Xu Qing’s voice contained not even a hint of emotion.

When his words echoed into the head’s ears, the head shivered even more intensely than before. Never could it have ever imagined that its talk about a reunion would actually come true. This development left it completely flabbergasted.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior felt superlatively excited as he urged, “Go on! Get inside!”

The head looked like it was really about to start crying, and was about to say something when Xu Qing waved his hand. A scream echoed out as the head tumbled into D-132 and back into its same old cell. Once inside, the head sensed the presence of the finger, and it let loose an agonized shriek.

“Th-th-this….”

Before it could even react, light glittered as the stone lion also flew into its old cage in D-132, where it landed with a thump and turned into a cloud troll. After looking around blankly, it spun until its back was to the door, then started eating its own tentacles. Apparently that was the only way it could pacify itself. However, every time it plucked off a tentacle, that tentacle turned into a head. Clearly, it was not very happy about the head’s so-called ‘reunion.’

When the head saw that, it started crying.

Before many tears could fall, light glittered again in D-132, and Sir Inkwell appeared. In order to make sure the god’s finger had familiar surroundings, Xu Qing didn’t want to kill the old Paintedfolk. Instead, he would keep him in D-132. He had bite marks all over him as he stood looking around mutely at D-132. His cell felt very familiar. Then he heard the head weeping, and saw the god’s finger sleeping. He looked dazed.

“And thus, the D-132 reunion begins,” Xu Qing said, his voice echoing within the tenth heavenly palace.

The head wept. The stone lion chewed. Sir Inkwell trembled. And the god’s finger had apparently found the familiarity īt sought, for īt slept very soundly.

Having accomplished these things, Xu Qing paid no further attention to his tenth heavenly palace. Instead, he looked in the direction of Mount Daybreak, and started moving. Previously, he hadn’t been capable of long-term travel on the surface of the Abyssal Sea. But things were different with this new body.

In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely.

A day later, when he was about two days away from Mount Daybreak, Xu Qing suddenly slowed down as he realized he had caught wind of someone crying for help. With his previous body, his senses were not so acute. It went to show how extraordinary he was now.

By paying attention closely, he could make out what this person was saying.

“Help… can someone help… help me….”

The voice sounded weak. At the same time, it caused Xu Qing’s eyebrows to shoot up as he realized it was a familiar voice. After some thought, he realized who it was.

“Ning Yan?”

Surprised, Xu Qing looked around at the pitch-black waters of the Abyssal Sea and thought back to when they had all teleported away from the Ten Entrails Tree. He hadn’t seen Ning Yan since that event. 1

Could it be that the sun winds here interrupted his teleportation path and caused him to drop down in this area? Then he ran into some sort of trouble, and that’s why he never made it back to the county capital?

Curious, Xu Qing started moving in the direction of the voice. About an hour later, he found its source. Deep beneath the surface of the Abyssal Sea, he saw an enormous, beautiful flower, right in the middle of blooming.

It was a euphoria iris.

The flower was some dozens of meters in size, and had a host of colorful petals that swayed rhythmically. What was more, there were hundreds of stamens swaying about, and at the end of each was a nonhuman woman. The stamens didn’t extend above the surface. Instead, they clustered around the flower, their expressions joyful as they continuously absorbed something. Right in the middle of the flower and its countless swaying petals lay a figure.

It was Ning Yan. His clothing was tattered, and he was gasping for breath. He looked shriveled to the point of being skeletal. His listless eyes seemed dazed and lifeless as he looked at the surrounding nonhuman women absorbing him. He occasionally shivered, and as he seemed to grow weaker and weaker, he would occasionally cry out.

“Help… help….”

The euphoria iris was a unique type of flower native to Daybreak Prefecture, and Xu Qing had seen one on his travels. He had also been told by the head that even strong men would only last four or five breaths of time before being turned into a desiccated corpse. Not even Gold Core experts would last for very long. The flower’s unique ability was to turn the ends of its stamens into beautiful members of the opposite sex, who would then attract victims.

An odd expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face as he looked at the huge euphoria iris. This flower seemed smaller than the one he’d seen on his travels, although this one seemed much more attractive.

The women on the ends of the stamens had flushed faces and seemed extremely flirtatious. Clearly, Ning Yan was providing them with abundant nutrients.

If Ning Yan was really teleported here… then he’s been stuck for a long time! I can’t believe he’s still alive! Xu Qing thought back to everything that happened at the Ten Entrails Tree, and had to admit that the Captain’s intuition was really on point. There’s definitely something very unusual about this guy.

