The familiar icy bed was exactly as she remembered—gleaming with frost and exuding a bone-deep chill.

  This time, she wasn’t reckless. Lauren sat cross-legged atop the crystalline slab, exhaling slowly as her spiritual energy began to circulate. Bit by bit, she drew in the freezing spiritual aura, letting it mingle with her own essence.

  Soon, the cold no longer bit into her skin. Instead, it felt… invigorating. Soothing, even.

  Just as she was settling into meditation, a small figure wriggled out of her sleeve—Edmund, landing flat on the ice with a smack.

  Lauren jumped, quickly scooping him up. “Hey—what are you doing?”

  "My master just told to be restrained. Do you even know what that means?"

  Edmund shot her a look that could only be described as pure indignation.

  “He was talking about you, not me,” Edmund snapped, his little paws flailing.

  Lauren hissed, holding him by the scruff.“Don’t play dumb!”

  “The bed was 1.8 meters when we got here—it’s 1.5 now! You think I shrank it?!”

  Normal cultivation wouldn’t cause the block of black ice to shrink—the icy spiritual energy it released was more than enough for Lauren to absorb.

  It only shrank from 1.8 meters to 1.5 because someone had gotten greedy again.

  Edmund wriggled free from her grasp and sprawled across the frosty surface, looking completely unbothered.

  “Relax, I won’t absorb it,” he said lazily.

  “Then don’t get too close,” Lauren warned.

  “I just finished digesting that flamingo beast core,” Edmund replied, stretching out. “Feeling a little dry inside. Just gonna lie here for a bit.”

  Lauren pursed her lips. She pulled out another beast core—the one she’d bought earlier—and tossed it to him. “Elder Zane gave this to me. That enough to keep you busy for a while?”

  “Yes,” Edmund said immediately, accepting it without a trace of guilt.

  Lauren sighed. “You should really learn to be frugal. That thing’s expensive.”

  Edmund shot her a look. “Didn’t you just make over thirty million spirit stones? Why are you acting broke already?”

  “Because you’re a bottomless pit,” Lauren shot back. “I’ve spent a fortune on you, and you still look the same. Feeding you is like throwing spirit stones into the ocean. Even if I had more, I wouldn’t waste them like that.”

  “Stingy,” Edmund huffed. “I told you, I’ll pay you back with Immortal Crystals someday.”

  Lauren: “…”

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  There he went again—spouting nonsense like a rich man without a coin to his name.

  She raised an eyebrow. “One spirit stone for one Immortal Crystal?”

  Edmund puffed up proudly. “Don’t even mention one. Ten if you like.”

  Lauren stared at him for a moment, torn between laughter and disbelief. Sure, and I’ll be the next sect master while we’re at it.

  She sighed. “I don’t need ten. Let’s just do one-to-one.”

  “Fine, whatever you say.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “So a low-grade spirit stone for a low-grade Immortal Crystal, high-grade for high-grade?”

  “Okay.”

  Lauren squinted. She didn’t trust that smug little dragon one bit. Words meant nothing with him. So, she took out a blank jade tablet, wrote out a quick agreement, and held it out to him.

  “Put your paw print on it.”

  Edmund stared at her, scandalized. “You’re insulting my integrity.”

  “Please,” Lauren said flatly. “Good brothers keep clear accounts. This letter of guarantee benefits both of us.”

  Edmund muttered under his breath, clearly offended. He thought it was an outrageous lack of trust.

  But whether he liked it or not, Lauren took his little paw and pressed it firmly onto the tablet. Then, just to seal it properly, she grabbed him by the head, brought the jade up to his mouth, and made him blow a puff of dragon energy over it to finalize the imprint.

  When the glow settled, Lauren smiled, visibly satisfied. “Perfect.”

  Edmund flopped onto his side, fuming silently.

  Truly pathetic, he thought. Once a majestic dragon, now tricked into signing IOUs by a crayfish-loving mortal. How did it come to this?

  Lauren waved the tablet cheerfully. “All right, the agreement’s signed. You believe it now?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled.

  “Good.” She tucked the jade tablet away and added, “But just so we’re clear—you still can’t spend however much you want.”

  Edmund’s head snapped up. “What? Didn’t we just—”

  “That’s just a promissory note,” Lauren interrupted. “Whether it’ll ever be cashed is another story. You can spend a little, sure, but stop demanding beast cores every time. You’re like a lion asking for tribute—if my master knew how much you were costing me, he’d cry blood.”

  Edmund groaned and buried his face in his paws.

  “Then help me get another hundred level-five demon beast cores, yeah?” Edmund said casually, as if he were asking for a snack.

  Lauren shot him a sharp look. “No. Some level-five demon beasts have already developed intelligence. They’re not the same as the ones that haven’t.”

  “So you’re saying you’ll only buy level-four cores?”

  “Of course. Level-four and above, we’ll just buy if the opportunity arises. Spending spirit stones to hunt them deliberately would cause unnecessary slaughter. Transformed demon beasts can talk, Edmund. What if one complains and it reaches my master’s ears? That could trigger a war between humans and beasts. You want that on your conscience?”

  Edmund blinked, then huffed. “You really think long-term, don’t you?”

  Lauren ignored the sarcasm. “I’m glad you understand.”

  Once their little “deal” was settled, both her and beast got busy with their respective work.

  Lauren began setting up the Spirit Gathering Array in the Ice Cave.

  One array was enough. With her master and senior brothers nearby, she felt safe. Even if something went wrong, her master wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

  That sense of security was something she hadn’t felt in… well, lifetimes.

  In her first life, she’d been an orphan. In her second, her father buried his grief in escapism, leaving her alone in every way that mattered. She’d learned early on that she couldn’t rely on anyone.

  But this—this was different.

  In this life, she had a master who looked out for her, senior brothers who shielded her, and a path that, for once, felt like her own.

  Such safety… it was a rare, almost foreign warmth.

  Lauren sat cross-legged on the Xuanbing platform, inhaled deeply, and began chanting. Rays of pale light burst outward, illuminating the Ice Cave as the surrounding ice crystals resonated with her. Threads of spiritual energy flowed into her body in torrents.

  Her body trembled. The sudden surge of power forced her meridians wide open, the pressure building until it felt like they might rupture under the strain.

  It was agony—but necessary agony.

  After the first pass, her breathing steadied. The energy flowed more smoothly, cleansing her blood and marrow, widening the channels within her body.

  The difference between this and her Core Formation days was stark. Her meridians were thicker, stronger—but they also demanded more. Much more.