Chapter 366: Poke the Demonic Beast For Show

“I’m trying to say…”

“Mn?” That man frowned as he glared at her with slight dissatisfaction. “What? You still wish to go against us?”

“Uh… Not that. I just want to…”

“Let me give you an advice. Know the time and place. I’m already kind enough to let you all off alive.”

“I want to say…”

“If you lot stay stubborn, I don’t mind sending you all off on the road either!”

“… Fellow Daoist.”

“As for the Nascent Divided Pearl, heh, you guys can stop dreaming. Just treat it as though you’ve never obtained it.”

“Actually…”

“That way, I believe you lot will feel a little better.”

“Is your hand really alright?”

“My hand… What?” The man was stunned for a moment.

Zhu Yao weakly pointed at the pearl in his hand. “I’m saying… is it really alright for you to hold onto that pearl for so long? I just saw that there were still remnants of the deadly poison on it…”

“…” The man’s complacent face instantly turned pale. “What did you… say… urgh…”

His expression changed as his body was suddenly dyed dark purple. He began to break out into spasms, as he directly fell into the thick mist which the demonic beast had transformed into. Screams resounded as his body began to corrode at high speeds. Yet he could not unleash even a single hint of divine energy. “Save… Save me…”

He reached out a hand towards his party members in the air, pleading for their help. However, as he stretched it halfway through, his hand had already turned into bones, and in an instant later, the bones completely melted. This change happened so quickly, it hadn’t been five seconds since it began. The man’s figure was no longer in the mist, and what remained were the various screams filled with terror and despair that still continued to echo in the air. The party members that he had brought along did not even budge, all their faces were filled with dumbfounded expressions.

Zhu Yao frowned. That’s why… Antagonists die because they talk too much.

“Boss!” The crowd of people finally moved. A female Deity with a miserably pale expression cried out. Her voice was filled with fear. She then turned to glare at the five people on the ground, fury filled her lungs. “You… You lot killed him!”

“Oh please!” Zhu Yao rolled her eyes at her belated effort. If she was truly that worried, why didn’t she save him earlier? “We didn’t do anything at all?”

“You… You knew that there’s poison on the Nascent Divided Pearl, why didn’t you say so earlier?” The female Deity said as she gritted her teeth.

The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. “Is your brain made of mush? You guys came here to snatch our loot, so we have to wash it clean and wait for you to snatch it away from us, is that it?” How are you acting all righteous right now?

“You!” The woman grew irritated.

“Who you’re calling ‘you’, you?” Zhu Yao however grew enraged. “So are you guys still going to snatch away the Nascent Divided Pearl or not? In any case, it has poison on it. If you guys want it, then this granddaddy here will give it to you. You can have it if you want it. Though if you guys really want to find, let me warn you that a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Don’t think we’re afraid of you. It’s either the fish dies or the net gets torn, we can all perish together! Hurry and make a decision, we still have to rush off to fight other mobs.”

“You…” The female Deity’s face turned green from anger. Just as she was about to step forward, next to her, a man dressed in a blue robe embroidered with white marks stopped her. This person was also the only one among them with the words ‘Unknown Deity (Level 2)’ shown above its head. “Wait a minute!”

“Why did you stop me?”

“Since it’s already a worthless object, why the need for an unnecessary struggle?” The man said with a solemn voice.

Only then did the female Deity grit her teeth and stand her ground. She ruthlessly glared at Zhu Yao, and then, with a unwilling look, she left with the crowd.

Only then did Zhu Yao heave a sigh of relief, though Yu Yan next to her was frowning. He held onto her hand and solemnly said. “No need to worry, your master…”

“I know.” Zhu Yao chuckled. If they really had to fight it out, though they might look disadvantageous in terms of numbers, with her master here, it would definitely be a stable victory for them even against a few High Deities. Though in this tower, the hatred meter for the Lightning Divine Palace seemed to be off the charts. If they need not expose themselves, then it would be for the best.

