Chapter 149: The Cassock-Stealing Bear

One minute later, Yu Xian and Nora stood on a street in Ice City. In the heart of this city loomed a colossal Everfrost Tree. Six centuries ago, a man ate a Forbidden Fruit and transformed into this monstrous entity, permanently encasing the city in ice. Ever since, any non-human creature that stepped into the tree's domain was swiftly frozen solid.

Outside Ice City's walls were countless frozen beasts. The city's residents never lacked meat. Whenever they wanted some, they only needed to go outside the city and carry one back.

At that moment, a cold wind swept past. Yu Xian and Nora both shivered, then laughed at the same time.

Folding her arms to rub them for warmth, Nora spoke with both shock and joy. "I'm really back... I honestly thought you were just joking."

She had once made many wonderful memories in Ice City. Back then, her father and mother had still been together, and she had believed their family would remain happy forever.

Yu Xian smiled. "Give me your hand."

Nora looked at him shyly and held out her hand. The next moment, her face turned bright red.

Yu Xian slipped the ring onto the ring finger of Nora's left hand. "This is an Energy Guardian Ring. It can block any attack below Dragon rank. Even a Dragon-rank powerhouse attacking at full strength would need to strike it a million times before breaking through its energy barrier."

When he looked up and saw her blushing, he smiled and took out the bracelet, fastening it around her wrist. Next came the necklace. As for the earrings, since Nora did not have pierced ears, he could only place them in her palm. He also introduced each item one by one.

Once her embarrassment subsided and her senses returned, Nora realized just how precious the defensive equipment was. She tried to take everything off and return them to Yu Xian, but he had already run off laughing, leaving her no choice but to chase after him in frustration.

After running around for a while, the two of them left the residential district and entered the commercial area. Due to Ice City's unique environment, the frigid city was livelier at night, and even ordinary people would come out to enjoy themselves.

Crowds moved in and out of the many shops. Yu Xian suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and turned around. Nora, who had been chasing him from behind, was caught off guard and ran straight into his arms.

At that moment, an indescribable flutter stirred in their hearts. After a while, Nora finally whispered, "These things... are far too valuable. I can't accept them."

Yu Xian gently held her in his arms with his eyes closed, smiling. "If you won't accept them, I won't let go."

Nora offered absolutely no resistance, though she whispered under her breath, "Let go. So many people are watching."

Unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips, Yu Xian said, "Then let's go somewhere quiet!"

Red light enveloped them, and the next instant, they appeared atop Ice City's signal tower. Below their feet was only a circular platform about the size of a basketball, just large enough for the two of them to stand together while holding each other.

Since the Energy Guardian Rings protected them, the freezing high-altitude wind did not affect them whatsoever. They simply stayed in each other's arms, enveloped in a peaceful silence.

As they looked down from the signal tower, the city lights shimmered like a dream, and the pedestrians below appeared smaller than ants. Several patrolling officers from the Combat Police unit caught sight of the two figures perched on the tower. However, after checking them out through their binoculars, they quickly looked away, paying them no more mind.

Nora suddenly said, "It's almost eight thirty."

Yu Xian kept his eyes closed and smiled. "You can stay at your mother's place tonight. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."

He knew that Nora's mother finished work at eight thirty, and Nora undoubtedly wanted to surprise her as well.

Nora replied, "Then I need to let Cai Ying know, or she'll worry."

Yu Xian suddenly sensed something through Super Smell and looked toward the dark wilderness beyond Ice City. "Want to test how effective your defensive equipment is?"

Nora was puzzled. "How do we test them?"

He chuckled. "There's a fat bear stealing food out there. He's a pretty interesting fellow."

Red light enveloped them again. In the blink of an eye, they appeared outside the city, surrounded by creatures frozen solid in ice. Not far away, a five-meter-tall black bear demon was gnawing on a gigantic elk that had been frozen solid and practically cooked by the cold.

The moment the bear sensed someone behind it, it spun around and let out a deafening roar at Yu Xian and Nora. Seeing the cassock-like markings across its shoulders, Nora exclaimed, "That's a Cassock-Stealing Bear!"

Yu Xian nodded with a smile. "That's right. A Tiger-rank Cassock-Stealing Bear, to be specific. Go on. You've been powered up."

Suddenly, the Black Bear Demon flattened itself against the ground and spoke in a deep, booming voice. "Wait! Please don't attack, you two! I surrender!"

It had only been putting on a show. When it saw that neither of them displayed the slightest fear and that the man was even calmly telling the woman to attack, it surrendered immediately.

Yu Xian feigned surprise and looked at the bear. "You can understand human speech?"

