Chapter 94: A Good News, A Bad News (Thanks to USTRyan for the Bountiful Reward!)

Chapter 94: A Good News, A Bad News (Thanks to USTRyan for the Bountiful Reward!)



As Ning Tou's voice echoed, Qi Yuan instantly felt the game icon's resistance weaken slightly.

Moreover, he sensed a pair of hands gently pulling him.

Qi Yuan's eyes lit up at this.

"I'm coming!" he exclaimed.

Unexpectedly, the situation took an unforeseen turn.

Regardless, he needed to enter the game first.

In the Flowing Wind Realm, within the Heart Palace.

Ning Tou adjusted her slipping shoulder, straightening the black dress that had been partially undone.

Her words were flirtatious, but she wasn't truly willing to surrender herself to the owner of that voice.

When she was young and vulnerable, she might have entertained such thoughts.

But now, as the Supreme Being, she couldn't allow herself to act on them.

She needed to take control.

In the air, the Soul Lock Jade hovered, glowing a deep red.

It was as if the power within had reached its maximum, like an electrical component at its limit.

The Soul Lock Jade seemed to be pulling something.

All of Ning Tou's strength was channeled into the jade.

Suddenly, a purple thunderbolt cracked across the sky.

Boom! The entire sky turned dark.

Crack!

One of the three great treasures of the world, the Soul Lock Jade, suddenly shattered.

Surprise flashed in Ning Tou's eyes.

Her gaze fell on the Demon Egg beside her.

The Demon Egg lay silent, bound by eighteen thick iron chains.

Ning Tou, in her black dress and black stockings, approached the egg.

"My dear, you've finally come to see me," she said.

Qi Yuan, still trapped within the egg, was bewildered.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking at the girl before him.

Her face was partially covered by a black veil, revealing only half.

Even that half of her face made Qi Yuan feel the Creator's affection for her.

Her hair was piled high like clouds, and her eyes were frosty. Her smile was coquettish, but Qi Yuan sensed a hint of resistance within.

Ning Tou's black dress was tied at the waist with a black sash, embroidered with intricate flying bird patterns.

Her exposed skin was as white as jade, and her pale complexion had a sickly pallor.

Beneath the black dress, her straight and well-proportioned legs were covered in black stockings. She hovered about ten centimeters above the ground, her black-stockinged feet barely touching the floor.

Qi Yuan was momentarily stunned.

He glanced at Ning Tou's delicate legs.

How could this world also have stockings, and black ones at that? But then again, if other realms had dresses, why not black stockings?

Ning Tou, gazing at the Demon Egg that had turned blood-red, hesitated, a hint of apprehension flashing in her eyes. "My dear, this is the Heart Palace, your bridal chamber."

Qi Yuan was taken aback.

He now understood his situation a little better.

There was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was that he had entered the game.

The bad news was that he hadn't entered normally, so he didn't have a player's identity; instead, he was a strange NPC.

He wondered if he should exit the game, cultivate his Divine Soul to the late Foundation Establishment stage, and then re-enter like a regular player.

But Qi Yuan wasn't in a hurry. By sneaking into the game, he could learn about its background.

Just then, he heard Ning Tou say, "My dear, do you like me in this? I saw you sneak a peek at my legs."

As she spoke, she slightly adjusted her skirt, still keeping it modestly below her knees.

Qi Yuan didn't deny it.

Black stockings?

White stockings?

Nude stockings?

What kind of pervert doesn't like tearing them off?

He looked at the eighteen thick iron chains binding him to this strange object he now inhabited.

"Can you let me go?" Qi Yuan asked.

"My dear, how dare I release you? What if you run away?" Ning Tou said, her face taking on a pitiful expression, like a true love-obsessed fool.

"Don't worry, I won't run," Qi Yuan assured her.

"I don't believe you, my dear," Ning Tou replied, slowly approaching Qi Yuan. "Last time, you said you wanted to hang me up and beat me."

Qi Yuan remained silent.

Ning Tou flew above him, her delicate feet lifting as if to step on Qi Yuan. "So, I boldly hung you up, my dear. Do you want me to step on you?"

The black-stockinged feet were so close, each toe a perfectly rounded work of art, white and smooth.

If they were on Blue Star, Qi Yuan might have smelled a pungent odor.

But here, he could even detect a faint, pleasant fragrance.

However, Ning Tou had second thoughts and retracted her foot. "I can't humiliate you like this, my dear. Or perhaps I'm being too lenient."

Qi Yuan was helpless.

He felt like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of the knife.

"What do you want to do?" Qi Yuan asked.

"My dear, it's not for me to ask what you want to do," Ning Tou said, her coquettish eyes turning sharp.

"When I was young, you appeared in my world.

What... what are you here for?"

A powerful aura surged.

The air in the underground palace seemed to freeze.

The eighteen chains binding Qi Yuan clanged loudly.

Qi Yuan also felt the terrifying pressure, like a mountain bearing down on him.

This pressure was even more dreadful than the Divine Infancy stage!

