The hesitation lasted only a short while, yet Qianye felt as though he had traversed a thousand years. He looked up and saw the brilliant stars as well as the slowly gliding landmasses—the latter casting their shadows upon his face.
This world was just that empty and vast. Even those stars had suffered millennia of solitude, to speak nothing of a tiny, tiny creature like him.
Qianye’s mind was blank as he opened up the box and poured the Stillwater Rebirth inside.
The milky medicinal liquid was immediately absorbed upon contact. The originally unresponsive Dreameater King unleashed a pleasant cry as its body expanded at a visible pace. In the blink of an eye, it almost couldn’t fit inside the container.
The king seemed sentient. Seemingly knowing that the space outside was detrimental to its existence, it stopped growing once the box was full and fell into a deep sleep. After absorbing the medicine, the Dreameater King’s body released a constant stream of prismatic colors that made it difficult for the spectator to move their eyes away.
After a long while, a dizzy Qianye finally managed to divert his line of sight. Any other person might’ve had their spirit sucked away by the Dreameater King. The creature would surely cause a calamity if unleashed in a large city since even champions would find it difficult to escape the soul attraction.
The Dreameater King had transformed completely after absorbing the Stillwater Rebirth, and was now at a completely different level.
Qianye closed the box properly. The faint dizziness disappeared only after the Dreameater King’s aura was insulated. Nonetheless, there were still rainbow colors appearing around the container from time to time. Clearly, the Dreameater King’s aura couldn’t be entirely isolated, and its power was weakening with each passing moment.
Qianye then jumped up and vanished swiftly into the night sky.
Ji Tianqing appeared atop the kinetic tower after his figure had faded away, gazing silently into the distance. Soon afterward, Song Zining also appeared nearby.
“He’ll hate me, won’t he?” Ji Tianqing asked.
Song Zining shook his head. “No, Qianye is very smart. He knows what he should do, and no one can influence him when he’s determined.”
“I hope that’s the case… Say, what do you think is going on in his head right now?”
Song Zining froze up for a moment before breaking into a burst of wry laughter. “I don’t know, I don’t want to know, either.”
Ji Tianqing lifted Song Zining by the collar and said fiercely, “You don’t want to know!? And yet you made me do such a thing. I have to play the part of the bad guy while you keep on being a good person, is that it?”
Song Zining raised his hands in surrender. “Young Miss, speak nicely, don’t resort to violence… Ah!”
Ji Tianqing, however, had no intention of listening to him and simply gave him a punch to the abdomen. The force wasn’t great, but it was cleverly delivered, blasting Song Zining’s origin barrier in one blow and almost making him throw up.
“Stop! Stop! If you keep going, I’ll retaliate. Ah no, I give up!” As expected of the seventh young master, he was the only one who could perform such a dignified surrender.
Ji Tianqing threw him to the floor with a snort. “I knew what you were planning when you invited me back then, but do you even think it’s possible? And now you do this! I really don’t understand what you’re thinking.”
Song Zining adjusted his clothes and laughed wryly, “Fine, I tricked you here for selfish reasons. If you ask me why, there’s only one reason behind all this. I don’t want him to be looking at her from afar for hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand. Settling this earlier is a good thing for him.”
“You treat him so well.”
“He does the same to me.”
“Thick as thieves, I see!” Ji Tianqing came to this conclusion.
The atmosphere became quite serious in just a couple of short exchanges.
After a long while of silence, Ji Tianqing asked, “Say, will he return?”
“He will,” Song Zining said definitively.
“Then, what are you worried about?”
“I’m worried that he’ll become a different person after coming back.”
Ji Tianqing frowned. “Aren’t you known for your divination skills? Why don’t you scry him?”
“Your divination isn’t bad, either, why don’t you try?”
“I’m not an idiot!”
“And I am?”
At this point, the two sighed at the same time. They glanced at one another in astonishment, and then, with a harrumph, left to mind their own business.
At this moment, the Eastern Sea continent was flying past under Qianye’s feet. He crossed rapid rivers, scaled dangerous cliffs, and traversed void storms. By dawn, Qianye was already at the border of the continent and standing outside the wrecked airship.
The slanted airship was already flat on the ground and many parts showed signs of repair.
Qianye ran frantically the entire way, neither slowing down nor retracting his aura. Sensing his arrival, the vampire marquis drilled out of the wreckage and waved his hands at him. “You’re here!”
The marquis attitude was much friendlier compared to the last time. It was more cordiality than reverence—he was probably feeling extremely stifled, having to repair the airship all alone with no one to talk to.
Qianye nodded. “Is Nighteye here?”
