I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

Inch by inch.

Finally, Alice gently placed her fingertips on the spirit deer's forehead.

The moment they made contact, the spirit deer let out a long cry.

Then, something truly astonishing happened.

The spirit deer, radiating divine light, began to disintegrate from its edges, transforming into thousands upon thousands of dazzling fluorescent points of light.

These points of light, like wanderers who have found their final resting place, circled in mid-air before rushing madly into Alice's body.

"Alice".

Lynn was terrified and summoned the temple guards without hesitation.

However, just as the temple guards tried to rush forward, an extremely powerful force swept them away with overwhelming force.

Alice was completely enveloped by that dazzling light and suspended in mid-air.

Her long hair moved without wind, her eyes were closed, and her face showed no sign of pain, but rather a sense of holiness and peace.

At the same time, the surrounding environment began to change drastically.

With the disappearance of the spirit deer, the mysterious power that had always shrouded this valley and maintained its spring-like warmth also crumbled.

"Click-click-click—"

The sound of ice forming suddenly rang out in the quiet night.

The once steaming, shimmering lake began to freeze at a visible speed.

The ice layer spread rapidly from the shore to the center of the lake, and in just a few breaths, the entire lake was frozen into a huge ice mirror.

The green grass underfoot instantly lost its vitality, covered by a thick layer of white frost, and quickly withered and crumbled.

The colorful butterflies that were fluttering during the day seemed to have been drained of their vitality and began to disappear one by one.

Winter, with an extremely domineering and ruthless attitude, reclaimed this territory.

Lynn stared at Alice, who was suspended in mid-air, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

The light began to gradually dim.

All the dazzling fluorescent light eventually entered Alice's body, and her body slowly descended, her feet landing once again on the ground covered with ice and snow.

She kept her eyes closed, as if she was still processing the immense power within her.

Lynn did not approach rashly, but instead silently recited the mantra in his mind.

"Identification Techniques!"

A semi-transparent system panel popped up on Lynn's retina.

The moment Lynn saw the information on the panel, she gasped.

Name: Alice

[Level: 40]

Occupation: None

[Sanity Value: 134]

"Good heavens..."

Lynn couldn't help but curse under his breath, feeling completely numb.

I touched the deer's head, and then... I reached level 40?

Just as Lynn was complaining, Alice slowly opened her eyes.

Those once clear, emerald-green eyes now seemed to shimmer with light.

But soon, the strange phenomenon disappeared, and the original clarity was restored.

"How...are you feeling?" Lynn asked tentatively.

Hearing Lynn's voice, Alice looked up in a daze.

She looked at her hands, then clenched her fists, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

"I...I feel so comfortable."

"It's like... my body is full of energy, and I no longer feel tired. And..."

She looked up at the valley around her, which was now covered in snow and ice again. "I don't feel cold anymore."

Upon hearing this, Lynn tentatively took two steps forward and approached Alice.

The moment he stepped within three feet of Alice, he froze.

Although the surrounding temperature had dropped to below minus ten degrees Celsius and the wind was biting cold, as long as you were close to Alice, you could feel a warm breeze.

Alice seemed to have also noticed the strange changes in her body.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly took out a dried plant specimen from the spatial ring at her waist.

A few days ago, when they were passing through a deserted forest, Alice picked up a withered yellow leaf because she thought its shape was pretty.

She gently placed the withered leaf in her fair palm.

“Mr. Lynn, look.”

Alice said softly, without chanting any incantations or even generating any magical fluctuations.

However, a faint green light emanated from her fingertips, gently enveloping the withered leaf like ripples on water.

In Lynn's bewildered gaze, a miracle occurred.

The leaf, which had been dry and fragile enough to break at the slightest touch, began to regain its plumpness under the nourishment of the green light.

The withered yellow color faded, and emerald green vitality once again took over the leaf surface; even the veins of the leaves seemed to faintly flow with the sap of life.

In just a few seconds, a dead, withered leaf came back to life in her palm.

Chapter 181 Frostleaf City (Part 2)

In Alice's fair palm, the withered yellow leaf not only regained its emerald green color, but even the deep veins of the leaf exuded a moist mist.

"What did you do?" Lynn asked, puzzled.

Alice spoke softly, "I...I don't know either. A voice in my mind told me that this is a gift from God, that the divine power of life and nature is contained in these lights, and it...seems to have approved of me."

"A gift from God?" Lynn raised an eyebrow. In this bizarre world, he had seen far too many evil spirits masquerading as deities.

The Abyss Bishop of Holy Song City used human sacrifices, while constantly proclaiming God's will.

Moreover, when that glowing spirit deer appeared, Lynn summoned the temple guards immediately.

However, the light enveloping Alice easily pushed the temple guards away.

"It spoke to you?" Lynn stared intently into Alice's eyes. "What else did it say?"

Alice lowered her eyes: "No...it didn't say anything. It just said that I was qualified to accept this power, and then it turned into light and entered my body."

She is lying.

Or rather, she was hiding a lot of things.

But Lynn did not press the matter further.

He took a deep breath, his tone returning to its usual calm.