Hiding within the Demon Egg, Qi Yuan remained silent.

Then, he heard Ning Tou's voice, her exquisite half-revealed face now filled with reminiscence.

"At first, I thought it was a blessing from the heavens."

"But later, I realized that there's no such thing as an unearned blessing in this world."

"Either you have sinister intentions towards me, or there's a special connection between us."

"You exist only in my ears, like a gentle breeze that suddenly turns into a gust."

"I can only hear your voice once every hundred years or so."

"I thought I was hallucinating, that I was sick."

Ning Tou's eyes sparkled as she looked at Qi Yuan, "I'm not sick, you truly exist."

"I never imagined you were real!" Ning Tou's gaze towards Qi Yuan was complex, filled with fear, apprehension, longing, and caution.

Qi Yuan's mind raced with thoughts upon hearing this.

He had first heard Ning Tou's voice just three months ago.

But according to her, centuries, perhaps even millennia, had passed in this world.

Could the time difference be so vast?

"I have a special ability; occasionally, I can hear what others say." Qi Yuan spoke half-truthfully.

Explaining to an NPC would likely be futile.

"Is that so?" Ning Tou smiled lightly, "To have the patience to wait nearly three thousand years, never showing yourself to me, yet appearing in my ears from time to time... With such cunning, I can't possibly guess your intentions."

"But that's not important now; you're here by my side."

"From now on, everything will be under my control."

"I'll seal your memories, and then..." Ning Tou licked her lips, her allure intensifying, "When you break free from your shell, you'll call me Mother."

Qi Yuan fell silent upon hearing this.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

"You NPCs really know how to play."

Ning Tou didn't quite understand Qi Yuan's words, but she didn't mind.

Qi Yuan's words from before didn't concern her.

"From now on, you'll be my little canary."

"Little bird."

As she spoke, she approached Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan looked at Ning Tou and said, "Farewell, my lady!"

Then, he logged out, leaving Ning Tou in the underground palace, stunned.

"Where did he go?" She asked, a hint of panic in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. "Is he asleep?"

The Northern Blood Sea.

An expanse of ocean.

Within its depths, countless demons were brewing.

Suddenly, the blood sea churned, and a massive demon crocodile emerged, creating a colossal wave. Its enormous head rose from the blood sea.

Over a dozen Supreme Beings who guarded the Northern Blood Sea quickly took to the air, "We pay our respects to the Demon Crocodile Supreme!"

The Demon Crocodile Supreme opened its mouth, and the blood sea's water gurgled into its massive body.

"The Supreme has spoken, and the heavenly secrets have warned of a Heavenly Demon's arrival. Its extermination cannot be delayed!"

One of the Supreme Beings asked with a puzzled expression, "What are the characteristics of this Heavenly Demon?"

"Blood Demon!" The crocodile finished and then submerged back into the blood sea.

After over a hundred breaths, the blood sea's surface finally calmed.

The dozen or so Supreme Beings guarding the Northern Blood Sea exchanged puzzled glances.

"What does this Blood Demon refer to?"

The Supreme Beings present speculated.

Unfortunately, they dared not ask the Demon Crocodile Supreme, nor disturb the Supreme Being deep in the blood sea.

The Supreme Being was beyond comprehension.

They feared his might but not his virtue.

In the following days, Qi Yuan occasionally logged into the game.

Unfortunately, he was trapped in the Demon Egg.

He couldn't play the game at all.

This left him feeling frustrated.

Before even entering the game, he was caught by an NPC; it was so embarrassing.

However, during this time, he gathered crucial information.

The game world and the Vast Wave Realm had different time flows.

One day in the Vast Wave Realm was nearly ten years in the game world.

Through Ning Tou, he learned about the game world's background.

The game world was called the Flowing Wind Realm.

One piece of information stood out as particularly crucial.

The cultivators in the Flowing Wind Realm, when they reached their limit and returned to the cycle of life and death, would... give birth to demons.

This was strikingly similar to the foreign demons Qi Yuan had encountered in the Land of Extinction.

Qi Yuan even suspected that these foreign demons might have come from the Flowing Wind Realm.

If this were true... could he possibly find the passage through which the foreign demons had reached the Continent of the Setting Sun, and travel there himself?

The Flowing Wind Realm was currently divided into North and South.

The cultivators in the South were known as Demon Exterminators.

The Southern Realm's laws mandated that cultivators must die before reaching their limit, preventing the birth of demons.

When demons appeared, the Southern cultivators would exterminate them.

The Northern Realm's laws did not restrict ordinary people, allowing them to live out their lives naturally. However, the birth of demons was not prevented, and ordinary people had to serve the cultivators as slaves.

The North and South were in a state of enmity, each vying for survival.

Nearly a century ago, the North-South Decision had taken place.

In the south, a battle to decide the fate of the world was about to commence.

In the Central Plains, a city of ten thousand eight thousand cities was constructed.

This city, supported by the Southern Demon-Exterminating Sect and the various nations, dispatched cultivators to guard it.

