I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 368: A... name?

Victor stopped walking and looked at her properly. Against the endless white, her form stood out vividly with dark markings curling across her skin like living ink, remnants of the corruption that had shaped her existence. Yet there was something undeniably fragile about her now, something almost hesitant.

He smiled.

"Now?" he voiced with a calm tone. "Now you follow me back to my city."

Her brow furrowed slightly. He continued before she could interrupt.

"Once we’re there, you’ll finally be able to live. Really live. Not just exist for revenge." His smile softened. "Forty years is a long time to carry hatred. Anyone would be crushed by it. But that’s over now."

She slowed even more, eventually coming to a complete stop. The wind tugged at her dark hair as she stared into the distance, as though searching for something she wasn’t sure existed.

"I... don’t know how," she admitted quietly. "I don’t know how to live without it."

Victor stepped in front of her, forcing her to meet his gaze. There was no pity in his eyes... only certainty.

"Then I’ll teach you," he said simply. "You don’t need to know everything right now. All you have to do is follow me."

For a long moment, she said nothing. Then she nodded once.

"...Alright."

They resumed walking.

As they moved deeper into the icy region, Victor became increasingly aware of the familiar pull at the edge of his consciousness... the invisible thread that connected him to his frost raptor, Gojo.

The soul bond gave him a reassuring feedback like a heartbeat in the back of his mind. He could feel Gojo’s presence clearly now: alert, restless, and not too far away.

’Good,’ Victor thought. ’He’s been waiting long enough.’

He had warned the beast earlier, pushing reassurance through the bond so it wouldn’t go berserk in his absence. Even so, Gojo was not known for patience.

Roughly thirty minutes later, the terrain began to change. Towering ice formations rose ahead, forming a rough mountain range that loomed like frozen giants. At the highest peak sat a massive silhouette, barely distinguishable from the ice itself.

Gojo.

The enormous frost raptor was perched regally atop the mountain with its wings folded against its body. It’s scaled hide gleamed like polished crystal. Despite his size, he was completely still... asleep.

The moment Victor stepped into the mountain’s shadow, the bond flared.

Gojo’s eyes snapped open.

With a thunderous screech that shook loose chunks of ice from the mountainside, the massive beast launched itself into the air. Its wings beat violently, sending a storm of snow and ice cascading down the slopes as it dove toward Victor.

Victor smiled faintly. "There you are—"

But the smile vanished almost instantly.

Gojo’s attention shifted.

The frost raptor’s pupils narrowed as it sensed something wrong... something dark. Its instincts screamed danger, and its gaze locked onto the corrupt entity walking beside Victor.

Before Victor could even open his mouth, Gojo attacked.

A blur of icy motion slammed into her, sending her body flying backward like a ragdoll. She skidded violently across the frozen ground, carving deep grooves into the ice before crashing into a craggy ridge.

"Gojo—WAIT!" Victor shouted but the warning came late.

With another furious screech, Gojo wheeled around midair and dove again. Its claws glowed with frost as it prepared to tear into her before she could recover.

The corrupt entity reacted instantly.

She twisted mid-slide, planting one foot against the ice and launching herself upright in a shower of shards. Her eyes flared with dark light as she counterattacked, sending a wave of corrupted energy slashing through the air.

The attack struck Gojo squarely across the chest.

The frost raptor roared in pain as its massive body veered off course while dark energy scorched its icy scales. Thick blue blood splattered across the snow as Gojo retaliated, unleashing a freezing breath that turned the air itself into razor-sharp crystals.

Their violent shrieks tore through the frozen wasteland, echoing between the mountains as beast and corruption clashed again.

Victor facepalmed.

"...Of course."

Before either of them could land another blow, Victor vanished.

Shadow Blink activated instantly causing his body to dissolve into black mist before reappearing directly between them, suspended in midair as Gojo and the corrupt entity barreled toward each other at full speed.

Victor’s eyes glowed faintly.