“Haah, I never expected that we would obtain an useless pearl.” Squad Captain Nangong was saddened as he glanced at the red pearl that was still sparkling within the poisonous mist.

“Such a waste of this daddy’s efforts.” Student Zhonggu Lu was a little irritated as well as he unconsciously stroked his own face, looking as though it was aching a little. He wondered if the poison had vanished and hurriedly materialized a water mirror to inspect his face carefully.

“That might not be the case!” Zhu Yao chuckled as she cast a wind-type art. She used a huge amount of efforts to blow away the layers of thick mist and hurriedly set a formation to suck in the Nascent Divided Pearl. The pearl then rolled a few rounds and stopped by her feet. The poisonous mist once again gathered back together. Before being affected by the thick poisonous mist for the second time, the red pearl merely had a few black strands in it earlier. Now, black covered almost half of the entire pearl.

“Dongfang girly, what are you trying to do!?” Squad Captain Nangong looked at her anxiously. “You saw it for yourself earlier. This pearl has deadly poison on it, it must not be touched.”

“I have an idea, Squad Captain Nangong Huang.”

“I’m Nangong Cheng!” Flips table. Why do you call my name wrongly whenever you have an idea!?

“Come on, don’t mind such details.”

“…” I mind, alright? He glanced at the white-robed male practitioner next to her. Manage your disciple properly, hey.

The latter maintained his expressionless look. As long as my disciple doesn’t court death, it doesn’t concern me.

“Squad Captain Huang, I think this pearl isn’t worthless.”

“…” Why did I turn into Squad Captain Huang again, hey? “This pearl is stained with deadly poison and can’t be held, how can we bring it out of the secret realm?” Take a deep breath, I’m a squad captain with principles!

“This demonic beast is undying, so it must have been challenged by several others. There’s so many practitioners who have risen to the higher floors, so we’re definitely not the only group that encountered this problem.”

“You’re saying there’s a method to remove the poison?” His eyes shone.

“Everything has its strengths and weaknesses. How do you think the Purifying Pool is formed?”

“Oh right!” He slapped his thighs as he recalled the Purifying Pool behind him. Since the pool could disperse the poisonous gas, then dispersing the poison within the pearl might not be impossible.

“Without further ado, let’s hurry and place the Nascent Divided Pearl inside the pool, Squad Captain Huang!” Zhu Yao waved her hand and then turned to Zhonggu Lu next to her. “Oh right, Little Teal, we have to trouble you to use your earth-type arts to move the pearl over. You’re more specialized in such matters.”

Nangong Cheng: “…” I already told you I’m Nangong Cheng.

Zhonggu Lu: “…” Who the hell is Little Teal?

————————————

Zhu Yao’s idea was correct. The moment Zhonggu Lu threw the poisoned pearl into the pool, the poisonous gas inside the pearl began to disperse. Though it’s much slower than dispersing the regular poisonous gas, it finally began to revert back to its original red colour.

“I’ve already contacted the groups from the other secret realms.” Squad Captain Nangong sighed and said. “Looking at the current situation, only three out of the four Nascent Divided Pearls in the other four secret realms have been found. The last secret realm has yet to be cleared yet. It seemed like we can’t exit the secret realm right now.”

“Could it be that we have to wait like this?” Zhonggu Lu was a little irritated. “The poison in this Nascent Divided Pearl will most likely scatter in about a day, and when that time comes, there will definitely be possible who will try to steal it. We won’t be so lucky that before either.”

Zhu Yao frowned as well. Finding treasures was easy, but protecting them was hard. The robbers back then left because the pearl was poisonous, but now, the pearl was no longer poisonous. Once the news spread, it would lure in quite a huge number of people. No matter how high their cultivation levels were, they would not be able to fend off against a sea of people.

“Heh. And yet there’s still one Nascent Divided Pearl that hasn’t been found, so we can’t leave immediately.”

“Wait!” Yu Yan, who had stayed silent for everyone other than his disciple, suddenly spoke. His ice-cold gaze swept across everyone, and then when his eyes landed on his disciple, a little warmth returned. “Setting a formation down is enough.”

