Chapter 71: Actually, She’s a Better Fit For You Than Me

Just like in the original story (and the game He Yimo remembered), hidden beneath the ruins of the Divine Deer Shrine was a secret chamber.

It wasn’t anything super fancy – mostly just a massive statue of the Nine-Colored Deer dominating the space, with a few storage cabinets scattered along the walls.

Inside those cabinets? Mostly stuff the Divine Deer naturally shed over the years: antlers, clumps of iridescent fur, maybe even some dried… drool… from when it napped. Gross to think about, maybe, but for humans with weak spiritual energy, this stuff was basically like potent dragon saliva or phoenix tears – incredibly valuable.

Beyond the shed bits, the giant statue itself served a crucial purpose: collecting the Divine Deer’s overflowing natural spiritual energy. See, being a mythical creature, the Deer God absorbed a ton of ambient energy and faith from the Snow Village villagers’ daily worship. But it wasn’t always active. Sometimes it was playful, sure, but other times? Lazy as hell, content to just nap on its altar in the shrine all day long.

Zzzzzz…

So, over time, as mountains of excess energy radiated off the slumbering Deer God, the clever villagers built this statue directly beneath its resting spot to passively collect and store all that potent surplus aura. It was genius, really.

During the harsh winters when snow buried the mountain? The villagers could tap into the statue’s stored energy for warmth. Fwoosh~! Warmth!

During harvest season? They used the energy to supercharge their crops, turning tough, high-altitude plants that usually took three years to mature into bountiful harvests in just a few months! Essentially, the statue was Snow Village’s mystical power plant, supplying energy to every household, with the Nine-Colored Deer acting as the living, breathing, (sometimes napping) power source.

This was why He Yimo had risked Jiang Jinyue’s clinginess and insisted on bringing Yun Jin here today. Even though the cultists had wiped out the village, burning and looting everything in sight… they had no idea about this massive energy reserve hidden underground. Bringing the actual Nine-Colored Deer (currently residing in his hand) here would allow it to directly absorb the stored natural energy from the statue, instantly helping it recover its strength.

Plus, any leftover energy? He Yimo could absorb some himself! Since it was pure, natural energy, unlike the terrifyingly potent stuff from the Life Mother God, it wouldn’t harm his body no matter how much he took in. The only difference was efficiency: the Deer itself could convert this natural energy way better than he could. So, first dibs went to Wangxue. No sense wasting it if she wasn’t full yet.

“See?” He Yimo smirked, placing his right hand (the one with the golden Sacred Mark) flat against the cool stone of the statue. He felt a massive surge of energy begin to flow into his palm, directly feeding the hungry spirit within. “You were complaining soooo much earlier,” he teased Wangxue internally, “Cussing me out like I was starving you! But look! Buffet time, just like I promised! Told ya I wasn’t just talkin’ outta my ass!”

“Meeeheheh… Little Ancestor, slow down a bit, maybe? Don’t choke on it in there, okay?” he added dryly. “Seriously, it’s all yours today. Nobody’s gonna fight you for it.”

His internal commentary, however, was met with an indignant bleat from within the golden seal.

`W-What ‘treating’?!` Wangxue retorted, her voice already sounding stronger. `This energy was mine to begin with, okay?! Hmph!`

“Oh?” He Yimo raised an eyebrow internally. “Full belly makes the words come out easier, huh?”

`I wasn’t STUTTERING! It was ’cause you drained me ’til there wasn’t a drop left!` Wangxue vented, the words tumbling out in a rush. `I toldyouseveraltimesIhadnoenergyleftbutyoujustkeptgoingandgoingkeptTAKINGitnotevenleaving meenough tostayconscious! Youmademefaint! Severaltimes! Just… poof! Gone!` She mentally relived the indignity, pouring out her pent-up frustration while simultaneously guzzling down the statue’s energy.

Last night, He Yimo’s “epic battle performance” had just left her feeling even more exhausted when she woke up! This Sacred Mark felt like a cursed headband, constantly squeezing her dry. She’d genuinely feared He Yimo might drain her very life force away! But no matter how much she protested (`Meeeeh! Nooo! Stop!`), He Yimo, caught up in the fight, hadn’t paid her any attention, just kept burning through her energy at max power. Then, shortly after waking up again, she’d been drained unconscious again when he moved that damn log! This host’s appetite was a bottomless pit! Especially after the recent battles, Wangxue was starting to realize… her contractor’s constitution was seriously not normal.

If a regular human’s max spiritual output was 100%, He Yimo’s was easily 1000%! No matter how much energy she provided, he converted it all into raw power and burned through it in seconds. `And you call this Foundation Establishment?! This guy consumes more than Core Formation cultivators! To fuel him properly in a real fight… you’d need like… five more Wangxues strapped to him like power banks!` Meeeeeeh…

As Wangxue’s pitiful rant continued, He Yimo just raised an eyebrow again, tapping the golden mark on the back of his right hand with his left index finger. “You keep up that ungrateful attitude… and I might just decide to hog all this energy for myself…”

`MEEEP~! Noooo~! Meeeeh~♡` Instantly, the indignant bleating stopped. The mental image shifted to a doe-eyed deer nuzzling against his ear, purring in that sickeningly cute tone he secretly liked. Heh.

Seeing she wasn’t really mad, just needed to vent (and eat), He Yimo chuckled silently, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “Alright, alright. Eat up. Eat as much as you can hold. Might need you for a… big job… in a few days.”

`Meee?! AGAIN?! QAQ` Hearing about another fight, Wangxue’s mental pout returned, full force.

“Hey, it’s for your revenge, ” He Yimo reminded her pointedly. “You fuel me up, I kill Gu Wanglan for you. You don’t like that deal?”

`Oh! Revenge! Why didn’t you say so, Master~?! ♡ Go Master! Go! Go!` With her energy levels rapidly restoring, Wangxue’s personality seemed to be brightening too, becoming more lively and less… perpetually exhausted and whiny.

He Yimo stifled another laugh, shaking his head. He turned his attention away from his internal conversation towards the ahoge girl kneeling nearby, intently studying one of the locked storage cabinets. Yun Jin had followed him down, of course, but she didn’t grasp the statue’s true purpose. She was focused on the cabinets, trying to figure out how to open them, searching for the deer antlers needed to activate the Nine-Colored Compass. The cabinets, however, were sealed tight, covered in strange, ancient carvings. Yun Jin had been puzzling over them for a while now, looking increasingly frustrated. Hmmmm… He Yimo watched her focused profile, her brow furrowed in concentration, and found himself momentarily lost in thought, a strange idea percolating in his mind…