"Y-you...!"

Li Ming stared at the weird creatures that were surrounding her and her little furball who was completely lost in his dream world.

There was one foot to twelve feet tall flying white lions with a dark red fire symbol carved on their forehead, adding to their already marvelous beauty.

Another group of obsidian black colored tortoises with such unique eyes that could almost be called as hazel, were also present there.

However, what was the most surprising about those tortoises was the shocking scene when she noticed two baby tortoises sprinting in the back.

Yep! They were sprinting. Not walking in their usual slow mode but sprinting and hopping at full speed.

Another flock of birds, from babies to almost seven feet tall, was also there. Holding black, brown, white, red, orange, and yellow color in such an extraordinary way on their body that it was almost impossible for her to remove her eyes from them.

These were just a few of those amazing and unique creatures that were currently swarming the small opening of the huge cave.

As her eyes roamed over the hundreds of spiritual beasts that were surrounding her, she realized exactly how unique and rare they were.

She had never seen such beasts before in both of her lives and neither heard nor read about them.

"Wow!"

That's the first word that came to her mind when she finally decided to open her mouth.

She should be afraid of so many beasts who could turn her into their food within a few seconds seeing that she was currently completely powerless in front of them.

However, due to some unknown and weird reason, she was not even a little bit afraid of them.

"What have you all done to my familiar?" She asked the twelve feet tall flying lion who for some reason looked like the leader of the group of all the spirit beasts that were present there.

She looked so small in front of that huge dangerous beast who held the power of turning her bones into powder with just one of his feet.

"Your familiar?" The huge lion beast asked her in confusion, probably not understanding the meaning of the word familiar.

"Umm-hmm! It's something similar to a spirit beast. In your words, you can say that he is my spirit beast. What have you done to him?" Li Ming asked after explaining the meaning of familiar to the beast.

The beast stayed silent for the next few seconds as he keenly observed Li Ming whose neck had started aching because of her continuously looking up at him.

"Your spirit beast is completely fine. He was injured so we have made him cultivate in the Healing Qi Ball which would help him in healing quickly." The beast finally replied and noticed how the young girl's shoulders relaxed at his words.

"What are you doing here and what happened to both of you?" The lion beast asked the young girl who was trying her best to not give up under the wrath of cold and pain that was attacking her powerless body.

"We were roaming around the Snow Fields and ended up falling into a very deep pit. There were traces of some very powerful and ancient ward that sealed my link with all my powers. And then we found our way to a weird pond with an equally weird waterfall and cherry blossom tree. And when we tried to find a way out through the water, we got attacked underwater and ended up here...like this." Li Ming answered his question.

She had no reason why she told him everything truthfully but her instinct, which were still working thankfully, were telling her to tell them the truth without any lies in it.

"And that's how you and your familiar got injured, right?" The lion beast asked her.

Li Ming could see curiosity in his eyes as he tried to read her.

Unfortunately for him, she was one of those people who could not be read at all, no matter how much one tried.

"Of course! If not for my current powerless state I would never have ended up like this and would have never allowed my baby to get hurt." Li Ming replied with a huff.

"Baby?" The lion beast asked as he looked at her with confused eyes, probably trying to figure if she had a baby who somehow got injured.

"Oh! I'm talking about my familiar. He's my baby." Li Ming replied as she looked at Snowy with tender eyes.

"Ohhh!"

This time the reply came out in chorus as all the spiritual beasts nodded their heads in understanding.

"How...ah?" Li Ming let out a surprised tone as her eyes immediately flew towards her right ankle where she had suddenly felt the warm touch.

Two flying lion babies were surrounding her feet as they lapped on her injured ankle, making soft tingles erupt over her right feet.

"This...?" Li Ming asked out loud as she looked at the lion beast in complete surprise.

She just stared at the two babies who kept lapping her ankle and slowly her pain started disappearing.

"Our saliva contains healing elements. And the young cubs have a special gift of fast healing." The lion beast replied as he looked at the two little cubs.

"I'm not feeling cold anymore." Li Ming said as she crouched down on the ground and settled in a sitting position.

She took out her right boot and let the two little cubs lap at her ankle. The wet touch of their tongue on her injured skin was so soothing and gentle that she soon started feeling relaxed and the pain completely disappeared.

She watched in amazement as the large and deep gash around her ankle started healing on its own.

Within a few seconds, the injury completely disappeared from her feet, leaving scarless skin behind.

Soon, little cubs, baby tortoises, the colorful birds, little serpents, and the other baby spirit beasts had surrounded her as they started playing with her.

"Looks like they are liking your company." One of the spiritual bird said as she too observed the babies playing with the young girl.

"By the way, you guys never told me exactly what this place is and....what kind of....spirit beasts are you?" Li Ming asked as she looked at the lion beast.

"This place is called Forbidden Grounds and we are the most unique, rare, and some of the most powerful species of the spiritual beasts." The lion beast replied.

"Forbidden Grounds? I think I have heard Lord Yueliang and the others telling me something about this place. Are we still in the Snow Fields?" She asked with curious eyes.

Her words left the lion beast and the other matured spirit beasts, who were standing close to her, amazed and surprised.

"Yes. The Forbidden Grounds are built deep under the Snow Fields, so you are still in the Snow Fields. But how do you know the Moon Immortal and who are these other people you just referred to?" A large tortoise who had been observing her quietly from the very starting finally opened its mouth and asked the question which was currently running through all of their minds.

"Oh! Well, the Moon Immortal is one of my six mates and the other people whom I mentioned are The Heaven Emperor, the Supreme Immortal, the Evernight Lord, the Second Demon Prince, and the Shadow Lord. They told me about how they needed to visit the Forbidden Grounds to take care of some matters a few days ago. I was not expecting to end up in this place too." Li Ming answered as she looked around the cave.

"The six Immortals are the pillars of the Forbidden Grounds while the Master of the Deities is the Caretaker of the Snow Fields as well as the Forbidden Grounds. The entire Snow Field is filled with illusion arrays and traps to ensure the safety of the Forbidden Grounds. Only a selected few are allowed to roam through the Snow Fields. And no one can break into the Forbidden Grounds, exactly why we did not attack you immediately and decided to talk first." The spirit bird told her.

"I'm thankful to you all for taking care of my familiar and also for treating me justly rather than pouncing me the very first moment you all noticed me." Li Ming bowed her head lightly to show her gratitude to the Spirit beasts surrounding her.

The little spirit beasts' babies that were still playing around her immediately started jumping on her and finally, a little cub came out as the winner as it settled down in her lap and started rubbing its head on her thigh.

"But....then why you are here?" She asked them as she rubbed the soft fur of the cub that was sleeping on her lap.

"A long time back, a dark and mysterious power started killing our species. By the time we realized that the situation was getting out of our control and we went to the Heaven Realm to ask for their help, many of our species had been already swept away entirely by that darkness, and those species that survived were not in any good state. After a long time of the investigation, there was no result and finally, the Forbidden Grounds was created to save those who were at the highest risk from that darkness."