"Alright, whatever the gift is, since it hasn't harmed you, just let it be."

Lynn turned around, walked to the campfire, and poked at the burning firewood with a twig; sparks crackled in the cold wind.

“Mr. Lynn…you’re not angry with me?” Alice cautiously approached, her voice filled with obvious guilt.

She knew how dangerous it was to ignore warnings and go out, and she also knew that her current concealment had aroused Lynn's suspicion.

“What’s the use of blaming you? Can you extract that power from your body?” Lynn said without turning his head. “My job is to deliver you to the royal city safely and securely. As long as you are safe and sound, that’s all that matters.”

Lynn spoke very frankly; he knew very well that the Marquis Laurent's entrustment of the girl to him concealed a huge secret.

The bloodline of the immortal race, the eerie pursuers, and now a mysterious gift of divine power.

His only thought now was to quickly pass this hot potato to Duke Valerius of the royal city, then take the money and leave, returning to Holy Song City to find Anna and Lisa.

Hearing Lynn say that, Alice visibly breathed a sigh of relief. She silently walked to the campfire, sat down, hugged her knees, and stared blankly at the flickering flames.

“However,” Lynn suddenly turned his head, staring at her sternly, “from now on, you are absolutely not allowed to use this power without my permission, do you understand?”

Alice nodded quickly: "I understand, Mr. Lynn."

"Go to sleep," Lynn said, pointing to the tent.

That night, Lynn didn't close his eyes again. He sat by the campfire, his mental energy covering a radius of several hundred meters like radar. Fortunately, no more strange creatures appeared until dawn.

The next morning, the two set off for the royal city once again.

The temperature was still extremely low, but what made Lynn feel incredibly comfortable was that he didn't feel cold at all.

The next two days went surprisingly smoothly.

Since Lynn decisively abandoned the conventional route marked on the map and chose to forge a new path in the wilderness, he has never encountered those blind assassins again.

Without the harassment of pursuers, the two advanced at an extremely fast pace.

Two days later, at dusk, as they crossed the last snow-covered mountain ridge, the outline of a massive city finally came into view.

The towering gray city walls appeared solemn and majestic in the afterglow of the setting sun, while wisps of smoke rising from the city brought a long-lost sense of everyday life.

“That’s Frostleaf City.” Lynn took out the map Nora had given him, compared it with the map, and breathed a sigh of relief. “The last major transit point on the outskirts of the royal city.”

"Shall we go into the city?" Alice looked at the city in the distance, her eyes filled with both anticipation and a hint of instinctive fear. She still remembered the fear brought about by the old woman in the Butterfly Tavern.

“Of course we have to go in.” Lynn put away the map without hesitation. “We’re almost out of food, and…”

Lynn glanced at Alice's cloak, which was already torn in several places by tree branches.

"You need to change into clean clothes, and we also need to get a good night's sleep without having to open half our eyes."

Lynn knew very well that simply avoiding the problem was not the solution.

Now that they have deviated from their original route, it will be no easy task for the other party to find them accurately in the vast Frostleaf City.

"Let's go, into the city." Lynn took the lead and walked towards Frostleaf City.

The guards at the gates of Frostleaf City were much laxer than Lynn had imagined.

Perhaps because it was deep winter and heavy snow had blocked the mountains, the number of caravans and travelers had decreased sharply. Several guards wearing heavy cotton armor were huddled in the city gate tunnel, warming themselves by a fire, their noses running from the cold.

Lynn stepped forward and, without saying a word, flicked the two silver coins precisely into the arms of the leading guard.

"I'm from the north, I do some fur business, and I'm taking my sister to stay with relatives." Lynn lied without changing his expression, while wrapping his tattered bearskin coat even tighter, just enough to cover most of Alice's body.

The guard squeezed the silver coin in his hand, his previously impatient gaze instantly turning into a fawning one.

He even skipped the routine body search, simply waving his hand and saying, "Go in, go in. It's getting dark, there's a curfew in the city at night, don't wander around the streets."

The two passed through the city gate successfully.

The streets were deserted in winter, with a layer of blackened snow piled up on the road.

Occasionally, a few commoners wrapped in tattered burlap would hurry by.

Lynn didn't linger on the street for long. Soon, near the edge of the main city, he found a three-story hotel that looked decent.

The signboard depicts a roaring furnace and a hammer, and the name of the shop is "Furnace and Anvil Inn".

Pushing open the heavy oak door, a wave of heat mixed with the aroma of beer and barbecue spices hits you.

There were seven or eight tables of guests in the lobby of the inn, most of whom were mercenaries wearing leather armor and casually placing their weapons on the tables.

Anyone who can still run around outside in this kind of weather is basically a ruthless character who lives on the edge of a knife.

The opening of the door brought in a gust of cold wind, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the lobby.

Lynn walked ahead expressionlessly, with Alice close behind him.

Although Alice had put on a hood and deliberately lowered her head, her innate aristocratic air, along with her fair chin and a few strands of golden hair peeking out from under the hood, still shone like a torch in the night.

Almost instantly, the noise in the lobby subsided.

A dozen or so lewd gazes were fixed on Alice.