The marquis shrugged. “Same as before. I haven’t seen her for quite a while now, but she should still be inside, go in by yourself.”
Qianye hesitated for a while before fishing out the box containing the Dreameater King. “Give this to her, I won’t go in anymore.”
The marquis was startled. He said without taking the box, “You still have three minutes, either way, just go in.”
The marquis was a smart person. He knew that the two shared a special relationship, one in which he wasn’t willing to get involved. Hence, he refused to relay the item and instead asked Qianye to bring it to her himself.
It was at this time that Nighteye’s gentle yet cold voice echoed in their ears. “Come in.”
Qianye hesitated for a moment before entering the warship with a wry smile.
Just as before, Nighteye was floating in the main hall with her arms wrapped around herself.
Qianye entered the chamber and passed the box to her. “This is for you.”
Nighteye opened her eyes and her gaze landed on the box. At this moment, the little container erupted in blinding light, filling the entire hall with the colors of the rainbow.
The box popped open and the Dreameater King rushed out toward the door. Sensing imminent destruction, the creature let out mournful cries akin to sobbing. Qianye was overcome by pity the moment he heard its cries and almost felt the urge to let it go.
The Dreameaster King could affect Qianye, but it could do nothing against Nighteye. She opened her lips ever so slightly and shot out a thread of blood. The sanguineous string wound around the creature and locked it firmly in the air, preventing it from moving in the slightest.
“This is for me?” Nighteye’s words contained inexplicable implications behind them.
“Yes.” Qianye was also quite calm at this point.
“You actually know how to ignite its potential, that’s surprising. It’s effect right now is equal to three ordinary Dreameater Kings. I have no idea what you’re thinking by giving me this.”
“It’s beneficial for you,” Qianye said emotionlessly.
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
Nighteye opened her eyes and shot him a glance. “Very well, I’ll accept this gift then, as long as you don’t regret later on.”
“I… won’t regret it.”
Nighteye inhaled gently. A resplendent stream of prismatic radiance shot out from the Dreameater King and disappeared inside her mouth.
Losing the power to move, the creature unleashed a mournful cry as it fell to the ground and turned to dust.
After absorbing the rainbow-colored lights, Nighteye slowly closed her eyes, seemingly content. “I’m tired now.”
Qianye nodded and left the hall in silence. Countless wisps of blood energy weaved together behind him and sealed the chamber shut.
He could sense the changes happening behind him without needing to look back.
The marquis was on the deck when Qianye walked out, repairing the damaged areas therein. He waved his hand at Qianye in a bid to greet him, but the latter only reciprocated with a forced smile before leaving swiftly.
At this moment, there was only one question echoing in Qianye’s heart: “Will I regret this?”
There was no answer to this question.
Qianye didn’t return to Southern Blue afterward. Instead, he wandered aimlessly through the mountains, the wilderness, and, at times, sitting alone beside flowing creeks. As though life had lost its meaning, he had no idea what he was doing or what he wanted to do.
One day, he suddenly came to and realized that he had been wandering for over a week. He had been roaming the mountain ranges at the continent’s border all this time, perhaps because the destructive aura here was the only thing that could calm him down.
Like someone who had just woken up from a dream, Qianye left the continent’s border and returned to Southern Blue.
The city was just as lively, perhaps even more so than when he had left. Many companies had picked their land and started constructing workshops. Song Zining had designated a certain area in Southern Blue for those looking to build new workshops.
Song Zining was no different from a regent city lord at this point. Meanwhile, Ji Rui remained hidden behind the scenes, neither supporting nor objecting to the seventh young master’s actions.
Ji Rui’s attitude was fairly strange, but news from the city lord’s manor hinted that he was no longer as adverse to Song Zining and Dark Flame. That was because Song Zining’s skills were so much greater in the field of city planning and construction. Additionally, Southern Blue’s prosperity and the subsequent increase in taxes would still benefit Ji Rui.
The merchants acted swiftly in fighting for the plots of land but were evidently slower when it came to building the factories. Everyone was waiting for the Wolf King’s retaliation. Only after witnessing the outcome of this battle would they feel safe in making this investment.
There were rules in the neutral lands preventing the new city lord—in the case of displacement—from taking back civilian properties. However, the Wolf King was never one to play by the rules, so all the managers were watching and waiting for new development. This would limit their losses in the off-chance that Qianye’s group couldn’t stand up to the Wolf King.
Upon his return, Qianye unexpectedly found that Ji Tianqing and Song Zining were gone. All he saw was the letter they had left for him.
It read: “Watch the house, stop running around!”
