Just like in the original story, there was a hidden chamber built underground beneath the Divine Deer Shrine.
There wasn’t anything particularly special here, just a huge Nine-Colored Deer statue and a few scattered storage cabinets in the corner of the wall.
The storage cabinets mainly contained the antlers shed by the Nine-Colored Divine Deer each year, as well as various hairs naturally shed from the Nine-Colored Divine Deer’s body, or the saliva that dripped from its mouth while sleeping.
These things weren’t a big deal for the Nine-Colored Deer, but for humans with weak spiritual energy in their bodies, they were like dragon eggs and jade nectar.
Apart from that, the main purpose of this huge Nine-Colored Deer statue was for the villagers of the snow village to collect the excess natural spiritual energy from the Nine-Colored Divine Deer on a daily basis.
After all, the Nine-Colored Deer was a mythical species. The villagers of the snow village worshipped the Divine Deer every day, providing it with faith support. But the Nine-Colored Divine Deer didn’t engage in intense activity every day. When it was playful, it played; when it was lazy, it could really sleep for a whole day in the Divine Deer Shrine.
So over time, when the Divine Deer rested on the high platform of the shrine, the excess spiritual energy would emanate from its body.
The hardworking people of the snow village were very wise. They specially built a statue to collect spiritual energy under the platform where the Nine-Colored Deer resided, storing the excess spiritual energy that dispersed around the Nine-Colored Deer’s body.
In winter, when the mountain was sealed by heavy snow, the people of the snow village could use the spiritual energy from this statue to keep warm.
During the harvest season, the people of the snow village could also use the spiritual energy from the statue for farming and fertilization, allowing the originally three-year-maturing highland crops to be harvested efficiently in just a few months.
In a sense, this statue was similar to a power station for the snow village’s technology, supplying the electricity consumption of every household in the village.
And the Nine-Colored Divine Deer was the natural power source that nourished the snow village.
This was also the real reason why Yino would rather risk being pestered by Jinyue and had to bring Yunjin to the Divine Deer Shrine today.
Back then, although the snow village was exterminated by the cult, the cult members who were burning, killing, and looting didn’t know that there was a huge energy source hidden underground beneath the Divine Deer Shrine on the mountaintop.
By bringing the Nine-Colored Deer here, Yino could directly let the Nine-Colored Deer absorb the natural spiritual energy stored in the statue, instantly helping the Nine-Colored Deer recover its vitality.
As for the excess spiritual energy, Yino could also absorb some of it. Anyway, it was all pure natural spiritual energy, unlike the terrifying aura of the Mother Goddess of Life. No matter how much he absorbed at once, it wouldn’t harm his body.
The difference was that for the same quality of natural spiritual energy, the Nine-Colored Deer’s own absorption and conversion rate would be higher.
Therefore, before the Nine-Colored Deer had eaten its fill, Yino was now trying to let the Nine-Colored Deer absorb as much as possible to avoid wasting it if he absorbed it himself.
“Look at you, making a fuss earlier, cursing me out so badly, making it seem like I was mistreating you and not feeding you. Now, as promised, I’m treating you to an all-you-can-eat buffet, right? I’m a man of my word. I didn’t just make empty promises!”
“Little one, please eat slowly. Don’t choke to death inside my body. All the spiritual energy here today is yours. No one’s fighting you for it.”
Yino placed his right hand, which was imprinted with a golden stigmata, on the statue. While feeling the vast spiritual energy being absorbed into his palm by the Nine-Colored Deer, he also teased with a hint of smugness in his voice.
But as his words fell, the little deer sealed in the golden stigmata expressed some dissatisfaction:
[What do you mean treating me? This spiritual energy was originally mine anyway!]
“You’re talking so smoothly after eating your fill?”
[I never stuttered in the first place! It’s just that you drained me dry! I told you several times that I had no spiritual energy left, but you still mercilessly squeezed out the last bit of spiritual energy I used to maintain my consciousness! You forcefully drained me to the point of fainting several times!]
The Nine-Colored Deer complained about its grievances while eating.
