Chang Long quickly dealt with the remaining guardians to save time before her body gave out from hosting a high-level spirit. However, it was not as easy as she thought. The guardians recovered quickly and dodged her sword with ease.

"Damn, they're as fast as monkeys!"

Chang Long grumbled in frustration. She glanced at her pets, who were also struggling, disgracing the sacred beasts. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Even Hulu could not defeat the magical puppets.

'Master, I think if we can get the magical crystal shard, they will stop attacking!'

Kitsune communicated telepathically. Chang Long's eyes lit up, and she quickly looked at the magical crystal shard, which was now glowing brighter than ever.

"So, that's it. Just eat it, and it's over, right?"

Chang Long flashed a sinister smile at the magic crystal and rushed towards the stone pedestal in the center of the room. The crystal glowed intensely, and the remaining guardians immediately moved to block her path.

"Just as I thought. That crystal commands these statues. Such high-level magic is interesting!"

Chang Long stared intently at the magical crystal. She just swung her sword at everything in her way without pausing to fight. Although the three attacking guardians dodged, her sword still managed to wound them all.

"Mystic Gust skill!"

Using the Mystic Gust skill, Chang Long sprung off her ankles and successfully landed on the large glass tray. She smiled grimly at the magic crystal, which trembled as if it knew what was coming. Ignoring everything else, she grabbed the crystal and swallowed it quickly.

Thudddd!

All the guardians collapsed and reverted to stone statues as the crystal went down her throat in one gulp. Hulu, disappointed, stomped on the fallen guardians to vent its dissatisfaction, searching for something else to eat since Chang Long had eaten the magic crystal it set its sight on.

As Chang Long was about to step down from the glass tray, her body suddenly heated up and convulsed uncontrollably. Rainbow light emanated from her body, and she immediately lost consciousness.

Chang Long's body glowed with a rainbow light before it slowly faded. Kitsune approached her with concern. Her face looked pained and sweat soaked her body. Although Kitsune was deeply worried, it did not know how to help. It waited patiently until the rainbow light completely disappeared, and Chang Long slowly regained consciousness.

Cough!

Chang Long coughed painfully, hitting her chest wildly. Kitsune panicked, unsure what to do, but Hulu charged at Chang Long at high speed, slamming into her and knocking her off the glass tray.

A small, clear crystal flew out of Chang Long's mouth. She gasped for breath with brimming tears of pain, unable to move for a moment after her body slammed down to the floor. She sat up and realized the pain was gone. As she reached for the clear crystal, Hulu quickly gobbled it up.

"Argh! Hulu, what have you done? That's a quest item!"

Chang Long yelled, but Hulu ignored her, chewing the now-clear magical crystal contentedly.

"Stubborn mule, you think you're so big, huh? Fine, find your own food from now on. Don't come begging to me again."

Chang Long snapped, exasperated. She had never seen Hulu this stubborn before. The allure of the magical crystal had to have had a massive effect on it.

Hulu froze at Chang Long's words. It pretended not to care, but when it saw Chang Long packing up and leaving with Kitsune without calling it, it panicked and ran after them, afraid of being left alone.

"How was it, Chang Long!"

Siegfried asked when he saw her emerge. He had been waiting for almost an hour, worried that something bad might have happened. Thankfully, she was safe.

"I'm fine, just a minor accident. Have you heard from the others?"

Chang Long asked.

"Yes, they're searching for the remaining 3 temples. We have 1 week for this quest, so let's rest for a bit before we continue."

Siegfried suggested, noticing that she still looked pale.

"Hmm, let's go outside. It feels dark and gloomy in here,"

Chang Long suggested. She used her Mystic Gust skill to effortlessly get out of the deep pit, followed by Kitsune, Lycan, and finally Siegfried. Hulu, uncertain of what to do, followed at a distance. It was still Chang Long's pet, even though it had not been much help to its master.

"Did Chang Long call Hulu out too? That must have made defeating the Magical Crystal Guardians easier,"

Siegfried remarked, noticing Hulu wandering nearby but not coming close.

"It didn't care about that at all. Honestly, it didn't help me much,"

Chang Long replied without even looking at Hulu, making it feel even more dejected despite still acting proud.

"It seems Chang Long is angry with it. What happened?"

Siegfried asked, noticing Chang Long's unusual neglect of Hulu.

"Yes, I am angry!"

Chang Long snapped. Then, a notification sounded from both their wristwatches. They checked to find that Oliang's group with Lidded Wet Trash Can, and Draco, who were exploring the eastern forest of Ark City, had sent coordinates for the location of the temple.

"It looks like we have a new destination,"

Chang Long smiled at Siegfried.

"Sure, but don't you want to rest a bit longer? You still look very pale,"

Siegfried expressed his concern.

"It's fine. Let's go. Come on, Kitsune!"

Chang Long stood up, calling to Kitsune, who was lying nearby in its flame fox form. Hulu was completely ignored by Chang Long. Siegfried, though puzzled by Chang Long's neglect of Hulu, thought it might be good for the stubborn beast to be disciplined. He glanced at Hulu before calling Lycan to follow them.

Chang Long and Siegfried headed towards the coordinates sent by Oliang's group, taking their time. They had already faced the hardest part of the quest. Along the way, Siegfried took out the magical crystal from the northern temple to show Chang Long. He had kept it safe, not eaten it like Chang Long.

"And what about yours, Chang Long?"

Siegfried asked when she did not bring out her crystal.

"That stupid horse ate it!"

Thinking about it made Chang Long angry again.