The Ten Thousand Eight Thousand Cities would clash with the demonic army led by the 'Leader' of the seventeen kings of the North.

If the Ten Thousand Eight Thousand Cities were to fall, the South would lose its territory.

The North would then dominate the South.

Should the demonic army of the seventeen kings be defeated, the North would return to the South, joining forces to confront the demonic calamity.

After more than twenty years, the Southern and Northern Decision had already begun.

The Southern forces were in a dire state of despair.

"In a world where ordinary people are mere consumables, the North is destined to overpower the South."

Qi Yuan sighed.

This was the nature of humanity.

Just as the extra-dimensional demon had once told Qi Yuan, "Why not enjoy life in old age after shedding blood for your family?"

During this time, Ning Tou also attempted to seal Qi Yuan's memories.

Unfortunately, it had no effect whatsoever.

Qi Yuan now felt like a caged person.

He was no longer just an NPC.

However, Qi Yuan didn't hold any grudge against Ning Tou.

After all, without her, he wouldn't have been able to enter the game early and gain knowledge of its background.

He didn't want to be like the Wangyue Continent, where one had to almost complete all the instances to understand the game's settings and background.

Moreover, he was just an NPC.

"Brother Qi Yuan, the Sect Master has a request for you."

At that moment, a flying crane landed outside the wooden hut and called out to Qi Yuan.

"The Sect Master?" Qi Yuan's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.

Ever since returning from the Dragon Heaven Realm, Qi Yuan had felt that there were often unspoken gazes directed at him.

It seemed... related to the Sect Master.

"Right away." Qi Yuan glanced at Xiao Jia behind him, "Xiao Jia, let's go."

Xiao Jia immediately transformed into a ray of light and imprinted herself on Qi Yuan's chest.

Following the flying crane, Qi Yuan met the Withered Tree True Monarch at the shore of a lake within the Divine Light Sect.

The Withered Tree True Monarch looked at Qi Yuan and slowly said, "I have a great opportunity to bestow upon you. Do you want it?"

However, before I give you this opportunity, you must pass my test."

If it were the Qi Yuan from before, he might not have agreed.

He would have found it troublesome.

But now, the threat of the Bright Palace and the bloodshed in the Hundred Kingdoms felt like a sword hanging over his head.

He had to acquire more opportunities to enhance his strength.

He needed to quickly cultivate a Golden Core to counter the Bright Palace.

If the Immortal-grade Golden Core wasn't sufficient, he would strive to condense an Immortal-grade Divine Infant!

"Please, Sect Master." Qi Yuan agreed.

"Follow me." The Withered Tree True Monarch lifted Qi Yuan's body, and a gust of spiritual wind landed on Qi Yuan, carrying him away as a ray of light to an unknown destination.

While flying in the air, the Withered Tree True Monarch handed Qi Yuan a mask.

"Wear it, and don't reveal your identity."

Qi Yuan put on the mask as instructed.

With the mask on, not only was his face concealed, but his figure was also hidden.

After an unknown amount of time flying, another ray of light appeared, belonging to a masked woman.

The woman glanced at Qi Yuan and leaned on the Withered Tree True Monarch's shoulder like a small bird, softly calling out, "Husband."

The Withered Tree True Monarch embraced the woman without hesitation and even glanced at Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan, witnessing this, was speechless.

He already knew that the woman was the Great Shang Empress, also a powerful Late-stage Divine Infant cultivator.

About three hours passed.

Qi Yuan, along with the Withered Tree True Monarch and the Great Shang Empress, arrived at a valley.

In the valley, Qi Yuan immediately sensed nine powerful auras.

They were all Late-stage Divine Infants.

The Withered Tree True Monarch landed with Qi Yuan, and an aged voice resounded.

"All nine Divine Infants are here?"

The speaker was an old man leaning on a cane.

At that moment, a hunched-over old woman spoke in a shrill voice, "How interesting, two Wudian Monks have arrived, and there are nine Divine Infants. I thought there would be ten."

Instantly, two barefoot Divine Infants glared at each other, "I am the Wudian Monk!"

"Who are you, daring to impersonate me, the Wudian Monk?"

Qi Yuan looked at the two of them and then scanned the nine great cultivators present, finally resting his gaze on the hunched-over old woman.

【An ordinary cultivator often goes barefoot, so many people like to impersonate him, and occasionally, he even impersonates himself.】

Qi Yuan was speechless.

Among those present were not only the nine great cultivators but also over ten Essence Core cultivators.

The leading elder fixed his gaze on Qi Yuan, "If I'm not mistaken, he's a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Are you sure you want him to participate?"

The Withered Tree True Monarch nodded, “Yes.”

The leader didn’t say anything further.

The others, especially the Essence Core cultivators, looked at Qi Yuan with surprise, as if trying to see through his identity.

After all, even Essence Core cultivators had a chance of perishing in today's battle. Why would a Foundation Establishment cultivator get involved?

At that moment, the leader continued, “The Myriad Demon Ridge is located a hundred li from here. I've found the Black Rooster Old Demon's mansion.”

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end