he O Academy in the Free Capital.

  The highly popular academy ranking tournament was in full swing. Today, the competition for the first place among fighters was going to be held. Therefore, early in the morning, a large number of students had gathered around the arena, excitedly talking about the two outstanding figures who were about to appear.

  The first to arrive was the veteran contestant, Lexi, a third-order fighter. When he stepped onto the stage, it immediately caused quite a stir. However, compared to his opponent, this commotion seemed rather insignificant.

  A somewhat young girl walked up to the arena along the steps on the other side. She had a rather slender figure but gave people a feeling that she was full of explosive power. Her appearance immediately set off a wave.

  "Ling Zhu'er, I love you..."

  "Come on! Defeat Lexi and you'll be the first!"

  "Ling Zhu'er, we'll always support you!"

  ...

  Compared to the other participants in the ranking tournament, Ling Zhu'er was a legend. Originally a second-order fighter, she had only ranked forty-seventh in the ranking tournament, at a mediocre level that didn't attract much attention. However, after a sudden life-and-death duel, everything changed.

  No one knew what had happened in that distant dueling arena. All they knew was that in the end, only she had returned, and Omar, who had originally ranked third, had disappeared forever. For these students, apostles were too distant an existence, so it was naturally impossible for them to know the details. It was precisely because of this that such an experience had made Ling Zhu'er shrouded in a mysterious aura. Coupled with her identity as a follower, she had gradually become one of the most prominent figures among the students.

  However, the real sensation began with the ranking tournament. When this young girl used sharp and fierce techniques that were so astonishing that they left people dumbfounded to easily defeat one opponent after another, and even a third-order fighter was defeated by her, they realized that, originally, a second-order fighter could defeat a third-order one...

  So powerful, so powerful. This was the only feeling of those who had fought against Ling Zhu'er. Her attacks were as smooth as mercury flowing, and her sword skills were extremely precise, giving those who fought against her the illusion that their opponents were always attacking. Every move and gesture of hers seemed to possess great power, shaking people's minds and making them unable to bring out all their combat effectiveness.

  The legend of the weak defeating the strong was even more attractive. Therefore, not long after the ranking tournament began, with one victory after another in challenges, Ling Zhu'er gradually became the most popular student, without a doubt.

  Her dark eyes reflected the excited crowd below the stage, and a trace of trance flashed in Ling Zhu'er's eyes.

  It turned out that, unconsciously, she had become so powerful.

  Even the teachers thought that her sword skills had reached the acme of perfection and that she was qualified to challenge opponents of higher ranks.

  Her lips parted slightly, revealing a sly smile. If they knew that she, who was regarded as a genius in their eyes, couldn't even withstand ten moves in the hands of that person, what would they think? Especially since that person was an apostle.

  Thinking of that person, Ling Zhu'er's eyes became somewhat unfocused. More than two months had passed, and there hadn't been any news of him. How was he?

  An unfamiliar emotion inexplicably grew in her heart. This feeling was called longing.

  ...

  "Seventy-seven days." Chen Yue forcefully scratched his finger on the ice wall, immediately leaving a deep mark. On it, countless similar marks could be vaguely seen.

  Calmly looking away, Chen Yue glanced at the Ice Rabbit, which was bouncing around outside the ice cave and seemed a bit impatient. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he followed it without hesitation.

  A new day had begun.

  More than two months had passed. Chen Yue had been living a life almost isolated from the outside world. His days were monotonous but unusually fulfilling. Every day, he would go out to hunt magical beasts. Sometimes, they would chase their prey all over the mountains, but there were also times when they were chased by the other party like prey with no way to escape. There were quite a few such times. After a period of time, Chen Yue had become very familiar with everything around him, knowing which magical beasts were not to be trifled with and which ones tasted the best for dinner.

  This was still the outer area of the Ace Mountains. There were no magical beasts above the fifth order. With their combat capabilities, even if they encountered a fifth-order magical beast, although they couldn't win, it wouldn't be difficult to escape.

  The improvement of the compatibility was hard to come by. Summoned beasts didn't have many needs, and it was difficult to please them. Originally, Chen Yue thought that it might be interested in the magic beast crystal cores, so he collected some. Who knew that the Ice Rabbit didn't care about them at all.

  Probably all the apostles in the world were troubled by this. Even if they were extremely lucky to improve the compatibility by doing something once, when they tried to do it again, the summoned beasts wouldn't fall for it. For example, the case where Chen Yue broke the invisible passage in the dueling arena and made the compatibility soar was probably just a one-time thing.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  However, after getting along for a long time, Chen Yue had a realization. Compared to those unpredictable emergencies, getting the summoned beast to recognize you should be the most effective way to improve the compatibility. And the best way to gain recognition was to fight and live together.

  Although the speed of improving the compatibility in this way could be described as slow, like an elephant lying on the back of a turtle and dragging a whale behind while crawling, there was still a pattern to follow after all. As long as one persevered, there would eventually be results. And what apostles lacked the least was time.

  However, it was just a thought. How many people in this world could fight and live with summoned beasts?

