Xia Fan added, “Indeed, don’t think that the world will stop spinning without you. Don’t forget how sharp my nose is. Do you think I’d be foolish enough to charge right into danger the moment I sense it coming my way? At most I’ll just flee. Speedsters like me can choose to fight whenever we want, who can stop us?”

“Ah yes, that’s true,” Traveling Buddha shrugged.

…

Standing on the drawbridge over the moat, there were two distinct worlds ahead of him. The Holy Spring City was akin to an oasis in this underground world, with its glowing crystal rock in the model of a sun hanging above them, and the kind citizens living behind the walls. They lived in neat orderly rows, and even managed to reclaim plenty of farmland to grow fruits and vegetables.

Yet beyond the Holy Spring City was a dark expanse, a cavernous darkness that seemed like a giant beast’s lair. No one knew what sort of danger would be lying in wait in that darkness. The moment they departed from the limits of the city, the two Water Elementals Icy Wind and Icy Rain would no longer give them protection, and any scouts would have to rely on their own strength and wits to survive.

“Light here is our best scout,” Mousse patted the shoulder of the big youngster in front of him. “He has a good understanding of all the tribes all around the vicinity, and he knows every secret side path everywhere. Don’t underestimate him just because he’s young, he’s actually a veteran scout.”

“Sorry, I should be the one personally leading you people around, but there are even more important tasks in the city, new scouts waiting to be nurtured and trained, so I’ll have to let Light accompany you in my stead.”

Xia Fan nodded. As the saying ‘the guests act to the convenience of the host’ went, since Mousse was busy, having someone else leading the way would be the same. It was just to scout out the area, anyway. Xia Fan had no plans to participate in a direct confrontation, so there was no great deal of risk here.

Xia Fan watched the youngster called Light. Everyone from the Shimmer race looked strange, but Light was even more peculiar-looking than the normal citizens. He bore a burn mark on his face, a red scar that covered half his face. The eyebrow on his left side was still there, but the one on the right had been completely burned off, so it was bald.

Light had a skinny and small frame, well-suited for making his way across dark and narrow paths. His leg muscles were distinctly well developed, and he probably had very high endurance, suited for long-distance running. On top of that, there was an alertness in his eyes, and he was constantly observing his surroundings. They were all qualities that would make an outstanding scout.

“Let’s go. We’ll just be taking a look around the place. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be back in two days,” Xia Fan said confidently.

With his speed, two days should be enough for him to investigate the buffer zone. As for even further places, Xia Fan had no intention of doing so alone. His main goal right now was to find out why the tribes in the vicinity had stopped fighting one another.

Xia Fan brought Light and Nikai using the same method as before; Light was in front of him while he carried Nikai on his back. He was like a weight-bearing cross country runner, carrying bags in front and behind of him.

Aside from the Demi-dragons they had found living in the buffer zone, there were also humans. That was a very rare phenomenon, since the number of Demi-dragons out there was simply far too high. Sawtooth Demi-dragons, Rock Demi-dragons; there were practically all kinds of Demi-dragons around, and they could all be found here in this dark world.

Xia Fan imagined that the enormous buffer zone was nothing more than a huge lair for all the Demi-dragons. Countless caves that connected to a larger network of caves, with many nests connected to other nests. It was similar to what was found in the Middle Realm, where there would be many universes connected to one another, with humans dominating countless worlds. The dragons and Demi-dragons just happened to be a minority in the Middle Realm.

But the same could not be said for the Lower Realm. That was essentially the world of these Demi-dragons, and what little army the Demon Subduer Legion made up was completely incomparable to the many hordes of Demi-dragons living underground.

If there ever came a day when the buffer zone collapsed, it would be an unimaginable catastrophe when the Demi-dragons come rushing out from the darkness!