Chapter 10: Encountering Danger

Cloud's tiny teeth clamped tightly together.

From now on, she would never cry again, she was determined to be strong and brave.

There had been several times before when her timidity allowed the monsters in the dungeon to frighten her, resulting in her mother being injured and bleeding profusely. Making the same mistake so many times was simply unforgivable!

Yu Yan, however, didn’t think so much about it.

In her eyes, Cloud was just a twelve-year-old child, and being timid was perfectly normal.

To cry, to panic, these were the most direct and instinctive reactions of a child faced with danger. If not for this damned world of dungeons, where the powerless hardly survived, Yu Yan would never have had the heart to let her daughter suffer even a little.

Let alone, as now, to face danger again and again.

As a mother, it was only natural to protect her child from harm, wasn’t it?

As for her injuries, they merely looked serious. Compared to the countless grave wounds she’d suffered in her previous life, they were nothing. Once this dungeon was cleared, a few pots of red date and angelica soup, supplemented with medicine, would restore her in no time.

“Ah!”

Cloud let out a startled cry. In the dim nest, dust suddenly billowed as a feathered wing, swift as light and lightning, shot past Yu Yan and her daughter. Where the sharp wing passed, a lock of hair as thick as a pinky finger drifted down—Cloud had been attacked.

“Mama, I’m sorry,” Cloud said, frustrated. Why was she startled again?

It was only a lock of hair, not even a scratch. If she distracted her mother and let the monster hurt her, what would happen?

Cloud reproached herself as she released the Golden Spirit entwined around her wrist.

The Bloodthirsty Vine hunted not by sight, but by the sensitivity of its leaves to air currents. The Golden Spirit slithered swiftly across the ground, scaling the cave wall in no time. Yet, for all its speed, it could not fly.

The Gu Eagle played with it like walking a dog, darting away each time the Golden Spirit nearly caught up.

“Mama, Goldie is angry!” Cloud scolded, raising her small hand. A blinding white light rose, illuminating a section of the cave.

Bathed in the golden glow, the Bloodthirsty Vine writhed in delight, its state vastly improved. The Gu Eagle, meanwhile, was so dazzled by the sudden light that it crashed blindly into the cave wall.

With a thud, it fell to the ground, and Yu Yan could almost see the dizzy whorls spinning above its head—it must be thoroughly disoriented now.

The Golden Spirit seized the moment. It darted to the Gu Eagle’s side like a nimble serpent, its spiked golden spots bristling and stabbing into the creature. The Gu Eagle immediately stiffened, a faint current flickering over its surface, and soon its plump body was drained of blood, leaving only a dried husk.

Correspondingly, the Golden Spirit swelled with satisfaction.

Its translucent vine body was filled with thick, dark Gu Eagle blood, and it seemed drunk as it crawled lazily to Cloud’s feet. Cloud reached out fondly; the vine’s jade-green leaves were now a vivid emerald.

A pair of emerald leaves swayed gently toward Cloud, as if acting spoiled.

Then, obediently, it coiled around her wrist.

Only then did Yu Yan open her tightly shut eyes.

She had been focusing her spirit, using the Plant Spirit skill “Transmutation.” Her daughter wanted to lead the charge, and Yu Yan indulged her, but she would never truly let Cloud face the fierce Gu Eagle alone.

She had transformed her daughter into a perfectly ordinary stone in the cave, identical in both aura and shape.

Otherwise, the Gu Eagle would never have missed Cloud after so many attempts!

Of course, Yu Yan would never reveal this truth to Cloud.

Since protecting her mother had become Cloud’s obsession, Yu Yan would not be so foolish as to douse her daughter’s enthusiasm now. “Cloud, you were amazing just now! Thanks to you, Mama didn’t have to kill this Gu Eagle herself.”

Cloud blushed shyly. “No, I was late casting my light orb.”

“If I’d released the light orb in time, Goldie wouldn’t have let that nasty eagle toy with us for so long.”

The light orb was Cloud’s bloodline skill, its full name Sacred Light Orb.

Indeed, over the past two days, Yu Yan had helped Cloud absorb and refine the Waterlight Butterfly blood crystal, making her a bloodline enhancer of tremendous potential. Waterlight Butterflies were usually of the Profound Sixth Grade, and finding one beyond Earth Grade was rare.

Yet Yu Yan had obtained an Earth Grade Eighth Waterlight Butterfly blood crystal!

Yu Yan thought her luck in obtaining a Grade Twelve Spatial Mirage Lotus was nothing short of miraculous, and such fortune could not last. The Earth Grade Eighth Waterlight Butterfly blood crystal was Cloud’s best possible choice.

And so it proved: in two days, Yu Yan had cleared four S-level dungeons and even two SS-level ones, but had only obtained two Earth Grade Seventh Plant Spirits.

There were also three blood crystals from Earth Grade Fire Rhinos, the best of which reached Grade Nine.

But Yu Yan could hardly imagine Cloud, after absorbing the Fire Rhino, growing big and burly—Cloud would surely hate her for it when she grew up. Besides, the grade was only one higher than the Waterlight Butterfly, not much superior.

In the end, Yu Yan chose to let Cloud refine the Waterlight Butterfly.

“Cloud is already amazing. I never thought the light orb could be used this way,” Yu Yan praised generously.

In truth, she was surprised herself. As an adult, she knew that blinding light could cause temporary blindness. But Cloud’s light orb was mainly auxiliary, meant to restore herself and her teammates.

This restoration was comprehensive, replenishing stamina, energy, and spirit.

Yu Yan spoke truly; until today, she hadn’t considered this use.

“Actually, Goldie is the amazing one. Without Goldie, I couldn’t have beaten the Gu Eagle,” Cloud said shyly, then remembered something and muttered, “But I was still scared by the Gu Eagle at first, Mama… am I useless?”

“Of course not!”

Yu Yan was about to comfort her daughter when the sound of wings slicing the air reached her, changing her expression.

The volume, the frequency—at least three Gu Eagles!

Yu Yan could not spare a thought for Cloud’s fragile pride, grabbing her and lunging forward—her body slammed against the rock, flesh scraping against sharp stone, and she felt a deep gash open in her exposed skin.

The coppery scent of blood filled the air. Yu Yan grunted, clutching her daughter as they rolled ahead.

She dared not pause for a moment!

Behind them came a series of sharp “whump-whump” noises—the Gu Eagles’ wings, hard as steel, slicing into the cave walls at lightning speed, as easily as cutting tofu. If she hadn’t dodged with Cloud just now, they would have been split in two.

Cold sweat poured from Yu Yan. In her arms, Cloud remained silent.

Such a violent collision, even with Yu Yan’s protection, Cloud was surely hurt.

In the past, Cloud would have cried out in pain. Now, to avoid distracting Yu Yan, she suppressed the urge to scream, her trembling body betraying the fear within her heart…