<[ Telekinetic Qi Control Activated ]>

A colossal burst of invisible force exploded outward from his body.

The shockwave slammed into both combatants simultaneously, sending Gojo and the corrupt entity flying in opposite directions.

Gojo crashed into the mountainside with a deafening boom, while the corrupt entity was hurled backward, skidding across the ice before coming to a halt several dozen meters away.

Silence followed.

Snow drifted gently through the air as Victor landed lightly on the ground with his boots crunching against the frost.

He turned slowly, first toward Gojo.

The massive frost raptor struggled to rise, shaking its head as it let out a low, confused rumble. Its wings twitched defensively, but it did not attack again.

Then Victor turned toward her.

She stood rigid with her chest heaving as dark energy continued to swirl faintly around her fingers. Her eyes flicked between Victor and Gojo, uncertainty written plainly across her face.

Victor exhaled deeply.

"Alright," he voiced before rubbing his temples. "That’s enough."

Both of them froze.

He pointed at Gojo first. "You. Stop attacking things just because they feel dangerous. If I was in danger, you’d know."

Gojo let out a low, sheepish growl and lowered its head slightly.

Victor then turned to her. "And you. You don’t counterattack everything that moves."

Her lips parted slightly. "...It attacked me."

"I know," Victor said flatly. "And now it won’t do it again."

He stepped forward, standing squarely between them.

"You are not enemies," his voice carried undeniable authority. "You will not fight each other. You are both under my command."

The air seemed to tighten around them as his words sank in.

"We’re going on a journey together," Victor continued. "Whether you like it or not. And I won’t tolerate infighting."

He looked at Gojo. "She’s not a threat to me."

Then he looked at her. "And he’s not your prey."

For a long moment, neither moved.

Then Gojo lowered its massive head further, emitting a soft rumble of reluctant acceptance.

She followed suit a heartbeat later, bowing her head slightly.

"...Understood," she said quietly.

Victor relaxed, just a little.

"Good," he muttered. "Because this is going to be a long trip."

And as the frozen wind howled around them, master, beast, and former monster stood together beneath the endless white sky... bound by soul, by choice, and by a future none of them could yet imagine.

Minutes later, Victor had healed Gojo of the minor injuries he sustained while the corrupt entity had regenerated herself without needing any help.

However, even after everything had been said and enforced, the tension never fully disappeared.

Gojo stood atop the ice ridge with its massive talons dug deep into the frozen stone. His breath came out in slow mists and heavy plumes. Every now and then, one crystalline eye would slide toward the girl standing a short distance away with dark marked skin.

Her presence was like a shadow against the blinding white.

She noticed it.

And she didn’t like him either.

Whenever Gojo shifted his wings and ice cracked beneath him, her posture would stiffen. Her fingers would twitch faintly, corruption stirring instinctively before she forced it back down. If not for Victor standing between them—or at least within immediate reach—there was no doubt the two would have clashed again.

One was radiant frost and overwhelming life force.

The other was ruin, sorrow, and forty years of hatred given form.

White and black.

Light and gloom.

It made perfect sense that they grated against one another.

Victor sighed internally as he watched them from the corner of his eye. This is going to be a problem, he thought. But not one I can solve with force.

He turned toward her.

She was standing quietly now with arms folded loosely over herself. The wind pulled at her dark hair, carrying faint traces of cold across her exposed skin. Only now did Victor truly register how bare she was beneath the icy sky, how unnatural it was that she felt no cold at all.

And how unnatural it was that she didn’t even seem to notice.

Victor frowned.

I can’t keep calling her "the corrupt entity." The thought came unbidden but firm. Not if I expect her to move on.

That name... it was a chain. A reminder of what she had been created to be, not what she could become.

He approached her slowly.

She looked up as he stopped a few steps away, studying his face with her dark eyes as though trying to read something hidden there.

"...What is it?" she asked.

Victor hesitated for a fraction of a second before speaking.

"You need a name."

She blinked.

"A... name?"