Sure enough, the ice sword struck again. Yan Jiaojiao leaped away, keeping an eye on its direction, but still found nothing.
As Yan Jiaojiao landed on another treetop, an answer seemed to dawn in her heart: "Could it be a Water Spirit?"
The little black dog in her arms couldn't help but nod, casting a surprised glance at Yan Jiaojiao, never expecting this woman to know about Water Spirits.
Water Spirits, unlike ghosts and monsters, were another type of spiritual entity born from nature, originating from water and possessing the ability to control it. They were extremely rare and precious, with perhaps thousands of years passing to birth a single one.
Similar elemental spirits existed for gold, wood, fire, and earth.
Though these spirits possessed immense power to control nature, they were invariably ignorant, lacking intelligence and moral judgment, acting purely on instinct, capable of both good and evil.
Due to their undeveloped nature, they were easily lured and captured by humans employing a little trickery.
Natural spirits could be absorbed by humans, transforming into their spiritual energy and granting them the ability to control natural forces.
It was said that the appearance of any natural spirit would invariably draw countless cultivators, all seeking to absorb them.
Even Yan Jiaojiao, who had lived for an immeasurably long time in her previous life, had never seen a natural spirit survive for long.
To think that a Water Spirit might exist on this small mountain!
This explained why it rained every afternoon. The sun was strong in the morning, and Water Spirits, being yin in nature, naturally preferred to be active in the afternoon.
The intentional summoning of rain, yet without apparent spiritual control, was also because Water Spirits could freely summon rain themselves.
The ice swords earlier were for the same reason. Water turning to ice, ice turning to water, the mingling and un-mingling of ice and water – Yan Jiaojiao could not think of any other possibility besides a Water Spirit possessing such an ability to freely control water elements.
"How can I capture this Water Spirit?" Yan Jiaojiao murmured in distress, dodging another ice sword attack.
Failing to freeze Yan Jiaojiao several times, the Water Spirit seemed to grow angry. The fine rain in the air instantly transformed into dense, sharp swords, raining down on Yan Jiaojiao from all directions.
This was getting serious!
Yan Jiaojiao panicked and quickly erected a spiritual barrier. However, currently only at the third rank of the Red level, the barrier could only withstand a barrage of icy rain swords for so long before fine cracks began to appear, threatening to shatter completely.
"Xiao Hei, it's your turn to act," Yan Jiaojiao said, an idea striking her in her moment of crisis. She lifted the little black dog high, ensuring that if it fell, it would land on him first.
Dongfang Cangwu was furious. This damned woman!
But there was nothing he could do. Dongfang Cangwu had no choice but to act. He focused his mind and formed a seal. Just as the spiritual barrier was about to break, a fierce gust of wind roared in, sweeping down from the sky with incredible speed. It not only instantly dispersed the ice rain but also blew away the rain clouds, revealing the clear sky above. Sunlight instantly bathed the entire mountainside.
The crisis averted, Yan Jiaojiao lowered the little black dog and held it in her arms again, nodding in approval. "As expected of this Venerable's summoned beast, you have a bit of this Venerable's former flair, one move to decide the world."
Dongfang Cangwu took Yan Jiaojiao's words as boasting, having grown gradually numb to them. He only picked out what he wanted to understand, treating it all as praise.
Little did he know that in her previous world, the title of Supreme Venerable was no mere exaggeration. Such a move to resolve a crisis from its root was truly effortless for her.
Now that the wind and rain had ceased, only the river continued to flow erratically.
Suddenly, a small water bulge slowly rose from the river's surface. Yan Jiaojiao noticed it immediately. She focused her gaze and saw the bulge growing higher and higher. Then, a small human-shaped head made of water emerged from the water – truly a Water Spirit!
The Water Spirit was composed entirely of flowing water, as if trapped within a human-shaped glass container, moving freely. It even had two cute little buns on its head, indicating it was a young female natural spirit.
The Water Spirit seemed confused as to why the rain had stopped. It tilted its little head, looking around the sky, and even raised its tiny hands upwards, attempting to summon rain again. It completely forgot about Yan Jiaojiao, whom it had attacked, concentrating solely on making it rain.
Dongfang Cangwu wouldn't allow it. He didn't attack the Water Spirit, but every time it gathered rain clouds, he dispersed them. It was a game of teasing the Water Spirit.
The Water Spirit foolishly continued to summon rain until Yan Jiaojiao couldn't bear to watch. She squeezed the little black dog's ear. "That's enough. Look, her hands are getting deformed from exhaustion."
Indeed, the once-solid, flowing water arms, due to being held upwards to summon rain, were now dripping water, their forms disintegrating.
Yan Jiaojiao's remark startled the Water Spirit. It seemed to finally remember the intruder beside it and immediately stopped trying to summon rain. It retreated several meters back into the water, its watery eyes fixed on Yan Jiaojiao.
Yan Jiaojiao knew that natural spirits acted on instinct and held no malice. She tried to communicate gently, "Why do you keep trying to summon rain?"
The Water Spirit looked blankly at the flowing water around it and murmured, "Not clean, not clean..."
Yan Jiaojiao then noticed that the river water gathered by the Water Spirit was murky, containing a lot of silt and sand, giving it a slightly yellow hue.
Water Spirits had very high standards for water quality, requiring it to be clear and pure. The water in this river clearly did not satisfy it.
So, was the Water Spirit summoning rain to wash the water clean?
However, this was a mountainside with very loose yellow soil. Rain would only wash down more dirt from the peak, making the water even murkier. And if the entire mountainside experienced rain, all the muddy water would converge. Where would any cleanliness come from?
"Water Spirits are truly as legend describes them – daft... cute," Yan Jiaojiao swallowed the word she was about to utter. Natural spirits could get angry easily, and calling it stupid might provoke it.
Yan Jiaojiao adjusted her thoughts, then said, "Then you froze these people because you felt they were hindering you?"
The Water Spirit's expression instantly changed, revealing anger. It pointed one hand towards the foot of the mountain and made a striking gesture towards Yan Jiaojiao and the frozen figures, "Home gone, they are you, home gone!"
Yan Jiaojiao frowned, looking at the Water Spirit's childish, childlike actions. She confirmed that this Water Spirit harbored hostility towards humans.
She then looked in the direction the Water Spirit was pointing. From her perch on the treetop, she could see a large, sunken water pit at the foot of the mountain, with shallow stagnant water remaining.
Recalling the Water Spirit's words, Yan Jiaojiao suddenly understood. "Could that water pit at the foot of the mountain have been a lake before? Was that your home?"