Chapter 1132, The Startled Fox Eared Girl

Translator: Silavin

 

The small room was thick with cold, the white mist of it visible to the naked eye.

 

Su Bai’s room had become something like a little icebox. And yet he felt none of the chill.

 

There was a simple reason for that. When he had gained the Skill, he had also gained a resistance to the cold.

 

That said, he was not entirely immune to freezing temperatures. It was simply that this ice was his own creation, and so the cold filling the room had no effect on him whatsoever.

 

*Knock knock knock…*

 

“Shaman, are you okay? Why is so much white mist coming out of the room?” Yu Ying knocked continuously from outside the door.

 

Yu Ying was standing at the threshold and already she could feel the cold radiating from within.

 

Yu Ying shuddered from head to toe. Through the gap in the door, she could see white vapour drifting out from the ice inside.

 

“…” For a moment she thought something had gone wrong. She knocked with increasing urgency.

 

*Creak!* Su Bai opened the door calmly. In an instant, the mist inside the room came billowing out.

 

It was like lifting the lid off a boiling pot, except the reverse. Instead of hot steam rushing outward, it was the cool breath of a freezer that swept across her.

 

“I’m fine. I was only testing a new Shaman Technique.” Su Bai said quietly.

 

He was not dressed heavily at all, just a casual outfit from the System. He stood there amidst the rolling fog, an odd contrast that made him look almost unreal. He was like a child of the snow and ice, wearing next to nothing, utterly unbothered by the cold he had made.

 

“Are you truly alright, Shaman? Why is there so much white stuff coming out? I feel so cold.” Yu Ying shuddered again.

 

She had started rubbing her arms. Her pink fox tail curled instinctively around her body, pressed against her like a makeshift winter coat.

 

“This is my new Shaman Technique. Go and put something on first, then I’ll show you.” Su Bai said with a small, knowing smile.

 

“A new Shaman Technique?” Yu Ying blinked, then gave a quick nod. “Wait for me, Shaman.”

 

Yu Ying turned and ran to her room. She rummaged through her things and pulled out the cloak she had worn during last year’s snow season.

 

She threw it on and came running back, wide pink eyes staring at him. “Have you learnt another new Shaman Technique, Shaman? That was so fast.”

 

She was genuinely bewildered. It had not been long at all since the last time she had heard him say he had learnt something new. She had barely recovered from the surprise of that one, and now here was another. It was almost too much to take in.

 

“I’ve been working on it for a while. This morning I thought I’d give it a try, and it worked straight away.” Su Bai offered the explanation he had already prepared.

 

He thought it sounded a little simple, but there was nothing else to say. The role that had been established for him from the beginning was that of someone who learnt Shaman Techniques very quickly.

 

Though, truthfully, he had not established that role himself. Everyone had simply come to that conclusion on their own. Because ever since he had gained the System, the speed at which he acquired new ‘Shaman Techniques’ was extremely fast.

 

He could only ever tell people he had learnt a new Shaman Technique, and so naturally everyone believed his capacity to learn was exceptional.

 

This was common knowledge throughout the Flame Dragon Tribe. How else could the Tribe have developed as well as it had?

 

“What Shaman Technique did you learn today, Shaman?” Yu Ying could barely contain herself.

 

Every Shaman Technique she had seen before had been remarkable, and each one had helped the Tribe in some way. So she was already looking forward to this one, especially given how cold she was feeling right now.

 

The kind of cold she was feeling right now was the sort one only ever got during the snow season. And the snow season had not even arrived yet.

 

“Come in and have a look for yourself.” Su Bai beckoned her forward.

 

*Step step step…*

 

As the last of the white mist cleared, the interior of Su Bai’s room came into view.

 

The furniture was unchanged. The table, the bed, the wardrobe, all in their usual places. But filling the room were ice sculptures, and there were many of them.

 

Ice sculptures in every shape imaginable. Tigers, elephants, lions, dragons and more.

 

It was quite a sight. Each one looked remarkably true to life.

 

“Ah! Is this the new Shaman Technique you learnt, Shaman?” Yu Ying’s pink eyes went wide.

 

She stood rooted to the spot, turning left and right to look at each lifelike figure. She stood there a long time before she managed to move a single step.

 

“Yes. They look very real, don’t they? Only thing missing is the colour.” Su Bai asked with a smile.

 

He was very pleased with his work, even if it had consumed a considerable amount of Shaman Power to produce. His main aim had been to test the shaping, to find out just how far his control could go.

 

“Yes, yes! They look like they could eat someone. Is this really your new Shaman Technique, Shaman? It’s amazing.”

 

Yu Ying reached out and touched one. The wonder on her face was plain. She had never seen any of these animals before, but she could feel the weight and menace of them even in ice.

 

“The only drawback is how quickly they melt. But that should improve in time.” Su Bai thought of Levelling Up the Skill.

 

“Shaman, what can this new Shaman Technique be used for?” Yu Ying asked curiously.

 

Yu Ying was wandering the room, touching each sculpture in turn. The cold nipped at her fingers the moment she made contact.

 

Outside the window, sunlight was pouring in, catching the ice at angles and throwing small bright shards of light across the walls.

 

“Plenty of uses. The main one is food storage. We won’t need to wait for the snow season any more to have ice. The Tribe has it now.” Su Bai said with a smile.

 

He had considered going to the cellar and packing it with ice, but the melt rate gave him pause. If the ice melted too quickly, he would not be preserving food so much as flooding the cellar with cold water.

 

So what he needed to do first and most urgently was to level up the Skill. Once it was stronger, the ice he made would hold like old pack ice, lasting a long time without melting.

 

“Right, during the snow season we won’t have to worry about food storage, and now we’ve solved the problem of keeping food fresh the rest of the year too.” Yu Ying nodded quickly.

 

Her attention was still mostly on the ice sculptures, though they had already begun to melt very slowly.

 

“We should move these outside. Otherwise the room will end up soaking wet.” Su Bai said with a small laugh.

 

With this many sculptures in the room, if they all melted at once, the floor would be drenched.

 

“You’re right.” Yu Ying’s clear voice rang out.