  Summoned beasts usually liked extreme environments. Only by fighting and living together in an environment that made them comfortable would they recognize you. It was like if you wanted to have a relationship beyond friendship with a certain girl, you definitely had to spend a lot of money on accompanying her to eat, drink, sending her flowers, watching movies, and creating romance, slowly making her let down her guard before you could make a move. Otherwise, if you tried to force things in the dark, it would be like rape.

  Sadly, for apostles with ordinary physical conditions, such extreme environments were suicidal.

  Even if they were fully prepared, for example, in an extreme environment like the Ace Mountains, if you wrapped yourself up like a bear, it would indeed be warm. However, the summoned beasts could easily tell that you didn't like this environment. Without common interests, how could there be recognition, let alone an improvement in compatibility?

  Only a freak like Chen Yue, who regarded the severe cold as nothing, could slowly improve the compatibility.

  And that was the truth.

  During these days, Chen Yue found that during the continuous fighting and living together, the Ice Rabbit had become increasingly close to him. Some special experiences had an even better effect. Sometimes, Chen Yue deliberately provoked some fifth-order magical beasts, and then the two of them, one person and one rabbit, were chased around in a flurry. As a result, the Ice Rabbit became even more excited, and the effect was even better.

  In the origin space, the life source of the Ice Rabbit was already clearly visible on the other side of the passage. It was just one step away.

  It could be said that at any time, Chen Yue might reach the "intimacy" level and completely incorporate the life source of the summoned beast into the origin space.

  However, the right time couldn't be determined at all. It might be the next second, but it could also be decades later.

  This was the compatibility, completely unpredictable and unfathomable.

  ...

  Following the Ice Rabbit over mountains and ridges, Chen Yue found that they had left the area where they usually moved around. And the continuous drop in temperature indicated that they were running towards the core area of the Ace Mountains.

  "Could it be that something has been discovered?" The cold gradually invaded his skin. Chen Yue rubbed his hands to generate some warmth and muttered to himself in his heart.

  The icy and snowy environment of the Ace Mountains was very much liked by the Ice Rabbit. Of course, it probably liked the even colder core area even more. However, Chen Yue couldn't bear it. Usually, he didn't restrain it much and let it run around the mountains freely. Presumably, with its ice ability, even if it encountered sixth or seventh-order magical beasts, it could probably escape. Therefore, Chen Yue wasn't worried. Moreover, for summoned beasts, there was no such thing as death. As long as the apostle was still around, they could always provide a certain amount of life force to help reshape their bodies. Of course, a decline in strength and compatibility was inevitable.

  Fortunately, in these two months, such a tragic thing hadn't happened.

  On the contrary, the Ice Rabbit often discovered some inexplicable things and dragged him to see them. Some of them were useful to Chen Yue, some were probably only of interest to magical beasts, and of course, there were also some traces left by adventurers, but they were very rare.

  After climbing over a small mountain peak, they arrived at a completely unfamiliar area. Looking around on the snow, Chen Yue suddenly froze and stopped.

  In the snow, a patch of red was particularly conspicuous. Although most of it was covered by the snow, with Chen Yue's eyesight, he could easily tell that it was a cold-proof suit.

  The cold-proof suit worn by adventurers.

  "Another daredevil." The corners of Chen Yue's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a sarcastic smile. He had seen such adventurers several times in the past two months, and he had avoided them every time. And the fate of those adventurers was usually rather tragic, and very few of them could return alive.

  Chen Yue didn't go over to check. The things of adventurers were of no use to him. The only thing that made him curious was that he had actually found adventurers in the snow near the core area. You should know that the temperature in the core area was extremely terrifyingly low. Fourth or fifth-order professionals, even with their fighting spirit and magic fully activated, probably couldn't last long. Therefore, most of the time, they only moved around in the outer areas.

  After walking for a few minutes, Chen Yue stopped again. This time, his expression was much more solemn because he had discovered another adventurer's body.

  After pausing in place for a moment, Chen Yue shook his head and followed the Ice Rabbit's steps and walked forward again.

  All along the way, it was a shocking sight.

  Bodies were lying everywhere in the snow. The shortest distance between them was several hundred meters, and there were as many as more than ten bodies in some places, while in others there was only one. There were both men and women. Counting them carefully, there were no less than three or four hundred people who had died along this road, far more than the number of adventurers Chen Yue had seen in the past two months.

  When he encountered the third body, Chen Yue finally walked over. Most of these bodies were frozen to death, which was easy to tell. A large number of these people didn't know enough about the severe cold in the Ace Mountains and were not adventurers who often haunted this place. Because the clothes they prepared were only suitable for activities in the edge areas. To enter the outer area where Chen Yue was, they had to constantly activate their fighting spirit or magic, which was obviously a heavy burden. If they encountered magical beasts, their chances of survival would be even slimmer.

  However, even in such an adverse situation, these people didn't retreat and insisted on moving forward until they were frozen to death.

  What on earth was attracting them?

  A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Chen Yue raised his head and looked into the distance where the wind and snow were raging. There, it was the core area.