"Of course, I can! My great-great-great-grandfather was a human named Xiong Guan. While cultivating the Black Wind Scripture, he suffered cultivation deviation and lost his mind. As a result, he became a black bear demon and settled in the wilderness. Then the bastard somehow had children with my great-great-great-grandmother. One generation led to the next, and eventually, here I am."

The black bear nodded repeatedly, then continued rambling on. "Come to think of it, I'm one-tenth human. I even gave myself a human name, Xiong Da. Once I strike it rich someday, I'll eat whatever I want. I'll drink one bowl of honey and pour away another just because I can. That's the kind of lavish life I'm aiming for."

Nora replied, "You sure talk a lot."

Xiong Da fired back with an unhappy scowl. "I wouldn't call it talking too much. This is called being a people person. Don't you think I'm very approachable?"

Nora could not see anything approachable about him. She took a small step back and whispered, "Yu Xian, he can talk. What do we do now?"

Yu Xian gave her a reassuring look before addressing Xiong Da. "We don't mean you any harm. We only came here to test the defensive power of her equipment. How about having a spar with her? We'll stop before anyone gets hurt."

Yu Xian had already learned everything about Xiong Da when he discovered him through his Super Smell. The reason Xiong Da could enter the Everfrost Tree's domain without being frozen was precisely that he was one-tenth human. Otherwise, forget stealing food, he would have been frozen the moment he approached Ice City.

Over the past six hundred years, the Everfrost Tree at the heart of Ice City had grown powerful enough to freeze even Dragon-rank beings. Xiong Da definitely was not its match.

Xiong Da glanced at Nora and hesitated. "Just a spar, right? No one is going to lose their bear life?"[1]

Yu Xian confirmed with a nod. "Just a spar."

Xiong Da knew that his life was already in their hands. In the end, he was still a Black Bear Demon. In Huaxia, he was merely a wild beast with no legal rights. If Yu Xian and Nora truly wanted to kill him, they could do so without facing any legal consequences.

With the situation stacked against him, he sighed and agreed. "Fine, but no killing moves."

Yu Xian was not surprised by the bear's agreement. He encouraged Nora. "Go on. This is a good chance to gain more practical combat experience."

Nora nodded, took her handgun out of her spatial ring, and slowly stepped forward.

Xiong Da looked at Yu Xian. "Can we begin?"

Yu Xian shouted, "Begin!"

The next second, Xiong Da's eyes widened as he flew into a frenzy. He let out a thunderous roar at Nora, then swept one paw through the air, unleashing a wave of black wind toward her. Ice shards filled the air, drastically reducing visibility.

Although Nora had mentally prepared herself, her lack of experience still put her at a disadvantage. She had never encountered a situation like this before and could only search for Xiong Da's whereabouts.

Ice shards and black wind battered her from all sides, but the glow radiating from her bracelet deflected all of them. Without this defensive equipment, the black wind would have instantly destroyed the defensive equipment she had purchased on her own, and she wouldn't have survived the onslaught.

Nora noticed a dark figure concealed within the wind. "There!"

She immediately fired into it, but every bullet missed. Frowning, she looked to both sides, confusion appearing in her eyes. Where is the bear?

Xiong Da stealthily crept up behind her. He first glanced at Yu Xian out of the corner of his eye. Seeing no objection from him, he gritted his teeth and slammed one paw into Nora's back. A deafening boom rang out. The next second, Xiong Da immediately let out a pained yelp, clutching his paw as he rapidly retreated.

At the very start of the spar, Nora had already activated Thorn Reflection, the ability attached to the Thorned Ironwall Ring she had purchased earlier. The defensive equipment Eternal Purity had crafted was incapable of causing harm, but the Thorned Ironwall Ring certainly was. Moreover, it had somehow produced an effect similar to a set bonus when used together with Eternal Purity's equipment.

Originally, Thorn Reflection could reflect energy damage only below Eagle rank. Yet it had miraculously begun reflecting one hundred percent of the damage and could now reflect any damage below Dragon rank.

Yu Xian knew perfectly well that this was no coincidence or accident and immediately expressed his gratitude to Eternal Purity, who was beside him. "Thank you, Auntie!"

She had been present during the transaction at that shop. There was no way she had been unaware of the Thorned Ironwall Ring's ability, nor could she have failed to anticipate the current situation.

However, Eternal Purity just calmly said, "It has nothing to do with me. I only provided the defensive equipment."

Barely suppressing his laughter, Yu Xian agreed with a nod. "Right, Auntie. You only provided the equipment. The reflected damage is entirely the fault of that wicked Thorned Ironwall Ring!"

Eternal Purity smiled without saying anything. Clearly, she was not truly as wooden as she appeared.

1. The original text uses 熊命 (xióngmìng) or bear life, a humorous adaptation of 人命 (rénmìng) or human life, which is typically used in the context of accidentally killing someone or taking a life during a fight. ☜