"Huh! W... what did you say?"

Siegfried asked, shocked. If that were true, it meant she had failed the quest.

"Just as you heard. Let's move on!"

Chang Long huffed and marched off in frustration. Siegfried glanced at Hulu, who was trailing behind, thinking it deserved Chang Long's anger.

Around noon, Chang Long and Siegfried arrived at the second temple, whose coordinates had been sent by Oliang. This time, the temple was on the ground, surrounded by thick trees that could easily be missed. As they arrived, Oliang's group came out of the temple.

"Oh, Chang Long, you're here quickly!"

Oliang greeted them, looking groggy as if he had just woken up.

"Did you go in there to sleep, Oliang? You look like you just woke up!"

Chang Long replied with a smile. Wet Trash Can yawned widely and responded,

"I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. The rune was so hard to read it made my eyes tired."

"I thought we'd be fighting, but it was just a big rune,"

Draco complained, looking as worn out as his friends.

"It's almost noon. Why don't we have lunch before continuing?"

Siegfried suggested, and everyone nodded in agreement.

During the meal, Siegfried and Chang Long recounted their battle with the Magical Crystal Guardians to the two young men. All three listened attentively since they too would soon face the same enemies.

"Those Magical Crystal Guardians sound pretty formidable!"

Wet Trash Can exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Yeah, you guys were lucky to have your pets to help. But we don't have any pets. I'm not sure how we'll survive!"

Oliang complained, clearly worried.

"Don't worry too much about them, Oliang. Just focus on reaching the magical crystal as quickly as possible. Don't try to fight them head-on, because if you do, you won't stand a chance!"

Chang Long advised.

"But aren't they really fast and well-coordinated in their attacks?"

Draco objected.

"Yes, which is why you need to hit them hard at the start to throw them off balance, then quickly grab the magical crystal. Use all your speed and skills without holding back!"

Siegfried added. Even though he and Lycan were strong, their flesh could not compare to stone.

Beep beep beep beep

The sound of incoming messages interrupted their conversation. They checked their wristwatches to find that Hero's group had sent the coordinates for the western temple.

"Only one more to go. All right! We'll head north first. I'm itching for a fight. If I have to write more runes, I might fall asleep in the temple!"

Draco said with a laugh.

"Go ahead, enjoy yourself,"

Chang Long laughed too. Then the two groups parted ways. Chang Long instructed Kitsune to wait outside and ignored Hulu once again. Siegfried did the same with Lycan. Then the two of them entered the small red stone temple to copy the ancient inscriptions inside.

Upon entering, Siegfried was immediately separated from Chang Long. The room they found themselves in was a long, dim hallway leading to another room with a reasonable amount of light. In the center was a stone pedestal with ancient inscriptions on both the front and back, each side containing at least thirty lines of text, each line about thirty centimeters long.

"No wonder they complained about getting sleepy,"

Chang Long muttered, stunned agape. She pulled out a paper scroll and pencil from her bag, studied the inscriptions for a moment, and began copying them into the paper. As she copied, she felt an understanding of the meaning of the text, even though she did not know what script it was or what era it came from.

"Once upon a time, there was a kingdom that sank into the depths of the ocean... Wait, why do I understand this?"

Chang Long wondered aloud, puzzled by her sudden comprehension. At that moment, a system message appeared.

"Player Chang Long has received the Basic Ancient Script Reading Skill Level 1."

"I wonder if Siegfried can understand this too,"

Chang Long mused with a satisfied smile. She continued copying the ancient text without feeling bored because she understood its meaning. Soon, she had copied both sides of the stone pedestal. She packed her paper and pencil and exited the temple in less than an hour.

Outside, she found that Siegfried was still inside the temple. Chang Long sat down next to Kitsune, who immediately ran to her. Hulu approached and stopped about a meter away. Chang Long raised an eyebrow, curious about what it would do next.

'I... I'm sorry.'

"Huh!"

Chang Long's eyes widened in shock, not believing what she had heard. She turned to Kitsune and asked if he had spoken, as the voice was so soft she could not distinguish its source.

'It wasn't me!'

Kitsune quickly denied it. Chang Long then turned to Davy-chan and asked the same question, but received another denial. Just as she was about to ask Hisa-chan, she heard the voice again, a bit louder this time.

'I'm sorry. I regret it... Chang Long.'

This time, Chang Long looked at Hulu intently and asked,

"Was that you speaking?"

Hulu nodded in response and rested its head on her lap, hoping she would forgive it. Chang Long looked at it for a moment before asking again,

"Are you really sorry?"

'I am, Chang Long. I am your pet. Even though I am a pure-blooded sacred beast, being under human ownership means I will never be free again. Therefore, I've decided to follow you as a master and pet, even if it greatly tarnishes my honor!'

"Being my pet tarnishes your honor that much?"

Chang Long raised an eyebrow.

'No, no, it's not just you. All pure-blooded sacred beasts feel that having a human master is a severe blow to their honor,'

Hulu quickly explained.

"Then why have you suddenly decided to accept and speak to me?"

Chang Long continued.

'Because you're different, I guess. I don't know... I was born from an egg. From what I've seen, I feel that you're a human who won't tarnish my honor. You will become someone great, someone the world will bow to! (Honestly... I'm just starving and couldn't hold out any longer.)'

"Uh-huh then, you must stop being arrogant with me, understand? You must follow my orders strictly. I don't care how proud you act towards others, but with me, you must submit completely,"

Chang Long said, narrowing her eyes at Hulu.

'Understood, Master,'

Hulu replied softly.

----

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