However, Dark Serpent's bow lasted only an instant. Then it turned into a tiny snake and coiled around Tang Miao's shoulder.
Tang Miao figured it was probably because it wasn't Little White Tiger's little brother.
"Hiss, hiss~"
Once it had coiled around Tang Miao's shoulder, it flicked its tongue and told him that the Sacred Beast White Tiger's physical body had been destroyed—or, more accurately, that it had already perished. The White Tiger before Tang Miao was nothing more than its soul, fused with the peak of Tianshan.
It had fused its soul here simply to pass on the White Tiger's power. In all these years, the only one who had met the requirements was still just a little thing absorbing power...
Tang Miao had a pretty good guess. It was probably that timid Little White Tiger!
Ever since humans had turned against the Totem Beasts, the ferocious beasts had joined forces with Totem Beasts who resented humanity to besiege Kirin. After that, the Four Divine Beasts had each suffered grievous wounds.
Then, with humans relentlessly hunting them down, they had scattered in all directions. Of course, not every human wanted the Totems dead; otherwise, there wouldn't still be Totem Guardians protecting humanity today.
Some wanted to destroy them, while others helped them. Those people became the Totem Guardians!
...The White Tiger didn't know what had become of the other Sacred Beasts, but after receiving help from some humans, it had made its way to Tianshan.
However, it had first exhausted its strength defending against the humans who attacked them, then been besieged by ferocious beasts. By the time it reached here, less than a tenth of its strength remained. In the end, it could only turn its body into a protective shell and stay here to guard its descendants.
Some Totem Beasts belonging to the White Tiger clan had scattered as well.
Some were still willing to associate with humans, but most had stopped trusting them. Most had either formed their own tribes... or gone into hiding.
After hearing the snake's explanation, Tang Miao glared unhappily at the Kirin Jade in his hand.
The Kirin Jade responded in kind, sending a beam of light onto the Sacred Beast White Tiger's illusory form.
"Roar~..."
The instant the light struck it, the Sacred Beast White Tiger let out several roars. They were deafening...
"You f***ing..." Tang Miao covered his ears and let loose a string of choice words.
Luckily, the roars didn't last long. Given Tang Miao's current strength, he might actually have been shaken to death if they had gone on any longer.
The Sacred Beast White Tiger roared like that because it was thrilled to see Kirin. After all, in its memories, Kirin had already been long gone.
Kirin had sensed its faint soul force, which was why it had brought Tang Miao here.
Unfortunately, Tang Miao didn't know any of this...
The White Tiger seemed to be communicating with Kirin. Tang Miao couldn't understand a single thing the two divine beasts were saying. Dark Serpent didn't seem inclined to translate, either. After all, one of them had become a piece of jade, while the other was only an illusory soul... They were communicating heart to heart.
"..."
A moment later, the Kirin Jade vanished from Tang Miao's hand, and the White Tiger let out several more low growls. It had Dark Serpent translate for Tang Miao.
The utility snake sure came in handy!
"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."
Dark Serpent flicked its tongue and told Tang Miao that Little White Tiger was asleep, and waking it now wouldn't be good for it. Besides, if Tang Miao contracted it with his current power, its strength would be restricted, no matter how powerful it was. And even Little White Tiger as it was now had already reached the Monarch level. Its immense power could deal Tang Miao a tremendous shock...
After Dark Serpent translated all that, Tang Miao managed to sum up the useful parts.
In other words, he was still too weak... Contracting the White Tiger might drag it down, or even wreck him. Basically, he might have come all this way to Tianshan for nothing!
"Roar, roar~"
Seeing Tang Miao looking so dejected, the White Tiger seemed to be trying to tell him something else.
Dark Serpent lived up to its reputation as the utility snake. Perched on Tang Miao's shoulder, it hissed as it relayed the Sacred Beast White Tiger's words.
The White Tiger told Tang Miao that although Little White Tiger couldn't become his Contract Pet, it would make sure to have her seek him out once she passed her final trial. It also had another, even better recommendation for a Contract Pet for Tang Miao!
Tang Miao had been on the verge of bursting, but after hearing Dark Serpent's translation, he turned back to the White Tiger and asked, "Is that true?"
"Roar, roar~"
Tang Miao naturally couldn't understand the White Tiger's roars at all. He turned back to the utility snake.
Dark Serpent had to serve as the Sacred Beast White Tiger's translator once more: a naturally born spirit of ice lived not far from here, named Ice Sky Snow Woman.
She had been born of Extreme Cold Ice. She had originally lived in the Extreme North, but for some reason, she had come to Tianshan a hundred years ago. She was now living atop another mountain peak.
And exactly ten years ago, a strange chill had descended on the area nearby. If the White Tiger was right, a new Ice Sky Snow Woman might have been born there.
After hearing Dark Serpent's explanation, Tang Miao's eyes lit up at once!
In the original story, he had only known about Flame Ji, the heaven-and-earth darling of the Flame Element. Flame Ji was undeniably awesome. But he hadn't expected that after risking his life to come all this way to Tianshan, thinking he'd get nothing out of it, he'd learn about the Ice Sky Snow Woman!
There was no signal here, or Tang Miao would have wanted to pull out his phone and look her up. Still, since the White Tiger had said this Element Pet was the most suitable for him, then it had to be.
Besides, Element Pets born of heaven and earth were every bit as powerful as Totems. Most importantly, they could combine with their masters!
Tang Miao looked at the Sacred Beast White Tiger and asked, puzzled, "Where is this Snow Woman, then? How can I get her help?"
"Roar, roar..."
This time, Dark Serpent didn't wait for Tang Miao to ask. It turned and told him that ever since the Ice Sky Snow Woman had given birth to a new life, an icy barrier had been set up around her home. No one had ever set foot there since.
Before Tang Miao could let loose another string of choice words, the White Tiger gave a low growl, and Dark Serpent continued flicking its tongue to relay the message.
At first, the powerful aura had indeed kept every living creature away. Perhaps even the White Tiger, before its death, could have forced its way inside. In other words, no creature without half-step Emperor-level strength could break through.
But in recent years, the aura within had weakened considerably. Even the old Snow Woman who had given birth to the Ice Sky Snow Woman seemed to have lost much of her strength.
Based on the White Tiger's guess, the barrier set up by the Ice Sky Snow Woman would automatically disappear in at most a year.
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