The days grew colder. Mist hung low across the forest, and frost crept along the roots of ancient trees. Long Tian, now slightly larger, slithered through the snow-dusted underbrush. His scales shimmered like frost-lit sapphire beneath the pale moonlight.
He had grown stronger, but something inside him stirred—restlessness, or perhaps, loneliness.
Then he heard it.
A soft cry—faint, melodic, and painful. It drifted through the trees like a dying song.
Guided by curiosity and a twinge of old human compassion, Long Tian followed the sound. Deep within a frozen glade, beneath a collapsed shrine stone, he found her.
A small white fox spirit, blood staining her snowy fur. Her aura was weak, her eyes half-lidded. She flinched at his presence but could barely move.
A voice whispered in his mind: "Only the strong survive."
Another voice—the one that remembered humanity—replied: "Not today."
He curled around her, sharing warmth, guarding through the night. Her breathing steadied.
But peace was short-lived.
A Direwolf, drawn by the blood, stalked into the glade with glowing red eyes. Long Tian rose, growling. He wouldn't run.
> [Skill Activated: Dragon Claw Technique. Azure Roar ready.]
The fight was brutal. The Direwolf's claws raked his flank, but Long Tian's strikes were precise. When the fox, barely conscious, released a frost charm that froze the wolf's leg, he took the opening.
With a final roar and a slash to the throat, the beast fell.
Snow fell gently.
The fox looked up at him with tearful, golden eyes. "Thank you… I am Bai Xue."
He didn't speak—yet—but nodded, folding his tail around her protectively.
In that silent, snowy night, a bond deeper than survival was born.