He did not care if they understood either, as he immediately placed down layers upon layers of concealment and defensive formations next to the pool. The half-purified Nascent Divided Pearl in the pool, along with the unpurified poisonous gas, slowly disappeared without a trace. The formations were extremely ingenious, as they were actually able to conceal the ripples of divine energy as well.

“Continue engaging the demonic beast.” He continued with a solemn voice.

The group was stunned for a moment, and then, they immediately understood his intentions. “Good plan!” Nangong Cheng said with an excited look. “We shall hide the Nascent Divided Pearl inside the pool, and when the demonic beast resurrects naturally three days later, we shall act as if we haven’t obtained the Nascent Divided Pearl by engaging the demonic beast. As long as we don’t kill it, we will naturally not arouse the others’ suspicions. Once the final secret realm makes contact with us, we will then charge out together! It’s truly a great plan!”

“Daoist Beichen…” The more Nangong Cheng thought about it, the more he felt that the plan would work. He looked at Yu Yan with sparkling eyes. He looks ice and cold, but he actually has good ideas of his own, doesn’t he? Just as he was about to express his admiration, Zhu Yao suddenly squeezed in and slapped his stretched-out hand back to where it belonged.

“Hoho, Squad Captain Huang, let’s think about how we should conceal our traces for the next three days, shall we?” Zhu Yao smiled with a friendly and intimate look. I dare you to try touching my master with your claws!

“Uh…” Why do I feel as if Dongfang girly’s expression has suddenly become terrifying?

In order to conceal the fact that they had already obtained the quest item, and adding that the demonic beast has yet to resurrect, the group pondered for a moment and decided that they might as well make a trip back to the city. There was already a squad that found out that they had already killed the demonic beast, so there would definitely be people who wouldn’t give up and return to investigate. Rather than staying, they might as well return to the city and make their presence known. That way, the suspicions that people still had would most likely be removed. Because according to the Nascent Divided Pearls’ setting, it would be ineffective if only one of them was brought back to the city, all five of them must be brought back together.

As expected, the moment they returned to the city, they received countless pitying or gloating gazes. Zhu Yao and her two companions were newcomers, so they were not affected that much, but for familiar faces such as Nangong and Zhonggu, they already had some connections in the city. They immediately received a large amount of questions from the various passers-by, and among them were some that added insult to their injury.

The two of them received all of these with gloomy expressions, perfectly unleashing the images of sad, unlucky young men who had been possessed by the god of misfortune.

As for Zhu Yao, her master and Yue Ying, they stood quietly at the side as they watched their act.

Three days later, the few of them announced that they were once again entering the same secret realm to challenge the same demonic beast, in order to earn back their dignity. Not a single person suspected them. Instead, what the group received was a friendly bonus of taunts and mockeries, as the crowd watched the group enter the secret realm.

The fifty-fifth squad thus casually returned to where the demonic beast was, and the Nascent Divided Pearl was still safely lying in the pool. The few of them had talked it over, and agreed to poke the unfortunate resurrected demonic beast every two hours for show, in order to deal with the Deities that were to come spectating. Of course, other than Zhonggu Lu. The poisonous gas from back then had left a mark in his heart, and he was unwilling to move out again even if he had to die. Every day, he would squat by the pool and look at his own face with a water mirror, afraid that he would be poisoned again.

A month later, when the crowd of Deities saw that the five of them were still defending against the demonic beast and were unable to kill it for so long, one after another, they sighed and left. These people sure are idiots. This isn’t the only demonic beast in the secret realm, yet they seemed to have brought themselves into a stalemate with it. At that moment, everyone cleared off their thoughts of snatching away the treasure, and slowly, not a single one of them blocked their path any longer.

When the people in all five secret realms who found the Nascent Divided Pearls finally contacted each other, the group charged out of the secret realm together.

Only then did the crowd of Deities regain their senses. They were fooled! Unfortunately, the results had already been decided.