Last night, Yino seemed to be operating fiercely, but when Wangxue woke up from a nap, she found herself even more tired.
She felt like this stigmata was like a tight binding curse placed on her head. She was even afraid that Yino would squeeze the life out of her. But even if Wangxue protested, Yino was busy fighting the cult members at the time and didn’t care about Wangxue at all, still consuming spiritual energy at a high rate.
Later, Wangxue had just woken up for a short while before being drained unconscious again.
When she woke up again, she started bleating and cursing in her inner world. But unexpectedly, in just one night, when Yino was moving the wooden pillar just now, he had already drained the spiritual energy that the Nine-Colored Deer had nourished last night.
This host’s appetite was simply a bottomless pit!
Especially in the past few days, after experiencing several battles, Wangxue deeply realized that the physique of this host she had contracted with seemed a bit abnormal.
If the limit of normal human consumption of spiritual energy was one hundred percent, then Yino’s maximum output was at least one thousand percent! No matter how much spiritual energy Wangxue provided him, he could convert it into explosive power without reservation, and during battles, he could squander Wangxue’s spiritual energy in just a few seconds.
-You call this the Foundation Establishment stage?-
-This guy ate more than cultivators in the Core Formation stage! If Yino wanted to fight to his heart’s content, you would need at least five more of me to serve as his power banks!-
And just as Wangxue was complaining more and more aggrievedly, Yino also slightly raised his eyebrows and pointed to the golden stigmata on the back of his right hand with his left hand:
“If you continue to be so ungrateful, I might just swallow all this spiritual energy myself.”
[Meh, meeeh…]
With just one sentence, the originally angry little deer instantly put on a smiling face and obediently rubbed against Yino’s ear, acting cute in the tone he loved to hear the most.
Seeing that Wangxue wasn’t really angry, Yino couldn’t help but smile faintly, a glint flashing in his cold eyes:
“Hurry up and eat. Eat as much as you can. I might need to fight a big battle in a few days.”
[Maa?!]
Hearing that there would be another big battle, Wangxue instantly pouted her lips with grievance.
“I’m going to avenge you. At that time, you provide me with all your spiritual energy, and I’ll kill Gu Wanglan for you. Are you willing to make this deal?”
[So that’s how it is. Master, you should have said so earlier!]
As the Nine-Colored Deer’s vitality was gradually restored, her mood seemed to become more lively, unlike before when she was sickly and could only bleat.
Yino held back a laugh and snorted, not saying anything more. Instead, he turned his gaze to the ahoge girl who was studying the safe not far away.
Although Yunjin had also come down with Yino, she didn’t know the true meaning of this statue. She was just squatting alone by the safe next to the statue, studying the various medicinal materials stored inside.
What she was looking for was the Nine-Colored Deer antler. Then, using the antler as a material, she could trigger the sensor of the Nine-Colored Compass, and Yunjin would be able to search for the missing Nine-Colored Divine Deer.
But…
These storage cabinets were all locked, and there were strange characters carved on them. Yunjin had been studying them for a long time, but she was still frustrated and hadn’t unlocked them.
Yino silently watched the girl’s serious side face, feeling a bit absent-minded:
[Actually, I think Yunjin might suit you better than me]
He couldn’t help but say to Wangxue through the mental channel.
[Look, Yunjin is a contract mage and has a strong affinity with you. Moreover, she has the talent to resonate with nature, simply born to be the perfect host for you.]
[So, if I successfully help you kill Gu Wanglan, then after the battle, if you really don’t like me, I can transfer your contract to Yunjin…!]
At the end, Yino slightly lowered his eyelids and tapped the golden stigmata on the back of his hand, which seemed a bit dazed.
For Yino, after last night’s interaction in the tent, he was very confident in grasping Yunjin’s heart.
So, since the Nine-Colored Deer was more compatible with Yunjin, Yino didn’t mind letting Yunjin become the Nine-Colored Deer’s host.
Anyway, Yunjin would eventually be his. At that time, he could have Yunjin provide him with assistance, which wouldn’t be much different from directly squeezing the Nine-Colored Deer’s spiritual energy.