The blood Bai Zhi spat had barely hit the ice when Chen Wuya rushed to her side. One hand supported her back while the other pressed against her lower abdomen. The child inside was struggling violently, as if trying to break free of something.
Mo Feng stared at the compass, his voice taut. "The energy is flowing in reverse! The Heart of Extreme Cold is draining it!"
Chen Wuya said nothing. He immediately mobilized the Ice Misaligned Force: Extreme within him. This power had only just been obtained from the crystal, still carrying a bone-piercing chill. He guided his true qi into Bai Zhi's body, forcing it against the draining force. Bai Zhi's body jolted, and another thread of blood spilled from the corner of her lips.
"Hold on a little longer," he said.
Mo Feng pressed the mechanism compass against the ice wall, his fingers tapping rapidly. The screen flickered several times, its image cutting in and out. The crystal at the altar's center continued to pulse with blue light, its rhythm accelerating until it gradually aligned with the child's heartbeat.
"The system is unstable!" Mo Feng looked up. "We have to sever the source of interference."
"We can't touch the altar." Chen Wuya shook his head. "The moment we interrupt the connection, the backlash will strike her directly."
Gritting his teeth, Mo Feng took a crystal stone from his pack. An old man of the South Sea Dragon Palace had given it to him before leaving, saying it could stabilize fluctuations in water veins. He embedded the crystal into the compass's interface and pressed down hard.
The screen suddenly blazed to life.
A three-dimensional diagram slowly unfolded, several lines extending from different directions. One came from a mural fragment beneath the South Sea, one from markings carved into