An Elemental Seed, also known as an Elemental Spirit

They were extremely rare. No, even calling it like that was an understatement. For an elemental seed to form, it wasn’t just a matter of time and effort. There was a good amount of luck involved as well.

After all, even with so much time and condensed mana, gaining sentience wasn’t something logically possible. Elemental seeds weren’t living beings.

Their sentience could be considered similar to an artifact spirit’s. As for the reason they formed? It was still unknown.

They were wonders of nature. To see one now, Damien was incredibly pleased.

‘It’s a shame that it isn’t a compatible attribute for me. I could use a lightning elemental seed to raise my lightning to the same level as my Void Flames.’

But even then, it was an elemental seed that’d benefit Ruyue, so it wasn’t much of a loss. He already had so much, after all.

‘But is it just an ice elemental seed or is it full-blown yin? Maybe something in between? I can only find out once I see it with my own eyes.’

Damien soon snapped out of his thoughts, only to see that Lunaria was still observing the ice coffins. Looking at her, he hesitated.

Morally speaking, telling her would be the best thing to do. Especially since he was trying to build trust between them.

But he couldn’t do it.

Lunaria may be a relatively upright person, but anyone would get greedy in the face of an elemental seed. Not to mention an elemental seed that aligned with their affinities.

It was best to hold the information back for the small possibility that Lunaria would go back on their agreement.

“So? What should we do now?” He asked. From what he could see, there was nothing in this area besides these ice coffins. He couldn’t even see an exit.

Lunaria thought for a second before responding. “Although I’ve been studying it, I’m not sure about the full capabilities of this ice yet. Whether or not it can freeze mana is still up in the air. And even if I want to try it, it’s too risky to do so.”

Damien nodded. But it was important for them to know whether it could or couldn’t. It would hurt them immensely later on if they were caught by surprise.

Damien moved further away from Lunaria and found an ice coffin. Then, without hesitation, he poured a wisp of mana into the ice.

Crackle!

It was a strange sound to hear. But as soon as it happened, Damien jolted back and withdrew his mana. Small blue snowflakes drifted down to the floor in front of him.

“This…it looks like you were right. Ice that can even freeze mana…how terrifying.”

Damien sighed. Since it was like that, it would be impossible for him to kill and devour these beasts. He didn’t think Void Essence would be frozen by the ice, but that wasn’t something he could casually reveal to others.

Lunaria’s eyes shone with a glint of curiosity. “Indeed. Since there isn’t anything else we can do here, we should move on. This is just the entrance, after all.”

Damien made a sound of affirmation and began walking towards the other end of the icy area. Although he couldn’t see the end, he felt it was the best way to go.

And as he expected, there was another gate present there. Or rather, there were two.

“Split up or go together?” He asked Lunaria.

“I should be fine alone, but I can’t say the same for you. You can’t use physical force nor mana against this ice?” She responded.

“Worried about me?” He asked with perked eyebrows.

Lunaria shook her head. “You are a friend of Qing’er’s. If you die, she will most likely be sad, and that is something I cannot allow.”

Damien smiled wryly. This girl was too blunt. He couldn’t even joke properly with her.

“If it’s my survival that concerns you, you don’t need to worry about it. I’m confident I can stay alive at least. And if necessary, I can easily escape.”

Lunaria looked at him closely as if she was trying to find any lies in his statement. Soon after, she shook her head.

“If you think you can survive, then that is your choice. I will not interfere. Which door will you choose?”

“Hmm…” Damien fell into thought.

He used his awareness to check both doors, but there was nothing special about either. Even when he poured mana into his eyes, he couldn’t come to a decision.

His expression became wry. ‘It seems I’m not fated with this treasure at all. I can only rely on luck and hope I find it first.’

Thinking such, he randomly picked the door on the right.

Lunaria nodded. “Good. I was going to choose the left door anyway. Well then, I will see you when we exit the ruin.”

After she spoke, she immediately rushed into the left door. Damien frowned at how hastily she departed.

‘Did I make the wrong choice? With her affinity, she should have a better feeling for this place than I do. Well, nothing I can do about it.’

He soon entered the right door as well. Truthfully, he was glad they separated.

Staying with Lunaria was too awkward for him. Having to restrain his personality so much to just stay cordial with someone was a new experience for him.

But it wasn’t only that.

“Now that I’m alone, I can finally use it…” he muttered.

A pitch black essence surfaced on his palm. When it appeared, even the cold aura in the surroundings retreated in fear.

“Hmph. Even if you’re an elemental spirit, you’re nothing in front of Void Essence. Now, let’s see how you hide from me.”

He shot forward. Whenever he came across a frozen coffin, he engulfed it in his Void Essence, causing it to quickly dissolve into nothingness.

Beyond the right door, the scenery didn’t change much. It was still an icy tundra-like flatland. But there were a few signs of dilapidated buildings that had existed in the past.

‘This ruin is much vaster than it looks from the outside. But even then, these buildings are too worn down. I doubt anything within them could survive.’

He checked with his awareness just to make sure, but as he expected most of the buildings were empty.

In some, though, he could see extremely ancient traces of human activity. Rusted weapons and torn pages from books that no longer existed, even tea cups and other kitchenware that had been eroded with time.

‘Was this a city? Underground? Wait, that’s beside the point. There were people living here?’

It wasn’t the same as the situation with the demons. He had heard their story and their origin. In the end, they were still outsiders who entered the Trial World a long time ago.

But the endless desert was different. It was the place where the Primordial Undying Tree’s main body was situated. There was no way such a being would allow those corrupted by the Demon God so close to it.

If so, who were the ones that once lived here? And what happened to them? They must’ve been extremely adept at using ice element, or else they couldn’t have survived in this environment.

If it was like that, then the desert environment would’ve been hard-pressed to kill them. Starvation and thirst weren’t problems they would’ve had to deal with.

So what killed them?