After some thought, he decided that he should save the skeletal Ning Yan. After all, he was a good tool in his and the Captain’s arsenal, and was relatively easy to make use of. Just leaving him to die here would be a big pity.

Face calm, he strode forward. As he neared, the euphoria iris could sense the impending danger. Shivering, it sent its stamens away from Ning Yan and toward Xu Qing, where they gnashed their teeth and made threatening noises.

Xu Qing just got closer.

Seeing that, the euphoria iris belched out a pink mist that roiled forth. At the same time, it uprooted itself to flee.

Meanwhile, the stamens swished to block Xu Qing’s path. Before they could even get close to him, the ones in the lead screamed in agony as their skin melted, turning into black goo that dripped down.

Xu Qing noticed that with some intrigue. Only now was he realizing that, after his transformation, his taboo poison took effect even more quickly than before. Pondering that, he continued forward. As he proceeded, the stamens melted. The beautiful, nonhuman faces filled with terror as they backed up, trembling. From their expressions, they clearly didn’t want him getting close to them.

It was a familiar sensation to Xu Qing. It made him think back to when he’d pushed the violet crystal close to his heavenly palaces, or when the god’s finger had experienced something similar. Xu Qing frowned. He actually didn’t like this scene. So he stamped his foot down, sending out a ripple that exploded the stamens.

The only thing left behind was the euphoria iris itself, which shivered in terror.

Pleased, Xu Qing walked onto the flower, past its many petals, and picked up the emaciated Ning Yan.

Ning Yan was virtually naked. Looking up at Xu Qing with pleading eyes, he said, “Elder Brother Xu Qing? What are you doing here…? Help… help me….”

When Xu Qing saw the extent to which Ning Yan had been tormented, he sighed inwardly. It was just further evidence of the horrors this world could inflict. Taking out some medicinal pills, he fed them to Ning Yan. He also took out a new set of clothing for him. Then he helped him out of the euphoria iris. Once they were some distance away, and the euphoria iris was melting in a cloud of poison, a scream echoed out. Behind them was nothing but a mass of black sludge.

The moment the euphoria iris died, Ning Yan shivered. Then he seemed to recover to a degree. He looked back in the direction of the euphoria iris, mixed emotions on his face.

Xu Qing was actually shocked by the look on his face after he regained his senses. “You miss it?”

“No…” Ning Yan said, shivering. He looked at Xu Qing with eyes full of gratitude. “Elder Brother Xu Qing, you saved my life. I, Ning Yan, will never forget this! But what are you doing here…?”

“What are you doing here?” Xu Qing replied calmly. Most importantly, he wanted to know if Ning Yan had ever realized it was Xu Qing back at the Ten Entrails Tree. That said, it didn’t really matter either way. The four of them had all been involved in that incident, so if word got out, it would be bad for all of them.

“Huh?” Ning Yan said hesitantly. “Elder Brother Xu Qing, I came here to Daybreak Prefecture on a mission. But then I got snagged by that damned euphoria iris. I was trapped for so long….”

“So you don’t know about what’s happening in Sea-Sealing County?” Xu Qing asked.

Ning Yan looked surprised. He had no idea what was happening outside. Actually, Xu Qing’s earlier guess was correct. Ning Yan had been teleported here, and had been unable to make his way out. Then he ran into the euphoria iris. At first, the euphoria iris had been just a tiny plant. Almost ordinary in nature. But as time passed, it grew larger and larger. Stronger and stronger. And… no matter how Ning Yan tried to free himself, he failed.

Xu Qing got the answer he needed just by looking at Ning Yan’s facial expression.

So, he never guessed that it was me….

Without another word, he started moving again.

Ning Yan hesitated. He had always been afraid of Xu Qing, but for some reason, he now felt even more afraid; he could sense that Xu Qing was actually stronger than before. After a moment, he cautiously started following.

Finally, he asked, “Elder Brother Xu Qing… where are we going?”

“To Mount Daybreak.”

Time passed, and Xu Qing and Ning Yan eventually got closer to Mount Daybreak. 𝙡𝙞𝒃𝒆𝓪.𝓬𝒐𝒎

***

The critical situation at Mount Daybreak was reaching a head. Whistling sounds filled heaven and earth as numerous black spikes shot toward Mount Daybreak and slammed into the spell formation. The shockwaves from the attacks sent rumbling sounds everywhere.

From the look of it, there were now thousands of black spikes piercing into the spell formation. Because of them, Mount Daybreak’s spell formation had deep cracks all over it.

It obviously wasn’t going to last for much longer.

1. The last time we saw Ning Yan was when they all teleported off the Ten Entrails Tree in chapter 458. ?

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